Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Consequences of a prepared mind
Harry awoke to the sun streaming into his bed through gaps in the hangings. Looking through the curtains to the bed next to him he could see that Neville was stirring. Getting up he grabbed his toiletries and made his way to the communal bathroom.
Refreshed and awake Harry entered the dormitory just as Neville was leaving. Glancing at the time he realised that the others should start getting up. Making his way to the other two beds he quietly called their names.
"Anthony? Terry? It's time to get up."
"Uh, a few more minutes Mum." Was all the reply he received, mumbled from the bed to his right.
"Um guys, you're going to be late to the first class if you don't get up soon?" Yep, that was the right way to do it.
"What?" Two bed hanging were almost ripped apart as the two occupants almost threw themselves out of bed and out into the hallway. Laughing to himself Harry opened the fifth compartment of his trunk and pulled up the wardrobe. It seemed that sometime during the night someone had changed his uniform. Instead of the School Crest and Colours his robes were now adorned with the Ravenclaw crest, a golden eagle on a blue field, the same as the banner above the Ravenclaw table and his tie and trim were now coloured blue and bronze.
Unsure as to how this had happened with the security placed on his trunk, he added that to the list of questions adding up in his head. It was getting to be quite the list. Smiling at the 'keep neat' charms placed on the wardrobe Harry pulled out a fresh shirt, the one he wore yesterday had disappeared (another thing to ask about), and dressed for the day.
Unsure as to which books he would need, and conscious of there not being time to return to the dormitory after breakfast, Harry closed down the fifth compartment and opened the first. There laid out were all his school supplies just as he had left them. They didn't even seem disturbed by the journey.
He pulled out the clear pencil case with his fountain pen, highlighters and pencils and placed it in the front zip compartment of his school bag. Next went in his main organiser with enough separators for each class. He made sure it was stocked with enough lined paper and plastic folders. Just in case he had some really troublesome teachers he added a roll of parchment and an ever inking quill.
Checking that Neville also had everything ready they headed down to the common room to meet up with Hermione.
"Morning Hermione"
"Good morning Harry, Neville. Where are your room mates?"
"Just got up. Yours?"
"Up hours ago. At first I thought that they were getting a head start on the day, you know a spot of revision before classes start? But no, apparently no Ravenclaw is late for classes, but no self respecting girl can go out in public until an hour has been spent on primping each morning! I wouldn't mind except they were so noisy. And I doubt if anyone will notice that Lisa's hair is completely straight or that Morag's hair bobble is colour coordinated with her stationary."
"You're kidding?"
"I wish I was. You remember the way to the Great Hall? I was so tired last night I can't remember."
"Sure. So which classes are you hoping for today?"
"Hmm, Transfiguration looks like fun."
"Only you would pick the class with the hardest theory. Well looks like you'll be helping us all out with Transfiguration. I've read all the books and everything, but I'm not sure I know, you know?"
"You know the material but don't truly understand the theory?"
"Yep, how about you Neville?"
"I, well I'm not sure I'm going to be any good at the magical classes, like I said yesterday, I grew up thinking I was a squib and classes like Transfiguration and Charms apparently need a lot of magical power. I'm looking forward to Herbology though. We have our own greenhouse at home, and I always liked taking care of the plants with our gardener."
"I'm sure you'll be fine Neville. And since you've got a head start on Herbology you can help me and Hermione. Something tells me you can only learn so much about that subject from books."
The three of them made their way into the Hall just as the food appeared on the table tops. Different from the platters of food at dinner the night before, there were small collections of food interspersed along the length of the table with plates and cutlery stacked next to them. Looking at some early rising older students, prefects by the looks of them, they were meant to serve themselves and then find a place to sit.
Neville, Hermione and Harry all served themselves large portions of the English Breakfast. It was the first day and they were going to need their energy. Sitting down near a group of older students the three of them tucked in while quietly observing the goings on. Half asleep students dragged in by their friends, some students scribbling away at forgotten summer homework, old friends catching up. There were many different types of interaction going on and was food for Harry's people observations.
