Chapter 8 - A Hogwarts Education
After lunch Alice, James, Tom, Rose and Al all went up to the Gryffindor common room. They played some dragon snap, and some wizard chess throughout the afternoon.
Around three o'clock James, Al, and Rose went down to Hagrid's Hut for tea.
When they arrived at Hagrid's Hut, a small round building that was just outside the forbidden forest, the knocked on the door. They heard some loud hacking coughs and some shuffling. Suddenly the door opened.
"Alrigh' yeh three?" asked the giant man. As the three of them walked into Hagrids home James noticed that there was an empty dog bed and dog dish on the floor.
"Hagrid, where's Fang?" James enquired.
"Oh... ummm... he passed this summer. I was goin' to write yeh, bu' I jus' couldn' brin' meself to write it." Hagrid's eyes started welling up with tears. "He was almos' thirty years old in people years, an' tha' is REALLY old in dog years. I know 'e 'ad a goo' life an' all, bu' it was still so 'ard teh lose 'im."
By this time Hagrid was really worked up and he started coughing uncontrollably. He pulled an old grey, tattered hanky out of his pocket and started coughing into that. He eventually calmed his coughing and carefully folded the hanky after wiping his mouth.
"Hagrid, are you okay?" asked Rose, very concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine now. It's jus' so 'ard teh lose a frien' like ol' Fang," said Hagrid.
"No, Hagrid! Your coughing. It's bad. Have you gone to Madam Pomfrey? You sound really sick!" Rose was growing more concerned, especially after Hagrid brushed off her question the first time.
"Oh, it's fine," said Hagrid. "Jus' a bi' of a cough, tha's all. Nothin' teh worry yerself abou'." Hagrid seemed to be brushing off his cold, and Rose looked very worried, but none of them pushed any farther. They knew better than that.
"So, Al, how are yeh likin' school so far?" asked Hagrid.
"Well, the castle is really big, I mean, REALLY big! I don't know how I am going to get to any of my lessons on time. But, I think I will like it. Classes start tomorrow, so hopefully things will still be okay," replied Al.
"Wha'd'yeh mean?" asked Hagrid.
"Well, there is this mean little git in Slytherin house who is just a prat," explained Albus. "His name is Scorpius Malfoy - "
"MALFOY?" hollered Hagrid. "You mean teh tell me there is another un?" he asked.
" - yes, and he is saying, not very nice things to us, especially about our family. Well, to Rose and I at least," said Al.
"Yeh don' worry abou' tha' righ' awful boy. Yer families are some o' the bes'. Couldn' ask fer be'er paren's, you three, so he can jus' push off!" Hagrid was getting worked up again, and he started to, yet again, cough into his old handkerchief.
The three of them stayed at Hagrid's place for over an hour. Suddenly Rose stood up.
"Well," said Rose. "We should probably get back up to the castle. We'll see you later Hagrid, and I'm sorry about Fang. I'll write my dad and let him know. He really liked that dog."
"Yeah, we'll let our dad know too," said James.
"Well, thank yeh, all of yeh. It means a lo' teh me tha' yeh care," replied Hagrid.
"Bye!" said Albus.
The three of them raced up to the stone circle when Rose stopped them.
"Did you see what I saw down there?" she asked. The boys both just looked at her with puzzled looks on their faces.
"What are you talking about?" asked Al.
"Hagrid's coughing, did you see his hanky?" said Rose, growing impatient.
"No, I didn't," said Al.
"I didn't either. I wasn't really paying attention," admitted James.
"Blood! There was blood on his hanky after he wiped his mouth. He is coughing up blood. I think he is really sick. Couldn't Madam Pomfrey do anything about it?" asked Rose.
"I'm sure she could, if he wanted her to," said James. "I'll talk to my dad about that too, when I write him about Fang."
"Ok. I just wish I knew what to do. Coughing up blood is never a good thing, no matter where you are."
James, Rose and Albus walked back to the Gryffindor common room to get Alice and Tom for dinner. They hadn't eaten anything at Hagrid's because they knew about his cooking, so they were all rather hungry.
