The Beginning of Classes

In some of the higher years he has heard from the snake statues and the snakes in the portraits that a lot of them are thinking he is a spy to the "light side", he is a burden because he was raised by muggles and that he was equivalent of a "mudblood" and is not worthy of the Slytherin house. He was thankful for his parselmouth ability because after the whole fiasco with his father's howler, he went out and saw the snakes in the portraits and wondered if it will work. And it did. They have become his new piece of spy network as apparently, there are portraits even inside the different common rooms allowing him access to people's movements.

But right now, he is glaring at the letter their father has sent to Iris. It was addressed to him that Iris has to relay. "Why is he writing to you anyway?"

Iris glanced at the burnt-up ashes on the table. "Well, he probably knew you were going to do that so he made sure I also get a letter." Iris shrugged.

Their father sends them an apology letter, claiming that he was drunk, he didn't know what came over him, and hoping for some reconciliation Harry at the moment is too angry at him to even think of the thought of forgiveness. They were still far from his list of things to consider. Harry who was already on alert due to the howler decided to burn down the letter before he could even read it. This surprises his year mates as they didn't know Harry knew some spells, especially fire spells knowing that he was muggle raised.

Harry has an affinity for fire and wind elements. It was one of the things Uncle Iggy wanted to assess. Fire is the most common affinity of elemental magic used by most wizards and witches (something to do with the evolution of the human race where fire has become essential to the way of life). Iris on the other hand has a strong affinity towards lightning or storm magic which is one of the rarest elements and very hard to master mostly because of its rarity there aren't a lot of spells she can learn from it.

Their mother also sent them a letter as well as Aunt Petunia, Uncle Iggy, and Uncle Oggy. Their mother apologized for their father's behavior, their aunt was furious about their father, and Uncle Iggy told them (mostly Harry) to not worry about the legalities of everything, he'll take care of it and just focus on school. Harry is just annoyed that their father used Iris as the buffer between him and the rest of the Potters which to Harry seems a bit of a stressful thing to do especially knowing that Iris might be more willing to the bridge to help tie down the family if needed. And he didn't want his sister to be burdened by it.

"When exactly are you leaving?" a stern voice spoke up right next to Harry and it was directed to Iris. This surprised them as it was Zacharias Smith who spoke. Harry would expect it from Malfoy, not Smith. Iris looked confused at him.

"Why are you mad at me?" Iris asked.

Blaise snorted. "It's not you. It's just Mr. Smith. He's still mad he wasn't sorted to Hufflepuff." This also earned some snorts from the rest of the Slytherin house. They never really think of Hufflepuff as an equal and believed them as an inferior house. They still can't believe anyone would be willing to be sorted there.

"Really? We didn't notice." Theo said sarcastically.

"He's been whining about it yesterday," Tracy added.

"All day," Daphne muttered.

Harry just glared at the boy. "You know, you need to change that attitude of yours. It's not going to help you survive in this house." He whispered to him while glancing at the higher years who are now looking at Zacharias calculatingly. While Harry is a target because of his family name and his brother. So is Zacharias and he is showing his weakness to the eyes of a house that would use it for their gains. The Smiths are an old pureblood family (the main branch that is, Sally Smith of Hufflepuff is half-blood and a cousin from the branch family line) and rich but they are not at the same level as the Malfoys nor are they that politically inclined despite their position in Wizengamot.

"Ms. Potter." A cool and authoritative voice interrupted them, silencing the rest of the Slytherin house. It was the head of the house, Severus Snape eyeing the little Hufflepuff. "It is discouraged for other houses to sit in another during breakfast. Lunch and dinner are allowed."

Iris seemed unfazed by the same look the Slytherins has towards Professor Snape but she stood up anyway. "Oh, I apologize." Then she turned to Zacharias Smith. "If it makes you feel any better, everyone in Hufflepuff believed that you are best suited in Slytherin. Since you are a Hufflepuff descendant currently residing in Slytherin, some people believed that maybe this time, the Smiths would finally have a stronger claim to get the Hufflepuff seat. Also, they started calling you the dark prince of Hufflepuff which is a very cool name by the way. So, see you, my snake friends!" Iris waved at them before she skipped toward the Hufflepuff table.