The school clock tower chimed the hour and the Head of Houses made their way down from the head table to deliver timetables, first years first. Looking at the timetable Harry was rather pleased. Breakfast was from 0730 to 0900, Lunch from 1300 to 1400 and dinner from 1800 to 1900. Each subject had one double and one single period each week, with most of them spread out. The midnight Astronomy lesson on Wednesdays was a bit of a shock but luckily Thursdays didn't start until 1200. Throughout the week were gaps of an hour or two in the day in which homework could be completed, freeing up spare time at the weekends and evenings for extra studying and relaxation.
At half eight the prefect that had shown them the way to the common room last night gathered all the first years together, and after ascertaining what class they had first (Charms), led them out of the great hall towards the classroom. Along the way she made a point to highlight other classrooms of interest and explain the best routes between each of them. (Stick to the main staircases, they still move, but it's easier to figure out where they are taking you, and they take you to the expected floor - unlike the stairs in the north wing that randomly takes you to different floors on different days of the week.)
After being shown into the Charms classroom Penny left them to get to her own class on time. The classroom was like an old lecturing hall. Tiered seats in a horseshoe layout, and a teacher's desk where a podium might stand. They took the front row of seats, all eager to start their first magic lesson.
Taking out his pencil case and notebook, Harry arranged his things and made sure he was ready for the start of class. Looking up to the confused, and some incredulous, stares of his peers he shrugged his shoulders and waited for Professor Flitwick who duly arrived.
The first half hour was taken up by having the class outlined and included the topics they would cover, what work they would be doing and the mark scheme. After that and an hour of taking introductory notes on the properties of charms, the pros and cons and their uses, the class finally were able to practise their first bit of magic.
Wingardium Leviosa, with a swish and flick motion. One of the most basic charms, the levitation charm was the most commonly used charm in practise and had many uses. After a stern warning not to use it on people (especially the injured), they were then handed feathers with the instruction to make them float a foot off the table.
Partnered with Hermione, Harry swished and flicked, and nothing happened. Shrugging he handed it to Hermione who after a deep breath gently hovered her feather above the table top. Wondering why it didn't work for him, he hadn't even felt any magic when he tried, he tried the motion again allowing the magic to flow down his arm and he imagined the feather rising up off the table. Not looking at where he had pointed, and not realising that an incantation was always necessary Harry was rather surprised when his text book began floating right in front of him.
Slowly rising his wand he was disappointed when the book didn't move. Just as he was about to look around the room to see who had levitated his book, he remembered one crucial detail of what he had just done. Turning back to the book, Harry pictured in his mind his wand moving and the book rising. Copying the movement with his actual wand Harry felt the tingling down his arm and the book began rising.
"Mr Potter? How... How did you do that?" Professor Flitwick, who was rather jolly at times seemed shocked.
Wondering what he had done wrong, Harry explained, and after repeating it for the professor (and half the class) Professor Flitwick moved to the front.
"Now class. We have covered the importance of pronouncing the incantation properly and the reasons for particular wand movements. What Mr Potter here has just demonstrated, is that there is another component to spell casting. The visualisation of the effect you wish to create is also important. For simple spells like levitating a feather, the wand movements and incantation is enough to produce the levitation effect. However as you continue your studies, you may wish to keep in mind that the visualisation of the result is also a useful tool with the more difficult spells and with non-verbal casting. The self belief is a very important factor in the successful weaving of magic."
This left most of the class stunned. They were all Ravenclaws, and as such, had all read through the course book, if not all the supplementals as well. And nowhere was there any mention of visualisation. When questioned about this Flitwick smiled.
"This would normally be in my speech that I was going to give you tonight after dinner. Ravenclaws are known as the intelligent house, the ones with their heads in the books and get the best grades. And while this is true, it is also rather stereotypical. Like saying that only Hufflepuffs are loyal. A Gryffindor also can be loyal, and a Hufflepuff can be brave. You were sorted by one of the major facets of your characters, but it doesn't mean that that is all there is to you."
