Harry Potter had so many emotions running through him that without his mediation techniques that he learned over the summer his magic would be out of control. Instead, his will kept his magic tightly bound within him as he went about his normal morning routine. In doing so, his magic leaked out making his eyes grow and his movements faster. Not that he noticed. His mind was elsewhere and he was just going through his morning routine on automatic.
His morning routine included basic biological necessities, personal hygiene, and receiving a report from Winky about the status of various correspondences he had with several people he had begun during the summer. Winky would also report on the status of his various purchases. He did briefly wonder about his account. His letters to Gringotts Wizarding Bank had remain thus far unanswered, and yet, he had been able to purchase all the additional books that he needed. Which were admittedly few, as Sirius had went all out in trying to get him prepared for what they knew was coming. He had only ventured forth a few times into areas that his correspondences suggested, which were a way from Diagon Alley and Voldemort/Dumbledore's watching eyes, so he had not had a chance to visit the Goblins in-person to see why they were being so silent with him. Especially now, from his mother's books he now knew he should have been receiving bank statements from them since he was eleven. Of course, those books poked several holes in Dumbledore's so-called protection that he had at the Durleys as well.
Fortunately given his state of mind, none of his correspondences required any immediate responses that day. He had started those correspondences simply out of curiosity and had gotten great dividends back.
After finishing up and presentable, he headed for the Great Hall for breakfast. Still the information contained within those three books kept lurching through his mind. With his first and second read-through, the books had not been so bad, but once he had time to truly digest their knowledge, his emotions went through several roller coaster as he was went through the books numerous times.
He had enjoyed the various anecdotes of his mother's life. They covered such events as her first accidental magic outburst all the way to her pregnancy with him. Included in there was his mother's first dealing with puberty and various other female hygiene issues that he really wished to remain ignorant of but would need to talk more with Madam Pomfrey and Hermione to better help Hermione deal with them. He had noted that his mother had implied and Hermione had already stated that those charms that were created to help witches with their hygiene and witch'ly problems had better results when casted by the wizard in their lives than by the witches themselves. Which if he was reading between lines correctly implied that his parents had actually gotten together much earlier than the middle of their seventh year as had been reported to him by Dumbledore, Sirius, and Lupin.
While the books focused primarily upon what it meant to be a witch and what unique situations that only a witch would face, there were several chapters worth of information about the Wizardry World and its ways. Certain key transitional information about moving from the Muggle World into the Wizardry World was also provided. There was entire chapters containing basic magical theory, wand-care, wand-bonding, mediation, magic exercises, tips and tricks to dealing with various magical transportation methods, and several suggestions and recommendations on searching more information on various subjects.
He had to wonder why no one had figured out that he did not know any of this before this summer, it was required material to know prior to attending Hogwarts. Given his results over the summer, he knew he could have done so much better in all his classes had he knew what he should have then. Until this summer, he had been basically just using brute force to get by in all his classes when a bit of style and skill would have gotten him further.
The new knowledge did explain why Astrology was so important to the Wizardry World and a lot about Potion class. The phases of the Moon, positioning of the stars and planets, and other such astrological events had effects upon magic in various degrees. For the stuff taught at the OWL-level, such affects were minor and negligible, but higher level magic such things had to be taken into consideration. As for Potion class, the basic theory was simple and had much in common with cooking. You started with one or more raw ingredients which you then prepared according to the desired final result. Each state of the ingredient, be it solid, liquid or gaseous provided a different effect within the potion. Heating and cooling the ingredients had their own effects as well. It was the most straight-forwards of the Magical Arts and the easiest to understand. Basic Potion safety was also straight-forward and similar to cooking.
Hence why Snape could get away with just putting instructions upon the board instead of actually teaching it. Simply put, there was nothing more to teach but to gain experience from making the potions themselves. Yes, he was git that did not explain what a student did wrong, why it was wrong, nor he make sure proper safety precautions were followed. But all that information was already provided to the student, Snape could justify himself by saying that if a student was too lazy to perform the basics....
