Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

Chapter 5: Potions and Pricks

Harry Potter had made his way to his first Charms lesson with a fair share of curiosity on his mind. Seeing his head of house seated behind the table had him smiling and relaxing. The man might be short in stature but standing tall in terms of both intellect and understanding. He had a feel of power about him that Harry respected, and while Harry knew he would not be a weak wizard either when he learned all he needed to learn, he still recognized that age and wisdom triumphed over youth and enthusiasm quite often.

Seeing the Ravenclaw shared this lesson with Hufflepuffs, Harry smiled a bit noticing his other friends present as well, but figured it was better to talk after the lesson rather than during the lesson. He did not want to give an impression of a poor student to his head of house after all. Once everyone was in the room and seated, the small professor smiled amusedly and spoke up.

"Welcome to your first Charms lesson. I am Professor Flitwick, and I will be teaching you for the next seven years about the wonders and delights of magic. I would say that the spells you learn here will be the ones you will use the most in your everyday life, the transfiguration comes in handy in a great number of things but usually you can get by most situations with the right charm. If you happened to find yourself in danger, again it is likely there is a charm to aid you, but you will learn a lot more in the years to come, and for more direct danger there is the Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons for the hexes, jinxes and curses."

Chuckling a moment and then smiling to the students watching him, Filius began the actual lesson by explaining a few of the more basic spells, and showing how each of them were performed. Inquiring on a few students, he asked how many had tried them at home. After seeing a few raised hands he smiled and chuckled before continuing. "Very good, I like seeing such enthusiasm. Now, I must warn you to not use magic at home during your summer break however. It is forgiven during your first year since students can be expected to be excited, but later on it runs the risk of attracting the attention of the Aurors who look poorly on underage spell casting." He let this bit of news sink in before continuing.

"Here at Hogwarts, we have capable professionals at hand to reverse any accidental mistakes quickly, and can react to things swiftly. There are also no chance of those who aren't allowed to know about magic witnessing such events here. Back at your home, a miscast spell might expose the secret to the neighborhood, and force aurors to work swiftly to remove the information from people's memories to protect us all." He drew a breath while watching many people's eyes widen at that bit of news.

"This is why it is generally advised that students do not perform magic at home during the holidays. There are exceptions, which include self-defense naturally. If something were to happen to you and your magic might be the difference between serious injury or even death, and surviving the encounter, then the use of magic can be justified and the aurors will work quickly to remove the evidence." He looked at each and every last one of them seriously. He didn't want them in trouble, so he taught them the reason behind the restriction during the first lesson. Harry saw the sense in this and nodded his head approvingly, though a little disappointed.

Part of him wanted to show what he had learned to his family when he went back home. They might not particularly like magic, but the handy household charms that even their first year book contained within its extras section for those willing to put a little extra effort into their work was quite fascinating. If his aunt was proud of her garden with Harry's help in maintaining it's splendor, she'd be ecstatic at learning how magic truly could make dishes and fine china shine like it was brand new yet carry the elegance of a piece that was clearly old and historically valuable. The sort of stuff she'd like to feel a little proud to possess.

Still, the Professor was advising against it and Harry was going to have to admit that it was sensible. If some of his spells worked in a funny manner there might not be any help available until the mistake had caused trouble or possibly risked the secret already if it happened when his aunt had her tea with the other neighborhood ladies. He'd just have to accept it was not going to be likely that he could enjoy his magic freely until he came of age.

"Now, I am sure you will all be careful and responsible about things, so I will not bore you with rules and restrictions but instead begin to teach you what you are all here to learn. Magic!" He grinned, earning a chuckle from his crowd, his little gesture and a small sparkling rush of color from his wand accompanying the gesture seeming a nice little ice breaker from the more serious topics. Harry felt a mild 'cheering charm' effect in the spell, but one that even a child could resist if they chose to, it was not a compulsion as much as encouragement. As far as tampering with someone's mind went, he could accept that much.

"We will be starting today with a simple little charm called Lumos. This spell is an old one but a reliable and easy enough spell to practice, its main purpose is to conjure some light to illuminate your path, whether it is through the hallways at the evening near the curfew or if it is to light your path during a midnight walk through the forest harvesting some ingredients at your later years. The spell itself is simple with only one word and the gesture required for it is as follows..."

