Chapter Ten
The next week flew by for Harry. He had more classes such as Herbology, which was the study of magical plants. They had this class three times a week out in the greenhouses behind the castle. It was taught by a dumpy little witch, whose name was Professor Sprout. There, they learnt how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found what they were used for. One of the worst things about Herbology was that they left the greenhouses after each class smelling like manure, Professor Sprout's favored fertilizer.
They also studied Astronomy every Wednesday. This was a most unusual class as they studied the night skies which meant that they had class at midnight. There they learnt the names of the different stars and followed the movements of the planets.
The class everyone had been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts. But Professor Quirrell was a bit of a joke and a terrible teacher. The classroom smelled strongly of garlic so some people found it hard to breathe. A rumor, more than likely started by the Weasley twins, said that he kept the garlic to ward off a vampire he had met in Romania. He spoke with a terrible stutter and stammered an awful lot and this added to the fact he could barely keep his class under control as everyone lost heart half-way through and started talking to their neighbors.
Though Harry pitied Professor Quirrell, he couldn't help but feel there was something very odd about him. He kept shooting Harry furtive looks and when Harry would catch him looking at him he would immediately turn pick and start talking about the weather.
Harry spent most of his time on his own. Ron took to hanging around with Seamus, Neville and Dean. Harry also hung around with them, but as he came from a muggle background he didn't know a lot of what they talked about. He ate dinner with the other Gryffindors and liked listening to them talking about their classes but as he was always up first, he mostly ate breakfast on his own. After classes, he made his way to the library where he would do his homework and other studies. He had taken to doing his own research on all of his subjects. He gave a lot of his time to Potions. He hadn't had a class yet and he had got a strong feeling that Professor Snape disliked him from the conversation he had `overheard' at the Leaky Cauldron. But the reason still remained unknown, at least to Harry. Also, he had heard that Snape could give a lot of grief, especially to Gryffindor students. Fred and George had told him that he always favored Slytherin considering he was their Head of House.
There was a table in the back of the library which Harry preferred as he was hard to see tucked away in the corner. Harry noticed that he wasn't the only first year who spent a lot of time in the library. He also observed that Hermione was often in the library too. He had got the feeling that she didn't like him, but he had no idea why. He thought they had got on quite well while on the train but now, now she ignored him a lot. He knew she didn't know that he was in the library all the times she was there but the most he ever got from her was a slight smile. Harry sometimes watched her work from his small table in the corner. He then felt weird and wondered why he was watching her unknowingly. He wished he could just go over and ask could he sit with her but for some strange reason he couldn't.
On Friday morning Harry awoke earlier than he usually did, which was quite early. As he was climbing out of his bed he spotted the sun rising from over the tinged horizon. He stopped dead in his tracks and sat their perched on the side of his bed, watching the sun rise, floored by its beauty. All his worries seemed forgotten in those few minutes but as soon as the sun had taken a more solid place among the white clouds and he had moved to change into his school robes, his fears of his first Potions class with Snape, returned to him. He walked silently down the spiral stone staircase and took his preferred seat in front of the fireplace. The common room was often chilly during the morning hours. Summer was over and a wide window was left opened to allow private owls deliver messages directly to students, so there was a slight breeze which the dying fire couldn't yield.
After Harry had comfortably taken his seat he once again opened his school bag and removed his Potions book. He had been so apprehensive during the last week that he had almost finished the book but most Potions mainly consisted of practical activity. He read until he could hear other students getting ready, then he made his way down to the Great Hall for another lonely breakfast.
Later Ron joined Harry looking very downcast; obviously Fred and George had told him about how bad Snape could be. "He's going to hate me. He despises Fred and George and he probably already guessed that we're brothers," he moaned. After they had finished they made their way to Snape's classroom, which was a deep dark dungeon. They lined up outside the door and only then that Harry realized they had this class with the Slytherins. Malfoy was standing there in the middle of a group of Slytherins bragging about the fact that Snape was a friend of his father's.
Harry hadn't heard much of Malfoy since the first night at Hogwarts. He glared at the smug look that Malfoy now sported at the sight of him standing there on his own, Ron was off again talking to Seamus and a group of girls who were all laughing in what Harry believed a very false manner. Malfoy swaggered over to him. "Crabbe, Goyle. Come. Now!" he motioned his hand as if he was setting a dog on someone. Harry grabbed his wand, preparing himself for some sort of attack.
"Five points from Gryffindor. No fighting or magic in the corridors," came a voice from the door. Everyone spun around to see Snape, leering at Harry. They all traipsed into the dungeon, and took their seats at desks fitted for two people. Seamus went with Dean and Harry went with Ron at the very back of the class, he didn't want Snape to have a full view of him. Neville looked sullen as he he approached the front where the only free seat was beside Hermione. Snape slammed the door as he made his way swiftly to the front of the class, his cloak billowing out behind him.
Snape stood silently at the head of the class and seemed to take in their appearance as his eyes roamed the students. He stopped at Harry and kept his gaze on him for a few moments, looking him directly in the eye. In that moment Harry felt naked, that his thoughts were open for examination. He tried to fight off the feeling and then lowered his eyes from Snape's gaze.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began, speaking in barely more than a whisper. He continued to tell them the options open to them from potion making. Harry couldn't help but stare at Snape. His eyes were cold as he spoke. They looked to be full of malice but also ignorance. He occasionally glanced at Harry throughout his speech who every time felt he was being searched. Ron had started to pick at a dent in the table while Seamus was staring at a spot over Snape's shoulder, clearly not interested in what he had to say.
Harry heard the creak of the door being opened behind him but didn't look around. Suddenly Harry felt a pain pressing down on the back of his head. The warning pain. He didn't recognize the pain in his scar, which if he had he probably would have taken a bit more caution.
