I'm not going to lie, I have no idea what to title this
(Disclaimer): Some lines are directly copied from Harry Potter. Credit for these lines goes to J.K Rowling
The next day, Harry woke up. He rubbed his bleary eyes and turned to his side. As usual, Shadow was still sleeping. Curled around the lampshade on the nightstand, he was completely passed out. Harry's body wanted to sleep longer, forever if possible, but Harry knew that it was probably time to go. He got his glasses from the other nightstand, and looked at the clock on the wall over the door.
"7:30 am. Shadow, wakey-wakey. Classes start at 8:30!"
"Huh?"
After spending 10 minutes waking up Shadow, Harry used the bathroom really quick, and then got down to the common room. They arrived at 7:45, just a little early, like Harry had planned. He started walking to the Great Hall, for breakfast, when he was stopped by a girl. She had shoulder length blonde hair and brown eyes. She smiled shyly at him.
"Yes?" Harry asked, not really sure what the girl wanted.
"Uhh, sorry, this is really forward. But if you don't mind me asking, what's up with the snake?"
She really is forward. Harry glanced down toward her hands, that kept fumbling around, and her feet, that were tapping about. I mean, it makes sense she's nervous. Who wouldn't be, when approaching a 2 foot snake draped around a kid's neck.
"His name's Shadow, and he's my familiar."
"Oh! A familiar! I've heard those are really rare. He's really cute by the way."
Her eyes grew big, and hopeful.
"Shadow," Harry said. "It kind of seems like she wants to hold you. Is that ok?"
"Hell yeah she can hold me! She just called me cute. Just make sure she gets my back. It's been aching for some petting."
"But I just pet your back this morning?"
"Morning shmorning! That was then and this is now. Now quit complaining and tell her to pet me!"
Harry sighed. He then turned to the girl, who was looking at him with amazement.
"OH MY GOD! Was that parseltongue! I can't believe you're a parselmouth. And you have a snake familiar! Of course you're in Slytherin."
Harry smiled.
"He says he's ok with it, so do you want to pet him?" Harry asked.
The girl's eyes went wide. She nodded excitedly, before extending her arms out. Shadow slithered off Harry's neck and onto her arms. He went up her arm and shoulder, and then back down again, making her giggle.
"Uhh, I think he wants you to pet him," Harry said.
Her eyes widened again. Seriously, how wide can her eyes get? Any more, and she'll explode! She started petting Shadow, and he settled down.
"A little lower…little more… Ohh, that's the spot…Oh yeah human, right there."
After hearing Shadow's disturbing dialogue a bit more, he looked at the clock on the wall, just above the fireplace.
"Oh! It's 8:00," Harry exclaimed. "We should probably get going."
The girl nodded.
"I've got to get to breakfast too," she said.
"Wanna come with," Harry asked?
She nodded. They went over to the Slytherin table. Blaise was already there, so they sat next to him. The girl introduced herself as Tracy Davis. After 5 minutes of talking and eating, Malfoy came. After 10 minutes of even more talking and eating, Daphne arrived. Her hair was all frazzled, and her clothes all wrinkled, like she had just gotten out of bed, 5 minutes ago. She sat down grumpily at the table, right as they were all done and about to leave.
"I woke up WAYYY too early," she grumbled.
"What are you talking about," Harry laughed. "You're late, and you're the last one here."
"Well I'm not a morning person!"
Daphne decided to take a sandwich on the go, or else they would be late. What should have taken them 3 minutes took them 10, due to them figuring out the castle. Each student was handed a schedule sheet that detailed where each class was. They reached at 8:25, 5 minutes early. Their first class of the day was Transfiguration, which was said to be one of the hardest classes. When they arrived, they found a Gryffindor, who they were sharing the class with. She was a bushy-haired girl sitting at a desk at the front of the class, reading one of the beginner textbooks on Transfiguration. There was a black cat on top of the teacher's desk, but there was no teacher. Harry and his friends took seats at the back of the class, right before most of the other students began to pile in, and take their seats. At 8:30, there were only 3 seats not filled. 2 student seats and one teacher seat. A few minutes later, 2 Gryffindor boys arrived, out of breath and panting. They stood, hands on knees, to catch their breath.
"Thank god McGonagall wasn't here," said the first one.
He had ginger-colored hair and freckles. He appeared to be wearing a hand-me-down robe that had a small sticker on the back, reading: 'Property of Gred and Forge.'
"Yeah, a second-year told me she's the meanest teacher here," said the second kid.
"Well," Harry started. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but she is here. She's the cat."
"Both the kids turned around to look at him. The second one started laughing, thinking he was making some kind of joke, while the first one stared at him a bit longer. Harry could see the gears turning in his head.
"Wait a minute," the first kid said. "You're Harry Potter! What are you doing in Slytherin? Don't you know all of Slytherin are no-good evil slimy snakes!"