"Now Ravenclaws. Yes, I expect you to do well in your classes but intelligence is not just about learning the material as rote from the books. It will enable you to pass exams but you will never actually learn the material if you don't understand it."
"As you spend more time among the others of the house, you will see many of the older students questioning the established facts. It was actually a Ravenclaw that made a startling breakthrough in her seventh year. The Class One warding spells were thought to be so old, that they had to be performed verbally, that a non-verbal casting would not allow for a ward to be cast successfully. This student disproved that theory, which had been accepted as rote for many years, just because no one thought to test it."
"The lesson I am trying to impact is that Hogwarts offers you many facilities to learn, but that the most powerful is your own brain. Now we seem to have overrun slightly. You should practise the charm for Thursday and if everyone can cast successfully we will move on to the unlocking charm, Alohomora. Quickly now you don't want to be late for Herbology."
The class quickly packed away and headed for the door. Harry acted as normal in response to his classmates questioning glances, decidedly not noticing the probing look Professor Flitwick was sending his way.
Herbology was only one hour long, and they were taken on a tour of Greenhouses One and Two by Professor Sprout. They found out where the fertiliser was stored, where the equipment was etc. etc. A slightly boring start to the class but Sprout promised that the double class on Wednesday would be for practical work. Quickly jotting down the class outlines and homework, they were able to head back up to the castle for lunch early.
Finding that lunch was a mixture of hot meals, with sandwiches and sides. The Ravenclaw first years sat down as a group and served themselves food. Sitting across from Su Li Harry struck up a conversation with her about DADA. The other first years taking this as a signal all started to mingle with each other. Harry didn't know it yet, but he had started to become the leader of their year group.
Defence against the Dark Arts sounded exciting, interesting and possibly a little dangerous. Unfortunately that was not the case. Professor Quirrell was a thin man, rather top heavy due to his purple turban, and had an unfortunate speech impediment. Knowledgeable about his subject, but unable to convey what he wanted, he set reading for the majority of the class and a homework essay to summarise what they had learned.
Pondering on the oddity of setting the length of an essay by measurement, instead of word count, was rather an odd way of doing things. Especially as line spacing's weren't set at a standard distance, Harry made his way to the library followed by the rest of the Ravenclaw first years. Luckily aside from a few raised eyebrows none of the teachers had said anything about Harry's choice of stationary. He couldn't have been the only muggle raised student who realised the benefits of using paper and pen, but he did seem to be the only one who decided to use them. Though from a few penetrating looks from a struggling Hermione he didn't think he would be the only one soon.
After introducing themselves to the librarian Ms Pince, they wandered around each drifting to their favourite sections. Knowing that learning DADA by reading one text book and whatever he could make out from Quirrell was the easy way out, Harry headed over to the DADA section.
o0O0o
"One is to three, as three is to five, and five is to four. What is the magic number?"
Harry cocked his head to the side. It had been a long day he wanted to get a start on the homework before the house meeting.
"Maybe we'll have to wait for another student." Neville said slightly downhearted. No matter his success during the day, it seemed Harry would have to work a little harder to keep Neville's self esteem high.
"I don't know. There are many magical numbers that have prominence in the Wizarding world. Three and seven are two… but this seems more of a riddle than simple magical knowledge."
"That's it. Can up repeat the question again please?" Harry asked unsure if that was allowed. The eagle gave what could be considered a grin and did so.
"Three, one…five, four. Hmm…the magical number is four."
Hermione turned to Harry. "Harry four has no real magical significance."
"Er Hermione." Harry gestured to the opening door behind her.
"Oh."
"Like you said, it was just a riddle. Though I think that the word 'magical' was used specifically as misdirection." Harry said, as he stepped through the door.
Hermione glared as the bronze eagle did its best to shrug before becoming immobile once more.
o0O0o
AN: So moving ahead a little by little. Explanation to the riddles will be posted in the next chapter if anyone wants to know. And with regards to Hermione's morning rant. I have personally had experience of those types of girls. Sometimes the more intelligence someone has, the less common sense I think.
