He wasn't really paying attention as the Sorting Hat was placed upon the heads of the frightened first years. Harry was actually finding interest in his empty golden plate. His stomach let out a gurgle, which caused him to turn slightly pink in embarrassment as a few people sitting by heard.
"Tracy Hemmings." Professor McGonagall read off the list of names in the same stiff voice.
A girl with curly golden locks tied back in pig tails hopped up and the hat was placed upon her golden head. Not even a minute after, the old tattered hat boomed out, "RAVENCLAW!"
And then the list went on, and Harry went on with staring at his goblet now. As if on cue, Dumbledore stood up as the last of the first years took their seat at their house table. His long wispy beard seemed to gleam, and so did his eyes as he scanned the four long tables with a smile. "Ah yes, welcome back to another exciting year at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardy. Please take note that the Forbidden Forest is still off limits to all students. We would also like to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! Professor Dawkes."
A thin woman stood up and eyed the students warily. At once everyone seemed to dislike her gaze, hence the applause was rather forced.
"And I guess, I have nothing more to say, but to enjoy your feast." Dumbledore waved his hand and the plates filled immediately.
Harry's mood brightened at the sight of mashed potatoes and roast beef, which were much more luxurious than what the Dursleys threw at him for the past two months. His whale sized cousin Dudley was still on an unsuccessful diet which meant the whole family had to live on grapefruit and carrot sticks along with him.
"Mr. Potter."
Harry lifted his gaze from his plate and saw Professor McGonagall standing over him. "...Yes?"
"Your schedule," She handed him a piece of parchment.
"Thanks," He took it from her, but noticed that Professor McGonagall was still standing in place. He blinked and looked at her expectantly. "...Er.."
She stared down at him from the bridge of her noise and Harry almost thought he caught a smile on his strict professor's face. "Right, I forgot to send this letter to you because there must've have been piles and piles of unanswered mail on my desk. Supossedly this got lost in the pile, but here it is."
Harry was handed an envelope with the Hogwarts crest on it. He looked at it in wonder as Professor McGonagall turned to leave. "I suggest you open it now too." And then she was off.
He flipped the envelope over quickly, the wonderful fumes of food forgotten as curiousity clouded his mind. Harry pulled a piece of parchment out of it, and along with it, a badge.
His green eyes darted across the words hastily, and with every sentence his eyes widened in amazement. "I'm a Prefect!?"
Several heads turned towards him and he couldn't help but blush as he turned quickly to glance at Professor McGonagall. She seemed to be avoiding his gaze purposely, but that didn't put down his spirit.
A Prefect! He thought in confusion yet excitement at the same time. For once something out of the ordinary was happening to him. Being a Prefect meant being able to boss people around, which of course wasn't in Harry's nature. Yet it was fun to think of the privileges he had. I wonder how I got to be one in the first place..
He clumsily pinned on his Prefect badge while returning his attention back onto his food. For the remainder of the feast, Harry ate and beamed down at his food in silent pride.
Long after the feast was over, and the students had long been in bed, the professors of Hogwarts held a meeting in Dumbledore's office.
"When are we going to tell him?" Professor McGonagall said in a rather distraught voice.
"There is no need to worry Minerva. It will be soon for it is his last year attending school is it not?" Dumbledore replied calmly.
Professor Trelawney's lips twitched. "I've been hinting to the boy that he is something more than...what he is at the moment."
"And your way of hinting is probably 'seeing' his upcoming death and the reason?" Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow.
"Infact you're quite right Minerva."
Dumbledore gave both of them a stern glance and their little quarrel stopped with pursed lips and a few glares. "Anyways, I think we shouldn't just throw it at the boy should we?"
"Of course not, Potter can't even handle a simple hair-raising potion." Snape snapped.
"Let's not bring up his academic skills in this meeting," Dumbledore sighed. "Well any suggestions?"
Silence blanketed the room as every professor seemed to sit in deep thought over the situation concerning Harry. Dumbledore's usual glint behind his half-moon spectacles seemed dimmed by the sudden thought of having to bring something up.
"Must we'h tell 'im?"
"Of course Rubeus, it is his life, and it is his right to know what truly happened in the past," said Dumbledore with a weary tone replacing his usual calm and steady voice.
