Harry Potter didn't often think things through. It wasn't that Harry was an unintelligent boy, on the contrary, Harry was very smart. But being in Gryffindor, where reckless (as the Slytherins' would call it, foolish) bravery was lauded over cautious, cunning planning, Harry was more likely to rush into action than to just sit down and think.

Of course, Harry's choice of friends only made matters worse. On the one hand, there was Ron Weasley, who always corralled Harry into playing games and chatting rather than studying or doing homework. And on the other end of the spectrum was Hermione Granger, a very intelligent young girl who, instead of enabling Harry and Ron to figure things out themselves, always rushed to provide them with answers. It was not surprising that between the two of them Harry never had much time for uninterrupted intellectual thought.

In his first year at Hogwarts Harry had actually been provided with a few golden opportunities for self-evaluation. One such time was when he and Ron had pitted themselves against a fully grown mountain troll. The rush of adrenaline had temporarily blinded him while the actual event was taking place (after all what else would inspire an eleven year old child to jump on a troll's back and stick his wand up the creature's nose?), but nevertheless there should have been some reflection in the aftermath.

After all, what business did two children with hardly any spells in their arsenal have facing such a dangerous creature? They could have easily alerted a teacher or prefect that Hermione was missing instead, and have them go and save her. Once Harry had calmed down some, he should have realized just how lucky they were to have survived at all. He should have realized the stupidity of his actions, but then again, when he was being rewarded for his actions by his own head of house...well, it stopped that train of thought.

And then, of course, there were the end of the year events. The three children had gone down with no idea of what to expect. It is hard to find words to describe how blessed they were that the challenges, created to stop adults from reaching the stone, were simple enough for three eleven year olds to bypass. And said eleven year olds should not have been rewarded so greatly by their headmaster that Gryffindor would end up taking the house cup.

So it was no surprise that Harry had never paused to think that maybe going to save the stone was wrong. But during his second year of school, Harry did have that moment of realization. It came after his relief that he had indeed gotten Ginny to safety. Standing there, covered in blood and sweat and grime, the words of praise that Dumbledore and Molly heaped on him simply could not be taken in Harry was still in shock. But when he had gotten over the shock, in a rare moment of insight Harry saw how unprepared he had been for the task. Had Fawkes and the Sorting Hat not appeared, Harry would not have been able to take on Tom Riddle alone.

He was not skilled enough to fight the sixteen year old wizard. And this wasn't only because he was twelve. Harry had never put in enough effort at school and it showed in his magical abilities. When Harry did practice a spell, he could perform it with much more power than most of his peers. But most of the time Harry didn't practice, or didn't research new spells. Currently, his abilities were only mediocre.

And while there was nothing wrong with mediocre, Harry suddenly knew that it didn't suit him. Events the past two years had shown, if nothing else, that Harry would often be in dangerous situations and needed the knowledge to protect himself. Furthermore, Harry hated that people judged him as the "Boy -Who-Lived", that his greatest accomplishment to date happened when he was too young to remember . He wanted to be more than the "Boy-Who-Lived". He wanted to be known for his actions now, not then. And the only way to make that happen was to prove he was a great wizard.

Lying in his Hospital Wing bed, Harry knew that from now on things would have to change. He could no longer sit back and allow Hermione to do work for him, that would do him no good. After all, Hermione couldn't take his tests for him, and when he needed to know something on the fly, Hermione would not always be there either.

Thinking about Hermione and Ron, Harry also noticed that being with them led him to ignoring everyone else around him. As a first year, coming in from a life where he had never had any friends, Harry had been ecstatic to have friends and clung to Hermione and Ron heavily. Now that he thought about it, Harry found that he hardly knew anything about his dorm mates Dean, Seamus and Neville, even though they had shared a room for two years.

And there were so many other students to meet too, people that he met in other classes and always thought were nice enough, but never bothered to get to know further. No wonder everyone had accused him of being the heir of Slytherin when they learned he was a Parselmouth. They hadn't known him well enough to tell otherwise.

'From now on things are going to be different,' Harry thought to himself before nodding off. And the next morning, when Madame Pomfrey reluctantly released him from the Hospital Wing, Harry took this personal vow to heart.

It started with breakfast at the Great Hall. Since it was a weekend, Ron was still sleeping in, and Hermione was waiting on Ron, but Neville was already at the table and Harry took a seat by him.

