And here's the sixty ninth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
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magitech, as it is said in the chapter itself, the system under which the Prefects operate is not ideal. And, in fact, makes it rather easy for the guilty party to avoid punishment if they have a Prefect in their corner. Probably not the main reason why Slytherin is not trusted by the other Houses, but certainly a contributing factor.
kaiser0kolovos, it's actually the start Harry's fifth year in the story. And the year of the Triwizard Tournament. Sirius escaped Azkaban later here: Fudge had denied him the newspaper that had triggered his escape in the books, and even if Sirius had gotten his hands on it, Pettigrew wasn't on the Weasleys' photo there anyway. Instead, a different event that took place after September the first prompted him to consider the the break out, and he decided the couldn't do it during the winter.
* AN: This chapter has not been beta-read.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
"speaking"
"parseltongue"
'thinking'
written text
spells
current timeframe: September 2nd, 1994. The second day of Harry's fifth year (the beginning of the fourth year in the canon)
A Year Too Soon
Chapter LXIX: DADA, Potions and the Prefects' Bathroom
Thanks to whatever warning Professor Snape had given them the previous night, other Slytherin Prefects were much more willing to help guide the firsties to the Great Hall the next morning. Harry was still there, helping them, of course, but at least he didn't have to do all of the work himself this time. This was quite nice since he did have after-curfew patrols later tonight.
It was also nice for him to see several of the firsties using the maps he had given to them yesterday. And apparently found them to be accurate enough to be worthwhile to use. At least as far as commuting between the Slytherin common room and the Great Hall was involved, in any case.
Of course, the maps should be good enough for more than just that, but the young Snakes were yet to confirm that themselves.
The breakfast itself went pretty well and when Professor Snape came to deliver the timetables, Harry was surprised to find out that fifth year Slytherins had both Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts on Fridays - which was today. Thus, they'll get to experience both DADA with his Head of the House and Potions with Slughorn before the afternoon is over.
And Harry would certainly be lying if he said he wasn't interested in how those classes would go. Indeed, from what he had heard, despite his …eccentricities, Professor Slughorn was a very good teacher and apparently had taught Professor Snape. As for the Slytherin's Head of the House, well, it was an open secret that the man really wanted to teach DADA but never got that position …until now. He certainly was knowledgeable about the Dark Arts enough for the job. Whether or not he can share his knowledge effectively, was another question though. One that will be answered soon.
The DADA classroom hasn't changed much since Professor Snape took it over from Professor Moody. A few spell diagrams had been changed into different ones, but otherwise it stayed mostly the same. And that was actually quite refreshing after the constant big changes it had the prior years.
"Welcome to the fifth year of Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Professor Snape said as he stepped into the classroom proper from the attached chamber, his dark robes billowing in an unseen wind. Coming to a stop at the teacher's table, he continued: "You have been taught by four different Professors over the past four years, some of them more competent than the others, and each with their own methods and priorities. Notes left for me by Alastor Moody indicate that you've covered the spells and techniques to defend oneself against an average rowdy lowlife who has had too much Firewhiskey. But you're definitely far behind when it comes to dealing with hostile Dark creatures. Fixing that will be our main focus for this year."
The man paused for a moment, before continuing:
"While you did have some classes on warding off Magical beasts, most were taught by a man of questionable ability and were focused on creatures that are rare and exotic, leaving you with barely an idea on how to handle more mundane threats such as kelpies, red caps or boggarts. We will also revisit werewolves and banshees and other Dark creatures native to Great Britain that you may have already covered with Mister Lockhart, to make sure you have the right knowledge and tools to survive an encounter with them."
There was another pause. Then Professor Snape tapped the chalkboard with his wand, causing the word 'Ghouls' as well as a chalk sketch of the creature in question to appear on it. A few students who had been raised in Magical households couldn't help but snicker - very quietly - as ghouls were usually seen as nothing but a noisy nuisance.
And normally they were just that, a nuisance. Occasionally, though, ghouls decided that their usual diet of bugs and other nasty crawlies wasn't enough for them and started attacking bigger targets, such as household pets or even humans, especially children. Then they became actually dangerous. Especially since every scratch and bite wound they inflicted could result in a nasty infection. Thus, knowing how to deal with an aggressive ghoul safely wasn't exactly a useless skill.
That was especially true for the ghoul subspecies like Chameleon Ghouls that could use Magic to disguise themselves as everyday objects. And were naturally more aggressive than their simpler 'cousins'. One such chameleon ghoul had briefly terrorized the Ministry for Magic headquarters a few years ago, and had wounded several clerks there before it was finally dealt with.
Even if the topic of today's lesson was rather gross - ghouls were far from the most pleasant Magical creatures out there, even when they weren't trying to bite your fingers off - Harry still found it pretty interesting. And Professor Snape was doing a good job teaching the class, even if it was quite clear that Magical creatures weren't exactly his specialty.
