Meanwhile, In the Lions' Den
After leaving the Potters standing slack-jawed in front of the Headmaster's office, Harry sauntered into the Library looking for Hermione, who had invited him earlier to join her study group. Also in attendance were Neville and several other Gryffs clustered around Hermione like she was royalty. On the way in, Harry crossed paths with Theo, and he asked the boy to join them. Theo just looked back at the table (making eye contact with Hermione as he did). Then, he whispered a quick "no" and rushed out of the Library.
Shaking his head, Harry walked over to Hermione's table and introduced himself to the other Gryffindors: Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown and Dean Thomas. "I must say, I didn't expect this many people. I thought it was just three of us."
"Let's just say Hermione's popularity has skyrocketed in the last few hours," said Parvati smugly.
"Oh, stop!" said Hermione, blushing madly. "Now that the adrenaline's worn off, I feel quite embarrassed about the whole thing!"
"Well don't be!" said Neville. "You were incredible! That was what Gryffindor bravery is supposed to be about, not acting like ... like a braying ass." The other Gryff's laughed at that, until Madame Pince loudly shushed them all.
"What? For calling Jim out in Potions?" asked Harry.
"Oh, that was just the start. At some point, Harry, I'm going to borrow my Gran's pensieve just so you can watch the memory, because I'm going to treasure it forever," said Neville. "It all happened like this..."
***
Three hours earlier...
After the horrors of the first Potions class had ended, the First Year Gryffindors returned to their tower with mixed emotions. For Jim Potter, the dominant emotion was anger.
"Granger!" he bellowed as soon as he was through the passageway. "Gryffindors are supposed to stick together! What the hell do you mean by calling me a 'braying ass' in front of the whole class? And in Snivellus's class at that!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Potter," she said sweetly. "I'm only a humble Muggleborn still in awe of the wonders of the magical world. And when I see a braying ass magically disguised as a Hogwarts student, I CAN'T HELP POINTING IT OUT!"
"Why you little...! What were you so upset about anyway?! It's just house points! Nobody here cares about that except Little Miss Know-It-All!"
Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously, and she whipped out her wand. Startled, Jim fumbled for his own, but Hermione simply turned and walked to the stairs leading up to the dorms. There, she pointed her wand up each staircase and, to everyone's astonishment, shot off a series of loud popping fireworks before yelling "ALL PREFECTS TO THE COMMON ROOM FOR AN EMERGENCY MEETING!"
Seconds later, dozens of older Lions, including all six prefects were pouring into the room, where an angry Hermione Granger was standing atop a coffee table surrounded by the rest of the First Years who were staring at her in amazement. She still had her wand out and looked ready for battle.
Ralph MacMillan, the 7th Year prefect, was the first to speak. "What the HELL is going on down here?! Who called a prefects meeting?!"
"I did," said Hermione calmly. "You lot said if we have any questions, then we should ask a prefect! Well I have a question, and I want it answered right now!"
"Have you gone completely mental?!" exclaimed Ralph before a female prefect, Emily Rossen, put her hand on his arm.
"Easy, Ralph. Let me. Miss Granger, er, Hermione. You're obviously distraught. Why don't you put your wand away and step down off the table and we can talk about this?"
"Not until I've asked my question."
Emily took a deep breath. "Okay, then. What's your question?"
"The House Cup. Is it something Gryffindor House actually cares about? Something that we actually aspire to win? Or is it just a big joke that only 'Know-It-Alls' worry about? Something we should just laugh over whenever some idiot costs us dozens of house points at one go? Because if it's the latter, I promise you I can stop caring about the House Cup too! It will be a lot easier to pass my OWLS if I'm not dragging a lot of dead weight behind me!"
Hermione glared at Jim and Ron at the end, but Percy Weasley missed that and whirled around on his twin brothers instead. "Oh Merlin's pants, what have you idiots done now?!"
In unison, the twins put their hands up in a surrender gesture.
"Twasn't us, oh Perfect Prefect Percy." "We haven't lost any house points ... yet." "Haven't had time to do anything worth memorializing." "I mean, we did steal a toilet seat, but I don't think anyone's noticed yet."
"We've noticed," said Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, almost in unison and with obvious displeasure.
Neville interrupted the discussion. "It wasn't the twins, Percy. It was Jim."
"Oh, thanks a lot, traitor," snapped Jim.
Hermione stepped down from the table and walked over to the confused prefects. "I don't know how things are going for the upper years. But among the First Years, it has taken Neville, Parvati, Lavender and myself a week to make up for the twenty points Jim Potter cost us on his first morning as a student."
Ralph coughed at that. "Yes, well. Admittedly that was a bad start for Potter, but hopefully, it's given him something to think about and won't happen..."
"Jim just lost us thirty-five points in Potions," she said calmly.
The room went quiet and all six prefects stared wide-eyed at the Boy-Who-Lived, who swallowed hard at attention that, for once, was not as favorable as he was accustomed. Then, the assembled Lions began murmuring their discontent. The twins were incorrigible, but a thirty-five point loss was what they might post in a week, not a single class. It represented nearly half the points the entire house had earned in the first week of school.
"Thirty-five points... in one class," said Emily weakly.
"Actually," said Neville tiredly. "Thirty-five points in under a minute."
