A/N: 18 Chapters. Officially the longest story I've participated in in review, follows, word length, and number of chapters. That is so awesome! I hope everyone enjoyed the twist of the last chapter. I have a few more planned for you all but it may be awhile before we get to them. I hope you all stay tuned for more! And the fact that I updated 2 hours ago and already received 9 reviews is freakin awesome. I feel like you guys are devouring these as quick as I can whip them up. Also. There are differences in this timeline. Little things. 95% of them are intentional on my part for how I want the story to flow. Even Harry doesn't notice them. The Runes as well are going to be different than the canon explanation of them. So please don't send me flaming PMs saying I'm breaking from canon. I did that in the first chapter, it's literally the basis of the whole story.
And away we go!
Chapter 19: Learning, Lessons, and Love Interests.
Harry took a deep breath, and spoke. "Professor I… I don't think that I should accept the Time Turner. Please hear me out before you're upset. It's not that I don't think that I can handle the workload, but in addition to being a student I am now a Lord, a businessman, a public figure, and I'm responsible for the well-being of other students now. I think that balancing all of that would not be good for any of the parties involved. When I came to you earlier this summer I was excited by the new developments my life had taken at the time and wanted to see if I could do this but a lot has changed since then and it's simply not plausible for me anymore. Would it be possible, instead, to drop Divination and trade my Free Period for one of the remaining 3 classes? I'm willing to try and test above a 3rd year level, if that will make it easier for that class."
McGonagall looked shocked to hear Harry turn down the Time Turner. And a bit annoyed. She had gone out on a limb for the boy and pulled a lot of things together for him to have that chance. She almost commented to such an effect, until she thought more about his words. It wouldn't be the first time that someone had turned down the extra electives after having a summer to think about it, and she would be the first to admit that the boy had a lot on his plate. She sighed in resignation, and thought for a moment. Ancient Runes would likely be the best class to switch out for Harry's Free Period, it was one of the most popular electives and therefore one of the few with 2 classes. Care of Magical Creatures would also work, but she'd already received quite a few dropouts by those concerned with Hagrid teaching and may end up needing to combine the classes as it were. She glanced longingly at her drawer that had a bottle of Ogden's Finest, knowing it would likely be a long night with quite a few Timetable updates. What was one more, even if that one more was slightly more complicated than the rest.
"Very well, Mr. Potter. It saddens me to see you not at least attempt it for a few weeks but I also understand where you are coming from. I will be expecting more from you however as you will have days almost as full with less time for homework. I will be most cross if I hear you flagging behind and causing me even more trouble." McGonagall acquiesced to his request.
"However," McGonagall spoke once more, "There are rules for this. You will need to swear an Unbreakable Vow not to reveal that Ms. Granger will be using the Time Turner. This is a rule set forth by the Department of Mysteries, to protect knowledge of these extremely rare artifacts. It is a simple Vow, with strict wording to only pertain to that."
Hermione looked shocked by Harry stepping away from the classes, she had thought that she would be having a companion in those classes and was honestly a bit upset at Harry for not telling her he was planning this. It occurred to her though that he was probably deciding this now after hearing the strictness involved with the Time Turners. She would simply talk to him about it later, Hermione knew that she had no control over Harry's actions.
Thinking hard about the Unbreakable Vow Harry asked if he could read it first. He stared long and hard at it before agreeing, wishing that it weren't necessary. His hand linked with McGonagall's and their wands came up.
***Break***
Harry walked with Hermione over to the Gryffindor Common Room. They were quiet, Harry lost in thought as he thought about what he would do with his busier days. There would be a lot of 1 hour nights, that was for sure.
"What made you do that, Harry?" Hermione asked the boy, her book for once not in her hand.
"Honestly? Daphne and Astoria. I have a lot on my plate now, stuff that I did not have at the beginning of this summer when I made the decision to take extra classes. It just didn't seem like a good idea to wear myself down both at school and out with business letters, Lord duties, and making sure that Astoria has the proper care while she is at school. It only cost me a class, though." Harry explained some of why he had gone this route, unable to tell Hermione the full reason and his fear of causing a Rupture only to lose his Gamer abilities.
Hermione nodded at his mention of only having one less class now. She felt for the boy with the loss of the Free Period. That was quality homework and study time that he would be missing now.
"I guess that's true... What about what happened with Fred and George?" Hermione moved on to her next curious question. Harry filled her in on the short exchange that he had had with the Twins. At her request he also showed her the Marauder's Map and was suitably impressed by the Charmwork that must have gone into it. This sparked a debate on Charms that lasted until they reached the Common Room
***Break***
Astoria looked around in awe at the spacious and, currently, loud Gryffindor Common Room. There was a fire in the hearth, and plenty of tables spread around the outer edge, and it gave the room a cozy vibe. She drew a lot of parallels, for obvious reasons, to the color scheme of some Harry's furniture and his room in particular. Astoria could see for herself why he chose to mimic the area. Normally such a thing would make her happy, a new place with new sights and new people. But people were avoiding her. It was subtle, and if she wasn't so in tune with the energy of the room she might have missed it. Even Romilda Vane who she had been delighted to see join Gryffindor from her boat ride was making herself scarce.
