Hogwarts Year 1 (Part II)
Harri was enjoying herself at Hogwarts. Granted, it had barely been a full day, but so far so good as the saying went. All the first year girls shared a dorm and bathroom as there were so few of them and she’d gotten to spend some time during their first night decorating her desk (now the proud home of a small potted glowing mushroom to remind her of home) and getting to speak with Millicent (thanks to Marnie they both already knew a bit about the other) who swiftly gave her permission to call her Millie. She had no trouble getting up in time for breakfast thanks to years of habit rising with the sun (even if she couldn't always see it) and decided to have berries mixed with yogurt and some eggs. It was nice being able to observe the other students as they slowly trickled in, most too tired to notice her looking or stare at her. She was eventually joined by the rest of her year mates and was able to relax while they worked on eating.
“You should have waited for us to go with you, Potter. Like Professor Snape said last night, it's not the safest for us to go around by ourselves, you particularly. Some of the others may take you being in Slytherin personally.”
“Thank you for the concern, Greengrass, but it was fine. I came here with a few older students. And please, call me Harri.”
“Daphne.” The blond smiled. The others were quick to also give her permission to use their first names (except for Crabbe and Goyle, but they didn’t really speak). Breakfast was coming to an end when Professor Snape glided by with their schedules and a warning to not lose them or be late to their first class.
8:30-9:30 Herbology (m), Math (t), Poké Bio (w), Math (th), Aura (f)
9:45-10:45 B.A.S (m), Herbology (t), Language (w), Poké Bio (th), Crafting (f)
11:00-12:00 Math (m), B.A.S (t), Herbology (w), Poké Bio (th), Crafting (f)
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-2:00 Aura (m), History (t), B.A.S (w), B.A.S (th), History (f)
2:15-3:15 Poké Bio (m), Crafting (t), Crafting (w), History (th), Culinary (f)
3:30-4:30 History (m), Language (t), Culinary (w), Language (th), Free (f)
Their schedule was packed, but that was to be expected, Hogwarts wasn’t considered an elite school for nothing. It looked like they had Herbology first thing, so once they were all finished with their breakfasts they went to Gemma for directions to the greenhouses. The cool morning air felt nice as they made their way across the grounds, but Harri knew it would get bitterly cold once winter arrived and absolutely wasn’t looking forward to it. They were joined shortly by the first year Ravenclaws and each group kept mostly to themselves as they waited. Professor Sprout let them in at precisely 8:30 and led them into one of the vast greenhouses. There were rows of raised beds with a myriad of plants growing in them and several that were empty. The front of the greenhouse had two rows of benches in front of a blackboard. Once they were all settled (and discovered how to flip up the wood part of their seats that became a desk) Professor Sprout dove right in.
“Welcome all to your first class at Hogwarts. Herbology, as most of you have likely surmised, is the study of the many plants that inhabit our world. In this class we will explore the different plants that can be found in Galar and the other regions. You will learn to identify what specific plants are, as well as where to find them, and what they can do. We will also be practicing growing various plants. This year our focus will primarily be on berries and as the years go by we will move onto more challenging specimens. Even if gardening isn’t your forte, what you learn in this class can be of great help in your other ones. Pokémon Care and Biology, Crafting, and Culinary class, to name a few, will all reference berries and their effects.” The rest of the class time was spent familiarizing themselves with the greenhouse, what tools were inside of it and where things were stored. Harri didn’t have the fondest memories of gardening thanks to years of being forced to do it by her Aunt, but she knew how important plants were and decided to do her best anyways.
Their next class was Pokémon Battling and Survival Training (collectively referred to as B.A.S) and was shared with Gryffindor. Although it sounded exciting, Professor Quirrell wasn’t the best teacher. He explained, through his stutter, that they would be learning the basics of pokémon battling and how to stay safe on their own against wild pokémon. The rest of the class turned into a fearful, stutter filled lecture on how running away was always the safest option. For Harri, who had lived on her own for years among wild pokémon and had trained with other gym leader heirs, the class was dreadfully boring. Next they had math with Hufflepuff followed by lunch and then Aura Use and History with Gryffindor. Professor Flitwick took roll and almost fell off his chair when he called her name. Thankfully everyone’s attention was directed back at the professor when he started the lesson.