Refreshed and awake Harry entered the dormitory just as Neville was leaving. Glancing at the time he realised that the others should start getting up. Making his way to the other two beds he quietly called their names.
"Anthony? Terry? It's time to get up."
"Uh, a few more minutes Mum." Was all the reply he received, mumbled from the bed to his right.
"Um guys, you're going to be late to the first class if you don't get up soon?" Yep, that was the right way to do it.
"What?" Two bed hanging were almost ripped apart as the two occupants almost threw themselves out of bed and out into the hallway. Laughing to himself Harry opened the fifth compartment of his trunk and pulled up the wardrobe. It seemed that sometime during the night someone had changed his uniform. Instead of the School Crest and Colours his robes were now adorned with the Ravenclaw crest, a golden eagle on a blue field, the same as the banner above the Ravenclaw table and his tie and trim were now coloured blue and bronze.
Unsure as to how this had happened with the security placed on his trunk, he added that to the list of questions adding up in his head. It was getting to be quite the list. Smiling at the 'keep neat' charms placed on the wardrobe Harry pulled out a fresh shirt, the one he wore yesterday had disappeared (another thing to ask about), and dressed for the day.
Unsure as to which books he would need, and conscious of there not being time to return to the dormitory after breakfast, Harry closed down the fifth compartment and opened the first. There laid out were all his school supplies just as he had left them. They didn't even seem disturbed by the journey.
He pulled out the clear pencil case with his fountain pen, highlighters and pencils and placed it in the front zip compartment of his school bag. Next went in his main organiser with enough separators for each class. He made sure it was stocked with enough lined paper and plastic folders. Just in case he had some really troublesome teachers he added a roll of parchment and an ever inking quill.
Checking that Neville also had everything ready they headed down to the common room to meet up with Hermione.
"Morning Hermione"
"Good morning Harry, Neville. Where are your room mates?"
"Just got up. Yours?"
"Up hours ago. At first I thought that they were getting a head start on the day, you know a spot of revision before classes start? But no, apparently no Ravenclaw is late for classes, but no self respecting girl can go out in public until an hour has been spent on primping each morning! I wouldn't mind except they were so noisy. And I doubt if anyone will notice that Lisa's hair is completely straight or that Morag's hair bobble is colour coordinated with her stationary."
"You're kidding?"
"I wish I was. You remember the way to the Great Hall? I was so tired last night I can't remember."
"Sure. So which classes are you hoping for today?"
"Hmm, Transfiguration looks like fun."
"Only you would pick the class with the hardest theory. Well looks like you'll be helping us all out with Transfiguration. I've read all the books and everything, but I'm not sure I know, you know?"
"You know the material but don't truly understand the theory?"
"Yep, how about you Neville?"
"I, well I'm not sure I'm going to be any good at the magical classes, like I said yesterday, I grew up thinking I was a squib and classes like Transfiguration and Charms apparently need a lot of magical power. I'm looking forward to Herbology though. We have our own greenhouse at home, and I always liked taking care of the plants with our gardener."
"I'm sure you'll be fine Neville. And since you've got a head start on Herbology you can help me and Hermione. Something tells me you can only learn so much about that subject from books."
The three of them made their way into the Hall just as the food appeared on the table tops. Different from the platters of food at dinner the night before, there were small collections of food interspersed along the length of the table with plates and cutlery stacked next to them. Looking at some early rising older students, prefects by the looks of them, they were meant to serve themselves and then find a place to sit.
Neville, Hermione and Harry all served themselves large portions of the English Breakfast. It was the first day and they were going to need their energy. Sitting down near a group of older students the three of them tucked in while quietly observing the goings on. Half asleep students dragged in by their friends, some students scribbling away at forgotten summer homework, old friends catching up. There were many different types of interaction going on and was food for Harry's people observations.