It puzzled her for a moment, why the usually welcoming Lions would show hints of ostracizing her but then Astoria realized why it was. Harry. They weren't doing it out of fear of him, but misplaced respect. Astoria made the connection since Harry was not here yet that they were being cautious about approaching her. Not for a reason like disliking her, which she would have lived with, but because it seemed as if they wanted to ask Harry's permission to be around her. How utterly frustrating. And Astoria understood that there was honestly little that she could do about it on the first day. If Harry tried to help, it would only serve to make them right that they would need Harry's permission to be her friend.
Harry and Hermione were welcomed into the Common Room like the old friends that they were. Handshakes, greeting nods, claps on the back, and idle chatter followed them like a wave. Astoria was honestly a bit jealous of the easy camaraderie. With a huff, she headed upstairs. Maybe relaxing a bit in her room would make it a bit easier to deal with, and honestly she was a bit tired anyways. Plus if she stayed there was a good chance that Harry would pick up on her souring mood and try to interfere. Astoria liked the boy, she really did, and had grown to care for him quite a lot in their short week together. However, his penchant for trying to help carried a side effect that he was a little unaware of.
***Break***
Harry stepped into the Common Room with Hermione, the Fat Lady accepting their password of "Fortuna Major"
Inside everyone was burning off their remaining energy from the train ride and the Welcoming Feast. Harry noted the Twins were absent as was Lee Jordan after a quick scan of the room. They were likely up in their room talking about the Twins' newest acquisition, Harry thought with a grin. He noticed Astoria off to the side, but before he could get there he and Hermione were stopped by various acquaintances. Harry replied amicably to the greetings, shaking hands from those who wanted to take a moment to say hello.
Out of the corner he saw Astoria heading up to her room with a slightly annoyed look. He idly wondered what would have prompted such a look from the usually bubbly girl but he chalked it up to her being tired after the day's events despite a decent nap on the train. As decent one could have after the Dementor.
Harry made some idle chatter with various people, but decided to head back out of the Common Room to go talk to Madam Pomfrey for a while about Astoria's treatments. Thinking it might be a good idea to have a moment to talk to Astoria as well as show her the route, he commissioned a star-struck Romilda Vane to head to their room and bring her down.
***Break***
"Hey, Astoria? Harry Potter asked for you to come down for something," Came through Astoria's drawn curtains in her new 4 post bed. She had curled up in the covers with a book, just starting to enjoy the quiet. Astoria huffed and set the book aside. She didn't even need a bookmark so early was the interruption.
"Did he say why?" Astoria grumbled a bit.
"No, just asked for you specifically. He's so dreamy isn't he? I had heard that he had black hair but that red just makes his eyes pop," Romilda started rambling, still blushing at having Harry bloody Potter talk to her directly.
"Yeah, a real dream boat," Astoria said sarcastically, not in the mood. Deciding she probably couldn't put it off without Harry resorting to sending Hermione or some other girl she put her shoes back on.
Having her reading interrupted was frustrating, walking down the stairs was frustrating, the daunting task of making new friends was frustrating. So, of course, it was a frustrated Astoria that grumbled her way down the stairs.
"Hey, Astoria!" Harry called up at her with a smile.
"What? I was just getting into a book," Astoria grumbled once more.
"Oh, sorry. I was about to head to Madam Pomfrey, I figured you would want to come," Harry explained to the girl, curious as to her grumpiness. Astoria sighed heavily. She probably should go, just to make sure that the nurse had all the facts she needed.
"Fine. Let's go," Astoria huffed. Harry looked at her quizzically but opted not to question her in the Common Room. He motioned with his head and she followed him out of the room.
Ginny looked at the pair suspiciously. So this was the other Greengrass girl that Ron had said was now living with Harry. The young redheaded girl had looked on in envy at the cool beauty that was Daphne Greengrass when Ron had pointed her out in the Great Hall and Astoria showed signs of not being far behind her sister in the beauty department. She grumbled to herself quietly. The amount of girls between her and Harry was daunting, and it didn't help that they were all attractive and had a level of access to the boy that Ginny herself was envious of. Her eyes shot to Hermione Granger and Katie Bell as well as the other Chaser girls. She would get her man though, if it was the last thing she did. Ginny turned back to the chess game that Ron was having with Seamus.
