Tuesday, 5th September

Thankfully, their first Charms class was a refresher of the most commonly used spells, something which even Harry and his very limited wand usage could do. The real trouble began just before lunch when he had his first official Transfiguration class.

"You cannot pass an O.W.L." Professor McGonagall started grimly, "without serious application, practice, and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L. in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work".

Neville made a sad little disbelieving noise.

"Yes, you too, Longbottom" McGonagall continued, "There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So… today we are starting Vanishing spells. These are easier than Conjuring spells, which you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T. level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L.".

After transfiguring a piece of paper into a small white mouse, she demonstrated the correct wand movement, gave a sharp "Evanesco!" and the mouse on her desk vanished.

Harry blinked. If it were that easy to get rid of evidence, then why did Azkaban even exist?

"The more complex the animal, the more difficult the spell" McGonagall finished, turning back to them, "Which is why you shall be starting with snails. Since they're invertebrates, they are some of the easiest creatures to vanish. Over time, we shall work up to vanishing mice, rabbits, cats, and so on and so forth. Now. Take out your wands, and follow my instructions".

Fifteen minutes later, Harry set his jaw, gripping his wand tightly as he stared at the sluggish snail in front of him. Its slimy antennae waved lazily, mocking his inability to do something as simple as making it disappear. He could feel the magic inside him, buzzing and ready, like a coiled spring. He knew, deep down in his bones, that if he just reached out with his hands, just let his instincts guide him, the snail would vanish in an instant - but that wasn't the point.

"Evanesco" he muttered, giving his wand the required flick and swish.

Nothing happened.

Harry gritted his teeth. His classmates around him were having varying levels of success, though he noticed that Hermione's snail was already gone and she was dutifully practising on a second one with a look of intense concentration - as was Theo. Ron, on the other hand, was poking at his snail with the tip of his wand, muttering under his breath about how disgusting it was whereas Neville seemed to be taking a sort of vindictive glee in trying to vanish the "plant killer", as he called it. Next to Harry, Blaise was frowning in concentration, but at least his snail actually looked scared of him - Harry's appeared to be laughing.

"Evanesco!" he repeated. The snail oozed forward, clearly unimpressed.

"Potter" McGonagall's voice came from behind him, calm but firm, "Relax your grip. You're holding your wand as if it might attack you. Magic flows more easily when you are not forcing it".

He took a deep breath, loosening his hold on the wand. He could feel McGonagall watching him, her gaze sharp but not unkind.

"Evanesco" he said again, this time trying to channel the spell through his wand instead of around it. He felt a faint tremor of magic, but the snail remained stubbornly solid.

"It's not enough to say the words and make the movement" McGonagall said, her voice low so only he could hear, "You must believe the snail is gone, Potter. Visualization is key. Magic responds to intent".

Magic responded however the hell he wanted it to respond! Wasn't using a wand just distancing its relationship with the wizard? Creating a barrier between their intent and their spell energy? If Harry was doing this wandlessly, then he wouldn't have to visualize anything - he'd simply wish for the snail to vanish, and it would bloody well vanish!

"Evanesco!" he said sharply.

The snail shimmered. It flickered for a moment as if caught between existing and not, before resolidifying, looking thoroughly annoyed at the disturbance.

Harry groaned, resisting the urge to slam his head onto the desk. "This is impossible!"

"It is not" McGonagall said briskly, though her tone softened slightly, "Magic is a discipline, Potter, one that you are still adjusting to in its formal practice. You have power, clearly, but it must be harnessed properly. You made remarkable progress in our session yesterday-"

"I can't even vanish a bloody snail!" he interrupted, irritated, "How is that remarkable?"

McGonagall raised an eyebrow, her mouth twitching as if to suppress a smile. "Because, Potter, a mere three weeks ago you had never cast a spell with a wand at all. You have taught yourself a great deal - a tremendous feat in itself - but that means you are unlearning bad habits as well as forming new ones. This is no small task, especially at your age".

