Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Thief of Hogwarts
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
The Thief of Hogwarts
By: Bluminous
A/N: I don’t own Harry Potter
Chapter 4: The Wrong Conclusions
Greenhouse 1, just after Herbology class
“Don’t forget to bring your gardening gloves next meeting, we will be dealing with Hippogriff manure and discuss its magical and mineral properties. Class dismissed.”
Hermione hastily packed her bags as soon as Professor Sprout left the Greenhouse through the door at the back. It was unusual for her to rush out of class, usually she lingered around and tried to talk to the teacher to ask for a clarification on the lesson or to ask for an extra credit.
She swung her bag on her shoulder and walked quickly towards the exit, past her surprised classmates who were busy discussing the lesson. It was forbidden to run inside the green houses, as Professor Sprout did not want any accidents since a few of the plants inside were rare and hard to cultivate.
As soon as she walked out of the greenhouse, she looked around and found the boy she wanted to speak with already a good distance ahead. Hermione quickened her pace to catch up but the boy who lived walk fast and soon disappeared inside the castle.
Hermione ran and looked around, and groaned when she realized that Harry Potter had disappeared... again.
“What’s going on with you Hermione?” Padma Patil asked.
“I wanted to talk to Harry... you know thank him for giving me back my quill.” The brown haired girl said.
“Boy will be boys... he’s probably back in the common room with the older students.” Padma said. “You know he’s not what I expected of the boy who lived.”
“What were you expecting? He seems normal to me, though a bit quiet.” Hermione said.
“I was expecting the boy who lived to be taller... and at least noble.” Padma grinned.
“Noble?” Hermione asked.
“I saw Neville Longbottom, you know the Hufflepuff that keeps crying about his pet frog.” Padma said.
“Toad” Hermione corrected.
“Toad.” Padma acknowledged the correction. “Anyway I saw him getting taunted by Malfoy... that he’s a squib and he’s lucky to be accepted at Hogwarts.”
“That’s horrible!” Hermione said. “But what has that got to do with Harry Potter?”
“Harry didn’t even glance at their direction as he walked past.” Padma said. “He just continued walking as if he was strolling along Diagon Alley.”
“But he helped me with the quill yesterday.” Hermione said. “Maybe he didn’t see them.”
“That’s impossible... the corridor I saw them was narrow.” Padma said. “He’d either be blind or he needs to have his glasses changed.”
“Why does he need to protect Longbottom anyway?” Hermione asked.
“Well he’s the boy who lived.” Padma shrugged. “Since Dumbledore raised him, he should be all noble and courageous, a true wizarding hero.”
“I read in the book that he was hidden from the rest of the wizarding world for safety.” Hermione said. “How can you be sure that the Headmaster raised him?”
“It was the Headmaster that hid him.” Padma said. “And did you see his charm work? He was the best in class. Professor Dumbledore must be giving him lessons long before he got here.”
Hermione nodded. “We better ask him for help in transfiguration too. I heard it was a hard subject to learn.”
“C’mon let’s head into the lake... It’s a beautiful day and I don’t want to spend it inside reading books.”
“Okay!” Hermione said brightly. The two girls headed towards the lake and found a suitable spot under a tree. Immediately they both pulled books from their bags and started reading.
Hermione just finished the first chapter when she found the boy she wanted to talk to walking across the lawn. The boy had a smile in his face as he occasionally tossed a bottle way up in the air and catch it as it came down.
“Hey Padma? I’ll just got talk to someone for a moment. Could you watch my stuff?” Hermione asked.
Padma just nodded as she turned a page and Hermione took it as a reply and ran towards the boy who lived.
“Harry!”
Harry looked up and saw the brown haired girl he helped earlier. The girl stopped right before him and panted, holding her hands on her knees.
“I need... to talk to you...” The brown haired girl said as she tried to regain her breathing.
“You need exercise.” Harry commented as he looked at the girl who was still breathing hard. “Who are you?”
“I just realized that.” Hermione said. “My name is Hermione... Hermione Granger. I just want to thank you for earlier... you know for yesterday.”
“Oh right.” Harry remembered the quill incident. “Don’t think about it... I just don’t like that other kid.... reminds me of that bully in my old school.”
“I don’t like him too.” Hermione grinned. “So do you want to come and sit with us over there?” The brown haired girl pointed to the shady spot under a tree where Padma was busy reading.
With nothing to do until tonight Harry shrugged and followed the brown haired girl back to her spot. Hermione was about to ask for help in charm theory but the boy who lived decided to sleep the afternoon away.
*******
“He announced after the sorting feast that the third year corridor is off limits... I guess he placed the stone there.” Harry said as he played with a strange silver statue.
“He might have placed defenses there Harry.” Nicholas said from his desk. He was reading the daily prophet, and as usual started with the animated comics from the back. “Remember he’s using the stone to lure Voldemort... you should act quickly.”
“By the way Harry, what house where you sorted in?” Nicholas asked absently as he turned a page.
“I got into Ravenclaw.” Harry said.
“Hmmm that’s good... I was in Sytherin when I was there...” Nicholas said. His eyes widened when he turned to the front page and he immediately looked back at the young thief.
“You stole the sorting hat!!!” Nicholas Flamel exclaimed. “Are you crazy Harry? What on earth possessed you to do that?”
“The spirit of curiosity” Harry defended himself. “It looked nice so I took it. I didn’t know it was a thousand year old artifact.” He tossed the sorting hat to the desk to for the old man’s inspection.
“And can you tell me what is nice about this?” Nicholas asked as he held the old worn hat in his hand.
