Chapter 067

Well, Professor Sprout was smiling. Professor McGonagall looked like she was trying to smile, but couldn't quite manage it.

Pamona Sprout was a very plump woman, with a head of messy gray hair and a kind smile. She looked like the kind of woman who had a nurturing disposition and loved the outdoors.

"Five points to all four of you," Professor Sprout said. "It is good to see students seeking friendship outside of their House."

Hannah beamed at her Head of House, while both Susan and Neville gave the woman shy but happy smiles. Harry offered his own charming smile and nodded his head graciously.

"These are your schedules," Professor McGonagall spoke up, handing both Neville and Harry their schedules while Professor Sprout gave Susan and Hannah theirs. "Have a good day, Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom."

As the two Professors walked away, Harry peered at his school schedule. "It looks like we've got Charms first, followed by Transfiguration." He looked at the two Hufflepuffs. "What about you?"

"Potions followed by Transfiguration," Hannah answered, schedule in one hand and a muffin in the other.

Harry smiled. "Looks like we'll be sharing a class together on our first day then."

"Seems so."

After breakfast, Harry and Neville said goodbye to Hannah and Susan, then made their way to the Charms classroom.

While they walked, Harry once again had to marvel at the interior of the castle. There were exactly 142 staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to jump over. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It made getting where you wanted to go very difficult, because sometimes the door or staircase or doorway that led to a certain hallway or room at one point, might not lead to that same hallway or room during another. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk.

Eventually, Harry and Neville arrived at the Charms classroom. It looked very much like a lecture hall. Instead of desks lining the room in rows up front, there were long tables with chairs set on either side of the room, with another set of tables behind those that sat on a slightly raised platform, so students in the back could see over the students in front. At the end of the room, in front of a large, glass window, sat the desk Harry assumed was for the teacher.

Harry and Neville found a spot near front, close to the teacher's desk, and idly conversed while waiting for class to start, during which more and more students arrived. Before long all the tables were filled with excitably chattering first years.

Harry immediately noticed something that bothered him about this class. The Gryffindors shared this class with Ravenclaw, clearly denoted by their differing colors. The Gryffindors all sat on the left side of the room, while the Ravenclaws had taken the right.

This would need to be corrected soon. If all went well, Harry would rectify this instinctual need for house segregation. After all, he needed more allies than just those in Gryffindor, and the best way to do that was to rid everybody of this instinctive need to befriend only those people from their own house.

Soon after all of the students had filed in, a very short man with short cropped black hair that framed either side of his face, a mustache and slightly pointed ears that vaguely reminded Harry of a goblin's walked in. Perhaps the man had some goblin blood in him.

He wore the robes that denoted him as the Head of the House of Ravenclaw; blue robes with silver trim, a vest and a large pointed hat.

The class simmered down when they realized their teacher was in the room, only to start laughing when the tiny Professor had to use a stack of books and stand on his desk to be seen by everyone. The short man didn't seem bothered by this, however, and merely smiled congenially as he waved his hands for silence.

"It is a pleasure to see you all this morning," the Professor began what looked to be his start of the term speech. "As my Ravens already know, my name is Filius Flitwick, and I will be your Charms Instructor for the duration of your stay here at Hogwarts. I hope we can all get along and have fun while learning one the main subjects we teach here. And please, do not hesitate to ask me any questions you may have. You won't learn anything if you don't ask questions."

Hhis small speech done, the diminutive professor began taking roll. Harry listened to each name as it was called, and observed those students, taking careful note of each one and keeping mental tabs on his observations. When Professor Flitwick got to Harry's name, the man gave an excited squeak and tumbled off his stack of books and out of sight, eliciting much laughter from the students.

Harry did not laugh, but he did smile. He suspected that the professor had done that on purpose to take attention away from him. It was just a hunch, and he had no real proof, but was nevertheless grateful. It was hard to learn when people were gawking at you.

Now all he had to do was see if this class met his expectations.

After Charms Harry and Neville met up with Hannah and Susan on their way to Transfiguration. After shared greetings the four entered the classroom and, at Harry's insistence, sat down together with Harry in between Susan and Neville, and Hannah taking a seat on Susan's left side. The group of newly formed friends then conversed about how their first classes went.

Many of the other students present stared at them strangely, like they were expecting some kind of scandal to happen any moment. Their wide, disbelieving eyes making it seem as if seeing people from separate houses conversing had never happened before. Harry had the feeling it most likely hadn't—not in this day and age, at least.

He was a bit curious at their shock, though. These students were all first years like him, so they shouldn't have any of the house biases others did. So why were they acting like the idea of two Hufflepuffs sitting with a pair of Gryffindors was unfathomable?

Maybe it had something to do with their parents. He didn't know, and it probably didn't matter. Harry was sure that, given time, things would change.

"Where do you think our professor is?" asked Hannah as she took a look around. Most of the desks were now filled up with students, all of them chattering excitedly—after the initial shock of seeing students from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff sitting together, most of the other students seemed to just accept it and now spoke amongst themselves. Yet she could not find their teacher.

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