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Thursday 30/1/92
Dear Spencer
Thank you for your belief that I could choose to be good at whatever subject I wanted but the truth is that it wasn't a conscious choice. I love to fly. It just came so naturally to me that I couldn't hide it. It's also why I got picked for the quidditch team, well that and catching a magical glass ball Malfoy had stolen from Neville and tried to throw at the castle wall to break it. It's worth it though, to be on the team and allowed to fly whenever I want, and apparently my father was a quidditch player too so nobody seems surprised that I'm good at it.
And DADA just comes easily to me, partly because I'm used to having to fight for my safety, running from and outsmarting Dudley's friends taught me situational awareness and improved my running speed and reflexes. The defensive spells just come more easily to me than making a teaspoon dance or turning a beetle into a button. Probably because they're spells I could see myself actually using one day. Half the spells we learn don't make any sense at all, from a practical point of view it's much easier to turn a small piece of wood or a stone into a button than a living creature and so far we've learned how to make a match into a needle and a beetle into a button though two matches would've been easier but we still can't sew on the button because we haven't learned to make thread, not to mention most of the class probably can't sew. And all to do the same job a sticking charm could do much more easily, though maybe not so fashionably not that I'd care about that.
I will admit to you that I'm holding back in all my other subjects, in Defence too actually since I'm still using the fake wand I made for all my classes including transfiguration which was the one I was most worried that I'd have to give in and start using the real one to succeed. I have no doubts that even with the fake I could be at the top of all my subjects except Transfiguration and I'd probably make top four or five in that as well, first if I used my real wand. Hermione would not be my friend if I beat her to first place though, she was angry enough about me beating her in Defence and Herbology, even though I'm still letting her beat me soundly in the theory half of both the classes. She hates flying so she's decided it's just a sport not a real subject and not worth her time. A bit like you and that dance class I guess.
I took your advice about asking Hermione not to try to correct my work until I'd finished drafting it properly and she was miffed about it but she did back off. I had hoped that she would see how much work I put in and not feel the need to correct my essay but she still wanted to see it. She marked it up with red ink so I had to rewrite it but didn't make any corrections worth including, just one thing that really wasn't relevant to the topic and would make the essay too long, so I rewrote the essay the same as it already was and got an 'outstanding'. She didn't even ask to check my other finished work for a while but the other day I had to remind her not to correct the first draft again and she got upset with me again. I don't want to think that someone made her forget or ignore our agreement but why else would she do that.
I know I should be flying under the radar, not handing in 'outstanding' homework assignments but she made me so angry and it was for Defence Against the Dark Arts which is my best subject and the subject everyone expects me to like best and do really well in. It's not my favourite subject actually, I don't like Quirrell and I don't really want to learn to fight with magic though I am good at it, I like charms best even if half of them don't have a practical application. Professor Flitwick is such a great teacher he makes every spell fun to learn, and I like the challenge of transfiguration, it's my hardest subject and I still think that I could love potions if we had a decent professor as well.
I've been enjoying the books you sent me and the essay questions you sent with them has helped me see deeper into the characters and the author's reason for writing certain situations and reactions. It's surprising how much more I got out of each book once I started looking at all of those things rather than just enjoying the story. I've also started rereading some of my old favourites to see if I can figure out the author's motivations and the themes they're writing about.
Your friend always
Harry
A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.