"Woah dude!" Harry exclaimed, pushing both Blaise and Malfoy back into their seats as they began to rise up. "Lots to unpack there! Ok, three things. Number 1, not all Slytherins are bad. That is extremely racist, and extremely wrong. Number 2, I literally have a snake around my neck. He is my familiar, so I love snakes."
It was only then that the boy seemed to take in the snake around Harry's neck. He yelped, jumping back a few feet. Jesus, how clueless is this boy? He hasn't seen the snake until now!
"And Number 3, snakes aren't slimy, they're smooth."
The kid just muttered under his breath. Suddenly, the black cat on the teacher's desk jumped down, and transformed into Professor McGonagall.
"Mr. Weasley! Mr. Finnigan! 10 points each from Gryffindor for being late! And another 5 points from Gryffindor because of Mr. Weasley continuing to talk and disrupt my class instead of sitting down. And 15 points to Slytherin for Mr. Potter realizing I was an animagus. How did you manage it?"
"Well," Harry said. "I saw the dots around the cat's eyes looked distinctly like your spectacles, and you were sitting unnaturally still for a cat."
"Wow, you really figured it out from that?"
"No, a second-year told me," Harry said cheekily.
McGonagall rolled her eyes and started the lesson. After explaining how dangerous Transfiguration was, she instructed them to take copious notes. The whole lesson was quite boring and Harry found his attention drifting to the window outside, where he could see a field, with 6 hoops, 3 on either side, standing upright. He knew from Blaise and Malfoy that this was the Quidditch field. They had explained the sport with such genuine enthusiasm that Harry had become fascinated with it. Who wouldn't want to play mid-air soccer? After the lesson was over, Harry and the rest of his Slytherin went back to the dungeons, for Potions with Snape. It took them 10 of their 15 minute break to maneuver throughout the castle. Harry and his friends sat at the very back of the class. They had it again with the Gryffindors, who looked like they wanted to be anywhere but here. All the first-years had heard of the insane prejudice that Snape had against Gryffindors, while he favored his Slytherins. While Harry felt bad for the Gryffindors, he was happy to be on the better side of Snape's treatment.
Severus Snape was a man much more mature than in his younger years. He had realized that both James and he had done bad things to each other. He understood that now that James was dead, there was no point in letting the grudge stay beyond the grave. And when he heard that Harry Potter, Lily's child, would be coming to Hogwarts, he made it his mission to be as fair to the child as possible. For if the kid had half of Lily's potion genius, he would be a prodigy.
The dungeon doors opened as Snape walked inside, his cloak billowing behind him.
Harry raised an eyebrow. Dramatic.
"I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death."
The whole class sat silent as they watched Snape.
"WEASLEY! Tell me what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood!"
The entire class turned in their seats to stare at the freckled kid from earlier.
"I…I don't know," Weasley muttered, turning as red as his hair.
He doesn't know. That was on the second page! He obviously didn't do the recommended reading.
Meanwhile, the bushy haired girl was sticking her hand out as high as possible straining in her seat.
"Pitiful," Snape said. "Lets try again. Where would you look if I told you to find a bezoar?"
Again, Wesley's face went red, as the bushy haired girl raised her hand higher still. Harry shook his head. These were basic questions that were covered in the first chapter of the book.
"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
For the third time, Weasley was unable to answer the question. Harry could see his fellow classmates silently snickering at Weasley. However, Malfoy, who had long since given up on restraint, was laughing uproariously at Weasley.
"I'm not sure Professor, but I think Hermione knows," Weasley said, gesturing toward the bushy haired girl, who was now standing up from her chair.
"Enough! Asphodel and wormwood make a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death. Bezoars are found in the stomach of a goat, and monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, also going by the name of aconite. Copy that down!"
They spent the rest of the lesson making a simple potion to cure warts. It was quite boring, except for Neville's cauldron exploding. Though each lesson was supposed to be 1 hour and 15 minutes, this one felt a lot longer. By the end of the lesson, Gryffindor had lost 10 points, while Slytherin had gained 15. Harry and his friends filed out of the class with the rest of the students, heading toward Great Hall for lunch. Only halfway through the day, Harry and his friends were already tired. He filled up on some mac-and-cheese and garlic bread, before getting ready for the next class, Herbology. At 1pm, Harry and the rest of the class walked over to the gardens to meet Professor Sprout. Herbology, much like Transfiguration, started out on the dangers of the subject, before they were split into groups of 4 to start planting some Venomous Tentacula. Tracy left to join her other friends as Malfoy, Blaise, Harry, and Daphne paired up. While they struggled at first, they were able to get the stubborn plant in the pot at the end. Their last class of the day was Charms, taught by Professor Flitwick. Harry had heard that he was a former dueling champion, so he was excited for any magic that the Professor could teach him.
