When Madam Hooch finally returned, she said, "I know that half our time is up, but if we can avoid anymore foolishness or accidents, I can still teach you the basics of flying. Line up again and get your brooms. Quickly now!"
They all scrambled back to where they'd been and mounted their brooms under Hooch's instructions. Harry soon found that he was a complete natural on a broom and was laughing, purely enjoying himself, as he out-flew everyone there. After five minutes, he noticed that Hermione was having trouble. She was off the ground, but not moving much at all, and was clearly terrified of falling. Madam Hooch was helping someone else. He flew over to his friend.
"Hermione, how are you doing?"
She put her head down in shame. "I-I'm fine. Y-you're doing r-really well."
"Thanks. I want to help. What precisely is the problem you're having? You're brilliant at everything else."
"I j-just can't control this broom! There's no spell or something I can learn to help."
Nodding his head, Harry said, "You're right. There's nothing to memorize to make this easier. I was lucky. Apparently I'm good at this naturally." He searched his mind to think of a way to help his friend. "Um, I guess it's like riding a bike. There's no book that can teach you how to do that, either."
"I had a hard time learning that, too," she admitted, "but I did learn," she said with determination.
Harry smiled. "And you'll learn this, too. The first thing you need to do is"
Harry patiently instructed Hermione in flying, explaining how he was controlling the broom he was on, and having her watch while he demonstrated what he somehow knew instinctively. Unbeknownst to them, Madam Hooch had noticed and was watching them when she wasn't correcting others who were having minor problems.
After about twenty minutes, Hermione was flying fairly well, and beginning to enjoy herself. "Wow! I never thought that this could be such fun!"
Harry chuckled, "I thought so. My parents wouldn't let me get a broom, but I saw a few Quidditch matches in the States and thought it looked exciting. I definitely want to try out for the Quidditch team next year!"
"And I'm sure you'll do well," said Madam Hooch, who'd flown up to them. "Mr. McGonagall, I'd like to compliment how well you instructed Miss Granger. I couldn't have done it better myself. Five points to Ravenclaw."
"Thank you," he said blushing slightly.
-HM-HM-HM-
That night, Harry pulled out his mirror to call his family once the common room was cleared out.
"You are gonna have to get me a broom next year!" he declared excitedly to his parents. "We just had our first flying lesson and it was awesome!"
Mark chuckled. "Let me guess. You plan to be captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team next year, too?"
Harry's ears turned pink. "I do want to try out for the team. Isn't there a place in Little Salem where people can practice flying and Quidditch?"
"Yes, I think so," answered Cindy. "Er, 'Frank's Flying Funhouse,' I think is the name. We can certainly find out about it before you return for the summer."
"How did your girlfriend fly?" asked Brianna.
Harry's ears turned pink, but he firmly answered, "I don't have a girlfriend!"
"You know who I mean," his sister replied, grinning.
"Don't tease your brother," said Cindy sternly.
Mark added, "Or we might tell him about Bobby." Brianna's face went scarlet. "Whoops!" he said in mock regret.
Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Who's Bobby?"
"Just a boy in my class who moved from Michigan this summer. We did our homework together, ONCE!"
"Magic or Muggle?"
"Muggle, and don't start"
"Well, then if your new boyfriend gets out of line, you can stun him and he won't be able to defend himself."
"He is not"
"We'll see about that. What does he look like?"
"This is not about Bobby! How did Hermione fly?"
"On a broom. How tall is Bobby?"
"Dad, why did you have to bring him up?" Mark simply laughed.
"Does he carry your books?" asked Harry, clearly enjoying his revenge.
"No, he doesn't!"
"Then you should let him know that boyfriends do that kind of thing."
"He is NOT my boyfriend! Do you carry Hermione's books for her?"
"Of course not, but she's not my girlfriend."
"But you did buy her an enchanted book-bag for her birthday," said Brianna with a smirk. "Same difference!"
Cindy decided to change the subject. "Matt, Emilio, and Chris said 'hi' when we ran into them at the mall last week."
"They said school's not quite the same without having you there to help prank the teachers," added Brianna.
Harry smiled. "Yeah. I wish they were here to help me prank"
"Harry!" said his mother sternly.
"I meant to study with."
"But then one of them would try to steal your girlfriend!" Brianna teased.
Harry replied, "Maybe I can get them to follow you and Bobby around. They can use their squirt guns on you two when they see you kissing."
"Ewww! I am not gonna kiss Bobby!"
"Not with anyone watching, anyway," answered Harry laughing.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day at breakfast, Draco (with his bodyguards) strutted up to the Ravenclaw table and said with his sneer, "McGonagall! I thought you'd like to know that Hooch's punishment was over-ridden. My father"
"The coward who beats house elves," interjected Hermione with a smirk.
Draco's ears turned pink. "How DARE you say that about my father, you filthy mudblood!" Crabbe and Goyle both laughed stupidly as though Draco had said something clever.
"You brought that filthy elf-beater up!" said Harry angrily. "He, just like you, struts around like he's important because of something he had no control over; when in reality he's nothing more than a bully and a bigot!"
"How dare you!"
"If you don't want us to insult you and your pathetic family of self-important nothings, go back to the Slytherin table where you belong!" said Hermione.
