Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and would never dream of making any money off it. It all belongs solely to my idol, J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Six – Trouble

By Shadow of the Blue Moon

The next day, Harry woke at six o'clock, meaning he had an hour to prepare himself for the school day before he had to meet Clearwater, Hilliard and the rest of the first-year Ravenclaws in the common room. As he didn't know what classes he would be having this morning, he didn't know what books he needed yet. His bookbag was Featherlight and wizard-spaced, but as he had several 'help' books for each subject, it would be easier to just come up with the rest of the first-years, Clearwater and Hilliard later.

However, a surprise was the copy of the Hogwarts rulebook on his nightstand. It wasn't very thick, only about fifteen pages, which was considerably smaller than what Harry thought it would be. He flicked through it, but as it was rather dry, he decided to leave it until he could be bothered to read it. He had a shower, first, then dressed for the day in his Hogwarts robes. Apparently, all his Hogwarts robes had changed to reflect the fact that he was a Ravenclaw, not just the set that he had been wearing last night.

There was still half-an-hour left until seven, though, so Harry went inside his trunk again. First, he changed the gold knocker on the front door to an eagle, by saying, "Changeo Eagle" as Mr. Porter had taught him. As it was currently sunrise, the walls and ceiling of his trunk were beginning to light up with streaks of pink, gold and orange, making the trunk-apartment seem very bright. But as the trunk was currently in his room, the window only showed his room – quite a boring view, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Once he was inside, he chose a book that would enhance his Potions skills, titled 'Basic Potions Skills: Why, What and How', and started re-reading it. He had already read it several times, but it was interesting and explained a lot that the school Potions textbook, 'Magical Drafts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger, didn't explain. The school textbook was actually more of a 'recipe book' than a proper textbook, as it just contained instructions on how to brew various potions and a brief explanation of those potions.

At six-fifty, he placed 'Basic Potions Skills: Why, What and How' back where it belonged on the shelf and 'emerged' from his trunk back into his room proper. He brushed his hair and attempted to get it to lie flat before giving up and leaving his room. He met Oliver Rivers also coming out of his room, which was the one right next to Harry and at the end of the hallway, looking rather in a hurry as his tie was crooked and his hair was sticking up. "Hello, Rivers," Harry said when he saw the boy. "How was last night's sleep?"

"Good, thanks," Rivers replied. "I just woke up twenty minutes ago, though, as I'm not used to getting up so early. Usually, I wake at eight at the earliest. What about you?"

"I got up at six, and as I was all done by six-thirty, I just read for a bit," Harry said. "Last night was okay, as I was too tired to worry about anything."

"Me too," Rivers said. "I didn't get much sleep the night before, as I was too excited, although Mum said I was to sleep early. I didn't take a nap on the train, either, as I was a bit worried about the Sorting and meeting new friends." The two had begun walking down to the common room, where nearly everybody else had gathered already. When Harry looked about, they were just missing two girls, Padma Patil and Mandy Brocklehurst. Nobody was holding anything, instead chatting excitedly to each other.

Harry found Luna, sitting in an armchair next to the other two first-year Ravenclaw girls, Su Li and Lisa Turpin. Su Li was Asian, with dark hair and eyes, while Lisa had blond hair and unusually, dark eyes. Li and Turpin were busy talking about what they thought would be the first lesson, and if it would be any good, while Luna just sat there, looking at the books in the mini-library that was in the corner of the common room. "Hello, Luna," Harry said, approaching her armchair. "How was last night? How's your room like?"

"Good morning," Luna said, turning around to look at him. "Last night was fine, thank you for asking. My room's in the middle of the hallway, as I'm third alphabetically, and on either side of my room are Su Li's and Padma Patil's rooms. It's a bit smaller than my room at home though, so I'll have to slowly get used to that, as I'm used to having a whole floor to myself back at my home, the Rookery. I really must invite you and the rest of the group back to my home one day."

"That would be nice," Harry said. "I would like to have a chance to see your home. The Potters have several properties in various locations around the world, and I would love for you and the rest to come and 'tour' my homes with me during summer, if possible. Of course, I'll have to ask the goblins about the properties first, as I have no idea about where the properties are, or what condition they're in. They said that the properties were either in stasis or were rented out, though, so they shouldn't be too bad."

"That would be an enjoyable way to spend the summer," Luna agreed. "As all of us have also yet to see Hermione's house, we could maybe spend the summer vacation visiting one another? A large part could be used to 'tour' the Potter properties, as we have nothing much to do." They continued chatting about the summer holidays between first and second year until Clearwater came down the girls' staircase with Brocklehurst and Patil in tow, and were joined a minute later by Hilliard coming down the boys' staircase.

"Good morning, boys and girls," Hilliard began. "I'm pleased that you all managed to get down on time, save for these two lovely ladies with Penelope. But, as it's their first day at Hogwarts, I suppose they can be excused. Did everybody have a good night's sleep last night?" A chorus of 'yes' answered him, as well as accompanying nods. "Wonderful. As you're now enrolled in formal schooling, you'll need a good night's sleep every night to be at your best for learning every day. I learned that lesson the hard way."

"Before Robert gets carried away with tales of what he did and didn't do, I'll go over what's going to happen for today," Clearwater said, stepping forward. "We'll be taking you down to breakfast, and Professor Flitwick will give you your class schedules there. The first bell rings at nine-thirty, after which you have fifteen minutes to get to your first lesson. We'll be escorting you around for this week, as you probably won't know how to get to your classes yet, so just wait for us after your lessons.

"There's a one-hour break for lunch from noon to one o'clock, and then you'll have afternoon classes until about three-thirty, except on Fridays and one other day," Clearwater continued. "Friday afternoons, if I remember correctly, are 'free time' for first-years. The other day is the day when you have Flying lessons, which are only for first-years. That day, Flying ends at four forty-five, so you have a one-hour Flying lesson with Madam Hooch. Then, dinner is at six o'clock, and you're expected to be abed by ten at the latest."

"However, what Penelope forgot to mention was that there's one night where you have Astronomy," Hilliard said. "Astronomy is mandatory for first-years all the way up to fifth-years. After you complete your O.W.L.s, you can drop it. Astronomy is from midnight to one a.m., so you should probably have a nap before going. The next morning for first-years used to be a 'free' morning to allow you to sleep for longer and the afternoons were longer to make up, but isn't anymore as school days end earlier now."

"Now, I think that's all we mean to say," Clearwater said. "So, let's go to breakfast. Follow me, please."

Once they were in the Great Hall, which had only begun to fill up, Clearwater stopped and turned to them. "Now, while you are allowed to sit at other House tables during usual meals, you may not for this breakfast," she said. "This is so that the Heads of House know where to find you so they can give out the class schedules. However, starting from this lunchtime onwards, you can sit at other House tables with your friends from other Houses. Please wait for Hilliard and I in the small antechamber at nine-thirty."

Clearwater waited until everybody had nodded, then guided them to seats at the Ravenclaw table. Then she and Hilliard left them to go and join their friends, who were waiting for them. Hilliard sat near the end of the table, while Clearwater sat in the middle. The first-years sat about a quarter of the way along, in a large group of ten, with Harry sitting between Luna and Oliver Rivers, and they all began to build a decent-sized breakfast for themselves from the plates of food that were waiting for them on the table.

Soon enough, their Head of House, Professor Filius Flitwick, came hurrying along while levitating a large pile of class schedules in front of him. "Ah, good, you're all here together," he said – or squeaked, really. He was a tiny little man, four feet tall at the most, with a moustache, glasses and wide smile on his face. "Here are your class schedules, then." He caused the top ten to fly off into their owners' hands, and Harry saw that his was labeled with his name and which year and House he was in.

Harry glanced at his schedule. According to it, he had Potions with Professor Snape and the Hufflepuffs first thing this morning, which was an hour long and would last until ten forty-five. After that, he had History of Magic with Professor Binns and the Slytherins from eleven to noon, which was right before lunch. In the afternoon he had Charms with Professor Flitwick and the Gryffindors, and finally Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Hufflepuffs again, but the Professor was Professor Quirrell.

He looked back up to see that the other Houses' first-years had started to arrive. Holding his schedule in one hand, he rose and went over to Hufflepuff table, where Susan and Hannah were sitting with the other Hufflepuff first-years, also looking at slips of parchment that he assumed were their class schedules for first-year. "Good morning, Susan and Hannah," he said, coming up from behind them. They jumped and turned reflexively, but calmed down when they saw that it was just him. "How's your timetable like?"