He had survived Potion Class merely through observation and common sense, but he had missed out several points of the class exercises simply because he was ignorant of them. He had blindly followed everyone else's lead, not knowing there were actual reasons and information to be gained from them.
There were also several magical exercises for students to practice getting in touch with their magic to help them. Exercises that himself only started to perform during the summer, finding them on his own. The books contained exercises for getting in touch with one's magic, handling emotions, and mediation which would have helped him with Snape so-called Occlumency lessons, at least, he would have given him an actual foundation to work from.
No one told him of the wand-bonding rituals that the books encouraged every witch to perform as soon as they could. Of course, those wand-bonding rituals involved a witch getting very intimate with her wand as only a witch could. Which made him curious as to what wand-bonding rituals wizards had? Not that he recalled ever heard of such among his dorm-mates.
At least, he did not think so. It did make several conversations he had in the past take on different meanings. He also wondered if he knew what he should have known before starting to Hogwarts, like everyone else had, he would have had an easier time in using his magic instead of all the brute-force method he had been using until this summer.
So many of his summer discoveries were nothing more than re-discovering what everyone else already known since before Hogwarts. Well, at least, they seem to help him a lot. No use dwelling on what have been.
The magical transportation tricks he could understand a bit as those did not come up much. Although, it seem to point to Weasleys having a not-so-nice sense of humor.
He realized that he had finally arrived at the Great Hall and noticed that it was still early so there was only a handful of students currently present. Most of those present were the early-riser crowd, who consisted mostly of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Surprisedly to him, there were also a handful of Slytherin witches present, whom he did not know, although assumed were a year above him or below him.
He was the solo Gryffindor present. No backup, and yet, that did not bother him. Nor did he feel threaten from any those present, which was a first. Although, he did notice that several of the witches were eyeing him much like how Ron would look towards the Welcoming Feast itself. That did make him a bit uncomfortable. He kept his wand ready, just to be safe.
Still, he observed that the place settings were out but there was no food on any of the tables. He also realized that he was not aware of this year's seating arrangements as they tended to shift each year. He had thought the sitting was simply "first-come, first-seated." In actuality, the seating at the House Tables was a reflection of the pecking order within the House itself, establishing a student's importance based upon magical power, wealth, family and social standing.
The House Table was divided into seven sections, one for each year, where the First-Years were the closest to the Head Table, and the Seventh-Years furthest from the teachers' views. Within each section, those of greater political, social, or financial standings would sit further from the teachers within their section. Those of greater standing could sit with the other years. At the Welcoming Feast, an exception was made for the newly First-Years to sit near the Fifth-Year Perfects to show them the way to their House.
Harry did not know about this as being was the last Potter and the Boy-Who-Lived made him practically royalty within Magical Britain. As such, he could sit where ever he wished and others would take their clue from him. Thus, when others saw him just sitting with his class-mates in the lower years, many saw this as him being humble. While others saw this action as willful defiance of tradition. These people would pointed out that he was friends with the Weasleys, a family of known for its disdain of tradition and followers of the newcomer Professor Dumbledore, who also disdain many traditions that were thousands of years old. None of the others ever thought Harry did what he did out of ignorance, as such was inconceivable to them. It was just easier to blame blamed the Weasleys for his lacking of following the traditions.
So when he went to sit at the head of the table out of a desire to not to take anyone's spot and to avoid causing any problems with others, those already in the Great Hall, and those that would come later, merely felt he was finally taken his proper place among them.
Before he could conjure a chair, an ornate chair appeared at the head of the table as if it had always been waiting for him to claim it, which it was. The chair looked regal and very comfortable, much like Dumbledore's head-chair but not as gaudy, he felt. In addition to the chair, an ornate place setting appeared with along with it. Unlike the other plates upon the table, this one was filled with his favorite breakfast foods and his goblet was filled with a fruit drink that Dobby had introduced to him over the summer.