He sighed, slumping slightly. He glanced at his classmates. Blaise's snail was half-vanished, only its tail still visible. Neville's was untouched but looked very alarmed as Neville began waving his wand like a cricket bat. Hermione was now helping Ron, whose snail was defiantly sticking to his desk.

"Try again" McGonagall said gently, "This time, imagine the snail as part of the desk. When you vanish it, you're simply erasing part of the whole".

Harry frowned but lifted his wand, trying to focus on her advice. He took another breath, steadied his hand, and let his magic flow.

"Evanesco!"

The snail shuddered and disappeared, leaving a faintly glistening mark where it had been.

"I did it" he said, surprised, and then-

The snail reappeared exactly where it had been before, looking somewhat traumatised and twice as pissed off. This time, Harry really did drop his head onto his desk with a groan, half expecting the stubborn little beast to charge at him and eat his hair in retaliation.

"Keep practising, Potter" McGonagall said, and he could hear the smile in her voice, "Consistency is key".

By the end of class, only Hermione and Theo had succeeded at vanishing their snails completely, and just as Harry was about to leave for a much-needed lunch break, McGonagall called him back.

He half-expected her to go back on their deal - say that he wasn't intelligent enough, capable enough, good enough to be in her class and that perhaps he'd feel more comfortable joining the first years or even just dropping out of Hogwarts altogether. Instead, both to his relief and horror, she simply sat down behind her desk, pinned him in place with her steely gaze, and said, "I hear that Professor Umbridge has given you a detention".

Harry sighed, heavily. "... Yeah. She has".

"Potter-"

"I know!"

McGonagall's lips thinned as she gave him a very stern look indeed. "If you know, then why did you go against my advice? I told you not to antagonise her!"

"And I didn't! She antagonised me! She just-" Harry cut himself off and took a deep, calming breath before continuing. "She said some truly awful things about someone that I… care about. But I listened to what you said and I kept my head down and I kept my mouth shut! The entire class was arguing with her but I ignored them, and then she singled me out directly, twice, and I just… I couldn't let her win, professor. Not after what she said. I couldn't give her that satisfaction".

McGonagall studied him for a moment with dark, knowing eyes.

"... I've been led to believe that you are not a hotheaded young man".

"I'm really not".

"... Then based on what you've told me, Potter, I can only presume that she had it coming". There was a small, amused smile on her face. "But don't let it happen again!"

"I've already been warned off by Remus, ma'am, and I'm sure I'll get an earful from Snape before the weeks out".

"Professor Snape" she corrected lightly, "Very well. See to it that you ignore her… provoking in the future, Potter".

With an agreeable nod, he gladly turned and left, pleasantly surprised to find Blaise and Theo both waiting for him in the corridor.

"What did McGonagall want?" the taller boy immediately demanded, "She wasn't giving you trouble over your wand work, was she? She better not have! The fact you're even capable of joining her class in the first place is-"

"She wasn't criticising me, Blaise" he replied tiredly as they started towards the Great Hall, "She actually wanted to pat me on the head for what I said to Umbridge. I think she'd have given me a biscuit if she had any on her".

Zabini shook his head in mock disgust. "Barely one foot in the door and you've already got every single professor wrapped around your little finger".

"Not Umbridge" Theo said dryly.

"No, not Umbridge - but does she really count as a professor?"

"Good point".

After a blissfully drama-free lunch, Harry was led outside for the first time for their Care of Magical Creatures class. Since Blaise didn't take this elective, and apparently neither did Greengrass, he and Theo walked down together.

The air was cold, but refreshingly so, and Harry was amazed by how beautiful the land surrounding the castle was. As they walked down the sloping lawn toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they felt the occasional drop of rain on their faces.

Hagrid stood a few meters from what Harry assumed was the half-giant's hut, and in front of him was a long trestle table laden with many twigs. They looked like tiny pixies made of wood, each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twig-like fingers at the end of each hand, and a funny, flat, barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.