"You probably know that we have Potions with you Ravenclaws and Professor Snape, the Head of Slytherin, first," Susan said. "However, we have Transfiguration with the Gryffindors and Professor McGonagall for the second lesson. Then, in the afternoon, we have Herbology with the Slytherins and Professor Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff. She's a very nice lady and even came to welcome us to Hufflepuff last night after the Welcoming Feast. Finally, we have Defence Against the Dark Arts with you guys again."

"Ah! I see, then," Harry said. "For us, we have History of Magic when you have Transfiguration, and Charms when you have Herbology."

"I heard that History of Magic is very useless and boring," Hannah said. "The current Professor, Cuthbert Binns, is a ghost and just drones on and on, whether or not the students are paying attention or are even there. For most of Hogwarts, it's become a 'free' lesson, as all the information can be found in 'Hogwarts: A History' or 'A History of Magic', the two History textbooks on our supply list. However, it's a required subject until after we take our O.W.L.s at the end of the fifth year."

After a quick chat with the two girls, he went over to Slytherin table, where Daphne and Tracey were sitting right next to each other, looking over their schedules. When Harry asked about their lessons for today, Daphne answered, "Well, the first lesson for us is Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors. Second lesson is with you Ravenclaws, History of Magic. Our afternoon lessons are first Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, and then fourth lesson is Potions with the Gryffindors for us. What about you?"

Harry went over his schedule quickly for the benefit of the two girls and stood there chatting with them until Luna came over and tapped his shoulder. "Harry, it's already eight-thirty, meaning you have about half-an-hour to eat your breakfast before Clearwater and Hilliard take us back to Ravenclaw Tower to get our books for today," she said. "You've also been gone for so long that the house-elves have cleared your plate away, so you'll have to make yourself a new plate of breakfast. Might I suggest some toast?"

"Thanks, Luna," he said. "Toast does sound good. I suppose I'll have to catch up with Hermione and Neville later."

"We can sit with them at lunch," Luna suggested. "Hogwarts rules only prohibit sitting at other House tables during the Welcoming and End-Of-Term feasts, as well as the first breakfast of each school year so they know where to find us to give us our class schedules. Daphne, Tracey, as you have class with Neville and Hermione next, can you pass that message along? We'll tell Susan and Hannah that we should sit together." The Slytherins nodded, and they bid each other goodbye so Harry could go eat breakfast.

After breakfast, at nine o'clock sharp, Clearwater and Hilliard came to find them. "Ah, good, you're all sitting together," Hilliard said when he noticed them. "As we told you before, we're going to take you upstairs now to get your books. We won't be doing this starting from tomorrow onwards, as you've got your schedule and should know what books you need to take with you in your bookbag for the day. However, we'll be taking you from class to class, so please wait for us after your first lesson – Potions."

He spun around on his heel and started walking out of the Great Hall. The first-year Ravenclaws, with Clearwater bringing up the rear, quickly scrambled out of their seats so they could follow him. This time, Harry did his best to remember the way back up to Ravenclaw Tower from the Great Hall, which was very complicated and confusing as it involved going through doors pretending to be walls, up moving staircases, past staircases that had trick steps that would trap you if you weren't careful and so on.

Once they were in the Ravenclaw common room, Hilliard turned to face them and said, "Now, Clearwater and I will be waiting for you down here at nine twenty. Please be on time, as Potions is in the dungeons and it will take some time to get there. Professor Snape doesn't like people being late, and while he is slightly more tolerant of Ravenclaws than of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, he has been known to refuse to let late students entrance into his classroom. Don't forget to get your books for the rest of the day."

Harry went back up to his room, which had been cleaned and tidied up for him while he was at breakfast – probably by a house-elf. He found his Potions textbook, 'Magical Drafts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger; his History of Magic textbook, 'A History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot; his Charms textbook, 'The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1' by Miranda Goshawk and his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook, 'The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection' by Quentin Trimble, and placed them all in his bookbag.

After going back down into his trunk-apartment, he decided to put 'Basic Potions Skills: Why, What and How' into his bag, as well as 'Hogwarts: A History', 'Magical Theory' and 'One Thousand Herbs and Fungi'. The latter three were all school textbooks that might help with History of Magic, Charms, and Potions respectively. Then, he put his pencil case in, along with four binders, four zip-lock folders and some parchment to write on. All of which had been bought at Scribbulus Writing Implements in Diagon Alley.

Finally was his Potions kit, which included his cauldron. Luckily, his bookbag could hold more than it looked like it could hold, as the cauldron was rather large and wouldn't have fitted otherwise. As Harry's Potions kit was the first-year's set – as the cashier had talked him out of buying the fourth-year's set like he wanted to at first – it didn't have many of the ingredients that he saw around the dungeons. However, a previous read-through of the textbook showed him that the ingredients he did have would be enough.

Soon, it was time to go down to the common room. Hilliards and Clearwater, both of whom had a copy of their timetable, led them out of Ravenclaw Tower and down to the dungeons, which took quite a while as the route was very long and confusing. Once they arrived, Clearwater told them to stay here and wait for Professor Snape, before she and Hilliard left. The Hufflepuffs, led by a brown-haired girl and a black-haired boy with Prefect badges gleaming on their chests, arrived about three minutes after the Ravenclaws.

When the bell rang at nine forty-five, the door to the dungeons opened magically and a soft, sneering voice could be heard. "Come in," Professor Snape said. The students filed in quietly and sat down. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls, due to the way the light from the few flickering candles cast everything into shadow and Professor Snape, one of the most frightening teachers in the school.

Once Harry sat down next to Luna, who was across the aisle from Susan and Hannah, he took out all the supplies that he needed for potion-making. First was 'Magical Drafts and Potions' and 'One Thousand Herbs and Fungi', then his stationery, which he placed on his bench. Finally, he took out his ingredients kit and his cauldron, as he saw other people were taking theirs out as well. While the class was taking out all their supplies, Snape merely watched them from the front of the classroom, without saying anything.

When everybody had settled down, he started by taking the roll call. He paused at Harry's name, and said, "Ah, yes... Harrison Potter, our new – celebrity." Ernest MacMillian, a Hufflepuff boy whom Harry didn't really know but had heard people calling him, sniggered behind his hands at that – loud enough for Harry to hear, but not loud enough for Snape to take any notice. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class with dark, cold eyes that made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he said in barely more than a whisper. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses..." By now, he had started walking slowly around the class, who was enthralled by his words.

"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death," Snape went on. "Potions can do all this and more, can do things beyond what you can accomplish with the foolish wand-waving that you will do in other subjects. You, too, can do all this – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." He stopped, but all that followed this speech was more silence. Suddenly, Snape called, "Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Luckily, Harry knew the answer to this one, even though it was a very advanced question for any first-year student, especially one who had just arrived at Hogwarts and had never had a Potions lesson before. "Mixing powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood would create a mess if there were no other ingredients added, but those are the two key ingredients in a powerful sleeping potion named the Draught of Living Death, which causes the drinker to fall into a deep, death-like slumber," Harry replied.

Snape sneered at him. "Got lucky, did you? One point from Ravenclaw for your cheek," he said. "Let's try again. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"The stomach of a goat, your Potions cabinet or an apothecary," Harry replied.

"That will be a point for your cheek, and two more for not addressing me as 'Professor' or 'sir'," Snape snarled. "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"Nothing, Professor," Harry answered. "They are the same plant, which also goes by the name 'aconite'."

"Well, it looks like you have bothered to open your textbook before coming here to study," Snape said. "I hope you can keep that up, but I doubt you will be able to seeing as you're a Potter." He spat the last word, then snapped at the rest of the class. "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down? Do you think that you're so smart you can simply not take notes?" There was a flurry for parchment and quills as everyone rushed to copy that down, as well as the answers to a couple of questions Snape asked others.

Once the quick question-and-answer session was over, Snape paired them all up with whoever they were sitting next to. That meant Harry ended up with Luna, which they were both pleased with. "You'll be making a simple Boil Cure," Snape said. "This is such a simple potion that I expect even you dunderheads to get it correct. The instructions are on the board and Page 5 of your textbooks, and you have half-an-hour. Begin." He waved his wand and the instructions appeared on the blackboard.

