Chapter Four: Adjusting Perspectives

Waking the next morning was disorienting, starting with the deep blue hangings. It took Harry a good five minutes to remember where he was. Ravenclaw Tower, in the Second Year Ravenclaw dorm. He lay for a few moments, gathering his thoughts, then reluctantly shoved himself upright and pushed the curtains apart.

To his surprise, his new dorm-mates were already awake and preparing for the day. Terry grinned as he emerged from his bed. "Hey Harry. We were just about to wake you."

"Yeah?" Harry staggered out of his bed and collected his uniform.

"Sure. We'll need to get to breakfast soon. It's the most important meal of the day, you know?" Terry shrugged his book-bag over one shoulder. "And then we need to get to Charms. It wouldn't do to be late to Professor Flitwick's class when he's our Head." Terry traded a look with Anthony and Roger. "We've still got a few minutes, if you'd like us to wait for you."

Harry blinked, then nodded. He knew how to get to the Great Hall from Gryffindor Tower, but not from Ravenclaw. He gathered his clothes and made his way to the bathroom pondering, yet again, the differences between his old House and his new one. His Gryffindor housemates had never really placed any sort of importance on meals, other than Ron's determined fondness for any time food was served. Nor had any special emphasis been placed on getting to McGonagall's class early, despite her being their Head of House.

Now that he thought about it, he'd never seen any Hufflepuff act up in Herbology, and Slytherins...well they were gits, and they got away with being that way, but he'd never seen any of them disrespect Snape. He'd always thought it was because Snape favored them so much, but maybe...maybe he'd been wrong about that.

Was it only the Gryffindors who never accorded their Head of House respect as such? He hoped that wasn't the case, but he wanted to know for certain. He remembered with a wince how he and Ron had been late for McGonagall's class in First Year. Sure, they'd gotten lost, but they'd been the only ones to be late, and that didn't say much for them.

That caused another thought. What if it wasn't Gryffindors, but just him and his friends? That thought was even worse. He wanted to reject it immediately, but…well, hadn't Hermione scolded him more than once for his disregard of authority? She was much less vocal about it since voluntarily sharing some of their adventures, but before that...and hadn't Neville stood up to them about their rule-breaking last year? As shy as Neville was, he had to have been convinced they were doing something wrong. At the time, they'd been so sure their actions were necessary that Harry hadn't given it another thought. Then they'd saved the Stone and gotten all those points, and he'd put it out of his mind.

Another thought hit. He'd always been uncomfortable with his fame, with all the staring and whispers. It was irritating, the way people seemed to think he enjoyed it, whether they were vicious about it like Snape and Malfoy, or quieter, like Justin and the other Hufflepuffs. Or fawning and dramatic, like Colin Creevy and Lockhart. He'd always thought it was unavoidable but…what if it wasn't? What if other things he'd done, like getting on the Quidditch team in First Year after doing something he'd been ordered not to do, had made people think that way? He was pretty sure Snape would have hated him no matter what, and Malfoy was a tosser and a snob, but…

His hands shook as he smoothed out his tie and checked his reflection. He'd never wanted to talk to Hermione more than he did right at this moment. He was halfway to the door when yet another horrible truth occurred to him.

Hermione wouldn't be objective. How could she be? They were friends. Even if she admitted that he might be right...would she really be willing to tell him? Or would it be like their homework, where she scolded them, but still let them get away with asking her for all the answers? Or...maybe it would trigger one of her infamous lectures, the way waiting until the last evening to study for class sometimes did.

It took all of Harry's willpower to make it to the door after that thought. Fortunately, his housemates were still waiting, or he might have ended up taking all the wrong books out of habit. Anthony caught him when he reached for his Herbology and History of Magic texts. "You okay Harry?"

"Yeah. Fine. Just...takes some getting used to." He managed a weak smile.

Anthony nodded in sympathy. "I bet it does. We'll help you get adjusted though." Roger and Terry nodded in agreement. "Wouldn't want you getting lost and reflecting poorly on our House." He grinned. "Joking. But we will help you out."