"Is it me or did your sister just help Zacharias Smith establish a stronger political reputation in the house?" Theo whispered to Harry.

"It would seem so," Harry muttered. The Slytherins are now eyeing Mr. Smith differently now. The Smiths despite being direct descendants never did claim the Hufflepuff seat. However, Zacharias Smith still has a chance to do that. Now the Slytherins are considering whether or not to ally themselves with him. After all, an ancient and noble house especially one of the founders is still a very good one even if it is Hufflepuff. Dammit. Why is my sister so kind?

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Harry and Iris looked at their timetables and are both annoyed that they have fewer classes shared. First of all, who schedules at midnight? Their astronomy class is in the astronomy tower at midnight. Although Harry and Iris understood the reason, wouldn't it make sense to use a star globe instead? A star globe is a globe that charts the locations of the stars, planets, and constellations in real-time. They are very pricey but the school should invest in them. They also need a better telescope (a larger one). Harry has to admit that the muggles have astronomy better than theirs but studying astronomy is also important as the direction and location of stars can affect certain magic, spells, and even the strength of magic in certain areas.

The only classes Harry and Iris shared were wizarding studies, astronomy, and the history of magic. However, the other Slytherins also share muggle studies with the Hufflepuffs but Harry doesn't take muggle studies since he was "muggle raised". For some reason, Blaise Zabini is excused from both classes. How did he manage to do that? This only made the rest of the Slytherins envious. Harry is the only Slytherin in wizarding studies. Even Malfoy and Parkinson begged their parents to have them skip muggle studies but their parents didn't budge and urged them to take it. The mindset of having their children getting killed by a muggle is so disgraceful to their parents' eyes that they rather have their children learn a little about the muggle culture than "die a disgraceful death in the hands of a muggle" – is what Lord Lucius Malfoy wrote to his son.

Harry did frown at the rest of the other classes. "Why are we sharing most of our classes with Gryffindor? That's a bit imbalanced. We barely even have classes with the Ravenclaws too!" Harry complained when he received the timetable during breakfast.

"Just ask the old man." Malfoy snorted while giving a glancing glare at the headmaster. "He insisted on inter-house unity between our houses."

"Which didn't do any good when most of the time the two houses are trying to choke each other out," Blaise muttered.

Harry knows it is going to be awkward for him. He is going to share more than half of his classes with Godric and the boy is currently very much subdued. He keeps glancing at Harry with either a hurt or a frowning look. He got the ire of his entire house for losing 30 points on the first day. It seems to be a record they say. ("Do not take that as a challenge!" Percy Weasley scolded his brothers when they heard about it.)

Godric also receives a letter from his father to stay low for a while. His howler also caused an incident in his office when Sirius Black physically assaulted the Potter lord the moment, he went in. He was already suffering from a massive hangover. He received a swift uppercut to his jaw and a kick on his stomach by said man. His colleagues have to restrain Sirius Black and he got suspended for two weeks as well as an inquiry about attacking his fellow Auror was filed. The reason for the inquiry was more on the fact that Sirius has sworn "to kill him" which their colleagues all heard and less on the fact that he physically assaulted him. Although the head of the Auror department, Rufus Scrimgeour did not take it seriously since the man assaulted him like "a muggle" and he does not think the physical damage caused is a problem (they're wizards, magical attacks are more damaging than physical ones and they don't take broken bones seriously since it can easily be fixed). James Potter should consider himself lucky Sirius Black didn't curse or hex him knowing that he is a Black and their family is known for their vile curses and hexes that even the Aurors to this day would leave stumped on how to counter it. Why did Sirius Black want to kill him? Nobody is sure. That is until James Potter received a howler just moments after the incident. Two howlers to be exact.