"Morning Harry," Neville said cheerfully.

"Hi Neville," Harry answered, feeling completely out of his element. Neville was a nice guy, but Harry didn't know what to say to him, how to start up a conversation. But Harry wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing and he would try anyways.

"Have you finished the Herbology essay on the Abyssinian shrivel figs? I wasn't really paying attention in Herbology that day and now all I can find on the shrivel figs is their property in potions—which isn't really related to what we're doing in Herbology."

"Do you need to know how to prune them?" Neville asked. "I mean I could tell you how but it would be better if we went to greenhouse 3 and I showed you how to." Neville said.

"Do you reckon Professor Sprout would mind?" Harry asked, while reaching for a sticky bun.

"I don't think so, Professor Sprout always appreciates it when students show interest in her subject, but we should ask her anyways before going down there."

"That sounds fine." Harry said, finishing his sticky bun and wiping his hands on a nearby napkin. "Would you mind if we went right now?"

"Not at all, I'm done with breakfast."

Both boys ended up heading out before neither Hermione nor Ron made it to breakfast. Half an hour later, both Ron and Hermione would wonder where Harry had gotten to.

Meanwhile, Neville and Harry were on the way to Professor Sprout's office. Professor Sprout had an open door policy—the door to her office was always open—and she always welcomed any students with any questions or concerns.

She was honestly not surprised to see Neville come to her office. Neville was a sweet boy, but he was very shy and clumsy and had a hard time making friends. He liked to spend a lot of his free time in the greenhouses helping her with tending the plants.

She was, however, very surprised to see Harry Potter come to her office with Neville. Harry always seemed like a nice enough boy, but he had never taken much interest in her class. He did enough work to get average grades, but had never put in more effort than that.

It was Neville who spoke up. "Harry wants to see and practice pruning the Abyssinian shrivel figs again. Is it okay if I take him?"

Professor Sprout hesitated a bit, but she would give the Potter boy another chance. "Sure Neville, just be careful he doesn't harm the plants. Professor Snape needs them—the third years are brewing Shrinking Solutions.

"Okay professor." Neville said, before taking off with Harry towards greenhouse 3. In his favorite subject, Neville was always more comfortable and confident, and he practically dragged Harry towards the greenhouse in his eagerness.

The two boys reached the greenhouse and stopped before the shrivel fig plants. When Neville started to talk, Harry listened intently.

"Shrivel fig plants need to be pruned because otherwise the plant puts more energy into growing new shoots than it does into growing shrivel figs, and shrivel figs are important for their use in the shrinking solution. It is more important to prune the plant's vertical shoots than the horizontal ones, because they grow faster and are less likely to bear shrivel fig fruit. When you prune the plant, you need to either cut the shoot off where it begins, or where a horizontal shoot is growing out of it. If you cut a shoot in the middle it will grow back very fast. The shoots that are pruned will eventually grow back, so the plant needs to be pruned every six months."

When Neville spoke about plants, he spoke passionately and Harry couldn't help but listen. After Neville had explained they both got to work pruning the plants that had been pruned incorrectly during their last class. It was strangely calming to stand by Neville and prune the shrivel fig branches. Harry was glad he'd come.

When they were done they had a huge pile of branches before them, and some of the branches had actual shrivel figs attached. Harry looked at Neville hesitantly, and asked, "Are we actually going to throw these away?"

"No of course not. We didn't go over it in class, but Professor Sprout showed me how to peel them." Neville said with a surge of pride. "You have to peel them to make any use of them in potions. Here, look. You do it by gently pulling off the stem, and that takes off some of the skin as well. Then you use a paring knife to peel the rest of the skin away. Put the peeled shrivel figs in this container, and then Professor Sprout will give them to Snape later."

At first Neville and Harry peeled the shrivel figs in silence, but after a while when Harry felt he didn't need to concentrate as much to get the job done, they started to converse.

"When did you start liking Herbology so much?" Harry asked Neville.

"At home, we have a few greenhouses, and I've always loved to go there and look at the plants. I still love to, and sometimes I even get to care for some of them. My Great Uncle Algie likes plants too, and he sometimes shows me how to care for them. My Gran doesn't appreciate it much, though. She always says that playing with plants isn't as important as learning real magic."