While the class was making the Boil Cure, he simply swept around in his long, black robes, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticising everyone. At the end, Harry and Luna had managed to make their potion go blue and emit pink smoke, which according to 'Magical Drafts and Potions' was exactly how it was meant to be. However, all Snape said when he glanced at their potion was, "Adequate." The bell soon rang, and their first Potions class was over, with the homework being a simple essay.

The next class was History of Magic, which was held in Classroom 4F on the first floor, which was where Clearwater and Hilliard led the first-year Ravenclaws to. When they arrived, they found that the Slytherins were already waiting, as they had Defence Against the Dark Arts, which was much closer to the History of Magic classroom than the dungeons were. Daphne and Tracey were quietly talking to each other when they arrived, as were the other Slytherins in pairs or small groups of three or four.

"Hello," Luna said as the pair approached Daphne and Tracey. "How was Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

"Fine, thanks," Daphne said. "However, I don't think it's going to be a very good class for the rest of the year. Professor Quirrell, the Professor who wears a purple turban, is scared of practically everything. He spent some time explaining what we were going to be doing, then set us some work while he walked around and checked on us. When Ronald Weasley accidentally dropped his textbook, the Professor almost jumped six feet in the air in fright." Harry laughed, imagining Professor Quirrell doing just that.

Thinking of Professor Quirrell made him remember what had happened at the Sorting Feast last night. "Oh, and I have something to tell you," Harry said quietly, making sure nobody else could hear them. "Last night, at the Sorting Feast, I was having a look at the Professors, and I saw Snape and Quirrell talking. But then, Snape looked past Quirrell's ridiculous turban and straight at me, and suddenly my scar hurt. It only lasted a second, but it's never happened before. Do you have any ideas why?"

"Your scar hurt?" Tracey asked disbelievingly. "But how is that possible?"

Harry shrugged. "It's a unique scar, because that's where the Killing Curse bounced off me," Harry said. "There's no record of that ever happening before, either."

"I don't have any ideas, as I've never heard of something like this and my aunt's the Head Curse-breaker at Gringotts," Daphne said. "We have a lot of time in the afternoon, and there won't be much homework today as it's just the first day, so maybe we could do a bit of research on curse scars in the library later in the afternoon. We could all sit together at lunch as well, maybe some of the others will have some ideas on why or have some books in their trunks that might give us the answers."

"What's a curse-breaker?" Harry asked curiously.

"They're some of the most highly-trained people that Gringotts employs," Daphne answered. "The Ministry also employs them, but most work for Gringotts as there's better pay there. They're specialists that deal with dangerous cursed objects and also look for magical treasures in places like Egypt. It's a very dangerous and serious profession, as there's a high risk of deaths due to old curses. They've seen a lot of things that normal witches and wizards haven't and won't ever see in their lives."

The bell rang before she could say any more, and the twenty first-year students filed into the History of Magic classroom. The four friends sat in a row in the middle of the classroom, in the order of Luna, Tracey, Daphne, Harry. There wasn't much that they needed to take out, only parchment, stationery and 'A History of Magic'. When they were done, they sat quietly talking as Professor Binns had yet to arrive. However, they didn't have to wait long as Binns suddenly entered the classroom – through the blackboard.

Screams and shouts came from the class due to Binns' arrival. Harry hadn't known that he was a ghost, either, but apparently Daphne did as she didn't seem fazed by it, unlike other members of the class. "He's been a ghost for quite a while," she said to Harry. "According to legend, he was nearly two hundred when he fell asleep in the staffroom in front of the fire and died, becoming a ghost. However, he didn't notice and still got up to teach History of Magic, leaving his body behind him in the staffroom."

"How could he have lived to be nearly two hundred?" Harry asked, amazed.

"Witches and wizards live much longer than ordinary Muggles," Daphne explained. "Witches and wizards' life expectancies are from one hundred to one hundred fifty years old, depending on which country you live in. British magicals have an average life expectancy of one hundred and thirty-eight years, but the oldest wizard in British history lived to be seven hundred and fifty-five years old. Wizardkind also look a lot younger than they are, with eighty-year-olds looking like they're in their late forties to early fifties."

She was interrupted, yet again, by Binns clearing his throat. He, unlike Professor Snape, didn't bother with the roll call. Instead, he hovered behind his desk and took out a large pile of notes. "Good morning," he said. "I am Professor Binns, the History of Magic Professor. This year, we'll first be learning about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911." He turned to a marked section of his notes, cleared his throat and began. "The Gargoyle Strike of 1911 was a wildcat strike that occurred in October 1911 on the outskirts of London..."

By the time fifteen minutes had passed, half the class was asleep and the other half was doodling on parchment or playing games with the person sitting next to them. Nobody, as far as Harry could see, was taking notes or paying attention. He, instead, opened 'A History of Magic' to the contents page and saw that Chapter 1 was titled 'The Gargoyle Strike of 1911'. Turning to the chapter, he listened to a few minutes of Professor Binns' lecture before realising that all he was doing was reciting passages from the textbook.

He had nothing better to do so he decided to look at the other chapters. However, he accidentally dropped the textbook on the floor, which opened to the back. There, he spotted a picture of Bathilda Bagshot, a very old woman with wrinkles and white hair and the author of 'A History of Magic'. She looked somehow familiar, but Harry knew that he had never met her since he re-entered the wizarding world, so he scanned his memories from when he was a mere baby. There, she appeared in several memories.

The first one was what seemed to be a small tea party, but with only four people: himself, his parents and Bagshot. It was probably Harry's first birthday party, as a small cake with a candle was in the centre of the table. Then, one with himself, his parents, Bagshot and three other men, whom Harry recognised as his father's best friends: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. In this second memory, they were all swapping Christmas presents, with Harry receiving a small, stuffed toy Niffler from Bagshot.

Just looking through these memories made him feel slightly sad about his parents. He knew where he could find Bagshot, as the 'About the Author' section in 'A History of Magic' said that she currently lived alone in Godric's Hollow, but what about Black, Lupin and Pettigrew? Surely they would have come to find him during those ten years while he was at the Dursleys, but there had to be a reason why they hadn't. Harry made a mental note to look them up and find out where they were and why they hadn't made contact.

Once he had done so, he pulled out his Potions assignment to work on, which was a seven-inch essay on Boil Cures and why they were effective. Harry had the basic information in 'Magical Drafts and Potions' that would guarantee him a passing grade, but he knew that he would need another of his 'help' books that was back in his trunk if he was aiming for that 'O' or 'O+' that he wanted. So, he just started writing down the basic information, which would occupy him until the end of the lesson.

After History of Magic was lunchtime. When the four walked into the Great Hall, they found that Hannah, Susan, Neville, and Hermione were already seated at the Hufflepuff table, and had kindly saved four seats for them. They sat down and greeted each other before making themselves decent-sized lunches with the food already there. Hogwarts' food was good, and Harry thought it wouldn't do any harm to gain a few pounds while here at Hogwarts, as he hadn't really ever had enough to eat back at the Dursleys'.

"So, how was your first two classes?" Hermione asked Harry, whom she was sitting across from, as soon as she had swallowed her first mouthful of food.

"Potions wasn't very good, and I'm pretty sure that Snape hates me," Harry said, starting to eat his lunch as well. "We made a Boil Cure in pairs, after an impromptu quiz at the beginning of the class where he asked some pretty difficult questions for first-years. He didn't explain much about the potion we were making either, and kept taking points off for silly reasons. History of Magic was pretty useless as he was just reciting passages from the textbook, so I started on my homework. What classes did you and Neville have?"

"Well, first we had Defence Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin," Hermione said. "That was okay, even though the Professor is pretty useless and his scared-of-his-own-shadow personality certainly doesn't inspire confidence in his teaching skills, let alone his defence skills. Then, we had Transfiguration with Hufflepuff, which was brilliant. Professor McGonagall's a bit strict, but she certainly knows what she's talking about. We only did a basic Transfiguration today, a match to needle and back again."

"And how was that?" Harry asked.