"I was just saying that in fourth year I'll be able to join the Slytherin Quidditch team."
"Well, big deal," said Harry, "I'll just summon you off your broom again when you're higher off the ground."
Draco's face went pale. "You will not!" he said, turning around and stomping off.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and laughed. "He actually thinks I care that he calls me a mudblood," said Hermione.
"Apparently some purebloods are too stupid to realize that no one of intelligence believes that nonsense. I mean, look at Crap and Boil, I mean Crabbe and Goyle." Hermione giggled at Harry's little joke. "They are the stupidest, least magical kids in our class, and they're purebloods."
"Draco didn't say anything about his detention," commented Hermione thoughtfully.
Harry grinned. "I'd say that means he still has to polish those old brooms."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next Potions lesson that they had, Snape wasn't specifically targeting Harry. He picked a different target this time.
"Miss Granger, why must you insist on being an insufferable know-it-all? Fifteen points from Ravenclaw!"
"But all she did was answer the question you asked!" yelled Harry.
"Twenty points from Ravenclaw, Mr. McGonagall." He then turned back to Hermione. "Miss Granger, you have not answered my question. Why must you be such a know-it-all?"
Looking down at her desk, she muttered, "I simply answer the questions you ask, Professor."
"Look me in the eye when you speak to me. Five points from Ravenclaw."
"No, sir," Hermione answered coldly.
"What? Twenty points from Ravenclaw! How dare you refuse?"
"I don't want you performing Legilimency on me like you've tried doing to Harry, sir," she said firmly, earning the attention of the class. The Ravenclaws already knew what he did, but the Hufflepuffs who didn't gasped.
"I do not," he said unconvincingly, then with a cold expression on his face he added, "But if I did, do you have something to hide?"
Hermione was furious, as she refused to look up at the 'teacher.' "I'm not breaking any school rules, if that's what you mean, but I don't want you reading my mind like you do everyone else's. That's an invasion of privacy!" People started murmuring in class at this pronouncement, and she shouted for the class, "Whenever you look him in the eye he reads your minds."
"You have just earned yourself a detention, Miss Granger."
"Fine," she said coldly as she got up and left the room, making sure to not look at Snape. Harry got up angrily and followed her.
"You've also earned a detention, Mr. McGonagall!" As Snape looked around the room, he noticed that no one in class would look up toward him as the door slammed shut.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Hermione, wait up!" said Harry.
"You shouldn't have followed me, Harry," she said while stopping.
"He targeted you because he can't get me."
"Your aunt has to teach me Occlumency! I can't stand the thought of that greasy git in my head. It's disgusting, and I know for a fact that it's illegal!"
"Then let's see her. We should also talk to Flitwick about this, since he's our head of house."
-HM-HM-HM-
A few minutes later, they found themselves outside of Professor McGonagall's classroom while she was teaching. They were surprised to hear her say loudly, "Mr. McGonagall, Miss Granger, there's no point in waiting out in the hall. Go into my office and I'll see you in about ten minutes."
They walked into the room, both blushing slightly as they made their way to her office door. They heard some slight chuckling from the students. They hurried into the office and shut the door.
-HM-HM-HM-
Nine minutes later, Minerva came into the room to find the two kids sitting down silently. "Now, why don't you tell me what Snape has done this time?"
"You may want to call Professor Flitwick as well," said Harry. "Snape gave us both detentions."
After Flitwick had been called, and they'd both watched the memory of the last five minutes they'd spent with Snape, Flitwick was furious. "Snape uses Legilimency on students and Dumbledore knows about it? Why hasn't he been fired?"
At that moment, Snape and Dumbledore walked into the office. Severus sneered, "I suspected that Mr. McGonagall would go running to his auntie for help. How touching."
"Against a pathetic bully like you," shouted Minerva, whose face was red with fury, "all the students need help!"
"Now, now," said Dumbledore benevolently, "I'm sure we can find a peaceful solution to this minor disagreement."
Flitwick shouted, "Thisteacher performs Legilimency on the students!"
"Only to insure the safety of the school," Snape said coldly.
"You see," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "It's not that he wants to invade the privacy of the students, but he feels that it's his responsibility to make sure they're not planning anything dangerous."
"Poppycock!" said Minerva angrily. "Professor Dumbledore, I know that you don't care at all about the students but"
"Don't you DARE accuse me of not caring about the students! I"
"Subject them to this monster who makes sure that no one but Slytherins can learn Potions and constantly invades their privacy! Subject them to a Divination teacher who not only is a fraud but enjoys terrorizing them by predicting one of them to die every year! Not to mention"
"That's enough, Minerva! We can't have students walking out in the middle of class. The detentions will be served with Mr. Filch, but the house points will be restored. Professor Snape, please cease attempting Legilimency on Mr. McGonagall and Miss Granger."
At that moment, Harry felt a subtle mental attack, but Snape wasn't looking at him. He pushed the attack away with all his might, and Professor Dumbledore stumbled backwards, clearly surprised.
Harry was furious, but before he could say anything, Professor McGonagall shouted, "Albus! I'm surprised at you! It's bad enough that you condone Snape's behavior, but to do it yourself! I'm glad I taught Harry Occlumency! I wonder how many students' minds the two of you assault every year!"
