Harry Potter and What Should Have Been

What Should Have Been: Philosopher's Stone

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K Rowling owns the world of Harry Potter.

Story Summary: Harry writes a letter home to his parents and receives a reply back, attends the first week of classes and at the end of the week both Harry and Hermione visit Hagrid's hut where they discover the break in of Gringotts Wizard Bank.

A/N: I would like to thank J P McMurphy for taking the time to beta my work for me.

Chapter Eight: First week of Classes.

The following morning, Harry woke up just after the sun had risen over the eastern horizon. Noticing that it was early in the morning and realising he probably wouldn't get anymore sleep, Harry decided to head down to the common room so that he could write a letter to his parents and send it with his owl.

Making his way down to the common room with a piece of parchment, quill, and ink set in his hands, Harry noticed that he was the first person to be in the common room. He immediately took a seat at one of the tables, choosing a comfortable chair, and composed the following letter to his parents

Dear Mum and Dad,

I am just letting you know that I have arrived safely at Hogwarts and that the Sorting Hat has placed me into the house of Gryffindor, just like you. Hermione has been sorted into Gryffindor as well.

Classes begin today and I must say that I am looking forward to them. I am excited to see what the subjects are about and how the professors handle them.

Yesterday I made another friend, or I hope that we can be friends anyway. The name of my new friend is Ron Weasley. From what I can gather, Ron seems to be a good person but another boy that I met made fun of him because the Weasley family seem to be poor. Do you know anything about the Weasley family at all, Mum and Dad?

The name of the boy who picked on Ron was Draco Malfoy. This Malfoy boy offered his friendship to me, but I turned him down because he made fun of both Ron and Hermione. I don't like this boy very much and I think that the feeling's maybe mutual.

That's it for the time being, so I had better end this letter here. Take care and I'll write again to you soon.

Love,

Harry

Happy with the letter that he just wrote to his parents, Harry carefully folded it in half and placed it inside of an envelope. After quickly writing the postal address on the front, Harry dashed back upstairs to get dressed and organized for the day.

While Harry was upstairs getting ready for the first day of classes, Hermione made her own way to the common room so that she could wait for her friend. Seeing that she had to wait for Harry to arrive, Hermione thought that she would write a letter to her parents, informing them that she had arrived safely and that she and Harry had been both sorted into Gryffindor.

Now showered and dressed in his school robes, Harry made his way back downstairs. Upon reaching the last stair on the staircase, Harry could see that a number of other fellow Gryffindor students were making their way through the portrait to have breakfast. Apart from students leaving the tower, Harry noticed that Hermione was writing a letter. Harry decided to wait quietly until she was finished, not wanting to interrupt. Luckily for Harry, he didn't have to wait very long because the moment that Hermione was done with her letter, she turned around to see if Harry had yet come down.

No sooner had Hermione's eyes noticed that Harry was indeed down than she said, “Are you ready for some breakfast, Harry?”

“Yes, I am, Hermione, and I must say that you had the same idea that I had this morning,” Harry answered, indicating the letter clutched in Hermione's hand.

Seeing that he was pointing to her letter, Hermione said, “I thought that while I was waiting for you to come down, I'd write a letter to my parents informing them that we had arrived safely and that the both of us were Sorted into Gryffindor. I hope you don't mind that I mentioned you in my letter, Harry, but if you do I can easily cross it out and write another one.”

“Hermione, I don't mind in the slightest. Turns out, I mentioned you in my letter as well. Hope you don't mind?”

Hermione smiled and said, “That's ok with me, but if you don't mind, can we head down to breakfast? I'm getting rather hungry.”

“So am I, Hermione, and as it is, other members of our house have already left.”

“In that case, Harry, let's go.”

Both Gryffindors walked through the portrait and headed down to the Great Hall to have breakfast.

Following the exact same path that Percy had shown them the previous night, Harry and Hermione were easily able to find the Great Hall. As they walked through the castle, they paid close attention to where each subject classroom was located: neither wanted to be late for class; each and every student was expected to become familiar with the great castle.

Since there were hardly any students around, Harry and Hermione took advantage of the situation while they could. By the time they had reached the Great Hall, Harry and Hermione had a general idea as to where each class was held.