Harry couldn't help but grin - he'd already met one of these creatures before.

"Alrigh', settle down, yeh lot!" boomed Hagrid, scattering what looked like a handful of wriggling brown grains across the table, "Now then - who can tell me what these little fellas are?"

Both Hermione and Harry raised their hands, but Hagrid called on him with a wide bushy smile.

"Bowtruckles".

"Tha's right! Bowtruckles!" he said, beaming. "Guardians o' trees, they are, an' they make their homes in wand-trees most o' the time. Five points to Slytherin!"

"That's the first time I've ever heard him say that" Theo muttered next to him, and Harry frowned. "Really? He's never given you points before?"

"He doesn't tend to call on us where there are, uh… better options" Theo whispered back, subtly nodding at Hermione who stood a few feet in front of them.

"Now, what d'ye reckon they eat?" Hagrid continued, "Hermione?"

"Woodlice" she said confidently, "But fairy eggs if they can get them".

"Spot on!" Hagrid exclaimed, his grin widening, "Take five points fer Gryffindor, why don' yeh?"

"That's more like it" Theo muttered again.

"Yeh see, these little creatures love a nice pile o' woodlice, but if there's fairy eggs about, they'll go fer those faster than yeh can say 'bowtruckle'".

Harry's brow furrowed as he considered Theo's words. He glanced at Hermione, who was standing straight-backed and beaming after earning Gryffindor points. It wasn't that she didn't deserve them - from what he'd seen so far, Hermione almost always had the right answer - but Theo wasn't wrong either.

Hagrid hadn't even looked their way when he'd asked his second question, though Harry had also known the answer and he'd seen Davis's hand go up too. And now that Theo had pointed it out, Harry couldn't help but wonder... was Hagrid even aware of how one-sided his enthusiasm seemed? Or was this just how it was? Did all the teachers unconsciously - or not-so-unconsciously - favour Gryffindor and the other "good" Houses over Slytherin?

He thought back to his classes so far. McGonagall had been fair, but stern, and Flitwick had seemed genuinely delighted when Harry managed to levitate a feather. Even Professor Sprout, who Harry had yet to have a class with, had smiled warmly at him when they'd discussed him likely being sorted into Slytherin. None of them seemed overtly prejudiced, but there was still an unmistakable anti-Slytherin undercurrent in the school itself, among the students especially.

Hagrid's booming voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts.

"Now, if yeh ever need leaves or wood from a tree one o' these critters lives in, yeh better bring 'em somethin' tasty like woodlice" Hagrid continued, gently prodding a bowtruckle on the table, "They might be little, but they can be nasty if yeh upset 'em. Got fingers sharp enough ter poke yer eyes out!"

"Charming" Theo said under his breath.

"Right then!" Hagrid clapped his massive hands together, the sound echoing across the grounds. "Gather round, grab yerselves some woodlice, an' take a bowtruckle - one per group. We'll be lookin' at their features today, so I'll be expectin' sketches by the end of class. Make sure yeh label all the parts!"

The class surged forward around the trestle table. Collecting a bowtruckle, Harry and Theo found a spot on the grass to set it down for them to draw.

"Do you think he realizes he's doing it?" Harry asked quietly, taking out his quill.

Theo glanced at him, brow raised. "Hagrid? No, probably not. But it doesn't really matter if he does, does it? It's just... the way things are. Gryffindor gets the glory, and Slytherin gets the suspicion".

He frowned, smoothing out the parchment as their bowtruckle tried to climb onto it. "It shouldn't be like that, though".

"No" Theo agreed, his tone dry, "But it is. So unless you're planning to charm every teacher in the castle, you might as well get used to it".

Harry's frown deepened. Charm every teacher? No, that wasn't the plan. But he'd be damned if he let people look at him - or his House - with that same suspicious dismissal forever.

An hour later, they were trooping across the grounds to Herbology. There were three greenhouses full of strange and wonderful plants, although Theo quietly warned him that the third greenhouse was firmly off-limits to students due to the dangerous, venomous plants it held.