* * *
After a good meal, the five friends went back to the common room and got ready for their schooling the next day. James, Alice and Tom had double potions in the morning, with Slytherin house, and then after lunch they had Herbology with Hufflepuff and History of Magic.
James was not looking forward to Potions first thing Monday morning. The potions master, and the head of Slytherin House was a big burley red-headed man, named Reid Redderd. He was quite a bit older, and he was mean. He had a temper that could flare at any second, and that was at any student. He didn't even favor the students in his house, he was just a big old grump. However, he did have one really good quality, and that was that he was a great instructor. He had a way of explaining things so they made sense to James, and so his temper rarely ever flared at him. Mostly, it was stupid people, who made stupid mistakes that made Professor Redderd angry.
James was, however, looking forward to Herbology. Herbology was taught by one of James' dad's best friends from school, Neville Longbottom. Apparently Professor Longbottom was not really very good at school except in Herbology. That made him a very understanding teacher, especially when it came to Tom. Professor Longbottom told Tom once, after Tom had killed yet another plant, that he had melted through five cauldrons in one lesson when he was in his fourth year. Professor Longbottom's worst subject, as he reminded the students regularly, was Potions.
James checked over his time table again, and mapped out his whole week. Monday he had double potions in the morning, and then Herbology and History of Magic in the afternoon. Tuesday he had double Transfiguration with Professor McGonnagal in the morning, and double Charms with Professor Flitwick in the afternoon. Wednesday he had Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Naylor in the morning, and a study period right before lunch. After lunch he had double Herbology, and then Wednesday night at midnight he had Astronomy. Thursday he had Charms right before Lunch, and double History of Magic in the afternoon, and Friday he had Potions and Transfiguation before lunch, double Defence Against the Dark Arts in the afternoon and Astronomy at Midnight again. He was rather pleased with his schedule, especially since he had a study period the morning after his mid-week Astronomy class. James knew that it was going to be a lot of work, but with some help from his friends they could all get through it.
James went to bed early Sunday night to get ready for his classes the next day. He knew that if he didn't get enough sleep then he could be one of those students who made a stupid mistake in his Potions class and didn't want that at all.
* * *
Monday morning came quickly, and James did not feel rested at all. He struggled to fall asleep, mostly because he was wondering what his father would think of his letter, and what his reply would be. James got up and dressed quickly, grabbed his school bag, and headed down to the common room.
Alice and Tom were up and waiting for him and the three of them went off to breakfast.
Once down in the Great Hall, they hurriedly ate their breakfast and started heading down to the dungeon for Professor Redderd's Potions class.
To get to the dungeon they had to go out through the Entrance courtyard, across the viaduct, into the viaduct enterance, and down the stairs on the left. James made note that on the right of the viaduct entrance there was yet another portrait that he would have to check with the Marauder's Map. It looked suspiciously like a secret passageway.
The three of them headed down into the dungeon to Professor Redderd's classroom and got their books out.
Professor Redderd was already at the front of the class getting things prepared for his lesson. He was a very tall man, with red hair and a thick red beard. Well, at least when he was younger that is what they would have been. Now his hair and beard were red streaked with large chunks of grey in them. The Professor looked like he had very obviously lived a hard life in his younger years.
James, Alice and Tom sat at a table together in the back of the classroom. Tom, being such a good student, usually would finish first and then quietly and discretely help Alice and James finish their potions properly.
Today they were learning about Swelling Solution, its properties and its antidote. By the middle of class they were getting their ingredients list made, and some of the students were already starting to work on the prep. It would be a few weeks before they were finished making the potion, so James was taking his time so that he didn't make any mistakes.
Before he knew it, Potions was over and it was time for lunch. After lunch was herbology, and James was actually really excited to see Professor Longbottom.
As James, Alice and Tom made their way to Herbology James noticed yet another unusual portrait, however this one was sleeping soundly. James was sure he was going to have to check the map that night. He really wanted to know more about the secret passage ways.