"Thanks." Harry relaxed and managed a slightly stronger smile. He followed his dorm-mates out the door, wondering. Maybe his new housemates would be able to give him an unbiased opinion? It was worth considering. They were Ravenclaws after all.

Breakfast was another surprise. Harry was used to the heavy, greasy meals that the Gryffindors ate. While there were still plenty of eggs, bacon, toast and sausage available, there was also fruit, oatmeal, honey, and more healthy choices. There seemed to be fewer plates of pastries available in comparison. He wondered if it was actually different, or if he'd simply never paid attention.

Nutrition had never been high on his list of things to think about, honestly. He knew that Hermione worried about it, being the daughter of dentists, but Ron had never cared what he ate, as long as there was plenty of it. And before that...well, living at the Dursleys had only given him two patterns to follow. The near-starvation rations he was given, or the enormous, fatty, sugary meals his cousin and uncle preferred. Given how much he hated the way his relatives treated him, it had seemed almost natural to go in the other direction. Especially with Ron right beside him.

Harry watched out of the corner of his eyes as his new Housemates selected their meals, carefully copying them. Bacon or sausage, eggs, toast or oatmeal, a small serving of fruit and perhaps one or two small sugary treats, along with juice or milk. There was jam for the toast, as well as sugar, milk and honey for the oatmeal. Harry opted to try the honey, and found it to be surprisingly good.

He was just finishing up, wondering it he might try a small pastry, when a quiet, lilting voice spoke up from beside him. "Hello Harry Potter."

Harry jumped, then turned to see a small girl sitting next to him. She had fly-away blond hair and pale eyes with a faraway expression. She was busily spooning sugar into her oatmeal.

Harry blinked at her a moment, noticing that she was wearing, along with her uniform, a cork necklace and radish earrings. "Err...hello. I don't think we've met..."

"No. You were a bit preoccupied with the Wrackspurts last night. But you seemed to have sorted at least some of them out. That's good." The girl dropped a seventh spoonful of sugar into her food, stirred, then added some milk and began to eat. "You've still got quite a lot of them though."

"Err...wrackspurts?"

Pale eyes blinked dreamily up at him. "Yes. They cloud your thoughts and cause confusion. They whisper strange things into your ears when you aren't looking. But you know, they don't particularly like radishes, so if you want to keep them away, you should look into some." She tipped her head to indicate her earrings. "I suppose as a boy you might not like earrings, but I'm sure I could make something if you like."

"Umm...Can I think about it?" He wasn't sure what Wrackspurts actually were, or even if they were real at all. He'd never heard of them before, but that didn't mean much, considering all the things he'd never heard of before last year. Or this year for that matter.

"Of course. Just don't let the Wrackspurts influence you too much, or you'll never sort anything out." The slender girl finished her oatmeal, then stood. "It's been nice speaking to you, but I'm afraid I need to go. The Nargles seem to have made off with my shoes again, and I really would like to have them back before Herbology. Being barefoot tends to provoke the Venomous Tentacula."

Harrys stared after her, torn between noting that she was actually barefoot and wanting to ask what Nargles were. To say nothing of wanting to know why being barefoot would provoke a plant. How would it know?

"Harry, you done?" Terry's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah." He noticed his year-mates were already finished and waiting on him to head to class, and flushed as he pushed himself up. "Sorry. It's just...that girl..." He pointed to where a slender blond figure was slipping out the door.

Anthony followed his gesture and made a face. "Oh. You mean Loony Lovegood."

"Loony?" Harry winced at the name.

Terry shrugged. "I think her name's actually Luna, but most people call her Loony. I mean, you've seen the way she dresses. And those made-up creatures she talks about all the time..."

Harry flushed. A part of him wanted to shrug it away and leave the matter alone, but a part of him was remembering. Remembering the whispers that followed him. Remembering his life before Hogwarts, the way his cousin and aunt and uncle had called him Freak, the mocking sneers about his hand-me-down clothes that were always too big and ugly. His taped-up glasses and messy hair.

Terry peered at him. "Did Loony say something to you?"

"Don't call her that." The words snapped out before he could stop them.

Terry recoiled. "What? It's just a nickname..."