Once the DADA class came to an end, Harry, Flora and Hestia temporarily parted their ways: the young Potter had Arithmancy next while the twins haven't signed up for any of the electives slotted for this time and, thus, had a free period for themselves.
An hour of Arithmancy passed relatively quickly. Not many wizards and witches were really interested in mathematical theories behind their crafts, yet Professor Vector somehow managed to turn 'collecting' her students' summer assignments into a rather engaging discussion of the book she had them read.
Soon, it was lunch time, after which fifth year Slytherins descended into the dungeons for their first Potions class with Professor Slughorn. And the first thing they noticed when they entered the classroom was several cauldrons with freshly-brewed potions sitting on the professor's desk. The man himself stood by the table, partially obscured from the view by silvery vapors rising from one of those cauldrons.
"Now then, now then, now then." Professor Slughorn began as soon as the bell rang, stepping through the curtain of fumes. "Scales out, everyone, and potion kits. And don't forget your copies of Advanced Potion-Making." He waited for the students to get everything they'd need for his class laid out on their desks, before continuing: "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of things you ought to be able to brew if you are to pass your OWLs." He said, gesturing towards the cauldrons on the teacher's table. "Anyone tell me what this one is?" He then asked, pointing towards the turquoise-blue potion emitting silvery vapor. Harry and a handful of other students, most of the being his fellow Slytherins, raised their hands.
"Yes, Mr. Potter." Professor Slughorn prompted.
"It's the Draught of Peace, I believe." Harry said. Upon the man's nod, he continued: "It is used to relieve one's anxiety and agitation, but if brewed incorrectly may put a person into an enchanted, possibly irreversible, sleep."
"Very good, very good." The old Potions Master said. "And what about this one?" He said, gesturing towards another cauldron, this time with a greenish concoction in it. It did look like a perfectly-made Wit-Sharpening Potion - something that they had studied the previous year - so there were a lot more hands up in the air this time, Harry's included, of course. But Professor Slughorn decided to have someone else answer his question, eventually picking Cormac McLaggen.
The Gryffindor boy managed to correctly identify the brew in question as the Wit-Sharpening Potion, though it looked like it was a lucky guess more than anything else. Nevertheless, it earned Cormac a nod of approval from the Professor, who then went on to ask another student about the third potion he had 'prepared' for today.
Once this impromptu quiz was over, Professor Slughorn finally announced the topic of today's class. Which turned out to be the Draught of Peace. It was a rather tricky potion, one that required the maker to do things in a very exact way if they wanted to get it right. There was almost no room for errors or 'creativity' with this potion. Which, in the eyes of the old Potions Master, made it a good way to test his students' skills.
Harry wanted to believe that he was pretty decent at Potions. He might not be a genius who created new recipes for fun, but he was quite good at following the instructions and usually managed to brew something that at least resembled a properly-made potion. The Draught of Peace, however, was proving to be a bit too complicated for him.
The concoction in his cauldron was far too turquoise in color and was emitting rather thick and distinctly-not-silvery fumes. The twins next to him weren't having much success either: Flora's potion was of correct color but had the consistency of wet concrete and appeared to be completely inert; Hestia's brew meanwhile was a bit too active and kept producing small reddish sparks from its bubbling surface. And those were still better than what many of their classmates ended up making.
Professor Slughorn didn't appear to be too disappointed by their failures, though.
And, truth to be said, the old Potions Master had actually expected this to some extent. He remembered Severus as an exceptionally gifted student of his, but also one that had a lot of trouble explaining even relatively-simple things to others. Apparently, becoming a teacher himself hasn't changed that much. He had heard many of his past students, who now had their own children or even grandchildren attend Hogwarts, complain about Severus's teaching methods which could often be summed up to 'follow instructions written on the board'.
While everyone in the classroom right now was decent at following the recipe, Professor Slughorn could see that pretty much none of them understood why certain things are done in a certain way, or how certain ingredients interact with each other, heat or other factors. It made them too dependent on step-by-step instructions, often to the point of needing to check their progress against the recipe every time they did something. And if a potion was very timing-sensitive - like the Draught of Peace he had asked them to brew - even those little delays could result in a failure to get the perfect brew.
Now, though, he knew what problems his students had, and could alter his lesson plans to fix those.
~/ *** \~
Later that afternoon, Harry made his way to Professor Snape's personal office in the dungeons. He still wanted to obtain his Head of the House's permission to leave the castle to complete his deal with the Messers Finewoods and right now looked like a good time to ask the man for it.
"Come in." The now-DADA Professor called from within his office once Harry had knocked on the door. "Ah, Mr. Potter, what can I do for you today?" The man then asked once Harry stepped inside.
"Sir, would it be possible for me to get permission to leave the castle for a few hours in a couple of weeks?" The green-eyed teen asked, getting straight to the point. Professor Snape was silent for a few long seconds before finally speaking:
"What for?" He asked simply.