“Before we can get into practicing calling upon and using our aura, we must first understand it.” Harri had learned a little of what Professor Flitwick was speaking about from Riley, but this was much more technical and in depth. Before the lesson ended Professor Flitwick instructed them to read through the meditation techniques listed in their text book and try them out until they found one they liked. Once they had one that worked they should meditate every night to prepare themselves for when they started to work with their aura. "Remember class, that aura is powerful and can be dangerous when misused. Any attempts to experiment with your aura before having mastered the basics can be disastrous for both yourself and those around you. Happy meditating!" Harri decided to do the reading, in case a housemate needed assistance with one of the recommended meditations, but would stick to the technique and exercises that she already knew. They had Pokémon Biology and Care with Hufflepuff next and quickly found seats under the watchful eye of Professor McGonagall.
“Pokémon,” she began, “are a privilege, not a right. They are a responsibility, not toys that can be put down when you grow bored of them. Mistreating a pokémon is grounds to have your trainer license revoked and all pokémon removed from your care. In my class, you will all be learning the proper way to care for your pokémon partners. What works for one pokémon may not work for another, even within the same species. Each individual pokémon has a unique biology that influences the type of care they need. I want everyone to scan their starter to learn their nature. Once you’ve done that you may use the textbook to research and make note of how their nature affects them. I will be making rounds to answer questions and assist as needed.” Harri scanned Ghost and discovered his nature was Mild. According to her textbook that meant his special attack was increased, his defense was decreased and that he preferred dry berries and disliked sour ones (the berry part wasn’t news to her, but it was interesting to learn that his nature could affect his taste preferences). McGonagall dismissed them after assigning them homework to repeat the exercise they’d done in class for each of their pokémon.
Their last class of the day was History with Hufflepuff which was taught by the absolutely ancient Professor Binns. He didn’t take attendance and barely waited until everyone was sitting before launching into the driest and most boring lecture Harri had ever heard. A look around the room confirmed she wasn’t the only one struggling to pay attention. Some of the others were even falling asleep! To stop herself from nodding off she decided to just take notes from the textbook and was surprised how much more interesting the textbook was. It actually explored the reasons behind historic events instead of just rattling off names and dates and places like Professor Binns was doing. Looked like she’d be back to self study, at least for History. Dinner was just as good as the other meals had been (she briefly wondered who was responsible for cooking everything before being distracted) and afterwards she spent time in the common room with her year mates as they worked on their Poké Bio and Aura homework (Relaxed nature with increased defense and decreased speed for Dreepy and Careful nature with increased special defense and decreased special attack for Ponyta). She was so exhausted that it was a challenge to make it through her meditation before passing out in bed.
The next day dawned bright and early and she decided to take advantage of the quiet in the dorm to meditate, stretch, and practice a few of the easier aura exercises she knew (out of respect for Professor Flitwick's wishes she wouldn't teach her year mates these exercises until they had the basics down, but she wanted to maintain her current ability). She was feeling good by the time everyone else had gotten up and they went to breakfast as a group. Their morning classes passed quickly and instead of doing what she did yesterday during history she reviewed for Crafting (Harri was mostly sure Professor Binns was blind, that or he just didn’t care that no one was paying attention, even his aura was ignoring them). Crafting was one of the classes she was looking forward to the most. When she’d lived in the Wild Area, using berries to heal and clear status effects had been essential and something she’d learned from watching wild pokémon. It was exciting to learn how she could take her knowledge a step further, plus it was always useful to know how to make items. Being able to be self-sufficient was worth more than all the Poké in the world.