Harry had already become familiar with this spell, as had some of the others who had read ahead a fair bit, some had practiced a little bit at home and could do it well. They all got a bit of points for it, but not as much as they'd get for later work, and this was all accompanied with the warning to not do magic at summer times.

Nonetheless, Harry had enjoyed it and even the experience of helping some others, receiving a few extra points for helping people out. A few of the Hufflepuffs present had likewise earned themselves points for showing their willingness to help everyone keep up. All in all, it made them advance at a fairly good rate through their material.

Harry had a feeling it would not have been so easy with Slytherin and Gryffindor, there was already rumors going on about previous years having had fights in the hallways and spell casting leading to visits in the infirmary. Harry really didn't want to have to lay down for the Healer to fuss over any more than he needed to, so he was glad to be a Ravenclaw instead.

Nonetheless, all good things must come to an end, and after a hearty meal, the dreaded Potions class lay ahead of them. Harry walked with the others into the classroom in the dungeons with a wary look upon his face, he was reasonably sure this was not going to be going smoothly. The whispers at the meal from the older students seemed to confirm what he had already come to expect: Severus Snape was a total bastard when he wanted to be, and it was likely he'd be particularly harsh on Harry.

Given from what he had learned of his father it was quite likely that there was some justified resentment there but Snape seemed to take hating people to extremes. The talk that he had been a former death eater was common gossip, and it was only respect to Dumbledore that made people, belatedly, add that 'former' part to their description of the man. Severus Snape was not a nice man, but Harry was willing to try and tolerate the man if he was a capable teacher, and if he wasn't too consumed by childish vengeance to actually see past his appearance and who Harry really was.

The classroom was already full by the time the classes were supposed to start, but there was no signs of their professor. The door to the back was open but the darkened doorway did not reveal what lay beyond, nor did students dare to try and approach. A minute, two, then five passed, the teacher was definitely late.

Harry was starting to grow a little annoyed. Granted, he hadn't wanted to be in a classroom with Snape this early into things but he had accepted it, and hoped to at least learn something there today. Not having the teacher show the common decency of at least showing up or leaving a note that the class was cancelled or anything was rather rude. He was tempted to dig a book from his bag but from all he had heard before, the teacher would probably throw a fit about that. Unless it was the book for this class he had assigned himself.

Digging out the particular piece of literature from his bag with some distaste, Harry considered the several more engaging works about potions brewing that had far less errors and far more materials within them than what they were being taught with, and couldn't stop but wonder if Snape was intentionally trying to push people away from potions. It was an important topic for many later careers after all.

Perhaps it wouldn't be a tragedy at all if the professor happened to be stupid enough to make the mistake and attempt legilimency at him. In fact, he might just welcome it in order to get rid of the greasy old bastard. Then again, if it did seem he was daring the man to go ahead and then snapped the trap on him within the mindscape he could be facing some pompous official claiming he was guilty of entrapment. No, that would probably not be the wisest. Best to have some deniability.

Finally, seven minutes after the class should have started, a foul-mooded, angry man limped into the room and cast a narrow eyed look at his audience. "Put your wands down, and shut up. I am Professor Snape, and I shall be teaching you all the subtle and exact art of potion brewing. Of the many arts you will learn here at Hogwarts, potions is one of the toughest yet most rewarding ones. Showing a talent in the art will open you many doors in the future, while being an ignorant dunderhead will doom you into a life of mediocrity, and reliance on others to do your brewing for you." Sneering at the audience, Snape smirked a hint noticing that he had their attention at least.

"There are a fascinating number of different potions out there, for various purposes. You can ensnare the mind to recall things you have long forgotten , you can sharpen your wit to truly excel when you need to, you can even brew yourself a little extra luck for that one important day! Yet there are also more humble, everyday situations you must think about. Healers need to know about potions and how they interact to treat people suffering from magical maladies or curses and other harm. Aurors need to know how to recognize certain symptoms quickly, as well as how to brew the simpler pepper up potions and similar things to stay in shape during long hours at times." He looked upon them, seeing he held a captive audience and more than a few had quite a thoughtful look on their faces. Harry had to admit, Snape could make an impression if he wanted to.

"Brewing a potion requires a number of things. In preparation, a potion brewer must have their standard equipment, the necessary ingredients, a copy of the recipe, and the forethought to read ahead and make sure they're ready for surprises." He waved a wand at the blackboard at the back of the table, causing a recipe to appear upon it before turning to point his wand out at Potter.