As he stated to eat, he noted that the Slytherin witches were paying more attention to him now although they were trying to be covert about their observations. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were watching him as well as but they were not as subtle about it.
He did not understand why so many were interested in him or what the latest gossip about him was, nor did he care. So with practice of the past five years, he just ignored them and concentrated upon his breakfast.
His magical senses did tell him when Luna Lovegood entered the Great Hall. He knew somehow that she would avoid those students already seated, sit by herself alone, and as close to the teachers as she could. Knowing that and wanting to catch up with his friend, he called out to her, "Luna, sit with me."
His voice carried throughout the Great Hall. Even though he had not used a loud voice, it still easily cut through the noise of the Great Hall and was heard and felt by all. He had meant his words to be a polite request and yet they had came out as a command.
He had been giving out several commands these past couple of weeks in his dealing with Hermione. He had come to realize that she wanted, even needed, an authority figure in her life for her to be happy. And that she wanted him to be that authority figure for her. So he had become more and more authoritatively in his dealings with her, which made her happy. And apparently, it was now spilling over onto others. Still he did not see any indication that Luna was offended, if anything, he could see a genuine smile upon her face.
Luna had no problem with his order. Whether acknowledged or not, every society, any group of people, had its hierarchy. Hogwarts was no different. There was a pecking order among the students within a House, as well as an order for the over-all school itself. Even as a First-Year, Harry had been at the top of either order. That he never acknowledged it or took up his duties his position required angered many of the students and recent-graduates. Again such was blamed upon the Weasleys, wrongfully, and upon Dumbledore, rightfully.
Luna happily walked over to him and only paused when she actually got within a foot of the Gryffindor Table, clearly unsure where to sit, as to indicate her placement within Harry's court. Harry felt Luna was being shy so he motioned with his hand for her to sit next to him on his right, next to him, which along the usual length of the table. He was ignorant of the significance of the both gesture, as he was only wanting to see how his friend was and not get involved with Wizardry politics.
While Harry was ignorant, Luna was not. Never the less, she sat down next to him as she was told to do. She did look around a bit with a worrisome face. She asked, "What about Hermione?"
Luna had asked because she that everyone knew that Hermione was his right-hand witch, as Ron was his left-hand wizard, so the place closest on his right was hers.
But Harry did not know such things, so he smiled at her question. He took the question as Luna's asking after Hermione's health, instead of Luna's asking about Hermione's social standing among the students. So he simply replied with a smile, "Hermione is recovering from her Heritage Ritual in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey assures me that she should be fully well within a couple of days."
The Great Hall fell silent. Everyone was now listening to their conversation as they were curious what was going on.
Luna could only stare at him. She, as the others, were unsure how to respond to a muggle-born witch undergoing the Heritage Ritual. It was unheard of.
Harry took care of the matter unknowingly by saying, "After all, Family Magic has to start somewhere."
Luna just shrugged her shoulders as he had a point. Still, she was a bit nervous, Hermione was not one to cross, especially in regards to Harry Potter. As Ravenclaw she was curious and sought knowledge, so she inquired for clarification, "It's going to take two days for her to recover from her Heritage Ritual?"
"Well, actually, if you count yesterday, it would be three," he answered. He was unaware of the significance of one's recovery time after one under goes the Heritage Ritual reflected one's family power. He was equally unaware of the bombshell he was dropped by added as a mere afterthought, "She'll also need to get a new wand as well."
Wands were very important to Wizards and Witches, and represented milestones within their lives. One got their first wand, and for many their only wand, upon receiving their Hogwarts Letter. Those rare Wizards and Witches that grew in power during their seven years there might get another wand upon graduation. But usually if they got another wand at all it was either upon getting married or upon the birth of their first child.
Another somewhat common occurrence was when a witch was opened, but Harry was not going to share that with those present, feeling, correctly, it was a private matter.
Luna and other Pure-Bloods could only stare in astonishment, as without knowing it and especially omitting the detail about opening her, Harry had just implied that Hermione was the most powerful witch attending Hogwarts, student or staff.