Hagrid sighed and slumped lower into his seat which was already caving in slowly. "Poor thin' "
"Well why not let the boy figure it out himself?" Professor McGonagall suggested tightly as she scanned the group quickly before taking in a breath. "I mean, the information is there, right in front of him is it not?"
"That is true, but the more informative books are in the restricted section mostly." Snape looked rather bored as he replied.
Dumbledore suddenly sat straighter, shuffling his long purple robes in the process. "Ah! That is a very good suggestion indeed Minerva."
"To get the boy to break rules?" Snape at once glowered.
"Not exactly, we can bring the books to him." Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall, and she gave him a knowing glance back.
"Very well, I'll place the books in the dormitories tomorrow night, he'll simply think one of his fellow students left it behind carelessly."
Snape frowned, "That stupid boy won't even bother looking at them."
"Maybe a little charm will do," Dumbledore simply replied before he stood up, the twinkle in his eyes back once again. "I guess our meeting is finished for tonight. And of course, you all know not to purposely slip anything in front of any other students. We do not want rumours spreading."
There were a few nods and murmers before the group dispatched.
"Ok class, are we all here?" Professor Sprout's mass of messy greying hair seemed slightly puffier than usual as she bustled about with the many pots infront of her. When no one replied, she nodded, "I take that as a yes then! Then let's get started now."
Harry eyed the pots in front of Professor Sprout with a hint of curiousity, but the earmuffs next to them also reminded him of the annoying screeching sounds of the Mandrakes from his second year. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his robes before clearing his mind and paying complete attention to the lesson being given.
"Now, you see here in front of me, pots." Professor Sprout waved a hand over the pots. "And then, the earmuffs. What does this suggest to you?"
Everyone shifted slightly in confusion before a hand wavered in the air. "Ah yes, Longbottom?"
"Um...possibly...something in the pot is going to make some horrible noise and make us deaf...?" Neville said uncertaintly, but Professor Sprout beamed.
"Exactly! 10 points to Gryffindor! Now everyone grab a pair, but don't put them on yet. I still have some explaining to do. Now, who remembers what we tackled during your...second year if I remember clearly?"
At once a hand shot up and Harry was startled to see that girl there again.
"Yes Miss. Granger?"
"Mandrakes, also known as Mandragora." She answered before setting her hand back down to her side. Harry stared at her silently.
"Yes, that's correct. So it is very clearly shown at the moment, that the plant we will be dealing with for today's lesson, will be related in some way to the Mandrake, hence the earmuffs." Professor Sprout explained as she picked up a pair of creamy fluffy ones and placed them upon her ears. "I suggest you all wear them now, just in case."
The shuffling of robes subsided after a few seconds as everyone had on a pair of multi-colored ear muffs. Harry's was a mint green, much to his distaste.
"Ok class, this is very similiar to the way of unpotting a Mandrake," Professor Sprout stuck her hand into the pot and pulled, "And you simply pull, but not to hard, you might wake it."
"Wake it?" Someone questioned.
"Yes, wake it," Professor Sprout held up the creature she had just pulled out from the earth. Everyone stared at it wide-eyed, some burst out into giggling-fits.
Something that resembled a Mandrake in a way, was hanging from two tuffs of green leaves that were firmly grasped in the professor's hand. Yet it wasn't shrieking in a high-pitched scream, it was simply quiet. It had its eyes closed, and the skin of it a very deep deep orange with little bubbles of yellow puss dotted about.
"Does anyone know what this is?" Professor Sprout asked in a voice barely audible.
Once again, Hermione raised her hand above the confused bundle of students. "It's a Floundrake, a relative to the Mandrake. Unlike its sister, it does not scream when it is unpotted from the earth, infact, it sleeps all year round. But of course, there is a way of waking it up. Like dipping it into bubotubor pus, which will awake it instantly and the familiar shrieking will be heard. Also, it'll be rid of those puss bubble things too."
Professor Sprout smiled brightly at Hermione, "Excellent! Very very well explained! 10 points to Gryffindor for that wonderful explanation from Miss. Granger!" Hermione glowed.
