Chapter 31

[T/N: NO MORE BONUS CHAPTERS! GOD, I'M SO IMPULSIVE!]

The beginning of the school year was exactly like any other, the first day was always full of running around, one person realizing that they had forgotten something important, another desperately looking for their summer homework, and still others who were unable to get out of bed, not used to getting up so early. Then there were the poor first years who were more lost than anything else.

For Harry and his friends, it wasn't much different from the previous ones either, in fact, they did the exact same routines. They got up, packed their bags, and then went to breakfast to receive their timetables. In fact, it was the same as the previous year, except that Harry instead of receiving the third year timetable, he found the sixth year one... there were the same typical murmurs of those students who compared their timetables, or in some cases, they checked to see when they had a specific class (Potions) or which house they had a certain class with.

So, in other words, a normal start to the year.... breakfast was soon filled with fun and cheerful conversations.

"What do you think classes will be like this year?" asked Susan Bones, one of Harry's housemates.

"No idea. Who knows.... we've never had any of the new subjects we're getting starting this year..." Answered another classmate.

"If you want, I could tell you something about them," Harry said softly. "I've had some of the Professors and they've told me about others."

"Really? What is the Arithmancy Professor like?"

"Her name is Professor Sinistra, and from what I've been told she's quite good, her classes are entertaining."

"Ancient Runes."

"Professor Literius. Interesting classes, very good Professor."

"Care of Magical Creatures."

"No idea, they have changed professors, Professor Kethelburn retired in June."

"Muggle Studies"

"It's nice, but the class material is outdated..."

"Fortune telling."

" Ugh! Horrible. Professor Trelawney is a fraud. She is dedicated to giving death predictions to the poor student she has chosen during that year.... 'mysteriously' none of the 14 students have died yet."

Here almost everyone gave a few nervous laughs, although obviously, the students who were going to have that subject were not very happy. After that, everyone went to their classrooms in order to officially start the school year...

Harry had Potions and he knew he was going to enjoy that class by far.... he liked Potions, just as his grades and experiments should have shown throughout the courses he had been at school of course, Professor Snape had noticed this and that was why he not only let him do it but also, in itself, demanded the best he could give.... although if he had known what the boy's true ability was, perhaps he would have asked for much more.

It wasn't hard for his Professors to see that what they were teaching him wasn't a challenge for the boy, who didn't seem bored, but it didn't seem like it was an excessive effort either. To tell the truth, more than one Professor thought that he already knew what they were teaching him, no matter how strange it might sound. It was towards the end of the second week of the course when Professor Snape himself confronted him about this subject.

"Mr. Potter, can you tell me if you have been studying during the summer months?"

"Yes sir."

"And can you tell me exactly how far you have studied your material?"

"Up to Dorîun healing potion...."

"That's almost the end of the syllabus! " The Professor was surprised.

"I know, sir."

"Would you also know how to do it practically?"

"I don't know sir. I couldn't practice them all during the summer... Some of them, but not all of them."

The man remained silent for a few moments then nodded thoughtfully, before giving him a vague wave of his hand in dismissal. Taking the hint, Harry left the dungeons as quickly as possible, lest the man change his mind and decide he wanted to do some more research into what he was capable of in Potions.... he didn't want him to find out about his experiments, as well as his improvement of the Wolfbane potion.... and he knew that if he kept asking, sooner or later he would get it out of him.

For his part, Snape remained completely oblivious to his student's thoughts and concerns. His mind was focused on the small detail of where he had gotten to in the syllabus while he was on vacation.... that meant they couldn't continue with the planned plan, he would have to talk about it at the next staff meeting, something would have to be done about it.

The Professors, like in any school, whether Muggle or magical, met every week in order to talk about different topics that occurred in a school.... from the need for new tables in the classroom and charms, to what happened to such students during the lesson.... so, Snape did not have to wait long to be able to speak with his colleagues, as was intended, in fact, he only had to wait until two days later, which was when it was scheduled.

Also, just like in any school, at that time when the school year had just started, there were very few topics related to the students to discuss, but rather, issues of materials and budget.... It was for this reason that it was a bit of a surprise for everyone (or rather, to Dumbledore's surprise) when the potions master raised a topic that was already quite common at any meeting, Harry Potter.

"Well, Severus, what do you have to talk to us about? " the Headmaster asked with his usual kind and pleasant expression.

"Potter's of course."

"Brian?"

"That self centered idiot? No, of course not. The other Potter, Harry."

"Harry? Why? " The surprise he showed was so strange, that almost everyone looked at him with satisfaction, it was so damn weird to see him...

" Because it's needed.... his results in class are excellent, his knowledge of the subject is magnificent. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has seen all this...

"No, the rest of us have seen it too," Flitwick muttered. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he's already learned the entire sixth grade curriculum."

"Why couldn't he?" Professor Sprout asked, offended for her student.

"Pomona... " Flitwick began very carefully, an angry Hufflepuff was very dangerous. "I don't doubt your student's abilities, on the contrary. I'm just saying that the holidays are over and as much as he studied, he must have enjoyed them too."

"Well, I'm sorry to say you're wrong, Filius," Snape said, not at all sorry. "The boy has studied over the summer, and must have done quite a bit of it."

"How do you know?" the tiny professor asked in astonishment.

"I asked him, of course," said the professor mused. "I asked him how far he had gotten in the syllabus... He answered that he had gotten up to the Dormîum potion, although he had not been able to practice it."

"But that's practically the end of the syllabus! " Professor McGonagall was startled " What has he been doing all summer? Studying? Has he done nothing but study?"

"Apparently...." Pomona Sprout muttered. "So, what do you propose?"