"Like 'Heir of Slytherin'?" Harry took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "Look, I just...I don't like that sort of thing. I hear it too much from people like Malfoy..." He saw comprehension on their faces, and decided to push the point home. "And anyway...remember I told you about my relatives last night?"

"Yeah. You said they were Muggles who didn't like magic."

Harry nodded, then steeled himself to say the next words. "They pretended it didn't exist. And when stuff happened, like accidental magic? They used to call me Freak. And magic was 'freaky stuff' or freakish nonsense."

His new dorm-mates winced. It was Terry who spoke first though. "My parents were more confused than anything, but I can see where you're coming from. I guess it would bother you."

"True. It's just...those creatures..." Anthony made a face. "She has to know they aren't real."

"Maybe. Or maybe they are and we just don't know it. Or maybe..." Harry paused, remembering some of the games kids had played in primary school. Dudley had made sure he never got to play, and he'd always been more interested in Harry Hunting than any other game, but still… "It could be like a...like a code or something, couldn't it?"

Terry's eyes lit up at that. "I hadn't thought of that. But kids in my primary school used to make up words for things, when we played games! There was a boy in my class who was always reading fantasy books and using weird words for things."

Anthony nodded. "My father's always mentioning odd things in the Muggle world…."

"Fascinating as this discussion is, we'd better hurry or we won't make Charms in time." Roger spoke up, prompting the four of them to grab their bags and race from the Hall.

Harry got a few strange looks when he entered with his fellow Ravenclaws but, to his relief, Flitwick made no mention of his new schedule or his appearance. A brief role-call, and then they set to work on the color-changing charms that were their current assignment.

Before, Harry had always worked with Hermione and Ron. The results had been predictable. Hermione would get the spell on the first or second try, with perfect pronunciation and gestures. She would then lecture, cajole and prod Harry and Ron until they at least managed some form of result, correcting everything from their pronunciation to the minute alterations in their wand movements. She was forever telling them to focus as well. Eventually, Ron would manage it. Harry sometimes managed it before Ron, sometimes after.

The dynamic among the Ravenclaw students was much different. Technically, Harry was paired with Anthony, but Terry and Roger sat so close that it felt like they were one group. Flitwick set them to practicing. Harry tried, but achieved nothing his first attempt. Anthony, on the other hand, turned his handkerchief blue almost immediately. Harry stared at it. "How'd you do that?"

Anthony blinked at him. "It's not that difficult. I had more trouble with the Leviosa spell."

Harry winced. "I'm just...am I saying it wrong, or something?"

Anthony focused on him. "Show me what you were doing."

Harry went through the motions again. Nothing happened. Anthony blinked at his handkerchief. "What color did you want it to be?"

Harry paused. "Was there supposed to be a specific color?" He hadn't thought Flitwick had mentioned one.

"Of course not. Didn't you think of a color?"

Harry winced, feeling stupid. "Err...no. I was focused on trying to get the wand movement and pronunciation right."

Anthony made a sympathetic face. "Well, there's your problem. You have to know what you want to happen when you cast a spell. What's your favorite color?"

"Err…gold." He didn't really have a favorite, but the color of a Snitch was the first thing that came to mind.

"Okay. Now look at your handkerchief." Harry nodded. "Picture it being that color. Exactly that color. When you think you've got a good image in your mind, try casting the spell again."

Harry focused on a Snitch-colored handkerchief. He pictured glinting, glittering gold, the way the Snitch shone in the sunlight when he dove after it. He pictured a handkerchief of the same color. Then he cast the spell.

He knew even before he looked that something had happened. He felt the magic pour down his wand and heard Anthony whistle. He opened his eyes.

The handkerchief was definitely gold. It also had a Snitch pattern on it in brighter gold. It sparkled brightly on the desk, in spite of the fact that there was no sunlight hitting it.

"Well done, Mr. Potter!" Flitwick came over to look at the newly transformed handkerchief. "And a pattern as well! Yes, very well done indeed. 10 points for Ravenclaw!" He looked at the handkerchief with interest. "What a unique design. Would it be possible, perhaps, for you to leave the design and change the background color?"

