782Hogwarts – January 7. 1992
Harry was feeling quite content as he looked at his meal for the first dinner back. Everyone in the great hall was murmuring to each other about their holiday and how it went, places they visited or gifts they received. This recent holiday was the first time he'd ever had that warm family feeling and he was almost embarrassed to admit that he already missed it.
The dinner back was going fine, most of Slytherin was still giving him the same respect they were ever since his parselmouth abilities were revealed. The rest of the castle however, even with the holidays to mellow out, were still giving him nervous looks. Mostly Gryffindor with Neville likely being the most vocal of his year against him.
Oddly enough Ron didn't participate with Neville regarding this and even gave him a nod when they saw each other. Harry returned it and smiled to himself, saving Ginerva was a good choice and it was helping his image with one of the most fervent Slytherin haters in his year. Actually, perhaps that title wasn't true anymore?
Upon return to the castle, the nagging feel in his head about the attack returned and he knew that he wasn't going to be able to rest until he discovered the truth behind the attack. So, on the train he tasked the girls with asking around to see if anyone learned anything in the weeks they were gone.
Daphne and Tracey were with the other girls further down the table. Blaise was next to him but across from him was Draco who was eating contently. Harry, even though he still doubted it, still wasn't completely sure Draco wasn't involved with the situation.
"Malfoy," Said Harry gathering the boy's attention, "Thank you for that gift, and please send my thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy as well."
Draco practically preened under his thanks, "Thanks yourself, Potter. I thought as friends and house mates extending gifts was appropriate. Also, my father has mentioned his desire to host you for dinner at some point in the future"
Harry didn't know how he felt about meeting Malfoy Senior in a more private setting, he was under no assumptions that he was on the same level as Lucius when it came to schemes and forward thinking, yet.
"I think that would be an interesting evening." He said with a nod, "We'll have to see about it over the summer."
"I will pass that on to my father, he'll be delighted to hear. I'm sure mother will be pleased as well; she always enjoys when I bring guests." Draco said with his same pompous expression.
"What do you think about the first year that was attacked?" Harry asked quietly making sure that no one save for he and Blaise could hear it. "I feel like someone was trying to frame me, but it seems too obvious."
"If that were their objective then they were foolish." Draco sneered, "No one, save for the more stupid students, actually think you were responsible. Professor Snape may look out for us but if the staff actually thought you were responsible, he wouldn't be able to protect you enough to not be expelled. Seeing as you're here." He trailed off after saying that for a moment, "I don't know who is responsible, but I would be shocked if you were the priority reason behind it."
"I think it was someone in our house." Harry said extra quietly while leaning forward. "It may be obvious, but the target was a Gryffindor, and I can't rule out a Slytherin going a bit too far."
"It would explain the very rare poison that took weeks for Snape to counter." Blaise said, "I think our house has the most people who could access such a rare poison and have the resources to use it on something so meaningless."
Harry and Draco stayed silent after hearing that and resumed eating. Harry tried to think of anything that could hint to who the culprit was.
He couldn't rule out Lockhart saying that had he not held Ginerva back she could have been attacked too. Which is the reason he suspected Malfoy, even if indirectly, as the Weasleys and Malfoys had quite the public feud going on.
However, he couldn't fully commit to the idea, something was telling him that it was too convenient to be Malfoy. There wasn't enough information available to him that he could paint a clear picture of the situation so he would have to keep his ear to the ground for now.
Hogwarts – January 28. 1992
Weeks flew by and while Harry was getting back into the rhythm of school, he noticed a sudden tension that seemed to fall over the school. As more and more time went by and the attacker still wasn't caught, students were beginning to worry there would be another.
Unfortunately, this had the effect of some of the younger students starting to wrongly fear him. Try as he might, Harry just couldn't look away from it being Longbottom's fault that so many were blaming him. As Longbottom was quite vocal about his belief that the parselmouth dark wizard in training suddenly decided to attack a muggleborn.
On his way to Charms class he was given frightened looks from a passing Hufflepuff who was in his year he couldn't name. He was a taller dark-haired boy with a strong chin that took one look at him and rushed off after his housemates.