"You, Potter! Tell me what would happen if someone were to add the porcupine quills to the mix while it is still boiling?" The man clearly meant to catch him off guard, but it demonstrated a point too so Harry was going to not be disrespectful about it. After all, if the man could teach this way, perhaps he was putting an effort to not being an ass, and Harry didn't want to make it a fight if they could somehow tolerate one another and Snape somehow managed to actually teach rather than bully.

"I think it would cause the potion to grow unstable. Make it burst out of its cauldron and splatter those unfortunate enough to be nearby, cover them in the incomplete formula, in this case, covering them in painful boils, sir." He spoke respectfully but trying not to seem all too confident. With how his father had been, the teacher might take that as being cocky and arrogant. Maybe, just maybe, Snape was acting different towards him because he wasn't a Gryffindor and wasn't the golden boy that Dumbledore had expected. Perhaps there was hope they'd be able to get along.

"You think or you know? Bah, by the time your second-guessing would be done a disaster would have already struck! Someone's cauldron would explode and melt, and those unfortunate enough to be close would indeed have some painful boils! That, is why I want each and every last one of you to pay close attention to not only your own work but your bench-mate's work. If you see them about to make a mistake, warn them, or at the very least shout a warning before jumping for cover. I do not want to see another melted cauldron because someone thought it would be funny to experiment." He snarled and shook his head. "Two points from Ravenclaw for incomplete answer."

Harry frowned quietly but said nothing. Obviously there was some resentment there, but it could have been far worse. Prickly as the man might be, he was at least trying to deliver some safety instruction, but not giving them proper reading material as necessities for this class was almost criminal. Honestly, had the man just grown up using this and never bothered to see what new starter books there were these days? Given he was a potions master it was possible he had no interest in new starting books on potions but it was still insulting from a teacher to not try and improve their craft and lessons.

"The instructions are on the board, I expect each of you to pay careful attention to what you are doing and complete this work within the remaining class-time." He snarled before moving back to his chair, still limping and wincing at every step slightly. It was obvious something had hurt his left leg rather viciously, but at the same time it kept the ugly bat from hovering over already scared first years mocking their work and making it worse.

While he was crude and cruel in his methods, it seemed he had managed to spark some interest in the work and even though his warning was rather harsh and graphic, Harry felt it was a good way to drive home the point that it could be dangerous to brew things without being cautious about the process. It could help reduce the mistakes and with the boils potion, the worst that could happen was that they'd have people visit the infirmary for a remedy that would alleviate the pain almost immediately and remove the boils within an hour. All in all it wasn't too dangerous, though painful and humiliating if they did fail.

Nonetheless, Harry got to work alongside Padma whom he had taken a seat next to on arrival. Although his male class-mates were nearby chatting to one another Harry felt more at ease with Padma, he had felt that back at the Alchemic Alley, and then over at the Hogwarts Express, and once more he was happy to be standing near her as they began their work.

Harry went through the recipe from start to finish before he began his brewing, one step at a time. He was not in a hurry, they had ample time to finish this but he wasn't trying to be deliberately slow either. He merely wanted to get the potion right even if it took a minute or two more than it normally would. Adjusting the flame beneath his cauldron more than a few times, he sought the right temperature while adding different ingredients and mixing the right way.

They hadn't faced much explanation why the different ways of mixing things were important, things that should have been part of the first lessons, the importance of preparatory work had been cut down to a few short words and that was all. He was all the more grateful for having read the additional material on that, it helped him keep in mind what came next after all. It became part of an almost mechanical process, simple and easy to follow once you saw the fundamentals about it.

He supposed it was similar to the muggle chemistry, if you had the fascination and began to see beneath the surface, things that some others would struggle a long time with would become embarrassingly clear to one so blessed with the understanding. For him, potions were fascinating, but he hoped their teacher wasn't as surly as Snape was. He hoped the man would at least try and judge them fairly.

Finishing his creation actually among the first, Harry carefully measured the right amount to a vial and corked it before moving with others to lay it down before the teacher who narrowed his eyes, looking at the vial warily. He opened the top and took a whiff of the mixture, looking a little surprised before looking at Harry angrily, but whatever words he might have had in mind to say seemed to die when he locked eyes with Harry's green eyes. Looking him in the eyes seemed to give Snape a halt at this distance, and it wasn't like Harry felt a legilimency probe to explain it either. No, it was something simpler, he realized. He did, after all, have his mother's eyes.