Harry blinked. Flitwick had never asked him to do something beyond the assignment before. Still he focused on the handkerchief again, picturing a gold Snitch on a blue background the color of the sky. He held the image firmly in mind, imagining it the size of a handkerchief, then cast again.

"Oh, very well done! Another 20 points for Ravenclaw, I think, for such a fantastic execution!"

Harry blinked his eyes open. The handkerchief was now sky blue, with a Snitch emblazoned on it. A very detailed Snitch in gold thread. It looked almost ready to jump off the cloth at him.

Flitwick gave him another smile, then wandered off to speak to another student. Harry sat staring at the blue cloth and the gold Snitch. 30 points! He'd never done so well in any class before.

"Nice job, Harry." Anthony grinned. "How'd you get the pattern?"

Harry blushed. "I was thinking of a Snitch. A real one, I mean."

"Well, it's brilliant. I'll have to try it. But not a Snitch I think, I don't have that kind of visual detail for one..." Anthony paused, then prodded his own cloth with a muttered spell. A gray blotch, looking vaguely like a creature with wings, formed on the blue background. Anthony studied it, then sighed. "It was supposed to be an open book. I'll have to work on my visualization skills."

Terry and Roger, sitting in front of them, were engaged in a color-changing contest, trying to add rainbow stripes one at a time to their cloths, without eliminating other colors. Terry hissed under his breath as he accidentally eliminated a violet streak. "Bugger." He restored it a moment later.

Harry glanced back at Anthony, who was staring ferociously at the cover of his Charms textbook. He watched as the other Ravenclaw prodded his square. This time, a recognizable image of a book formed. It was a little rough around the edges, but it was still clear what it was. "Huh." Anthony huffed and slouched in his chair. He offered Harry a lopsided half-smile. "This is why I have trouble in Transfiguration. My technical spell knowledge is fine, but my visualization is spotty."

The bell tolled to leave class a few minutes later. Harry gathered his books and followed his fellow Ravens. Their next class was Defense, and Harry was pleased to note that he wasn't the only one looking disgruntled. Terry looked resigned and, unless he missed his guess, Anthony and Roger were both hiding alternative books in their Lockhart texts. Harry wished he'd thought of that.

Lockhart was waiting when they filed in. Harry tried to stay inconspicuous on the far side of his group, but Lockhart pounced as soon as they entered. "Harry, a word." He draped an arm over Harry's shoulders before Harry could get away, dragging him apart from the group.

"Err..." Harry tried to pull away, but Lockhart just tightened his grip. "Professor, I need to sit down..."

"Harry, Harry Harry...really, when I heard...well, I could scarce believe my ears. Harry, my boy, I know you're eager to stand out, now that you've been touched by a bit of fame, but...Harry, you have to pace yourself. Transferring into Ravenclaw...well, it's not really the right sort of publicity. And really, there's no need to try to prove your mind now!" Lockhart chuckled. "I know, I know, it's hard. I know my books show me in my best light, make everything seem effortless, but you can't let my intelligence and skills push you into rash decisions. You've got your own strengths, and trying to show off your intelligence like this, playing on that little bit of fame you've gathered, well...I blame myself for encouraging you to stand out when I should have counseled moderation. But Harry, Harry, Harry...you don't have to try to be the brightest star in Hogwarts right now! You need to start out slow, take it easy. Build a solid foundation, the way I did in school."

Lockhart gave him a bright, false smile. Harry tried to avoid a grimace. Lockhart seemed to take that as acceptance, because he clapped Harry on the shoulder. "There's a good lad. Stick with me Harry, I'll teach you how to manage. Everything from werewolves to proper grooming. Give it time and you'll be able to defeat all manner of creatures, all without messing up your cloak, nearly as easily as I myself do." He gave Harry a small shove. "Best get to your seat. Wouldn't do to be unprepared for the start of class, or starting any rumors of preferential treatment."

Harry ducked away so fast he nearly stumbled over his own feet. He had never been so relieved to escape a teacher and, given his interactions with Snape, that was saying something. He settled into the seat Terry had saved him with a sigh of relief.

"What did he want?"

