4 Chapter 4

Waking up early in the morning, the first thing Harry did was head to the bathroom. After tidying himself up, Harry went back to his room where he changed into his school uniform. The Slytherin Faculty crest was now emblazoned on the robe. After putting on his uniform, Harry took his school bag, which already contained all the necessary supplies and textbooks. Harry was one of the first freshmen to be in the living room. Half an hour later all the freshmen were gathered, the Head Girl Gemma Farley came up to them and handed out class schedules: as it turned out, Severus Snape was busy with some important business, so the Dean's meeting with the freshmen had been cancelled. Glancing at the schedule he had received, Harry smirked.

Monday

1 Pair Herbology (with Hufflepuff) 08 30 - 09 50

2 History of Magic (with Ravenclaw) 10 00 - 11 20

3 pair DADA (with Gryffindor) 11 40 - 13 20.

Tuesday

1 pair Transfiguration (with Gryffindor) 08 30 - 09 50

2 pair Potions (with Gryffindor) 10 00 - 11 20

Wednesday - free day (broom flights from October)

Thursday

1 pair of Spells (with Ravenclaw) 08 30 - 09 50

2 pair of DADA (with Hufflepuff) 10 00 - 11 20

3 pair Herbology (with Gryffindor) 11 40 - 13 20

4 pair Astronomy (for all faculties) 20 00 - 21 30

Friday

1 pair Potions (with Gryffindor) 08 30 - 09 50

2 pair Transfiguration (with Gryffindor) 10 00 - 11 20

DADA (with Ravenclaw) 11 40 - 13 20

Saturday and Sunday are weekends

Checking the timetable against the calendar and making sure it was Monday, Harry put the parchment in his bag. Just as the Head Girl had said, at exactly ten past nine, Gemma led the first-years into the Great Hall for lunch. Sitting down at the Slytherin table, Harry began his meal. Potter ate his lunch quietly until the Gryffindors entered the hall, late because of their arrogant Head Girl. When one of the Gryffindors, surnamed Weasley, saw Harry Potter eating quietly at the Slytherin table like an aristocrat, the lowly imbecile shouted across the Great Hall.

- I KNEW YOU WERE A FILTHY DARK WIZARD! HEY POTTER, YOU MUST HAVE STARTED STUDYING THE DARK ARTS LIKE ALL THOSE SNAKY BASTARDS. RESPECT, YOU PIGANT SLON," Ron Weasley shouted.

Harry meanwhile paid no attention to the degenerate and continued eating. Ronald, however, ignoring Potter's disregard for his person, forced Ron into action. Gemma Farley, who had returned to escort the first-years to their first Herbology lesson, noticed the Gryffindor freshman's unusual activity.

- 'So, Weasley, I realise that you're having trouble not only with propriety but also with spatial orientation. The Gryffindor table is over there (the Slytherin Head Girl pointed to the centre of the room), go over there and stay away from our table," said the girl who wanted to end the matter peacefully.

- Don't tell me what to do, snake eater. Whore Eater-" Ron didn't care who he insulted, it didn't matter if it was a freshman or a Head Girl, as long as it was a Slytherin. Besides, Sixth's older brother, the Head Girl of Gryffindor, fifth-year Percy Weasley, supported his brother in everything, so he didn't discourage Ron's desire to insult Slytherins. The youngest son of Arthur and Molly Weasley hated students from other faculties on a genetic level. It was the way he had been brought up. Ever since he was a child, Ron had been taught that Puffenduys were weak and stupid, and it didn't matter that the faculty had produced many outstanding wizards, such as the current Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones; in Weasley's opinion, the Claw students were bloody nerds and geeks. Reading books and studying was abhorred and despised by the Sixth. Ron had learnt to relate to Slytherin with his mother's milk, literally. Molly Weasley, maiden name Pruett, was not only known for her rambunctious behaviour at Hogwarts but also for her daily fights with Slytherin students. However, fights were not important to Molly, they played a secondary role, if she could beat up a Slytherin girl, then fine, and if not, then no big deal. All of Hogwarts knew about Prewett's debauchery, except perhaps Arthur Weasley, who paid no attention to this truth because he was busy collecting various Muggle things in his spare time. Already in her fifth year, Pruett had earned the nickname "The Redheaded Whore." The summer before her sixth year, Molly ran away from her wedding, which was organised by Lord Prewett. As a result, the family's prestige plummeted, but the Prewetts' reputation was finally damaged when Molly married Arthur Weasley, the heir to an impoverished family. Ron Weasley grew up to be an ill-mannered, greedy and stupid boy.

