Chapter 081

"Actually," Harry corrected Hannah with a small smile. "Hufflepuff is the House of hard work. So if anything, you should be more than happy to do your homework first and to the best of your abilities." Hannah just pouted at him, prompting a few mild chuckles from the others.

"Speaking of homework," Neville added as he looked at the blank parchment that he would be using to write his potions essay. "We should probably get started on ours."

"Right."

Harry's three friends quickly settled down and began to work. Susan dipped her quill into her ink jar and began dutifully writing on her parchment, using the book in front of her as a reference. Hannah looked at her own sheet, chewing on the tip of her quill and appearin lost on how best to get started. Surprisingly enough, Neville seemed to be doing decently and had already started writing.

Terry and Lisa proved their position as Ravenclaws quite well by burying themselves in their books and parchment the moment introductions were over. Harry wondered if this was just how they were, or if perhaps their personalities were already becoming subsumed by what was expected of them as Ravenclaws. He thought it far too early for them to have completely conformed to their house standards, but couldn't say for sure. For all he knew, they could just want to get their homework out of the way as expediently as possible.

Soon the sound of quills scribbling on parchment filled the table as everyone started working. Harry watched the others for a moment before getting out a book of his own, though it was not any of the school books, but instead the one Professor McGonagall had given him.

He started to read, allowing himself to get lost within the knowledge contained in the pages. Out of his peripheral, he saw Lisa and Terry occasionally looking up from their work to give him inquiring glances. He offered them his best friendly smile when they did, which caused Terry to look down at his work and Lisa to blush as she followed her fellow Ravenclaw's example. They both seemed curious about him, but were unsure of how to speak to him.

Hannah on the other hand, had no trouble talking. The girl seemed to be having trouble with her assignment and, after nibbling on her quill, looked up to see Harry not only not doing any homework, but also reading a book she didn't recognize. Naturally, she was curious.

"Wasn't the whole point of coming up here to finish our homework?" she asked, looking torn between pouting and glaring. "Why aren't you doing your homework?"

"I'm already done." Harry smiled and flipped another page in his book. His words caused everyone else to look at him in surprise. Lisa and Terry seemed especially surprised that someone had already finished their homework. "That's part of the reason I wanted you guys to finish your work as well, that way none of us have to worry about it, and we can spend the rest of the weekend exploring the castle."

Hannah's mouth formed into a tiny 'o' of surprise and her eyes widened a bit. The others didn't look much better. Lisa and Terry both gaped at him; Susan also stared at him in surprise, and perhaps even a bit of admiration; Neville, on the other hand, furrowed his brow in thought.

"When did you have time to finish your homework?" he asked curiously, eyes squinting as he strained to see if he could remember seeing Harry ever do his homework before.

"This morning," Harry answered. "Before you and the others woke up."

"Oh..." Neville blinked, then just seemed to accept his eccentric friends words. "Well, you do wake up pretty early. You're always gone whenever I wake up."

"I've always been an early riser," Harry said in agreement. "I suppose I just have more energy than most, and I don't like lazing around when I can use that time to do something productive."

"If you're finished with your homework, do you think you can help me with mine?" asked Hannah, looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

Harry carefully closed his book and set it on the table.

"I don't see why not," he said, standing up and walking over to Hannah. He stopped beside her and leaned down a bit to see what she had written. It was currently blank, though the potions book sitting next to her let him know what she was working. Still, for the sake of starting the girl along, he asked, "so what are you working on?"

"Potions," Hannah said. "Professor Snape wants us to write a one-foot paper on the Boil Cure Potion."

"He gave us that assignment as well," Harry said, hunkering down and beginning to help her by explaining the best way to write an essay. He didn't tell her anything about the potion itself, as that not only wouldn't help her, but may be considered cheating if she wrote down what he said verbatim. He wouldn't put it past Snape to spot something like that and dock points for cheating. Instead, he told her how best to organize her essay and allowed her to write down the information in her own words.

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