“It looked old and really neat. I was about to throw it away after the sorting ceremony when I realized I had the sorting hat in my pocket.” Harry shrugged. “So how much could we sell it?”
Nicholas stared at his young friend and started laughing.
“What? I bet it’s worth something...” Harry asked, confused with the old man’s reaction.
“You still have much to learn Harry...” Nicholas said as he patted the young man on the shoulder. “No one crazy would buy the sorting hat...”
“Why?” Harry asked. “It’s a thousand year old artifact”
“Exactly... and that’s why you can’t sell it. It’s too risky to have something of this value in their possession.” Nicholas said.
“I guess I have to return it right away then...” Harry said.
“I didn’t say anything about returning it right away... you have given me a wonderful opportunity to study the sorting hat.” Nicholas said as he patted the old worn hat.
“I need something in return if you’re going to study the hat.” Harry said. “After all I was the one who... acquired it.”
“But I already taught you everything you need to know!” Nicholas said. “Isn’t that enough?”
“I want to learn more.” Harry insisted. “The deal for stealing back the stone is that you teach me knowledge of the wizarding world. For the Sorting hat, I want something unique.”
Nicholas stared at the young thief and sighed. “You drive a hard bargain lad.”
The master alchemist walked up to shelves in his study and pulled out a thin tome and gave it to his young friend.
“What do you think?” Nicholas asked as he smiled at Harry. “It will be hard, but worth it. Do we have a deal?”
Harry shook the old man’s hand and nodded absently. Excited to read the tome he faded back to Hogwarts without a word.
Nicholas immediately patted his wrist to check if his gold wristwatch was still there and sighed in relief. Harry had very itchy hands and would just take whatever he fancied, and the boy was quite good at it. He turned back to his sandwich that his wife had lovingly prepared and his face fell when he saw the plate was empty.
“That Thief.” Nicholas muttered with resignation. He would rather have his gold watch stolen that the sandwich. Harry really knew how to pick his targets as everything in his office was charmed to warn him if something was missing... except for the turkey sandwich that his wife brought him earlier.
******
“Where did you get that?” Michael Corner asked his roommate. Harry Potter was eating a delicious looking sandwich and he knew the kitchen did not serve food like it.
“A friend mailed a package to me.” Harry said absently as he finished the sandwich. “What’s our next class?”
“Potions... have you prepared for the class? I heard from the upper years that Professor Snape’s very hard on the first years.”
“I’ve read some notes of basic potions brewing.” Harry admitted.
“Really? Whose notes?” Michael asked. “I got mine from a seventh year... I had to trade half my supply of Chocolate Frogs for it!”
“Chocolate what?” Harry asked.
“Chocolate frogs...” Michael Corner looked at his roommate with a strange look. “I’m sure you have heard of the Chocolate Frogs... even if you’re muggle raised you must have seen the old lady that sells sweets on the train.”
“There’s an old lady that sells candy on the train?!!” Harry asked, shocked. He loved chocolates.
“Of course...” Michael replied wondering if his roommate was turning insane. “You did ride the train right? Here I have a chocolate frog... you can have it.”
Harry mentally filed a note not to steal anything from Michael Corner... within reason of course. And it would not be really clever of him to steal from his own roommate as he would be the only suspect.
Unlike with the other houses, Ravenclaw had smaller rooms for two instead of the large rooms that houses six students. This provided them with some amount of privacy and the ideal environment to focus on their studies while the Ravens are not nesting inside the library.
“The frog’s alive.” Harry grinned. “And there’s a card!”
“That’s a collectible card... you can start a collection if you want.” Michael said. “The frog’s charmed to appear alive for a few minutes. Be careful though, it might escape as it jumps really high if you let it loose.”
Harry thought the chocolate frog was really cool and grinned at the frog that has very lifelike. He let the frog free on his open palm and prodded it with his finger, wanting to see it jump.
“What card did you get?” Michael asked curiously. “Famous Wizards and witches are in the card, though sometimes you get a magical creature.”
Harry was disappointed with the frog as it was seemingly content to just stay in its position and he looked at the card in his hand. “It’s Morganna.”
Michael whistled appreciatively. “That’s a rare card. If I was a collector I would have asked for it back.”
“How much could I sell it?” Harry asked as he flipped the card around and studied the text in the back.
“You don’t sell that mate.” Michael said. “The card’s value grows every year, so I reckon it would be a good idea to keep hold of that.”
“Alright then” Harry replied. He placed the card inside his transfiguration book and stored it inside his trunk.
He saw the chocolate frog on his hand and was disappointed that it had lost its charms. He drew his wand and cast new animation charms and grinned when the frog came back to life.
“How did you do that Harry?” Michael asked as he stared at the chocolate frog. “Animation charms aren’t taught till fourth year. ”
“I got some tutoring over the summer.” Harry said absently. He looked at his watch and scooped up the live chocolate frog and looked at his roommate. “It’s time for potions, are you coming?”
Michael nodded and hurried up and scooped his potions kit and followed the boy who lived towards the dungeons.
********
“Cut it this way Nevile.” Pomona suggested as she leaned over the boy and covered his hands with hers.
Neville stiffened as he felt the enormous breasts pressed on his back, and callous hands like his own engulfed his.
“Your hands are so rough...” He felt a hot breath in his ear and he shivered in pleasure.
“Professor Sprout...” Neville gasped.
“Call me Pomona.... Nev.” The Herbology professor whispered in his ear.
“Neville!”
“Neville!”
The Longbottom heir snapped from his daydream as Justin Finch Fletchley waved a hand in front of his face.
“Wha... what?” Neville asked looking around.
