Chapter 27: First Year (END)

"Finite incantatem," Harry cast at the wooden spoon that he'd animated to dance. It dropped dead onto the table and the next thing Harry did was cast a colour-changing spell at it. He was running through all his spells and seeing if he could cancel them with the cancellation incantation."I'm glad you're having fun," Penny grumbled from where she was flitting between several different cauldrons, stirring there, preparing an ingredient there."Thanks," Harry said and cast the spell again, frowning as he watched it strip off only half of the red colour he'd inflicted upon the wooden spoon. It wasn't a difficult spell to learn. After all, it was taught in the second year. It was hard to master though. It essentially disrupted the connection a spell had to its target for less than a second, probably less than a millisecond, dissipating it through the fact that the spell fizzled out when it didn't have anything to latch on to. Essentially it was a short-circuit and while it could be applied to any spell, the amount of magic and the inflexion of the magic that it tried to affect scaled up the difficulty of casting it almost logarithmically. So while something like animation and transfiguration had been easy enough to cancel due to the fragility inherent in complexity, the colour-changing charm, which was partially an enhancement, a semi-permanent differentiation of core attributes, was harder to dissipate.The eventual goal of him learning the spell was to be able to wandlessly cast it on himself, in case he was ever affected by magic that he didn't want to be affected by again… However, the spell was proving as stubborn as the invisibility one, which he'd been struggling with at the beginning of the year, due to its scaling issues. It was worth it though, it would definitely be a worthwhile addition to his repertoire. Maybe he could ask Flitwick about improving it this summer when the man came to administer the practical part of his class skipping. The only problem with the spell was that it disrupted already existing effects and couldn't, say, be cast at a spell in itself."Done!" Penny shouted, pulling him out of his thoughts. Harry went over to the girl and quickly started helping her bottle the three potions that she'd created into vials."You're amazing," he praised her as they worked and he saw her blush red from his periphery. It made her look like a blonde tomato. It was cute."Helping you not kill everyone in the classroom has been making me improve at a fast rate," she snarked and looked away from him."I see," Harry said with a sad voice, "so you're only helping me out of self-interest, I understand." Penny gesticulated wildly at his statement but didn't manage to find the words to deny it. Harry simply rolled his eyes and clapped the girl on the shoulder. He noticed that she was a bit taller than him. "Come on, let's pack this up and leave, the train goes in an hour or so," he said with a grimace as he looked at the mess they had to clean up before they could run to the Hogwarts Express."Yeah, it's great professor Slughorn gave us the ingredients, but considering there were only so few days we had left at Hogwarts we had to work through them really fast…""I guess it's my fault as well," Harry said with a sigh, "if I was better at Potions I could have taken more of them home with me.""It's alright, we managed," Penny said with a smile as she distributed the full vials equally into their bags and Harry started blasting the room with cleaning charms. He'd gotten quite good at those. It wasn't long before the two of them exited their new practice room, which was right next to the Hufflepuff common room. They weren't even hiding what they were doing from anyone anymore, the professors, especially Slughorn, obviously approved of their extra-curricular activities. Also, the fact that their new practice room was next to the common room, meant that there were Puffs walking about to and fro everywhere, making it difficult for any Slytherin to even come close to the area, let alone bully anyone without being ganged up on.Harry started appreciating how much the Hogwarts staff seemed to be invested in his education. He guessed they were impressed by his work ethic, something surprisingly rare in a school that, once again, for emphasis, taught literal, fucking, magic."You know I'm gonna miss our Potions sessions together," Penny said as they started making their way to the Hogwarts Express, luggage in tow, "it was fun and we both got much better."What went unsaid is that Penny improved from being a student that would get straight outstanding with maybe one exceeding expectations here and there, into straight O+ territory.Meanwhile, Harry had toiled and suffered to change his probable Troll into an Acceptable. "You'll probably leave me even more in the dust if you practise a bit in the summer," Harry remarked, at which Penny nodded."I'm definitely gonna badger my whole family about brewing something with me, I'm not allowed to do it alone," she said as they got on the train. They immediately saw Cedric waving at them from a compartment filled with Puffs and went to join him. Harry stopped, though, when he saw Tonks looking out of a carriage window at the castle."Go ahead, I'll join you later," Harry told Penny, who pouted, but entered the compartment and hugged Cedric."You guys were almost late." Harry heard the boy say before the door closed. He checked in response to that and saw that the train was set to leave in five minutes. Cutting it close, he thought as he sidled up to the older girl, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed."How's it hanging?" he asked as Tonks turned to him, surprised that he'd approached her. She rubbed the back of her head and cast another down-turned look to the castle."I'm fine, I guess, although you never know with these exams. The ones you're the most confident in are the ones you fail sometimes," she said and Harry couldn't help but agree, that was also a problem he'd had… in his previous life."I appreciate the practical aspect, you get the results immediately, I hate waiting for stuff," he agreed."I can't believe I only have two more years left here," Tonks said forlornly as she swept her gaze over the flags and towers adorning the magical castle they were departing from."The most carefree time in your life, the only problem being that you waste it before you realise what you were letting slip through your fingers so unthinkingly," Harry said and the girl next to him nodded thoughtfully."Auror internship in the summer?" he asked."Nah, I tried, but they prefer students who already finished Hogwarts, or at least people who've completed their first year of N.E.W.Ts, hard to be competitive before even getting your O.W.L results and the spots are all gone after. I guess it's my last carefree summer," she said with a cute smile, finally closing her eyes as the express started and slowly left the castle behind."You should try to intern at Mungos, your mom's a mediwitch. Aurors would love to see someone with some medical experience in their squads, much faster first aid in case of a fuck-up," Harry suggested, knowing how essential and potentially lifesaving getting quick help in case of emergencies was. "Also, more likely to get an internship if you already have a reference letter from another, even if it's a different branch."Tonks groaned and opened her eyes just enough to send him a glare."That sounds stressful. I'll have to think about it," she complained and got up from where she was leaning on the window. "Anyway, see you next year, kid, have a nice summer," she said and left him hanging.Harry tilted his head as he watched her go, it didn't seem like she'd done an internship in Mungos in the original timeline. Maybe pushing her would increase her survival chances. Maybe… Or it would make her die sooner, he sighed, all changes had unintended consequences. He went to the compartment that Penny had slipped into earlier and joined the puffs just in time to hear Cedric moan."I can't believe you two are going to France while I'll be de-gnoming the garden. Where's the friendship." Harry conked the idiot on the head as he sat down next to him."You've known about it for a few months now, and you never suggested coming along, idiot. Stop bitching," he said, causing the other Puffs present to snicker."Yeah, Cedric, you bitch, stop bitching," John said with a snigger and honestly, the rest of the train ride just devolved after that.Harry shot Penny a smile when he saw that she was barely refraining from laughing. Despite all the fear of being discovered, almost dying, having his friend end up in the hospital wing… His first year at Hogwarts had been magical. He'd learned more than he ever thought he would and had developed more bonds than he'd expected. Despite the chaos, honestly, he didn't know if he'd have wanted it any other way. However, despite how amazing his first year at Hogwarts had been, he still enjoyed hugging his family and leaving the train station in the car that smelled like home. It was good to give the whole thing a break and relax for a bit, no?Dear Mr. EvansHereby enclosed are your exam results from your first year of Hogwarts. We are particularly happy to congratulate you on your scores in transfiguration and charms. We wish you a happy summer vacation,sincerely yours,the Hogwarts staff.History of Magic: EEDefence against the dark arts: OAstronomy: EEHerbology: OTransfiguration: O+Potions: EECharms: O++