"Welcome, welcome!" a voice cried out. The students looked around, to where it was coming from. Suddenly, a tiny head popped up from behind the teacher's desk.
"Let's start with attendance shall we!"
Professor Flitwick started calling out names, but when he got to Harry's, he fell off his stand of books, and a few students had to rush over and help him. The lesson started with boring old notes, but got progressively better.
"Alright class," Flitwick called out. "Today I'm going to teach you a wand movement. It is composed of a swish, and a flick, and is therefore aptly named, the swish and flick."
After the class practiced the movement a few times, Professor Flitwick decided that they were ready. He came and placed a feather on each student's desk.
"Now, I want you to use the same movement we have been practicing, and at the same time, you will utter an incantation. The spell's name is the Levitation Charm, and the incarnation is, 'Wingardium Leviosa.'"
Excited, Harry tried it. On his first try, nothing happened. Disappointed, Harry tried again harder, tightening his wand movement and pronouncing incantation as best as he could. The feather moved up slightly. He could hear Hermione chastising Ron on the other Gryffindor side. On his 3rd try, he mustered up all of his intent, envisioning the feather flying.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Suddenly, the feather lifted up, floating, all the way to the top of the ceiling. Harry's heart was alight with surprise, and pride.
"Bravo!" Flitwick cheered, clapping. "Everyone, look here. Mr. Potter is the first one to cast the charm! 20 points to Slytherin!
Harry thanked Flitwick and looked across, seeing Hermione giving him a nasty glare. A few attempts later, she also got it, and gave Harry a smug look, as though she'd won something.
"How did you do that!" exclaimed Blaise.
He was panting from clenching his fists while trying to do the spell.
"Ok first," Harry started. "You're going to want to relax. Just focus on your intent. Envision the feather flying."
Blaise nodded and followed Harry's instructions. Soon his feather was floating to the ceiling too. After a while, Malfoy and Daphne also got it, earning Slytherin a total of 35 points. 20 for Harry, and 5 each for his friends. Gryffindor also earned 20 points, due to Hermione and the Patil twins. Harry liked how impartial Flitwick was. Finally, the lessons for the day were over, and they were able to retire to the common room. Dinner was from 6-8, so they had 2 hours of break. After playing some Exploding Snap with Zabini, and some Wizards Chess with Malfoy, he left for the library at 5. The library was something he had been eager to explore since hearing about Hogwarts. That may make him sound nerdy, but he wanted to learn about familiars. He knew that the relationship between Shadow and him was very rare, but the amount of books on the subject was disappointing. He hadn't expected much, but for the size of the Hogwarts library, it was disconcerting that there were only 2 books on the subject. The first book was called 'The Peculiar Nature of Familiar Bonds' by Evan Tomoker. Tomoker suggested that when an animal was bound to a human through the familiar relationship, they adopted human characteristics. The deeper the bond, the more severe these characteristics could be. For example, if a bond was quite weak, the animal may have some human tendencies, such as being polite and formal. However, if a bond was extremely strong, the animal might have a different biological structure altogether. For example, there have been cases where animals that usually only live 2-3 years, actually age along with the wizard, at an average human rate.
"Shadow! That's what you're doing."
"See. I knew our bond was the strongest."
The second book was named 'The Usefulness of Familiars' by James K. Wright. Wright stated that beside being loyal companions, familiars actually had certain powers that could be tapped into if the bond was strong enough. Essentially, each animal was a magical and better version of their species. For example, a wolf familiar would be extremely good at sensing sound, and it would be very fast. On the other hand, a snake familiar would be extremely good at sensing smell, vibrations, and magical presence, while it has bad hearing.
The list went on and on, with more animals and their pros and cons. To Harry, nothing seemed as useful as Shadow's ability. Sensing magical presence would make sure that no one could ever sneak up on them.
"Told you I was the coolest!"
They headed back to the common room, satisfied with what they had found. After a few more games of Exploding Snap, Harry and his friends left for dinner at 7, halfway through. His excitement at the end of food rations may have caused him to overeat, but that was what his dessert stomach was for. Harry excused himself from the dinner table to enjoy a well-deserved rest. He was fast asleep before he hit the bed.
A.N: 3000 WORDS. For me thats a lot. Come on, that deserves a review from each of you.
Hey guys, thanks so much for reading! Please Follow/Favorite, Share, and Review, it means a lot to me.
Thanks to aidabye77 to the first review ever. It motivated me a lot. Originally I was going to do the first and second day of learning in one chapter, but it got too long. I mean this is already long as hell. Lemme know how I can do better. Also, yes, I had no idea what to put for the title, so yea.
IMPORTANT: Also pls lemme know any pairings yall want me to do, but I'm not guaranteeing that I can do them.
Thanks for reading!