"Ignore her. I mean, yeah, plants aren't going to protect you in a fight, but if its something you love to do you should definitely devote time to it. In a way, you know, my aunt is sort of like that. She always makes me feel like I'm not good enough in her eyes. But over the years I learned that no matter what I'll never be good enough in her eyes, so I might as well do stuff that will at least make me proud of myself, you know?"

"It's not exactly like that for me." Neville said. "I mean, I know my Gran loves me, its just that she wants me to be exactly like my dad, her son, and I'm not him. He was an auror and strong and brave and fought in the war, and I'm not like that."

"Well that's stupid. I mean, you're not him. Even if you were all of that stuff—though Neville, I still think you probably have it in you to be brave, you are a Gryffindor after all—but even if you were all that stuff you couldn't be expected to be the same person. Everybody is always comparing me to my parents too. They always say that I look like my dad but I have my mom's eyes. I always get that. Why can't I just look like me, a completely new person? I sometimes feel like people look at me and they see my dad, or they see my mom, but they don't see me. And its frustrating because I never knew my dad or my mom. I mean, I've imagined what they're like loads of times, but I don't really know what they were like. And if I don't know what they're like, and I never met them, and I grew up under different circumstances, how can I be expected to be like them at all? Sorry, I'm ranting, it's just frustrating."

"It's fine. I don't know my parents either—just stories people tell me about them, and my Gran talks about my dad a lot. It's hard because even though my parents are alive, they aren't really there, so I don't know them. They, at the end of the war, Death Eaters tortured them and they went crazy. I visit them sometimes with my Gran, but its like whatever made them who they were isn't there. Visiting them, it's like looking at empty shells or something."

"Wow, Neville. I mean, I'd say 'I'm sorry', but I know that doesn't really help with anything. I guess we both lost our parents in the war, huh?"

"Yeah" Neville replied.

"Come on, lets bring these shrivel figs back to Professor Sprout"

Neville picked up the container and they ran back to Professor Sprout's office. After handing off the shrivel figs they walked back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry still had to write his essay, though he now knew exactly what to say. And if he mentioned how to peel the shrivel figs he might even get extra credit.

But before he could get started on the essay, Harry ran into Ron and Hermione. The two immediately interrogated him.

"Where have you been Harry? We've been looking for you all day!" Hermione yelled at him.

"Yeah Harry, where were you mate?" Ron added.

"When I was released from the Hospital Wing I went to breakfast and you weren't there yet. I had breakfast with Neville and then he took me to the greenhouse to show me how to prune shrivel figs—I didn't remember how to and I need to know for the Herbology essay. We just came back now. Why, did I miss something?"

"No, well, we were all discussing what electives we're taking next year." Hermione replied.

"Well, what electives is everybody taking?" Harry asked.

"I couldn't decide on only three so I'm going to try to take all of them." Hermione told him.

"But Hermione, how can you take all of them? There won't be room in your schedule! Besides, won't it be too much work to handle?" Harry asked her.

"Well I'm going to submit a list with all of them and then see what professor McGonagall says. If she says I can't I'll drop some, but it's worth a try."

Harry could see that he wouldn't get through to her, so he turned instead to Ron.

"How about you, Ron? What classes are you going to take?"

"I'm signing up for Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Divination is supposed to be an easy pass. You should sign up for those too, Harry. Then we'll be together in all of our classes."

"I haven't really had the time to look into the classes, and I'm not sure Divination will interest me. I mean, looking into the future is dodgy stuff... Besides, if I really wanted an easy pass I would just take muggle studies. Anyways, I need more time to decide what classes I'll take." Harry hedged and turned to Neville before Ron could respond. "What about you Neville, have you decided yet?"

"Gran will want me to take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. She reckons they're the only worthwhile subjects we can choose."

"So Harry, you really don't know what you're going to choose?" Hermione asked him.

"Yeah, I don't know enough about the subjects to choose. I think I'm going to go to Professor McGonagall and ask her for her opinion."

"That's a good idea, Harry." Hermione told him excitedly.

"No it's not!" Ron yelled. "Professor McGonagall will just tell Harry to take all of the hard classes. She won't understand that blokes like us need some free time to just have fun."