***Break***
Harry looked at the small girl that was next to him. Her usually bubbly outlook seemed long gone in favor of annoyance. Astoria was still an enigma to the boy, her emotions as flighty as her attention span. She could go from bubbly, to grumpy, to teasing and witty, to inquisitive, and back around to bubbly at the slightest provocation. Harry would be lying though if he didn't enjoy the presence of the girl though.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked as they took the stairs. He opted for the longer way, as an excuse to have a chance to talk with the girl.
"What's it to you?" Astoria grumbled. So many stairs.
"I was going to say that you seem grumpy, but I'll just skip that and say that you are grumpy. What's bothering you?" He led them through a corridor in favor of a side passage that would bring them closer to the Hospital Wing with a few less stairs along the way.
"Nothing." The girl replied. She looked up at some of the magical portraits around her, drawn in despite her ire at the multitude of sights around her.
Harry sighed and he stopped. Astoria walked on for a moment not realizing that Harry was no longer by her side. She stopped as well once she noticed and looked back at him in frustration.
"Astoria. I'm just trying to help." Harry explained to the blonde.
"You're always trying to help," Astoria commented. She would just walk without him, if he was so keen on stopping. Harry wouldn't let her get lost.
Harry groaned slightly as the girl started walking away. 'Headstrong, just like her sister, just with a different way of showing it' Harry thought to himself.
"Astoria! Seriously, why are you in a bad mood? I would think that finally being at Hogwarts would have made you happy." Harry jogged a bit to catch up to her when she started to go the wrong way.
"Butt out." She shot back, her ire growing at his incessant need to help out even when that help wasn't wanted.
"Uuuugh." Harry said to the ceiling. At least it didn't try and bite his head off.
"Exactly," Astoria commented idly. Harry decided to just stay quiet for a bit and let the girl work through whatever she needed to work through. They made steady progress through the Castle, and Astoria had to bite her tongue to not ask the questions running through her head at all the things she was seeing.
***Break***
Madam Pomfrey was sorting through the last of the Potions that Severus had brewed for her, placing them into her preferred locations so they would be available as they were needed. She always liked the first day of the year, it tended to be her least busy day as there were no class mishaps and typically no injuries from rough housing as most students went to bed shortly after the feast. Full bellies tended to do that. So the old nurse was surprised when not 1 but 2 students came into her domain. That surprise lasted only a moment though as she saw Harry.
"Mr. Potter. I'd recognize that face anywhere." Madam Pomfrey said sternly. She liked Harry, well enough, but he had certainly given her more trouble than most.
"Madam Pomfrey. Unfortunately I'm not here for me, though I know you miss having me around." Harry joked to the woman.
"I'm actually here for this one. This is Astoria Greengrass. I sent a letter to Professor McGonagall, did it reach you?" Harry had made some arrangements beforehand, once the full extent of the illness had been made clear to him, to inform at the very least the school nurse so that Astoria would have regular treatments as needed.
"Oh, of course. Hello, dear," Madam Pomfrey said to the small blonde, warmth in her tone. Astoria smiled politely and returned the greeting.
Harry had walked to a more spacious part of the Wing, and with a quick dip into his Inventory had brought out the equipment. It was strange, and weird to him but it was all there. He had had both Daphne and Dolly confirm that no pieces were missing. Upon the appearance of the equipment, Madam Pomfrey headed over to assess it.
"My, my. I haven't seen some of these since my last visit to St. Mungo's. It's a good thing you brought this all, Hogwarts does not have anything close to this level of a Transfer Module." Poppy's keen eyes assessed the equipment as she spent much of her summers staying acquainted with the newest equipment and procedures. It wouldn't do Hogwarts any favors if she wasn't up to snuff at all times.
"I have no idea what that means, but it's all here. If there's anything that needs an upgrade please let me know and hopefully we can arrange a way to acquire it," Harry had yet to come across a Skill that would give him any insight into the things needed for Astoria's care, but he was debating on finding a way to pick it up.
"No, this is all current. I remember when your great-aunt was in this school, Ms. Greengrass, during my own school years. She had much the same equipment, though it has come a long way since then." Poppy turned to the girl, who was checking out the various other interesting things in the Wing. Astoria was disappointed that there wasn't more though, this place would definitely be boring.
Astoria looked up at being addressed though, "Really? I had heard that my great-aunt had the Malediction, but never much about her. What was she like?"
Harry looked at the 2 conversing and had a small smile on his face. He had noticed Astoria's disappointed look at the scenery of the Hospital Wing but he knew from personal experience that Madam Pomfrey had a solid bedside manner, strictness aside, and had more than a story or 2 she could tell. Astoria's mood brightened, as it usually did when she was conversing with people who would answer questions, and after a few more minutes as well as a detailing of what care would be needed for Astoria it seemed like the young girl was back to her old self. Harry confirmed that anything that was not there, or any supplies that may be lacking, could be charged to the Potter accounts. He made it emphatically clear that nothing less than the best care would be suitable for Astoria, a statement that earned him a smile from the Madam when Harry continued and said that he felt like that would be no issue for Poppy.
