Chapter 3
Wohooo =) Chapter three has begun! =)
Harry just finished his first potions class and will be heading to History of Magic... well... History is history, no matter if it's muggle or wizard's history. As you all know, the wizarding world has had their own battles in the past and some are more famous than others. In Hogwarts for example there aren't any references made (in the books and movies anyway) about other schools besides Durmstrang (which I always thought was located in Russia) and Beauxbaton, however, until "Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them" came out in the cinema, I had no idea there was a school called Ilvermorny in North America. Thanks to Pottermore.com, I also know that there are a whole bunch of other schools across the continents and I hope that we'll learn more about them as J.K. Rowling keeps writing more about the Potter Universe. Also, America has it's own magical history and it's own battles that are still a bit of a myth to me. Meaning, I'm looking forward to the sequels of Fantastic Beasts and learning more about what was going on across the water.
Anyway, I'm not too sure where Chapter 3 will lead me, but I'll update it as often as I can. ;)
Chapter 3
Once the class was over the Slytherins left the classroom and headed on to their next class, History of Magic. Harry had peaked into the book, but decided that history would not be his favourite subject… And would never be his favourite subject. When they reached the classroom, however, there was no sign of a teacher, until a ghost flew through the door and sat down behind the desk.
This school might just end up being the best thing that ever happened to Harry! Even with subjects and words he had never heard of, and half giants and goblins and ghosts roaming the school grounds, teaching Hogwarts students what ever they needed to get along in the magical world. There was a lot he still had to learn, but after spending so much time trying to let his cousin be the hero with acceptable grades, Harry was looking forward to getting grades he actually deserved and marks that would reflect his knowledge and his skills. Harry wouldn’t have been good enough for the Dursleys, had he graduated form university at the age of five.
Harry was proud to have earned house points on his first day and actually knowing something magical before he had been taught. As Harry liked the feeling of being praised and rewarded, he decided to keep reading his school books, until he actually understood what the words meant.
After their History of Magic lesson, taught by a ghost, they made their way back to the Great Hall for lunch. And food seemed to be Harry’s most favourite time of the day. And so far, after two classes, he thought that Potions would be his most favourite subject! Even though his teacher and head of house scared him just a little bit, especially the way he looked at him. It felt a bit like regret and worry and hate and all of that confused him as he had absolutely no connection with him.
Their next class for the day was Charms with Professor Flitwick, a very small teacher, and they learnt all kinds of spells there; according to Harry’s books anyways. Professor Flitwick explained them how to use spells, the wand movements and the phrases. One of the first spells they learnt was a spell to elevate an object. Wingardium Leviosa. Swish and flick.
Besides Malfoy, who seemed to be able to do lots of spells already, there was only one girl who managed the spell straight away. She was the one who had poked him early when he’d been taking notes in Professor Snape’s class. Eventually all of the Slytherins managed to elevate their feathers and let them soar through the classroom.
“Urg…” Malfoy moaned annoyed, “Next we’re having Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindorks!” “What’s so bad about them?” Harry asked on the way to the next classroom. “They are so arrogant and just because we’re Slytherins they think we’re all Death Eaters and we’re all going to enslave the world and kill all the muggles,” Nott explained regretfully. “Not all of them though,” the girl from before said with a smile, “I’m Tessa, in case you forgot. I had a chat with one of the first years that was sorted into Gryffindor and a boy from there as well. They were actually really nice.”
“That’s just because everyone is nice to you, Tessa!” Malfoy complained and rolled his eyes. “Still,” she insisted, “My father was a Hufflepuff and my mother, and all of her family, were in Ravenclaw, while my siblings all went to Gryffindor. My family was really proud when they heard that I’m in Slytherin.” “There was no question where I would be,” Malfoy said proudly, “My entire family used to go to Slytherin. My fathers family and also my mothers family. Of course there were a few exceptions… A few cousins that have been removed from their family though, went to Gryffindor and I believe it was Ravenclaw. But again, they have been removed from the family and they don’t count anymore!”