Harry sighed tiredly and entered the classroom with his fellow Slytherins behind him and the Ravenclaws already in their seats. Hermione waved to him with a smile and he responded with a nod. Oddly enough, Terry Boot gave him a slight greeting as well that Harry returned it.
"Welcome everyone!" Cried Professor Flitwick in his squeaky voice, "Today we will be going over the General Counter-Spell: Finite!"
The class exchanged excited looks as some had likely heard of the spell before or have seen it used by a family member. Unfortunately for Harry, as he was already so far ahead in Charms that this would be another lesson that he could ignore for the most part.
"There is a frightening amount of uses for this spell!" Continued Flitwick, "The only spells that are impervious to the effects are moderate to high-level dark spells and strong enchantments and wards. Outside of that, as long as you are confident in your casting and have good control over your magic then this spell should work for all situations. That being the reason we start teaching it in second year! If you all know a spell to fix or undo tricky situations, we Professors can rest easier."
Class continued and those around them were listening intently to the lecture while some were taking notes or holding their wands in anticipation. Harry made a note to watch Hermione who was taking notes fervently, though when it came time to try the spell on dancing feathers, she managed it after only one try. This led Harry to believe that she was already capable of the spell and was so studious that she still wrote what Flitwick was saying without strictly needing to.
Harry quickly did the same to the dancing feather in front of him so that Flitwick didn't think he was blowing off his lessons. The rest of the class was slowly trying with varying levels of success with Flitwick walking around trying to help.
"Ah well done, Mr. Boot!" Cheered Flitwick. "Take ten points for excellent wand work!"
The boy in questions was surrounded by five feathers lying on his desk. Terry Boot was giving his head of house a grin, he then used the animation charm from earlier in the year to animate all of the feathers to dance then countered all of them again to the excitement of Flitwick.
Harry hadn't paid much attention to Boot before, but now that he was it would seem a talented potential ally was making himself known. In the dueling club meeting he was acknowledged by Boot and again today, so it seemed that it went both ways.
"I don't suppose I need to ask to see you cast the spell, Mr. Potter?" Asked Flitwick with an amused smile.
Harry animated his feather to dance then canceled it in a single motion. No wand movements for either spell needed any longer. However, Harry felt he was slacking as he hadn't tried to silently cast yet, though he was sure he could get it to work after a couple tries.
"Well done!" Flitwick cheered, "Why don't you show me something you're working on."
Harry frowned in thought, Visprocul shouldn't be used around people as it would destroy the room and his conjuration practice was in the Transfiguration field. Perking up Harry tossed his wand across the room much to the surprise of Flitwick and the observing students. Before anyone could say anything, Harry raised his hand and wandlessly summoned it back to his hand.
Harry gave the stunned professor a smile, "I can also banish and levitate."
Professor Flitwick began to rapidly clap his hands with a beaming smile on his face, "Marvelous! I must say you are the first second year I've ever taught to display abilities with wandless magic! Take twenty-five points for such an accomplishment!"
Around the room only the Ravenclaws were surprised by his ability as the Slytherins have seen him use it before. Hermione was frowning as she stared at her notes while Boot was ginning and shaking his head.
After class the Slytherins, minus Harry, were the first out the class with the Ravenclaws following soon after. Although one raven was lingering with Harry.
"Good show today, Potter." Commented Boot with an easy smile. "Ever thought of a study group? I wouldn't mind trading notes with you, if you'd even need them." He said with a laugh.
"I'm pretty far ahead." Harry confirmed with a chuckle, "But I haven't thought of that before, at least in the way you're meaning. I'll let you know if I come up with something."
"I'll look forward to it."
LINE BREAK
The last class of the day was Astronomy, held at midnight with the Hufflepuffs. Harry yawned as he listened to the beautiful Professor Sinistra talk about the moons of Jupiter. The class was interesting overall but useless in a more immediate way as they were still in the basics of the subject. Harry hadn't read too far ahead into the subject, his furthest knowledge being that the brightness of a constellation could affect rituals and planets gave troves of information for divination, another subject Harry knew little about.