***Break***
Astoria was much happier once they left the Wing. She didn't like talking about her Malediction much, but it had been interesting to hear some details about her Great-Aunt Astrid. It was also pretty clear that Madam Pomfrey, who to Harry's surprise insisted the girl call her Poppy, was as sharp as a tack and took no nonsense unless it was her own. Something that Astoria could respect.
"Thank you, Harry," Astoria said to the boy as they started their trek back to the Common Room. Astoria continued when Harry shot her a confused glance, "For lugging my equipment around and bringing me to see Poppy. I'm sure Daphne would have done the same but it still was nice,"
"It was no issue. I wanted to make sure that you are going to be taken care of. Madam Pomfrey has seen my face more than a few times, and she's actually quite nice," Harry waved away the thank you as it was unnecessary.
They talked a bit about some of the stories that would have landed Harry in Poppy's care, and laughed heartily when Harry told her about Lockhart vanishing his bones. Harry could laugh about it now, but he still remembered the terrible itch that Skele-gro had given him. Not something to be repeated to be sure.
The pair made it about halfway to the Common Room before Harry had to ask, "Do you want to talk about what was putting you in a bad mood earlier?"
Astoria grimaced at the reminder. No she didn't. But she also knew that Harry was asking out of genuine desire to right whatever wrong had upset her and it wasn't like there were any students around to hear her complaints. "It was because of how everyone in the Common Room was acting. Once they all saw that you weren't there they avoided me. Not enough to cause offense, but they tiptoed around me. I think it was because they wanted to wait and ask your permission to be my friend."
"Why in Merlin's name would they need that?" Harry asked in a confused tone.
"Do you really not know?" Astoria looked at Harry in wonder, to which Harry replied, "Know what?"
"Harry, almost every person that has messed with Daphne and I has gotten injured in some way. My father, for starters, but also Malfoy, and Ron. Heck, you even apparently threw a Dementor out of the train because of us! Or that's what they're saying anyways. They think if they do anything to offend me without running it by you first that you'll beat them up or something." Astoria explained all this to an oblivious Harry.
"That's nuts!" Harry tried to deny it, but couldn't refute the technical truth of the words. The Dementor had been a surprise to be honest, but Harry's response probably more so to the student body.
"Is it? Honestly ask yourself if someone was picking on me, what would you do?" Astoria tried a different approach.
Harry thought for a moment. What would he do? It would depend on the type of… oh. "I see what you mean."
Astoria reassured Harry with, "But even if it's not always needed, it's nice to know that someone is there that you can depend on. Just… let us fail sometimes. Or let us decide if we actually need your help, okay?"
Harry mulled that over for a long moment before responding, "I'll try Astoria. It's… presumptuous of me to try and fight your battles for you or Daphne, I know that. But I can't deny that I care for you both. Is that weird, what with us only really knowing one another for a week?"
Astoria eyed the boy next to her as they walked, and then developed a cheshire cat grin, "You mean you have a crush on both of us?"
"What? Dammit, Astoria I was trying to be serious for a moment!" Harry groaned loudly at the relentless girl. Astoria just giggled and skipped ahead, so that Harry would miss the blush she had at her own joke.
***Break***
Daphne and Tracey made it through the Slytherin Common Room with no issue and were sitting on the beds in the room they shared as 3rd Years. Each Slytherin was paired off, and it was 2 to a room unless it was an odd number that year. That was how Draco had his own room while Nott and Zabini shared one. Of course the Dundertwins Crabbe and Goyle would be sharing a room. They probably shared a bed, Daphne had thought previously, so attached at the hip they were. That was until she had caught Bulstrode and Crabbe snogging, very awkwardly, late one night.
Daphne and Tracey had of course paired off as well. Parkinson and Bulstrode had unwillingly paired off until Pansy realized that having a girl that could match the physical strength of most any boy their year might not be the worst thing to have. Daphne was knocked from her revelry as Tracey started to tear up a bit, finally letting her mask that wasn't quite as practiced as Daphne's fall from her face.
"Daph," Tracey started with a whisper, meeting Daphne's eyes, "I am so sorry."
Daphne simply stared at the girl, clearly wanting a bit more than that so Tracey continued, "I… was unfair. Not only to you, but to Harry as well. That's besides the point though. I shouldn't have left like that. I should have written a letter or… well Harry probably wouldn't have let me visit so soon after our fight but I should have done more. I shouldn't have abandoned you like that. I'm so sorry, Daphne"
Daphne nodded curtly, only saying "I saw the whole thing, Tracey"
Through the tears on the brunette's face Tracey showed shock as well. Her voice cracked a bit, "What do you mean? You were upstairs"
"Harry has a magical device, called a Pensieve. It allows others to view memories as if they were in the same room." Daphne explained to the confused girl.
