At the end of September staff meeting, Albus anxiously awaited to hear the reports of the first years. He had been thrown for quite a loop when Harry had been sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. He queried the Sorting Hat extensively but the Hat wouldn't budge, it refused categorically to discuss anything about the boy.
Slowly the teachers filed into the staff room and helped themselves to the tea and scones, sandwiches, and tartlets available. Then the meeting began. The usual brainstorming of how to control the Weasley twins, the bickering between Minerva and Severus accusations of favoritism and what not. Comments about how the new prefects were working out. Last year shortly before the May meeting it had been discovered that the fifth year boys Slytherin prefect had been using his position to pressure girls into giving him favors or more specifically their favors. Needless to say he had been removed from both his position and the school with extreme prejudice and he was now serving a stint in Azkaban. Young Miss Keily transferred to Beauxbatons to get away from the memories. Comments were made about which OWLs the teachers thought which students would get top honors in. More bickering between Severus and Minerva about this years Quidditch teams. That was interrupted by Rolanda.
"Enough, both of you. Minerva your team is quite technically proficient but lacks a proper seeker. Severus your team as usual is relying on brute strength to muscle it's way to the top. Both teams stand a chance so would you please stop arguing."
"Well, now that we've discussed the upper years.," Albus used the quiet created by Rolanda to move the meeting on. "what can you all tell me of the first years."
"Gormless nincompoops the lot of them." Severus snarled.
"Rather harsh don't you think." said Filius.
"Fine have it your way. There's an addlepated twit in Minerva's house that thinks if you can quote a book you're a genius of the first order. Not one has asked a sensible question in potions the entire time they've been in school and I can't tell you how many essays I've handed back to them as illegible crap."
"Their handwriting is rather messy, but it's improving." Pomona Sprout spoke.
"Harry Potter is a very good student." Aurora Sinestra, the Astronomy teacher, said.
"Ah, yes here it comes the pantheon of praise for the boy wonder." Severus stated.
Sinestra blushed and looked down to her lap. The core class professors were silent.
"What silence? I'm shocked. What's the matter? Did the nuisance's sorting finally convince you all he's not all he's cracked up to be."
"That's enough Severus Snape." came from Rolanda Hooch. "So Harry isn't a lion, as everyone expected. He's a good boy with a good heart."
"On what do you base this assessment Rolanda?" asked Albus.
"First flying class. Gryffindor and Slytherin. I expected the usual baiting and arguing. And of course there was, Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley at the heart of it. Mr. Potter was helping Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger as nice as you please. Then when it's time to push off Mr. Longbottom pushes off to hard, did Mr. Potter leave him to his fate? No, he goes up after him. Then that Brown girl, Minerva, you really need to teach them to watch their words. She scares Mr. Longbottom, saying he's going to die. Longbottom falters, looses his grip, and rather than let his friend fall Harry anchors himself to his broom, and reaches out to grab Mr. Longbottom before he falls far. Both boys were mildly hurt but they were right as rain within an hour. Mr. Potter is a natural on a broom, even better than his father if I had to guess." She looked hard at Professor Snape.
"Don't look at me like that you harpy, I refuse to treat the boy any differently than any other first year."
Albus broke in before an argument could start. "Anyone else?"
....
The next day Harry was in the library with Hermione and Neville.
"SO let me get this straight. Draco, cowardly ponce that he is challenges Ron Weasley, lazy but proud leonine git that he is to a duel. So Ron, Dean, and Seamus sneak out to go to this duel, never mind it was probably Malfoy's idea of a clever trap. Neville you're out of the dorm cause Trevor snuck out to the greenhouses and when you got back you couldn't remember the password. Then Hermione in your efforts to discourage the gits you find yourself stuck outside as well."
Hermione and Neville both nodded their heads enthusiastically.
"So you trail after the idiots almost get caught by Filch and wind up behind what had been a locked door in the third floor corridor where there is a huge three headed dog standing on a trap door."
Neville started speaking, "I can't believe they have something like that in a school full of children."
"It's guarding something." Hermione asserted.
Harry was mentally flung back to Diagon Alley and Hagrid telling him there was no place safer than Hogwarts. He had also just last night heard the other boys in his year talking to each other about a break-in at Gringott's in the bathroom. He got up and went to Madame Pince. "Madame Pince, will you help me gather any newspaper stories regarding the recent break-in at Gringott's."
She sniffed disdainfully but she did as he asked.
Moments later he was back at the table with Hermione and Neville. He quickly read through the articles and came to the conclusion that Hagrid's mystery package was what the thief attempted to get. But why let him know about it unless it was… Harry thought carefully for several minutes then a rational occurred to him. "My advice you two is forget about it. It's Dumbledore's business."
Hermione protested. "That's Professor Dumbledore."
"Don't need to tell me twice mate. If I ever see that dog again it'll be too soon." Neville concurred.
There were six things about Hermione drove Harry nuts. Her slavish belief that those in authority were never wrong. Her belief that books always told the truth. Her frequent lack of tact. Her unrelenting desire to know, didn't matter if it was any of her business she always wanted to know everything. Her belief that since she was so smart she had the right to tell others how to do things, sometimes she was right and others, well other times she was wrong. She ordered Neville around, and the sad part was Neville was so used to being ordered by his Gran it never occurred to him to argue. She tried to order Harry around but he just ignored her, if she did it too much he bluntly told her no to her face. Finally her complete blindness to the fact that she was just as prejudiced towards the magical world as the magical world was towards her. For proof of this Harry only had to watch the way she interacted and her complete lack of awareness of wizarding manners. It wasn't as bad as watching Ron Weasley eat, (Harry personally thought that boy should be fed at a trough outside.) but it was close.
"But Harry, why should we forget about it? Don't you want to know?" came her whiny voice.
....
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