Harry wanted to explore that one immediately.

As they approached, the door of the nearest greenhouse opened and some fourth years spilt out of it, including Ginny and Luna, who had a smudge of earth on her nose. When she saw Harry, her eyes widened and she made a beeline straight for him.

"The Dabberblimps told me you've been talking back to a Heliopath".

He blinked. "A Heliopath? That's the… fire spirit, right?"

"Right" she said matter of factly, "It tried to control you even though it shouldn't have and you talked back to it so now you're in trouble".

"... With a Heliopath?"

"Yes". Luna was wearing what looked like a pair of orange radishes for earrings. "The fire spirit".

Harry was beyond confused, and even Ginny was giving her friend a worried frown. Theo, on the other hand, seemed amused.

"This Heliopath wouldn't happen to wear a lot of pink, would it?"

Luna positively beamed at him. "Yes! It does! Have the Dabberblimps been talking to you too?"

"I don't think so" he admitted slowly, "But I agree with what you said about the Heliopath. She- It really is trying to control things it shouldn't".

"Were you there when Harry talked back to it?"

"I was".

"And you didn't stop him?" Now, Luna looked more annoyed than delighted. "Even though you know that Heliopaths don't like being talked back to?!"

"Well… in my defence, I didn't know that it was a Heliopath until a few minutes ago".

"Oh". Her expression immediately cleared. "Well, that's alright then. At least now you know. Come along, Ginny".

The redhead and Harry traded an equally confused and bewildered look before Luna took her hand and dragged her back up to the castle.

"What was all that about?" he asked Theo as they stepped into the greenhouse, but the boy merely smiled, almost secretively, and shook his head. "Don't worry; you'll work it out soon enough".

To nobody's surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of O.W.L.s. Harry wished all the teachers would stop doing this; he was starting to get an anxious, twisted feeling in his stomach every time he remembered how much homework he already had to do, a feeling that worsened dramatically when Sprout gave them yet another essay at the end of class.

Tired and smelling strongly of dragon dung - Sprout's preferred brand of fertilizer - they trooped back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of them talking very much; it had been another long day.

As Harry was starving, and he had his first detention with Umbridge at five o'clock, he headed straight for dinner without dropping off his bag in the dungeons so that he could eat something before facing whatever she had in store for him. At five to five Harry bade the others goodbye and set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. Blaise had given him a mock fearful look as he'd left, but Theo's matching expression seemed genuine enough to make Harry somewhat worried - it was just a detention, right? She couldn't actually… hurt him, could she?

He'd already asked Sirius and Remus about it a few days before he'd left for Hogwarts - subtly, of course, but he knew that his godfather at least had seen through the act. Either way, they had both reassured him that the worst possible punishment he could get was writing lines or polishing trophies or scrubbing cauldrons. In extreme cases, Hagrid would bring a student into the Forbidden Forest with him to collect plants or check on animals, but honestly, that would've been more like a reward than a punishment to Harry who would gladly take any excuse to explore the dark woods.

So. He would be fine. This wasn't St Brutus and it certainly wasn't the Dursleys. All he had to do was appear remorseful, do what she told him to, and be as pleasant and amicable as possible - if for no other reason then it would drive Umbridge absolutely demented despite him not breaking any rules.

He knocked on the door.

"Come in" said a sugary voice, and Harry allowed himself one last full-body shudder before pushing it open and stepping inside.

Although he'd never been in this particular room before, he was fairly certain that this wasn't its default setting. Every surface had been draped in lace cloths, there were several vases of dried flowers, and the walls were decorated with ornamental plates that had mewing kittens. It truly was a horrible, horrible sight.

"Good evening, Mr Potter".

Harry glanced over at the woman who was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended in with the tablecloth on her desk.

"Good evening, Madam Umbridge" he replied calmly, inwardly smirking as her eyes briefly narrowed in annoyance.

