For the next several weeks Harry waged what could be considered a minor shadow war against both Snape and Draco.
Snape was because of his pettiness and general open disdain for Gryffindor and Harry in particular, which had long since put them in last place in the rankings for the house cup. Harry didn't quite place that much importance on winning the cup, but it was important to his House mates.
So every chance Harry got, he was dosing Snape with micro doses of a special toxin he developed that would produce outrageous amounts of gas in those dosed with it. And thanks to his skills, he was able to dose Snape a few times a day without ever getting caught, and without the need to poison his food or drink.
Soon enough Snape's chronic problem made him infamous for entirely new reasons as everyone, even Slytherins, avoided him like the plague. The humiliation made Snape even more volatile in his classes, getting to the point that even Albus and McGonagall had to step in due to the numerous complaints that were coming from the students.
Meanwhile Draco was on the fast track to being ostracized by his entire House thanks to a combination of his own arrogance and a little intervention from Harry.
The reason Harry was targeting Draco was not only the boy's insistence in going after him, but also due to all of the reports Harry was getting from Rita regarding the Malfoy family in general. Basically, they were suspected to be high up in the rankings amongst Voldemort's supporters, but they claimed to have been controlled the entire time after Voldemort tried, and failed, to kill Harry.
So amongst the Death Eaters, Draco might as well be considered a young lord similar to Sibbi and Hemming Black-Briar in Riften. And Draco acted like it.
The more Harry learned about Slytherin House's involvement with Voldemort, the more he wanted to try and distance the children that were attending school with him from that mindset. But to do so, he had to remove Draco as an authority figure in their minds so they would stop acting like his lackeys.
So Harry would purposely create situations similar to when he got punched by Draco during their flying lessons, making Draco look like the bad guy who didn't care about the consequences of his actions, and who he dragged down with him. After all, Slytherins were supposed to be cunning, and if Draco kept getting caught or baited by Harry then he wasn't very cunning, was he?
Add in a few 'accidents' here and there, and even Crabbe and Goyle were having a hard time being around him recently. Especially when Slytherin house slipped from first place in points to third.
On the other hand, Harry's other projects were progressing swimmingly.
He had started work on his new Pensieve after the materials he needed arrived, and he was now meticulously following the instructions on putting it together with all of the proper Runes and Charms. A couple more weeks of work, and Harry thought he might have it finished.
Then there were the lessons he was giving students in the evenings, which a few of the Slytherins started trickling back into. Harry hoped that by spending time with other students NOT from Slytherin House, they might be able to see past the blood purity ideals that they had been indoctrinated with. If he could do that, then maybe Harry could prevent several of them from becoming Death Eaters in the future like their parents, further limiting the amount of opponents he would have to deal with.
As for his other students though, Hermione had finally moved past the point where she needed a staff to use the Flames and Magelight spells, and was instead using her wand to cast those spells. She still has a ways to go to cast them with her bare hands, but it was progress. And progress was always promising.
Following Hermione were a few Ravenclaw students, such as a girl called Cho Chang, a Prefect called Penelope Clearwater, a Quidditch player named Roger Davies, a rising academic known as Eddie Carmichael, and even another first year by the name of Terry Boot.
Of the few Slytherins that were participating, Daphne was showing exceptional skill with the Frostbite spell, her lack of attendance until recently being the only thing holding her back from keeping up with Hermione.
Meanwhile the boys were getting better and better at the combat drills that Harry was putting them through. Some of them even graduated from wooden swords to wooden axes or maces, while wielding their wands in their other hand.
The most notable ones in this group were usually the Gryffindors, as the House of chivalry and courage, but there were a few Hufflepuff worth mentioning as well.
The twins were showing themselves to be quite adept with both short swords and daggers, but they were both primarily skilled with maces due to their roles as Beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ron on the other hand was showing more skill with the longer blades, making Harry consider showing him how to use a longsword once he grew into it.
Neville meanwhile was growing more than anyone else after Harry initially got him to break out of his shell, and was now taking to using a mace like it was nothing. Harry was even considering teaching him Restoration magic to help develop his physical strength even more.
And on the Hufflepuff side of things, it was a third year by the name of Cedric Diggory that stood out the most, displaying a skill with sword and wand that Harry knew would make him an excellent spellsword one day.
When it came to his actual classes within Hogwarts though, Harry was mostly bored.
Having been using magic for so many years helped him grasp each new spell they learned at a speed that astonished his teachers, but made things feel slow to Harry since all they were learning was the basics of the basics for the moment.