"I see you have inherited at least a little bit of your mother's talent, Potter. Pity it has been watered down by your father's underachieving lineage. The smell is a bit off, maybe if I... oops." He 'accidentally' let the vial drop and shatter on the floor, looking down at it and then up at Harry and shrugging. "Ah well. Five points from Ravenclaw for faulty potion, and detention later tonight with Filch. You should learn about the service industry if that's the best you can do, Potter." Snape sneered at him briefly.

Harry felt angry. His potion had been excellent, it might not have got an 'outstanding' perhaps but he was rather sure he'd have received an 'exceeds expectations' or at least 'acceptable' from anyone else, but Snape had not only refused him a passing grade for today but destroyed his vial to prevent him from taking his potion for another teacher to review. The wand movement from the teacher's wand had already vanished the potion next to him on the floor along with the glass shards, and another jab at his seat and his cauldron there wiped out the remaining bits of his work.

"Why are you still standing there? Shouldn't you be off to strut like you owned the place somewhere else?" Snape sneered at him glaring at him and looking into his eyes. Harry felt his hands clench into fists to stop himself from bending down to Snape's own level, when he felt it. The legilimency probe brushed his mindscape, and Harry's boiling anger receded just slightly. He wielded his emotions, they did not wield him. He could vent those feelings when he wanted to, but he would not become their servant.

The probe brushed the crystal dome that was the outer wall of his mindscape, seeking to find a crack in it to slip through without hammering on it. Seeming surprised there was an obstacle in its path to begin with, the probe nonetheless soon found a hole in the defenses, and confident it was the underage wizard's lack of ability that left a hole behind rather than ill intensions towards any that would try and sneak their way in, Snape's probe moved right in like it owned the place.

What followed was a few short metaphysical steps down a dimly lit hallway before the floor gave way beneath him, the floor near the pit angling down so that even if he had been able to try and backtrack or jump ahead he'd been on slippery surface pointed down into the pit he had stepped upon. The short fall landed him in what seemed like a shallow, underground pond within some dark chamber, but even as Severus' mental image of himself sought to stand up in that bizarre mindscape, a flash of yellow eyes staring at him froze him in place.

In reality, Severus Snape had glared at Potter for a moment before Potter snarled right into his face. "At least I didn't call my best friend a racial slur to her face when she tried to help me against a bunch of bullies, unlike you, professor. I think you would find it interesting my mother eventually thought about forgiving you in her later journals but by then your behavior had proven you always were what she tried to claim wasn't true. You were your father's son. An abusive, hate-filled racist and a bigoted old bastard only knowing how to spread hatred into the world. I hope you'll live with it a long time, because my mother's opinion on you couldn't possibly go any lower, and any chances of redemption went away with that rather spectacular show of carrying a childish grudge. You hated my father? Tough, I didn't even meet him. Don't blame me for what he did, if you hate me, hate me for being me then. Why don't you sit there and think about that for a while, Professor?"

Harry turned to walk away, packing his things in a calm and orderly manner. The mind-probe was snapped free when he turned away from Snape, but facing a mental impression of a basilisk would leave the man into a stunned state for a while. Of course, the realism of it was only an imitation of a bizarre dream he received from the pain when his scar flared and died, and the reading he had done since then. He could see a great big serpent in his mind's eye though, and thus he had set forth one of the first of his mindscape's guardians. In the Chamber of Unwanted Visitors lurked the Basilisk, ready to stun and partially wipe the mind of those who would harm her charge. If Snape did return, or if Harry had sought to keep the eye-contact for longer, he might have received more severe payback for his attempts, but Harry had chosen restraint.

Snape's stunned state could be explained away somewhat by the trauma of the revelations he delivered into Snape's face there, and the mindscape trap would wipe out evidence of its presence from Snape's mind, leaving himself too slightly unsure of what had happened, though those words would linger even if the rest of the class would be somewhat blurred in his mind from what he had faced. Harry was willing to admit to himself that he wouldn't have felt too guilty if Snape hadn't been able to recover though. Even if the Basilisk had petrified Snape's mind within his own otherwise fine body, and wiped away memories of perhaps even years back with its corruptive gaze. Yet doing that so openly would draw more attention than the almost anticipated clash between Severus Snape and the Spawn of James Potter.