"Always be mindful that the universe of infinite space around us has effects on the world we live and magic we use." She said while directing the class to move their telescopes into position.
Harry did as instructed then made notes on some parchment when she mentioned something that was likely to be on her exams.
"I'm surprised to see you take notes."
Harry turned to see that it was Susan Bones talking to him from the space next to him. At first, he was surprised to see a Hufflepuff next to him but then remembered that his housemates didn't like the badgers, so it was usually him near their section.
"You always seem to know everything we're doing in class." She continued. "I always joke with Hannah that you could be our professor if something were to happen to one of them."
Harry chuckled quietly with her, "Maybe I could, but it would have to be with my wand, that's where I'm most confident." He said, "I was taking notes because unlike other subjects I don't typically read ahead for astronomy or learn about it on my own."
"So, you like all our other classes?" She asked.
"Well, I don't hate any of them," He replied, "But I would say this is the one I have the least interest in. My favorite at the moment is Transfiguration, I'm doing things with that which are far above what we do in class."
Susan looked at him in wonder, "You make it sound so easy," She said wistfully, "That's the toughest subject we have and you're probably years ahead of all of us."
"Well, I want to compete in dueling, so I have some serious motivation." Harry said with a smile, "What about you? Are you interested in Astronomy?"
She looked away from him with a small unnoticeable blush before answering, "I'm most interested in Charms, but if Defense were better that would be my favorite."
"Agreed." Harry said with a nod.
"I do enjoy potions too. I just don't enjoy Professor Snape."
Harry couldn't disagree with that, even though he's his head of house the man wasn't the friendliest or most open individual. "I understand that, he's…prickly."
Susan giggled and agreed, however before long Sinistra passed by and started getting their attention back on the class. Harry went back to silently taking notes and observing the moons of Jupiter which he was confident he could name three.
Hogwarts – February 10. 1992
Classes continued and the fear of a subsequent attack slowly fell to the back of people's minds. Harry and the others went back to their routines of classes and the occasional meetings. Daphne had started trying to enchant a rock to give off light independently while Tracey was confident enough in her duels to start having practice ones with Harry. Blaise was spending more and more time practicing on his broom in preparation for today's match against Gryffindor.
Harry was in the locker room with the other Slytherins, all of them were huddled up talking about the strategy for Wood. All three chasers agreeing that the keeper was the best in the school and that they'd need some good maneuvers to take the win from the lions.
"We can't pass too much; those girls are wicked fast." Commented Pucey. "Don't be too aggressive Zabini, they love to intercept passes and long shots."
"We'll have our hands full with those damn twins." Brickly growled, "Potter! You'd better catch that snitch this time!"
Harry glared at the large beater, "I better not have to focus on dodging bludgers the whole time, then."
"They were rigged!" Miles Bletchley shouted, "We all agreed it wasn't Harry's fault, even Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore agreed"
"Right, fine, whatever just make sure to win, alright Potter." Said Rowel with a disinterested look on his face.
Harry grunted and made his way up to the pitch not even bothering to look back. The roar of the crowd never failed to make him slightly nervous, he could hear the shouts of 'Go! Go! Gryffindor!' from here. Slytherin didn't have a set chant but he was sure they were cheering just as loudly with the polite cheers of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as they watched the two teams make their way onto the pitch and into the air.
Madame Hooch flew into the air between the two teams. "This will be a clean game! I'll be watching closely to make sure no more funny business happens!" She made eye contact with both captains before flicking her wand and sending all the balls into the air to start the game.
As soon as the golden snitch was released Harry hyper focused on it, he tuned out all sound from the crowd and the game. He managed to watch it leave the chest and fly straight over the stands and blasted off towards it at full speeds.
He was so fast that he didn't even see both bludgers fly at his head that then crashed into each other when he out sped them. Both teams' beaters tried to hit the balls back at the other team, but it quickly turned into the two sets of beaters attacking the other.
