The Potters and Dumbledore's Secret

Chapter Eight - The First Week

Harry didn't know it, but Hogwarts was turned upside down by his arrival and subsequent Sorting into the Ravenclaw House. Throughout the rest of the Welcoming Feast, almost every student would lean and stretch in their seats, trying to catch a glimpse of the newest Ravenclaw. The professors didn't seem to escape the mystery of Harry either; each one cast a glance at him when he set his gaze at their table. The Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, who was wearing a colorful set of purple robes, just smiled at Harry with twinkling eyes over crescent-shaped glasses when Harry looked his way.

One professor in particular, with greasy black hair and a hooked nose, was glaring at Harry with such intensity that Harry could only come to the conclusion that this was Snape. He didn't spend much time thinking about the wizard because Harry began to experience a mild headache. Returning his wandering gaze to his plate, Harry leaned his head on Penelope's shoulder, surprising the girl.

"Feeling okay, Harry?" asked the concerned Penelope, patting his hand.

"Ugh," moaned Harry, "I think I have a headache." He reached up and rubbed his forehead tiredly.

Penelope frowned before reaching towards the middle of the table for a pitcher of pumpkin juice. "Here, take a drink and relax, we'll be heading to the common room shortly," she said, handing him a goblet full of the liquid.

Harry shakily grabbed the goblet with both hands and took a few sips. The cool juice felt wonderful going down his throat as he swallowed. He put down the goblet on the table and returned his head to Penelope's shoulder. "This is nice," he yawned.

Penelope shook her head in amusement, "I'm glad I could be your pillow, Harry."

Awhile later, Professor Dumbledore dismissed the tired students to their rooms for the night. Standing up from the table, Harry looked for his friends. He caught a glimpse of Daphne at her table, but she could only shrug back at him as she was rounded up with the rest of her house's first years by a Slytherin prefect and led away from the Great Hall. Harry did have more luck with Nym and Hannah since the Hufflepuff table was right behind his seat.

"Congrats, Harry," exclaimed Nym, enveloping him in a bear hug. "I totally didn't see the whole Ravenclaw angle coming. I was so sure you were pegged to be a Gryffindor like our dads."

"Well," said Harry, receiving a brief hug from Hannah as well, "I wasn't sure what to expect, but I think I've landed with a pretty good bunch, despite the lack of you girls. Penelope's been really nice and she's offered to help me out if I need it."

"That's great, Harry," said Hannah, "I'm a little worried about Daphne though. We lucked out having someone to look up to in our house but she's pretty much going in blind."

Harry looked at Nym to see what she thought, but she could only shrug. "I don't think we have to worry about Daphne," said Harry, cracking a smirk. "She's a pretty conniving witch and that was even before she had a wand. But it won't hurt to keep a look out."

"That's probably the best thing about you not being in Gryffindor, Harry," replied Nym, looking near the doors of the Great Hall where a confrontation seemed to be happening between Ron Weasley and that blonde Slytherin first year Harry met at Diagon Alley. "The rivalry between that house and Slytherin is legendary and quite intense. It would've been extremely difficult to stay friendly with Daphne openly in these halls."

"Thankfully, he's a Ravenclaw," said Penelope, entered the conversation, smiling broadly and patting Harry on the shoulder. "Speaking of, Harry, we need to get going, or we're going to be left behind."

Harry said his goodbyes to Nym and Hannah and set out of the Great Hall with Penelope. Trying to catch up with the other members of their house, Harry and Penelope hurried through the halls, occasionally knocking down a random suit of armor in the process, which would result in the two of them scampering down the nearest hallway to escape the wrath of the Hogwarts caretaker, Mr. Filch, giggling along the way. It was much later when they finally reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room inside Ravenclaw Tower.

"Wow," exclaimed Penelope, leaning against the portrait entrance trying to catch her breath. "I haven't had that much fun in awhile, and certainly not just on the walk to the common room."

"Well, I'm sure you'll have more opportunities now that I'm around," said Harry grinning, "This place is so huge, the possibilities are endless. I don't know how anyone can get work done here."

"And you got sorted into Ravenclaw?" remarked Penelope, earning a stuck-out tongue from Harry. "Just you wait Harry; you'll get used to this place, and will actually look forward to your studies." She gave him a wink and threw her arm over his shoulder.