"W...What? That seems so strange. What did you see?" Tracey wiped her eyes a bit and tried to get a modicum of decorum.
Daphne had bugged Harry relentlessly until he had done what he could to teach Daphne the Muffliato spell, when Harry had started up a discussion of Charms he knew. Privacy Charms went a long way in Slytherin, as their door could attest to. It was what made Daphne willing to talk so candidly, as there had been many instances of eavesdropping in the snake pit. She mentally thanked Harry for the spell that she had cast on the door at the start of the discussion.
"Oh Merlin, you do, you like Daphne" Daphne matched the words verbatim, "So, what, this was all some ploy? You saw a chance to save the damsel in distress and bring her under your care? Bring her into your home?"
Tracey reeled at having her own words thrown back at her. The eeriness was unsettling but so too was Daphne's glare. Daphne's voice had a touch more of a chill in it, "A damsel in distress Tracey? Is that what I am to you?"
"What? No! Of course not, Daph!" Tracey said emphatically, before looking down at her hands "I… I was upset. I said so many stupid things and did so many stupid things. I took it out on Harry, and betrayed you by doing so."
Daphne sighed heavily, it wouldn't do any favors for her to lose her temper, "Have you apologized to him?"
"No… Not because I don't want to but because it would… I don't know... It feels like if I try to apologize then I would be trying to play it like I didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense but it does to me. I like… liked Harry. But in some ways we were not a great match. It went up in a great big fire but it was bound to happen at some point. Maybe it's better that it turned out the way it did. But I don't want to lose you over our argument" Tracey rambled for a bit, and was beginning to feel a bit lighter after letting out some of her hurt.
"I can see what would make you think that. Harry had much the same thoughts. He made it emphatically clear that he didn't want to come between us either, and encouraged me to try and invite you over." Daphne thought about Harry's kindness streak, 50 kilometers wide it was.
Tracey gave a water chuckle and cleared her throat, "That sounds like him. Forever the Golden Boy"
Daphne smiled slightly, "He's been very kind to us so far. Spoils Astoria rotten."
Tracey giggled, her tears beginning to dry up. "Astoria makes you want to spoil her. Harry probably made an easy target for her."
"She was onto him from the moment she woke up. Harry made us breakfast in some weird Muggle get-up that was apparently for exercise. She couldn't keep her eyes to herself." Daphne's smile was a little more sincere.
"Well… bad match or not, I can't deny that he's gotten very good looking. You should have seen him dance. Or ridden a broom with him. It felt like those arms were never at risk of dropping me" Tracey joked, remembering cuddling up with the boy.
"Astoria, the brat, tricked me into riding Harry's Firebolt with him so I know what you mean. His growth spurt has been ridiculous" Daphne chuckled, and Tracey's grin got large despite the slightest twinge in her heart that she knew would pass as time went on.
The conversation continued in that vein, Tracey listening to what Daphne's brief stay at Harry's house was like. Tracey cackled when Daphne got to the parts about walking in on one another, and how Dobby had arranged it for Daphne. She even grinned when Daphne regaled her with the Library moment where Astoria had asked if Daphne and Harry had kissed.
Tracey had to tease her friend a bit, "Well, did you? I can promise he's quite good at it"
Daphne gasped and then groaned loudly, "Ugh! Not you too! It was bad enough with Astoria!"
Both girls went to bed with a smile that night. It wasn't back to the way that it was, not quite, but it was going to mend for them both. Their friendship would continue and Daphne was thankful that Harry hadn't tried to get in between them.
***Break***
The first day was in full swing. Harry was seated with Hermione at the breakfast table with Astoria nearby but chatting with Romilda Vane. Harry grinned at the girl and let her make her friends. And her enemies, if that's what happens Harry reminded himself. He wouldn't be taking his eyes off her, or Daphne for that matter, but would do his best to not get quite so riled up at the first provocation. Ron was nearby as well, and though the 2 boys were not chatting they did still share some chuckles when Seamus somehow blew up the pumpkin juice. That had earned the Irish boy some hearty slaps from Parvati and Lavender who had been caught up by the blast. Both girls looked at Harry with flirtatious smiles when he kindly Vanished the mess from both of them with a nifty laundry charm. Molly Weasley would be getting something nice for Christmas, Harry promised himself and he returned the smiles with one of his own making the pair devolve into giggles.
Flirting Skill had increased! It is now 46!
The noise level throughout the Great Hall dropped a bit though as the Heads of Houses walked down their House's tables to hand out the schedules. Hermione took hers with a quick hand, writing stuff down in a notebook with one hand and checking her watch a few times. Harry smiled at his friend, unnoticed, and took a look at his own schedule. His grin turned into a grimace. Double Potions. And it looked as though he would have Ancient Runes just after.