Gemma Farley, unable to stand his rudeness, slapped Sixth and dragged him by the ear to the teacher's desk. Luckily for the Slytherin Head Girl, there was no Headmaster at the table to protect the Weasley couple's youngest son.

- Miss Farley, what's wrong? What has that first-year boy done?" - Professor Flitwick, Dean of Ravenclaw and Spells teacher, asked worriedly.

Looking angrily at the subdued Sixth, the girl recounted what she had seen. She particularly mentioned Ron's insults to Harry Potter and the attempt to pick a fight in the Great Hall. Farley also mentioned that the Sixth had insulted her as Head Girl as well. Upon hearing this information, Minerva McGonagall, Dean of Gryffindor and Professor of Transfiguration, who was sitting next to Flitwick, angrily stood up from her desk. Thanking the Head Girl for stopping the fight, the woman escorted not only Sixth but also Percy Weasley into her office.

Being very responsible and strict, the woman had no tolerance for rudeness, slackness and hooliganism. The Professor had been Dean of the Gryffindor Faculty for twenty years and was trying to fix its reputation. The woman didn't like the fact that Gryffindor had become synonymous with stupidity, ignorance, hooliganism, and outright laziness. If Godric Gryffindor himself were in her place, the Foundress would personally punch most of the students in her department in the face.

Minerva, though she respected Albus Dumbledore as a powerful wizard, didn't understand why he actively encouraged bullying among her students. The Headmistress had bypassed McGonagall to appoint Percy Weasley as the new Head Girl, which she thought was a mistake. After all, the professor knew that any representative of the Weasley family should not be allowed in power, as it was too corrupting to weak-willed redheads. And now the woman intended to correct that mistake. As soon as the professor ushered the two Weasleys into her office, she immediately took away Percy's Head Girl badge, assigned them both two weeks of classes with Professor Snape, and took 200 points off their marks each.

Meanwhile, while the Professor of Transfiguration was dealing with her delinquent students, Gemma Farley took her charges to the greenhouses where the Herbology lesson was to take place.

Harry liked the subject very much because Professor Sprout was a kind woman and could teach her subject well.

The next couple of classes, despite the interesting titles, frankly disappointed Harry. How could he trust such important subjects as the history of magic and DADA to a ghost and a pathetic neurotic who was afraid of his own shadow? Realising that nothing good would come out of such teachers, Harry decided to study on his own, for Hogwarts had one of the best magical libraries in Western Europe.

Harry liked his first spell class too, and the Slytherin decided to try and ask Professor Flitwick to give him a few extra lessons. Overall, the first two days at Hogwarts went well for Harry.

However, as soon as potions class started, Harry realised that the Dean hated him. Snape's office was in one of the dungeons. It was cold there - much colder than the castle itself - and quite scary. Along the walls were glass jars in which suspended animals floated. Snape, like Flitwick, began the lesson by opening the magazine and introducing himself to the students. And, like Flitwick, he stopped when he reached the Potter surname.

- 'Oh, yes,' he said softly. - 'Harry Potter. Our new celebrity.

In response to this statement from the Dean of Slytherin, Ron Weasley laughed at the entire class.

- You'll be laughing at home, Weasley, minus fifty points from Gryffindor," the potionist said. Snape looked around the class with an attentive gaze, ending the introduction.

- 'You are gathered here to study the science of preparing magical potions and potions. A very precise and delicate science," he began.