Harry looked amused, Hermione Granger seemed to know everything.
"What Miss. Granger has said is absolutely correct, and here I have some bubotubor pus in these buckets, careful not to spill it on yourself. Leave your ear muffs on while handling these nasty little things at all times, understood?" Everyone nodded, eager to begin. "You will be placed into groups of four!"
The groups got called, and students quickly made their way to their groups. Harry found himself with Hermione, Susan Bones from Hufflepuff, and another Hufflepuff girl he couldn't recognize, which wasn't a surprise because he didn't seem to remember people even from his own house.
"Ok, I guess we better hurry so we have enough time to take notes afterwards," Hermione fussed as she put on her gloves hastily and placed the pot infront of the group.
"Who's going to do the pulling?" The Hufflepuff girl questioned while biting the bottom of her lip.
Susan crossed her arms, "I never tried doing this stuff, neither has Melly." She pointed to the girl who had just spoke up. "Actually, last time I tried pulling that Mandrake out, it didn't budge."
Hermione frowned slightly, glancing at Harry. "Well, do you want to?" She asked quickly.
"Er...sure," Harry blinked and found himself situated infront of the pot. It won't be that bad...
He made sure his earmuffs were secure, as he glanced nervously at his group which was staring intently down into the pot. Harry sucked in a breath before reaching into the damp earth and yanked with all his might.
He noticed he had closed one eye but kept another open and he sighed with relief as he saw that it was still sleeping contently in his grasp. "Ok...so.."
"Shh, don't wake it," Hermione took the leaves in her hands and Harry relaxed even more, glad that the creature was no longer in his care. "Someone bring the bucket over..."
Melly nodded and turned around, yet Harry noticed that the bucket was right behind her foot which sent the whole bucket of bubotubor pus flat onto the ground with a loud clang!
Susan shrunk back, Harry held his breath, but it was Hermione who broke the silence by letting out a startled cry. Everyone turned their attention towards the head girl who was desperately trying to let go of the Floundrake which had woken up from the sudden commotion.
It was shrieking with all its might, hissing and spitting all over Hermione. Harry noticed at once that the strange creature didn't spit out nice normal junk, but the stuff that it did spit out seemed to burn the cloth of Hermione's robes.
"Hermione! Your robes!" Harry pointed out in shock.
Hermione, noticing the small holes starting to appear where the Floundrake spat, looked about in horror. She stared helplessly around her as she flung her arms away from herself, but the Floundrake clung on.
Harry jammed his hand into his pocket and pulled out his wand, thinking desperately for a spell to stop it all. "Uh...um...Imprevius!" He shouted and pointed towards Hermione.
The Floundrake gave another shuddering cough and another yellow blob came out from its mouth and was about to land on Hermione's shoulder, but it simply bounced off. She shot Harry a thankful look just as Professor Sprout came running towards them. "What is the matter! Oh dear! It's awake!"
Everyone stood back as Professor Sprout threw a bucket of dragon dung compost towards the Floundrake and Hermione. At once the shrieking was silenced and Hermione realized the evil little thing had fallen asleep.
"Works like a charm," Professor Sprout muttered while lifting the creature from Hermione's arms. "You better get yourself fixed up Miss. Granger before your next class. I do say your robes need mending."
Hermione sighed and sank back into a bench behind her. "Oh goodness that was embarrassing!" She brushed off the dirt from her hair in frustration.
"..Well, you were brave."
"What?" She glanced up towards the speaker and noticed that it was Harry. "Oh right, thank you very much for helping me then..if not, I think I wouldn't have what's left of my robes." She chuckled slightly before squinting her eyes. "You're Harry right?"
He stared and nodded numbly causing her to laugh slightly. "What?" He asked in confusion.
"I don't know, you just seem a bit dazed," Hermione smiled before standing up and gathered her things. "I better go search up a spell that can repair robes before Arithmancy. See you, Harry." She waved and was out of the greenhouse in an instance.
Harry nodded again, even though she wouldn't have seen. "See you...Hermione." And for once he felt that he did something more than being invisible.
AN: Yes it's rather boring now, but it's just getting into it you know. Hehe, introductory and all that. Hope
you liked it and please review :)