Entering the Great Hall, the two friends made their way over to Gryffindor table and helped themselves to the food that had just appeared a few moments ago.

While Harry and Hermione were eating their breakfast, Professor McGonagall descended from the staff table and began to hand out the class schedules to each year. The moment that Hermione received her timetable, she quickly looked at it to see what classes that they had first.

After scanning it over she said, “It seems that we have Transfiguration first up today. I wonder what Professor McGonagall is going to be like with that subject?”

“Have no idea, Hermione, but it should be exciting. When are we scheduled to have Potions?”

Glancing again at the schedule, Hermione found the answer and replied, “According to this, Harry,” Hermione placed the piece of paper down so that Harry could see it, “we have it on Friday with Slytherin and it's a double period.”

Harry frowned. “I was hoping that we would have it sooner because I am really looking forward to that subject,” he said in a disappointed tone.

“Don't worry, Harry, Friday will soon get here and when it does you'll be able to enjoy it. For now we had better head for the Transfiguration classroom because I, for one, don't want to be late for class.”

“Right behind you, Hermione.”

With breakfast over and done with, the students started to head off to classes.

Thanks to their previous tour of the castle, Harry and Hermione were among the first students to arrive for class. They easily found the Transfiguration classroom. While they waited to be allowed into the classroom, Harry and Hermione took the opportunity to say hello to their fellow peers.

After chatting for a couple of moments, the door to the classroom opened and McGonagall appeared, saying in her stern voice, “Please head inside and find your seats so that we may commence with today's lesson.”

Hearing the tone of voice that Professor McGonagall spoke in, all of the students quickly filed inside. Once everyone was seated McGonagall walked to the front of the class.

McGonagall, in her commanding voice, began to speak to the group of first years. “Before I begin with today's lesson, I would like to take a couple of moments to say some very important things. With regards to Transfiguration, you shall be learning some very complex spells in my class. If I see any student messing around in my class, then that said student shall be shown the door and won't be allowed back. You have been warned, so I expect your best behaviour at all times.

“Now that's out of the way, please open your textbook to the first task you'll be learning today. Can anyone tell me what this task is?”

Instantly both Harry and Hermione raised a hand. McGonagall, with a wave of her hand, indicated for Hermione to answer.

“Professor, the first thing that we'll be learning to transfigure is a match stick into a needle.”

“That is correct, Miss Granger. Five points for Gryffindor.”

At this, Hermione smiled while McGonagall addressed the rest of the class.

“As Miss Granger has just mentioned, we shall be turning a match stick into a needle. Now, if you can quickly read and answer the questions that are in your textbooks, then we'll have a go at transfiguration,” she said, taking a seat behind her desk as the class started on the theory work that they needed to complete.

However, just as the class was getting stuck into the work, the classroom door opened up to reveal two students: Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom.

Noticing the two newcomers, Professor McGonagall said, “Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Longbottom, is there a reason as to why you're both late to attend my lesson?”

It was Ron who responded:

“The both of us got lost, Professor.”

“To make things easier for you both, maybe I should transfigure Mr. Longbottom into a watch so that you'll be on time.”

Draco and the other Slytherins sniggered amongst themselves.

At the sound of their laughter, McGonagall turned and said to the Slytherins, “I don't think that this is something to laugh about. Five points from Slytherin.”

Hearing that they just lost their house points, Draco and the rest of his house instantly became quiet and resumed their work. Happy the Slytherins were under control, McGonagall turned back to Ron and Neville.

“The next time that you are late to my class, I shall be forced to deduct points from your house. The only time that you'll be excused for being late is if you have a signed note from either a professor, or from Madam Pomfrey, explaining why you're late. I trust that you can find your seats.”

Ron and Neville quickly took the last seats and Minerva returned her attention to what she was doing before Ron and Neville interrupted her class.

About half an hour later, most of the class had finished reading and answering the questions. Noticing that the majority had completed the necessary work, McGonagall got up and announced, “It's now time to practice the actual transfiguration. Once you have all received a match stick, I would like for you all to attempt to transfigure your stick into a pin. Don't worry if you don't get it on your first attempt; for some students it's easy and for others it's rather difficult. Miss Patil, would you be so kind as to hand out the matchsticks for me?”