"Surprisingly difficult," Hermione said. "I thought it would be easy, as it's such a small thing. But I tried my hardest, and my match only turned pointy and silver. It wasn't even a proper needle, but Professor McGonagall said it was pretty good for a first lesson and gave me five points. She also said that it was the best in our class, but I'm still going to do a bit of practise later on. Weasley, on the other hand, managed to set his match on fire and Professor McGonagall had to put it out. What have you got this afternoon?"

"First, Charms with you and the other Gryffindors, as you might have seen on your timetable," Harry said. "I hope it'll be good, especially as it's the Head of Ravenclaw teaching. That's Professor Flitwick, by the way, the one who's sitting on the special chair due to his short stature." He pointed him out to Hermione. "Later in the afternoon, I've got Defence for my final class of the day. I wonder how it'll be like, especially as both you and Daphne say the Professor is scared of everything. What about you?"

"Charms with you, then Potions," Hermione said. "I've memorized the textbook, do you think that'll be enough for the impromptu quiz?"

"Of course it will," Harry assured her. "By the way, I've got a question for you all, which sort of has to do with Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell." He addressed his last sentence to the group and waited until he had the attention of everybody before saying, "Last night, at the feast, I was having a look at the Professors and saw Snape and Quirrell talking. But then, Snape looked straight at me, and suddenly my scar hurt. It only lasted a second, but it's never happened before. Do you have any ideas why?"

Hannah was the first to admit she didn't have a clue. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I've never heard of any of this kind of stuff happening before," she said. "I suggest you ask a Healer – not a medi-witch like Madam Pomfrey though as they're only used to dealing with basic injuries and illnesses – or a Curse-breaker or maybe even an Unspeakable if that's even possible. The library might also have some answers, but most books dealing with stuff like this will probably be in the Restricted Section if there are any books that help."

Susan was the next, and agreed with her best friend. "I'll have to agree with Hannah about who to see," she said. "You could try writing to Auntie, see if she can get you a meeting with an Unspeakable. As the Head of the DMLE, she probably has some way of contacting them and arranging a meeting. She might also know something, or know someone who's had some experience with something similar that can help. I don't know anything else though, I'm sorry."

Eyes turned to Neville, who was sitting next to Harry. "Same goes for me, unfortunately," Neville said. "I haven't got any other ideas either, but Gran might be able to help."

Last was Hermione, who was deep in thought. "Well, your scar is from when You-Know-Who attacked you and your parents in Godric's Hollow ten years ago, right?" Harry nodded in answer. "My theory would be that it has something to do with the attack – a connection. The most likely option would be You-Know-Who is still here and is posing as Snape or Quirrell, but as he's dead, that's not very likely. It could also have just been a memory returning that's related to the attack – try checking your memories."

"That's a good idea," Harry said, surprised. "I'll do that later on today. Thanks for the ideas, guys."

The conversation soon turned to the classes and how the school had separated them this year. "It's very strange, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs being with Gryffindors and Slytherins for classes," Susan said. "Usually, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs have nearly all their classes together, with the odd class where they're mixed, and Gryffindors and Slytherins end up in nearly all of the same classes. I've seen Auntie's old timetables, and there was only one class with Gryffindors and one with Slytherins in first year."

"They're trying a new experiment," Hannah said, the acknowledged expert on Hogwarts life in the circle of friends. "In the past few years, the animosity between Gryffindors and Slytherins has become worse than ever, to the point where they're constantly arguing. So this year, to try and avoid that, they're mixing the classes up. They originally decided that Gryffindors and Slytherins wouldn't have any classes together, but somebody else pointed out that their attitudes might get worse that way."

"Is this bigotry about how purebloods think they're meant to rule?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Hannah replied. "That's why the Wizarding War was fought. On one side, you had You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters, who promoted pureblood supremacy. On the other side, you had Dumbledore, who spoke out against You-Know-Who and were often killed for it. In the middle, there was the majority of Magical Britain, who were mostly too scared to say whom they really supported. If they said You-Know-Who, others would call them 'evil'. If they said Dumbledore, You-Know-Who would come calling."

"That actually makes sense," Hermione said. "So the Wizarding War was basically a civil war?"

"Well, it was never officially declared as such, but yes," Neville answered. "The Ministry was too scared that You-Know-Who would come after them, so they turned a blind eye to everything until purebloods and high-ranking officials were murdered. Meanwhile, other countries were just watching, not willing to help either You-Know-Who nor the British Ministry, and hoping that the problem would be solved before it spread to their countries. It got to the point where the ICW was getting ready to step in."

Neville, Hannah and Hermione spent some more time discussing the Wizarding War, while the others spent the rest of lunch talking about classes.

.

.

Charms was, in Harry's opinion, the best class they had had so far. It was taught in Class 2E, on the third floor in the Charms corridor, by Professor Flitwick. He was so short that ha had to stand on a pile of books and like Snape, started by taking the register. When he got to Harry's name, he gave an excited squeak and tumbled off his pile of books out of sight, eliciting laughter from the whole class. But then Professor Flitwick simply got up and continued with the register, chuckling to himself as well.

Once he had finished taking the register, Professor Flitwick started with a short speech just like Snape. "Welcome to your first Charms lesson," he said in his squeaky voice, smiling at the class. "Charms is a wonderful subject and one of the most useful parts of magic, as you will find out in due course. There are many levels of difficulty, from simple, everyday spells to those that can affect the course of wizarding history, depending on how they are used, and which you will most likely never need to use.

"However, do not worry. We will be starting with the very basics, and by the time you sit your O.W.L.s in five years you will have learnt enough to get by in wizarding society, which should be enough for careers that don't require much use of Charms. Today, though, we will be starting with one of the simplest Charms possible: the Wand-Lighting Charm." Professor Flitwick flicked his wand and 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1' appeared on his desk. "Please turn to Chapter 2 and read the first 2 paragraphs."

Harry flipped to Chapter 2, which was titled: 'The Wand-Lighting Charm and its Counter'. Looking down at the page, he read: 'The Wand-Lighting Charm is simple, but requires concentration. Take care not to accidentally set your wand alight as damage of this kind can be permanent. If in any doubt about your abilities you would do better to buy yourself a magic lantern. However, this is one of the simplest and most useful Charms, so you should be able to perform this unless you are a Squib or a Muggle.

'This Charm was first used in the 18th century – in 1772 to be precise – by Levina Monkstanley, who was the inventor of the Wand-Lighting Charm. To illuminate the end of a wand, the caster must call out the incantation "Lumos." If correctly incanted, the end of the wand will then illuminate and cast light in the immediate vicinity of the caster. It can also be used to illuminate unseen entrances as well as repel spectral foes, such as Gytrashes, from which they will flee.' Then, there was a picture of the wand movement.

Once the class was finished with the paragraphs, Professor Flitwick told them to watch him carefully. Drawing his wand, he incanted, "Lumos" while swishing his wand, the tip of which lit up brightly. "That's the Wand-Lighting Charm, as you've probably read about. Now this is the counter, the Wand-Extinguishing Charm. Nox." And moved his hand in a sort of 'wave' motion, causing the tip of his wand to go back to normal. "Try this for yourself, starting with Lumos." There was a flurry as the class took their wands out.

Harry, who was sitting next to Hermione, glanced at the wand movement in 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1' before trying it for himself. He incantated, swished his wand and 'pushed' with his magic while imagining the tip of his wand lighting up. To his surprise, it actually lit up like it was meant to, and Professor Flitwick almost fell off his pile of books again in excitement when he saw the tip of Harry's wand light up. "Look, Mister Potter's got it!" he said excitedly. "Could you possibly repeat that?"

Harry did the same thing he had just done, although with the Wand-Extinguishing Charm instead and caused the tip of his wand to go back to normal. Then, he repeated it with the Wand-Lighting Charm as the whole class watched. Professor Flitwick had been bouncing on his pile of books the whole time in excitement, and when Harry returned his wand to normal a second time, said, "Twenty points to Ravenclaw, Mister Potter, for an excellent first and second attempt! I've rarely seen a first attempt that's as good as yours."

The rest of the class was spent on these two Charms. Five minutes before the bell was due to ring, Professor Flitwick told them to pack away their wands and textbooks. Then, he caused large words to appear on the board, telling them what the homework was: Practising the Lumos and Nox Charms, as well as a five inch essay on those two Charms, due the next lesson. As Harry already could do the first part, he only needed to write the essay and complete the Potions essay for homework. There was no History homework.