Harry weaved through the tower stands and slowly closed in on the snitch, he noticed at the last second that Cormac McLaggen was about to ram into him and pulled up to fly just above the incoming Gryffindor.
Shouts and screams from the crowd continued as both teams were scoring on the other while the beaters practically ignored the game in favor of attacking each other. Pushing the Nimbus 2000 to its absolute limit, Harry was finally within ten feet of the snitch which zigzagged through the air trying to lose him.
Harry pushed his broom as hard as it could go and before he knew it his right hand was clasped around the golden ball. He hoisted it into the air and the game ended.
The whole game lasted four minutes.
Harry landed on the pitch and let out a long breath. It didn't take too long before he was nearly bowled over by Blaise who hoisted the arm that was holding the snitch into the air to the cheers of the crowd.
"That was crazy Harry!" Shouted Blaise. "You didn't even let the game really get started!"
"I just wanted to catch the snitch before something happened." Harry said with a grin, "I wasn't sure what to expect but after last time I wouldn't have been shocked if someone just started to blatantly curse me off my broom."
By the time he finished speaking the rest of the team had surrounded him and laughed at his words.
"You do have some rotten luck!" Michael laughed, "First year someone was jinxing your broom during a game, then the bludgers."
"He's a threat!" Brickly roared with a grin, "They know he's the best in the school, so they have to cheat! This year we're getting the cup!"
Cheers and cries of enthusiasm from the crowd started to make talking difficult so the team and the rest of Slytherin house made the journey back to the dorms. Along the way Harry noticed that he was receiving even more glares from the Gryffindors, specifically McLaggen who he had just humiliated on the pitch.
Slytherin house was thrown into a large celebratory party with all the team members getting their share of the spotlight. Eventually the team was faced with their former captain.
"Good show, Bletchley." Flint grumbled with his eyes downcast.
Harry mentally winced at Flint's expression, it was he and Blaise that orchestrated his fall from captaincy. He didn't like the knowledge that he ruined an innocent student's Quidditch career.
"Well, we have a good team." Bletchley said, "Now that we have a strong foundation of teamwork, we'll have many more wins to come."
Flint didn't say more to that he just stalked off quietly, far different than the former loud and domineering captain he used to be.
Butterbeer was passed around by some rowdy sixth years and while the first years weren't given any yet everyone else was able to take a mug full. The usually controlled house devolved into a massive party the longer the night went.
Harry was given some strong pats on the back and a few familiar faces came to offer congratulations.
"What did I say, Potter?" Corvis Crowley, seventh year prefect, said. "We should have expected interesting things from you. Who'd have thought it'd be a record fast snitch catch?"
"Well after some of my last games it seemed to be in my best interest to end the game quickly." Harry said while rubbing his neck. Corvis nodded his head slowly with a chuckle.
"So how has life been since you were discovered to be a parselmouth?"
"Interesting," Answered Harry, "The attack didn't help, I mean someone used poison and some of the slower students thought that meant I used a snake to attack. Even though that is so obvious I would have to be a complete duller to actually do that."
"I can see you're quite frustrated by this." Corvis said with a chuckle, "Well from what I know that was an attack from one adult to another, rather than a student attacking another."
Harry leaned forward, "Do you know more about the attack than everyone else?" He asked quietly.
"Oh, I believe I know quite a bit about what goes on in the school." Said Corvis with a smirk, "What does the answer mean to you?"
Honestly? Harry couldn't find a reason for wanting to know other than to satiate his curiosity. But…
"I'm sure that they wanted to frame me, so I'm pretty interested."
Corvis tapped his nose for a second, "I'll tell you that there is likely to be another attack soon. I'm not sure who did the attack, but I know that it was a failure."
Harry frowned, "Can you tell me how you know that?"
Corvis got up and gestured for Harry to follow him, "Let's go have a chat."
While the party was still going strong Harry and Corvis were able to leave unnoticed. Exiting the common room and entering the dungeons Corvis quietly led Harry through the dark depths of the castle.
