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 19: The First Classes Part 2
"What is a cat doing here?" Seamus asked.
"That looks like an old cat, it must be lost or something." Ron chuckled.
"Did the room get colder all of a sudden?" Hermione looked around.
The cat jumped in the air while transforming back to her human shape.
The students gasped in shock.
"What kind of magic is that!?" Hermione stared at the professor with eyes full of wonder.
Professor McGonagall towered over Ron with an expression so severe and stern that made the boy shake uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry for being an old cat, Mister Weasley," she said with an icy tone.
"P-proffesor, w-we- we were just…" Ron stammered the words.
"Late" The professor interrupted.
"You were late. Perhaps I should turn the three of you into clocks, with the hope that at least one of you would be on time."
"But, Professor, we got lost!" cried Seamus.
"A map, perhaps would be more appropriate then. "
She pointed to the chairs.
"Go sit down. Next time be sure to arrive on time or I will start to take points and give detentions."
Once the class started properly, McGonagall distributed wooden matches to all the students before explaining the wand movements and incantation of the spell they were about to practice. Turning a wooden matchstick into a metal needle.
"This is one of the most basic of transfigurations, but don't let that fool you. It is still a complex piece of magic for a first year."
"I would consider it a success if you manage to perform a perfect transfiguration by the end of the school year."
"For today, we will focus on practicing the incantation and wand movements. You must repeat these until it becomes as natural to you as breathing."
The professor then gave them some time to practice while she walked around the class, observing them and correcting mistakes when necessary.
Harry took his wand out of his robe pocket and reminded himself to add a wand holster to his shopping list.
He held the wand out and observed it. He had to admit that it was quite a beautiful wand. It was made of ivory, so it was completely black with a nice shine to it and many intricate carvings on its surface.
His connexion with the wand was very strong already but from what he remembers of wand lore, wands made with ivory will only become truly bonded to its master after surpassing some dangerous ordeal together. Once that happens, the wand will never answer to anyone else but its master.
Harry moved the wand around while absentmindedly following the professor's instruction.
"Those are some fine moves, Mister Potter."
McGonagall approached his seat.
"Perhaps you are ready to give it a try. Remember, besides the wand movements and incantations, you need to create a very clear mental image of your objective. In this case, a metal needle. "
She gave him a gesture of 'Go on'.
Harry thought for a moment about how much ability he should show. It wasn't just a matter of not wanting to abuse his unique position to obtain good grades and be labeled a genius.
He knew next to nothing about this world and didn't know who he could trust.
Perhaps McGonagall was a spy for the Dark Lord here instead of Snape, as silly as that idea could sound.
'Until I gain more information about what is going on in this school, is better if I try to lay low.' he decided.
His eyes focused on the matchstick, his hand performed the correct movements and he spoke the correct incantation.
The matchstick starts to change shape before the attentive gaze of the professor.
"Oh," McGonagall spoke with a tinge of disappointment.
The matchstick had turned into a perfect needle but it was still made of wood.
"That was a really good first attempt, Mister Potter. Your father was one of my best students, perhaps you have inherited some of his talent." The professor said with a smile, but he could tell that was expecting more of him.
"I did it!" Shouted Hermione from her seat next to him.
The professor looked at her table and saw a metal needle sitting on top. The shape was far from perfect but it was a success.
"Congratulations, Miss Granger. Twenty points for Gryffindor!"
Hermione smiled proudly.
<><><><><><><>
The last class of the day was a lot less desirable.
The moment Harry set foot in the dungeons, he started to remember all the terrible moments he had in this place under the tutelage of Snape.
"Put your wands away!, you won't need them in my class." Were the welcoming words of their professor.
After everyone was done taking their seats, Professor Snape regaled them with his introduction to potions, and how they could be used to snare the senses all of that.
Harry wondered if he said the same to all the first-year students.
The mental image of Snape rehearsing the speech in front of a mirror in his dark dungeon moving his cape around, ended up drawing a smile on his face.
"What is so amusing, Mister Potter?" The professor asked coldly.
He looked at Snape but avoided the eyes. His occlumency shields are strong enough to withstand a passive attack from someone like the potion professor but are not complete enough to hide their existence.
And if Snape finds out that he has a strong occlumency shield, that could raise some questions.
This was just one more thing to work on during this year.
"Nothing important, Professor." He answered.
"You are right about that, Mister Potter. Because from the beginning to the end of my class, there is nothing more important than paying attention to what I say! is that clear?" He slammed his hand against Harry's table.
"Yes, sir. Of course." Harry answered with an innocent smile that seemed to anger him further.
Snape walked around the classroom.
"Why don't we start with a quick quiz? Can someone tell me what the potion, Felix Felicis is commonly known as?...."
Hermione's hand was already up.
Snape looked around.
"Let's see who can answer this…Mister Potter, what about you?!"