"If there's nothing more," said Dumbledore, whose ears were now pink, "we'll be going. It's almost time for lunch."
Dumbledore and Snape quickly left the room, leaving the others alone. Flitwick was beside himself. "They both read students' minds and think that there's nothing wrong with it!"
Minerva sighed sadly. "I wonder if it was a good idea to have Harry come here at all. There are other schools in America he could have"
"But I wouldn't have you to talk to Aunt Minnie, or Hermione."
The brown-haired girl blushed but spoke up. "Professor McGonagall, I was wondering if you would teach me Occlumency. I believe that I'll need it."
"Of course, Miss Granger," said the head of Gryffindor. "Let me get you a book to read. Once you've read it, let me know and we'll start lessons."
-HM-HM-HM-
As Harry and Hermione were walking toward the Great Hall, Hermione stopped and angrily said, "I can't believe that Snape is getting away with this! And we got detentions!" She clenched her fists in frustration. "I wish there was something we could do about it!"
"Maybe there is," said Harry mysteriously as a smile appeared on his face. "We'll talk about it in the common room later, not where we can be overheard."
-HM-HM-HM-
By dinnertime, Hermione's pronouncement that Snape was reading the mind of anyone who looked him in the eyes had spread all over the school. People from different houses came up to Harry and Hermione to ask about it. They answered the questions truthfully.
When dinner was finally over, Harry and Hermione reported to Filch, who had them scrubbing floors for three hours. Half an hour after they were released, they found themselves sitting alone in a corner of Ravenclaw Tower. Most of the students had gone to bed already. Harry whispered, "I think we should pull a prank on Snape."
At first she looked shocked, but then a small smile started forming on her lips. "I hope you don't get us both expelled. What's your idea?"
Harry grinned at his friend. "Well, I was thinking that Snape probably protects himself from pranks, because I'm sure every non-Slytherin in the school hates him."
"Someone probably tries to prank him every day," said Hermione thoughtfully, "So why will we be successful?"
"Because we'll base them on his routine, just like me and my American friends used to do."
"It can't happen while we're in the classroom though," said Hermione with a worried expression on her face.
Harry grinned. "Then we'll need to get the memory of someone who is in the class so we can watch."
"Definitely," she said smugly.
"We'll need to sneak out after curfew to do it, though."
She leaned forward conspiratorially. "What is it exactly that you want to do?"
-HM-HM-HM-
At about midnight, the portrait of 'Al' was opened and two students wearing school robes that clearly had their house badges covered with black cloth snuck out the door to Ravenclaw Tower. Their hoods were up so that it was difficult to see their faces. One of them closed the door, carefully avoiding waking the portrait up.
The short figures silently moved through the castle. Their shoes had been charmed silent. As they approached the staircases, Harry whispered, "I wish we could have brooms."
"Well, we can't," his partner in crime responded. "I wish we had an invisibility cloak, but don't have one of those either."
"That would be awesome," he whispered as they waited in the shadows for the stairs to move to the right position, narrowly avoiding being noticed by the Bloody Baron. "Maybe we can learn how to disillusion ourselves." When the stairs were in the right position, they soundlessly made their way down them quickly.
They slowly and carefully made their way through the castle, with one of them getting on the floor and peeking around each corner. They ducked into several classrooms on false alarms, learning about the thrill and fear of sneaking around Hogwarts after hours.
When they finally reached Snape's classroom, Harry performed the 'alohamora' spell, and nothing happened. "Fine," muttered Harry, who stuck the end of his wand under the door and summoned the hinges. After Hermione performed a silencing charm on the door (just in case they dropped it), they carefully opened it and replaced the hinges, leaving it slightly ajar to make sure they weren't trapped inside the classroom if the door locked. They then pulled a few items out of their pockets and set up their prank.
Less than fifteen minutes after they got to the door, they were leaving. Harry closed it, and found that it did lock itself. As soon as they got around the corner, they heard someone approaching the classroom from the other direction. They didn't stop to see who it was, but they both heard Snape's voice laughing, saying something about stupid kids thinking that a simple unlocking spell would break into his classroom.
So they snuck back through the castle much the same way that they had to get to the dungeons. When they approached a certain stairway though, it was already in the correct position, so they got on. Unfortunately, when they were halfway up the staircase, it started moving again. While it was moving, they noticed Peeves turn a corner toward their general direction, so they ducked down so he didn't spot them. When the stairs finally stopped moving, they snuck up to wherever they stopped, not noticing that it led them toward the forbidden third floor corridor.
"Where are we?" whispered Harry.
"In trouble," Hermione said, pointing to the right, where a certain cat was looking at them.
"Mrs. Norris," Harry said as the cat ran off.
"Where Mrs. Norris is," said Hermione.
"Filch is not far behind. Come on!"
They ran down the corridor until they slammed into a door. They heard footsteps coming and the voice of Mr. Filch saying, "What is it, Mrs. Norris?"
Harry tried the locked door, and Hermione magically unlocked it. They quickly got inside and closed the door softly behind them.
"What is it, girl?" Filch said on the other side of the door. "There are no students here. I'll bet you can sense what's on the other side of this door. Don't worry. It won't get you. Come on."