One from his wife, Lily Potter, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME JAMES?! OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM IS ALREADY HANGING BY A THREAD AND YOU GO AND DO THIS?! WHY WERE YOU DRUNK?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! SEE HOW YOU LIKE BEING HUMILIATED IN PUBLIC!" and the most surprising thing is from his sister-in-law, Petunia Dursley. How that woman was able to send a howler even though she is a muggle surprised the Auror (It was courtesy of Augustus Blake). "YOU DO NOT HAVE A SAY ON HOW HARRY IS SORTED!! YOU DIDN'T RAISE HIM! I HAVE TO BECAUSE YOU ABANDONED THEM TO ME SO YOU GET TO PLAY HAPPY FAMILY WITH YOUR GOLDEN CHILD! HARRY WILL BE GREAT IN SLYTHERIN! IF YOU DARE TOUCH A HAIR OUT OF HARRY OR IRIS YOU WILL REMEMBER WHY YOUR KIND FEARED MINE!"

And that's how the whole department has heard about the Potter triplets and the return of the squib siblings (The Potters have not publicized that information – yet). Most didn't realize that Godric Potter, the boy who lived has two more siblings although those who knew thought they were squibs. However, it has become known to the department that James Potter abandoned his children (if the claims of his muggle sister-in-law are true) in the muggle world because they were squibs but it turns out they aren't squibs but that the Potters still left them in the muggle world preventing them access to the magical world that is rightful should be for every magical child, especially for one coming from the Potter house. A lot of magical families frowned upon this since their population is already in decline. Even if the old families are against muggle-borns, a magical child is still a magical child. It seems the man has a negative reaction that his other son, heir to his house, was sorted into Slytherin, which made all the Slytherins in the department glare at him, including his boss.

This also made the ministry panic because his muggle sister-in-law threatened to expose them if James Potter were to step out of line. The one thing the international wizarding community feared the most was getting revealed. This also means that the British wizarding community would face an international incident that will only make the rest of the world angry at them. Lily Potter has to stop them from sending obliviators to her sister's house. This information spread like wildfire all over the ministry.

James was not sure what came over him. Scratch that. He knows exactly why. The moment he receives a letter from Dumbledore and Godric and finds out Harry was sorted in Slytherin, he goes into a rage. He has never done that before and didn't realize during his drunken stupor that he created a howler until Sirius propelled him to the wall. Dammit! He has a lot of groveling to do. Yet for some reason, he felt so furious about it either with himself or the fact that Harry was sorted to Slytherin.

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Harry and Godric have chosen to ignore each other when they are in their classes. Iris also told Harry that she has chosen to also just tolerate Godric most of the time. She can't ignore him but she wasn't talkative as much anymore with him until "he stopped being an ass." Iris said. But she seems to dislike Ronald Weasley more as "he is so temperamental and it's affecting Godric."

It was a struggle with sharing the class. It seems the rivalry between the two houses is toxic with both sides trying to undermine each other mostly Malfoy and his cronies and Godric, Ron, and Seamus on the other side. It didn't help that they taunt each other although the Gryffindors get most of the trouble because Malfoy is one strategic person who can rile up the easy-to-anger Godric and Ron to launch at him right when a teacher is around the corner.

Trying to navigate the castle was one of the major issues. The stairs were the scariest parts, especially for the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws having to navigate with it more since they both live in towers while Slytherins and Hufflepuffs don't have to deal with it unless they plan to go up the other floors. The constant moving and the disappearing steps would rattle anybody. The older years find it some sort of tradition for the first years to discover the stairs and figure out how to get to their classes so they never help but the Slytherins were not like that. They already oriented the first years about where the classrooms are and what are the best ways to get there the fastest and the safest as apparently, it is common for some higher years (mostly Gryffindors) to attack defenseless firsties. This was the prejudice that the head of the house had warned them about. Due to the many of the Slytherin graduates joining the dark side, Slytherin faces such discrimination.

Harry got Magic Theory as his first class. It was boring in his opinion. It is basic memorization and arithmetic of the different theories on how magic works and some insights about spellwork. The class is taught by a tall, thin man with large glasses called Professor Wald. Iris seems to like this class very much since she was more curious about spell creation and its relation to different theories.

History of Magic was the worst class. It was taught by Professor Binns who is a ghost and is the most boring teacher...ever. And that's only during the first day of the class. Professor Binns doesn't seem to realize he is dead and has continued to drawl on and on about the goblins which, to be honest, should not be the first topic to discuss in an introduction to the history of magic. It can be fascinating to those who hear it the first time but his voice, his demeanor, and his lack of presence. Ugh. Harry couldn't stay awake until Daphne prick him with a quill to wake him up. Slytherins even in such a class must not ignore decorum. The Hufflepuffs found themselves already dozing off, Justin Finch-Fletchley who tried to listen lasted longer before he found his face flat on the desk except for Iris who is glaring at the professor like he killed her cat.