Crafting was held in the dungeons and they shared it with Gryffindor. They were muttering worriedly about how hard a teacher Professor Snape was. The Slytherins had been warned by the upper years that their head of house didn’t tolerate fooling around in his class and that he could be particularly harsh with the other houses. He did make an intimidating figure in his black robe-like clothing as he let them into the classroom. The space was lit by glowing crystals and the walls held shelves laden with different types of wood, rock, metal, and plant life in jars as well as various containers of fur, claw pieces, and other mysterious components. They sat down two to a table as he took attendance and looked at each person as they responded to their name being called, matching name to face.
“There will be no need for pokémon to perform moves or for aura to be used in this class. I don’t expect many of you will really understand the beauty of crafting, of taking raw elements and using skill alone to turn them into something new. A well crafted item could mean the difference between life and death. I will show you all how to make things in the way our ancestors did when they first began training pokémon – if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.” He looked them all over before his eyes snapped to her. “Potter!” he barked, “What would I get if I added a Pep-Up Plant to an infusion of Oran Berry and Medicinal Leek?”
“A Super Potion, Sir.” She answered after a moment's thought. The recipe for a regular Potion, made from combining an Oran Berry with a Medicinal Leek, was in their textbook and it was mentioned that a Super Potion could be made by adding a Pep-Up Plant to the standard Potion (she was very glad she’d taken the time to review the textbook earlier). He nodded before turning his attention elsewhere.
“Brown! What Berry would you give a pokémon suffering from poisoning?” She shook her head in confusion as Professor Snape sneered. “Greengrass, same question.”
“A Pecha Berry, Sir.” He nodded in approval
“Five points to Slytherin for each correct answer. Now turn to page four and start taking notes on the proper way to prepare the ingredients for a basic Potion.” The rest of the class passed with Professor Snape checking everyone's notes and the practice they were doing while offering criticisms. He was definitely harsher with the Gryffindors than he was with her fellow Slytherins, but he seemed to ignore her. She exchanged a confused look with Millie before shrugging and continuing to practice. When it was time for class to end Professor Snape reminded them that he wouldn’t allow them to leave until their stations had been properly cleaned (forcing a few Gryffindors, as well as Crabbe and Goyle, to do it again). Then it was off to their respective Language classes. While each region spoke common, they each had a regional language from the time before the regions had contact with one another. Harri had decided to study Sinnohan as she already knew a little thanks to spending time with Riley (she was also trying to teach herself Paldean as they were in the process of formally joining the Interregional League Conference and she thought it would come in handy, but it was proving tricky).
The rest of the week past similarly (they had their first Culinary class on Wednesday, it was cool to actually have recipes to try and make instead of just winging it like she’d done in the past) and she was happy to report to Allister, Marnie, and Opal that she was having a good time so far. Harri did have to admit to missing being able to visit them and train. B.A.S just wasn’t doing it for her. It was a good thing that the school’s clubs and sports were going to be open for joining after next week. She was going to need something besides school work to occupy herself.
* * * * * *
The weekend of their second week at Hogwarts brought with it the school’s annual club and sport fair. They were all spread out over the grounds for students to visit as they pleased. People and pokémon were everywhere as everyone wandered around looking at all the different activities. Harri was looking around with Millie, Daphne, and Tracey (their original group had also contained Draco, Pansy, Theo and Blaise, but they’d split off a little earlier) when she spotted Ron at the table for the Bug Catchers Club. She waved at him before they moved past the more club heavy area towards the more spread out sport area. It quickly became clear why there was so much more space for the various sports as they all seemed to be having exhibition matches. Battles tactics and contest worthy moves were on full display while other tables advertised training dates for the yearly races and competitions the school held. This was what Harri had been looking forward to!