In front of them stood a large solitary portrait of a regal sort of horse-man gazing up at the painted night sky; it was later revealed to Harry that the portrait guardian for Ravenclaw was a centaur. They approached the portrait and once she could get the guardian's attention, Penelope delivered the password: wise eagle. The guardian nodded and the portrait slid open revealing a square entrance in the wall.

Stepping through the passageway into the common room, Harry took a moment to revel in his new habitat for the next seven years. The room itself was quite large and almost was divided into two sections, the wall a few feet down from the entrance came out into the room to reveal a fireplace. It was almost like a round bump, giving the room the shape of a kidney bean. The area immediately surrounding the entrance consisted of a very contemporary set of curvy sectionals and simple sofas in blue tints. Decorative tapestries showing off the Ravenclaw shield and other unique designs hung on the stone walls above waist-high bronze and chrome bookshelves that lined the walls in the area around its two bay windows.

In the other area of the common room, the bookshelves grew in size, covering most of the stone wall. Unlike the windows in the casual area, the windows here were not very wide, but let in a lot of natural light with it running nearly the entire length of the wall towards the ceiling. Bronze and chrome also featured prominently in the simple desks and chairs littered throughout the study area, as well in the wall sconces and simple chandeliers holding unlit candles.

Due to the lateness of the night, the only sounds of the room where the two Ravenclaws, and the only light was from the moon shining through the windows and the flickering embers in the fireplace. Across from the fireplace were a set of stairs leading to the dorm corridors encircling the tower. However, they couldn't make their way to bed as they were brought to abrupt halt at the sudden presence of a short older wizard standing patiently in front the fireplace.

"Pro-professor Flitwick," stammered Penelope, her face reddening in embarrassment, "I'm sorry we're late, I was leading Harry here and we got a bit sidetracked with showing him where things were."

"It's my fault, Professor," added Harry, "I didn't think there was any problem with taking the scenic route."

"Well, Mr. Potter, it's quite admirable to step up for your friend, but Miss Clearwater should know better; she is a Prefect," answered Professor Flitwick. "However, I do find myself dawdling around the halls every now and then, so I think I'll just bid you two good night. Remember, Mr. Potter, there are curfews here at Hogwarts. Keep in mind what the Headmaster said at the Welcome Feast; stay clear of the third floor corridor." And with a smile, the diminutive Head of House bid Harry and Penelope goodbye.

Harry let out a sigh and was about to flop onto a nearby armchair when he was stopped by Penelope.

"No you don't, Harry," said Penelope, suddenly looking very tired. "We are lucky to have such a wonderful Head of House, if that was anyone else we would have been looking at detention at the least. Now off to bed."

She led Harry up the stairway and down a corridor before stopping next to a door that said "First Year Boys" on it. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Harry. It's been fun." Penelope turned back towards the stairs when she was stopped by a pair of arms throwing themselves around her.

"Thanks for everything, Penelope," said Harry, slowly releasing his hold. "It's a lot less scary when you have a friend with you."

"Don't mention it," answered Penelope, ruffling Harry's hair, "and don't worry, you'll be making plenty of friends. Now get to sleep, mister. Don't make me get tough." She playfully put her hands on her hips, before lightly shoving Harry towards his door.

Harry entered his dorm room to find it almost completely dark, save for the light coming through the windows. He made his way to where his trunk was, beside the only four poster bed that didn't have its hangings shut. Changing into his pajamas and slipping under the sheets of his bed, Harry closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep, dreaming of his family and best friend back at home.

***

Unfortunately for Harry, ignoring his fellow dorm mates at the Welcoming Feast and coming in late after everyone was asleep didn't help his popularity with them, as they left for breakfast in the Great Hall without waking Harry. Blissfully unaware of the time, Harry slept through breakfast. Reality hit, when Harry was shaken awake by a harried-looking Penelope.

"Harry!" exclaimed Penelope. "What are you doing still in bed? Classes start in fifteen minutes." She dropped her book bag on Harry's bed and began to rummage through his trunk.

"Wha...?" Harry said sleepily. "I didn't think I'd need an alarm, I figured I'd wake up when the other guys did." He got out of bed and stretched before snatching up a piece of parchment from his night table.

"That's your class schedule, Harry," answered Penelope, placing a change of clothes and Harry's book bag on his bed. "I asked Professor Flitwick for it when you didn't show up for breakfast. You're lucky you have Charms first thing. Now hurry off and wash up. I'll tell Flitwick that you're running a little late; it's on my way to Defense class. Good luck." And in a whirlwind, Penelope gave Harry a kiss on the cheek, picked up her book bag and was out the door before Harry could blink.