Having the reputation of having put Snape stunned in his place with an ironic slam. Snape thought Harry was his father's son? Snape was a spitting image of his own father in how he acted, and Harry made no attempts to hide his contempt towards the man anymore after the way his work had been treated. He could get tutors, and if necessary, he could change schools, though he had hoped that Hogwarts would suffice.

Then again, if it came to that, he was fairly sure people would rather accept he sought tutors as the old traditions allowed, rather than having him leaving Hogwarts to some foreign school. Dumbledore would probably try and defend Snape, but given how his behavior was already under suspicion the fact he was protecting someone that had attacked the same boy would not help him in trying to find excuses and acceptable reasons for his actions when it would come to trial. With Madame Bones behind them, and Harry willing to undergo Veritaserum or give pensieve memories, and authorize even Goblin documents, there was little that Dumbledore could do to quiet it down, unless he could get rid of the papers at Gringotts.

Given that he'd offered his proxy to goblins it was fairly sure that there was nothing Dumbledore could offer them legally or illegally that would convince them it would be a good idea to try and double-cross Harry about it. Still, he had a lot on his mind, and thus didn't pay attention to the fact that as he was leaving the classroom with a stunned Snape still practically drooling on himself in the teacher's seat, the others looked at each others a bit warily before bottling their creation and setting it down on Snape's desk before hurrying out as well. Nobody wanted to be there when the hateful man snapped and realized the tongue-lashing he'd received after all.

He idly brushed his finger and the ring, and recalled its protection with an amused smirk on his lips again. Using legilimency on someone was illegal, and even the weak probe that the teacher might try and pull off with his gaze could be considered a severe violation of privacy, and given how the whole encounter had turned out and the evidence of it on the ring, Snape might just not be teaching at this school much longer. Of course, getting rid of him would have to be done with solid evidence. If Snape got off the chains and walked he'd be back with vengeance and Harry wanted the rotten bastard either neutered and actually teaching or permanently removed from Hogwarts.

Nonetheless, as Harry was making his way down the hallway he suddenly found himself facing an angry looking red-head lad. Thinking back at the Hogwarts Express, he recalled the name. Ronald Weasley.

"Hey Potter, what do you think your parents would think of you? They were brave Gryffindors and you decide to go all bookworm Ravenclaw despite their sacrifice to save you? They must be mortified. You should have been in Gryffindor with me and Dean and everyone, everyone knew that was what was supposed to happen! I'm sure if you apologize to Dumbledore for the trouble he'll have you resorted in a jiffy!" The red haired menace stated loudly, while Harry felt his eye corner twitch.

"I have no desire to be a Gryffindor what so ever. My parents gave their lives to protect me, not to thrust me in the middle of the whole Gryffindor-Slytherin house-war that puts more people in the hospital than the dark lords." While it might sound like an exaggeration, it actually wasn't. Most people that ran across the dark lord died, while most people involved in that petty struggle had multiple visits to the infirmary or a hospital while their tempers flared.

"But you're supposed to be a Gryffindor, not a dorky Ravenclaw!" The red-haired git shouted this loudly, while Harry's eyes narrowed slightly. He had just dealt with Snape and wanted to get back to his house dorms, not deal with an idiot like this. Truthfully, Harry had some choice words in mind to say but he really preferred not to. The guy might be a nuisance, but his brothers could be trouble. Harry wanted to make sure where they stood before he'd pull off anything against Ron at school.

"Just shows I'm smart enough to not want to get into a house-war that would cut into my study time. Now if you'll excuse me." He turned to walk off when he more felt than knew a curse had just been fired at his back. Ron's wand was finishing the sloppy pattern for the curse that would have given him... a rash... if it had hit, but the point of the matter was, Ron had tried to hex him in the back.

The spell passed him close by but Harry's own wand was already pointed at Ron. He wasn't sure what spell could work well for this, but came up with a quick decision. He didn't know duelling spells yet, but that wouldn't keep him down. "Lumos!" He shouted the spell while overcharging it, eyes pinched shut.

Even with his eyes shut he could tell the idiot was stumbling around blind now, just connecting with the stream of magic all around. Harry moved up quickly and snatched the boy's wand from his hand directly, and then hurriedly left the scene behind. Making his way back to the Ravenclaw dorms, he could see a fair share of people already present, looking curious at him at his arrival to the common room.