“Of course, Professor,” Parvati said before taking the matches from McGonagall and handed them around the class.

For the rest of the lesson, the first years practiced changing the matches into sewing needles. Some of the students found it rather difficult to complete the transfiguration, just as McGonagall had said. Unlike Harry, Hermione found it very easy to do. Hermione was able to master the transfiguration on her very first attempt while Harry had to take three turns before he got the hang of it. By the time that McGonagall was finally able to inspect Harry and Hermione's work, she was amazed to see two perfect needles.

After picking them up to inspect them, McGonagall said to the pair, “Mr. Potter and Miss Granger, I must say that I am rather impressed with your work. Five points to Gryffindor for your successful transfiguration.”

At this both Harry and Hermione smiled but before they could congratulate one another, the bell rang.

McGonagall quickly said, “For homework, I want those of you who haven't yet mastered the transfiguration to practice. Also, I want a summary of the theory to be written on a separate piece of parchment. Due next lesson.”

After writing down the homework that they needed to complete, everyone headed to their next lesson, which just happened to be History of Magic.

History of Magic was rather quite boring for the majority of the first year students. It's taught by Professor Binns, a ghost who drones on and on all the time. As a result, the students can't maintain their focus. In the end, no one pays attention to what Binns says and everyone falls asleep.

While the majority of the class was either bored or not interested in what Binns had to say about the goblins, Harry and Hermione were extremely busy with writing down as many notes as they possibly could on the subject. By the time that class ended, between the two of them, Harry and Hermione had a good deal of notes.

As they were packing away their things, Ron came over and said, “Blimey, Harry, how many notes did you write down while Binns talked away?”

“I believe that I have about 2-3 parchments worth of notes that shall come in handy for the homework that Professor Binns has set for us.”

“Um Harry, could I possibly borrow your notes because I kind of fell asleep during class.”

At this, Hermione jumped in. “Ron, I don't think that Harry should allow you to borrow his notes so that you can complete your homework.”

“What's wrong with borrowing Harry's notes from class, Hermione?”

“Because it's your own fault that you fell asleep in class when you should have taken notes of your own.”

Seeing the beginnings of an argument, Harry decided that he had better change the subject.

“Ron, Hermione, why don't we head to the Great Hall so that we can have lunch?”

“That's a good idea, Harry. I wonder what's for lunch?”

“I don't know, Ron, but let's go and find out.” That said and done, Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed off to have lunch.

After lunch was over, Harry and Hermione had a little bit of time to spare so they both headed up to the Owlery so that they could send the letters that they had written to their respective parents.

Upon reaching the Owlery that housed the school owls and owls that the students brought with them to Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione were both surprised to see the number of owls that stayed at Hogwarts. From the floor to the ceiling, there were rows and rows of owls, perched on nests and rafters waiting to be used to deliver mail.

Standing in the doorway, Harry looked around the room so that he could find his owl, Hedwig. It didn't take long for Harry to spot Hedwig because there were not many snowy white owls. The moment that Harry spotted Hedwig, he held out his hand and called her.

“Hedwig!”

At the sound of her name, Hedwig looked down to see what was the matter. Spotting her owner, she instantly left her perch and flew to Harry.

Once she was sitting comfortably on Harry's forearm, Harry said, “Hedwig, can you please deliver this letter to Mum and Dad for me?”

She happily hooted in response and held out her leg so that Harry could attach the letter. After several failed attempts to tie the letter on with one hand, an exasperated Harry turned to Hermione and said, “Hermione can you…”

“Of course, Harry.”

No further words needed to be said. Hermione carefully and gently attached Harry's letter to Hedwig. Once this was done, Harry took Hedwig outside of the Owlery so that he could send her off with her first mail delivery. No sooner had Hedwig taken flight into the air than Harry headed back inside the Owlery so that he could return the favour to Hermione.

He returned to find Hermione was struggling with the brown owl that she had chosen. Seeing that his friend was having trouble with the owl, Harry said, “Here, Hermione, allow me to return the favour.”

Harry gently took control of the owl so that Hermione could fasten the letter to the owl's talons. Hermione told the owl where to take the letter, and Harry stretched out his arm for the bird to take flight. After watching the owl disappear, Harry and Hermione departed from the Owlery and headed back to the castle to attend afternoon classes.

