90 The Slight Time Skip

After that class, things seemed to settle down into a nice and normal routine for Harry. He did his normal spell practising and meditation Friday evening and visited with his godfather at the hospital that Saturday before his training with Amelia and her niece Susan. Amelia had a wonderful laugh at Snape's expense about the gold cauldrons and giving the priceless artifact back. She gave Harry a big hug and a slightly embarrassing kiss on the forehead to congratulate him for handling the situation as well as he did.

Harry wrote his normal letter to Bertha and even wrote one to Nicolas, with an apology to Hedwig for sending her so far again. Then he spent that evening and all of the next day with Hermione, Neville, and even some time with Ron, who had finally bought a new wand and his spell work improved by leaps and bounds, just like Neville's did.

Monday and Tuesday passed without incident, other than the normal whispers and comments behind his back. Harry barely had to point his wand at people to make them quiet now, and even managed to do what Healer Ela did by making several of them quiet without having to cast the spell on each of them. He was quite happy about that.

On Wednesday, he had a great Hedwig day. It was even better when he was walking down to the flying lesson and a blonde Slytherin girl extracted herself from the others to hang back and walked with him, Hermione, Neville, and Ron. She took out the oven mitt and Harry gasped. It really looked like a dragon's paw. The scales glittered when you turned it in the light and it felt rough. The mitt was split and two fingers went into one side and two into the other.

“That's brilliant!” Harry said as he slipped it on. “Look at this, Hermione! Rarrr!” He said and made a grabbing motion with it towards her.

Hermione let out a fake shriek of fright and they all laughed.

“Thanks a lot Daphne... I mean Greengrass.” Harry said and slipped the oven mitt off and handed it back to her.

Daphne gave him a searching look for a moment, then smiled slightly. “Daphne's fine.”

The others looked a little surprised while Harry returned the smile.

“Here's that book.” Harry said and took out the shrunken copy of the fifth year spell book.

“You shrunk it?” Daphne asked, surprised.

“It's a copy.” Harry said and cancelled the shrinking spell to make it normal sized. “Just use the general counter spell to make it bigger again.” He said and shrunk it and handed it to her.

“Thanks, Harry.” Daphne said and accepted the book and put it in her pocket. “I'll get it back to you as soon as I can.”

“Don't worry about it. You can keep it.” Harry said. “I made it for you.”

Daphne let out a little shriek, not unlike Hermione's fake one, and she stopped walking.

Ron almost walked right into her. “Oi! You can't just stop like that.”

“S-sorry.” Daphne said and started walking again. “Did you say you made this?” She asked Harry.

“Yeah.” Harry said. “Hermione's getting good at the spell, too.”

“I'm having trouble.” Neville said. “I can't keep my wand still for the time needed.”

“That's because you're too excited.” Hermione said with a laugh. “It's an advanced spell and you need to be calm.”

“That's why I can't stay calm!” Neville admitted and that made Harry and Hermione chuckle.

“At least your patronus finally took form like mine did.” Hermione said, a bit proudly. “I really like my otter! He's so cute!”

Harry laughed. “It's supposed to protect you against Dementors, not be cute!”

“Says Mister Snowy White Owl.” Hermione countered and reached out to touch Hedwig's feathers. “You better not tell me she's not cute.”

“She's beautiful.” Harry admitted and his ears went red.

“I like my barn owl, too.” Neville said. “She's not cute, though. She's deadly.”

“Why an owl?” Ron asked. “Was it because of your mum?”

Neville's eyes went right to Harry and he nodded. It was definitely his favorite and most precious memory, getting his mom back.

“How is she, anyway?” Ron asked.

“Still in the hospital with dad and Harry's godfather.” Neville said. “They said they want to bring in more healers to look at them.”

Harry shook his head. “They are just wasting time when they could be working on other patients that actually need it.”

Neville nodded. “Gran's been to see the Head Healer three times already to get them released and she said if she has to go one more time...”

“I'd like to see that meeting.” Ron said with a smile. “Neville's Gran is terrifying when she gets going.”

“How would you know that?” Hermione asked.

“Wizarding Wireless.” Ron said and saw Harry and Hermione give him searching looks. “Dad's got this huge radio at home and he and mum listen to it all the time. Bit annoying sometimes, especially when they get to dancing.”

Harry imagined his aunt and uncle dancing and had to agree. Hermione imagined her parents doing it and thought that might actually be nice.

“They talk about prominent witches and wizards all the time, too.” Ron said and started to describe the incident he had heard about Neville's Gran, Augusta Longbottom.

Daphne walked along with them in silence as her mind reeled from them talking about OWL and NEWT level spells like they were common spells that everyone could cast. Her hand felt the small book in the pocket of her robes and she wondered what other books Harry had and what else he knew about magic.

She had been dismissive of him, just like everyone else, especially when he had gotten two weeks of detention and cleaned the floors she walked on. She knew that had been a mistake, as was joking and making fun of him. He wasn't an attention seeker, as far as she could tell, because instead of listening to all the rumors, she had watched him with her own eyes.

Daphne didn't normally give anyone a chance like that, not after she had already made up her mind about them. Usually the first impression was the right one, like her parents had taught her. She always tried to make the best first impression that she could, and she knew that Harry hadn't done that at the entrance ceremony or at the feast. Not at all. Everyone talked about it, and about him getting another week's worth of detention for something. No one knew for what, though.

It must have been really bad if it was kept such a secret. Daphne thought as the class arrived at the Quiddich field and waited for the teacher to appear. She turned and looked at Harry's soft white skin and his styled jet black hair. Her eyes tried looking for the telltale scar that he was rumored to have and she couldn't find it anywhere. They locked eyes and she blushed a little at being caught staring.