The final lesson was Defence Against the Dark Arts. As they were being taken around in House groups, Harry and Luna met up with Susan and Hannah at the DADA classroom, Classroom 3C. It was also on the third floor, but was off of the Serpentine Corridor in the Hogwarts Turris Magnus, a rather large semi-circular tower. This was also near the out-of-bounds corridor, making everybody feel slightly nervous about the 'very painful death' that Dumbledore had warned them about at the Sorting Feast.

Hogwarts Turris Magnus was one of the largest towers in Hogwarts and contained several important rooms: the Arithmancy classroom (7A), which was only used by those that chose to take Arithmancy; Professor McGonagall's office on the first floor; the staffroom that sometimes existed around the corner of Classroom 7A; the Lost Wands store – or really, a lot of shelves that were full of wands – and the Ghoul Studies classroom, which hadn't been in use since Hogwarts stopped offering Ghoul Studies as a subject.

As the breaks in between were fifteen minutes long due to the distances sometimes involved – walking from the dungeons to the seventh floor was something nobody could do in five minutes – they had quite a while to wait for their final class of the day. However, nobody minded as they chatted with each other in small groups. Looking around, Harry saw that yet again he was part of the only group that had members of more than one Hogwarts House, although not the only group that had both boys and girls in it.

A few minutes before the bell was due to ring, Professor Quirrell turned up and let them all into his classroom. As they chose their seats and sat down, Harry noticed that his classroom smelled strongly of garlic. "I heard that it was to ward off a vampire that Quirrell met in Romania last year," Susan said about the smell. "According to rumour, he did something to this vampire and now he's terrified that the vampire will be coming back to get him one of these days. That's why his turban smells very strange as well."

Just like the Gryffindors' and Slytherins' DADA class that morning, Quirrell started off with a short speech about what they were going to be doing. "W-Welcome, class," Quirrell stuttered. "I'm P-Professor Quirrell, your D-Defence Against the D-Dark Arts t-teacher t-this year. We'll be l-learning a-about v-v-vamp-pires, b-basic D-Defence sp-spells a-and o-other D-Dark c-creatures." He talked for a while more about this year's curriculum, stuttering the whole time, which was slightly irritating to Harry.

After that speech, he asked if the class had any questions. "Why are you wearing that turban?" MacMillian asked eagerly.

"T-That was g-given to me last y-year by an African p-prince," Quirrell replied. "I g-got rid of a t-troublesome zombie, and t-this was a t-thank-you p-present."

"Professor, how did you get rid of the zombie in Africa?" Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff boy who was one of MacMillian's friends, asked.

"Erm...," Quirrell stuttered, looking around wildly and finally staring out of the window. "N-Nice weather for S-Scotland, isn't it? There aren't t-that many clouds t-today."

The class glanced out of the windows, which showed a grey, overcast sky that was in complete contrast to the beautiful sunrise Harry had seen this morning. But before anybody could say anything, Quirrell waved his wand and a few sheets of parchment appeared on their desks, which had questions on them. "T-This is to t-test your knowledge," Quirrell said, gesturing at the pages. "I w-want to k-know i-if you l-learnt anything from the t-textbook, and t-this will h-help me. I will be w-walking around if you n-need h-help."

The rest of the lesson was taken up by the quiz. Quirrell did walk around, but he didn't seem to be of much help – when Harry asked him a direct question, he thought for a while before admitting that he wasn't sure and he'd have to check the textbook, and advised him to skip the question and move on to the next one. When the bell finally rung at the end of class, Harry was glad to have the chance to leave. However, Quirrell asked him to stay behind as he had finally found the answer to the question Harry asked.

Harry finished packing up his things and approached Quirrell, who was paging through ''The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection'. As Harry got closer, Quirrell looked up and straight into Harry's eyes – and suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his scar again. "Ouch!" he cried, and the few people that hadn't gone yet looked at him curiously. One of those was Luna, though, as she was still packing away her stationery, with Susan and Hannah having left to quickly go back to the Hufflepuff common room first.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Luna asked, quickly finishing her packing and heading towards him.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking though," Harry said. "My scar hurt again, just like it did last night."

"Oh yes, the famous scar..." Professor Quirrell hissed. This time, he didn't stutter or anything like he had been doing through the lesson, and the strange thing was, it didn't sound like Professor Quirrell usually did. His mouth wasn't moving either, which definitely wasn't normal for anyone, even a wizard. Harry started to suspect that Quirrell was being possessed by a malevolent spirit, which was why he wore that strange-smelling turban and his classroom smelled so strangely of garlic.

"Professor? Are you alright?" Harry asked, feeling slightly suspicious. "You're not... feeling unwell or anything?"

"Oh, no, Harry," Luna said, smiling unconcernedly. "He's not feeling ill or anything, he's just being possessed by the Dark Lord. That's all."

.

.

While Quirrell, Luna and Harry were 'talking' in the DADA classroom, Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office, sucking on a lemon drop, pondering about what to do with a certain boy named Harry Potter. According to young Mr. Ronald Weasley, Harry had refused his friendship despite repeated offers. Instead, his circle of friends now consisted of six other Heir(esse)s of important Houses and a Muggleborn witch who looked like she was going to be the next holder of the 'Smartest Witch of her Generation' title.

This was definitely a big problem. That group of friends all had parents or family members who were definitely not Dumbledore supporters, and wouldn't react well to any manipulations he tried. His betrothed, Miss Greengrass, who would definitely become a very important person in his life, if not the most important, wasn't even from a Light House! Miss Greengrass was also a Slytherin, with a former Slytherin and Ravenclaw as parents that both came from long lines of Grey, if not outright Dark, purebloods.

Another problem with the betrothal was his plan for marrying young Ginevra Weasley off to Harry. He had planned to create a betrothal contract with himself signing as Harry's magical guardian and with Arthur Weasley signing as Miss Weasley's father and Head of House – he was sure that Arthur could be compulsed into thinking that it was something else, but if not, Molly would always be agreeable to it. But that plan was gone now. Why hadn't the Greengrasses told him before that invitation arrived? Damn it.

Now, the betrothal between Heir Harrison James Potter and Heiress Daphne Isabel Greengrass was officially recognised, both legally and magically. Plus, as the betrothal contract that had sealed their fates had been written using the old laws and had been written decades ago, meaning there was no way to break it. Even if the Greengrasses had a boy child, which would never happen due to Isabel Greengrass' inability to bear any more children, the betrothal still couldn't be broken.

Sometimes Albus really felt like screaming and breaking things, as he thought of his plans for the Greater Good and the prophecy. It had taken all of his manipulations to turn the mutterings of a rather useless seer who could barely see past the end of her nose into a prophecy that would come true – as long as everything went according to plan. It had all gone along nicely until the end of July this year, when Harry had run off to Diagon Alley after getting his letter and later, Greengrass Manor.

Then, once the boy arrived at Hogwarts, he had gotten himself Sorted into the House of the wise, Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws were known for being smart and actually thinking about what they were told to do. Paired with Miss Greengrass, a Slytherin who would consider all of the risks involved, there was almost no hope for his plan to get Harry to sacrifice himself to Voldemort during the final battle, allowing Voldemort to kill him and the Horcrux in his scar. What was he to do?

The betrothal had thrown a major wrench in his plans, as had Harry's decision to surround himself with a group of friends who had family members that while Light, still did not support Dumbledore and the Greater Good. Amelia Bones, especially, would be very difficult to deal with. She tended not to see things in 'Light or Dark', but rather in 'Legal and Illegal', and Dumbledore knew that some of his deeds wouldn't really be considered legal by Amelia– he stopped, as Lady Hogwarts warned him there was trouble going on.

It's between students and a possessed Professor, she warned him. Be careful, Albus. It's in the DADA classroom, in Hogwarts Turris Magnus. Young Mister Potter, your Boy-Who-Lived, is involved, as is his friend Miss Lovegood, against Professor Quirrell, who is being possessed by one that you call Lord Voldemort. Albus nodded, signaling that he had heard. Well, maybe swooping in to save Mister Potter and a friend of his on the first day of term from Voldemort was what he needed to cheer him up a little.

.

.

In the DADA corridor, Harry knew that he and Luna were in trouble. Luckily, the other students had long gone, happily chatting about their first day at Hogwarts. It was going to be quite a while before anybody came along, if they did at all as classes were over for the day, and they were stuck. There were no ghosts or house-elves around, and the portraits of the magical creatures that Quirrell had hung on the walls didn't seem exactly keen to help them escape from a Voldemort-possessed Professor.