While Harry and Hermione were listening to that exchange, they were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog. Specifically, Harry was looking at one set of eyes, and Hermione was looking at another set. There was a third set as well, but neither was staring at that set as the formerly sleeping three-headed dog stretched out its legs as it glared at them. When the thunderous growls began, Harry grabbed the door and pulled it open, preferring detention or even expulsion to becoming a chew-toy for a three-headed dog.
Luckily, Filch had already left, so they slowly and carefully made their way back to the staircases.
As they were walking, they whispered back and forth.
"What was that thing, Hermione?"
"I don't know, but it was obviously guarding something."
"You saw the trap door, too."
"Naturally."
"I don't care what it's guarding; they shouldn't have a thing like that inside a school! It could kill someone."
"It was behind a locked door," defended Hermione.
"That anyone who knows 'alohamora' can get past."
"Good point."
"Thank you."
At about this time, they'd gotten past a staircase and heard two sets of footsteps behind them. They heard a male voice say, "Stop, you there!" and ran for it, but no matter where they turned they couldn't seem to shake off their pursuers.
"Hermione," Harry panted, "Let's split up. I'll try to give you cover."
"You can't! We're in this together!"
"Both of us getting in trouble won't help any. Be careful. I'll meet you at the tower. Now go!" Reluctantly, she ran off quietly in the direction Harry indicated, while he went the other way, purposely making noise. He was happy to hear that both were following him as he tried to find a way to lose whoever was following him. Finally, he came to a dead end.
As he saw the two figures approaching him, he realized that they were definitely students, and appeared to be too young to even be prefects. He wondered what they wanted as one of them put a piece of parchment into his pocket. As they came closer, he saw that it was a set of twins with red hair. If he remembered correctly, they had been looking at a tarantula on the train, and were Gryffindors. Their wands were pointed at him.
"What do you want?"
"To introduce ourselves, of course."
"I'm Gred Weasley."
"And I'm Forge."
"The question my friend is"
"who are you?"
"I, I'm Harry," he said nervously, not knowing what was going on, "Harry McGonagall."
The twins looked at each other with mock sorrow on their faces. "Isn't it terrible, Gred, how kids these days"
"can lie so easily? Yes, Forge, it is a shame."
"I'm not lying! I am Harry McGonagall! Harry Mark McGonagall if you must know!"
"We agree that your first name is Harry."
"But your middle name is James."
"And your last name is Potter."
Harry's face fell. He couldn't understand how they knew. If they read his mind, they were the most gifted Legilimens in the world because he didn't even feel it. "I am not!" he decided to lie.
"Oh, but you are."
"Now tell us why you're here and what happened to your scar and hair."
Realizing that they weren't going to be fooled, he decided to find out how they knew and who else knew. "Fine, but not in the middle of a corridor."
Fred and George smiled. "Very well, walk ahead of us."
After they'd directed Harry at wandpoint into a secret passage, one of them asked, "Okay Harry Potter, how did you become a McGonagall?"
"Are you using Polyjuice Potion?"
Harry first wanted answers. "I'll answer your questions if you'll answer mine. How do you know who I am, and does anybody else?"
"I don't think that's a good idea for us to answer," said Fred.
"Considering that some people believe you're a dark wizard,"
"And we've found you impersonating our head of house's nephew."
"How long did it take for you to convince the hat to put you in Ravenclaw"
"Instead of Slytherin?"
Harry was getting intimidated by the way they could complete each other's sentences. "I am not a dark wizard! I was adopted by Professor McGonagall's nephew right after my birth-parents were killed and I was raised in America. I only found out that I'm Harry Potter last year. And the hat wanted to put me in Gryffindor!"
"So you're saying that Dumbledore lied to everyone when he said you'd gone missing."
Harry's ears turned pink. "Not exactly. He left me on the doorstep of my only living relatives with a note. Aunt Minnie, I mean Professor McGonagall, had watched them all day and thought they were the worst sort of muggles imaginable, while Dumbledore didn't even bother to meet them. She, my parents, and my sister are the only people who know about it."
The twins looked at each other as though to mentally confer. Harry saw his chance. He muttered, "New SparksAccio wands!"
Both twins felt their wands pulled away. They tried to hold on, but it was no use. Within a moment, Harry had their wands.
"That was fast."
"Looks like you've been trained by someone."
"Where'd your wand come from?"
Harry looked at them, exasperated. "All I did is take your wands. It's not like I crucio'd you. I answered your questions, now answer mine."
For the first time in history, Fred and George Weasley were silent.
Harry took a deep breath. "Okay, I understand. You think I'm a dark wizard, so you're not answering me, figuring that I might kill you once you do."
"Basically," they said together.
He knew he had to gain their trust. "How about this? Here are your wands back, mine too (he still had his second wand hidden if this didn't work). All I ask is that you march me to Professor McGonagall and no one else.
As they took the three wands, the twins looked at each other again. One finally spoke. "Well he did"
"But what if"
"Why was he"
"Harry, why were you and Hermione Granger out in the corridors at night?"
"You seem a bit young for snogging."
"We were pranking Snape's classroom," he boasted proudly. He'd heard of their reputation.
"How'd you get in his door?" said Fred, challenging Harry.