- Silly wand-waving has nothing to do with this science, and many of you will find it hard to believe that my subject is an important part of the science of magic," Snape continued. - I don't think you can appreciate the beauty of a slowly simmering cauldron of subtle odours or the gentle power of a liquid that flows through a man's veins, mesmerising his mind, enslaving his senses... I can teach you how to bottle glory, brew triumph, and cork death. But only on the condition that you are different from the herd of chumps who usually come to my lessons.

- Potter! - Snape said suddenly. - What do you get if I mix crushed asphodel root with a tincture of wormwood?

- A drink of living death, the most powerful sleeping potion," Harry, despite not liking potions, didn't want to make a fool of himself, so he diligently read the textbook.

Smirking and realising that he had failed to pick up on Potter's ignorance of the subject, Snape gave Harry fifteen points for the correct answer and, scoffing, headed off to Gryffindor.

- Weasley, what is the difference between wolf poison and a monk's robe?

The sixth only muttered in response and looked angrily at the Slytherins. Taking a few more points off the Gryffindor, Snape gave the freshmen the task of preparing a simple potion to cure boils. He circled the class, rustling his long black robe, and watched as they weighed dried nettle leaves and ground snake teeth in mortars. Snape criticised everyone except Malfoy, whom he sympathised with. When Snape calls for everyone to admire Malfoy's boiling horned slugs, just as suddenly there is an explosion. Ron Weasley had somehow managed to melt his cauldron, and the potion had spilt all over the floor.

The potionist himself was injured: red blisters appeared on his hands and feet.

- Idiot! - Snape snarled, sweeping the spilt potion into a corner with one swipe of his palm. - I understand that before you took the cauldron off the fire, you added porcupine needles to the potion.

Without waiting for an answer, the professor ordered Finnigan and Thomas to take the Weasleys to the hospital wing, and that was the end of the lesson.

Walking out of the classroom, Harry couldn't understand why the Dean wanted to fail him. Besides, Potter had noticed that Snape had treated him with contempt and hatred since he had been placed in the school. Deciding to unwind since there were no more classes, Harry took his bag of textbooks to his room and went for a walk around the castle.

The first place Harry went was to the library, where he signed up for a subscription to use the reading room and the library collection. After picking up a book on charms, Potter saw a Gryffindor girl sitting alone at a far table and Harry approached her.

- May I sit down?" - The boy asked politely.

-Of course, sit down. - replied the girl.

Determined to find out why the Gryffindor girl was sitting alone, Harry questioned her delicately. During the conversation, Potter learnt that Hermione had become an outcast in her department because of her love of learning and her desire to teach everyone.

- Hermione, you have to realise that most Gryffindors don't like to learn and treat intelligent and well-read people with contempt. But that's not your main problem, you like to teach others, and that's why you're not treated very well by the faculty. Nobody likes to be made a fool of. So I suggest you read this," Harry said and handed the girl a book about the rules of social life.

Despite Harry pointing out its flaw, Hermione didn't take offence at the Slytherin, for she understood it herself. After talking to the girl, Harry found the Gryffindor girl to be a very interesting conversationalist. The girl was intelligent and well-read and could be talked to about a wide variety of topics, but unlike most students, Harry and Hermione were not Quidditch fans. Both Slytherin and Gryffindor thought the sport was very dangerous and stupid. Harry didn't understand why such a big team was needed if the outcome of the game was determined by the catcher who had to catch the snitch. It was just plain stupid. Besides, unlike most students, Hermione didn't pester Harry about his 'victory' over Voldemort, and that was what Potter appreciated most about talking to the Gryffindor. An hour after their conversation, Harry and Hermione were already, if not friends, then mates. Harry grinned at the girl's timid question about how the others would react to hearing about the friendship between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin and said that she shouldn't worry about what others would think, besides, there had been similar precedents in the past. The boy didn't name names, of course, but Hermione realised that such a friendship was possible.