In the recent century Hogwarts has had fewer and fewer students than what was common in the 1600's and 1700's where upwards of five hundred students could be in the school at one time, which was double what it was now. That meant that the castle had far more unused space than used. Additionally, the dungeons had far more to it than anyone knew as it seemed to stretch on forever. Rumors said the fabled Chamber of Secrets was in the dungeons, but with it being a seemingly unending labyrinth of hallways and passageways it has remained either undiscovered or a mere myth.
Corvis led him to a door at the end of a dark hallway that had only one entrance, which was the way they came down.
"This is a place I come for some privacy." Said Corvis, "Let's get inside."
Walking in Harry saw that the room was far warmer than a dark room in the deep dungeons should have been. There were several high-backed cushion chairs, large rugs and a burning fire in a fireplace. On the far end of the room was a large desk with papers and books stacked neatly with a single lamp on it.
"From what I understand you have a similar room yourself." Corvis said with a smile.
Harry narrowed his eyes, "How'd you know?"
"I told you I like to think I know quite a bit about what goes on in the castle. I also took a vested interest in you when you were sorted into Slytherin." Said Corvis while taking a seat and gesturing for Harry to do the same. "You see Harry, you and I are quite alike. Both of us are half-bloods, and in Slytherin that can make things difficult. But we both made names for ourselves due to our abilities and intelligence, thus earning our place in Slytherin even both becoming year leaders."
"What does that have to do with the attack?"
"I'm getting there." Corvis said quickly, "Slytherin, for the past fifty years has gotten worse in terms of blood supremacy and their mentalities. How many in Slytherin hold true to the merits Salazar believed were most important? No, this house has fallen, and it is due to the Dark Lord, who must have either been a student at that time or had started recruiting at that time. So many powerful, old and independent families were made into followers and bowed to the whims of a madman. Don't think I believe all these families were good until he showed up – no, they had those beliefs, but they didn't act on them as they weren't appropriate or right for upstanding families such as them."
Harry rubbed his forehead, "So, what, you want to change Slytherin? Change the way this country thinks?"
"Not really, but I wanted to make sure that the possibility of such a thing were possible. That's why I made sure to establish myself as a respected Slytherin. I'm a half-blood of two unremarkable families who have no old wealth or esteem. But I've been the top student of my year without fail. The only thing I failed to do was solve the Unknown Letter mystery, but everyone has failed that for decades." He said with a frown before continuing, "I've managed to curb the violent tendencies in this house towards half-bloods in my years. When I was a first year, I was attacked by some older students who were working for Lucilla who didn't like that I was leader, and she wasn't. She a Rosier, who believed that she should have had everything and I a nobody who shouldn't."
"I apologize but I would like to know your point." Said Harry with a sigh.
Corvis rubbed his forehead, "I want you to continue my work! Don't you get it? I have slowly made it better for half-bloods in Slytherin, but it will go back to how it was starting next year when no one is here to keep heads level."
Harry frowned, "You want me to do that? I'm just a second year and while I'm sure I'm a better wand than most in our house I can't force the whole house to do anything."
"Did you think I was throwing around curses and challenges nonstop until I had the house where I wanted it due to the weight of my wand?" Asked Corvis with a snort. "No, I'm a Slytherin! I listened to what was happening in the house, anticipated attacks and thwarted them by either having professors show up or intervened before the attacks could happen. Eventually the attacks stopped when everyone realized they were doomed to fail. Add in my accomplishments and everyone became less fixated on blood and more on ability."
"So that's how you know more about the attack than others, and how another is going to happen." Said Harry, "How'd you keep up with everything going on, you can't be in multiple places at once?"
"Very true, but I'm quite well liked in the school and have friends in all houses. So, I just made sure that my friends would tell me if they heard anything interesting that went on in the school while mastering the Disillusionment Charm to listen in while no one knew I was there."
"Sounds like a lot of work." Mused Harry, "But I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to change the image of Slytherin. So, I'll try to keep the house civil."
Corvis nodded, "Good, that's all I ask. Your biggest competition will be Malfoy who could gather a lot of support through his name alone if he wanted to. But that's not what we're here to talk about."
Harry leaned forward, "Tell me about the attack."