"Well, sit down!" she snapped, pointing toward a small table draped in lace. A piece of blank parchment lay on it, apparently waiting for him, and he obediently took his seat.

"Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr Potter, and you're going to be using a rather special quill of mine. Here you are". She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point. "I want you to write 'I must not tell lies'".

"How many times?" Harry asked politely.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in" Umbridge said, sweetly, "Off you go".

She moved over to her desk, sat down, and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill and then realised what was missing.

"You haven't given me any ink".

"Oh, you won't need ink" she said, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice - like that wasn't ominous as fuck.

There was definitely something going on here.

Harry placed the point of the quill on the paper and carefully wrote: I must not tell lies. He froze. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry's right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.

It's not like St Brutus, Sirius said; nothing bad will happen to you, Remus said; you'll be safe there, Dumbledore said.

The locket against his chest burned.

So this was her plan - making him write with a blood quill. The pink toad was probably staring at him as he wrote, waiting for his reaction, waiting for the outrage and pain and fear.

Well, he thought grimly, returning the quill to the parchment, she'll be waiting a long time for that. Keeping his head down, determined not to even glance in her direction, he continued to write.

Darkness fell outside Umbridge's window.

Harry wasn't sure how long he'd been writing for, and he sure as hell wasn't about to ask when he could stop. Again and again, he wrote the words on the parchment with his own blood, and again and again the words were cut into the back of his hand, healed, and then reappeared the next time he set quill to parchment.

He could feel Umbridge's beady little eyes burning into him with a mix of frustration and hatred - he wasn't playing her game, after all, and that infuriated her to no end.

Good.

On and on he wrote. He wondered if he'd be allowed to keep the parchment afterwards; he didn't like the thought of Umbridge having something with his blood on it. Maybe he could convince her to let him keep it, make up some lie about wanting a reminder - Harry quickly had to bite back a snort as he suddenly remembered that not lying was kind of the whole point of this punishment, to begin with.

"Stop!"

Oh. Evidently, he hadn't hidden his amusement well enough.

"Professor?" he asked, furrowing his brows in feigned confusion as he finally looked up at her, "Would you like me to write something else?"

She was livid.

"No, Mr Potter, I would not!" she spat, before abruptly closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Harry was somewhat disappointed to realise she successfully calmed herself, despite what implications her anger could have for him.

"That will be all for now" Umbridge finally said, "Leave the quill on your desk and get out!"

He deftly slipped the parchment into his bag and hurried away without glancing back once.

The school was deserted; it was surely past midnight. On his way down to the dungeons, Harry cast a cleaning charm on his hand and school jumper, removing all traces of blood.

He was mildly irritated to realise that he didn't know any healing spell strong enough to close wounds like this - and that was assuming, of course, that a standard charm could heal wounds made by a Dark artefact. The problem was, Harry had never learned any healing charms. At St Brutus, he'd quickly learned his lesson when it came to healing the various cuts and scrapes caused by the older boys - namely; he didn't. Not only was removing the bruises potentially risking the muggle Statute of Secrecy, but they'd always taken it as a challenge to beat him up twice as bad the next time they crossed paths, just to "make sure the lesson stuck".

As long as it takes for the message to sink in.

Shaking his head in disgust, he took the steps two at a time, feeling decidedly… angsty and wanting the increased safety that the Slytherin dorm room provided. Evidently, Sirius and Remus had been wrong. Corporal punishment was a thing at Hogwarts, as he'd just experienced firsthand.

Firsthand.

Harry snorted despite himself before stopping in front of a familiar stretch of stone wall and clearly saying, "Asphodel". He was pleased when his voice came out level.

Misbehaviour in Dolores Umbridge's class could cost you much more than House points and a detention, McGonagall had told him, and she'd been right too. He supposed it still wasn't as bad as the beatings he used to get at St Brutus though, and it was definitely a far sight better than how the Dursleys used to punish him. At least here at Hogwarts, he could go back to an actual bed afterwards - and with a full stomach too.