Harry already knew that their Uncle Iggy is complaining about this teacher as he is the most difficult to remove. Mostly because the contract was magically binding and as long as Professor Binns continue to teach, they couldn't hire a new history of a magic teacher even though the school can afford a better one. The only way to remove the teacher is if the ghost would leave on his own accord or if he gets exorcised but exorcising a ghost would not just lead to a ghost war, and the magical world has a very negative view of exorcism in general. Historically muggles would use this excuse to torment witches and wizards in the past (some say it still happens). On the other side, Granger and the rest of the Ravenclaws who have tried their best to stay awake and take notes are annoyed by the rest of the Gryffindors who found the class as a way to have fun and make pranks and noise without the worry of repercussions as Professor Binns completely ignores them. Prank products, paper airplanes, and the throwing of notes have become common occurrences in this class.

Herbology is taught by the head of the Hufflepuff house, Professor Sprout, a stout and very happy woman. Harry and Godric share this class. It was outside or within the greenhouses. It wasn't a class where they have to sit in a classroom but one they need to get dirty on. The students didn't think the class was something to be taken seriously until they accidentally brush a very wrangly plant that thrived in muddy soil. Harry suspected that Professor Sprout has done it intentionally.

"My shoes." Blaise moaned after the incident. They were all covered in mud.

"Really, Blaise?" Harry rolled his eyes at him.

"What? Shoes are hard to replace you know." Blaise complained. "You have to make them fit, comfortable, and mold to your feet...".

"You made it sound like you can't fix or clean it," Harry muttered.

"We didn't learn any of those spells yet." Blaise moaned. And I don't want to beg higher years to help me clean it. It's embarrassing. Blaise thought. (A/N: The elves clean it for them).

"I cannot believe we have to go through that." Daphne hissed while removing a vine that was stuck in her hair. Tracy is helping her.

The Slytherins refused to be seen with such an appearance and immediately returned to their dormitory to change.

Their defense against the dark arts or DADA was a letdown in Harry's opinion. Their teacher was squirrelly and always stuttering. His name is Professor Quirrell seems to fit the description. It's not bad to stutter. He could have a condition (Iris said). But it doesn't seem to help that the DADA teacher looks more afraid of his own shadow (not something you'd want for the DADA teacher) and his classroom smell of garlic. But Harry keeps getting headaches in the room, particularly with his scar. Blaise said it could be the smell of garlic that is causing it. But Harry wasn't the only one to have such a reaction. Godric seeing as they shared the class has a headache too and Iris admitted that the class makes her eyes watery and stinging. They first thought it could be an allergic reaction but Madam Pomfrey did not find anything wrong and attributed it to stress during their first week.

Charms was a fun class. Their teacher, Professor Flitwick is a small man and Harry assumed he has goblin heritage but he can't just make that assumption until he could confirm it. The Slytherins share it with the Ravenclaws. Although most of the Slytherins seem to struggle with the spell. It took Harry 10 tries to finally get light out of his wand.

Iris enjoyed this class where she shared it with the Gryffindors. She was the first one to cast the spell Lumos earning her 10 points for Hufflepuff. She earned additional points for determining how to adjust the brightness of the light as well as turning the light spell into different colors. "Lumos Cearuleus," and Iris white light at the end of her wand turned blue.

"Good show Ms. Potter! 10 points to Hufflepuff!" Professor Flitwick said gleefully. "I must say, Ms. Potter, you have a talent for Charms. I have never experienced the first year to be able to cast the spell on her first try even trying to diversify it on the first day! Although I will warn you not to experiment on spells without the presence of a teacher, alright?"

"Yes, Professor Flitwick." Iris answered.

"Your mother was a prodigy in Charms as well but even then she never came close to you in casting spells so easily on the first try."

Transfiguration was the hardest class so far. Even Harry struggled with it. Professor McGonagall was the head of the Gryffindor house and while she tries to be fair, it is still obvious her biases against the Slytherin house.