"I stuck my wand underneath and summoned the hinges when alohomora didn't work."
"Summoning the hinges," the twins said together as matching grins appeared on their faces.
"The prank we set up should happen during your class. You are third years, right?"
"Yes, and we share Potions class with the Ravenclaws tomorrow."
"Pretty clever to not have it happen on a day you have Potions."
"So, do you believe me?"
"For now," said one of them.
"Will you keep my secret?"
"For now," answered the other one.
"Then I'll need you to talk to my aunt privately tomorrow and tell her you know who I am. Then ask her to teach you Occlumency. Oh, and don't look Snape or Dumbledore in the eye until she says you can."
"He's serious."
"He wants us to tell McGonagall."
"It's been long enough for Polyjuice Potion to wear off."
"And he hasn't drunk anything."
"But we don't need Occlumency lessons."
"We taught ourselves in first year once we realized that Snape and Dumbledore can read minds."
"We'd have never gotten away with anything if we didn't." They handed Harry his wand back, and he put it in the holster.
"Wicked," they said together.
"An invisible holster."
"I've heard of those."
"They also repel summoning charms, don't they?"
"Yep," said Harry smugly. His face turned serious again. "You really should talk to my aunt to set your minds at ease if you have any doubts. I'm here to get an education and pull pranks the same as everybody else. I just don't want Dumbledore to take me away from my family."
"We understand, mate."
"But we're not telling McGonagall we know about you."
"Because she'd be trying to figure out how."
"You still haven't answered my questions," said Harry.
Harry looked at twin smiles. "We are the only ones who know about you."
"But we're not telling you how."
"But we will show you one thing you might be interested in."
"As one of the founders of C.A.R.E. we thought you might want to see where the house elves here are."
"You're gonna show me the kitchens?" asked Harry excitedly.
"Exactly, and then we'll help you back to Ravenclaw Tower."
-HM-HM-HM-
About an hour later, Harry happily snuck into Ravenclaw Tower, his wand in his left hand, to find a lone bushy-haired girl sitting in one of the chairs looking terribly frightened. She looked up at the noise, put down her Occlumency book, and rushed to him, embracing him tightly.
"Oh Harry, I was so worried. What with that dog in one corridor, I wondered what else was in this castle. Are you all right? Were you caught? Are you in trouble?" She said all this quickly without taking a breath.
Harry smiled widely. "Thanks for caring. I am fine. The people chasing us caught me, and they turned out to be Fred and George Weasley. They found out" Harry shook his head, frustrated with himself, "I mean, they offered to show me where the kitchen is so I could meet the house elves. I would've gotten you if I could, but I didn't have time. Anyway, I learned the way into the kitchens."
Hermione's face turned pink. "So you've been having a midnight snack while I've been worried sick? I"
"Calm down, Hermione. I'm sorry that you were worried. I really am. I brought you something." He then put his wand back in his right hand and flicked it, muttering an incantation. A tray of food floated from the floor near the entrance onto a table. It had a plate with a sandwich and a pumpkin pasty and two glasses of pumpkin juice. "I already ate, so the food is yours," he said, taking one of the glasses of pumpkin juice.
She smiled shyly. "Thank you, but you're just gonna watch me eat?"
"Why not?" he said chuckling, "I've seen you do it before. By the way, I told the twins about our prank, and they volunteered to let us borrow one of their memories to watch. We'll simply tell Aunt Minnie that we want to watch it, not that we did it."
Hermione looked worried. "But she'll suspect, won't she?"
Harry snorted. "To turn someone in for pranking that git, she'd have to have two witnesses, a confession, and irrefutable evidence, not suspicions. She'll probably watch it with us."
Hermione laughed at that statement. "But what did the Weasley twins find out?"
Harry's face turned visibly pale. "Islip of the tongue. Nothing."
She gave him a strange look, and then smiled again. "Thanks for the snack."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day at lunch, when Harry and Hermione showed up in the Great Hall, Snape wasn't there. When Hermione pointed that out, both of them laughed. They sat down next to the other first years. While they were laughing, the Weasley twins stepped up to their table. Fred was holding a capped vial. They both appeared to be in a very good mood.
"Hello, Harry, Hermione, and the rest of you young Ravenclaws. You missed the best Potions lesson we've had in all the time we've been here," said Fred.
"But we have a copy of the memory to share with you," said George.
Fred handed Harry the capped vial. "Here you go, Mr. McGonagall." Fred winked as Harry took it.
"Thanks," said Hermione.
"No problem. We've got to be off to Gryffindor Table."
"What was that all about?" asked Padma.
Harry chuckled. "Someone pulled a prank on Snape during their class."
"They know how much we hate Snape," added Hermione.
"So they thought we'd enjoy watching him humiliated in Professor McGonagall's pensieve."
"Will your aunt really let you watch that?" asked Michael Corner.
"Let us?" asked Harry, faking offense, "She'll probably join us."
"Can we watch, too?" asked Padma as the rest of the first years nodded eagerly.
Harry chuckled. "I can ask her after class today, but no promises."
-HM-HM-HM-
After lunch was over, they went straight to Transfiguration class, where they had a productive lesson. Harry and Hermione were still at the top of the class. When it was over, Harry walked up to his aunt's desk while the other Ravenclaw first-years stayed outside by the door.