"Snape first thing in the morning?" Neville's groan was felt keenly by the 3rd year students. Harry took it with a grain of sugar though, at least he'd get to see how Daphne was getting along.
"I hear you mate." Ron said with his own dejected look at the schedule before him.
"At least we have Ancient Runes just after, Hermione," Harry said to the girl across from him.
"I have Muggle Studies after. Here, let me see" Hermione made that grabby motion with her hand that Harry found slightly endearing even if it came across as bossy to others. Her excitement for knowledge, even the slightest detail, gave his friend weird habits.
She took Harry's schedule and compared it to her own. "It looks like you don't have Ancient Runes with me at all. Maybe McGonagall made a mistake? Or you are in another group with the other houses. You should probably ask"
Harry took the schedule back and nodded. He stood up and headed up to the Head Table where McGonagall was just sitting down after handing out the schedules. Harry drew a few looks, most students not walking to the Head Table if they could help it, but they were easily ignored.
"Good morning, Professors." Harry greeted the table once he was close, Albus looked at the boy with a smile and returned the greeting, "Professor McGonagall I wanted to see if my schedule was correct. Ancient Runes is in a different slot than Hermione's"
"No mistake, Mr. Potter," McGonagall began "After replacing your Free Period, the only class that fit was Ancient Runes with the 4th years. When I submitted the homework that you had to complete for Professor Babbling to accept you into her class she said that your insight was well beyond what she would have expected for a 3rd Year. Even Ms. Granger was not praised so highly. Bathsheda, would you like to comment?"
The middle aged witch, much younger than her peers, looked up from her magazine with a piece of bacon hanging from her mouth, "Wazzat?"
A stern look from McGonagall, as if her colleague was a student, made Bathsheda Babbling bite the bacon and let the rest fall onto her plate. "Oh, Mr. Potter. Yes, your knowledge of Runes with no prior classwork was astounding. Mine is no easy class, but the way you compared the use of Geifu and Gear matched an obscure work that I doubt you had read before. My own thesis paper actually when I got my Mastery, which was never published. Minerva said you were foregoing your Free Period this year, and I jumped at the opportunity to give you a head start on some higher level work. It may be a bit hard at first, but I think you'll have no problem catching up. We'll give you the 3rd year test at the end of the week to confirm you have a firm enough understanding of the basics but I expect good things from you this year."
The Professor definitely lived up to her name as she rambled, Harry thought. "Thank you for that praise, Professor Babbling. I'll do my best."
"That clears it up, Professor," Harry said to McGonagall, "I'll stop interrupting your breakfast. Have a nice day"
Babbling watched Harry for a moment, then put the bacon back into her mouth and resumed reading the Quibbler Issue that had come out that morning. It was hardly a credible magazine, but Xenophilius had some interesting ideas about what Runes were used for what and Babbling would be lying if she said that the strange yet fresh opinions didn't pique her interest.
***Break***
The Potions Classroom was as dark and dingy as Harry remembered. A far cry from his own lab back home, which was well lit with a vent hood like a cooking range might have to keep the air clear. Harry spotted Daphne and began to head over and then stopped once Tracey took the seat that he was aiming for. Well, damn. Harry looked around for a moment. Hermione was pairing off with Neville. Seamus and Dean paired off as well.
"Well don't just stand around, Potter, take a seat" Snape's voice cut through the dungeon, his tone already irritable at seeing Harry trying to play off being a redhead now. Harry started to head next to Ron, and then that seat was taken as well by Fay Dunbar. He looked around with a sinking feeling, his options dwindling.
"Sit there, Potter. Or will you do the lesson standing up?" Snape pointed at, oh no, Pansy. Harry grimaced and resigned himself to his fate.
"Don't even think about talking to me, Potter" Pansy hissed at him as he placed his stuff down next to the girl.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Parkinson" Harry whispered. Snape in his usual style threw a recipe onto the board and then went around the room to collect summer homework and skulk like the dungeon bat he was.
Harry sighed, and diced the caterpillars. It needed to be finely diced to be able to dissolve appropriately in their allotted time, despite already being a small ingredient. Pandy busied herself peeling Shrivelfigs. They actually worked together fairly well, Pansy having quick and practiced hands, but the mood was tense and awkward.
Pansy would, every 30 seconds or so, glance at Harry with an odd look. She saw the way he handled the ingredients with a confident air, but never once did Harry seem to look at the board. However he wasn't following the instructions and just as Pansy was about to scold him she noticed that their Potion was more of a correct color than their peers.
"Why did you change the way you prepared the rat spleens?" Pansy had to ask. Her favorite subject was Potions, so to see a method that differed from the board but also produced a better looking Shrinking Solution sparked her interest.