As they approached their classroom, the others told Harry about their family and which houses they belonged to and Harry was surprised that, besides Tessa, most of them had been going to Slytherin for many generations. Luckily they arrived at the classroom before anyone could ask about Harry’s parents. Harry did know from Hagrid that his parents had both been wizards, but not which house they had been in. He did know that his mothers family was non magical. Or Petunia had kept it a secret all those years. But no, the way his aunt and uncle despised everything that had anything to do with magic left that with no doubt. His mother had been a muggleborn.
Professor Quirrell greeted the class and with the creature he had in a cage on his desk, his year mates’ conversation drifted and they discussed what their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson would look like. Would they learn how to fight the creature on his desk? Would they learn how to duel another wizard? Probably not; they hardly knew any spells yet!
Their professor stuttered as he spoke about different defensive spells, about charms and curses and all the things they would learn in this school year. But as amusing as the others thought Professor Quirrell sounded, Harry couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with him.
He noticed that Tessa, one of the Slytherin first years wasn’t on her usual seat, at the front of the class, eager to soak up the information their professors handed to them. When he looked around, he found her in the back of the class, in the corner that was furthest from the professor, next to her a Gryffindor boy that seemed to try not to laugh about the stuttering teacher. The usually cheerful girl sat there quietly, glaring at the book in front of her, her face pale as a ghost and her body almost shivering.
“What’s wrong with Stark?” he asked quietly and Nott shook his head, while Malfoy rolled his eyes. “She says that she’s afraid of Quirrell,” Malfoy whispered back, “But I think it’s just because he stinks like garlic all the time. She has a sensitive nose. And for as long as I’ve known her, she hasn’t been afraid of anything.” “How is it that you know so much about everyone already? We’ve been here for a day,” Harry wondered and glanced back towards the girl again.
“Not surprising at all, Potter,” Malfoy said with a shrug, “Crabbe and Goyle’s parents go way back with my father, Nott’s uncle is also a close friend of my father and Tessa used to live close to our house. My mother and her mother are friends since Hogwarts. Bulstrode and Parkinson and Davis were in the train with Crabbe and Goyle and me so we had a chat. Anyway, I make it my business knowing who I’m dealing with!”
“M-Mi-Mister M-Ma-Ma-Malfoy,” Quirrell said, while trying to sound stern, “If you want to chat you can do that o-outside my cl-lassroom!” Draco only rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, while the professor continued his stuttered lesson. However, Harry was too distracted to listen, as he thought about how Malfoy had not just blamed him, about how the Malfoy family seemed to know everyone and how Tessa reacted to the professor.
Once class was over, the Gryffindors and Slytherins parted ways and Harry decided to visit his friend Hagrid. He seemed to live on the school grounds, down the hill towards the forbidden forest. Harry really wanted to tell the half giant about his first day. He stopped mid step and was about to turn around when Malfoy called after him, “Hey Potter. Where are you going? Aren’t you coming back to the common room with us?” “I wanted to drop by Hagrid’s, he’s the game keeper,” Harry said as he turned back towards the blonde boy, “Wanna came with me?”
“No thanks,” Malfoy said disgusted, “Nothing against your… friend, Potter, but I’d rather spend my time with purebloods!” “Sure, I’ll see you later so,” Harry said with a shrug and waved before he turned to leave again. “Don’t forget dinner!” Malfoy called after him and headed off towards their common room with the other boys. The girls had gone off in an entirely different direction, chatting and giggling and Harry enjoyed the silence around him as he followed the corridors down towards the game keepers hut.
As he strolled down a rocky path, he noticed something lying on a rock. As he got closer, he realised that it was a student; arms spread out, staring towards the sky. Motionless. Worried Harry approached and saw green in the hood of the robe. Brown curls were in the way of seeing the face, but when he got even closer, he saw that it was Tessa Stark, one of the Slytherin first years. For a moment his heart was beating faster and he didn’t know what to do. Her eyes were closed.