Over the next couple of days, classes continued to proceed. The next couple of lessons that the first years experienced were Herbology, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and Potions.

Herbology was a subject that dealt with all kind of plants and fungi. With this subject, they visited the greenhouses on a regular basis and it was there that they were taught how to look after and care for the plants. It was taught by a dumpy witch named Professor Sprout.

Among the students who studied this subject, it came as a complete surprise to everyone that it was Neville Longbottom who seemed to know just what to do when it came to caring for the plants. From what Professor Sprout could see, she was looking forward to seeing how Neville would progress in her lessons.

Charms dealt with enchanting objects. It can also cause people to laugh, dance, and do a whole range of other useful things. Professor Flitwick, a very short person with a squeaky voice, taught this subject. Being so small, he needed to stand on a pile of cushions so that the students could see, watch, and learn what he says and does. With regards to Harry's first lesson in Charms, Professor Flitwick was so thrilled that he had `Harry Potter' in his class that he fell from his pile of cushions with excitement.

With regards to D.A.D.A., all of the first years were very anxious to see what they would be learning in this class. Usually in Defense, everyone is taught how to defend oneself, but not with Professor Quirrell. All of the first years were disappointed with how he taught the class. Whenever Harry and the rest of his year had D.A.D.A., they could always smell a strong odour of garlic in the atmosphere.

Every Wednesday night, the students had Astronomy. With this subject, Harry and the other first year students learned about the names of planets, stars, and the movement of planets. After the first night of studying the planets, some of the first year students found this subject to be very exciting, while others found it to be quite boring and dull.

As for Harry, he actually discovered that Astronomy was rather exciting to study and as it turned out, Hermione shared Harry's sentiments about the subject. With having experienced all of these subjects, there was now only one left, and yes, it was Potions.

On Friday morning, the day that the first years were scheduled to have Potions had finally arrived. Since Harry had been excited all week with the prospect of finally learning the subject of Potions, he got up early and dressed as quickly as possible so that he could get organized for today's class. However, the first thing that Harry had to do before he even went off to class was to have breakfast.

As all the students ate breakfast, it was a custom that the owls would bring the daily mail to the staff and teachers. Ever since Harry and Hermione had posted their letters to home, every morning they had kept watch to see if they would get a response. Unfortunately for them both, they had not yet received a reply, but little did they know that in today's mail, Harry and Hermione would each have a reply letter sent to them by their respective parents.

Breakfast was about half way through when all of a sudden the population of Hogwarts could hear the sounds of flying and screeching of the daily post owls. Everyone in the Hall immediately looked up to see if the owls had brought them any mail.

As the owls came flooding into the Hall from the windows that were designed specifically for the owls, Harry spotted a very familiar snowy white owl. At the sight of Hedwig fast approaching, Harry began to get excited; he was finally getting a letter from his parents. Just before Hedwig landed near her master, Harry noticed that instead of having one letter, Hedwig instead had two envelopes. Seeing this, Harry didn't know what to make of it, but before he could even say anything, Hedwig landed beside her owner and extended her leg so that Harry could remove the letters. After untying the two letters from her leg, Harry read the addresses on the front of each envelope.

Mr. Harry Potter

The Great Hall

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Seeing that the first letter was for him, Harry placed it down onto the table and looked at the address on the second letter. What Harry saw came as a complete surprise.

Miss Hermione Granger

The Great Hall

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Discovering that the second letter was for Hermione, Harry turned to his friend. “Um, Hermione, I don't know how this happened but it seems to me that Hedwig has delivered a letter to you,” he said, handing the letter to Hermione. At this Harry showed the letter to Hermione.

Hermione exclaimed, “Oh good, my idea worked! Thanks, Hedwig!”

Hedwig hooted happily in response. By now Harry was starting to wonder what was going on. Before he could even say a word Hermione began to explain.