"Obviously we can't continue with the same curriculum.... it would be completely pointless, since he has already studied it on his own. " Said the potions master looking at the rest of his colleagues " What I think is that we should bring forward the whole program. The boy knows the theory, so why bore him with it again? Let's make him have his practical classes, which is what he hasn't been able to develop because he is a minor, and let's bring forward his exams.... instead of waiting for Christmas, let them be on Halloween."

"You're joking, right? " McGonagall said with a look of disbelief. " Making the boy have his exams in just over a month is almost asking for him to fail... He has practically half the course to learn!"

"Now, Minerva, you know as well as I do that the boy knows his theory, about the basics of performing spells, transformations, and curses, the only thing that stops him is that he has not been able to practice during the summer because of that stupid law about restricting magic to minors. You know it and so do the others. It shouldn't surprise you that he himself practices the spell outside of class hours, increasing his knowledge and decreasing our work... So, why not bring him forward?"

"Putting it like that, he has a point," Flitwick murmured. "It usually takes three or four classes for the students to know how to perform a spell with young Mr. Potter needing two or sometimes one.... nowadays, in a single class he can assimilate three to four different spells.... I think he may be perfectly prepared for Halloween."

Little by little, all the Professors present gave their confirmation to these words, and finally, it was agreed that their exams would be brought forward to Halloween, all this without paying any attention to the Headmaster who looked at the conversation in disbelief at seeing himself ignored in such a way. In fact, as his Professors spoke, his frown intensified.... in the end, he jumped up angrily.

"That's enough! This meeting was supposed to be about much more important things!"

"More important than encouraging a student who could be considered a prodigy? " Professor Flitwick was surprised.

"What prodigy, what eight quarters!? Harry Potter is no prodigy!"

"So what is it? He's one of the most intelligent and magically versed boys I've ever seen in all my years as a Professor at this school... And I'm not just saying that because I'm his Head of House!"

"I won't deny that Harry is a clever boy," said the headmaster, somewhat calmer, but still angry. "But Harry is not the student you should be concentrating on...."

"And who would that student be?" McGonagall asked. "His brother Brian? Young Mr. Potter is an average, average student.... he has abilities in some areas and zero abilities in others.... You can't possibly tell us to put aside a student of exceptional ability, in favor of an average student at most."

"Perhaps if you paid a little more attention to him.... " the Headmaster began. "He would display abilities that none of us can even imagine."

[T/N: If this was a H*ntai I would say Brian brain F*cked albus and his parents into sl*ves]

All the Professors looked at him in disbelief.... they couldn't understand why the headmaster was defending the youngest of the Potter brothers so much, it couldn't be because he liked the family because if not, he wouldn't encourage the differentiation between the two brothers... During the previous year, the old man had strongly urged them to let the boy's rude and self-centered behavior go and they listened to him, when Brian went further and hit his brother without any provocation, he excused him! And the worst thing was that it wasn't just the headmaster, but the boys' parents who were encouraging such behavior.

"There's something I don't understand, Albus. "Snape began. "It's why you defend the youngest Potter in such a way?"

"I don't know what you mean, Severus."

"No? Your defense of Brian Potter is unnatural, nor is it natural for you to excuse the boy's behavior towards his brother... I have never seen you do such a thing without any reason, and I would like.... or rather, we would like you to explain your motivations to us."

The old man looked at all his assembled staff and saw in all of them curiosity and at the same time incomprehension. He sighed with discouragement, knowing that on this occasion half answers would not do.... no, they wanted the full truth and he would have no choice but to give it to them.... with a bit of luck they would see his point of view and help him a bit more.

"Okay, I'll tell you.... but you must swear to me that this information cannot leave these walls... No one else must know and let it be known that I'm telling you this essentially because I trust you completely."

"Stop beating around the bush, Albus.... tell us why all this is happening. " McGonagall said, exasperated.

"About twelve years ago, a prophecy was made about the defeat of the Dark Lord.... "Seeing the expressions of disbelief, he added. "I assure you that it was completely true, I heard it myself and I can attest to its authenticity. In the prophecy, it spoke of a baby who would have supernatural powers and was referred to as the white phoenix. At the same time that it spoke to us of the child, it informed us of some conditions to find it and the Potters were the only ones who met the characteristics.... Barely two hours later, Brian was born, thus carrying out all the steps."

There was a deep silence throughout the staff room, as everyone stared at the old man in stupefaction. Of course, the silence continued until the potion master decided to break it with a snort of contempt, earning glances from all his classmates.

" Are you telling me that that spoiled, self-centered brat is our only hope of defeating the Dark Lord? " He asked with a sneer on his face " Merlin protect us all, because we are doomed."

"Severus! The prophecy is very clear, the boy possesses powers that we can only imagine, he just needs some encouragement to begin to show them."

"The boy is a complete incompetent, he is incapable of making the simplest potion. " The professor said. " I for one do not intend to change the way I treat them both. Harry Potter is talented, Brian Potter is not " The man sentenced. " Besides, that has nothing to do with the simple fact that the eldest of the Potter brothers has practically finished the sixth year syllabus and it is best that he takes the exams as soon as possible."

Eventually, despite the headmaster's protests, it was agreed that the eldest Potter boy's exams would be brought forward to Halloween, and not a single Professor could overcome his ability to pass them with good grades.

[T/N: Albus, you F*ck drunk fool. This was an informative chapter for the Professors, at least they know why Albus is such a quack and know to ignore him more often now. If you enjoyed this chapter then drop some stones, leave a comment, and write a review. If you want to read some advanced chapters then check out the P@treon or the Ko-fi.]

-------------------

[p@treon.com/PuddingLord]- Replace "@" with "a"

[ko-fi.com/puddinglord]