Harry looked at her, noticed her empty plate, frowned and remarked, "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't have something to eat. I don't wish to keep you from breakfast, they say it's the most important meal of the day."
Luna could only look surprised at Harry. It was something of a standard display of power/importance/showing off that those wizards and witches that felt themselves superior to others would do. They would invite those they felt inferior to themselves to a gathering at meal-time to discuss some issue, only the guest would not have a chance to actual eat much of anything. It was a chance for the host to show off their power, wealth, or both, and the guest to see how the other half lived. Luna, while her family was several hundred of years old, was among the lower-class of Wizardry Society. While she knew Harry considered her a friend, she knew she was not equal nor even in the same league as him. She fulfill intended to provide whatever help and service she could give him, whatever that might be, in exchange for his friendship, whatever form that it took.
While it was a bit bold on her part, the daughter of a Reporter, and an inspiring reporter herself, she had to ask, "Who are they?"
"Muggle researchers," he replied. "Muggles don't have magic, so they have to be very careful what they eat and drink. Muggles spend decades studying what are good and bad foods are. Anyway, what do you usually have for breakfast?"
Before she could answer, Dobby appeared, snapped his fingers, and food appeared upon Luna's plate. Harry thanked Dobby, who simply bowed and left. He laughed a bit, turned to Luna and said, "Tuck in."
She did so, although, she kept an eye on Harry as she wondered what was going on. While she did not know the details, she knew from Ginny and others that Dobby was Harry's personal House-Elf. Even those that did not know that, they noted Dobby's attitude and actions towards Harry and could reason out their relationship from that. They would be sharing it with others, that he had provided Luna her breakfast. That it was done via a House-Elf or the Hogwarts Kitchen would be immaterial to most, what would be noted was the ritual act of a Liege-Lord providing for his Vassal. With magic, symbolism was very important. Thus, Luna's standing within Hogwarts and the Wizardry World was on the rise. Not that she cared for such things. She did wonder how he got his own House-Elf passed the Hogwarts Wards, as all personal and Family House-Elves of the students were banned from Hogwarts grounds.
Harry calmly ate his breakfast ignorant what was going on around him. Still, the silence and the low whispering was not enjoyable. Seeing that Luna, for reasons he could not discern, was quiet throughout the meal, so he started to make some casual remarks about what he had discovered about the Heritage Ritual along with Hermione. He was a bit curious to see if what they had found out conformed to what a Pure-Blood would be taught at home.
Most of what he said, Luna just nodded her head in agreement. It was information that those raised in a magical family took for grant. It was only when he mentioned how much easier those that had magical parents to share such information with their children must have it, as even with Hogwarts' Library, they almost did not find all the information they needed before it was too late.
"Too late?" Luna's voice was puzzled. As far as she knew, one could perform the Heritage Ritual at any point after one's reached their magical maturity, which was usually happened upon one's seventeenth birthday.
"Yeah," he replied. "The Enchanter Tacitus, whom all the others seem to refer to, held that to get the full effects of the Heritage Ritual, one had to perform the ritual upon the moment of your seventeenth birthday. Even one moment later and you lose at least half of the potential of the ritual, and the longer you wait the greater the loss. Hell, if you don't do the ritual within a week of your seventeenth birthday, you might as well forget about it as you get so little out of it. And then add in all the activities you need to do before hand, I would guess you need to start the prep-work at at least three weeks in advance to get ready in time. Fortunately, Hermione is very good at scheduling and organizing to make the most of her time."