Stepping into the common room, and feeling immediately more at ease with the solid wall shut behind him once more, he headed for the roaring fireplace across the room. Given the late hour, he wasn't surprised that the dorm was empty - or so he thought.

"That" Harry said, pulling up short, "is a snake".

Tracey Davis looked at him, looked down at the snake she was sitting next to in front of the fire, and then looked back up at him again.

"... Do you want to hold her?"

"Obviously!"

Happily sitting down on the rug next to her, Harry held out his arm and Davis expertly scooped up the snake from the floor and placed it's head gently in his hand. It was pale and skinny but long, with bright orange patterns on its scales that almost looked like diamonds. As it began to slowly wrap its way around his arm, the snake's tongue flickered out, scenting him. Harry wondered distantly if it could smell his blood.

"Hello beautiful" he murmured, careful to speak in English, turning his arm to keep her head in his line of vision. The rest of Hogwarts was already painting him as a budding Dark Lord - the last thing he needed was for word of his Parseltongue abilities to get out and add fuel to the flames.

"She's a strawberry corn snake" Davis explained, "So she's not venomous, don't worry".

"I honestly wouldn't even care if she was" he admitted, "She's gorgeous. What's her name?"

"Kaa". Davis grimaced. "Original, I know, but I first watched The Jungle Book when I was, like, three years old and I've been obsessed with snakes ever since so when I finally convinced my parents to let me get a pet snake when I was eight… Well, I ended up naming her after the very first snake that I ever saw - even if it was just a cartoon one".

"I've never seen The Jungle Book" he admitted, staring in awe at the snake's warm amber-brown eyes as she reached his shoulder, "But I think it's a pretty cool name. You said you got her when you were eight? So that makes her…"

"Seven" she replied, smiling, "Give or take. Corn snakes only live to about seven in the wild, but as a pet, they can live for twenty, twenty-five years or even more! So she's got a good few years left in her yet".

"I'll say". Harry watched as Kaa finally got bored of him and started wrapping herself around his arm once more, this time moving from shoulder to wrist until her entire body had overlapped itself. "She's fully grown then?"

"Thankfully". Davis nodded. "When I first got her, of course, she was tiny! My mum's alright around her but my dad is terrified of snakes so when she started growing…"

"He didn't realise just how big corn snakes get" he finished, smirking, "She's, what? Four or five feet long?"

The girl held out her arm again and Kaa happily slithered onto her palm, beginning the slow but sure process of wrapping around her owner instead.

"One-hundred-and-forty-two centimetres" she said proudly, not unlike a new mother revealing the weight of their baby, "But she's only an inch wide, so you can't really call her big, you know? Or so I keep telling dad. That's why she's here at Hogwarts with me - my mum travels a lot for work and I can't ask him to look after her so I just… sort of… smuggled her in back in first year. I'd be lost without her".

Harry was starting to realise that Tracey felt the same way about snakes as Theo did about time travel.

"You won't… tell anyone, right?" she suddenly asked, looking nervous, "Outside of Slytherin, I mean! Everyone here already knows about her and they don't mind but… well, snakes aren't actually allowed at Hogwarts and even though there are a ton of Gryffindors with weird pets, the rules that apply to them don't really apply to us so if a professor finds out that I have her or, Merlin forbid, Dumbledore finds out then-"

"I won't tell a soul" Harry promised, cutting her off gently, "I love snakes, and I wouldn't let them take her off of you just because of some stupid rule! I mean, you've had her since you were a kid so clearly you know how to look after her, and she's not bothering anyone so there's nothing to tell".

She visibly relaxed at Harry's words, her shoulders lowering and a small smile returning to her face. Kaa flicked her tongue out as though sensing the change in mood, coiling more snugly around Davis's arm.

"Thanks, Potter" she said softly, "I know it's not really a big deal, but I've had her so long now, she's like family. I couldn't bear to stay here without her".