"I thought that we weren't talking," Harry said to the girl. He took his wand out, shocking the girl, but cast a bag that he put the peeled Shrivelfigs into. The spell set the bag to a vigorous shaking.
"Shut up and answer the question, Potter. And what was that spell?" Pansy asked. She honestly had been dreading the task of shaking the small plants since it would have to be done for nearly 10 minutes nonstop. Theirs was the only station making use of a spell to manage it.
"Fine. I shaved the spleens over dicing them to allow for a more even distribution. It takes longer, but they dissolve faster to make up for it. As for the spell it is a spell used to make cocktails, and used a lot in cooking. 3 flicks and a swirl." Harry added in the wand motions, just to avoid needing to answer any follow up questions.
Pansy eyed the boy with a shrewd look, "Why would you be learning cocktail spells, Potter? Developed a drinking problem?"
Harry eyed the girl with a deadpan look, "You're going to make me develop a drinking problem trying to forget your dumb face."
Pansy gasped loudly, and then ducked down when Snape looked over. She might be a Slytherin, but Pansy also knew that if she drew the ire of Snape that he would bring the hammer down due to her partnership with Harry.
"You're such a dick." Pansy hissed at Harry when she saw that Snape had moved on. The Longbottom boy was sweating buckets with Snape standing right behind him but the Granger girl was keeping their Potion moving in the right order.
"Takes one to know one." Harry smiled at the girl mischievously. He held up an unpeeled Shrivelfig and mimed throwing it into Crabbe's Cauldron with a propositional look.
"No!" Pansy hissed at the boy. Then she remembered when Crabbe had stepped on her toe that morning. It still hurt a bit. "Let me do it."
Harry bit down on his chuckle when Crabbe's Cauldron started hissing and spitting and where it was supposed to be a purple was now an angry angry red. Maybe Parkinson wasn't so bad after all.
***Break***
Harry nervously approached the door to the Ancient Runes classroom. He had played it cool this morning but the idea of being thrown in head first into a 4th Year class was daunting even to the talented boy. He only had a 16 in Ancient Runes, he just happened to get lucky with noticing a similarity with Geifu and Gear. Damn Luck stat, you're never faithful. Luckily Harry knew that with a little bit of reading, and some practice, he could likely reach a 4th year level's understanding of the basics thanks to his Gamer Skills. He was just debating the merits in his head of whether Ancient Runes counted as a Language Skill influenced by his Linguist Perk when he saw some of the other students he would be taking the class with. Katie Bell and Cho Chang? Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Harry? Why are you standing outside our classroom. Did Oliver send you with a message or something?" Katie asked her teammate.
Harry waited just long enough for Katie's heart to drop into her stomach at the idea before grinning, "Nothing like that. I'm actually in this class. Apparently Babbling liked my summer homework so when there was a mixup with my schedule she agreed to place me one class up"
Katie smiled wide at his explanation. "That's awesome Harry! Congratulations! It will be cool to have another Gryffindor around. Do you want to sit with me?"
Harry smiled shyly at the girl. "Can I? I'm honestly a bit intimidated at the idea of starting a class higher than my peers."
It was technically a bit of a lie, but Harry also wanted an excuse to sit and talk with the girl outside of team dynamics. His little flirt on the plane had sparked a few ideas about taking the girl out to Hogsmeade, and Harry honestly wanted to see how well that would play out. Katie smiled and pulled him into the classroom where they found a spot in the upper rows. The room was very similar to the Charm's Classroom in that aspect.
***Break***
Harry watched the Professor walk in about 3 minutes late. He and Katie had made some small talk as though the tardiness was not uncommon but Katie had shushed him almost as soon as Babbling entered the room.
"Welcome back students. I see some of you have noticed that Mr. Potter has joined us in this class. Don't let his pretty eyes distract you though, there will be a lot to cover this year. Let's go over some of the things that we worked on at the end of term. Now, get out your stylus and let us draw together. Remember, clean crisp lines. Sharp points, correct angles. Proportion is key. If you're going for a larger cluster then every part of the rune must be equally larger. Don't forget the extra tools, your line guide and your angler. Mr. Potter, if I were to combine the Cen and Lagu runes, in that order, what would be the result" Babbling went from greeting to lesson almost instantly and Harry struggled a bit to keep up.
When she called on him, Harry's head snapped up in a panic. 'Think, think, Cen… Torch, so likely Flame or Heat. And then Lagu… Water, likely Flow, or Push.' Harry debated for a moment longer before speaking, "Either a Flame Thrower, or a Steam Rune."
"Hmm. An interesting theory. However the answer is that it would largely depend on which Rune was the Anchor, and which the Power. If Lagu is the Anchor, you are correct that you would end up with a Steam Rune as long as the cluster was placed into a water source or had one poured onto it. If Cen is the Anchor it changes the entire dynamic and you end up with a simple Light Rune. Who else can tell me of some of the basic combinations we went over last year. Belby!"
