Chapter 78: First Week Highlights – A Gryffindor's Tale

Hogwart's Castle

September 2, 1991

Harry's first week at Hogwarts passed in a blur. He spent his first night in Gryffindor Tower with little sleep. He and his roommates had spent some hours talking, sharing stories as they tried to get to know one another better. Gryffindor Tower housed five to a room which meant that not every Gryffindor boy in his year was in his room. A good thing since he did not want to know how awful it would be to have to share a room with twelve other boys.

There had been some confusion over how they had decided who went into which room? He knew they had not chosen to go by alphabetical order. He shared his room with Leander Fawley the grandson of Lord Fawley, Argent Kildare the grandson of Lord Kildare, Neville Longbottom Lord Longbottom, and Ronald Weasley one of the grandsons of Lord Weasley. Harry rather suspected that he and his dormmates had been assigned this room because they were of the nobility, and more to the point they were either Lord's in their own right like he and Neville were or they were grandsons of Lords and were in the direct line of descent. In other words, Leander Fawley, Argent Kildare, and Ronald Weasley were all descendants of the first branch of their houses.

There were three other Weasley boys in their year group who were grandsons of Lord Weasley and they had been assigned to a room together along with Seamus Finnigan another grandson of Lord Kildare. Meanwhile, the final four Gryffindor boys in Harry's year Cormac McLaggen, Yuvraj Suri, Dean Thomas, and Bem Vozer were assigned to room together. To Harry's knowledge, those final four boys were not close descendants of any of the Sacred Families.

Due to his inability to easily go to sleep on that first night, Harry had taken some time to write a detailed letter to his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Marius. His aunt and uncle had never attended Hogwarts, so Harry thought they might like to learn more about his experiences thus far. He also wrote a short little letter to Sirius detailing what house he had sorted into and a promise that he would write him a longer letter at the end of the week to tell him all about his first week at Hogwarts. He had finally fallen asleep around three in the morning. So, it was with some irritation that he was shaken awake by Neville at seven.

"Come on, rise and shine Harry," Neville said in a teasing tone.

"Don't wanna," Harry grumbled even as he pushed off the covers and sat up in his four-poster red and gold adorned bed.

"I know, but the early bird catches the worms," Neville reminded him.

"Or in this case, gets first dibs on the breakfast selections," came the teasing voice of Argent Kildare.

Harry glanced over at the boy with white-blond hair who was already dressed properly in his school uniform and robe. Harry found it obnoxious that Argent was already perfectly composed and ready for their first day of lessons. He sighed as he got out of the bed and swiftly grabbed up the clothes that he had laid out on his trunk the night before.

He swiftly exited his dorm room and traversed down the stairs to the floor that Percy Weasley had informed him was the male lavatory. He went into the communal bathroom and quickly made swift work of setting about his morning ablutions.

He was relieved to see he wasn't the last boy in their room to wake up as Ronald Weasley stumbled grumbling into the bathroom a few minutes after Harry had finished his shower and had managed to dry himself off and adorn over half of his uniform. He was buttoning up his shirt when Ron simply threw his clothing on the bench and then wandered into a bathing stall. The red-haired boy looked like he was sleepwalking. Harry chuckled as he heard the water spray of the shower turn on and Ron shrieked out "Bloody hell that's cold!"

"Yeah, it takes a few moments to warm up. Sorry, I thought that the others might have told you," Harry said as he took up his school tie and tried to attempt a simple knot. He failed miserably and suddenly wished that Aunt Petunia were there to fix the bloody thing for him. He had never liked ties anyway.

"They might have, but I was sleepwalking," Ron muttered back in response as he went about washing up.

Harry smiled in sympathy as he finally fixed his tie into a proper knot that he found acceptable. He looked over his reflection and nodded. He was sure that his Aunt Petunia would approve of how he looked except for his hair. He sighed as he looked at it. His aunt Petunia often lamented that he had inherited his hair from his father and that just like a Potter his hair was too stubborn to obey anyone's will. It wouldn't even obey Harry's will.

Harry took a moment to pick up the white band that held the simple white band. He caressed it for a moment before he slid the band onto his school robe up to his upper arm. Harry was still in mourning for the loss of his Great-Uncle Pollux Black. Due to that, he would wear a white band to show that he was observing the period of mourning. He was not the only child who would be wearing one. His cousins of Black family lineage would likewise be wearing white armbands to show they were in mourning.

"See you at breakfast," Harry called to Ron just as the boy had turned off the water of his shower.