Everyone was opening staring at him, they all felt the magic confirming his words. The Enchanter Gaius Cornelius Tacitus of Magical Rome was a legendary wizard, senator, and historian. In the days of Merlin, and after, many viewed Tacitus as the modern-day Wizards viewed Merlin. Many of Merlin's own works quoted and were based upon Tacitus's works. To quote any truly legendary wizard was a huge deal with the Wizardry World as many of their names were tied into various enchantments and wards so that Magic itself could attest to them and their works. Thus, by invoking their names intentionally, one could easily prove or disprove something as long as it was associated with them. For example, one would not be able to say aloud that Merlin was a woman as the enhancements would react negatively to such a statement in a very noticeable way. Of course, over time several people had found ways around this protection and use that knowledge for their benefit. It is said that some of the younger families, those after the Founding of Hogwarts, pretended that they too had such enchantments so they could tell others they were more than they were and would be believed by the non-informed. Books, transfigured scrolls really, by Enchanter Tacitus were more sought after than those by Merlin, and were extremely rare. Hogwarts Library was one of the these known to have a copies of his work outside of private family libraries.
This information surprised everyone. The Ministry held that the Heritage Ritual could be done at any time after the actual day of one's seventeenth birthday. Furthermore, they recommended and encouraged that one wait for the Spring Solstice, which was a very magical time. If that was too long of a wait or there were no available ritual rooms, then one could perform the ritual on the Autumn Solstice. For the Spring Solstice, there were numerous three-day parties and a huge number of applicants to use the Ministry Ritual Rooms. Scheduling was done passed on politics and bribery.
Before the Ravenclaw within Luna could ask for more questions, a sleepy Neville Longbottom came walking towards the Gryffindor Table. He looked like he was sleep-walking, so Harry called out to him, "Neville, over here."
Neville did not hesitate or seem to acknowledge Harry, but simply headed over towards him as if he was going there along. It was only when he sat down at Harry's gesture that he noticed that Harry was sitting at the head of the table and he was sitting what was usually Ron's spot. He noticed that the chair that Harry was sitting in was very ornate, practically a throne and just gave his shoulders a small shrug.
Neville looked nervous as he realized that everyone in the Great Hall was watching Harry and now, himself, to various degrees. The attention made him nervous. He asked, "Harry, where's Hermione?"
"She's recovering from her Heritage Ritual, mate," was his simple reply as if it was obvious. "She'll be back in a couple of days."
Neville just nodded his head. If Harry said that Hermione, who was a Muggle-born, had underwent the Heritage Ritual, then either she had discovered she was not actual Muggle-born, or something other reason. Whatever the reason, if he needed to know, someone would tell him.
Out of habit, Harry explained, "Family Magic has to start somewhere."
Neville nodded his head in acceptance as that made sense to him. It also made sense that Hermione would need to do the Ritual now, as it would be impossible to get a reservation with the Ministry at this late point. The Ministry Ritual Rooms were backed several years in advance. Plus, the Ministry would not even consider an application from her. Many had the attitude of Family Magic just was, either you had it or not. As simple as that, no more, no less.
Harry also provide Neville his breakfast via Dobby as he had done for Luna, and the three got to talking a bit. Harry repeated what he had told Luna of what he had found out about the Heritage Ritual, while Neville and Luna shared with him the various gossip going around the students.
They mentioned how much all the students enjoyed the new DADA Professor Eaglestone, although, there apparently was some friction among the staff centered around her. And the friction was not coming from Snape this time, but from Professor McGonagall and possibly Headmaster Dumbledore. Of course, Snape had his own headaches. Once word got out that Harry was taking Potions as an independent study, all the students from Gryffindor House and some from the other houses had applied to do the same. It was believed that only a handful of students remained in class, who were the children of known or suspected Death-Eaters.
They mentioned that there were several new couples among the students to which he surprised himself by making a comment or two upon each coupled mentioned. It was surprising for a couple of reasons; one he was not one to speculate on other's relationships considering his poor showing, and two, he did not know the couple in question to intelligently say anything about them. Yet, he found himself saying where they would be a good couple or not, and if they would last or not.
While Harry was puzzled by this, Luna and Neville understood this was just one of the man facets of Harry being a magical lord who was tied into the magical realm. While anyone could have sworn-followers, very few could be truly magical lords or ladies. Once in a great while, a magical lord or lady could come from one of the younger houses, but traditionally most of the magical lords and ladies came from the Ancient Houses, of which House Potter was among the oldest, hence had produced the most magical lords and ladies. So as the Last Potter, it would be safe to assume that Harry was a magical lord as well.