"It's actually a fascinating tale," Mused Corvis, "First thing you must understand is that pure-blood families are generally in two camps; conservatives who want to keep with traditions and hold their power and the progressives who want a more inclusive country and care less for traditions. There's a lot of grey area in there and many families can believe in things on both sides but that is a very general view of it."
"So, it was a conservative attacking a muggle-born?" Harry asked, "What would they gain from that?"
"Because the attack was a failure." Revealed Corvis, "Creevey wasn't the target, it was the Weasley girl."
Harry's eyes widened, "So it was Malfoy! He told me his father declared the Weasleys his enemy after the raids."
Corvis laughed, "Oh, if the attack wasn't a failure, I can see that it would have been a total success!"
"What do you mean?" Asked Harry, "That doesn't make sense." He suddenly had the feeling that he was storming headfirst into a situation, similar to last year with Quirrell. He was being led… and he didn't like it.
"I mean that you instantly thinking it was Malfoy means that everyone would likely think that, after all many people know of the feud between their families."
"Someone tried to frame them." Whispered Harry in realization. The picture clearing quite a bit due to the reveal but not wholly.
"Exactly," Responded Corvis, "I don't know who personally attacked that first year, but I have a hunch about who was involved. For a few years there has been another family that hasn't been friendly with the Malfoys."
Harry slapped his forehead, "Nott, of course! So, Nott was trying to bring down the Malfoys by attacking the youngest member of the Malfoy's most public enemy. Nott didn't want to be liable in the attack, so he had someone else attack, but Weasley was held back by Lockhart so it wasn't possible, so the attacker decided to go through with it on a muggle-born and try to frame me."
Corvis clapped, "That's the conclusion I arrived at as well. But all I know for sure is that a friend in Gryffindor told me that Colin heard the attacker curse that it was a failure before he was cursed. I don't have solid proof it was Nott but that seems to be the logical conclusion."
Harry frowned, "I don't think it was Nott, likely he was giving orders on behalf of his father, but I don't think he did it personally. I overhead the Professors talking about the curse, it was a dark form of the Petrificus Totalus, and they believed that while a strong fourth year could cast it, it was likely a fifth year."
"Interesting." Said Corvis, "I supposed we can work together to uncover this mystery. I want whoever did the attack, under orders or not, out of Slytherin before I graduate! I don't want them sullying this house with their personal nonsense!"
As Corvis spoke his frame became darker as his magic reacted to his fury. There were no overt effects on the room or even Harry himself, it was just that his silhouette became darker and it made his anger far more visible. It honestly impressed Harry that his magic was strong enough to have a visible effect when he wasn't casting any magic. Harry felt his respect of the seventh year leader rise a bit.
"I'll do my best to learn more." Harry said after a moment, "It might be easier for people in my year to learn more now that I think about. No one expects a second year to be up to something like that."
Corvis nodded, "If you learn anything substantial send me a letter, we don't want anyone tipped off that we're working together on this. It would cause problems if Slytherin found out that I was the one stopping a lot of schemes over the years." He said gravely.
"Understood." Harry responded in kind, "I certainly don't want that."
Hogwarts – February 20. 1992
On the way to Transfiguration with the Gryffindors Harry frowned as he watched everyone either enter the room without looking at him or glare at him before following the rest.
So far, the Gryffindors could be broken into two groups. One led by Longbottom, who believed that he was either involved or directly responsible for Colin's attack. Harry called them, in true Snape fashion, the Dunderheads. The other group wasn't led by anyone, but it consisted of the girls and Ron, much to his surprise that the Weasley wouldn't side with his buddy Longbottom. Harry referred to this group as the Free Thinkers.
"Take your seats!" Ordered McGonagall while whipping her wand back and forth to clear the damage of the last class, "We have a busy day, I will be going over material for the final exams. Which you all would do well to begin preparing for! Both the written and practical portions will be much more difficult than last year!"
Groans were heard from many in Gryffindor who shrunk under their Head of Houses' stern gaze while Tracey was seen crying crocodile tears into Daphne's shoulder.