“You were drooling...” Justin Finch Fletchley smirked. “Must be a nice dream”
“Oh... Yeah I was dreaming of steak.” Neville said quickly. “So what do you think of Herbology?” He asked, changing the subject quickly.
“The class is alright, professor Sprout sure knows her plants.” Justin replied.
“She’s really sweet.” Neville sighed as he fondly remembered the wonderful Herbology class. “She even offered to give me private tutoring later after dinner!”
“That’s nice Neville.” Justin replied. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy the private tutoring.”
“I look forward to it.” Neville said eagerly. “She has a nice rack too.” He mused.
“What did you say?” Justin asked.
“I said she’ll explain some facts too.” Neville said quickly. He didn’t realize he said that last part aloud.
“Hey look, that’s Harry Potter.” Justin whispered as he pointed at the black haired boy playing with a chocolate frog.
Neville followed his gaze and saw the boy who lived was eating a chocolate frog bit by bit. The charms on the chocolate frog seemed different, as usually they really didn’t emit any noise and they didn’t struggle in one’s hand. The frog in Harry Potter’s hands struggled and made weird sounds as it was slowly consumed.
Neville was suddenly reminded of his lost frog and wondered if Trevor was fine or if he was slowly being consumed by a predator and his eyes moistened at the thought.
“You know that’s really sick.” Michael Corner said.
“What?” Harry asked as he bit another part and the chocolate frog let out another pained croak.
Michael Corner didn’t bother to reply. He would never look at the Chocolate frogs the same way ever again. He wondered when the hundreds of frogs he ate before felt pain before he consumed them.
“CROAAaakkk.”
Harry ate the back of the frog and after swallowing the large bite, he put the remains in his mouth. He smiled as he felt the remaining half struggle in his mouth and smirked at Michael Corner who was shaking his head.
“What’s his problem?” Michael asked as he noticed a teary eyed Neville Longbottom staring at them.
Harry whose mouth was full of half a chocolate frog just shrugged and entered the dungeon where the Potions professor stood waiting for them.
“Take out your books” Severus Snape ordered as he waved his wand, making the door slam close. “Turn to page seventeen. You have ten minutes to read the basic properties of the ingredients of the potion we are... POTTER!”
The boy who lived stared curiously at the professor as he stopped flipping the pages of the potions book.
“Eating in my class is forbidden Potter... five points from Ravenclaw.” Severus Snape smirked as he discovered a way to make the son of his dead rival feel miserable. He knew better than to ask difficult questions on a Ravenclaw, the boy might know the answers and he might be forced to award points.
The boy who lived just continued staring at him and chewed once, irritating the potions professor.
“Open your mouth Potter, and spit that candy out.” Severus ordered.
The boy who lived shook his head as he felt the melting frog on his mouth struggle. The animation charms he placed on the frog were very much active and he realized it was too strong for the small chocolate piece.
“Another five points from Ravenclaw.” Severus said. “If you don’t open your mouth you will receive detention tonight!”
Harry had planned out his evening and did not want to spend it stuck in detention. The boy who lived opened his mouth and the melting frog leapt out of his mouth and landed on the greasy head of Severus Snape.
The potions professor looked up and saw a deformed face staring down at him, dripping with a strange liquid.
“What in blazes?” The potions professor and he let out a small scream as he felt something alive on his head. He ran around the dungeon, his arms waving in a frenzy to get rid of the creature in his hair.
His hand managed to hit the frog and sent it flying to a group of Hufflepuff girls who were watching the incident. The distorted chocolate frog went flying straight to Susan Bones who shrieked and started knocking down the potion ingredients on top of her desk. The other girls screamed with her and soon mayhem wreaked havoc across the dungeons.
The various ingredients reacted with one another and soon smoke erupted from the puddle on the floor creating a foul smelling stench.
“OUT!!!” Severus Snape screamed.
********
“And your father was an idiot Potter” Severus sneered as he continued marking his students’ summer assignments. The boy who lived did not reply and continued scrubbing the potion room, making the potions professor more irritated.
Harry, used to cleaning at the Dursleys and he did not think much of the punishment, as long as he was dismissed early enough to start exploring the third floor corridor.
“And did I tell you he was always in detention?” Severus added as he gave a superior look over the young boy. Harry Potter did not take the bait and continued cleaning the floor, to the Potion Master’s surprise... the boy had surprisingly good control over his emotions.
Harry looked around the room his eyes memorizing every detail as his mind plotted revenge against his teacher who appeared to be his dead father’s rival. The man appeared to have held a grudge against James Potter, and unfortunately it passed on to him.
The young boy’s mind filled with various schemes to take out his revenge on Professor Severus Snape. He would search later for the man’s most valuable possession and steal it... and maybe ruin his Potions cupboard.
His eyes caught a glint of something shiny and he smirked in delight. He finally found a suitable punishment for his target.
“I’m finished Professor Snape.” Harry said as he stood up.
The Potions Professor looked at the dungeon floor with a keen eye and nodded in approval. “Get out”
Harry nodded and scampered away, eager to explore the forbidden corridor.
Severus sneered as he stared at the young delinquent leave his office. After a few minutes the potions professor took a break from marking the assignments and headed to his living quarters to wash his face, tired from the day’s work.
When he came back he was stunned when he saw the parchments he carefully organized scattered around the floor. The window to his office was open and a cool strong breeze was blowing inside.
“Shit.” Severus muttered. He must have forgotten to close the latch, and now the wind had blown off the neatly stacked parchment of assignments. The year levels had mixed together, including the marked and the unmarked ones. What was worse, his ink bottle had toppled and spilt a good amount of ink on some of the parchments in his desk.