“Harry, I hope that you're not annoyed, but after the owls took our letters, I realised that the school owls wouldn't stay around to bring back a letter. Since my parents wouldn't be able to respond via owl post, I ask Professor McGonagall if she could think of a way that I could receive mail from my parents. She said that there might be a way, but first she had to speak to the headmaster about it. As it turns out, the idea was to ask your parents to first send Hedwig to my house to pick up any letters that my parents wanted to send to me. Hedwig could then make her way to Hogwarts with letters for the both of us. Do you mind, Harry?” Hermione glanced worriedly at Harry, looking for any sign of vexation

Harry replied, “Hermione, while I am a little disappointed that you didn't ask me in the first place to borrow, Hedwig, I think that was an excellent idea that you came up with. In the future, if you want to borrow Hedwig, just ask and I'll be more than happy to allow you to use her. I can never be mad with you; you saw a problem and you went about to seek a solution and I think that solution was a good one.”

“Does that mean were still friends, Harry?”

“Yes, Hermione, we're still friends, and if you ever have a problem don't hesitate to ask me for help because that's what friends do. We help each other out whenever we have problems.”

It was at this moment that Professor McGonagall said, “Those were very kind and considerate words, Mr. Potter. I believe that has earned you ten points to Gryffindor. Now if you don't want me to deduct points, then I suggest that you quickly finish up because classes shall be starting soon.”

At the sound of this, Harry and Hermione quickly finished up breakfast and headed down to the dungeons where Potions was taught.

While Harry and Hermione were finishing up their meal, Minerva McGonagall couldn't believe what she had just witnessed between Harry and Hermione. The last time that she had seen something like this happen was when Lily Potter was at Hogwarts. Lily Potter had a loving and caring nature and she always understood others. There was no doubt in Minerva's eyes that Harry had those exact same traits. From the scene that took place before her, Minerva knew that Harry and Hermione were indeed blessed to have each other as friends and she was looking forward to see how this special friendship would develop, but for now Minerva had to head back to her classroom so that she could teach her next class.

Standing down in the dark and usually chilly dungeons where Potions was taught at Hogwarts, the first year students of Gryffindor and Slytherin stood outside waiting patiently to be allowed into the classroom. Before long, the door opened up and the students filed into the room and took their seats.

No sooner were they seated than Professor Snape, who always wore black robes, swept into the room and said, “There shall be no foolish wand waving in this class. As such, I don't expect you all to understand the delegate nature of brewing potions. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopped death -- providing that none of you are the dunderheads that I usually have to teach,” then took the roll. Once he had completed this task, Snape decided to see if Harry had indeed inherited Lily's Potions skills.

“Now, before we begin to brew a simple potion to cure boils, let's see how good you are at Potions, especially Harry Potter, who is the new celebrity. Tell me, Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Harry instantly responded with, “Professor, I believe that it would make a potion so powerful that who ever drinks it falls asleep. The potion is known as Draught of Living Death.”

Snape was amazed by Harry's answer so he asked a second question.

“That's correct, Potter. Where would you find a bezoar if I told you to find one for me, Potter?”

“Sir, a bezoar is a stone that is taken from the stomach of a goat. It can save your life from most poisons, as well.”

By now Snape could see that Harry had indeed inherited Lily's potion knowledge, so with this he asked one more question:

“You're once again correct. Now tell me, Potter, what is the difference monkshood and wolfsbane?” Snape hoped that this time Harry would be stumped. Unfortunately, he was about to be proved wrong.

“Professor, there is no difference between them because they are the same plant. This plant also goes by the name of Aconite.”

At the end of hearing that answer, Snape was simply stunned because Harry Potter had just successfully answered all three questions. Not to mention that he gave a full answer that would easily earn him an outstanding result on any exam. Snape was easily convinced that at last he wouldn't have yet another dunderheaded student. Also, while he looked and judged Harry, Severus remembered the conversation he had with the headmaster before school started. Since he didn't want to show open favouritism to Potter, he instead offered the following compliment to Harry:

“Mr Potter, I must say that I am rather impressed with your knowledge. With regards to you brewing potions, I expect your work to be of the highest quality because for once, I have a student who appears to know this subject.” At this Snape looked up from where he was standing in front of Harry and continued, “For today's lesson, we shall be brewing a simple potion that can cure boils. You shall find on the board the list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions as to how you would brew this potion. Whatever you do, do not place the porcupine quills into the potion until you have removed the cauldron from the fire. Why are you all standing around, get a move on.”

At hearing this, the students quickly got busy with brewing the potion.