"Ron, just because Professor McGonagall gives me advice doesn't mean I actually have to take it. I'm just curious about what she has to say."

With that said, Harry left the common room without waiting for Ron to respond. Professor McGonagall's office was directly across from the Transfiguration classroom. Harry had never gone in before, but he knew it was there. Unlike with Professor Sprout, the door was not always open, and Harry needed to knock to get in. Harry knocked hesitantly, but soon he was in the office seated before Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was not a patient woman. He knew she would not wait there endlessly for him to speak, so he had to start. Now.

"Professor, as you know, we get to choose electives at the end of the year. I was wondering if you could give me a bit of advice—I don't know much about any of the classes. Ron's doing Divination and Care of Magical Creatures...but I'm not sure I want to take those classes."

"Divination, Mr. Potter, is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. True seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney...(PoA5). Professor McGonagall stopped for a moment, then said "If you were a true seer, chances are you would certainly know by now, Potter. Now as for Care of Magical Creatures, it all depends on what you see yourself doing in the future. Potter, I would only advise you to take Care of Magical Creatures if you intend to work with creatures in the future, as the subject has little to no application in most ministry jobs."

"Professor, in Defense we sometimes study creatures. How does this class differ from that?"

"Potter, when you study creatures in Defense you study them with the intent of learning how to defeat them should you come across them. On the other hand, Care of Magical Creatures, as the name implies, only teaches how to treat and care for such creatures."

"What about the other classes?"

"Well Mr. Potter, I think it's fair to say that you have no business in muggle studies. That leaves two classes, Ancient Runes and of course Arithmancy. Each class is useful in a different way. Ancient Runes will ultimately enable you to access and understand old texts, but it also is very important in a branch of magic called warding. Most wards are based on runes, so knowing runes therefore will eventually enable you to create wards, and since the purpose of most wards is to protect, that is a very useful skill to possess."

"And what about the other, Arithmancy?"

"Arithmancy is the study of numbers and their magical properties. Initially, this class may seem far removed from your other subjects, but it actually ties in theoretically with all other classes. Numbers play a role in potions, determining how many of each ingredient is used as well as how many times to stir, but they also relate to all spellwork. All wanded magic requires that you move your wand a certain amount of times, and this does relate to the theories of numbers. Understanding numbers will eventually allow a student to experiment and create new magic, whether it be spells or potions."

Harry was amazed. Both Ancient Runes and Arithmancy sounded like great classes. But he had wanted to take three electives, not just two. He didn't want to seem like he was just getting by by taking only the minimum amount of classes.

"Professor, I know that I want to take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, but I really wanted to take 3 electives, not two, though none of the other classes seem right for me. Any suggestions?"

"The Hogwarts curriculum does not cover all classes available for students to learn. Dark Arts, for instance, are not taught at Hogwarts but are taught at Durmstang, another European school. We don't teach the Dark Arts here at Hogwarts because we fear that class encourages students to harm each other. However, students who learn the Dark Arts can take OWLS and NEWTS in that subject.

Another subject that is not taught at Hogwarts is healing. Although we have a qualified instructor for healing, Madame Pomfrey, healing is a very difficult subject which can not be taught in a large classroom environment. Healing requires large quantities of raw power, as well as concentration and intent. Mistakes in healing are sometimes irreversible. Therefore we felt it unwise to offer healing as an elective at Hogwarts. However, in the past we have been known to allow select students to take private classes with Madame Pomfrey in healing, and then sit the OWLS and NEWTS in this subject.

These students are expected to be very responsible, Potter. They have to swear to keep their studies secret from the rest of the students, and furthermore they have to swear to not use their healing magic either on other students or on themselves, unless Madam Pomfrey says otherwise. Many students end up dropping out of the class because of the level of difficulty. If you are still interested, I will contact Madame Pomfrey in your name and you may take this class in addition to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes at the start of the next school year. However, you must be aware, Mr. Potter, that any signs that you have broken these promises will result in you being summarily kicked out of that class. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall. I would greatly appreciate it if you spoke to Madame Pomfrey about accepting me into her class."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. Now off you go."

Harry's mind was spinning as he walked back to Gryffindor Tower. He couldn't believe it. Next year, he would be taking Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, History of Magic, Herbology, Defense against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Healing. Ten subjects. This year, he had taken only seven subjects and could have done much better. Going into next year, with such a greater workload, he had no choice but to buckle down.