The Potions Master shook his head... he thought he would be able to sleep early tonight. With this mess he doubt if he could sleep tonight.
********
CRASH!
“Neville Longbottom! Did not I tell you to wait for the count of three?” Madam Hooch asked as she inspected the boy’s arm. “The wrist is broken...”
Neville Longbottom continued to moan in pain and the Quidditch Instructor levitated the injured boy. “No one’s allowed to take off, or I’ll give a week’s worth of detention to that person.” Madam Hooch warned and headed towards the Infirmary floating an injured student in front of him.
“Longbottom dropped something...” Draco Malfoy said as he picked up a glass sphere from the ground. “Hey I know what this is! It’s a Rememball!”
“What is it?” Pansy Parkinson asked.
“It’s supposed to be used by dumb people... you know those forgetful types” Malfoy gloated. “That squib really needs this. I think I’ll leave it somewhere where he’ll have a grand time getting it back... like on the top of that tree.” Malfoy said and he immediately kicked off with his broom.
Immediately all students stared at the boy who lived, eager to see how he would react but they were disappointed when he just yawned. He noticed that almost everyone was looking at him and stared back at his audience.
“What?” The boy who lived asked.
“Don’t you want to tell Malfoy that what he is doing is wrong?” A red headed boy asked.
“Why should I do that?” Harry answered. He sat down on the ground and hummed a familiar tune, his back to the castle wall.
“You’re the boy who lived!” The red headed boy exclaimed. “You’re famous!”
“So?” Harry shrugged and yawned again. He was up till the wee hours in the morning being chased by a large three headed dog. It was fun making the three heads dizzy ass he faded from one spot to the next, confusing the Cerberus.
“What has that got to do with a Rememball?” Harry asked. He was getting a bit irritated with the red headed boy’s arrogance. It kind of reminded him about the prefect on the train.
“What’s your name anyway?” Harry asked.
“I’m Ronald Weasley... but everyone calls me Ron.” The Red headed boy said, proud to have the boy who lived ask for his name.
Harry nodded and closed his eyes, eager for a quick nap. Disappointed that they would not see a confrontation, some of the boys followed Draco’s lead and started flying on their brooms while most of the girls stayed on the ground. It was the first time since the sorting that all four houses had a class together, and they took the opportunity comparing their own houses with the others.
“Why didn’t you tell Draco Malfoy to stop?” A voice asked from beside him, interrupting his journey to dream land.
“Why do you all keep asking that?” Harry asked, annoyed. “What am I the hall monitor?”
“We don’t have hall monitors here Harry.” Hermione said as she sat beside the boy who lived. “And you helped me yesterday... why didn’t you stop Malfoy?”
“He’s just looking for trouble... that’s different.” Harry said as he gave up trying to steal a quick nap.
He observed the various boys flying awkwardly through the air and shook his head. “They’re going to fall at this rate... without proper instruction from Madam Hooch.”
“Do you have some experience in flying a broom?” Hermione asked curiously.
“Yeah... I just learned this summer.” Harry said. He remembered the flying lessons Penny taught him and smiled fondly at the memory. For an old woman, Perenelle Flamel was quick and agile on a broom.
“That’s nice to hear.” Hermione said.
Harry stared at the strange girl beside him and wondered what she was up to. He was sure she wanted something from him, with the way she was behaving since yesterday. Seeing that the time for the flying lesson was almost finished he looked around to see that no one was watching him and faded back to his bed for a quick nap.
“Can you teach some advance spells?” Hermione asked. “I saw your levitation.... Harry?”
She looked left and right and wondered how the boy who lived managed to disappear like that.
*****
“Severus... what... what happened to you?” Albus Dumbledore asked. His Phoenix Fawkes took one look at the potions master and fell off its perch and the various portraits of the previous headmasters sniggered in amusement.
“I didn’t sleep at all Headmaster.” Severus said. “Surely eye bags are a common sight... You usually have one after all.”
“Have you... looked in the mirror?” Albus asked as his beard twitched in amusement, his eyes sparkling at full blast.
The Potions Master narrowed his eyes and waved his wand, conjuring a full length mirror.
“AHHHCKK!!!” Severus gasped as he saw his lovely greasy hair turned into an abomination. “My hair!” The Potions Master patted his head and felt the strange soft sensation on his hands.
“I did not know you had fondness for the eighties.” Albus said. “The afro hairstyle is very becoming of you... What happened?”
The Potions master scowled as he gave the headmaster as nasty glare. “I usually brew my own hair potion... it appears I may have mixed the ingredients in my last batch... but that is unlikely. The devil twins may have some part in this.”
“Come now Severus, we must not blame Fred and George for every mishap. We all make mistakes.” Albus said as he grinned at his potions master. “Will you be able to fix your hair?”
Severus waved his wand and his scowl deepened. “The hair potion I use has some magical resistant properties... I have experienced several pranks on my hair and have decided to rectify it with the hair potion. It appears the bad batch I made has the same magic resistant properties.”
Albus Dumbledore coughed in amusement. “Shave your head then.”
“TWEEEET... Tweeeeeet.... tweeeeet”
“Very Funny Headmaster... and shut that bloody bird up before I decide to harvest him for my potions.” Severus snapped, losing his patience.
It was one thing to have the Headmaster laugh at his predicament, but the phoenix lying on the floor from laughing too hard was too much to bear. He waved his wand and conjured a hat and placed it on his head. “I’ll be back later” the Potions Master said and headed out the door.
It was the first time Severus Snape wore a hat and it completely looked ridiculous on him. Albus Dumbledore finally let out the laugh that he was holding and fell to the floor laughing beside his phoenix.