He spun around, his hand on the back of his head, and was shocked to see Professor Quirrell with a look of disgust on his face and also to see his face contorted with ferocity while he looked at Harry. Then the face he was wearing suddenly vanished leaving the normal Professor Quirrell. Harry stared in astonishment wondering whether it was a trick of the light or was he going insane. No one else seemed to have noticed this, as they were all acting normally. Quirrell averted his gaze from Harry and strode up to Professor Snape. "What do you want?" he asked, obviously annoyed by the intrusion. Quirrell asked for some ingredients and left the classroom, not even sparing Harry, who was still staring at him in surprise, a glance.
Harry was still wondering about Quirrell when he heard his name being called. "Potter!" Snape called suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Harry thought for a moment. "Eh…the Draught of Living Peace…sir," he replied hesitantly. Snape looked a bit taken aback, but quickly resumed his questioning. "Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar? Ron looked quite stumped at the questions himself but Harry was silently congratulating himself at deciding to study a bit about Potions before entering Snape's domain. "The stomach of a goat…sir," he answered feeling a lot more certain.
Snape walked down to where Harry was sitting, he was obviously under the impression that Harry was reading this from the text book. He looked infuriated when he realized that Harry didn't have anything removed from his bag. He then looked at Ron with a look of disdain. "Well, I think we better move you, so Mr. Weasley can't continue to give you answers, Potter!" Harry noted how he spat the name. "What! You think I gave him the answers?" Ron exclaimed, half-laughing.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor. Mr. Longbottom, switch places with Potter. I'll obviously have to keep a better eye on him," Snape sneered. Harry could see Malfoy and his cronies laughing. He didn't argue, he was thoroughly annoyed at Snape's behavior but he didn't want to get in any more trouble. Ron had come to the same conclusion. Neville took his seat gratefully next to Ron while Harry made his way to the front of the class and took the seat beside Hermione. She avoided looking at him and from then on Harry was extremely upset by the knowledge that Hermione probably believed Snape. They spent the rest of the class writing down notes or listening to Snape making snide remarks to the Gryffindors. Harry stormed out of the class and made his way back up to the Entrance Hall.
He was in such a terrible mood he didn't notice the gigantic form of Hagrid and walked smack into him, which sent Harry flying. After picking himself up off the ground, he apologized. "No problem `arry," he said chuckling. "Ye wanna come down ter my place for some tea? Tell me all bout yer first week." Harry thought for a moment, "Okay. I'll be over later."
So later that evening Harry climbed out of the portrait hole and made his way down to Hagrid' s hut. Harry was still in a temper as he made his way across the grounds. Hagrid's hut was located just on the border of the Forbidden Forest. He knocked on the wooden door and heard a scratching noise coming from inside. "Back Fang, get back," he heard Hagrid order. Then the door opened and Harry saw Hagrid holding a huge black boarhound from the collar. Harry made his way into Hagrid's house. There was only one room inside and ham and pheasants hung limply from the roof. A kettle hissed over the fire and a bed stood in the corner. Fang settled in the corner and Harry took a seat at the table which stood beside the open fire. Harry placed a plate of cakes on the table. He then removed the kettle from the licking flames and poured the hot water into two enormous mugs. Harry talked to Hagrid about his first week and how his classes were going "Well, `arry, from what the professors `ave been sayin' yer `ave some talent," Hagrid said, a wide smile on his face. He continued when he saw Harry go red with embarrassment. "Lot like yer parents. And this from the boy who didn't tink tat he was good enough," Hagrid exclaimed chuckling to himself. "I bet Professor Snape didn't say that," Harry said, his expression darkening. "He really seems to hate me."
"Rubbish, sure why should he?" said Hagrid. Harry thought for a moment that Harry was trying to brush off the subject. "But, he moved me, and he called me a liar!" Harry nearly shouted. He was now pacing Hagrid's hut. He stopped when he realized what he was doing; he never usually shared his emotions or even let anybody know what he was feeling. "I'm sorry Hagrid. This is my problem and all I'm doing is disturbing you," he said defeated, and made his way towards the door. Hagrid stopped him. `Harry, sharin' yer emotions is what people do," explaining it to Harry as if he was a child. Harry turned around and stared at the burning fire. Then he spoke, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm not used to this Hagrid. It's so hard." Hagrid stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder, "It gets easier `arry. Ye'll soon find some'un ye'll be able te talk to. Bout nearly anything. Its them Dursleys who ave ye tinkin like this," he said, his voice turning to an angry growl.
Harry sat back down in the chair, his shoulders slumped. He gave Hagrid a tired smile. He still felt pretty miserable but he managed to say "Thanks, Hagrid." Hagrid told him not to worry about it. He turned to make more tea and Harry spotted a newspaper on the table. He picked it up and read the headline GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST. He then read the article that followed.
"Hey, Hagrid! That Gringotts break in happened on my birthday! It might have happened while we were there." Hagrid grunted and said Harry should be getting back up to the school as it was getting late. There was no doubt that he was avoiding Harry's statement. Harry decided he would leave. He made his way silently back to the castle. Darkness had taken its place over the castle while stars shone in the sky and the moon lit up the edges of the resisting clouds.
The Gringotts break in was going through Harry's head. Could it be that the package Hagrid had retrieved from the vault was what the thief had been looking for? Hagrid did seem to become very evasive when asked about the package and the break-in. He wondered where the package was now.
Harry met a crowd of people in the Gryffindor common room. They were all bustling around the notice board. He fought his way to the front and read the notice Flying Lessons- Next Thursday. Gryffindors will meet Madam Hooch along with the Slytherins out in the grounds.
Harry swallowed nervously. He had thought about flying and was quite looking forward to it, but now he was going to have to learn in front of the Slytherins and more importantly, Malfoy.
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