"I need to complete a deal for a project of mine. It ran into a bit of delay and couldn't be finished before the summer's end. According to the workers I had hired for it, they still need two or three weeks to finalize everything." The Potter scion said, doing his best to explain the situation without actually giving any real details.
"And what exactly is this project of yours, Mr. Potter?" Professor Snape asked while giving the teen in front of him the look. One that made it quite clear that only the truth without omissions would be an acceptable answer.
"A house of my own, Sir." Harry said.
"Should I assume that you will be leaving the castle regardless of me giving you permission?" The Head of Slytherin asked next. He received only silence in response, but that was more than enough for him. "I see…" The man said with a sigh. "Very well." He continued after a short pause. "I will ask the Headmaster to grant you permission to leave the castle for a day, but I can't guarantee that he will meet you half-way." Harry nodded: this was about as much as he had expected to get from this meeting.
"Thank you, Sir." He said.
"Now get out." Professor Snape grumbled, apparently having reached his limit on dealing with all things Potter for the day.
"Yes, Sir." Harry said, correctly reading his Head of the House's mood. Then he backed away out of the man's office.
~/ *** \~
With little homework to do yet, Harry was able to spend the rest of his afternoon and early evening with Flora and Hestia. They even managed to sneak out of his little 'secret hideout' for a couple of hours, and had some less-than-chaste fun there.
Eventually though, the curfew time was upon them and, thus, it was the time for the young Potter to go perform his prefect duties. So he gave his girlfriends their good night kisses and then left the Slytherin common room, heading for the meeting spot he and Ms. Harris had agreed upon earlier. And he got there with maybe ten minutes to spare, yet the Hufflepuff prefect was already there.
"Hello." She greeted him.
"Good evening." Harry greeted back. Then, after a moment, he asked: "Shall we head out?"
"Let's." Amanda replied. And with that, Harry's first night patrol started.
And it was rather uneventful. Which, given that it was only the second day of school, wasn't entirely unsurprising. Even the more mischievous students - like the infamous Weasley twins - were still getting back into the rhythm of Hogwarts daily life and weren't big on breaking the curfew for their misdeeds yet. Thus, the biggest troublemakers Harry and Amanda had run into during their patrol were Peeves and a couple of portraits who, instead of sleeping, were a bit drunk and got rather enthusiastic about greeting the new prefects.
Eventually, the clock struck one in the morning and the patrol time was over. And while Ms. Harris had almost certainly headed for the Hufflepuff dormitories, Harry let his curiosity get the better of him and decided to take a look at the Prefects' bathroom first before finally retiring for the night.
As their patrol ended on the first floor next to the library, it took him a few minutes to make his way to his destination, which was on the fifth floor, not far away from the statue of Boris the Bewildered. Giving the enchanted lock the correct password, Harry opened the door and stepped inside. Immediately, Magical candles around the spacious room lit up, revealing the bathroom's splendor to him:
The room itself was really big, and almost everything in it, from tiled floor to fake columns 'supporting' its high ceiling, was made from white marble with some gilding and decorative gems here and there. Located in the middle of this space, there was a large tub - more like a small swimming pool - sunken into the floor. It was currently empty, but Harry has no doubts that it would quickly fill up if he were to play with some of the many golden bath taps located along its edge.
In addition to this not-quite swimming pool, the Prefects' bathroom also featured half a dozen shower stalls lined along one of the walls, and just as many toilets along the other. And situated next to the entrance, there was a space where one could change out of their clothes. A number of towels, bathrobes, and other bathing supplies could also be found there.
This place definitely looked great and Harry immediately found himself wishing he could bring Flora and Hestia there. It was against the rules, though. But… Those rules were not of the kind that were meant to ensure people's safety, so breaking them wouldn't be bad if he doesn't get caught, right?
While he had only a very basic knowledge of wards, Harry was still able to determine that the Prefect's bathroom had no wards to check that only approved students were within it. Nor were there any wards to actually prevent unauthorized students from entering. Anyone who knew the correct password could use the bathroom.
This certainly made his idea of bringing the twins here much easier.
There still was an obstacle he needed to find a way around, though: the currently-sleeping animated mermaid that inhabited the stained-glass windows of the Prefects' bathroom. There was a chance that she could be reporting misuse of the facility to the teachers. And even if not, the Potter scion wasn't sure he'd be comfortable taking a bath with someone who wasn't his girlfriends watching him.
He definitely needed to research Charms to freeze Magical portraits…
This thought was replaced by another one as he stifled a yawn: it was the time for him to head for the Slytherin dormitories. It was getting really late and he was quite tired after patrolling the castle for several hours. At least, tomorrow was Saturday so he didn't have to worry about oversleeping and could lie in as much as he wanted.
That's all, folks!
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