*******
The Thief of Hogwarts
By: Bluminous
A/N: I don’t own Harry Potter
Chapter 4: The Wrong Conclusions
Greenhouse 1, just after Herbology class
“Don’t forget to bring your gardening gloves next meeting, we will be dealing with Hippogriff manure and discuss its magical and mineral properties. Class dismissed.”
Hermione hastily packed her bags as soon as Professor Sprout left the Greenhouse through the door at the back. It was unusual for her to rush out of class, usually she lingered around and tried to talk to the teacher to ask for a clarification on the lesson or to ask for an extra credit.
She swung her bag on her shoulder and walked quickly towards the exit, past her surprised classmates who were busy discussing the lesson. It was forbidden to run inside the green houses, as Professor Sprout did not want any accidents since a few of the plants inside were rare and hard to cultivate.
As soon as she walked out of the greenhouse, she looked around and found the boy she wanted to speak with already a good distance ahead. Hermione quickened her pace to catch up but the boy who lived walk fast and soon disappeared inside the castle.
Hermione ran and looked around, and groaned when she realized that Harry Potter had disappeared... again.
“What’s going on with you Hermione?” Padma Patil asked.
“I wanted to talk to Harry... you know thank him for giving me back my quill.” The brown haired girl said.
“Boy will be boys... he’s probably back in the common room with the older students.” Padma said. “You know he’s not what I expected of the boy who lived.”
“What were you expecting? He seems normal to me, though a bit quiet.” Hermione said.
“I was expecting the boy who lived to be taller... and at least noble.” Padma grinned.
“Noble?” Hermione asked.
“I saw Neville Longbottom, you know the Hufflepuff that keeps crying about his pet frog.” Padma said.
“Toad” Hermione corrected.
“Toad.” Padma acknowledged the correction. “Anyway I saw him getting taunted by Malfoy... that he’s a squib and he’s lucky to be accepted at Hogwarts.”
“That’s horrible!” Hermione said. “But what has that got to do with Harry Potter?”
“Harry didn’t even glance at their direction as he walked past.” Padma said. “He just continued walking as if he was strolling along Diagon Alley.”
“But he helped me with the quill yesterday.” Hermione said. “Maybe he didn’t see them.”
“That’s impossible... the corridor I saw them was narrow.” Padma said. “He’d either be blind or he needs to have his glasses changed.”
“Why does he need to protect Longbottom anyway?” Hermione asked.
“Well he’s the boy who lived.” Padma shrugged. “Since Dumbledore raised him, he should be all noble and courageous, a true wizarding hero.”
“I read in the book that he was hidden from the rest of the wizarding world for safety.” Hermione said. “How can you be sure that the Headmaster raised him?”
“It was the Headmaster that hid him.” Padma said. “And did you see his charm work? He was the best in class. Professor Dumbledore must be giving him lessons long before he got here.”
Hermione nodded. “We better ask him for help in transfiguration too. I heard it was a hard subject to learn.”
“C’mon let’s head into the lake... It’s a beautiful day and I don’t want to spend it inside reading books.”
“Okay!” Hermione said brightly. The two girls headed towards the lake and found a suitable spot under a tree. Immediately they both pulled books from their bags and started reading.
Hermione just finished the first chapter when she found the boy she wanted to talk to walking across the lawn. The boy had a smile in his face as he occasionally tossed a bottle way up in the air and catch it as it came down.
“Hey Padma? I’ll just got talk to someone for a moment. Could you watch my stuff?” Hermione asked.
Padma just nodded as she turned a page and Hermione took it as a reply and ran towards the boy who lived.
“Harry!”
Harry looked up and saw the brown haired girl he helped earlier. The girl stopped right before him and panted, holding her hands on her knees.
“I need... to talk to you...” The brown haired girl said as she tried to regain her breathing.
“You need exercise.” Harry commented as he looked at the girl who was still breathing hard. “Who are you?”
“I just realized that.” Hermione said. “My name is Hermione... Hermione Granger. I just want to thank you for earlier... you know for yesterday.”
“Oh right.” Harry remembered the quill incident. “Don’t think about it... I just don’t like that other kid.... reminds me of that bully in my old school.”
“I don’t like him too.” Hermione grinned. “So do you want to come and sit with us over there?” The brown haired girl pointed to the shady spot under a tree where Padma was busy reading.
With nothing to do until tonight Harry shrugged and followed the brown haired girl back to her spot. Hermione was about to ask for help in charm theory but the boy who lived decided to sleep the afternoon away.
*******
“He announced after the sorting feast that the third year corridor is off limits... I guess he placed the stone there.” Harry said as he played with a strange silver statue.
“He might have placed defenses there Harry.” Nicholas said from his desk. He was reading the daily prophet, and as usual started with the animated comics from the back. “Remember he’s using the stone to lure Voldemort... you should act quickly.”
“By the way Harry, what house where you sorted in?” Nicholas asked absently as he turned a page.
“I got into Ravenclaw.” Harry said.
“Hmmm that’s good... I was in Sytherin when I was there...” Nicholas said. His eyes widened when he turned to the front page and he immediately looked back at the young thief.
“You stole the sorting hat!!!” Nicholas Flamel exclaimed. “Are you crazy Harry? What on earth possessed you to do that?”
“The spirit of curiosity” Harry defended himself. “It looked nice so I took it. I didn’t know it was a thousand year old artifact.” He tossed the sorting hat to the desk to for the old man’s inspection.
“And can you tell me what is nice about this?” Nicholas asked as he held the old worn hat in his hand.