"Professor McGonagall," Harry said with a grin.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Did you hear about something happening to Professor Snape during a third year class this morning?"
He could see his aunt desperately holding back laughter. "Yes I did."
"One of the students provided me with the memory," he said, showing her the vial, "and I was wondering if you'd allow me to watch it. Perhaps join me."
She looked around as though expecting Dumbledore to be in the classroom. With her most stern expression, Minerva said, "I suppose that as Deputy Headmistress I should investigate the matter for the sake of school safety. You may accompany me during my investigation."
"May the rest of the first year Ravenclaws join us in this investigation as well?" Harry asked with a straight face.
Still holding her stern face, she said, "I believe that would be appropriate. Have them accompany you here after dinner."
-HM-HM-HM-
From the time Harry left the classroom giving his friends the 'thumbs-up' the day passed slowly as anticipation grew. Harry was disappointed to see that Snape was fully recovered and in attendance at dinner, although his hair was much shorter than usual. As soon as the meal was over, the first-year Ravenclaws marched straight to McGonagall's office.
With her teaching face on, Aunt Minnie said, "You realize of course that this is an investigation to prevent further incidents like this from happening." At this point, all the kids burst out laughing, followed by the professor. Finally, the memory was placed in the pensieve. "Now, everybody hold hands as we enter."
-HM-HM-HM-
The group found themselves in the Potions classroom. About half of the students, including Fred and George Weasley, were already there. Harry and Hermione led the group to watch Professor Snape as he picked up his attendance sheet. While he was holding it, the parchment transfigured into some sort of green slime that dripped from his hand. Some fell on his desk, some on the floor, and some up his right sleeve.
He looked venomous as he glared at Fred and George, who were laughing along with most of the class. He calmly said, "So, you two think it is funny to ruin an attendance sheet, not to mention befouling the room with this filth! Twenty points from Gryffindor, and you both have a detention cleaning this room from top to bottom. Now, for your assignment."
He pointed his wand at the board, but instead of showing the instructions, his wand was summoned right out of his hands to the chalkboard, causing more laughter. Although his ears were pink, Snape was still speaking calmly as he took forty more points from Fred and George. He angrily walked toward the board where his wand was stuck until he fell over face first into a puddle of ketchup. He got up in the midst of the laughter to see that muggle fishing line had been tied tightly two inches above the ground. That's what he tripped on. "Eighty points from Gryffindor," he growled, "and Mr.'s Weasley, you will have detention for a week."
"But we didn't do it!"
"Although we wish we had!"
"Twenty points for your cheek, and another day's detention for both of you!" He walked over to his cabinet to retrieve a towel, only to find it locked. He picked up a Ravenclaw student's wand and pointed it at the cabinet. "Alohamora." The cabinet opened and a few select potions flew out at Snape, as though summoned. The towel stayed where it was.
An uncapped beaker with a dark green liquid hit his head, spilling all over his greasy hair, which started turning gray and falling off. Another potion hit his robes and turned them all hot pink. Snape was now bald, wearing all hot pink, and his face was full of ketchup. He angrily walked over to the cabinet and grabbed the only towel there, wiping the ketchup off his face. When he removed the towel, the ketchup was gone, but where it had been, his skin was now pastel green. "One hundred points from Gryffindor! Class dismissed!" he screamed through the laughter.
Soon the group of Ravenclaws found themselves sucked out of the memory, laughing hysterically. McGonagall said, "Two hundred twenty points to Gryffindor, since it hasn't been proven who the culprits are," in between snorts of laughter. "And I'll see about those detentions he gave the Weasleys, once I regain my composure." Although Gryffindor points didn't matter much to the group of Ravenclaws, they could see how unfair Snape was being, so they understood. Harry and Hermione were hoping Fred and George wouldn't have to serve the detentions.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry could see Brianna almost started hyperventilating when he described the prank he and Hermione had pulled on Snape (through their mirrors). Since it was just them talking, he admitted that they were the culprits. They'd come to an agreement. She didn't tease Harry about Hermione and Harry won't tease her about Bobby.
"And the jerk still has no idea it was you?" she asked, still laughing.
"No," said Harry, who was starting to laugh with her, "He's convinced that it was Fred and George, but couldn't give them detentions because he couldn't prove it."
"That's good!"
"Yeah, I found out that they're pretty good blokes after they found out my little secret."
"What secret?" asked Hermione from the girls' staircase. Harry looked at her in surprise. She was holding a thick book in her hands. "I couldn't sleep, so I came up to read for a while. I wasn't spying on you."
"Nothing," said Harry while Brianna fell silent. "Just guy stuff. Do you want to say hello to Brianna?"
Hermione looked either slightly hurt or slightly angry for a moment, but then said, "Sure," and walked over to the mirror Harry was holding. "Hello, Brianna. How are your schools going?"
"Great," said Brianna happily, "I'm still at the top of all my classes."
"That's wonderful. What's this I hear about a boy named Bobby?"
-HM-HM-HM-
A few days later was Hermione's birthday. Harry had arranged for their study group for September nineteenth to throw a surprise birthday party instead. In the morning, Harry gave no indication that he knew it was Hermione's birthday. He saw her look of disappointment, but she didn't say anything.