The school clock tower chimed the hour and the Head of Houses made their way down from the head table to deliver timetables, first years first. Looking at the timetable Harry was rather pleased. Breakfast was from 0730 to 0900, Lunch from 1300 to 1400 and dinner from 1800 to 1900. Each subject had one double and one single period each week, with most of them spread out. The midnight Astronomy lesson on Wednesdays was a bit of a shock but luckily Thursdays didn't start until 1200. Throughout the week were gaps of an hour or two in the day in which homework could be completed, freeing up spare time at the weekends and evenings for extra studying and relaxation.
At half eight the prefect that had shown them the way to the common room last night gathered all the first years together, and after ascertaining what class they had first (Charms), led them out of the great hall towards the classroom. Along the way she made a point to highlight other classrooms of interest and explain the best routes between each of them. (Stick to the main staircases, they still move, but it's easier to figure out where they are taking you, and they take you to the expected floor - unlike the stairs in the north wing that randomly takes you to different floors on different days of the week.)
After being shown into the Charms classroom Penny left them to get to her own class on time. The classroom was like an old lecturing hall. Tiered seats in a horseshoe layout, and a teacher's desk where a podium might stand. They took the front row of seats, all eager to start their first magic lesson.
Taking out his pencil case and notebook, Harry arranged his things and made sure he was ready for the start of class. Looking up to the confused, and some incredulous, stares of his peers he shrugged his shoulders and waited for Professor Flitwick who duly arrived.
The first half hour was taken up by having the class outlined and included the topics they would cover, what work they would be doing and the mark scheme. After that and an hour of taking introductory notes on the properties of charms, the pros and cons and their uses, the class finally were able to practise their first bit of magic.
Wingardium Leviosa, with a swish and flick motion. One of the most basic charms, the levitation charm was the most commonly used charm in practise and had many uses. After a stern warning not to use it on people (especially the injured), they were then handed feathers with the instruction to make them float a foot off the table.
Partnered with Hermione, Harry swished and flicked, and nothing happened. Shrugging he handed it to Hermione who after a deep breath gently hovered her feather above the table top. Wondering why it didn't work for him, he hadn't even felt any magic when he tried, he tried the motion again allowing the magic to flow down his arm and he imagined the feather rising up off the table. Not looking at where he had pointed, and not realising that an incantation was always necessary Harry was rather surprised when his text book began floating right in front of him.
Slowly rising his wand he was disappointed when the book didn't move. Just as he was about to look around the room to see who had levitated his book, he remembered one crucial detail of what he had just done. Turning back to the book, Harry pictured in his mind his wand moving and the book rising. Copying the movement with his actual wand Harry felt the tingling down his arm and the book began rising.
"Mr Potter? How... How did you do that?" Professor Flitwick, who was rather jolly at times seemed shocked.
Wondering what he had done wrong, Harry explained, and after repeating it for the professor (and half the class) Professor Flitwick moved to the front.
"Now class. We have covered the importance of pronouncing the incantation properly and the reasons for particular wand movements. What Mr Potter here has just demonstrated, is that there is another component to spell casting. The visualisation of the effect you wish to create is also important. For simple spells like levitating a feather, the wand movements and incantation is enough to produce the levitation effect. However as you continue your studies, you may wish to keep in mind that the visualisation of the result is also a useful tool with the more difficult spells and with non-verbal casting. The self belief is a very important factor in the successful weaving of magic."
This left most of the class stunned. They were all Ravenclaws, and as such, had all read through the course book, if not all the supplementals as well. And nowhere was there any mention of visualisation. When questioned about this Flitwick smiled.
"This would normally be in my speech that I was going to give you tonight after dinner. Ravenclaws are known as the intelligent house, the ones with their heads in the books and get the best grades. And while this is true, it is also rather stereotypical. Like saying that only Hufflepuffs are loyal. A Gryffindor also can be loyal, and a Hufflepuff can be brave. You were sorted by one of the major facets of your characters, but it doesn't mean that that is all there is to you."