Harry didn't honestly pay too much attention but waited until the rest of the class began their independent practice to approach McGonagall who looked up at him from her desk with an arched eyebrow.
"I was hoping to ask you question regarding some more advanced Transfiguration that I've been working on." Started Harry making sure to be polite and smile, she was always more open when he smiled.
Like always she had a small twitch in the corner of her mouth to hide her smile. "And what have you been working on recently, Mr. Potter?"
"I've managed to conjure a slab of granite as big as myself. But it's a bit shoddy and could use work." He explained to her visible surprise, "I witnessed Professor Dumbledore conjure granite and his was a perfect rectangle, I was hoping to make mine cleaner and more refined."
"I will need to see it after class," She said after a bit of thought, "Though I warn you, elemental conjuration, even the most basic like this is some of the most difficult conjurations one can attempt so don't feel like you aren't where you should be because you are already several years above where you should be, in the first place. Also, try not to compare yourself to Albus, he is the most gifted wizard born in several centuries with a century of learning and experience. You have only begun your magical education." She finished with a smile.
Harry thanked her and went back to his desk, content to wait until class finished. Half-way through the class he was approached by Ron who looked like he had just swallowed a lemon.
"Listen, Potter." He said before letting out a tired breath, "I know you can do all this, and you help the other Slytherins. Can you… I need some advice."
If Harry didn't hear it himself, he would have never believed it, Ron Weasley, the boy who had decided he didn't like him the moment he was sorted into Slytherin was asking him for help in class. Looking around he noticed that Blaise couldn't keep the shock off of his face while Longbottom looked like someone slapped him.
Harry smiled, "Of course!" He said happily before taking out his wand and going through his process on transfiguring animals into goblets.
While some of the class around him listened most just went back to their own practice, most people preferred to work out things for themselves so it wasn't a surprise that they wouldn't listen.
If he were to think about it Ron likely warmed up to him or realized that his sorting didn't mean he was a bad person. After all, hearing that he saved Ginny likely shocked Ron's world view of the house system.
"So, all I've been doing wrong is focusing solely on the final product?" Asked Ron with a hand on his face, clearly frustrated at all his struggle being simple. In front of him was a perfect wart goblet that had originally been a small bird.
Harry nodded rapidly, "Yes, despite it being a Transfiguration spell, not all spells work the same! Usually in the chapter that the spell is mentioned the textbook will talk about something like that, but if you need to you can always ask me."
Ron gave him a grin and shook his head, "Yeah, will do. Thanks." He said before going back to his seat.
Harry sat back down, idly twirling his wand in thought. Ron had made some decent progress with that spell on his own despite doing it completely wrong. He had some talent buried under that undriven brain.
"What the hell was that?" Whispered Blaise in shock.
Harry shook his head, "Weasley found out that I helped his family out a while back and decided that I'm not that bad of a guy. Actually, this gives me an idea."
Blaise waited for him to continue then sighed when he didn't, "Want to share with the rest of the class?"
Harry smirked, "Nope, not yet."
The rest of the class went by without much issue, with it being one the last classes of the day everyone was tired and wanted to relax for the rest of the night. Or go pig out for dinner, really it was either or with this school.
Harry on the other hand went to finish speaking with Professor McGonagall, who was looking at him expectantly.
"Lapis Partum." Intoned Harry with a flick of his wand.
A gleaming orb of blue magic shone from the tip of his wand, unlike when he was first using the spell the orb was bright and strong. In front of him was a massive slab of granite that Harry could easily hide behind, however instead of a slab of perfectly sculpted rectangular cube of gleaming granite the edges were jagged and cracked with crumbs falling onto the ground.
Harry sighed tiredly, "This is one of the better ones I've managed."
McGonagall laughed and shook her head, "I was expecting something no bigger than the goblets were using in class! This is simply marvelous! Take twenty points Mr. Potter!" She said with a small clap of her hands.
She poked and prodded the stone with her wand for a few moments before nodding to herself.