And buckling down, for the most part, would have to start this summer. With only a week until the end of final term, Harry would find himself doing most of his schoolwork over the summer. But this train of thought led him to the inevitable snag in his plans. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia always locked away his school trunk the moment he entered their home in Privet Drive. How was he to study textbooks, revise, and work on summer essays if everything was locked away?

If only he could get everything he needed—textbooks, quills, parchment, and assignments—under the floorboard in his room. Then he would have access to them all summer. And while Harry wasn't ever enthused about schoolwork like Hermione was, he knew perfectly well that doing schoolwork would be a great improvement over sitting in his room doing nothing all summer.

And of course, all these matters were complicated by the fact that he couldn't do magic over the summer. If only he could use his wand, then he could easily unlock the cupboard under the stairs and sneak his important belongings up to his room. Using an item wouldn't be a problem, he could, for instance, lug everything up in his invisibility cloak to his room. But though the ministry wouldn't catch on, his aunt and uncle would sure find it strange to see him carrying an invisible package. Maybe that was the way to go, then. He needed to find a magical item which would enable him to get everything to his room without being caught. And if he owl-ordered it now, it would hopefully get there before he left for home. All he needed was access to a magical catalogue to look for something that met his requirements.

As soon as he entered Gryffindor Tower, he noticed that all of his year was still in the common room. Ron was playing wizarding chess with Seamus. Dean was sitting by the window drawing. Lavender and Parvati were in a corner to the side, giggling. Hermione was sitting with a pile of books before her, but when she saw him enter she motioned him over. And Neville, well Neville was by Hermione, but he didn't seem to be studying.

Harry went over to their table and sat in between Hermione and Neville. Hermione immediately dropped what she was doing and asked about his discussion with Professor McGonagall.

"I talked with her for a while, and I'm definitely going to take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. They seem like the best." Harry said, neglecting to mention that he would also be taking Healing.

"I'm so glad for you Harry! It was so responsible of you to go to speak with Professor McGonagall. Of course, all of the classes have potential and different importance, I'd really appreciate the chance to take them all, but I'm glad you're not just taking classes that seem easy, Harry."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, smiling. "And we'll have all our classes together, huh, Neville? Or have you decided to take different classes?"

"No, I'll definitely take those classes. In my house you don't go against what my Gran says."

"Hey Neville, I was wondering if you have any wizarding catalogues I could take a look at. I need to order some kind of pack or bag that conceals stuff."

"Harry, what do you need that for?" Hermione interrupted, sounding quite scandalized.

"Hermione, you know the Dursleys don't like magic. They always take my school trunk with all of my textbooks and work and lock it away—I always end up having to do everything last minute and the professors get mad. I was hoping I could hide all the stuff I needed in a pack and carry it with me to my room, so I could have a chance at actually getting everything done on time."

"Of course, Harry. I have a pile of catalogues in my trunk, in case I need anything, but I usually don't use them. You're welcome to borrow them and place an order." said Neville.

As Neville ran up to the dorms to grab the catalogues Hermione actually congratulated Harry for his initiative to get schoolwork done.

It didn't take Harry long flipping through the catalogues to find what he was looking for, an invisibility pack. This device was like a normal backpack, except it had been fitted with some minor expansion as well as an invisibility booster. Harry could put all of his textbooks in the bag, and press a button, and then the bag would become invisible. This way the Dursleys wouldn't see him carrying all his important possessions to his room. Harry quickly shelled out the money, 5 galleons, and sent Hedwig with the order to Diagon Alley.

In a way, for Harry, it felt strange that only two days had passed since the events in the Chamber of Secrets, when he had rescued Ginny Weasley. Hardly any time had passed and yet he had made so many steps to change himself. But in other ways it wasn't so strange. Harry was a resolved little boy. He had been resolved to save the Sorcerer's Stone, and so he did. This year, he had been resolved to save Ginny, and so he had. And now he was resolved to change himself, and so he would.

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I've put a lot of effort into this story—this chapter is 8 and ¼ pages long, and I would really appreciate reviews (good and bad) to let me know how I'm doing and how to improve. I would also like to thank my beta ElDani, for looking over this chapter and catching the stupid mistakes that I seem to miss.