“It looked old and really neat. I was about to throw it away after the sorting ceremony when I realized I had the sorting hat in my pocket.” Harry shrugged. “So how much could we sell it?”
Nicholas stared at his young friend and started laughing.
“What? I bet it’s worth something...” Harry asked, confused with the old man’s reaction.
“You still have much to learn Harry...” Nicholas said as he patted the young man on the shoulder. “No one crazy would buy the sorting hat...”
“Why?” Harry asked. “It’s a thousand year old artifact”
“Exactly... and that’s why you can’t sell it. It’s too risky to have something of this value in their possession.” Nicholas said.
“I guess I have to return it right away then...” Harry said.
“I didn’t say anything about returning it right away... you have given me a wonderful opportunity to study the sorting hat.” Nicholas said as he patted the old worn hat.
“I need something in return if you’re going to study the hat.” Harry said. “After all I was the one who... acquired it.”
“But I already taught you everything you need to know!” Nicholas said. “Isn’t that enough?”
“I want to learn more.” Harry insisted. “The deal for stealing back the stone is that you teach me knowledge of the wizarding world. For the Sorting hat, I want something unique.”
Nicholas stared at the young thief and sighed. “You drive a hard bargain lad.”
The master alchemist walked up to shelves in his study and pulled out a thin tome and gave it to his young friend.
“What do you think?” Nicholas asked as he smiled at Harry. “It will be hard, but worth it. Do we have a deal?”
Harry shook the old man’s hand and nodded absently. Excited to read the tome he faded back to Hogwarts without a word.
Nicholas immediately patted his wrist to check if his gold wristwatch was still there and sighed in relief. Harry had very itchy hands and would just take whatever he fancied, and the boy was quite good at it. He turned back to his sandwich that his wife had lovingly prepared and his face fell when he saw the plate was empty.
“That Thief.” Nicholas muttered with resignation. He would rather have his gold watch stolen that the sandwich. Harry really knew how to pick his targets as everything in his office was charmed to warn him if something was missing... except for the turkey sandwich that his wife brought him earlier.
******
“Where did you get that?” Michael Corner asked his roommate. Harry Potter was eating a delicious looking sandwich and he knew the kitchen did not serve food like it.
“A friend mailed a package to me.” Harry said absently as he finished the sandwich. “What’s our next class?”
“Potions... have you prepared for the class? I heard from the upper years that Professor Snape’s very hard on the first years.”
“I’ve read some notes of basic potions brewing.” Harry admitted.
“Really? Whose notes?” Michael asked. “I got mine from a seventh year... I had to trade half my supply of Chocolate Frogs for it!”
“Chocolate what?” Harry asked.
“Chocolate frogs...” Michael Corner looked at his roommate with a strange look. “I’m sure you have heard of the Chocolate Frogs... even if you’re muggle raised you must have seen the old lady that sells sweets on the train.”
“There’s an old lady that sells candy on the train?!!” Harry asked, shocked. He loved chocolates.
“Of course...” Michael replied wondering if his roommate was turning insane. “You did ride the train right? Here I have a chocolate frog... you can have it.”
Harry mentally filed a note not to steal anything from Michael Corner... within reason of course. And it would not be really clever of him to steal from his own roommate as he would be the only suspect.
Unlike with the other houses, Ravenclaw had smaller rooms for two instead of the large rooms that houses six students. This provided them with some amount of privacy and the ideal environment to focus on their studies while the Ravens are not nesting inside the library.
“The frog’s alive.” Harry grinned. “And there’s a card!”
“That’s a collectible card... you can start a collection if you want.” Michael said. “The frog’s charmed to appear alive for a few minutes. Be careful though, it might escape as it jumps really high if you let it loose.”
Harry thought the chocolate frog was really cool and grinned at the frog that has very lifelike. He let the frog free on his open palm and prodded it with his finger, wanting to see it jump.
“What card did you get?” Michael asked curiously. “Famous Wizards and witches are in the card, though sometimes you get a magical creature.”
Harry was disappointed with the frog as it was seemingly content to just stay in its position and he looked at the card in his hand. “It’s Morganna.”
Michael whistled appreciatively. “That’s a rare card. If I was a collector I would have asked for it back.”
“How much could I sell it?” Harry asked as he flipped the card around and studied the text in the back.
“You don’t sell that mate.” Michael said. “The card’s value grows every year, so I reckon it would be a good idea to keep hold of that.”
“Alright then” Harry replied. He placed the card inside his transfiguration book and stored it inside his trunk.
He saw the chocolate frog on his hand and was disappointed that it had lost its charms. He drew his wand and cast new animation charms and grinned when the frog came back to life.
“How did you do that Harry?” Michael asked as he stared at the chocolate frog. “Animation charms aren’t taught till fourth year. ”
“I got some tutoring over the summer.” Harry said absently. He looked at his watch and scooped up the live chocolate frog and looked at his roommate. “It’s time for potions, are you coming?”
Michael nodded and hurried up and scooped his potions kit and followed the boy who lived towards the dungeons.
********
“Cut it this way Nevile.” Pomona suggested as she leaned over the boy and covered his hands with hers.
Neville stiffened as he felt the enormous breasts pressed on his back, and callous hands like his own engulfed his.
“Your hands are so rough...” He felt a hot breath in his ear and he shivered in pleasure.
“Professor Sprout...” Neville gasped.
“Call me Pomona.... Nev.” The Herbology professor whispered in his ear.
“Neville!”
“Neville!”
The Longbottom heir snapped from his daydream as Justin Finch Fletchley waved a hand in front of his face.
“Wha... what?” Neville asked looking around.