As they got out of their last class, Harry said, "We have a few minutes before dinner. I'd like to get out of the castle for a little while. Want to take a walk around the grounds?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Er, I suppose so."
Together they walked out the entrance hall while Harry indirectly led them to a spot Padma had picked out. As they walked up to their study group, Hermione saw a picnic blanket, a basket, and a few pitchers of pumpkin juice. She also saw that everyone still had their book bags.
"Well," said Harry with a grin, "What do we have here?"
"SURPRISE!" shouted Neville, Padma, Hannah, Susan, and Anthony.
Harry said, "Happy birthday, Hermione."
The girl looked close to tears. She grabbed Harry and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you!" She then went to each of them, doing the same.
The picnic basket was enchanted for size, so they were able to pull out dinner, as well as a cake, before it was time for presents. Each of them removed their gift from their school bag. Hermione looked so happy as she carefully removed the wrapping paper from her presents. She got a set of fancy quills from Neville. Anthony gave her a set of inks. Padma gave her a magical diary with a lock that only the writer could open. Susan gave her a small purse. She opened Harry's present last to find that it was a bottomless, weightless book bag like he had with her name monogrammed on it. She hugged Harry again and kissed him on the cheek, causing them both to blush.
Before they left, she thanked them all for coming, and of course for their gifts. A few hours later, while they were studying in their common room, Hermione admitted to Harry that the only people that had ever celebrated her birthday were family.
"Speaking of which," said Harry as he pulled out his mirror, "It should be just about time." At that moment, his mirror received a call, so he answered it, making sure Hermione could see as his mom, dad, and sister sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry took Hermione to the kitchens that Saturday to introduce her to the elves, who they asked about the House Elf Enslavement Contract.
"We is knowing about the contract, Miss Grangy," said Dotty, the elf they were speaking too, "but we isn't knowing where it is."
Hermione said, "We're part of a group that's interested in the welfare of elves. I'd like to know if you're happy here."
"OH YES! Hogwarts is being the happiest place for house elves to work!"
"I'm glad to hear it," Hermione said. "How do elves like you feel about the way some masters hurt their elves?" She then showed them their brochure with the picture.
"Them is bad masters, but bad master be better than no master."
"We're trying to find a way to make this kind of treatment illegal," said Harry diplomatically. Based off of the reaction of Blinky, his aunt's elf, to the idea of freedom, Hermione agreed with Harry not to rush the elves into accepting the idea of freedom. For now the goal was to provide them a happy life. "People like that are unworthy of the wonderful help that house elves provide."
"Elves is happiest with a worthy master," agreed Dotty.
-HM-HM-HM-
The weeks passed by pretty quickly after that. No student besides Harry, Fred, and George would look Snape in the eye, and every book the library had that even mentioned Occlumency or Legilimency had been checked out.
The study group was going well, and the students Harry and Hermione were helping were improving quite a bit, as Professor Flitwick pointed out to them after one Charms class, where the only kids who'd made a feather levitate were the ones in Harry and Hermione's group. He awarded them thirty points. Neville seemed to be improving the most under their tutoring, gaining confidence that he didn't have before. It soon became obvious that he had an aptitude for Herbology, but did abysmally in Potions. It seemed that Neville was the Gryffindor first-year Snape had chosen to pick on. Padma did well in Transfiguration, but had trouble in Charms. The others hadn't found their best subject yet, and were hoping it would be one of the elective classes they'd take in third year.
Harry and Hermione were a month ahead in assignments, and already had read all the way through their books for the entire year. They figured that at the rate they were going, they wouldn't have any assignments to do for the last two months of school. They each planned on purchasing the next year's books during Christmas break. Hermione, who'd worked extremely hard at it, had mastered Occlumency a week before Halloween. Harry thought about telling her his true identity, but decided against it for the time being. It was bad enough that the twins knew, and he wanted as few people as possible knowing the truth about him.
-HM-HM-HM-
On Halloween afternoon, during Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Quirrel was teaching and turned around to get a cage that contained a dark creature they were studying. The moment the back of Quirrel's turban faced Harry, he involuntarily reached for his forehead as he winced in pain.
"What's wrong, Harry?" whispered Hermione, who was sitting next to him.
"I don't know."
Hermione looked at her friend in concern. "This isn't the first time that's happened. Where exactly does it hurt?"
He ran his finger in the shape of a slash down his forehead and Hermione's eyes went wide. She stared at Harry for a few moments before looking straight ahead, ignoring his attempts to get her attention. Quirrel turned around and continued the lesson.
Once class was over, Harry took her by the arm and pulled her into a nearby empty classroom. "What's wrong?"
Hermione looked very concerned. She started muttering more to herself than Harry. "The scar? Harry? You had to learn Occlumency. You have an inheritance you don't want to talk about. You have green eyes. Fred and George found outyour little secret." A terrified expression came across her face as she backed away from her best friend. "You're Harry Potter!"
Harry was shocked that she'd realized this. "Let me explain, Hermione!" Harry stepped toward her.
"Stay away from me, you, you LIAR!" She then ran off, and Harry could hear her crying before she'd left the room.