"This is good work, the stone is solid and strong, like any normal granite. You just aren't lacking in power, astonishingly, it is you're finesse and control that is lacking. The crumbling signifies wasted magic that wasn't properly controlled for the spell." She explained.
Harry nodded and rubbed his chin, "Is there anything you recommend I do to work on my better controlling my conjuring?"
"Practice!" She beamed, something that was rare to see, "I would recommend trying to make statues, using half this amount of stone. Once the statues are prefect you should be good to go!"
An hour later Harry was back in his room thinking over the events of the last few weeks. He had, unintentionally, made connections with all three other houses. Harry only realized this after Ron approached him for help in class today.
Corvis said that he had help from people in all the houses to keep Slytherin in line. If Harry was going to try and continue his work, then he was going to need to follow his lead.
Taking out a few pieces of parchment he began writing. He would be very particular, which meant that Ron was going to stick out in the group, but he'd have to make the exception to have his link to Gryffindor.
First letter would be for Terry Boot, the Ravenclaw that was interested in a study group and was quite talented himself. Hermione would have to join as well, a bit up tight, but there was no denying her brilliance.
Susan from Hufflepuff, arguably the best wand in the house of yellow. Then Ron from Gryffindor, as well as his group from Slytherin.
It would be a majority Slytherin, but he was in the house, so he knew more people from there.
He would have Hedwig deliver all the letters personally, and the first meeting would be help in one week's time.
Hogwarts – February 27. 1993
Harry sat in a high-backed chair as he waited for everyone to arrive, he was using his study room to host everyone since it was already set up. He made more chairs and moved the room around to be able to host all eight people.
Blaise, Tracy, and Daphne entered first. All of them taking seats and continuing their idle conversation they started on the walk over.
Susan arrived next with a nervous smile but quickly sat in one of the chairs.
"Glad you came!" Harry said with a smile. "Three more are coming before we can start. This is Blaise, Tracey and Daphne if you didn't know."
The three gave her varyingly degrees of welcoming smiles. Susan nervously joined their talk and slowing calmed down.
Terry Boot and Hermione Granger arrived next, both more at ease and took seats while greeting everyone. Harry gave them both a nod and a smile.
Unsurprisingly Ron was the last to arrive. Harry made sure to mention in his invitation that the group would be half Slytherin, but no one was going to be acting on house rivalries while in the room. They were all to be in the same group while here, he told him that for two-fold. First to make sure Ron didn't get thrown off by the larger number of Slytherin students, also to make sure he didn't think people would be taunting each other because of their houses also to put him at ease.
Once Ron was seated Harry stood up.
"Thought since I know each of you, I'd throw together this study group, none of you will need much if any help with day-to-day classes so this is more to talk about things we like outside of the normal curriculum." Harry took out his wand and conjured a few birds. "I've been working on conjuration for a while."
Those outside of Slytherin were quite shocked by his ability, but Harry continued before someone could say anything.
"I want to get into dueling so most of my focus is preparing for that. I would be more than happy to work with any of you on anything you are interested in learning or practicing if I can help. I hope all of you will feel to each other as well?" Harry asked.
He received nods and grins from everyone in the room, Ron looked thrilled at the idea of learning such advanced magic and gave a dazed thumbs up.
Harry sat back down as everyone took turns talking about what they were or wanted to start learning and would like to learn will in their group meetings. The group was going exactly like he wanted, and he couldn't be happier.
He had told Blaise the goal of the group was to in fact use the others for their inside knowledge of the other houses for gossip, particularly about the attack. Harry hoped that if they both listened for information, they'd have better luck.
It was towards the end that something came up.
"Oh yeah, I heard one of the older years saying they saw someone leave class toward where the attack was by themselves." Said Susan.
Harry had to hide his smile.
End Chapter.
Been a minute but let me tell you, I got a new job a few months ago and I've been so busy that (Since I work from home on my PC) that when I get off work the last thing on my mind is getting on my laptop.
So my b for not posting in a minute but here I am!
This was a fun chapter to write, and I hope to have the next one out soon!
I'll be checking and responding to reviews if you want to have a chat about the story!