Professor Longbottom was in the greenhouse with a pair of big blue fuzzy ear muffs. He also had about twenty more pairs hanging on the walls of the greenhouse. James was very curious about what they were doing.
"Hurry up, everyone. Come on in and find a spot. Today we are going to be repotting mandrake plants. Can anyone tell me why we will need ear muffs today?"
A Hufflepuff girl raised her hand that James didn't know the name of. "The cry, or wail of the mandrake plant can be fatal," she said with confidence.
"That is right, five points to Hufflepuff. These mandrakes are rather young, so their cry will only knock you out, but we should still take precautionary measures. So, everyone find yourself a pair of ear muffs and I will show you how to repot your mandrake," said Professor Longbottom.
James had to walk right past Professor Longbottom to get to the ear muffs, so he very quietly said, as he passed, "Excuse me, Neville? My mom and dad send their love."
"Why thank you James. You can say hi to them from me," replied Professor Longbottom.
James hurried to grab a pair of green fuzzy ear muffs and quickly got back to his table.
"Ok, everyone, I will show you how to grab your mandrake firmly, here, around the top, and you pull hard and replace them into the bigger pot. So, everyone, ear muffs on."
Professor Longbottom grabbed the green plant in the pot in front of him and pulled up a small, ugly creature that looked kind of like a cross between a potato and a baby. It was very obviously screeching. Professor Longbottom, then quickly put the screaming baby/potato into the larger pot and started to cover it with dirt. He then signaled for everyone to take off their ear muffs.
"At each table there are five plants that need to be transplanted. The mandrakes are very stubborn, so watch out, and they do bite, so keep your fingers away from their mouths. Have fun. Ear muffs on."
James, Alice and Tom spent the rest of the class fighting with their mandrakes. When Professor Longbottom did the switch it looked rather easy, but the mandrake was, as the professor said, very stubborn and did not want to come out of their small pot, and they did not want to go into their new pot, so it was a lot harder than it looked. Tom managed to get through the class without killing any of the plants, but he was bit three times, and just before class ended their last mandrake managed to grab his ear muffs and rip them off. Professor Longbottom dismissed the rest of the class and then took Tom up to the hospital wing.
James' next class was History of Magic with Professor Binns, who was the only ghost teacher in the school. The rumor is that he died in his sleep, but his ghost form just got up the next morning and started teaching anyway. The students at Hogwarts were not even sure if Professor Binns knew that he was dead.
This year they were learning all about the Goblin Revolts. The names of the goblins all ended in "ook" sounds, and so the names started getting all jumbled in James' head. James managed to take notes for the first five minutes of class and then started day dreaming about what his father's letter was going to explain. He had already learned so much from the Daily Prophet articles that he, Alice, and Tom had found, but some of the articles seems so far fetched that he wasn't sure what to believe. He hoped that his father's letter would come soon, but at the same time he dreaded the letter too, because he just didn't know how his father was going to react.
Finally James heard the bell that signaled the end of History of Magic and he quickly grabbed all his things and went off to the Gryffendor common room. He was happy that his first day of classes had gone well, and that it had been without too much drama.
Once Alice and James had dropped their things off in the Gryffendor common room they made their way to the hospital wing to see Tom.
"Hey there," said Alice, "how are you feeling?"
"I'm ok, but my neck is really stiff. I think I may have landed funny when I passed out," replied Tom.
"Umm, you may have hit a table on your way down... Actually, you did hit a table on your way down, and your chin kind of caught you, so you just hung there for a few seconds in a really strange position, so... that could be why your neck hurts," explained James very hesitantly.
"Oh. I guess that does explain it," said Tom, sounding more embarrassed as the conversation continued. "Well, I'm fine now, and Madam Pomfrey is going to let me go now, right?"
"Yes dear, you may go. Just be careful around those plants. As they get older they can be fatal," Madam Pomfrey warned.
"Yes ma'am. Thank you," replied Tom.
The three of them slowly started to make their way out of the hospital wing, and headed down to supper in the Great Hall.
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