Harry was out of breath by the time he made it to the doorway of the Charms classroom. He leaned on the door jamb before taking a deep breath and confidently strolling into class a good ten minutes late. He spied the nearest open chair and quickly sat down.

"Glad to see you're joining us, Mr. Potter," said Professor Flitwick, having stopped mid-lesson to greet Harry. "Take out your wand and find out from a classmate what you missed. Let us hope you are more timely in your endeavors from now on." A few snickers rang out from the boys in the classroom, not only from Ravenclaw, but also from Slytherin who were attending the class as well. Harry blushed brightly and nodded to his Head of House. Flitwick then turned his attention to the whole class and continued on about the aspects of Charms that the class would cover during the year.

Once the class had been assigned a practical exercise, Harry took the opportunity to look around the classroom. Despite having to share the class with Slytherins, it seemed like the students were fairly spread out between the two houses. The steadfast ones were clumped together, like that rowdy group of Slytherins on the other side of the room from Harry; all the activity seemed to be centered on the blond boy he'd had the run-in with at Madam Malkin's. Quite a few times, Professor Flitwick had to come over to that group to oversee their progress, but once he left the area they went back to their chatting.

Harry was about to start himself, when he felt something hit the back of his head, and heard girlish giggling coming from behind him. He looked down and saw a small piece of parchment, in the roughly shaped like an owl, blinking up at him. Harry reached down and opened the altered piece of parchment to read:

Behind you, silly.

Why were you late?

- D

Harry crumpled the paper up and turned around to find Daphne Greengrass smirking down at him from the row right behind him. She was surrounded by a few girls from Slytherin and Ravenclaw, all who were giggling at the dumbfounded look on Harry's face.

"Daphne?" said Harry, a smile rising to his lips. "I was in such a rush to get to class that I didn't think about you being in it!"

"We could see that, with your little entrance, Harry," answered Daphne, motioning the girls to quiet down. "How come you were late?"

"Oh, that," said Harry, reaching back to rub his neck, "well, I was late getting into the common room last night and didn't meet anyone outside of Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw Prefect, so when it was morning none of the guys bothered with me and I overslept." A slight frown came over his face, "I don't think I've been very accessible to my housemates."

"Nonsense, Harry," replied Daphne. "This is what? The second day of school? You can hardly be expected to suddenly become mates."

"Yeah, Harry," added in a Ravenclaw girl with long dark hair from Daphne's left side. "Don't fret about it, I met most of them last night in the common room, and they didn't seem to care either way. Not real sociable at first either. It certainly was a difference from being around my sister."

"I'm Harry Potter by the way, but I think you already know that," Harry smiled at the girl. "What's your name?"

"Ugh," exclaimed Daphne, "where are my manners today? I'm not being a good new friend, am I? Okay, this is Padma," she said pointing at the Ravenclaw girl Harry had asked. "And this is Tracy, Pansy, Mandy, and Lisa." Daphne finished going around the surrounding area.

The rest of the class went very quickly for Harry and his friends. Professor Flitwick started instructing them on the techniques of Wingardium Leviosa, a levitation charm, emphasizing the 'swish and flick' aspects of the wand movement. No one succeeded in performing the spell that first day, but Harry was sure his feather had twitched a bit. Daphne had no more luck; her feather hadn't moved, but the edges were burnt.

The elation from the fun Charms class lasted until Harry made it to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Upon entering the classroom, Harry was hit with a heavy aroma of garlic, so strong it stung his eyes. Sharing this class with Hufflepuff, Harry quickly found a seat next to Hannah. After greeting her, Harry was brought into the conversation she was having with the boy in front of her, Ernie Macmillan. Ernie was mentioning the rumors going around about the Defense professor, that the garlic was being used to keep away a vampire he'd run into in Romania and feared would return for him.

The actual class didn't get much better. Once Professor Quirrell mentioned that he was wearing a turban given to him from an African Prince for disposing of a zombie, Terry Boot, one of Harry's dorm mates, asked if he'd tell the class how he did it. Quirrell stumbled through a response, changing the topic in mid-stream to the weather, disappointing the eager class.

Astronomy was entertaining since it took place in the Astronomy Tower every Wednesday at midnight. The view overlooking the grounds of Hogwarts was breathtaking; Harry would swear he even saw a centaur moving about in the Forbidden Forest from his seat. It was open to all the first years, so Harry ended up sitting by Hannah and Daphne. Professor Sinistra explained that they would learn the names of stars and constellations and the movement of planets in the class.

