Chapter Nine
When Harry awoke the next morning the common room was brightly lit as the sun streamed in through the high windows. He found that he had slept quite well even though he had spent the night on the couch. He put it down to the fact that he had become used to believing the Dursley's couch had been comfortable. The fire had died out but there were still the remains of the red embers. Harry heard footsteps coming from somewhere over the other side of the room so he sat up quite suddenly. Professor McGonagall had just finished pinning something to the large notice board. She started when she saw Harry and placed her hand over her heart in an attempt to calm down.
"Mr. Potter! Merlin, you gave me quite a fright. What on earth are you doing down here at this time of the morning? Did you s…sleep here? She asked astonished. Harry didn't find what was so unusual about sleeping on a couch. "Yes Professor."
"Well I assure you that the bed in your room is quite adequate, comfort-wise. In anyway, it offers more than a couch." She paused for a few moments and than made her way to the portrait hole. "Good Morning, Mr. Potter." "Morning Professor," Harry replied.
An hour later, Harry was dressed in his school robes and was ready to go down for breakfast. More students had arrived down in the common room preparing for the day. Harry decided he would head down to breakfast and tried to remember where Percy had walked them the night before. The weather looked quite cool outside the castle even though the sun was dazzling. On his way through one of the corridors Harry spotted Hagrid down in the grounds. He was shielding his eyes from the sun and Harry couldn't really see his face, he thought it looked a bit grim though.
Harry finally made his way to the marble staircase. He walked down it and in through the great double doors to the Great Hall. He still thought it looked breathtaking, with the sun illuminating it, it looked very heavenly. There was no one else in the hall and Harry wondered how on earth he was going to be served breakfast. His questions were answered as soon as he sat down on the bench. The golden plates filled with sausages, rashers, hash browns, eggs, tomatoes, toast and a numerous amounts of different cereals. Harry only had a small bowl of cereal; he was still quite full from yesterday. More students arrived down into the Great Hall. The Weasley twins spotted Harry on his own and made a beeline for him. "Harry, we haven't introduced our selves. My name is Fred and this is George," he said mannerly with a wave of his hand at his brother. Harry outstretched his hand and both of them shook it. They then sat down either side of him.
"You know our brother, right?" Harry nodded his head and explained to them about meeting him in the train. "Well Harry, incase Ron has told you already, if you need anything," said Fred.
"And we mean anything," started George. "You just come to us," they both finished simultaneously. "Thanks," Harry said uneasily. He wasn't used to being offered anything by anyone. Harry sat there listening to the twins talk about the new school year. Ron arrived down with Seamus, Dean and Neville. Harry was astonished to see Ron filling up his plate again. "Didn't you have enough yesterday?" Harry said, half laughing. The others at the table joined Harry in laughing. "Well that was yesterday. And you mate," he said defensively, pointing his fork at Harry "need to start eating more. If my mum saw you, she'd have a fit."
Professor McGonagall was handing out timetables along the Gryffindor table. Harry looked at his as soon as she handed it to him. "Transfiguration, Charms and History of Magic.," he read aloud.
"Ooh, tough start," said a girl with blond hair sitting down beside Fred. Harry got up to leave. He then saw Hermione at the other end of the table. She was sitting beside some other girls; Harry didn't want to disturb her so he left for the Entrance Hall.
He found a desk in back row of the Transfiguration room. He wanted to remain hidden as much as he could. He had already heard whispers following him all through the corridors. He enjoyed the silence of the Transfiguration room until other students began to arrive. Ron and Neville sat either side of him. Hermione went straight to the top of the class, without a backwards glance at him. Soon after, Professor McGonagall entered the room. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said strictly. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Harry was quite nervous about performing magic with a teacher watching him. He felt he had to prove himself in the eyes of someone who was experienced in the world of magic. They began the class taking complicated notes and by the end most of the class seemed to lose all enthusiasm. Harry found that he understood the theories quite well. Professor McGonagall then set them the task of turning a match into a needle. Many of the students couldn't concentrate hard enough. Some actually were tempted to throw their matches across the room but McGonagall was roaming around the room watching and making suggestions. Ron then annoyed Harry by talking to Neville; in the end Harry just switched seats with Neville so they could continue their pointless conversation. Harry then asked Ron to pass down the match they had been practicing on. Ron just pushed it down, not really taking notice of Harry; he was too engrossed in his conversation.
Harry focused all his concentration on the match and pictured the transformation clearly in his head. Then he watched amazed as the match slowly became thinner and silver started to spread through it until it became an unmistakable silver needle. Of course no one had noticed Harry's achievement. Harry didn't want Ron to learn of his success, fearing he would start acting like he had yesterday on the train, so he quickly tried to hide it in his pocket. Someone poked him on the shoulder and he spun in his chair to find himself face to face with McGonagall. She held her palm out expectantly and Harry pulled out the needle and placed it in her hand. She examined it, then leaned forward and whispered "Excellent, Mr. Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor." No one else had heard what she said, and she then transfigured the needle back into a match and placed it on his desk. "You obviously have your father's transfiguration skills."
Harry was looking forward to Charms. Most of the students were already tired out from their first go at Transfiguration. When they entered the Charms classroom Harry once again took a seat at the back of the class. Ron and Neville were still talking so they sat beside each other, while Seamus took the spare seat beside Harry. Professor Flitwick was the Charms teacher. He was a tiny little wizard, and when he entered the classroom he walked up to the front and disappeared behind his desk. They heard some sort of struggle and watched as Professor Flitwick made a pile of books, climbed them and appeared over the top of the desk. Seamus tried to hide a snort of laughter. "Welcome to Charms. Charms… is a difficult branch of magic but is also very important in all areas of life. We will begin the term by taking some notes on the theory of Charms and should progress to performing them sometime next month." And so it began and all that could be heard from thereon in was the scratching of their quills on the rough parchment.
History of Magic was a huge disappointment for Harry. He had loved history in his old primary school and was excited to begin learning about the ancient wizards. Harry blamed the disappointment on one thing, Professor Binns. He was a ghost, the only teacher ghost of Hogwarts. The story went that he had been very old indeed when one day he had fell asleep in front of the staff-room fire and next morning when he got up to teach he had left his body behind him. Binns voice had a drone that made any listener fall asleep. After about ten minutes of taking down notes most of the class gave up. Harry continued, as did Hermione, but nearing the end of class, Harry gave in and told himself that he would rather study History of Magic alone in the library. He would have stuck to his resolution had he not seen the sad disappointed look Hermione gave him. He instantly felt floored by guilt. He didn't know why that one look had had such effect on him. He continued scribbling down notes until the end of class.
Dinner was a very quiet affair for Harry. He was again the first one there. Ron was doing something with Seamus, Neville and Dean, Harry had a feeling it also had something to do with Fred and George. When Harry was finished his dinner he saw Hermione entering the Great Hall. Harry would have liked to talk to her but she had a book out and was reading it as she sat down at the table. Not wanting to disturb her, Harry made his way back to the common room to begin his homework. He actually had quite a lot for the first day and was also feeling quite tired.
When he had finished his homework he realized it was quite late and that all the students had gone to bed. He climbed into his four poster bed feeling exhausted and quickly fell asleep.
I know the chapter is ridiculously short but I wanted to have something out this week. Also this is just a chapter to tell you about the first day. Anyway I do have another chapter which will probably be uploaded on Sunday. Hope you like anyway. Sorry for the length and also do you think Harry should study History of magic by himself?
Take care,
Radagast.
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