As they were all making the potion that was assigned for the day, Professor Snape made his way around the classroom to see how everyone was coming along with his or her work. While he was at it, Snape took it upon himself to compliment those who were working really well. Some of the students that Snape liked very much were Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, and, to her surprise, Hermione Granger. Students that Snape didn't like at all were Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley, thanks to the incident that had occurred at their work bench.

“Now who do I have working here? Ah, it seems to me that we have Neville Longbottom and another Weasley. Tell me, Weasley, are you quite capable of brewing potions, or are you like your annoying twin brothers?”

Before Ron could even respond to that question, Neville placed the porcupine quills into the potion without removing it from the flames.

Acrid green smoke filled the air and a loud hissing noise sounded in the dungeon. Before Snape could react, some of the potion flew up into the air and landed on his face. Moment that this happened, Snape waved his wand and banished Neville's cauldron before anyone else could be hit and sprout very nasty boils. Once the threat of the cauldron was neutralised, Snape rounded on both Neville and Ron.

“Mr. Longbottom, it is quite clear to me that you can't follow a set of simple instructions. Weren't you warned at the beginning of the lesson that you first had to remove your cauldron from the fire before adding the porcupine quills?”

“Yes, Professor,” Neville admitted quietly.

“As for you, Weasley, why didn't you try to stop him, considering that you were sitting beside him. Because of your carelessness the both of you have just cost ten points each from Gryffindor.” That said, Snape stormed off to his office so that he could tend to the boils that he had just received.

By the time that class was close to ending, all of the students had finished brewing their potion and they were busy with tidying up the work benches. For Harry and Hermione, they found that the potion was rather easy to brew. They had followed the instructions step by step, and once they had added the last ingredient (after removing their cauldron from the fire), the potion turned out exactly as the directions said it would. Seeing that they had successfully brewed the potion, they poured a sample into a vial so that they could hand it in to Professor Snape.

At the sound of the bell that signalled the end of class, everyone approached Professor Snape's desk with a sample of the potion that they had brewed. Once he had ticked off their names and collected the samples from each student, Snape indicated that they were free.

As Snape took Harry's sample, he had a good look at it. Seeing that the potion was one hundred percent right he said to Harry, “By the looks of this sample potion, Potter, I must say that I am rather impressed. I believe that this has earned you top marks and I expect that you shall keep to this high standard.”

“Thank you, Professor, and I'll do my very best to ensure that my potions are of the highest quality.”

“That is what I like to hear, Potter. Now go and have lunch.”

Hearing that he was dismissed, Harry headed towards the door where Hermione was waiting for him. No sooner had they exited the classroom and were heading towards the Great Hall for lunch than Hermione said, “Well done, Harry. You were great with how you answered those questions, not to mention the fact that your potion turned out great.”

“Thanks, Hermione, and as I said, I really looked forward to today's class. It's just a pity that I have to wait a whole week until our next Potions class.”

At this Ron said, “Why is it that you can't wait for the next Potions class? Is Snape going to award you house points, Harry, or is he going to take them away from Gryffindor like he did to me?”

“I know the subject and I really enjoy brewing potions,” Harry explained. “As for the house points, it doesn't bother me if Professor Snape gives or takes them: I found the compliment that he gave me was better than any points that could have been awarded. It wasn't my fault that Neville made a simple mistake. Professor Snape had to deal with the situation.”

Hermione joined the conversation and said, “Ron, if anything, it won't take long to get those points back because it's only the first week of class. Now if you don't mind, I would like to have lunch. Are you coming, Harry?”

“Right behind you, Hermione. What about you, Ron?” Harry asked, glancing at Ron.

Ron just headed towards the Great Hall without even giving so much as a response back to Harry.

Hermione simply said, “Don't worry about Ron, Harry. He is just a little bit jealous that Professor Snape was nice to you when he wasn't to him. He just needs to cool down for a while. Come on, let's have lunch, and afterwards we're visiting your friend Hagrid, aren't we?”

At the mention of Hagrid's name, Harry instantly brightened up and said, “Yes, we are, and I can't wait for you to meet him. Come on, the sooner we eat lunch, the sooner we can go and visit Hagrid,” as the two friends headed off to have lunch in the Great Hall.