What if she was dead? Or injured? Harry breathed out heavily when he saw her chest moving up and down as she was breathing. “Is everything alright?” he asked as relieved. “Hi Harry,” she said with a smile and opened her eyes briefly, “Oh, is it okay if I call you Harry? I’m not too happy with the Slytherin rule that we have to use last names all the time…” “No problem, call me Harry, but only if I can use your first name as well,” Harry said smiling and Tessa sat up on the rock. “Gladly! I’ve been telling Draco all day already, and he still uses my last name!” she smiled, “Where are you going?” “Hagrid,” Harry said and nodded towards the forbidden forest, “He’s…” “The game keeper, right?” she asked an looked towards the forest as well. “I heard that he’s got really cool creatures!”
“Would you like to come with me?” he asked chuckling and Tessa blushed, quickly averting her eyes, “I couldn’t… Hagrid is your friend and I don’t want to impose…” “You’re my friend as well, Tessa, and I’m sure he’ll be happy to tell you all about his creatures,” Harry chuckled and waited for his classmate to get up, “Come on, it’ll be fun!”
“Okay, but just for a little bit?” she gave in with an excited smile, “Do you know what kind of creatures he has? I’ve heard rumours… but I want to know what’s real” On the way down to Hagrid’s, he had found it’s location on a map of the school grounds that had been included in his acceptance letter, Tessa told him about all the creatures she had heard that were in the game keepers possession.
Fascinated Harry listened and found himself searching the sky and grounds for huge dragons, hippogriffs, huge burning birds, humongous rhinos and lizard like, size changing creatures.
“Well, I know that he doesn’t have a dragon yet,” Harry said, excited to see magical creatures for the first time in his life. “That’s good, Harry!” Tessa scolded, “You’re only allowed to breed or keep a dragon in a controlled environment and most importantly with a license!” “Oh…” Harry mumbled, slightly disappointed. Shortly after that Harry and Tessa arrived at Hagrid’s house and the huge man opened the door. “Harry!” he said with a reserved and slightly nervous smile, “It’s great to see ya. Who’s yer friend?” “I’m Tessa Stark, Sir, and I’ve heard so much about you and your magical creatures!” she said excitedly and smiled Hagrid.
“Stark,” Hagrid mumbled and looked at her curiously, “Isn’t your mother the niece of Newton Artemis Fido Scamander?” Tessa blushed and smiled, “Yes, he’s my great uncle. He used to tell me all about the magical creatures he had in his suitcase, about all of his adventures!”
“Why would he have creatures in his suitcase?” Harry asked and pulled Hagrid and Tessa’s attention back to him. Those creatures must either be really small, or they meant pictures of creatures. Ron Weasley, the boy he had met on the train, had shown him a Dumbledore picture and a newspaper that were moving. Like a tiny TV. And the paintings in Hogwarts were also moving, so possibly that Scamander guy had pictures of creatures.
“Oh yes,” Tessa said apologetic, “He has a suitcase that’s bigger on the inside. You can do that to lots of objects, like tents and bags and rooms. But you can’t store food like that… unfortunately…”
“That’s awesome!” Harry exclaimed, excited once again. “Anyway,” Hagrid said after a while, “How’s yer first day goin’? How are yer… housemates… treating ya?” “So far they are nice,” Harry said excitedly and smiled, “I still need to get used to the whole last names thing, but maybe the others will agree to the first name’s, like Tessa. And I think Malfoy and Nott are nice. I’m not sure about the two other boys yet, Crabbe and Goyle… they seem like they are bullies…”
Hagrid glanced at him as he said that, but didn’t say anything about it. “How do ye like yer classes?” the half giant quickly asked and Harry explained everything that had happened on his first day.