When Harry went out to the greenhouses behind the castle for Herbology, he sat with Ron since the class was with Gryffindor. It was taught by Professor Sprout, a stout little witch who was the Head of House for Hufflepuff. This was a class where they'd be getting down and dirty, which seemed to cause some uneasiness with two of the Gryffindor girls, one which Harry noticed was Padma's twin sister. The only other Gryffindor girl in the class, Hermione, seemed to have an opposite reaction as she was attentively writing down exactly what Professor Sprout was saying. Harry could only shrug when Ron muttered on about how annoyingly studious the Granger girl was.

As active as Herbology was, History of Magic was dull. It was such a boring class, it was taught by a ghost. The tale was that Professor Binns had fallen asleep one day, and gotten up the next day to teach, without his body. This was pretty interesting for Harry, since he loved distractions, but once Binns began to sprout off obscure dates and names like Emeric the Evil, Harry's interest waned.

When Friday finally arrived, Harry had just two classes left to attend for the first time, Transfiguration and Potions. He also had finally gotten to know his dorm mates, Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Stephen Cornfoot, Kevin Entwhistle and Michael Corner. Terry had been the friendliest and most accepting of Harry's belated overtures, while Corner seemed to have taken offense and would regularly ignore Harry. The atmosphere in the dorm was at least well enough that the others would make sure Harry didn't oversleep, which allowed him the time to get a big breakfast that morning.

"What do you have today, Harry?" asked Nym as she flopped herself down on the bench next to Harry, stealing a sausage from his plate.

"Transfiguration with the Gryffindors and Potions with Hufflepuff," stated Harry automatically from memory.

"Ouch," Nym grimaced, "Well at least you don't get Snape first thing and not with the Slytherins. The favoritism going on there is maddening."

"And it doesn't help that whenever I have class with Slytherin there's this blonde boy who is always sneering at me," said Harry, waving his spoon around.

This got Nym's attention. She lowered her head in close to Harry's. "I'd count your lucky stars that you haven't had a run-in with him yet, I've been hearing about Draco from the first year Hufflepuffs. He also happens to be a Malfoy, and my cousin."

Harry's spoon clattered noisily to the table. "You mean his mum is Aunt Narcissa?"

"Only by birth. I gather he's a clone of his father, with how nasty he's been and this being only the first week. My dad warned me that there was a possibility of him being here this year. I guess Durmstrang wasn't good enough for their tastes," Nym finished bitterly.

Right then, the mail arrived. As had become routine, Harry would receive a letter every morning from either Hedwig or one of the family owls written by someone at the estate. Today was no different, as Hedwig calmly landed in front of Harry and Nym. Harry relieved Hedwig of the note on her leg, while Nym fed her a piece of toast. Unfolding the letter, it read:

Harry,

I hear from your dad that you haven't had Snape yet. Well I consider this good timing because I wanted to tell you: don't take any gruff from that git. Also, what's up with no letters telling us you've gotten in trouble for pranking, Harry? The first week is almost up. Get to it! Just because you got Sorted into Ravenclaw like your mum, don't forget it's in your blood. You've got the Marauder legacy to uphold! Prank people, prank Snape, anyone. Get Nym to help you. And then write back in detail. I'll have to live vicariously through you since your mum and aunts have forbidden me from pranking the girls while you're gone. So unfair, I say!

Love from everyone.

Your favorite godfather,

Sirius

Harry and Nym shared a good laugh and finished off their breakfast before heading to their respective classes. Arriving at the Transfiguration classroom, Harry found a seat next to Ron and started talking about the latest issue of Which Broomstick. A few minutes later, the class had filled up, yet the professor was no where in sight.

"I wonder where Professor McGonagall is?" questioned Hermione Granger, who was seated right in front of Ron and Harry.

"Bet you can't wait to start class work, bookworm," Ron retorted angrily, causing Hermione to turn red and dip her head back into a book.

Harry elbowed Ron. "She's asking a good question, Ron; it's five minutes into class."

"Well, all I can say is good for me!" exclaimed a late-arriving Gryffindor boy, sliding into a seat in the front where a cat was lying on the desk.