“You were drooling...” Justin Finch Fletchley smirked. “Must be a nice dream”
“Oh... Yeah I was dreaming of steak.” Neville said quickly. “So what do you think of Herbology?” He asked, changing the subject quickly.
“The class is alright, professor Sprout sure knows her plants.” Justin replied.
“She’s really sweet.” Neville sighed as he fondly remembered the wonderful Herbology class. “She even offered to give me private tutoring later after dinner!”
“That’s nice Neville.” Justin replied. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy the private tutoring.”
“I look forward to it.” Neville said eagerly. “She has a nice rack too.” He mused.
“What did you say?” Justin asked.
“I said she’ll explain some facts too.” Neville said quickly. He didn’t realize he said that last part aloud.
“Hey look, that’s Harry Potter.” Justin whispered as he pointed at the black haired boy playing with a chocolate frog.
Neville followed his gaze and saw the boy who lived was eating a chocolate frog bit by bit. The charms on the chocolate frog seemed different, as usually they really didn’t emit any noise and they didn’t struggle in one’s hand. The frog in Harry Potter’s hands struggled and made weird sounds as it was slowly consumed.
Neville was suddenly reminded of his lost frog and wondered if Trevor was fine or if he was slowly being consumed by a predator and his eyes moistened at the thought.
“You know that’s really sick.” Michael Corner said.
“What?” Harry asked as he bit another part and the chocolate frog let out another pained croak.
Michael Corner didn’t bother to reply. He would never look at the Chocolate frogs the same way ever again. He wondered when the hundreds of frogs he ate before felt pain before he consumed them.
“CROAAaakkk.”
Harry ate the back of the frog and after swallowing the large bite, he put the remains in his mouth. He smiled as he felt the remaining half struggle in his mouth and smirked at Michael Corner who was shaking his head.
“What’s his problem?” Michael asked as he noticed a teary eyed Neville Longbottom staring at them.
Harry whose mouth was full of half a chocolate frog just shrugged and entered the dungeon where the Potions professor stood waiting for them.
“Take out your books” Severus Snape ordered as he waved his wand, making the door slam close. “Turn to page seventeen. You have ten minutes to read the basic properties of the ingredients of the potion we are... POTTER!”
The boy who lived stared curiously at the professor as he stopped flipping the pages of the potions book.
“Eating in my class is forbidden Potter... five points from Ravenclaw.” Severus Snape smirked as he discovered a way to make the son of his dead rival feel miserable. He knew better than to ask difficult questions on a Ravenclaw, the boy might know the answers and he might be forced to award points.
The boy who lived just continued staring at him and chewed once, irritating the potions professor.
“Open your mouth Potter, and spit that candy out.” Severus ordered.
The boy who lived shook his head as he felt the melting frog on his mouth struggle. The animation charms he placed on the frog were very much active and he realized it was too strong for the small chocolate piece.
“Another five points from Ravenclaw.” Severus said. “If you don’t open your mouth you will receive detention tonight!”
Harry had planned out his evening and did not want to spend it stuck in detention. The boy who lived opened his mouth and the melting frog leapt out of his mouth and landed on the greasy head of Severus Snape.
The potions professor looked up and saw a deformed face staring down at him, dripping with a strange liquid.
“What in blazes?” The potions professor and he let out a small scream as he felt something alive on his head. He ran around the dungeon, his arms waving in a frenzy to get rid of the creature in his hair.
His hand managed to hit the frog and sent it flying to a group of Hufflepuff girls who were watching the incident. The distorted chocolate frog went flying straight to Susan Bones who shrieked and started knocking down the potion ingredients on top of her desk. The other girls screamed with her and soon mayhem wreaked havoc across the dungeons.
The various ingredients reacted with one another and soon smoke erupted from the puddle on the floor creating a foul smelling stench.
“OUT!!!” Severus Snape screamed.
********
“And your father was an idiot Potter” Severus sneered as he continued marking his students’ summer assignments. The boy who lived did not reply and continued scrubbing the potion room, making the potions professor more irritated.
Harry, used to cleaning at the Dursleys and he did not think much of the punishment, as long as he was dismissed early enough to start exploring the third floor corridor.
“And did I tell you he was always in detention?” Severus added as he gave a superior look over the young boy. Harry Potter did not take the bait and continued cleaning the floor, to the Potion Master’s surprise... the boy had surprisingly good control over his emotions.
Harry looked around the room his eyes memorizing every detail as his mind plotted revenge against his teacher who appeared to be his dead father’s rival. The man appeared to have held a grudge against James Potter, and unfortunately it passed on to him.
The young boy’s mind filled with various schemes to take out his revenge on Professor Severus Snape. He would search later for the man’s most valuable possession and steal it... and maybe ruin his Potions cupboard.
His eyes caught a glint of something shiny and he smirked in delight. He finally found a suitable punishment for his target.
“I’m finished Professor Snape.” Harry said as he stood up.
The Potions Professor looked at the dungeon floor with a keen eye and nodded in approval. “Get out”
Harry nodded and scampered away, eager to explore the forbidden corridor.
Severus sneered as he stared at the young delinquent leave his office. After a few minutes the potions professor took a break from marking the assignments and headed to his living quarters to wash his face, tired from the day’s work.
When he came back he was stunned when he saw the parchments he carefully organized scattered around the floor. The window to his office was open and a cool strong breeze was blowing inside.
“Shit.” Severus muttered. He must have forgotten to close the latch, and now the wind had blown off the neatly stacked parchment of assignments. The year levels had mixed together, including the marked and the unmarked ones. What was worse, his ink bottle had toppled and spilt a good amount of ink on some of the parchments in his desk.