Luna and Neville reluctantly shared with him the various rumors going around about the amount of time Harry and Hermione had been spending together. Most of the rumors were that Hermione was helping him prepare for his fight against Voldemort. It seems the Prophet had been running several articles about the Trelawney's Prophecy, not that they knew any of the details or that she had made it but the Prophet was speculating wildly what it was about. Surprisedly, they were close, to the truth but Harry did not mention that. Still, the most interested rumor on what was happening was that Hermione was researching various sex-magic techniques and rituals in order to ensure her place with him, as many thought Hermione felt threatened by Ginny Weasley.
Harry was puzzled but such a statement, so he had to ask, "What possible reason would Hermione feel threatened by Ron's little sister?"
Neville just shrugged his shoulders not willing to voice his opinion how Ginny was a lovely girl not scary like Hermione. He knew that other students were afraid of her too, for various reasons. But Ginny was safe. Neville felt that Ginny had several things going for her; she was on the Quidditch team, she was adventurous, and had Weasley Family Magic.
The conservation winded down so they concentrated more on eating than talking. Which was good as the majority of the students came into the Great Hall then. Everyone observed Harry sitting at the head of the Gryffindor table holding court with his friends. It was noted among those in attendance that Ron Weasley was absent from Harry's group, which gave heart to some.
While Harry had ignored Draco Malfoy when he came into the Great Hall, the others did not. In fact, many were curious as to what the young Malfoy Heir would do upon seeing his rival at the head of his house's table. As expected, Draco tried to sit at the head of his table. But what Malfoy and others did not know was that the Wards of Hogwarts did a lot more than just protect the school from outside threats. Thus, Malfoy was blocked from changing the sitting arrangements at his table. Of course, few knew that, so they just assumed that Malfoy was not fully awake, was a poor student of Transfiguration, or a combination of the two. Which put Malfoy in a bad light with his classmates and House-mates. After several minutes of trying, Pansy Parkinson finally had enough and pulled him down to sit with her on the regular bench. Draco for the remainder of the breakfast grumbled and pouted.
Harry did notice that Hedwig had joined the other owls that came to the Great Hall with the morning mail. Hedwig brought a copy of the Quibbler which he took from her and opened it up to read. Hedwig took a bit of bacon off his plate, hopped up to his shoulder and seemingly began to read the newspaper with him.
Neville and several Seventh-Years from both the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Tables who could clearly seeing the scene could only stare at Hedwig. They knew that Post-Owls are magical creatures, hence more intelligent than their mundane counterparts in general and Post-Owls specially, but it looked to them as if Harry's Post-Owl was actually reading along side him. Many wanted to question it, but were too afraid of the answer to ask about it. Luna would saw it knew that Hedwig was more than a mere Post-Owl, but was actually Harry's familiar, and the familiar of a powerful wizard, especially one like Harry, would be enhanced beyond what was normally seen in such a creature so she was not surprised.
One Gryffindor student asked Harry, "Is that the Prophet?"
To which, Harry replied, "That rubbish? Nay, this is an actual newspaper called The Quibbler."
A murmur about the absence of the Daily Prophet went through the students, reaching the staff, who had no answers.
Someone called out, "It's not like the Prophet to be late! It's never been late in its long-life!"
"Long life?" Harry exclaimed in surprise. "Most of the staff are older than the Daily Prophet. Not to mention the Daily Prophet has a terrible record. The Quibbler is older then the Ministry and has a much better record."
Those present felt Magic's agreement with Harry's words so now could doubt him. When it became apparent that he was not going to say anymore, everyone returned back to their own little worlds.
Soon there after, the warning bell for classes to begin rang. Ron appeared with the last of the late-risers, who only had time to make themselves some quick breakfast sandwiches and grab some food before heading to class.
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