He didn't know what to do. He was afraid that if he followed her, she'd start shouting at him and someone would overhear. He was also afraid of losing his friend. He took off after her until she stopped, turned around, and pointed her wand in his face.
"Don't follow me, Harry!"
'Well,' he thought to himself, 'that answers that.'
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry sat miserably at the Halloween Feast next to Padma, very much aware that Hermione was nowhere to be found. "Have you seen Hermione?" he asked.
She looked very uncomfortable. "Er, yes, but she told me not to tell you where she is." She took a deep breath. "She's, er, mad at you about something, but she wouldn't say what."
Harry was relieved that she wasn't blabbing it to everyone, but he wanted to get his friend back. He nodded miserably. "I need to apologize to her for something, and she won't let me."
"I'm sure she'll forgive you for whatever it is. She probably just needs some time alone."
He gave Padma a small smile and fixed a plate of food for himself and tried to enjoy the feast. Just when he was feeling a little better, Professor Quirrel showed up in the middle of the feast and shouted, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know," before fainting.
Less than thirty seconds later, Penny Clearwater, while hastily making a headcount, was leading them toward Ravenclaw Tower. Harry stopped suddenly to talk to Padma, who was right behind him.
"Where's Hermione? She doesn't know about the troll!"
A look of horror came upon her face. "In a girl's washroom! This way!" She grabbed Harry's arm and together they ran down the hall while Penny was facing the other way. He heard Padma say, "There's no time to get a teacher. Hopefully the troll's still down in the dungeons!"
As they approached their destination, they heard Hermione screaming.
Harry pushed the door open and called his wand to his right hand. He saw the troll swinging its club at Hermione, destroying half the bathroom in the process as she scooted out of the way just in time.
It took another swing at Hermione, who'd gotten herself trapped in a corner, and Harry shouted, "Accio club!" causing the club to fly out of the troll's hand, right at Harry. As he quickly moved out of the way, he said, "Maybe that wasn't such a brilliant idea."
The troll turned around when it lost its club and focused his attention on Harry. He pulled back his fist to punch Harry, but before the fist made contact, Padma had thrown a metal pipe, hitting the troll in the face. It now growled at her, stepping away from Harry.
In the mean time, Hermione had her wand out and was placing herself so that the troll was directly between its club and herself. She climbed on top of one of the few remaining sinks and shouted, "Accio club!" while pointing her wand.
Harry saw the club he'd summoned minutes earlier start moving at full speed toward the troll's head. The monster was about to move toward Padma until Harry sent a stunner that he knew would only annoy a troll at its foot. The spell startled the troll long enough so that he didn't move out of the way. The club hit the monster in the face like a knock-out punch and the troll fell to the floor unconscious with a broken nose and teeth missing.
At that moment, Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrel entered the room.
Minerva took one look around and seemed to age ten years. "Explain yourselves."
At that moment, a panic-stricken Penny Clearwater burst into the room. "Thank God you're alive! When I saw you weren't with the group, I left them with the other prefects. Why did you leave us?"
Hermione spoke up. "It was my"
"It was my fault," said Harry firmly while Hermione stared at him in surprise. "I thought I could handle the troll and went looking for it. Hermione and Padma were trying to save me from my own stupidity. If it weren't for them, I'd probably be dead."
"You?" asked Minerva, clearly looking displeased.
"You are arrogant, aren't you, Mr. McGonagall? I'd say a detention is in order, along with" said Snape, who had torn pants revealing blood on his leg and was limping.
"Five points taken from Ravenclaw for this serious lack of judgment. I'm disappointed in you, Harry," said Minerva, overriding whatever ridiculously unfair amount of points Snape planned on taking away. She turned to the others. "Both of you girls are very fortunate. Not many first-years could take on a fully-grown mountain troll. Five points each – will be added, for sheer dumb luck."
-HM-HM-HM-
Soon the three first-years were walking toward the tower with Penelope behind them (making sure they actually went to Ravenclaw Tower) when Hermione came up to Harry and whispered. "Why did you say it was your fault?"
"Because it was," he whispered back. "I should have been honest with you. I hope you can forgive me."
"Why didn't you tell me last week after I finished Occlumency?"
"I, I didn't want to make you worry about letting the secret slip. I mean, I mess up enough as it is. I did think about it. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I guess I haven't been much of a best friend to you. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't actually told anybody. Not my friends in America, no one. I don't have a clue how Fred and George found out about it, but I only admitted it at wandpoint. Honestly, Hermione, the only thing I've lied about is my name. I've never lied to you about anything that wasn't directly related to that. Now, I don't have to lie to you about anything."
"I guess I can understand that, but it hurt me to find out that way."
"If you'd like, I'll tell you the details tonight after everyone else is upstairs."
"I would like that, thanks."
"Maybe you can help me keep my secret better." At this point, Harry raised his voice so that Padma could also hear him. "Did you notice the injury that Snape had on his leg?"
"Yes," said Padma, "I guess you're talking to me again?"
"Yes, I'm sorry Padma. It's just"
"I know you two had some kind of argument that you had to get sorted out. Anyway, I hope they can't fix his leg."
Hermione smiled. "Maybe that cut will get infected and they'll have to remove it."
"Then they'll just need to remove the rest of him as well."
-HM-HM-HM-