"Ah, Miss Lovegood," Quirrell said, sounding slightly more normal. "I knew of your family. Your father, the editor of that ridiculous Quibbler and famed for his loud proclamations that you had prophetic powers, which I see must be true. It's very unfortunate that you won't live, as the Dark Lord would have liked very much to have your power in his arsenal. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, must die though, and I can't have anyone alive knowing about us..." Quirrell trailed off.

Then, his eyes turned red and he spoke in that hiss again that was not his voice. "Quirrell, let me speak to them... face-to-face..."

"But Master, you are not strong enough!" Quirrell said to the other voice, which Harry guessed was coming from his turban.

"I have strength enough for this," the voice insisted. Slowly, Quirrell undid his turban and turned on the spot. As the back of his head was revealed, Harry gasped. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face: chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake. "Do you see what I have become? Mere shadow and vapor ... I have form only when I can share another's body... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds..."

"Master, I am honoured to serve you!" Quirrell said in his 'normal' voice.

"Silence! Do not interrupt me while I am speaking or face the wrath of Lord Voldemort," Voldemort said, glaring. "Now, Quirrell... kill the spare, but the boy is mine to deal when I have a body of my own... Take the boy once you are done, and we will depart to find my servants too cowardly to find me these ten long years..." He went silent, and Quirrell turned around to face the pair. Luna was humming to herself, seemingly unperturbed, but Harry was still rather shocked to do anything but gape at Quirrell-Voldemort.

"I'm very sorry you have to die, you know," Quirrell said casually to Luna, pulling out his wand. "But as a gift to you, I'll make it quick. Avada Kedavra!" A green jet of light shot from his wand and headed straight for Luna. She had stopped humming, and just as it was about to hit her, Harry pushed her out of harm's way so the spell shot harmlessly past them and into a stone wall. Unfortunately, he pushed her a bit too hard, and she fell to the ground, a red welt on the side of her head where she had hit the stone floor.

At that, Quirrell just looked triumphant as he looked down at the unconscious body of Luna. "Thank you, Potter," he said, smirking, but still keeping his wand out. "See, in the end, it isn't even the Dark Lord that will destroy or cleanse the world like everybody says, it's you that will do it for him in the future. Haven't you heard–" But what he was about to say, Harry never found out, as suddenly, he reacted automatically. Snap-drawing his wand, he fired off an unknown curse that hit Quirrell in the throat.

Quirrell-Voldemort staggered back, blood dripping from a cut across his throat. "W-Where did you learn that?" he – or really, Voldemort this time – demanded. "How dare you use one of my own curses against me, the most powerful wizard alive? Potter, I'll kill you! Quirrell, SEIZE HIM!" Quirrell lunged for him as Harry jumped backwards, but as soon as Quirrell managed to grab onto Harry's wrist, a needle-sharp pain seared through Harry's scar as Harry struggled. To his surprise, Quirrell let go of him.

Harry ran to Luna and tried to pick her up, but he wasn't very strong. Glancing back at Quirrell, he saw that Quirrell was hunched over in pain as he stared at his blistering fingers. "Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" Voldemort shrieked again and Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry clean off his feet and away from Luna. He landed on top of Harry, both hands around Harry's neck, but as he did so, Quirrell howled in agony and let go of Harry's neck while pinning him to the ground with his knees.

"Master, I cannot hold him – my hands – my hands!" Quirrell stared at his hands again, which looked burnt, raw, red and shiny.

"Then kill him, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort. Quirrell drew his wand, but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face –

"AAAARGH!" Quirrell shrieked, rolling off him as his face blistered where Harry had touched him. Harry realised then: Quirrell couldn't touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain and blistering like he was doing where he had touched Harry – his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him doing a curse. Harry jumped to his feet and lunged towards Quirrell, finally catching Quirrell by the arm where he had rolled up his sleeves and hung on as tight as he could.

Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off – the pain in Harry's head was building – he couldn't see – he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in Harry's own head, crying, "Harry! Harry!" Smoke was filling the classroom, with figures appearing through it, but it was growing dark and the pain was too much. With a scream of his own, Harry felt his hand being wrenched off Quirrell's arm and fell into blackness, down... down... down...

.

.

Some time later, Harry woke up in a bed with clean white linen sheets, with figures swarming around him. Blinking his eyes open, he pushed himself up on his bed so that he could sit properly. As he did so, he heard several gasps and shouts of "Harry's awake! He's awake!" from the figures swarming around him. But before he could have a proper look around, a blonde streaked across the room and hugged him so hard, he could barely breathe, and started sobbing into his shoulder. "Wuzzgoinon?" Harry asked groggily.

"Daphne, let go of the poor boy for now," another voice that Harry recognised as Tracey's said, and immediately, Daphne let go of him. "Harry, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay – but wait, Quirrell's being possessed by Voldemort!" Harry said, suddenly remembering.

"We know," Susan said. "The Professors have dealt with it. I heard Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore talking, and it was Hogwarts who warned them that you were in trouble. Apparently, they found Quirrell dying, his body crumbling as black smoke with the face of You-Know-Who rose out of it. Black gunk was leaking from your scar as well, with black smoke that also had the face of You-Know-Who rising from it and combining with the part from Quirrell before flying out of the window."

"How long have I been out?" Harry asked, reaching for his glasses. However, when he put them on, everything was blurry, so he took them off and found he could see clearly.

"You've been out for about three hours," a woman wearing an old-fashioned nurse's costume said, bustling over with a tray of potions. "All your friends have been worried about you and have been waiting for hours for you to wake up, even though I've told them that you'll need more rest when you wake up, not people crowding around you. Now, drink these, and you'll feel much better in no time, although I'll be keeping you overnight to make sure there's been no complications due to that... possession."

"What about Luna?" Harry asked, looking around and seeing her sitting in the bed next to his, chatting happily to Hermione. "And also, what about my eyesight?"

"She'll be fine," Hannah said. "Madam Pomfrey fixed her up in no time. There was just a large bruise on her head from where she hit the floor, but that was gone in a few minutes with some magical ointment. Quirrell didn't hurt her, and neither did You-Know-Who, so there weren't any problems with her. She woke up about two and a half hours ago, or half-an-hour after you were brought into the Hospital Wing by the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall. She doesn't blame you for saving her life, by the way."

"Oh yes, and before I forget, I have a message for you from the Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey, the witch in the old-fashioned nurse's costume, said as she watched Harry down a green potion that tasted faintly of mint. "He'll be along later this evening to have a chat with you, and some other Professors are accompanying him as well. He says that he doesn't mind Miss Lovegood being there, but he would prefer it if none of your other friends were there as well, as it involves 'things too delicate to trust others with'.

"And, about your eyesight. Your poor eyesight was partly caused by the part possession of You-Know-Who, as it was putting pressure on your optic nerves. With that pressure being removed, your magic has been able to heal and correct your eyesight," Madam Pomfrey explained. "So, you won't need to wear glasses anymore. Your scar's also mostly gone, as I've cleaned out your scar. Your magic'll be able to heal it now, and I can give you a cream to spread on it to make it disappear faster."

"Thanks, Madam Pomfrey," Harry said, gagging at the taste of the potions. "But I would still prefer it if Daphne, my betrothed, was beside me during that meeting."

"The Headmaster would rather she not be there, though," Madam Pomfrey said. "However, I see no harm in it. But now that you've awoken, though, it would probably be best if your friends were to head down to dinner. Dinner will end soon, and everybody has a long week of school ahead of them. Miss Greengrass, if the Headmaster comes before you are back, I will send a message with a house-elf to fetch you, as Mister Potter clearly wishes for you to be with him in this meeting."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Daphne said quietly, still dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

"As Madam Pomfrey suggested, we should really go down to dinner," Neville, who had been sitting quietly in a chair next to Hannah this whole time, said. He stood up, yawning, and stretched. "Dinner ends in less than an hour, and I'm feeling rather hungry as I haven't eaten anything since lunch. Harry, Luna, do you want us to bring anything back for you? I'll bring some food on a plate if you want, I know where the kitchens are so that I can return the plates later."