Harry snorted in disgust. "Thought I sorted into Ravenclaw to 'prove myself' and gain more fame." He huffed and slouched forward to get out a quill, his ink bottle and, reluctantly, a book. "He's mental."

Terry choked out a laugh. "No argument. Completely barmy, and Roger reckons he's a complete fraud." He poked at the book Harry had pulled out. "The timeline for his exploits is contradictory, and that quiz he handed out the first day of class..." He made a face.

"The three pages of questions about himself? How'd you do on that?" Harry grimaced, remembering the disaster of his own test.

"Oh, I got most of it right, but...it was all useless. Would have been better if he'd actually asked us about Defense related stuff. How is knowing his favorite color going to help?" Terry's grimace matched Harry's, and Harry felt a little curl of warmth. "And half the techniques he talks about...they might work, I've looked them up, but they'd be extremely impractical, and doing it the way he tells it, especially with the skills he's demonstrated...how does would a man who muffs a simple Protego cast something complicated like the Homorphus Charm before he gets mauled?"

Harry grinned. That was a point he could totally understand. "Hermione thinks he's just trying not to intimidate us or something."

Terry's face twitched into an odd expression, like he was stifling a scowl. "Granger..."

He was interrupted by the chime of class starting, and Lockhart's strident voice, leaving Harry to blink and wonder what that expression had been for.

He wondered all through Lockhart's stupid, showy (and he suspected pointless) demonstration of subduing the Bandon Banshee.

He continued to think about it, on and off for the rest of the day, until finally they settled in to do their homework. Anthony and Roger had gone to collect some supplementary materials from the Library, which left Harry and Terry alone. Harry screwed up his courage before setting his book down. "Umm...can I ask you something? Not about our homework. About something you said in Lockhart's class."

"About the timeline of his supposed exploits?" Terry blinked at him.

"No. Nothing about Lockhart, actually...just..." Harry took a breath, then plunged ahead. "It just...it seemed like you don't like Hermione. And I was wondering if you could tell me why."

"Oh. That." Terry sighed, but he pushed his books aside. "It's nothing personal. Just...the way she acts sometimes. At least, the way I've seen her act. She seems like she wants everyone to be at the same level, on every front, all the time. And it's...it's not possible, and a bit...well, insulting I think, though it might just be me."

"What do you mean?" Harry frowned. "Hermione's...well, I know she's a bit bossy at times..."

"It's not that." Terry shrugged. "Well, it is, a little. But..." He scrunched his nose, obviously thinking. "Okay, so...our first practical Charms class, last year. With the Leviosa spell. You remember?"

Harry nodded. He didn't remember taking the class with Ravenclaws, but...well, it was hard enough keeping track of the coursework, never mind who they had classes with. Unless it was Slytherin. Malfoy made those memorable, whether Harry liked it or not.

"Right, so she partnered with Weasley, and he was having trouble. Well, I was across from her, so I had a good view. I could hear her really well. And Granger..." Terry shrugged. "She corrected his pronunciation, and his movements, but she didn't...she wasn't guiding him, really, or helping him. More like shoving him. And she didn't try any other methods either. She proved she could do it, and talked his ear off about all the technical aspects, but she never approached it from any other angle."

"Other angle...you mean like Anthony did with me?" He remembered Anthony's explanation on visualization.

"Yes. She acted like the fact that the technical stuff, the pronunciation stuff, made sense to her ought to mean it made sense to everyone else. Most of us..." Terry waved at the Ravenclaw Common Room. "...are pretty interested in technical explanations. But we also know that not all of us get things the same way. It's one of the first things the older students teach us. It's like...Herbology, the different leaf textures and soil densities and water-to-fertilizer ratios confuse me. But Roger...he really knows that stuff. Ask him about any plant we've studied, and a few we haven't and you'll get a detailed explanation of everything you need to know. On the other hand, he's got no sense of timing or temperature for Potions, or step-by-step instructions, which is something I'm fairly decent at."

"So...you don't like Hermione because she's...she has trouble with understanding that?" Harry frowned. That didn't seem like the best reason, even if he and Ron sometimes teased her about it.

"That's part of the reason. The other part...Granger always tries to have all the answers and she tries to do everything the best."