While Harry and Hermione were eating lunch, they both remembered that they hadn't opened up their mail. Seeing that they had plenty of time, they finally opened their letters from home.

Dear Harry,

Your father and I are very pleased and proud that you have been sorted into Gryffindor. While we were both expecting you to be placed in Gryffindor, hearing the news from you made us both very happy.

We are happy that you met and have made friends with this Ron Weasley. From what we know of Ron's family, it is true that they may be poor, but they are a very kind and loving family.

Harry, with regards to Draco Malfoy that you mentioned in your letter, it is best that you kept a close eye on him because he and his family are nothing but trouble. It was a good thing that you turned down his friendship, and we're proud of how you handled that situation.

Both of us are also pleased that your friend Hermione has been sorted into Gryffindor as well. Please extend our congratulations to her.

Oh well, that's about it for now because your father is on his way back to work as am I. Keep in touch, Harry, and just remember we are only an owl away.

Love always,

Mum and Dad

P.S. Harry, I have taken the liberty of enclosing some of the photos that were taken at the platform before you and Hermione caught the train. Please show them to Hermione so that she can owl some to her parents.

Reading about the pictures on the bottom of the letter, Harry picked up the envelope so that he could remove them. No sooner had he done this than he said, “Hermione, here are the pictures that my parents took. You can choose whatever ones you like so that you can owl them to your parents. Also, my parents asked me to pass on their congratulations to you for being placed into Gryffindor as well.”

“Thank you, Harry, and by the way, my parents pass on their own regards as well. Now, let's have a look at these pictures so that I can decide which ones I want to send home to Mum and Dad.”

By the time that they had finished looking at the photos, Hermione ended up choosing a couple of herself and some with the two of them in the photo. With regards to single photos of Harry, Hermione kept them on the table because she didn't think that it was right that she should send single pictures of Harry home. For Harry, he simply decided to keep a copy of all the photos.

After they had selected the photos that they wanted, Harry placed the leftovers into his bag and said, “Hermione, seeing that we have finished looking over the photos, would you like to head down to Hagrid's now?”

“I think that now would be the perfect time to visit him, Harry. Besides, I can't wait to meet him,” Hermione answered enthusiastically.

“In that case, let's go, and trust me, Hermione, you're in for an exciting time.”

Both Harry and Hermione got up from where they were sitting at the table and made their way down to Hagrid's hut.

After exiting the castle through the great doors, Harry and Hermione followed the long path that led the way down to the hut where Hagrid lived. Walking along the trail, they were able, for the first time, to have a decent look outside. From what Harry and Hermione could see, there was indeed a forest on the boundary of the school, plenty of open space with an abundance of green grass, and there was also a huge lake containing gallons of water.

As Harry and Hermione were heading towards Hagrid's cabin, Hagrid, who had just walked past the window that was located just near the front door, noticed that some students were coming to pay him a visit. Hagrid immediately put the kettle on the fireplace so that they could have a cup of tea. Hagrid only just had enough time to set all the things onto the table when he heard a knock on his front door.

At the sound of the knock Hagrid said, “Be right there,” as he strode to the door and opened it.

No sooner had he opened the door than Hagrid continued with, “Harry, I'm so glad yeh came to visit. I see yeh've brought a friend with yeh as well,” turning his focus towards Hermione.

“Hagrid, this is my friend Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Hagrid, whom I mentioned to you about,” said Harry, remembering his manners.

At this Hermione said, “I am pleased to meet you, Hagrid.”

“Any friend of Harry's, Hermione, is a friend of mine. Would both of yeh like ter come inside and have a cup of tea?”

“Thank you, Hagrid. Harry and I would like that.”

“Come in and make yerselves comfortable while I make the tea, ” said Hagrid, stepping aside so that he could allow his guests to enter his home.

Crossing over the threshold, Harry and Hermione quickly took a seat at the table while Hagrid made the tea. In the meantime, Harry and Hermione took the opportunity to have a look around Hagrid's hut. From where they were sitting, they could see that there was a huge bed, covered with a patchwork quilt. There was also a chest of draws, cupboards, a fireplace where Hagrid was busy at work, and in one corner was a basket that belonged to Hagrid's dog, Fang. Looking up towards the roof, Harry and Hermione could see that several hams and dead pheasants were hung on strings that were attached to the rafters. They were just returning their focus to where they were sitting when Hagrid brought a tray over to the table that had three mugs, a tea pot, milk, and sugar. After pouring the tea and placing the milk and sugar into it and taking a seat himself, Hagrid spoke.