"That will not be needed, but thank you for offering," Madam Pomfrey interrupted before Harry or Luna could say anything. "The house-elves will bring us some food."

The six that weren't required to stay in the Hospital Wing for now rose and got ready to leave, but before Neville could follow the other five out of the door, he noticed a tugging on his sleeve. "As I can't leave currently, can you run an errand for me?" Harry asked. When Neville nodded, he continued, "I'm looking for information about three of my parents' friends, and as my parents were famous war heroes, I'm hoping they'll be in some books. Can you go to the library and find some for me?"

"Of course, mate," Neville said. "I'll be back around eight-thirty with some books." He, too, then left with the others.

At around eight o'clock, Daphne came running into the Hospital Wing alone, panting and slightly out of breath. "I saw Dumbledore leaving and I thought maybe he was coming here, so I ran all the way up here to find you," she said to Harry. She looked around the Hospital Wing, but only saw Harry and Luna sitting in their own beds, chatting. Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen, but they could hear the sounds of the Wizarding Wireless coming from her private quarters. "But I see he isn't here yet." She sat down.

"No, but he's coming," Luna said, as the sound of voices appeared outside.

Dumbledore entered not long after, accompanied by Professors McGonagall – who was busy simultaneously asking Dumbledore questions about Quirrell-Voldemort and what he was doing and berating Dumbledore about the third-floor corridor and endangering Harry and Luna – and Snape, who was following the pair and looking grouchy as usual. "Good evening, Harry my boy," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "And good evening to you too, Misses Lovegood and Greengrass. I hope Madam Pomfrey passed on my message?"

"She did," Harry said.

"So you'll pardon me asking, but what is Miss Greengrass doing here?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry felt Daphne suddenly clutch on to his hand, the gesture of which did not go unnoticed by Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape. "I am here to provide mental support for my betrothed and my friend," she said. "Madam Pomfrey may have healed all their cuts and bruises and helped with Harry's scar, but there is still the mental trauma that comes when the worst Dark Lord in history tries to kill you and your friend. I assume that you don't intend to do anything about that, but rather question them to get your answers."

"Very well," Dumbledore said. He conjured three seats – a purple throne for himself, a comfortable wooden chair for McGonagall and a black chair that looked rather uncomfortable for Snape – and sat down in his purple throne, looking at Harry. "Now, as you and Miss Lovegood were both unconscious when Professor McGonagall and I entered the DADA classroom, having received a warning from Hogwarts, I will first fill in the story for you both, starting from when we entered.

"When we entered, Harry was clutching onto Professor Quirrell, whose was dying because of your touch," Dumbledore said. "Miss Lovegood, you were lying on the ground apart from them. Quirrell's body was crumbling and black smoke was rising from it. This black smoke had the face of Voldemort and seemed to be trying to suffocate you, so I ran over and pulled your hand away from Quirrell. The Voldemort-smoke started to rise up, but stopped a couple of meters above Quirrell's crumbling body and just hovered there.

"You, once you let go of Quirrell, fell to the floor and starting writhing and screaming in pain," Dumbledore continued. "Minerva and I examined you, and to our shock and horror, black gunk was leaking from your scar, which seemed to be causing you a great deal of pain. But before too long, black smoke with the face of Voldemort rose from your scar, and the two joined together before flying out of the open window. We then brought you two down here, to the Hospital Wing."

"And I thank you for that," Harry said. "Is that all you came down for?"

"No," Dumbledore said, sighing. "I came down to ask if–"

"Wait," McGonagall cut in. "Albus, did you just say that Mr. Potter here killed Voldemort and Quirell?"

Dumbledore sighed deeply. "I'm afraid so," Dumbledore said. "But as Mr. Potter is still a minor, and Voldemort is a Dark Lord, I'm sure he won't get sent to Azkaban."

"Headmaster," Daphne said, sounding annoyed. "You-Know-Who was legally declared dead back in 1981, even if he somehow managed to come back to life. As the law does not mention anything about people coming back to life and being killed a second time, Harry legally did not kill him. Plus, as you mentioned, he 'flew' out of the window. Professor Quirrell was also destined to die soon as he was being possessed by You-Know-Who's spirit, so it was really You-Know-Who who killed him, not Harry."

"I'm inclined to agree with Miss Greengrass," McGonagall said. "We all saw that face! Albus, how did you not know that Quirrell was being possessed?"

"If the brat killed a man, he should be in Azkaban," Snape said. "But of course you won't send him there, because he's the Boy-Who-Lived, isn't he?"

"To answer your question, Minerva, I simply didn't pay enough attention," Dumbledore said, sighing. "He came here with letters of recommendation by several people whom I trusted, although I now realise that those might simply have been faked in order for Quirrell to ensure that he was hired. Severus, the boy is underage, and as Miss Greengrass pointed out, Voldemort was declared dead back in 1981. There is no way that Harry should be sent to Azkaban, despite your opinions on this matter and the boy in general."

"Pardon me, Headmaster," Harry interrupted. "But I got the message that you wanted to have a chat with me, not them. So shouldn't you be talking to me instead?"

"Arrogant boy!" Snape snarled immediately after Harry finished. "You're just like your father, always wanting to be the center of attention."

Dumbledore sighed yet again. "Young Harry is correct," he said. "Minerva, Severus, if you have anything you would like to discuss with me, you can discuss with me in my office, later. Harry, I did come to have a chat with you. I wanted to ask you if Quirrell or Voldemort said anything... unusual while you and Miss Lovegood were chatting with him/them. Did they mention, perhaps, how Voldemort might have survived what happened on Halloween 1981?"

Harry thought for a moment. "No," he said. "He was, as I might have mentioned, rather busy trying to kill us."

"Did he do anything unusual or act strangely?"

"Well, as it was my first time in a classroom with Quirrell, I don't know how the man usually behaves," Harry said. "And given that he was already possessed when you first met him, I don't think you would know what he normally acts like, either. But to answer your question, no, he behaved exactly as I thought Voldemort might if I was ever unlucky enough to come across him again, like I did today. The only unusual part seems to have been how part of Voldemort was apparently living in my scar."

"Thank you, Harry," Dumbledore said, before Harry could ask if he knew why part of Voldemort had been living in his scar. Dumbledore stood up, followed by McGonagall – who also wanted more answers, apparently – and Snape, who was still scowling at Harry. "You've given me a lot to think about, and I thank you for that. Good night, then, and I wish you a speedy recovery. Miss Greengrass, Miss Lovegood." He turned and left the Hospital Wing. After chatting for a while, Daphne left as well.

A while later, Neville came in, holding a small stack of books. "Hi, Harry. Hi, Luna," he said, then walked over to Harry and placed the stack of books on his bedside table. "Harry, these are the books that have the most about your parents in them. 'The Wizarding War: 1970-1981' has a chapter that talks about what happened to your parents' closest three friends: Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. But the last one is barely mentioned and is only there because he was one of your parents' friends."

"Thanks, Nev," Harry said. He, Luna and Neville chatted for a while longer, but immediately after Neville left, Harry opened the book Neville had mentioned to read. He found the chapter that mentioned his parents' friends and what they did after that Halloween when Lily and James were murdered, which was titled 'After That Night'. As the title suggested, it was more about immediately after that night, not his parents' friends, but he found a couple of paragraphs about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew:

After You-Know-Who was defeated, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Sirius Black due to the part he played in the murder of James and Lily Potter: betraying them to his master, You-Know-Who. As Black had disappeared, Aurors were sent to find him, but it was the unfortunate Peter Pettigrew who found him first. Pettigrew was yet another of the Potters' close friends, as you might remember, and had been a friend of Black's as well prior to Halloween.

On the fourth of November, Pettigrew found Black on a street in Muggle London. But due to the grief of losing his best friends, he confronted his ex-friend instead of immediately contacting the Ministry like he should have. Eyewitnesses later reported that he was sobbing and cried, "Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?" before pulling out his wand. But Black was quicker on the uptake and blasted Pettigrew and the street to pieces, leaving dead bodies, screaming Muggles and a deep hole in the street.

After this, Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, and has been in Azkaban ever since. His final victim, Peter Pettigrew, was reduced to pieces – with the largest part of him that was ever found being his finger and a pile of bloodstained robes – and was awarded with an Order of Merlin, First Class. The final member of the group that was the Potters and their close friends, Remus Lupin, was never heard from again and has probably gone to the continent.