"See you there," Ron called back absently. Harry opened the door and stepped out just in time to see Cormac McLaggen, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan coming toward him. He nodded to the boys as they passed each other. He made his way back up to the common room where Neville was waiting for him along with Hermione.

He smiled in greeting. "Good morning Hermione," he said to his childhood best friend. "Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning, Harry," she said with a bright smile. She wore a white armband on the left arm of her school robe, just as he and Neville did. Her bushy brown hair was slightly tamed back by a white ribbon that tied her hair back to the nape of her neck. "I barely slept," she confessed. "Everything was so exciting. I stayed up for a bit and wrote some letters. Would you mind terribly if I borrowed Hedwig to send the letters home?" she asked referring to his beautiful Snowy-Owl.

The beautiful bird had been a gift bought for him by his Godfather. Sirius had been determined that Harry have some way to write to him and his Uncle and Aunt without having to rely on the Hogwart's School Owls.

"I don't see why not," he said. "Is Andromeda still staying at Blackmoor?" he asked as the three exited the Gryffindor Common room and headed down the stairs to make their way to the Great Hall, to breakfast.

"Yes. I think that she is still trying to get a handle on the Branstone Estate. She's also looking into ways to break the betrothal between Vincent and Ms. Hestia Carrow," Hermione revealed to them.

Neville frowned at that. "Vincent and Hestia have been betrothed since they were five or six," he pointed out.

"Seven actually," Hermione corrected.

Neville nodded. "Yes, well my point is that Andromeda is going to have a hard battle in trying to end that betrothal."

"Why does she even want to?" Harry asked. "I mean, does Vincent have some disagreement with the match?" Perhaps he did. Perhaps Vincent and Hestia both did but had been forced to obey the edict of their parents. Now that the former Lord Crabbe was imprisoned, perhaps Andromeda saw it as an opportunity to save the two children from being forced to marry. Andromeda would do something like that. She had fled and eloped rather than marry the man that her father had initially wanted her to marry.

"Vincent has no disagreement with Hestia," Hermione admitted with an expression that suggested that she was torn on this topic. Harry knew that she and Eleanor had tried hard over the summer months to get to know Vincent. It had not been easy going at first. Vincent had been brought up by an arrogant Pureblood father who despised Muggles and thought of Muggleborn's as swine. Being suddenly thrown into a family with a Muggleborn father-figure in the form of Ted Tonks, with an older Half-blood sister in the form of Nymphadora, and then two Muggleborn sisters around his age in the form of Hermione and Eleanor had been a horrible culture shock for the new Lord Crabbe. The Tonks side of the Noble House of Black had experienced some serious growing pains.

However, one thing had become clear recently and that was that Vincent was warming up to Hermione and Eleanor. He had literally growled defensively and planted himself in front of them cracking his knuckles at Ector Weasley a week ago at Blackmoor because Ector was mocking Hermione and Eleanor about something or other. His action was so much like a bodyguard or dare Harry to think it, a protective brother, that Harry had laughed. It had brought great joy to Hermione as well. It was progress.

"Then why would Andromeda keep pushing for the betrothal to end?" Neville asked as they entered the Great Hall and headed toward the Gryffindor table.

"I'm not sure," she answered, sounding perplexed. Harry knew that Hermione hated not knowing things.

"Maybe it's something to do with the contract itself," Harry pointed out. He didn't know much about betrothal contracts just yet, but he had talked with Sirius about opening negotiations with House Greengrass so that he and Daphne could become betrothed. The sooner he had secured her, the better Harry would feel.

"Maybe," Hermione agreed, and then she changed the subject. "So, what do you think we'll have for first hour?"

"I have no idea," Harry admitted as he put scrambled eggs upon his plate and then reached for a plate of toast before he passed the plate to Neville seated beside him. "I hope it's not History of Magic," he admitted. "I think I'd fall asleep."

"Chin up, Harry," one of the Weasley twins said to him. "At least History of Magic is being taught by someone living this year."

Harry looked at the twins in complete bafflement.

"It used to be that History of Magic was taught by a ghost named Cuthbert Binns. Madam Corner didn't like that at all," he said referring to Enid Corner, Neville's Great-Aunt. The woman was a driving force behind many of the educational reforms of the last three years.

"Oh, that's right," Hermione murmured. "Mrs. Davis, yes?" she asked and got twin nods from the Weasley twins. She then looked back to a confused Harry and sighed. "Remember, at the feast last night. Several new Professors were introduced. Mrs. Eleanor Davis was among them. Professor Dumbledore said she was the new teacher of History of Magic."