"... HOW!" shrieked another of the prefects.
Lavender spoke up. She'd been very proud of those two points that she'd won in Charms the day before. The fact that Hermione not only remembered it at all but considered it just as important as the dozen or so the Muggleborn had won by herself instantly endeared her to the other girl. "Well, first of all, he mocked Professor Snape for his grooming habits to his face. Then, he went on a tear about how his father and Professor Snape hated one another and so his father basically told him it was okay to be disrespectful to the Professor. Then, he called Professor Snape 'Snivellus.' Did I forget anything?"
"Well," said Hermione, "it was patently obvious that Jim hadn't done the assigned reading, but that seems almost ... pedestrian after everything else."
"Of course," joined in Neville, "I'm sure he'd have carried on for longer and lost even more points had you not shut him up." He turned to the prefects. "For which she won us five points back, by the way."
Ralph waved that off and turned to Jim. "Why ... in Merlin's name, why would you deliberately insult a Hogwarts professor on the first day of class?"
Jim stiffened and looked around. He was dismayed and angry that most of the house seemed to be against him. "Because I shouldn't have to put up with abuse from someone who's had it out for my family since before I was born. I shouldn't have to be embarrassed with obscure questions no First Year would know."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Show of hands, please. Are there any other First Years who didn't know the answer to at least one of Professor Snape's questions?"
"I knew all three." "I knew two but didn't know the bezoar one." "Really? It was highlighted in bold in the side bar on page 3." "Oh! Darn it! I always forget to read the sidebars." Other than Ron, it appeared that all of the First Year Gryffindors knew the answer to at least one of Snape's questions. Finally, Jim snapped.
"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU! I SHOULDN'T BE TREATED LIKE THIS! I'M..."
"The Boy-Who-Lived! Yes, we know," finished Hermione. "Harry was right about you with what he said last Monday. You really do think that the rules don't apply to you."
Jim blinked rapidly. Hermione almost started to feel bad seeing him on the verge of tears. Almost.
"I destroyed You-Know-Who! That should mean something!"
Hermione stepped forward to look Jim straight in the eye. "How?" she asked simply.
"Wh-what?"
"How did you destroy You-Know-Who? I've read several books about the last war. They all just say You-Know-Who broke into your house, stunned your parents, and then tried to use the Killing Curse on you when you somehow 'vanquished' him. How did you do it?"
Jim stared at her, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"You don't know, do you?" she continued. "You've been internationally famous and universally beloved for something that happened when you were a baby, and you have no idea how it was accomplished. For all anyone knows, it could have been nothing but a magical fluke, but you expect to be treated like royalty for it." She shook her head and turned towards the stairs to her dorm room. At the edge, she suddenly whirled back around and smiled.
"You know, I just had the funniest notion! Wouldn't it be amusing if, for all this time, it had been Harry who destroyed You-Know-Who? And the reason your parents sent him to his Muggle relatives was to keep him hidden away while they put you forward and made you famous just to hide the fact that Harry was the real Boy-Who-Lived?"
As she spoke, Jim's face twisted into a mask of rage, and with a vicious snarl, he pulled out his wand. But before he could cast a spell, he was grappled by two older Gryffindors. That didn't stop him from screaming in a rage, though. "SHUT UP! SHUT YOUR FILTHY MUDBLOOD MOUTH!"
There were audible gasps around the room. Neville took an involuntary step towards Jim as if to strike him, but Hermione called his name sharply and he stopped, his fists still clenched. "Mudblood, Potter?" Hermione repeated. "I wonder what your mother would say to that. Perhaps we should ask her." She turned her head, and the rest of the room followed her gaze to the entryway in the far wall ... where Professors Potter and McGonagall stood completely aghast at the scene before them.
"Mu-Mum?" Jim asked.
"Not. One. Word. Come over here. Right now." Lily spoke quietly but with a frightening intensity. Slowly, Jim walked over to his mother, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his robe as he went. She placed her arm firmly around the boy's shoulders and guided him out of the common room. After they were gone, McGonagall exhaled slowly before turning to her Lions.
"I will not deduct any more points for what I have just witnessed. Mr. Potter will, instead, be serving detentions with me for the next week. Miss Granger? As I understand it, this marks the second time today you have stood up to one of the most famous and revered figures in our society and chastised him for his atrocious conduct. That is two times you have done what is right rather than what is easy. Professor Snape has already awarded you five points for the first instance, and I will match it for the second."
McGonagall surveyed the room. "I don't know what each of you thinks, but I for one wish very much to win the House Cup. It saddens me to think that any of my Lions lack sufficient pride in their house to share that wish. But while I cannot make you care, I assure you, I can make life difficult for you if you undermine others who do. Henceforth, any point deductions from a single individual in excess of five points in a day will be accompanied by detention, as well as any point deductions caused by willful defiance of or disrespect towards a Hogwarts teacher. Am I understood?" The chastened crowd indicated that she was. "Good. Carry on."
****
Three hours and ten minutes later...
Harry stared slack-jawed at Hermione as Neville finished his tale. No wonder Jim had seemed so subdued as he left the Headmaster's office. "I hope you won't think it forward of me, Hermione, but will you marry me?"
"Back off, Potter," said Neville with mock gruffness. "I saw her first."