However, they were not allowed to speak quietly. Ron Weasley walked into the library, and when Sixth saw the Gryffindor nerd talking quietly to the Slytherin, the redhead became furious. This idiot thought Slytherins were the dregs of society, but they weren't. The Weasel, a nickname that Sixth had received in two days at school from Slytherin and the Claws for his impenetrable stupidity and lack of manners, was already boring the entire first year. Even the Gryffindors shunned him because Weasel was obnoxious to everyone. He wasn't interested in anything but Quidditch and food.

Walking up to the table where Harry and Hermione were sitting, Weasel started shouting at them. Luckily, the librarian Madam Pince was nearby, who, upon hearing the wild swearing, quickly grabbed Weasley by the ear and promptly kicked Sicks out of the library, charging him 20 points for profanity.

However, it didn't end there; as soon as Harry and Hermione exited the library, Six attacked them from behind. However, Harry quickly orientated himself and quickly moved out of the line of attack, putting up a block before intercepting Weasley's arm and breaking it. After that, he punched Weasley in the chest with his fist. Harry then used Petrificus Totalus before waiting a few minutes and using the levitation spell Potter had recently learnt in Professor Flitwick's class to suspend the Sixth from the door to an unused office, after which Harry and Hermione left the scene of the fight, leaving Weasley hanging and screaming all over the corridor. The Gryffindor was caught not only by the upperclassmen coming from the library but also by the professors patrolling the corridors. Minerva McGonagall was furious when she heard her student shouting. She paid no attention to Weasley's predicament, as she already knew from the words of the other students that it was Ron's fault when he tried to beat up Harry Potter.

The Dean of Gryffindor felt that even though the boy was in another faculty, she had an obligation to help the son of her favourite students. Ahead of Snape, who was about to say something sarcastic, the professor pulled Wiesel aside, grabbed him by the ear and dragged him into her office.

'I've never had such a disgusting student,' Minerva thought as she led Sixx into her office.

Meanwhile, while Harry is at Hogwarts, Hela and Morgana are deciding which one of them will infiltrate a magical school in England under a secret identity. After much debate, Morgana conceded to her friend, as the latter had not yet made enough of a name for herself in magical Britain.

The Goddess of Death has prepared a name under which she will enter Hogwarts - Kate Morrigan, but it will be only next year. Being a master of subtle manipulation, Hela managed to pull it off so that no one could dig up her documents and biography.

With that settled, the two black-haired beauties set about the even more important task of getting Harry's godparents out of Azkaban.

****

It had been two months since Harry Potter had entered Hogwarts. In that time, he had managed to make it into the top ten students of his first year, finishing a respectable second place, not far behind Hermione, whom Harry truly considered his mate. The Gryffindor also considered the Slytherin his friend, and they could often be seen together not only in the library but also on walks by the Black Lake and elsewhere. After that incident in the library, Ron Weasley attacked Harry several times, and each time Potter shoved him off. The whole school laughed at Weasel, who found himself strung up in a different part of the castle each time.

Besides Hermione, Harry had made a few other friends. They were the slightly overweight and slightly shy Neville Longbottom, the cheerful and cheerful and at the same time very awkward Hufflepuff Head Girl Nymphadora 'don't call me by my name' Tonks. This company quickly eclipsed the famous Marauders in semi-polarity. The objects of Harry and Co's jokes were not only Weasel at number 6 but also Severus Snape, as well as several other personalities. All in all, Harry's first two months at Hogwarts were some of the happiest of his life.

*****

Standing on the balcony of the Potter family estate, Hela and Morgana gazed into the distance. Having grown accustomed to the green-eyed boy, the two brunettes felt that they missed him dearly. It had only been a few months since Harry had left for Hogwarts, but to Hela and Morgana that time seemed like an eternity.

- Harry's magic is so intoxicating, it's a shame we have to wait so long for him to come of age," Hela said.

- Six years isn't that long for us," Morgana argued.

- But still,' Hela said, lightly ruffling her dark hair.

- Come on, I'll help you not to think about it," Morgana said languidly, taking Hela's hand and dragging her friend towards the bedroom, slapping the goddess of death lightly on the bottom.

- 'Naughty girl,' Hela said with a smile on her face before both girls ran into the bedroom and locked themselves in there.

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