"Now Ravenclaws. Yes, I expect you to do well in your classes but intelligence is not just about learning the material as rote from the books. It will enable you to pass exams but you will never actually learn the material if you don't understand it."
"As you spend more time among the others of the house, you will see many of the older students questioning the established facts. It was actually a Ravenclaw that made a startling breakthrough in her seventh year. The Class One warding spells were thought to be so old, that they had to be performed verbally, that a non-verbal casting would not allow for a ward to be cast successfully. This student disproved that theory, which had been accepted as rote for many years, just because no one thought to test it."
"The lesson I am trying to impact is that Hogwarts offers you many facilities to learn, but that the most powerful is your own brain. Now we seem to have overrun slightly. You should practise the charm for Thursday and if everyone can cast successfully we will move on to the unlocking charm, Alohomora. Quickly now you don't want to be late for Herbology."
The class quickly packed away and headed for the door. Harry acted as normal in response to his classmates questioning glances, decidedly not noticing the probing look Professor Flitwick was sending his way.
Herbology was only one hour long, and they were taken on a tour of Greenhouses One and Two by Professor Sprout. They found out where the fertiliser was stored, where the equipment was etc. etc. A slightly boring start to the class but Sprout promised that the double class on Wednesday would be for practical work. Quickly jotting down the class outlines and homework, they were able to head back up to the castle for lunch early.
Finding that lunch was a mixture of hot meals, with sandwiches and sides. The Ravenclaw first years sat down as a group and served themselves food. Sitting across from Su Li Harry struck up a conversation with her about DADA. The other first years taking this as a signal all started to mingle with each other. Harry didn't know it yet, but he had started to become the leader of their year group.
Defence against the Dark Arts sounded exciting, interesting and possibly a little dangerous. Unfortunately that was not the case. Professor Quirrell was a thin man, rather top heavy due to his purple turban, and had an unfortunate speech impediment. Knowledgeable about his subject, but unable to convey what he wanted, he set reading for the majority of the class and a homework essay to summarise what they had learned.
Pondering on the oddity of setting the length of an essay by measurement, instead of word count, was rather an odd way of doing things. Especially as line spacing's weren't set at a standard distance, Harry made his way to the library followed by the rest of the Ravenclaw first years. Luckily aside from a few raised eyebrows none of the teachers had said anything about Harry's choice of stationary. He couldn't have been the only muggle raised student who realised the benefits of using paper and pen, but he did seem to be the only one who decided to use them. Though from a few penetrating looks from a struggling Hermione he didn't think he would be the only one soon.
After introducing themselves to the librarian Ms Pince, they wandered around each drifting to their favourite sections. Knowing that learning DADA by reading one text book and whatever he could make out from Quirrell was the easy way out, Harry headed over to the DADA section.
o0O0o
"One is to three, as three is to five, and five is to four. What is the magic number?"
Harry cocked his head to the side. It had been a long day he wanted to get a start on the homework before the house meeting.
"Maybe we'll have to wait for another student." Neville said slightly downhearted. No matter his success during the day, it seemed Harry would have to work a little harder to keep Neville's self esteem high.
"I don't know. There are many magical numbers that have prominence in the Wizarding world. Three and seven are two… but this seems more of a riddle than simple magical knowledge."
"That's it. Can up repeat the question again please?" Harry asked unsure if that was allowed. The eagle gave what could be considered a grin and did so.
"Three, one…five, four. Hmm…the magical number is four."
Hermione turned to Harry. "Harry four has no real magical significance."
"Er Hermione." Harry gestured to the opening door behind her.
"Oh."
"Like you said, it was just a riddle. Though I think that the word 'magical' was used specifically as misdirection." Harry said, as he stepped through the door.
Hermione glared as the bronze eagle did its best to shrug before becoming immobile once more.
o0O0o
AN: So moving ahead a little by little. Explanation to the riddles will be posted in the next chapter if anyone wants to know. And with regards to Hermione's morning rant. I have personally had experience of those types of girls. Sometimes the more intelligence someone has, the less common sense I think.
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