The counter to this though was all the work they put into studying theory and the homework they were given.
Harry HATED theory with a passion, so studying it was slow going and torturous to him. As for the homework... With everything else Harry was doing in his spare time, he usually rushed at the very last minute to finish it before turning it in.
Now, it was Halloween at Hogwarts, which felt to Harry like it was similar to the Tales and Tallows festival he used to celebrate in Tamriel.
Swarms of enchanted bats surged through the corridors, the suits of armor creaked and groaned even more menacingly than usual, carved pumpkins decorated nearly every single hall, and decorative cobwebs were hanging nearly everywhere.
Harry found it enjoyable, and was looking forward to the Halloween feast after everything Fred and George told them about it. It sounded a little TOO sweet for his taste, but there was no reason why he couldn't indulge a little for the holiday.
But first they had to get through their classes for the day, including their Charms class.
"Alright then everyone! Your homework for the weekend is to practice the Levitation spell until you can perform it. I expect all of you to be able to use it by the next class. Off you go!" Professor Flitwick declared as class ended, and the first year students began shuffling out of the door. Aside from Harry and Hermione, no one else managed to successfully cast the Levitation charm.
Even as everyone else left, Harry stayed behind as he approached the diminutive professor Flitwick.
"Excuse me professor." Harry called out to him.
"Yes Mr Potter? How can I help you?"
"I just wanted to give you this. I finished it last night." Harry said as he pulled something out of his bag, the silver and sapphire circlet he promised to make for the head of Ravenclaw house.
"Oh my..." Professor Flitwick uttered as he accepted the circlet from Harry, holding it as if it were a priceless treasure.
"I Enchanted it with the ability to increase magic power, like professor McGonagall's, but I also added a buff to Destruction Magic as well. I heard you were a dueling champion before becoming a teacher, and thought it would be most appropriate." Harry explained to him.
"Where did you hear that?"
"One of the older Ravenclaw students told me the other day. So it's true?"
"Indeed it is!" Professor Flitwick stated proudly.
"It can be rather hard for someone.... Well someone like me to find proper work in our world. So I made my living off of dueling until the headmaster invited me to come and teach Charms."
"Really? Then can I ask something of you, professor?"
"Anything dear boy!"
"Can you teach me combat spells?"
"..."
Professor Flitwick looked at Harry oddly for a moment when he heard his request.
"I suppose I could. However combat spells aren't part of the curriculum until later into the second year, and even then I think professors Snape or Quirrel would be more knowledgeable than myself. So why me Potter?"
"Because..." Harry began slowly, choosing his words carefully.
"I can't ask professor Quirrel because he seems to be on the verge of fainting every time I talk to him. And professor Snape has a...less than civil relationship with me. I even got special permission not to attend his classes because of it."
"Truly?!" Flitwick exclaimed, seeming scandalized from the information.
"I know Severus can be....difficult sometimes. But to actually make his class unbearable for one of his students!"
"Don't need to tell me twice. That's why I thought of asking you, professor." Harry told him, to which Flitwick seemed to deliberate for a moment.
"Alright then, I guess I can show you a few spells Potter." He finally agreed, waving his wand to clear some space in the classroom. A second wave saw a dummy conjured out of thin air.
Harry DEFINITELY needed to learn that one.
"Ok then Potter. First is the Disarming charm, Expelliarmus."
With a flick of his wrist as he said the incantation, Harry watched as the stick that the dummy was holding was ripped from its hand.
"Though easy to block or avoid, a well placed Disarming charm can render an opposing witch or wizard defenseless if it connects."
"Interesting..." Harry muttered as he committed the spell and wrist movement to memory.
"Next is Levicorpus."
Again, as Flitwick said the spell the dummy was suddenly lifted into the air by what might have passed for the ankle, where it hovered helplessly.
"Using this spell can help disorient your opponent, buying you precious seconds to hit them with another spell of your choosing. One such spell can be this one. Depulso!"
Again, Flitwick flicked his wrist and the dummy was sent flying across the classroom before hitting the wall on the other side, where it crumpled to the ground in a heap.
"So you can do that with just the flick of a wrist?" Harry muttered curiously.
He could do everything Flitwick just showed him already, but with a Shout instead of a spell. And only the strongest of Telekinesis spells were capable of picking up and throwing other living beings.
"Well, it's a bit more than that." Flitwick said to him, even as he waved his wand to return the dummy to the middle of the room and put the stick back in its hand.