"Oh," Harry said sheepishly. He vaguely recalled that moment. He had paid so little attention to that part of the feast.

"She's really easy on the eyes," one of the twins pronounced as they looked past Harry and toward the head table where various professors were seated, enjoying the morning meal. The twins were staring at Mrs. Davis who was looking pretty in her black and yellow robes.

"Hufflepuff House," Harry commented thoughtfully as he glanced from her and then to the female professor seated beside Mrs. Davis. The woman was wearing gray robes lined in white and had an emerald broach at her throat. "Who is that professor she is talking to?"

"That's Professor Septima Vector," Percy Weasley answered him as he settled himself at the table seated across from the twins. "She teaches Arithmancy," he said.

"Oh," Harry acknowledged. "Why is she dressed in robes of half-mourning?" he asked.

"She's worn half-mourning ever since she ended the official mourning period for her husband's death," Percy told him. "They were very much in love and she has stayed in half-mourning as an indication that she does not wish to accept any possible courtships."

"Poor woman," Hermione murmured.

Harry nodded his agreement. He briefly wondered if his parents would have been like that. If one of them had survived that night, would they have worn half-mourning for the rest of their lives? Would his father have never remarried? Would his mother have remarried? As hard as he found the idea of them not together, he found the idea of one surviving the other only to long for the memory of their lost love to be even more tragic.

The conversation changed to lighter topics and Harry let himself enjoy breakfast with his family. Of course, this ended when they received their school schedules from Professor McGonagall. He glanced over his schedule and smirked. "Well, it isn't History of Magic," he proclaimed.

"No, it's Potions," Neville said grimly. "I'm not sure I can do this," he said miserably.

"But there's no one more knowledgeable about Herbology than you are Neville," the voice of Lavender Brown murmured from the other side of Neville. Harry didn't understand the relationship between Neville and Lavender but his friend perked up happily at her praise so Harry decided that she couldn't be all bad.

"She's right," Hermione said with her usual matter of fact approach. "Your knowledge of Herbology will put you leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of us."

"But it's not all Herbology and Herbology is nothing like Potion's making," Neville protested. "And Lavender is just as good as I am when it comes to Herbology," the boy complimented, an action that made Lavender blush.

"Well, you haven't even had a single class yet," Harry pointed out. "Give it a try first, Nev."

"You're right, Harry," Neville replied.

"How bad can it be?" Harry said with a smile.

Harry learned just how bad it could be during their second potion's class that week. They were being allowed to brew a potion, a salve for burned and irritated skin. So how had things gone so wrong?

Harry stared in horror at the green glop that was Neville's potion. He didn't understand how his friend had managed to get that color, much less that strange consistency. It looked chunky. What on earth had Neville done wrong?

He glanced at his potion and frowned. It was a brilliant deep blue, but it was supposed to be Lavender in color when it was done. He must have messed up one of the steps. He looked over the instructions again with a frown. Just as he found what he had done wrong he noticed that Draco had come to their table. Because Leonis and Draco were Master Prince's Apprentices, they were settled at a table in the front and given a different task than the rest of their class. Their task had looked to be the preparation of ingredients. Once completed they were ordered to walk the room and give advice to anyone who looked to be struggling.

"I know," Harry groaned as Draco opened his mouth to speak. "I missed a step."

Draco smiled at him, amusement dancing in gray eyes. "But which step did you miss?"

"I forgot Step 6, the two counter clock stirs after adding the lavender," Harry told him.

Draco nodded his agreement. "Continue to do the best that you can," Draco said. "Master isn't ready to teach students how to mend mistakes just yet. Today is about becoming acquainted with the process. But be sure to make a note about how you missed the step. That way you can mark your progress."

Harry nodded at that. It was a good idea. Andromeda had given him a journal a few days before he had to pack up everything for school. He had packed the journal just in case he wanted it while he was at Hogwarts. He would make the note in the journal. He could use it to mark his academic progression as well as to jot down other things.

He continued with his potion and watched as Draco comforted Neville and helped him to understand where he went wrong. Apparently, Neville had not sliced the toad legs thin enough. Harry remembered that Neville's method had seemed a bit more like dicing than slicing. No wonder the consistency seemed a bit chunky.

He glanced at Hermione and laughed at her puffy hair. The bushy brown curls were fuller now that they had been exposed to potions fumes. The steam from hovering over the cauldron had not done Hermione's unruly hair any favors. They puffed around her head, barely contained by her ribbon. It made Harry wonder about his wild black locks.