The Potions Master shook his head... he thought he would be able to sleep early tonight. With this mess he doubt if he could sleep tonight.
********
CRASH!
“Neville Longbottom! Did not I tell you to wait for the count of three?” Madam Hooch asked as she inspected the boy’s arm. “The wrist is broken...”
Neville Longbottom continued to moan in pain and the Quidditch Instructor levitated the injured boy. “No one’s allowed to take off, or I’ll give a week’s worth of detention to that person.” Madam Hooch warned and headed towards the Infirmary floating an injured student in front of him.
“Longbottom dropped something...” Draco Malfoy said as he picked up a glass sphere from the ground. “Hey I know what this is! It’s a Rememball!”
“What is it?” Pansy Parkinson asked.
“It’s supposed to be used by dumb people... you know those forgetful types” Malfoy gloated. “That squib really needs this. I think I’ll leave it somewhere where he’ll have a grand time getting it back... like on the top of that tree.” Malfoy said and he immediately kicked off with his broom.
Immediately all students stared at the boy who lived, eager to see how he would react but they were disappointed when he just yawned. He noticed that almost everyone was looking at him and stared back at his audience.
“What?” The boy who lived asked.
“Don’t you want to tell Malfoy that what he is doing is wrong?” A red headed boy asked.
“Why should I do that?” Harry answered. He sat down on the ground and hummed a familiar tune, his back to the castle wall.
“You’re the boy who lived!” The red headed boy exclaimed. “You’re famous!”
“So?” Harry shrugged and yawned again. He was up till the wee hours in the morning being chased by a large three headed dog. It was fun making the three heads dizzy ass he faded from one spot to the next, confusing the Cerberus.
“What has that got to do with a Rememball?” Harry asked. He was getting a bit irritated with the red headed boy’s arrogance. It kind of reminded him about the prefect on the train.
“What’s your name anyway?” Harry asked.
“I’m Ronald Weasley... but everyone calls me Ron.” The Red headed boy said, proud to have the boy who lived ask for his name.
Harry nodded and closed his eyes, eager for a quick nap. Disappointed that they would not see a confrontation, some of the boys followed Draco’s lead and started flying on their brooms while most of the girls stayed on the ground. It was the first time since the sorting that all four houses had a class together, and they took the opportunity comparing their own houses with the others.
“Why didn’t you tell Draco Malfoy to stop?” A voice asked from beside him, interrupting his journey to dream land.
“Why do you all keep asking that?” Harry asked, annoyed. “What am I the hall monitor?”
“We don’t have hall monitors here Harry.” Hermione said as she sat beside the boy who lived. “And you helped me yesterday... why didn’t you stop Malfoy?”
“He’s just looking for trouble... that’s different.” Harry said as he gave up trying to steal a quick nap.
He observed the various boys flying awkwardly through the air and shook his head. “They’re going to fall at this rate... without proper instruction from Madam Hooch.”
“Do you have some experience in flying a broom?” Hermione asked curiously.
“Yeah... I just learned this summer.” Harry said. He remembered the flying lessons Penny taught him and smiled fondly at the memory. For an old woman, Perenelle Flamel was quick and agile on a broom.
“That’s nice to hear.” Hermione said.
Harry stared at the strange girl beside him and wondered what she was up to. He was sure she wanted something from him, with the way she was behaving since yesterday. Seeing that the time for the flying lesson was almost finished he looked around to see that no one was watching him and faded back to his bed for a quick nap.
“Can you teach some advance spells?” Hermione asked. “I saw your levitation.... Harry?”
She looked left and right and wondered how the boy who lived managed to disappear like that.
*****
“Severus... what... what happened to you?” Albus Dumbledore asked. His Phoenix Fawkes took one look at the potions master and fell off its perch and the various portraits of the previous headmasters sniggered in amusement.
“I didn’t sleep at all Headmaster.” Severus said. “Surely eye bags are a common sight... You usually have one after all.”
“Have you... looked in the mirror?” Albus asked as his beard twitched in amusement, his eyes sparkling at full blast.
The Potions Master narrowed his eyes and waved his wand, conjuring a full length mirror.
“AHHHCKK!!!” Severus gasped as he saw his lovely greasy hair turned into an abomination. “My hair!” The Potions Master patted his head and felt the strange soft sensation on his hands.
“I did not know you had fondness for the eighties.” Albus said. “The afro hairstyle is very becoming of you... What happened?”
The Potions master scowled as he gave the headmaster as nasty glare. “I usually brew my own hair potion... it appears I may have mixed the ingredients in my last batch... but that is unlikely. The devil twins may have some part in this.”
“Come now Severus, we must not blame Fred and George for every mishap. We all make mistakes.” Albus said as he grinned at his potions master. “Will you be able to fix your hair?”
Severus waved his wand and his scowl deepened. “The hair potion I use has some magical resistant properties... I have experienced several pranks on my hair and have decided to rectify it with the hair potion. It appears the bad batch I made has the same magic resistant properties.”
Albus Dumbledore coughed in amusement. “Shave your head then.”
“TWEEEET... Tweeeeeet.... tweeeeet”
“Very Funny Headmaster... and shut that bloody bird up before I decide to harvest him for my potions.” Severus snapped, losing his patience.
It was one thing to have the Headmaster laugh at his predicament, but the phoenix lying on the floor from laughing too hard was too much to bear. He waved his wand and conjured a hat and placed it on his head. “I’ll be back later” the Potions Master said and headed out the door.
It was the first time Severus Snape wore a hat and it completely looked ridiculous on him. Albus Dumbledore finally let out the laugh that he was holding and fell to the floor laughing beside his phoenix.
*******
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