The cat leapt into the air, transforming into Professor McGonagall, who Harry recognized from the Welcoming Feast. "Mr. Finnigan, unfortunately bad for you," she remarked, straightening her glasses and focusing on the shocked boy. "Perhaps I should transfigure you into a clock so you would arrive in a more timely fashion. Detention with Mr. Filch this weekend, I expect more out of a Gryffindor, Mr. Finnigan."

"I think I'm glad she's not my Head of House," whispered Harry to Ron.

"I heard that, Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall, turning her attention to Harry and giving him a wry smile. "Have no fear; I expect a lot out of all of my students, regardless of house. Let us hope you take after your mother, or I have a feeling you'll be seeing quite a bit of me, in detention."

Harry gulped and nodded, shoving the paper airplanes he and Ron had been making into his book bag, realizing Professor McGonagall was not someone he wanted to cross. A glint appeared in McGonagall's eye, before quickly vanishing as she turned her attention to the entire class and began to lecture on the rules of Transfiguration.

After a few demonstrations, including turning her desk into a pig and back, McGonagall set the class to try to change a match into a needle. Very quickly, Harry and Ron found out that Transfiguration wasn't so easy to do, and lost some of their excitement after the first few attempts altered nothing about the match. By the end of the class, only Hermione had made any progress, her match looking silver, leading to McGonagall giving the girl some praise, and raising the ire of a very red Ron. Harry quickly moved Ron's attention away from the girl, telling him of having Potions next, which quickly brought the boy to pat Harry on the back in sympathy before leaving for his next class.

Potions took place in one of the dungeons in Hogwarts. It was much colder than any of the other rooms Harry had been to in the castle, and the various filled jars lining the shelves of the room, certainly added to the creepy ambiance.

Harry found a seat in the middle of the room, next to Hannah. After greeting her, he sat back and waited for the fireworks to begin. He didn't have to wait long, as to start off the class Professor Snape took the roll call.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," sneered Snape, his beady eyes glaring at Harry, "our new celebrity. I hope we aren't taking up your precious time with having you grace us with your presence."

Michael Corner and a few Hufflepuffs he hadn't met yet snickered at Harry. Hannah looked appalled, but a shake of Harry's head kept her from speaking up.

As Harry expected, from the letters Nym wrote home after Potions lessons, Snape quickly fell into a steady consciousness of haughty lecturing. After a particular long winding speech that ended with Snape proclaiming the ability to put a stopper in death, the classroom got eerily silent.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly, "Where would I find a bezoar?"

Harry jolted into awareness at the sudden attention. "Erm," Harry started, trying to think up what a bezoar was. "I think you'd have one in your supply cabinet if you looked."

The class giggled a bit, before being silenced by Snape's incredulous stare. "The supply cabinet you say, Mr. Potter?" Snape answered, walking closer to where Harry sat. "Clearly fame isn't everything. Ten points from Ravenclaw for your idiotic guess."

Harry bit his lip and refused to look away from Snape's gaze.

"I'll give you another try, Mr. Potter. Considering who your father is, I'll give you an easy one," taunted Snape, "What is the difference between monkshood, and wolfsbane?"

"I don't know, but they both can't be as ugly as you," snapped Harry, unable to hold back any longer.

The entire class gasped in shock, before flinching at the hateful glare coming from Snape. Clearly this wasn't the right thing to say to the Professor. "DETENTION, POTTER! Why am I not surprised that with your feeble intellect, you wouldn't even open a book before coming to Hogwarts? A bezoar can be found in the stomach of a goat, and monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant that also goes by the name aconite. WHY AREN'T YOU ALL WRITING THIS DOWN?!" roared Snape.

The rest of the class didn't go any better for Harry. Anytime someone messed up on the potion assigned, Snape would turn his gaze to Harry and berate him for not being aware of the problem and preventing it in the first place. Luckily, Hannah seemed to avoid any of the abuse, despite sitting right next to Harry and being his friend. A few times she turned a concerned look at Harry, but he didn't seem to be fazed, as if he had been expecting the treatment. Once out the door of the classroom, Hannah jumped at the topic.

"Wow, Professor Snape was being entirely unfair, Harry," said Hannah, "although you did seem quick to insult him."

Harry frowned at Hannah. "He's an uptight git, Hannah," Harry explained, "My dad and his friends had several run-ins with Snape when they were at Hogwarts, and he's just being bitter about it."

Harry shrugged and said goodbye to Hannah before walking up the stairs leading to Ravenclaw Tower. Hannah let out a sigh, "It looks like it's going to be a long year."