“So Harry, Hermione, how was your firs' week o' classes?”

It was Hermione who first answered. “Classes were great, Hagrid, and I won some points for Gryffindor as well.”

“Tha's great ter hear, Hermione. What about you, Harry?”

“I enjoyed them, except for when the students and teachers got all excited about me being here. Probably the classes that I enjoyed most were Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms. History of Magic was a little boring though.”

At this Hagrid chuckled and said, “'Fraid I have ter agree with yeh there, Harry. Professor Binns was the teacher in my day and I mus' admit that I too fell asleep during his lessons.”

“How long ago was that, Hagrid?”

“Ah, that was about fifty years ago. What else have you done this week?”

“Apart from going to classes and doing homework, there isn't much else that has been happening. Probably the biggest thing that has happened is that all the students have been pointing and talking about me amongst themselves.”

“Tha's to be expected, Harry, and with time tha' will pass over.” Hagrid turned to face Hermione and continue by saying, “Hermione, since I already know so much about Harry, why don't yeh tell me about yerself?”

“Well, I am a Muggle-born witch. After it was discovered that I was a witch, both of my parents were quite surprised. Since my parents are…” With that Hermione went on to tell Hagrid all about her parents and the things that she liked.

Since Harry already heard about the things that Hermione was telling Hagrid, Harry's attention drifted to a newspaper sitting on the table. Seeing that both Hagrid and Hermione were busy talking and listening to each other, Harry decided that he would have a look at the paper. The moment that Harry opened the paper to read, he was quite surprised and shocked to see what was on the front page of the Daily Prophet.

Latest News With Regards To the Break in of Gringotts Bank

On the first of August, Gringotts Wizard Bank high security vault was mysteriously broken into.

As this comes as a huge shock to all the wizarding community, the goblins have assured us that all the vaults are secure and that no valuables were stolen.

While we aren't privileged to all the details, we have been told that the vault in question, 713, had in fact been emptied earlier in the same day.

What important and interesting objects were held in the vault? Gringotts goblins had this to say in response: “Mind your own business because this doesn't concern you. Goblins are handling the investigation and if we discover anything of importance we'll contact you. For now, allow us to proceed in our own way.”

After reading about the article that concerned about the attempted break in, Harry placed the paper back down on the table and said, “Hagrid, do you know anything about the break in at Gringotts?”

Hagrid was busily listening to Hermione, but at the sound of Harry's voice, Hagrid turned his full attention towards Harry and asked, “What was that yeh just mentioned, Harry?”

“I asked if you knew anything about the break in at Gringotts?” Harry repeated, indicating to both Hagrid and Hermione the newspaper that had the article about the break in.

No sooner had Hermione heard about this than she quickly got up from where she was sitting and began busily reading the paper. By the time that Hermione had finished reading all about what happened at Gringotts, she couldn't believe that someone would dare try to rob one of the most secured places.

Hermione said, “What was so special about the item that was stored in vault 713 that drew the attention of the burglar? Who was this person? How did they get past the security?”

“I don't know, Hermione, but whoever it was, their attempt was unsuccessful. Although, Hagrid, you still haven't answered my question.”

Hagrid's only reply was, “Sorry, Harry, but my lips are sealed. If I did know anything, which I don't, I wouldn't tell yeh anything because this matter is Hogwarts business. The best thing tha' yeh can do is forge' all about this and concentrate on yer classes.”

Hearing Hagrid's response, Harry just nodded and said, “You're right, Hagrid, and I am sorry that I brought it up.”

“Don't worry about it, Harry, and there is no need ter be sorry because yeh were jus' curious about it. Now, tell me what else has been happening while I make us a fresh pot of tea.”

With a fresh pot of tea made, Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid spent the remainder of the afternoon getting to know each other. Unbeknown to either Hermione or Hagrid, Harry was going to find out all that he possibly could about the person who tried to break into Gringotts and what was so special about the item that had drawn the attention of a would-be burglar.

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