“I hide it with special cream.” Harry said, as if he knew what she was looking for.

“I didn't mean to stare.”

“It's all right. I'm used to it.” Harry said.

“All right, you lot.” Madam Hooch said as she walked onto the Quiddich field. “We're doing drills today!”

“YES!” Ron yelled and a few people laughed.

“Thank you for volunteering to go first, Mister Weasley.” Madam Hooch said and waved him forward.

Ron was actually happy to be picked first this time and listened as the teacher gave him the proper instructions, and he mounted his broom to provide the visual aid for the rest of the class.

“Very good, Mister Weasley. Ten points to Griffindor.” Madam Hooch said as he landed. “All right everyone, you saw what he did. Let's see you try to copy him.”

The class went by before everyone knew it and then Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville stayed behind to put the brooms away.

Daphne was very tempted to stay, just to see what they did after every lesson, then Pansy grabbed her arm and pulled her along with the rest of the Slytherins.

Griffindor first years had Astronomy that night and Harry, Hermione, and Neville did their work at the end and passed it in. Aurora Sinestra just shook her head with a smile as she accepted their sheets and sent them on their way.

The next day went by and then it was Friday. Double Potions class and the day they would get the results of the potions that took them two weeks to prepare and brew. Most of the class was happy with their results, then Harry got his. He stared at the crystal vial and didn't know what to say. He was stunned.

“Harry, what is it?” Hermione asked, a little worried.

“L-look.” Harry said and showed her.

Hermione let out a gasp. “That's... oh, Harry!”

“Yeah.” Harry said. He couldn't take his eyes from the potion in his hands and the large double EE on the cork. For some reason, knowing he had received 'Exceeds Expectations' in his worst class of the year so far, gave him a bit of a tingling sensation in his heart. He felt a small soft hand touch his hand and he turned to look at the light skinned and bushy brown-haired girl beside him.

“I'm so happy for you.” Hermione whispered, completely understanding his feelings, then she leaned in close and kissed his cheek.

“Th-thanks.” Harry said, his face red.

Professor Severus Snape did his best to not stare at the boy's reaction. He didn't believe that his approval was something that the boy wanted or needed... then he remembered his promise to himself to look at Harry as if he was a Slytherin. He let a brief smile appear on his face and wiped it away when he spoke.

“Today's potion is much simpler and also uses a precious ingredient that... certain methods... cannot be used on it.” Snape said.

“It's a magic ingredient?” Harry asked a bit excitedly, then his face went to a deeper red. “I'm sorry for the interruption, professor.”

Snape gave him a raised eyebrow for a second, then turned to the class. “As Mister Potter has just stated, it's an ingredient that has magical properties. Whether it is inherent in the growth of the plant alone or a product of the environment is debatable. However, it cannot be magically copied, expanded, shrunk, or transfigured.”

A soft 'ooo' sound came from some of the students, one of which was Harry.

“You must be careful in the preparation, or it will be useless for its intended purpose.” Snape said. “I will be watching you very closely...”

A few groans and one squeak responded.

“...so do not mess this up. Only so much has been provided for this class and there are no replacements.” Snape said and most of them nodded. “Now then...” He said and explained what it was, its proper preparation for this potion, and the proper handling of it.

Harry was fascinated with the entire class and performed excellently, even after having to do the calculations for the changed brew times. Both Ron and Lavender had chosen to use their normal cauldrons, so he only had to help Neville with it. Hermione was just as fast as him with her calculations and she had gotten the same answers, which meant they were both right.

The class ended and they handed in their potions. No one significantly messed up their ingredients, thanks to Snape's hovering and constantly staring at them. That hadn't bothered Harry at all, though. Like he had told Daphne before, he was used to it.

That weekend was a little different than normal, because Sirius and the Longbottoms had been discharged from the hospital on Sunday, thanks to a very successful rant and slightly explosive scene by Neville's Gran. Sirius had arranged for a room at Healer Ela's house... her room specifically... and Augusta took her son and his wife back to their home.

Neville was ecstatic that they were home and his wand would occasionally shoot out sparks when he tried casting spells with it.

“Come on, Neville! You have to concentrate!” Hermione admonished him, except that she had a huge smile on her face. She was happy for him, too.

“I can't help it.” Neville said with the smile he couldn't remove from his face, no matter how hard he tried.

“We're taking the day off.” Harry said and they looked at him. “Who wants to have a picnic by the lake?”

“That sounds like fun.” Hermione said as they gathered their books and things up. “Are you okay with using some of your food stores?”

Harry nodded. “I can always get more during mealtimes.”

“Great.” Ron said as they went back to the Griffindor Tower to put their things away. “Trying to come up with a happy memory is exhausting.”

The other three laughed and quickly put their things in their rooms and Harry picked up his trunk. They met in the common room and Lavender saw them.

“What are you guys doing?” Lavender asked.

“We're going down to the black lake to have a picnic.” Neville said.

“That sounds like fun!” Lavender said and hopped up to join them.

Pavarti sighed and stood as well. “Do you mind us coming along?”

Harry shrugged and no one objected, so they all left the common room and took the long way down to the Entrance Hall. Quite a few people noticed them and whispers started. Harry ignored them this time and went out the large oak doors. The group made their way down to the side of the lake and Hermione picked a good spot with several nice flat areas for them to rest and relax on.

Harry opened his trunk and put out the things they would need. A couple of clean bed sheets for them to sit on, a sheet for the food in the center, and then he piled out dishes and dishes of food that were easily edible with just fingers or a small fork. He added a small stack of empty plates and silverware if people wanted them, and napkins galore.

It was a great day for a picnic and they spent several hours talking, relaxing, and tossing bits of food into the water that would mysteriously disappear without a trace.

Needless to say, they all had a great time.