"Now then, would you like to give it a try? We can't spend too long practicing, but you can have a few attempts to try it Potter." Flitwick offered,and Harry readily pulled out his own wand while pointing it at the dummy. Visualizing the movement of Flitwick's wrist, and the words that he said.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry declared, and his wand flashed before the stick was violently ripped out of the dummy's hand.
"Well done Potter! I don't think I've ever seen a first year succeed on their first try!" He stated happily, but Harry wasn't done yet as he visualized the other two spells Flitwick showed him.
"Levicorpus! Depulso!" Harry cried, firing off the two spells in rapid succession to not only suspend the dummy in the air, but to send it flying back into the wall with overwhelming force.
"Stupendous! You truly have a knack for combat magic Potter!" The professor cried jovially, clapping Harry on his back in encouragement.
"Thank you professor." Harry replied, already hungry to learn more.
"Professor, are there any specific books on combat magic that you could recommend to me for self study?" Harry asked him suddenly.
"Hm? Sorry Potter, but I can't reasonably allow a first year to study combat magic without supervision. Too many things could go wrong."
"I understand, professor." Harry immediately relented.
"You do?" Flitwick asked, seemingly surprised a student gave up so easily.
"Of course. Even with supervision, magic is dangerous if used even slightly incorrectly." Harry replied, speaking from his own time at the College. Harry couldn't even remember all the times he'd been called on because one student incinerated another, botched a Restoration spell, summoned unbound Dremora that tore them apart, and so on and so forth.
One student even somehow turned themselves inside out, without killing themselves in the process. THAT had been messy and difficult to fix.
So while Harry fully planned to continue researching combat magic on his own despite the risks, he also understood Flitwick's reluctance to let him do so.
Professor Flitwick had Harry go through each spell a couple more times to make sure he had them down, before the Boy-Who-Lived departed to catch up with the rest of his classmates. Only, when he did he found Ron and Hermione arguing.
"Well no one asked you, miss know-it-all!" Ron shot at her.
"I was only trying to help! It's not my fault you couldn't say the spell correctly!" Hermione shot back viciously.
"..."
Harry had to fight the urge to roll his eyes as he approached them.
"Nahlot(silence)!"
Harry's voice made the entire corridor shudder slightly as both Ron and Hermione fell silent, both stricken with a sense of fear along with the students who had been watching the entire thing.
"You're both acting like children." Harry told them, which they technically were, but he knew from his own kids that they wouldn't see it that way.
"Ron, Hermione was just trying to help you. There is no reason to try and jump down her throat for that." Harry stated firmly, making Ron turn red in what was probably a combination of embarrassment and anger, and while Hermione beamed victoriously.
"Don't look so smug Hermione. You also need to learn when to and not to help others, as well as how you act and talk to them. Some people need to stumble and fall a few times before they can walk or run, or learn to ask for help on their own. And if you do give your help to them, then learn to give in a way that doesn't sound so condescending. Because then it just sounds like you're looking down on them. Got it?"
Though Ron appeared a bit happier that Harry was criticizing Hermione as well, Hermione looked down at her feet in shame from the scolding. After all, to her, Harry was basically the same as one of the professors. Even if he looked the same age as them.
"If you both understand, then good. Now, let's go and put our things away so we can go to the feast."
The mood immediately brightened as everyone from Gryffindor followed Harry to their common room, where they put their school supplies away and killed the remaining time before making their way down to dinner.
Like the rest of the castle. The Great Hall was decorated for Halloween as carved pumpkins floated in place of the usual candles, casting an eerie light over the hall. Cauldrons of glowing solution bubbled and steamed to add to the ambience, and fake skulls and bones decorated all of the tables.
As everyone ate, scary stories flew around the tables as the older students tried to scare the younger ones. But no one held a candle to some of the stories Harry told them, based on his own experiences in Skyrim during his travels.
"So there I was, crawling through this dungeon all on my own to return the treasure(Skeleton Key), vengeful ghosts all around me that blended perfectly into the shadows..." Harry told them, the Gryffindors hanging onto his every word, before he paused while staring at his goblet.
"..."
Again, Harry noticed ripples forming in the pumpkin juice within, stronger than the first ones he noticed.
"What happened then Harry?" Seamus asked in anticipation, but all thoughts of the story were vanished from Harry's mind as he cast a Detect Life spell.
"!!!"
"WAIT!" Harry yelled at a student as they approached the doors to the Great Hall, right before they were blasted open from the outside.
*CRASH!*
"GRAAAAAAAA!" Roared the beast that did the smashing, the first of five massive trolls that were fully armored as they stormed into the Great Hall.