"Alright, I promised a few answers but before that I'd like a few of my own. Is there a prefect here?" Seeing one of the older girls wave to him Harry moved over to hand over the Weasley wand handle first. "A Gryffindor attacked me in the hallway, trying to cast an unknown curse at my back. I dodged it quickly and overpowered a lumos to blind him, then snatching his wand along as evidence since there's no classes left today. Figured I'd rather stop the fight than really fight back at least yet."

He wasn't sure if the ring would register the curse thrown at him but the prefect should be able to use a priori incantatem and Filius Flitwick surely would. The fact Harry had used a spell that would not do any permanent harm and hadn't even cast at a fellow student was a point in his favor, though he was a bit wary about the invitation to 'apologize to Dumbledore' and be 'resorted'. He didn't want to be in Gryffindor, but it seemed a lot of people thought he belonged there. They'd be proven both right, and absolutely wrong, over the course of the coming weeks. He might be brave and stand up for himself but he wasn't going to be charging ahead regardless of danger and without a plan beyond simply charging. No, Harry Potter would wage this war on his own terms, more Slytherin in his methods and Ravenclaw in his thoroughness.

"Alright, I'll make sure our Head of House gets it, good thing you didn't stay and fight, though I imagine McGonagall will be pissed you took the wand of one of her lion cubs. Still, she's pretty strict on her own lions too so when it gets out that you were stopping a fight rather than starting one she ought to cool down. It might not be quick though." The prefect remarked this to Harry seriously, earning a faint nod and a smile from him. "I'm just grateful to get out of there, listening to the boy ranting about dorky Ravenclaws made it obvious what he thinks about the benefits of studying, but even wizarding world needs janitors huh?" He grinned a bit earning a short bit of laughter from a few folks who seemed to agree about his assessment of the Weasley lad.

"Alright, but you owe us a bit of a story and explanation right now, Mr. Potter." The raven-haired woman who had spoken to him earlier approached from the sixth-year girls dorm, a smirk on her face though a curious look evident in her eyes as she kept watching him. Harry saw Padma already at the common room at work over their homework for Charms with another first-year girl, waving a bit at his direction but looking a bit curious as well. Not much aid coming from that direction then.

"Well I did promise but I will choose for myself what questions I will answer afterwards and what is best left be for now." He looked at the people watching to make sure there was no loud protesting at least, a bit of quiet reluctance at him wanting to keep some things private could be understood. Especially as he could understand the curiosity they might have for his 'so-called celebrity status'. Annoying thing, he thought to himself, being known for the night when his parents gave their lives and managed some form of miracle of magic to save him and people though he was responsible. Not like Voldemort choked on his foul toddler-gas or anything. Worst he could have done at that age would have been to banish his soiled nappy at the bad man by accidental magic.

End Chapter

A/N: The encounter with Snape ended up toned down a lot from the first draft, and then rethought and reconsidered over several times. I also had Harry decide to go with more non-lethal method the first time around. He's cold, but even he would have a bit of wariness to outright kill someone at eleven years of age, but that reluctance only goes so far. If Snape does keep pushing ahead (and remember he doesn't have a memory of what in Merlin's name happened to him) then he will find his mindscape suffering far worse than a momentary petrification.

Also, Harry does not have innate memories of decades worth of spells and all the power Voldemort built up over time with rituals and he doesn't have an innate repository of knowledge from 'absorbing the horcrux', but he got some little impressions like the mental image of the Chamber of Secrets, kind of like a child watching a movie might recall something similar in setting at some of their dreams. They don't see it as real but they have an image in their head they can play with.

Harry's powers will grow and evolve, and they defy many other's understanding of magic but Harry will have to master them mostly on his own for now. He's learning magic and has a good head on his shoulders, but he's still just learning the stuff that Hogwarts teaches, and though he does read ahead he's not going to be throwing impressive and complex curses that are beyond newt-level while he's still learning enough control for first-year spells. Doesn't mean he's without advantages, just that while he's entitled to a "Super-Harry" status in later years, he's got to build the way there through learning stuff along the way still.

I got some amusing rants from Dumbledore in my mind as well but given I chose to try and focus on Harry in this tale rather than multiple points of view, that has to wait for now. Likewise, the encounter with Twins looms in the horizon, and how they stand in the whole mess will be seen.

Many of my stories are fairly short, but I figure this is one of those ones that can run for a fair while so I will update when I can but I alternate somewhat between stories for now.