Harry looked up from the book, satisfied now that he had learned what happened to the three men. But he had another question: Why did Sirius Black betray the Potters, if they were such close friends? He also knew that the only way he could learn that was by reading a transcript of the trial. This was where the Greengrasses could help him, by asking around the Ministry and seeing if anyone knew where the records were. He made a mental note to write later, but for now, it was time to sleep.

.

.

The next day dawned bright and early, with Harry being woken up by the sounds Madam Pomfrey bustling about, tidying up the Hospital Wing. One glance at Luna – being able to see clearly without his glasses was still new for him – told him that she wasn't awake yet, so he tried not to disturb her. "Good morning, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said when she saw that he was awake, stopping what she was doing and heading straight for him. "Are you feeling any better yet? Did you have a good night's sleep?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," he replied. And it was true, as he had just had the most peaceful sleep he could ever remember. "When can I leave the Hospital Wing?"

"You can as soon as I've checked you over again," Madam Pomfrey said. "I'll let you go with enough time to go back to your dorm before breakfast, seeing as you're up so early. Lie back, please." Harry did so, and Madam Pomfrey waved her wand a few times over him. Then, she went to get some potions, which she handed to him. "Drink these, please. You can go after you finish these." Harry drank them obediently, and Madam Pomfrey called for a house-elf to bring Harry his robes from yesterday before she let him go.

As it was still very early, there was nobody roaming the hallways, so Harry managed to get back to his room without being seen by anyone. As he hadn't had a chance to shower yet, he did that before changing into another set of school robes. He wasn't sure who did the washing in Hogwarts – probably the house-elves – so he'd have to find out and make sure they washed his robes. Then, he packed his school bag, which he found in his room, with his DADA, Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration books.

After casting a Tempus charm, he realised that it was still too early for breakfast, so he pulled parchment, ink and a quill out to write a letter to Cygnus and Isabel:

Dear Cygnus and Isabel,

I'm sorry to be bothering you with this. Daphne might have told you about what happened with Quirrell, so I'll avoid writing about it again as so not to bore you. If you want, I'll send you a memory of it or give you one the next time I see you. This letter has nothing to do with that, but it does have to do with someone that's infamous in the wizarding world. I have vague memories of him from when I was a baby, so I'm not sure if they're very accurate.

I recently discovered that my godfather is a man named Sirius Black. He was sent to Azkaban for betraying my parents and leading You-Know-Who to our house in Godric's Hollow that night, but I want to find out why. As I can't find the reason why he did so in any of the books, I was hoping you could find a transcript of his trial for me. Another person I would like to know more about is a man named Remus Lupin, who was a friend of my parents. Could you help me find out more about Black and Lupin? Thanks!

Harry

P.S. Hogwarts has mostly been okay, but definitely hasn't lived up to my high expectations after listening to everyone else talk about it. Dumbledore already told us that there's a corridor out of bounds to anyone who doesn't want to die painfully, History of Magic is taught by a ghost who only drones on and on, Professor Snape seems to absolutely hate me for no reason that I can think of, and of course there's the Quirrell fiasco. I don't know what's going on, but I'll keep an eye out.

After he finished writing, he went to the Owlery to send it off with Hedwig, before going down to breakfast, where he met up with his friends. They sat at the Slytherin table for that meal, as Daphne and Tracey had been the first to arrive in the Great Hall and had chosen to sit with the Slytherins. The others didn't really have any problems with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joining them, but there seemed to be a bit of tension between them and the Gryffindors, so Neville and Hermione sat in the middle of the group.

The first lesson for the day on Harry's timetable was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Quirrell had died yesterday evening, so it clearly wouldn't be him teaching them, but Dumbledore hadn't made any announcements about a substitute or about class being cancelled. Once breakfast was over, Harry headed to the DADA classroom with Luna, Susan and Hannah. The door was locked and no Professor had arrived yet, so they waited with the rest of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws outside the classroom.

After a few minutes, Dumbledore arrived. "Ah, good morning," he said. "It seems that I forgot to make an announcement this morning. As Professor Quirrell has... shall we say... left us, all Defence classes are cancelled for the foreseeable future until I can find a suitable substitute. You now have a free period, but I advise you to make good use of it and study using your current textbook. Toodle-pop!" He hurried away, leaving a group of students staring open-mouthed at him.

Harry and his friends decided to take Dumbledore's advice and went off to the library, where they spent the time on the first few chapters of the textbook. It wasn't difficult, as it was just talking about vampires and you could learn just by reading the textbook that all of them had bought for this year. Then, when the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, Harry and Luna went off to Herbology with the Gryffindors, while Susan and Hannah went to Charms with the Slytherins.

Herbology was taught by Professor Sprout, who turned out to be a dumpy little lady. It sounded interesting at first, but after the first lesson, Harry knew already that he wasn't truly interested in the subject and wouldn't be looking for a career path in Herbology. Neville, though, was very interested in Herbology and answered all of Professor Sprout's questions about the proper care of plants correctly, earning him twenty points for Gryffindor.

After a delicious lunch at the Hufflepuff table, Harry, Luna, Daphne and Tracey went to History. Yet again, History consisted of Professor Binns droning on and on as he recited passages from the textbook. As Harry hadn't done his homework from yesterday, due to the Quirrell incident, he took out some parchment and his Charms textbook so that he could do some homework. By the end of the lesson, he managed to finish his essay on the Lumos and Nox charms, which turned out to be seven inches long instead of five.

Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall and the Slytherins was the best out of that day's classes. Harry thought that the Ravenclaw-Slytherin combination was a good one, as it meant he got to spend more time with his betrothed. When they walked in, the four sat in a row at the front of the classroom and prepared for class by taking out parchment, ink, quill and their wands. When Professor McGonagall started class, she first gave them a stern talking-to before telling them anything about Transfiguration.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. Everyone looked very impressed and couldn't wait to get started with learning how to do that, but Professor McGonagall made them take a lot of complicated-looking notes before giving them a match and telling them to transfigure it into a needle as best as they could.

The lesson passed by very quickly after that. Harry was the first to succeed in doing so, followed by Daphne only ten minutes later. But by the end of the lesson, most people hadn't managed to turn their match into anything at all, but Tracey and a few others had silver matches or pointy matches. Luna, somehow, turned her match into a cork, which she picked up happily and attempted to attach onto her cork necklace that she wore around her neck so that she could keep away the Nargles.

Dinnertime was eaten at the Ravenclaw table and afterwards, Dumbledore stood up to give a short announcement about how DADA classes were now free study periods for the whole school, except for the fifth and seventh years, who Dumbledore would be teaching until he could find a replacement for Quirrell. That was because the fifth years were going to be doing their O.W.L.s this year, while the seventh years were preparing to take their N.E.W.T. exams at the end of this year.

Afterwards, everyone went back to their own dorms, except for Harry, who escorted Daphne (and Tracey) to the Slytherin dorms first. After saying goodbye to them, Draco Malfoy appeared from behind Harry. "Look, Potter," he said, looking very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry if you thought I wanted to be friends because of your fame, but I didn't mean to. I'm also sorry I insulted your friends in trying to do so. I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I'd like to try again. So maybe we could try?"

"I'd like that," Harry said, smiling. "Good night, Malfoy."

.

Hey guys!

Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites! So if you can't tell yet, Draco and Pansy are going to be friends with Harry – I'm sorry if you don't like it, but you don't exactly have to read my fanfic. And as for Quirrell-Voldemort and the Philosopher's Stone, the story is still going to have the Philosopher's Stone in it, even if Quirrell's dead. Also, if you ask a question in a review as a Guest, I can't answer it, so please don't get annoyed if I don't answer. Use your real accounts if you have a question you want me to answer.

To those who didn't read this fanfic before the latest changes, yes, Cho is now Daphne's cousin. Usually, in fanfics where Harry ends up with someone else other than Cho, she's depicted as a jealous bully who wants Harry all to herself. I'm not sure exactly why so many fanfics all use that version of Cho, especially when in canon she never really did anything, so my version of Cho will definitely not be like that. She'll be a good friend/relative, not super close but not like other fanfics' Chos.

If you're reading my updated version (this) then I'm very sorry for the delay, but I've been really busy.

Shadow of the Blue Moon x

Chapter Word Count (rounded to nearest 100): 15,100