She was disappointed to learn that there wasn’t a Battle or Contest club, (apparently they used to have one, but since students could take the Gym Challenge or Contest Circuit classes as an elective starting their 3rd year it was decided that those clubs weren’t needed), and let the other girls drag her to where the Royal Raid teams were practicing. Harri had to suppress a giggle at how some of the pokémon were launching their attacks into thin air. In an actual Royal Raid they would be targeting the Dynamaxed pokémon, hence why the attacks were being aimed so far up, but during practice they couldn’t have a Dynamaxed pokémon just wandering around and battling in the open. The longer they lingered to watch, the more impressed Harri became with the various Royal Raid teams. No matter which position the trainer and pokémon pairs held there was so much to do and keep track of. Offense and defense had to occur simultaneously and teamwork was clearly the name of the game. Only second years and up were eligible to sign up for tryouts, but anyone could put their name down to attend their house team’s practices (it was good training for the team to face a variety of pokémon and battling styles and it let them get future members ready for actual games).
Daphne and Tracey lingered to watch the practice while Millie and Harri wandered off. They stopped to watch a few people take runs at the Pokémon Sled Jump, oohing and aahing at the stunning moves on display, before wandering over to the Pokéringer exhibition matches. The raised stands were a pain to climb up to ( so many stairs !), but the view from the top was worth it. Four trainers from Ravenclaw were each calling out rapid commands to their pokémon as they fought over possession of a silver metal ring.
“What do you think?” Harri asked Dreepy after letting him out to watch the fast paced action.
“Dreepy!” He performed a tight flip while cheering. They all clapped when a Tranquill managed to barely outspeed a Corvisquire and end the match by getting the ring onto the floating target. The competing trainers each shook hands after returning to the ground and four Hufflepuffs made their way into the hot air balloons to start the next match. It was even more exciting watching the match from the beginning and they all jokingly bet on who they thought would win. When the match ended Harri and Millie decided to try and find some of their yearmates to head back with. No one had been outright mean to the Slytherins around Harri so far, aside from some nasty looks, but it was better to be safe in a bigger group. They found Blaise who was happy to join them in heading back into the castle.
“Did you find anything interesting to join, Blaise?” Millie asked.
“The Sky Relay and Extreme Pokémon Race.” He smirked happily. “What about you two?”
“I thought the Pokémon Sled Jumps looked fun, but I think they usually only do that in the winter.” Millie answered.
“Maybe, but you’ll always be able to practice what moves you’ll want to do all year.” Harri said. “I’m going to try Pokéringer with Dreepy and join the Royal Raid team for practice. Even if I can’t try out yet, the training will be good. I’ve just been so bored in B.A.S.” The other two nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Professor Quirrell isn’t the best teacher. He clearly knows things, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten hired, but he’s also obviously terrified of everything.” Blaise grimaced. “Back in Alola, there’ve been rumors that Hogwarts has been having trouble keeping B.A.S. professors for years. There’s even speculation that the position’s been cursed.” He wiggled his fingers in a ‘spooky’ way while she and Millie exchanged unsure glances. They spent the rest of the walk back to their common room talking about the differences between Galar and Alola and what it was like staying with his distant cousin, Raihan.
* * * * * *
In seemingly no time at all the first month of the school year came to an end. Despite his staff’s endlessly busy schedules making planning the meeting difficult, Albus rather enjoyed the annual progress report meeting. Concerns or things of note about students could be shared with their heads of house and cross referenced with the other professors. This year’s meeting in particular looked to be interesting. Not only did they have a large group of first years from gym families, they also had a scholarship student with the highest entrance score in years in Miss Hermione Granger and the Girl-Who-Lived herself had rejoined society at large at last. He listened to the usual complaints about the Weasley Twins making mischief and confirmations that no students had made their way into the 3rd floor corridor as of yet.
“Before we end for the evening, are there any students you all have concerns for?” Albus asked and idly popped a lemon drop in his mouth.
“I have some thoughts to share about Miss Potter.” Filius admitted. Albus focused his attention on the aura master and gestured for him to go on. “After the welcoming feast, Severus came to me with concerns that Miss Potter was being affected by her aura. During our first lesson I was able to get a feel for what was going on and while it is clear that at one point her aura was affecting her, it isn’t anymore. Miss Potter has excellent control over her aura and is clearly advanced beyond much of the first year material.” Poppy, their fantastic resident Nurse Joy, leaned forward anxiously.
