"Mind if I sit here?" Harry asked getting the Gryffindor girl to startle slightly.
"Oh, um, yes of course." The girl replied once she realized someone had addressed her.
"Thanks." Harry said before setting his book down and getting out his quill and parchment. It had taken him weeks but he could finally write with a quill up to his own standards of penmanship. He still took notes on notebook paper and used a ballpoint pen for it, but he was finally able to turn in neatly written assignments and essays done by quill now. "I'm Harry by the way, Harry Potter."
"I'm Hermione Granger, nice to meet you." Hermione introduced herself before continuing to speak. "I've read about you, you know. You're in 'Modern Magical History', 'Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century', and 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts'."
"I wouldn't believe most of it." Harry sighed as he opened his book. "If you believe everything that's said about me then I've also ridden Dragons at age five and fought Werewolves and Vampires across Europe when I was nine."
"Oh, that's quite outlandish isn't it?" Hermione asked with a grimace.
"Yeah, I'd only just discovered my magic when I was eight. So I don't know who thought I was riding Dragons and all the other stuff." Harry shook his head in exasperation. "So what are you reading?"
"Oh just some extra books for classes." Hermione replied as she patted her stack.
"Ok, but do you really need that many? We only have six classes right now." Harry stated as he looked at the stack of books.
"It's just a bit of light reading." Hermione responded with a nod. "Unfortunately none of my House mates feel the same way about our studies. So I've…" She trailed off into mumbling that Harry couldn't make out.
"What was that last bit?" Harry asked after finishing the sentence he'd been writing. "I'm afraid I didn't catch it."
"I said I haven't been able to make any friends." Hermione muttered lowly while looking down at the table.
"Well I'm no expert on making friends but it could be you aren't looking in the right place." Harry replied getting Hermione to look up at him in surprise.
"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned.
"Wait right here and I can probably show you." Harry answered as he stood up and made his way over to his two House mates. "Hey Padma, Mandy, how are you two this evening?"
"Hey Harry, I'm good." Mandy replied with a nod and a smile.
"Doing some studying." Padma motioned at their four books.
"I see, do you think you could help me out? You see the girl at the table I'm sitting at?" Harry asked getting Padma and Mandy to look over for a moment before turning back to Harry and nodding. "She's a rather studious Gryffindor and because of that she hasn't been able to make a single friend so far. I was hoping we could help her out and show her that not everyone in the castle is put off by being a good student."
"Why isn't she in Ravenclaw with us then?" Mandy asked already standing up and gathering her books.
"Why would she end up in Gryffindor of all Houses?" Padma questioned also gathering her books.
"No idea, but I think a few friends that are both good students and sociable will do her a world of good." Harry responded with a smile which both girls returned. The trio made their way over to where Hermione was still sitting getting the bushy haired girl's eyes to widen.
Introductions were quickly made and Hermione was practically hugged by both Ravenclaw girls when she'd told them of her lack of friends in Gryffindor House. Within the span of their near two hour study session the three girls and Harry had all become friendly with each other. Hermione's beaming smile as she, Mandy, and Padma set up another study date together could have blinded someone. With a smile of his own Harry left the library with his homework finished and followed along behind Mandy and Padma back towards Ravenclaw Tower.
'You did some good today, Harry old boy.' Harry praised himself mentally as the trio neared the bronze knocker that guarded the Ravenclaw Common Room. While Padma and Mandy were distracted by answering the knocker's riddle Harry managed a quick scan of both girls. Mandy had a mana amount of '118' and Padma had a '114' both girls were about average among all the First Years Harry had been able to scan so far.
It was October thirtieth and Harry was in his practice room going over his spell repertoire and looking over his in-progress trinkets. Things had gone well in the almost two months he'd been at Hogwarts. He'd made close friends in Tonks and Penelope while having friends in Hermione, Mandy, Padma, and Hagrid of course. Draco was becoming a bit of a pest but thankfully Slytherin and Ravenclaw only shared two classes a week. Looking over his current work Harry smiled at having completed another self-scanner. This one was made from stone thanks to Tonks transfiguring it for him. She'd been curious about why he wanted a stone frame but he'd just told her it was a secret and she'd sworn to get him to tell her before she left for the Yule Break. Now having the means to measure his own mana again Harry started pouring his mana into the frame and watched as the number made of light within the frame increased. When it finally stopped Harry whooped with joy at the number displayed. After all '364' was just under a hundred more mana than he'd had before term had started.