And so the class went, with Harry furiously taking notes with a small grin. Despite her young age Babbling really knew her stuff and clearly had a passion for the subject. She also wasn't afraid to admit that not all ideas were dumb ones and there was more than one way to approach a Cluster. Harry also didn't mind his Notifications, which pinged a total of 3 times. For one class. That was likely due to the advanced nature of the class but it would go a long way for him.
***Break***
"Hermione, no." Harry said to the bushy haired girl when she grilled him during lunch on what Ancient Runes was like. She had done some 'light reading' and wanted to see if her ideas were mentioned in any of his notes.
"Why not?" Hermione glared angrily while she piled her lunch plate up.
"Because, it was my first class too. If I say something wrong you'll end up making a fool of yourself. And! You don't need to be looking ahead when you're going to have enough running through that pretty head of yours with all of your other classes. Maybe in a month or so we can start debating some of the Runes but I was barely able to keep up as is. I'll save my notes for you to review later in the year." Harry sighed and finally relaxed after trying to fight off Hermione. His 'pretty head' comment had earned him some mashed potatoes to the face which he just licked off.
Katie Bell had glanced over at Harry more than once since they had walked into the Great Hall together. It had shocked her a bit to see Harry in an advanced class and he had actually answered a question half right. She was a bit impressed. He also had respected her rule of no talking during class, class time was note time. Then when they had walked down to the Great Hall the had chatted the entire way there without bringing up Quidditch once.
Alicia poked Katie when she sat down, and laughed at the younger Chaser when she jumped a bit, "Knut for your thoughts, Katie?"
Katie glared at her for a moment, before glancing at Harry once again. Alicia grinned when she noticed it, she had a keen eye for these things. "Get it, girl"
"What?" Katie asked with a blush.
"Something I saw on a Muggle television show when I visited Angelina. It basically means go for it." Alicia piled together a sandwich and covered it in pepper. She eyed Katie when the girl looked confused, and sighed when she set the sandwich back down. "I see you tossing eyes over there."
Katie blushed a bit and used a book as a barrier between her and Harry to discuss this with Alicia, "Alright, fine, I… He's in my Ancient Runes class now, tested up a level or something. We talked together on the way down and it was … nice actually. We'd never really just chatted like that. Plus, in case you hadn't noticed, he's gotten really cute."
"Are you convincing me or yourself?" Alicia whispered back to the girl coyly.
"I… shut up, I was making an observation. But if I go for it, and I'm seeing things, what if it makes it awkward for the team?" Katie was interrupted by Angelina sitting down with them as well.
Alicia nodded solemnly and sat up from their cover. Smiling at the girl and holding her hand in support she looked over at Harry and yelled, loudly, "Hey Harry! Do you want to go with Katie to Hogsmeade?"
Katie looked like a deer in headlights, the hand she would have used to cover her friend's mouth had had a supportive gesture now turned into a handcuff. Her friend was so nonchalant sometimes that Katie often wondered why she bothered telling Alicia anything.
Harry looked over at them at the announcement, and grinned at Katie's almost comical wide-eyed betrayed look that she was shooting Alicia. "Yeah, sounds fun!"
*Fin*
A/N: Hmmm. Mixed feelings about this one. I had almost posted it but then gave it a hard once over. I wish I could tell you what had been in it before but I'm a bit happier with this product.
Review answers below.
Beccasullivanwrites1: Thank you for the review!
Adrian King1: It was not an issue. Harry has a few waves planned. Thanks for the review!
TheGreatBubbaJ: Thank you for the review as always! I hope you'll critique me on this one, it's probably my weakest chapter in a while.
AvidReader2425: haha, Snape falling that much would be kind of funny. I have another plan for the dungeon bat though.
SeranoirStarfall: Definitely a possibility! I don't want to bog Harry down with too many Skills though, so if anything gets added it will be after much consideration.
Kuman: You have a keen eye. That was meant to be 750. Thank you for the review!
SkylerHollow: Thank you for the continued support!
Nina0116: I reread this review at least 3 times to help me get through this chapter. Thank you for the continued support!
Storp930: Thank you for the review! Harry's relationships will take a few more turns before I decide on one. As for the Relationships page I thought I put in somewhere that I would be tracking that off screen.
Frankieu: Power creep is the worst. Harry is definitely stronger this time around, but I'm trying not to have him reach "Voldemort is beatable" level until much later. Thank you for the continued support!
Naruswolf: Great advice! Most of my side plots are part of the puzzles for my main plot, and it can get a little too tempting to put one in somewhere. I'm trying to reign that back in so that the next 4-5 chapters will flow smoothly.
Pictureme: thank you for the review! I researched what his position would have earned him with the wage standards back in that day before I placed it, and am pretty happy with it.