18 Chapter 18: The first classes

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 18: The first classes

The rest of the sorting went or less the same way as he remembers, and then, they were able to enjoy the feast.

One big difference this time was the lack of any strange warnings about forbidden corridors by the Headmaster.

Over the years, Harry had become convinced that some of the many 'adventures' he had at Hogwarts were events that, if not fully, were at least partially planned by Dumbledore as a way to test him or prepare him for his inevitable confrontation with Voldemort.

Thankfully, after his fourth year and the resurrection of the Dark Lord, the old Headmaster decided to stop playing his games and decided to give him some proper training. But he cannot help but wonder how different could things have been if the old man had taken his preparation more seriously from the beginning.

And now he could not help but wonder what this alternate version of the Headmaster had planned for Neville.

"Pass me those potatoes!" 

His train of thought was interrupted when Ron shoved him to gain his attention.

The little redhead boy was plowing food in his mouth like this was his last day on earth.

To his other side was Hermione, who was watching in horror at Ron.

"How can you eat like that?!. At least close your mouth to chew!"

Ron gave her a furious glare.

"Leave me alone!, I'm hungry" The boy said with his mouth full of food.

"We would like to apologize for our little brother's behavior." A couple of redhead twins said at the same time. They were sitting in front of them.

"You are brothers?" Asked Hermione.

"Oh yes, there are a lot of us!"

"Seven in total."

The twins said.

"Seven!. And are they all here?." She asked.

"Our two eldest have already graduated and our youngest sister will be attending next year."

"But you have Percy over there." One of the twins pointed.

"He is a prefect, by the way." He ended with a mocking tone.

Percy, who was sitting next to the corner of the table, did not seem amused at all.

"Fred, George!, you will show me some proper respect. I am a prefect!"

"And you were saying that this is your fault how?" As soon as Harry spoke, a half-eaten potato landed on his plate. He placed down his fork and stared at it with disgust.

"Are you going to eat that?" Ron pointed at the half-eaten food in his place.

"No…go ahead." Harry had to hold back the desire to puke. 

His eyes moved to the twins.

The brothers returned an apologetic look.

"Yeah, well…we may have performed a few pranks with his food in the past."

"Nothing harmful, just some color-changing potions, some transfigured insects, or the itching powder we put last week in his breakfast."

"That's awful! he is your little brother!" Exclaimed Hermione.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad. Just a few pranks."

"Yeah, Ronnie is just overreacting a bit."

The twins chuckled.

"So now he eats everything quick as to prevent you from messing with his food…" Harry concluded.

Most of the table was more focused on Neville. He was sitting between Hermione and Seamus.

The boy was drilling poor Neville with questions and this one was too shy to tell him to shut up, so he just answered in the briefest manner he could.

Harry's attention moved to a conversation between two older boys. They were talking about the new professor of defense.

"Do you know anything about him? Has he been a teacher in Hogwarts before?"

"Not much to be honest. All I heard is that his name is Keshav Nayar and he is from India."

"That's not much…what kind of teacher do you think he is going to be?"

"He seems tough…he reminds me of Professor Snape."

"Ugg, please no! We don't need two of those!"

The two boys continue to talk for a while.

Harry could not help but have a bad feeling about this new professor. If Voldemort was planning on making any move against Neville or Dumbledore this year. The most logical way, would be, to make use of the spot for a defense teacher that changes every year.

<><><><><><><>

After a good night of rest, it was finally time to start their classes.

Herbology and history of magic before lunch followed by transfiguration and potions.

He was not looking forward to that last one.

Harry has never been fond of potions and the one to blame was mostly, his professor…Snape.

When arriving at Hogwarts, he thought that maybe, since his mother was still alive this time around, the man would be less bitter towards him. But the look he received from the man the day before, told him everything he needed to know.

If anything, Snape seems to despise him even more.

'That's going to be fun'' He thought.

<><><><><><><>

The first class was as boring as always. Whoever thought it was a good idea to start the week with one hour of History of Magic deserves some heavy punishment.

The only one who enjoyed herbology was Neville. This was the one time when the 'boy who lived' seemed confident and happy.

Then it was time for transfiguration. This was without a doubt, his favorite branch of magic. Is extremely versatile in combat and he has always had a natural talent for it.

He sat down next to Hermione and waited. The professor was sitting on her desk, using her cat form and she didn't look happy.

"Where are they? is already time to start the class." Hermione stared at the entrance door.

"And where is the professor?"

The three missing students stumbled carefully into the classroom.

"Oh, looks like we made it in time! the professor isn't here yet." Said Ron in between heavy breaths.

"We would have made it in time if we didn't follow you!" Shouted Seamus.

"uh…guys?" Neville stared at the cat with a nervous expression.

"That cat is staring at us and he doesn't look happy."