"That's a bad thing?"

Terry blinked at him. "Of course not. Most Ravenclaws are like that, to some degree. But...well, to me it seems like she treats everyone like they're either idiots or rivals, and she won't accept either."

Harry bristled, and just barely held back a sharp remark. "She's a good friend to me and Ron."

Terry shrugged. "No offense, but you and Weasley are special." He caught Harry's expression and held up a hand. "I don't mean...look, everyone knows you saved her from a troll last year. So, it's like you're her personal heroes. Plus...you're Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. If she did any research on the Wizarding World before she boarded the Express, then she knew who you were. I did."

Harry grimaced. "She said she'd read about me in a bunch of books."

"You're in most modern history books." Terry nodded. "Plus...until you re-sorted here, my impression was that you were more athletic than academic." Harry couldn't argue that. "So...you're a well known figure, you and Weasley saved her from mortal peril, and you didn't really show any signs of being an academic competitor. So of course Granger responds to you differently. But, based on what I've seen of her, which admittedly isn't much outside classes..."

Terry shrugged. "My impression? Take Charms class today. I think, if you'd been partnered with her, and you'd had trouble...I think she would have corrected every nuance of your pronunciation, and every micrometer movement of your wand. I also think, if you did what you did after Anthony coached you? I think she'd have never stopped pestering you and demanding answers on how you did it until she could do as well or better. And that's what I don't like about her. She wants everyone to be on her level all the time. But only on her level, not surpassing. And that's not how people work. It's not even how the world is supposed to work. Otherwise...why would we even have Houses?"

Harry didn't have an answer to that either. The problem was, he could picture Hermione doing exactly what Terry had described, in regards to the Charms lesson. But...she was his friend, and he wanted to defend her. He bit his lip. "Hermione's still...she's a good person. And she's brilliant."

"She might be. As I said, I don't really know anything about her outside classes. And really...she might not be the way she is forever. We all have some room to grow." Terry looked into Harry's face and sighed. "Look, Potter, I'm not saying she's a bad person. I don't know her well enough. And I'm sure she is a good friend to you. But...I can't help my impression of her."

Harry forced himself to nod. "I know." He might have said something else, but Anthony and Roger returned then, each carrying three or four books, and talk turned to their History of Magic assignment.

He thought about it though, during dinner. And after, when they retired to their rooms. He excused himself from the game of Gobstones, saying he wanted to read some of the books they'd loaned him. And he did try to read, but it was hard to focus on the words on the page with the words running through his head. Anthony's assessment of Hermione, along with all the other things he'd thought of during the day. House respect, his own reputation, Luna Lovegood and her strange view of the world, his own study habits.

He eventually managed to set it aside for later consideration and get some reading done. But one thought remained, pervasive and insistent, even as he lay in bed trying to sleep later.

He knew what popular opinion of him seemed to be at the moment, but the underlying thoughts...what did people really think of him? Was he what Anthony had described, an already-famous boy with athletic ambitions and no academic ones? Arrogant and disregarding of basic respect and rules, the way Snape and Malfoy seemed to think? Ignorant, the way he'd felt the night before and during their Charms lesson? Or something else?

For that matter, he wasn't entirely sure how he thought of himself nowadays. He had thought of himself as a Gryffindor, the Seeker, the foe of Voldemort. But of those three, only the one about Voldemort still applied. And being a Seeker was more happy accident than anything he'd tried to do. Plus, he'd been put in Gryffindor, but he'd been told he'd do well in Slytherin. He'd told Hagrid at their first meeting that he was 'just Harry'. But really, who was 'just Harry'?

He fell asleep still wondering.

Author's Note: Seems like Harry's got more questions and few answers so far. But he's learning. He'll get there eventually.

I'd like to note, I don't dislike Hermione. But she does have some flaws, and being Harry's friend didn't make them go away. And I think it's natural for people outside their circle to still be aware of them. Little things like trying to take every subject in 3rd Year, even though she doesn't need to, or doesn't have a real interest in the subject, point to the impression I'm trying convey with Terry's analysis. And yes, he might sound a little older than a typical 12 year old, but...that's just the way he wanted to be written, really.