"Call me Harry" he replied, leaning back on his hands, "And don't worry, I get it".

"Tracey, then". She grinned, ignoring Kaa as she rose up to stare curiously at one of the girl's red curls. "You, uh, you like snakes then? I know we're in the House of snakes and all, but some people here still freak out when they see her".

"I love snakes" he reassured, "I love most animals, really. Except for dogs. I don't like dogs. But I've always loved snakes. I met a boa constrictor in a zoo once and set him on my muggle cousin".

Tracey looked briefly horrified so Harry quickly continued.

"Not on purpose! I was still a kid - it was accidental magic. But my cousin was a right bully and he'd been slamming on the glass of the poor snake's enclosure for ages and it was obvious that the boa was annoyed about it, so I just… you know…"

"Set loose a nine-foot-long snake on a muggle child" she finished dryly, "Accidentally".

"Accidentally" he agreed, "And to be fair, I'm younger than my cousin so you can hardly call him the poor innocent child in that scenario. He didn't even get eaten!"

Tracey stared at him for a moment, her expression somewhere between incredulity and amusement, before bursting out laughing. Kaa's head bobbed curiously at the sudden sound, and Harry gave a sheepish grin, glad she wasn't horrified anymore.

"Well, remind me to never annoy you in front of a snake" she said, brushing her hair behind her ear once Kaa lost interest in it, "I'd like to keep all of my limbs intact, thank you very much".

"Don't worry - you'd have to really deserve it. And besides, Kaa seems like she's got better manners than most humans I know".

Tracey smirked, gently stroking the snake's body as the snake nestled contentedly around her arm. "She really does, doesn't she? Especially if those humans include a few we go to school with… You're really okay with her being here?"

"Of course I am" Harry promised, "She's gorgeous and clearly well-behaved, and I love snakes so why wouldn't I be okay with her? Personally, I've always thought snakes have a bad rep for no reason. They're always misunderstood; people just assume they're all dangerous or evil or whatever because of the stereotypes without even spending time with them!"

Tracey hummed. "I agree. Snakes are kind of like us, don't you think?"

He blinked, caught off guard. "Like us?"

"Slytherins" she clarified, smiling, "Everyone thinks we're plotting world domination or something, but really, most of us just want to get through the day without people whispering about us behind our backs".

"That's a good point" he conceded, "Although, to be fair, some of us actually are plotting world domination, so…"

Tracey laughed, her pale eyes glinting in the firelight. "True - according to the Daily Prophet, at least… You know, I have to say, Harry, you're not at all what I expected".

"Yeah. I get that a lot" he replied dryly, "But am I better or worse than what you expected?"

"Oh, better, definitely! I was worried that the Sorting Hat made some sort of mistake and we'd have to put up with the bloody Golden Boy complaining about everything we did!" She rolled her eyes. "Kind of like Malfoy, actually, only… righteous, and… worse".

"Well, that's an insult if I've ever heard one".

She grinned, nudging him playfully with her foot. "What can I say? I grew up listening to people talk about Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. You were supposed to be this perfect heroic Gryffindor. But instead, you're just... you".

"Thanks… I think".

"It's a compliment" she assured him, watching Kaa as the snake flicked her tongue curiously toward Harry's hand once more, "You're way more tolerable than Malfoy is, at least".

"Well, that's a pretty low bar, but I guess I'll take it".

She snorted. "Alright, yeah, fair point, but… I mean it. Really. You're good people, Potter - you gave us a chance. Most people don't see past the House stereotypes, you know? But you don't seem to care much about any of that".

"I guess I don't" Harry said with a shrug, "I mean, I've been judged by a title since I got here and it's exhausting. Honestly, I was more worried about how you guys would judge me based on the Boy Who Lived stereotypes than I was about anything else".

"Well, you are decidedly the exact opposite of what we all grew up on, so we kind of had to leave our preconceptions of you behind".