"Good job, Mr. Potter. 10 points to Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall praised Godric Potter's work for being the first to turn a matchstick into a perfect needle. Godric preened at the praise. It seems the boy who lived has a talent for Transfiguration. She showed his work to the class. Of course, it didn't help that Professor McGonagall then elaborated on how their father, James Potter, was talented at Transfiguration. Ms. Granger was the other student who was able to turn the matchstick into a needle perfectly. The rest of them was able to do it in multiple tries though it was not as perfect as Godric or Grangers so they were given homework. Although Iris, Goyle, and Crabbe were the only three students in first-year transfiguration unable to turn their matchstick into a needle. So, they were given a remedial class for the week. The rest of the class was annoyed when Granger complained that "My needle wasn't sharp enough to be a needle."

"I can't believe that mudblood got it before any of us." Pansy Parkinson hissed angrily.

"I think she is aiming too high. She'll overwork herself with that." Tracy commented.

"Still. We get homework while she doesn't and she still complained about it."

Harry finds it unnerving that the Slytherin house finds it very easy to just say the word "mudblood" around. It's basically like the "n" word in the muggle world. A magical equivalent of a racial slur. Harry doesn't like it but he can't exactly try to force them to change it either. Both sides of the British magical categories are prejudiced against one another. The light is so prejudiced against the dark that in Harry's opinion it only pushed them away further into the even darker sides. The dark side is so hardheaded that the light side further despises them. It is a conundrum.

But the subject that Harry is looking forward to the most is Potions. He loved potions. He loved reading about it, knowing the different ingredients and how it interact with the concoction. He particularly likes the idea of collecting ingredients as well as scavenging and tracking them down. He has a well-stocked ingredient cupboard in his trunk, fully warded and password protected. No one is stealing those ingredients. Some of those were very hard to collect and find. Harry sometimes thinks maybe this is why he enjoys cooking and baking at home with Aunt Petunia as they are some similarities. Iris thinks he is just being a fanboy about it as he has a collection of famous potioneers work one of which includes Severus Snape, their potions professor and also the head of the house of Slytherin.

"Well, look. The pride of lions finally arrived." Malfoy sneered at the arrival of the Gryffindors in the dungeon hallway in front of the potions classroom. That earned some chuckles.

"Shut up Malfoy." Ron Weasley growled.

"What? You don't like to be called a pride of lions? Would you prefer a pride of kittens?"

That earned laughs from both sides. Ron even has to glare at his housemates.

"What?" Dean asked and shrugged. "He didn't exactly say anything wrong calling us pride of lions. You need to chill."

"What does that mean?" Ron demanded.

"It means to relax because seriously, Ronald. You've been nothing but unhinged lately." Hermione Granger commented in an annoyed tone. Ever since she was sorted to Gryffindor, she has tried her best to earn points for her house but most of the points always get taken away because of Ron and Godric, mostly Ronald keep losing points for picking up fights and it's just been a week. They noticed the redhead had a temper and his prejudice against Slytherin didn't help much as he always flare up with anger at them which many of the older years could not understand since the boy has two older brothers in that house – two brothers who are known in the school for ranking first in their year and are known for the creation of very creative use of magic (mostly the twins). Two brothers who despite being Slytherin are still well respected among their peers outside their houses.

Ron is also a bad influence on Godric in Harry's opinion. Godric glanced at him but then looked away when Harry tried to look. Even though Harry's first impression of his brother is arrogant and obnoxious at times, like Draco, they are emulating their parents. Not to mention Godric seems to be very susceptible to suggestion and has a temper as well (not that Harry doesn't have one, he just knows how to control it. Iris too but she can be scary when angered. She always has that look, the same way Aunt Petunia does when you know you are in trouble). This temper is easy to rile up even more if his best friend, the red-headed time bomb would be irritated. Malfoy likes to poke at it and they still haven't figured it out?

"I am not unhinged!" Ron almost shouted.

Kind of. Most of them thought sarcastically.

BANG!

The door slammed open and in walked their esteemed potions master, black robe billowing in an unpresent wind, hair shoulder length and a little greasy yet eyes so dark that it could pierce your soul. All students lost their breath at the sight of him. Why is this man so intimidating?

"Inside!"