"Harry, your potion," Hermione started to inform him.

"Yeah, Draco and I went over it," he cut her off. He sighed. "I forgot step 6."

She nodded at that and went back to paying attention to her cauldron. "I think we should set up a study group sooner rather than later," she pointed out.

Harry shot another glance at Neville looking forlornly down at the contents of his cauldron and he couldn't even begin to argue. She was right. Some of them were going to struggle in some of their classes while others soared. It would be better if they helped each other. Hermione's potion was the pretty lavender color that Master Prince had told them to expect if they followed the steps properly. It looked like Hermione wouldn't be needing help with this class, but Neville sure did.

Charms class was held in a room with tall windows that let in glorious sunshine. It made Harry long to be outdoors, but he forced himself to pay attention to Master Flitwick. He was both a Master of Combat and Charms, though he only taught Charms at Hogwarts. Magical Combat was not taught at Hogwart's School, something that Harry had been disappointed in. Sirius had reassured him that he would continue his lessons with Master Rosai in Magical Combat, so Harry supposed that would have to be good enough. Still, he did find himself fascinated by the idea of what Master Flitwick's fighting style might look like.

They had charms with the Ravenclaws, and he had been amused on their first day when Astoria Greengrass joined him, looking prim and proper in Ravenclaw blue and bronze. "If one more uppity Gryffindor calls me a Princess of the Ivory Tower I will not be held accountable for my actions," she had hissed at him.

Harry had smirked at Daphne's fraternal twin sister. "And a good morning to you as well, Astoria," had been his response.

Flitwick's arrival had silenced Astoria's planned response. Their first day with Flitwick had consisted of listening to a small lecture about the theory of charms and then he had encouraged them to ask questions. Harry had liked the question and answer session best. He liked the class interaction, even if Harry had not thought up a question of his own to ask.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a strange class. They had it with the Hufflepuff's. Hermione was happy to see Eleanor and the two girls had sat together with a pretty redhead named Susan Bones sitting with Hannah in the desk in front of them. Harry had shared a desk with Dudley with Neville sitting beside Dane Spungen in front of them.

The professor was a stuttering mess. It made it difficult to keep up with his introductory lecture about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Furthermore, Harry's forehead kept hurting all through the class. It felt like a stabbing, burning pain centered at his curse scar. He hated the feeling and as the class wore on, he resolved to go to the infirmary and have the Matron look at him.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Dudley asked him, keeping his voice low.

"My head, the scar feels like it's burning," he whispered back.

"Really?" Dudley whispered in surprise.

Harry only nodded in response and then tried to focus on class and ignore the concerned looks that Dudley was throwing his way. It was a relief when class let out and he was able to escape. His head was pounding at that point. He hoped that Madame Pomfrey could help him understand what was wrong with him.

Visiting Madame Pomfrey had done little to help him. She had noted that the skin around his scar looked slightly inflamed and she had given him a headache draught. She had offered him no explanation as to why his scar had so suddenly hurt him. It had never done so before he had come to Hogwart's school and now it had done it twice. Once at the start of the year feast and now again in Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It could not be a coincidence.

When he had pointed this out to Madame Pomfrey she had seemed startled and then she had done that thing that adults sometimes did that he hated. She had pretended to know better than him and insisted that there was nothing wrong with him.

But there was!

There was something wrong.

Harry ended his first week at Hogwarts with a vow that he would figure out the mystery of his curse scar.

I have received a few reviews asking why I did not include Dumbledore's warning about the Third Floor Corridor... well this chapter answers some of that question if you can look between the lines. Basically, Enid Corner (Neville's Great-Auntie and a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors) has been the leader of reforming the education in Magical Britain for a few years now (with the backing of the Crone's Council weighing in behind her). Due to Enid's campaign to reform things at Hogwarts there was no way that Dumbledore was going to get the Board of Governors to ignore him closing off that area of the school. They would most certainly have looked into it. Basically, Dumbledore has more oversight now at Hogwarts that had has probably had ever.

I know I didn't go into all of Harry's classes. I merely wanted to do a few classes, hit some highlights. We'll see him in other classes like Transfiguration, History of Magic and so on as the story progresses. After all these are his Hogwart's years and there is plenty of time to cover.

On a personal note I am in the process of packing up my home. I am moving and I am not sure when I shall have internet again and things settled enough to post updates. This story and all of my other stories will be going on a Hiatus until the move is complete and I am settled. Hiatus not abandonment! Thank you wonderful readers.