"And I grew up in the muggle world meaning I had no preconceptions about Slytherins" he finished, "So I guess we both started with a clean slate".

Tracey slowly nodded, lowering her hand to the rug they were sitting on so that Kaa could slither closer to the fire.

"Do you like it here?" she asked suddenly, "Being in Slytherin, I mean. I can't imagine it's very easy for you given… well… you know…"

"The fact that the majority of those who murdered my parents, including the man who dealt the killing blow himself, came from Slytherin?"

She winced. "Yeah. That".

Harry frowned, considering. "I do like it here - as much as I can, anyway, given that everything is new and different and, quite frankly, terrifying, but… I don't know. The fact that all of those people did come from this House is… inconsequential to me, really. I mean, if they all happened to have dark hair, then would you be asking me if I had a vendetta against all brunettes? Of course not, because that would be ridiculous! It's the same thing with their Hogwarts House".

Tracey studied him for a moment, her expression thoughtful. "That's… a really mature way of looking at it, actually. I think a lot of people would have trouble separating the actions of individuals from the House they belonged to. Most people aren't really great at nuance like that".

"Yeah, I've noticed" he replied with a sigh, watching the firelight flicker over Kaa's smooth scales, "It's easier to blame a group than deal with the fact that some people are just awful regardless of where they come from".

"... Well, that's depressing" Tracey said abruptly, "Alright, enough of this heavy talk. You're starting to get all broody on me, and that's Theo's job".

Harry laughed, grateful for the change of tone. "Fair enough. A different topic then - what are you doing down here so late?"

"I wanted to spend some time with Kaa" she replied, shrugging, "I have to keep her in her enclosure during the day while I'm in class and I feel bad that she's locked up all the time, so I try to let her out for as long as possible in the evenings… What about you? It was well after curfew by the time you returned; if Professor Snape had caught you, he'd have skinned you alive!"

"Tell me about it". He grimaced, absently flexing his right hand. "I had detention with Umbridge".

"Oh, right, yeah, after the whole… shouting match thing".

"It was hardly a shouting match! I didn't even raise my voice!"

"No, but she did" Tracey countered, "Ouch. An entire night with Umbridge - I most certainly do not envy you".

"It wasn't so bad" Harry replied, only half-lying, "She just had me write lines for the evening. It was… boring, really".

"Still, though. Even just being in her presence would've had me breaking out in hives". She shuddered overdramatically, causing him to laugh. "Yeah, it, uh… it wasn't exactly pleasant-"

His sentence was interrupted by a large yawn. The adrenaline from Umbridge's detention had well and truly worn off, leaving him acutely aware of how tired he was.

"Well" he said, sitting up straighter and brushing his hands on his robes, "as much as I'd love to stay here and chat all night, I should probably head up to bed. If I don't get at least a few hours of sleep, I'll end up fainting in Potions or something, and I don't think Snape would ever let me forget it".

Tracey smirked. "No, he would not. And knowing him, he'd probably give you another detention for good measure. You'd better go before you lose us a few House points - along with your sanity".

He snorted and pushed himself up from the rug. "Thanks for letting me meet Kaa. She's incredible".

Tracey glanced at the snake, who had coiled comfortably near the fire. "She likes you, I can tell. Kaa doesn't let just anyone hold her, you know".

"I'll take that as the highest compliment" he replied, only half teasing, before turning to leave.

"Harry?"

He glanced back at her, eyebrows raised.

"Thanks" Tracey said, quietly, "For agreeing to not tell anyone about her and for not judging me for smuggling her in here. It- It means a lot".

He shrugged, offering her a genuine smile. "Like I said, I get it… I'll see you tomorrow, Tracey".

"Goodnight, Harry" she replied, her smile warm.

He made his way toward the boys' dormitory, the flickering light of the fireplace fading behind him. By the time he reached his bed and pulled the curtains closed Harry was more than ready to fall into a nice, long, dreamless sleep despite the persistent ache in his hand.

Day two down. Only ten more months to go.