“You’re certain that her aura isn’t affecting her anymore? Should I have her come by for an examination?” Albus privately agreed with the sentiment of having her examined. Out of control aura could spell disaster both for Harri and those around her.
“Yes. It seems as though the sharpened canine teeth and glowing eyes are the extent of what her aura changed. There could be some extra resistance to certain aura energies, but there’s no reason to check for that now. I don’t believe an examination is necessary; she appears to be in perfect health.”
“Is the glowing mark on her forehead not from her aura then? I confess, I’d assumed it was something else her aura had done.” Minerva asked.
“No.” Severus drawled. “Draco told me that the glow comes from a cosmetic made from fungi native to the Glimwood Tangle. Potter applies it daily as a means to cover her scar. Apparently she wants to distance herself from the ‘Girl-Who-Lived’ nonsense as much as possible.” The rest of his staff broke into concerned muttering before Albus broke in by clearing his throat.
“As her head of house, have you noticed anything else we should be concerned about or made aware of?”
“No. Potter appears to be getting along with her year mates and hasn’t had any issues with the upper years so far. The prefects haven’t reported anything concerning about her studies based on the weekly monitored study sessions. She does, however,” he sneered, “insist on bowing to me after every class regardless of the looks this garners from her peers. Nothing has come of it yet, but a Gryffindor could easily take offense after a bad class.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. She bows to all of us at the end of the lesson.” Filius chimed in. “She told me that it's an Aura Guardian tradition to bow to a teacher at the end of a lesson. It’s a sign of respect. Failure to bow is tantamount to a declaration of total animosity and absolute disregard of any value in the other.”
“I’ve not heard of this before. Where did she learn of it?” Pomona questioned. Albus himself was anxious to know the answer. Petunia knew practically nothing about aura and had no way or motive of contacting someone who did unless she had changed more drastically then he’d imagined over the last decade.
“Miss Potter confessed to having met an Aura Guardian that had taken time to instruct her in using her aura.”
“Did she happen to provide the name of this Aura Guardian?” Albus asked before more muttering could break out.
“She did not and I felt it unnecessary to push.”
“Thank you, everyone, for your insight tonight. If there’s nothing else then I believe we can end things here.” Albus chatted amiably with various colleagues as they left while his mind raced. He may have to keep a closer eye on young Harri. Her being in Slytherin was one thing, she could easily end up being a positive influence for the snakes, but her attitude about being the Girl-Who-Lived was concerning. Part of the reason he’d left her with Petunia was to ensure she would be raised away from her fame, it wouldn’t do to have her with a massive ego after all, but complete disdain for her title wasn’t what he’d wanted either. He’d worried that Harri wouldn’t get the full love she deserved from her Aunt, but perhaps Petunia had changed more than he’d ever expected her to. Harri wasn’t quite humble as he’d predicted after being raised by her Aunt, there was a self assured confidence about the girl, but there was also no desire to make any use of her fame.
Albus knew better than anyone how far Tom had fallen in his desire for power, how far he’d descended into dark and depraved methods. Tom’s body hadn’t been recovered from the wreckage of the Potter’s house (although there had been enough blood for the aurors to comfortably declare him dead) and his team of pokémon had similarly vanished. Odds were good that Tom was still out there, just waiting for the chance to come back and continue what he started. When that happened, Galar would need someone to rally behind. Their current champion was strong, but champions changed regularly and Tom had killed trainers of champion strength before. If Harri refused to have anything to do with her renown as the Girl-Who-Lived things could fall into terror and chaos like last time. He would have to move carefully, slowly introduce her to the benefits of her fame. Severus would be able to help. As her head of house he was in a prime position to learn about the girl’s likes and dislikes. It should be simple enough to take that information and put it to good use.