After that talk with the headmaster, Harry directed his attention back to the more important things. Exploring the castle. He was kind of a lone wolf at the moment. Armed with the Invisibility cloak and parchment he had started to map out Hogwarts. Not that he had intentionally roamed the castle on his own. But after the first lessons, most of his year mates had taken to keeping a safe distance around him. Some would ask what was the reason for it. Not Harry's etiquettes. He was always respectful and courteous even to people like Michael Corner. Here his tone would be some degrees colder but still, he tried to not produce another situation like the one on their first night in the Ravenclaw common room but sometimes it came close. Each time Corner would stand with Boot and Goldstein and whisper about him. But in an obvious way so Harry would be able to hear it. Spreading rumors thinking he could maybe provoke Harry into a reaction. Harry was no stranger to this kind of game. Lilith was just a much better player than Michael Corner. All those things considered he did not feel reacting at all. Until the first lesson in Defense against the Dark Arts.
It was shortly after lunch as they had assembled in the classroom. It smelled really bad of garlic as Professor Quirrell tried to explain the finer detail of the Stinging Hex. Harry tried to follow the stuttering of the Professor mentally sighing how someone, who looked scared about the whole subject would be somebody good enough to teach it. Unsurprisingly most of the magical raised already had a grasp on the hex and the Professor moved on to the next part of his lesson.
"As you can see the stinging hex is a very harmless spell often used in mock duels. Something we will also do now. Ahh Yes. Mister Potter, you have a question?"
The Professor stuttered looking at Harry.
Harry sat in one of the middle rows to the left next to Sayuri as usual, who looked at him with a questioning glance. "Would it not be better to learn the Counter Hex first, before we start throwing hexes at each other?" His tone was kind of disapproving.
The Professor looked at him and stuttered something that would be unnecessary.
"Oh really? Did you maybe encounter one example of the Hymenoptera Apocrita
like the animal the Stinging Hex was copied from, maybe better known as the Bee?"
"I don't know why that would matter Mister Potter." On Harry's question if he would be open to a presentation, the wizard who looked like he was scared of his shadow, invited Harry to the middle of the floor and looked at him. He noticed as Harry pulled his wand with not one wasted movement and incanted the Stinging hex for all to hear, the next the professor knew he had trouble breathing and fumbled for his wand.
The class was shocked, silent and looked at their professor, whose throat had swollen after getting hit by the characteristic white light of the Stinging Hex. Looking at his professor with a calculating look the young wizard turned to his classmates. "As you can see even those as harmless classified charms, curses, and hexes can cause serious harm, and because of that, you should always be cautious where you point your wand" Harry fixed his gaze at Michael Corner before turning to the professor who had turned a bit blue but finally had a grasp on his wand. "Thank you for assisting me with this Professor" He gave a short bow but noticed how the shaking hand suddenly stopped and the color in Quirrels eyes shortly changed to red before he wordlessly countered the Singing Hex taking in a rasped breath.
"Yeah. Thank. Thank you, Mister Potter, that will be five points to Ravenclaw, we will address the Counter Charm before starting with our Mock duels." The stutter was back, and Harry tried not to let anything of his emotions and insights show, but something was wrong with Quirrel. Getting an approving nod from Sayuri who did not seem troubled at least gave Harry some hope after seeing the scared faces of his classmates. Seriously, had they never thought about how to apply charms, hexes, or curses in certain ways?
In the days after this little lesson on how to make the stinging hex lethal, the Hogwarts Rumor Mill had exaggerated the case to the heights of a failed murder attempt of Harry at the Professor.
After that, Harry was left alone for most of the time. He would not complain about that, he needed the time to explore and map the castle and write Letters to Andy, Dora, and Aunty Ophelia. He still struggled with the way of addressing her but she had warned him that misbehaving would result in further encouragement sessions. No Harry did not want that.
Besides Exploring, something Harry was looking forward to happened today. The First Broom Class. He could already fly, thanks to his wings and he did so with Hedwig and Erebos on the weekends often before curfew, and around the forest to evade the student body. But broom flying looked like something he could enjoy and everything he knew about Quidditch also sounded interesting.
All four houses have come together on the wide green field between the castle and the Quidditch pitch. Harry had to sigh. Magicals don't have any regard for safety procedures, do they? They were about to fly and the ground was not even layered with cushioning charms. Hell, even normal mats would be something that could help right?
He stood beside a Gryffindor who tried to make the gap a bit wider between them. He was a bit more on the chubby side, baby fat, Harry thought, as he looked at him before following Madam Hooch's instructions to call the Broom into his waiting hands. For around a third that worked without any problems at all. The others got results from wobbling on the ground to hovering just slightly above the ground. Harry could observe that only those who looked like they knew they wanted to have that broom in their hands managed to do so with the verbal command.
Shortly after some frustrated Muggleborns had to pick them up by hand, among them was also the bushy-haired witch, who could challenge Harry on most of the theoretical questions. She was a bookworm, Hermi or something. Harry could not care less about his grades. Most of them he could achieve with just a bit of rereading and memorizing. His way of doing things was by first trying to understand how the magic flowed before attempting it was also helping his scores. Back to the Muggleborn though, Harry had wondered why she was not one of the claws too. It would fit her personality much better if you asked him. Her most unpleasant trait was that she would always try to gain the attention of the teachers by raising her arm as fast as possible, waving sometimes. While Harry tolerated it most of his classmates and some teachers already started to single her out or call her names behind the girl's back.
It was annoying if you had to ask Harry but maybe they should just tell her in the right way and be done with it? For the time being the young Potter would not investigate or invest more time in the topic.
Slowly the group raised upwards on their Brooms, they were about to split into groups and follow the teacher. But with only one authority figure and twenty-plus students things escalated quickly. Some of them mostly the pureblooded wanted to stand out with their superior knowledge and tried to impress others by racing against each other on the school brooms. They were around twenty-five feet in the air.
Harry felt at home as soon as he felt the wind blowing through his hair. His magic was itching for him to spread his wings but no. For the moment he would use just his broom.
He observed the others. Some struggled especially one who Harry thought would be more comfortable on the ground than on a broom. The chubby boy from Gryffindor struggled to keep up, his housemates had already left him behind. Not the house of the loyal right?
Harry noticed that a group of slytherin-green students had let themselves fall back and were now flying around the boy in a circle. The leader was the blonde boy Harry had noticed on the train.
"Come on Slowbottom, speed up, will you? Or are you just too fat for the broom to speed up?" The group laughed at the boy and something inside of Harry clicked. Those students tried to bully the other. He just hated bullies with a passion. Maybe a lingering feeling that he could thank his cousin for. One thing he had learned in his years under the Drusley household. Bullies often picked on those who were too peaceful to defend themselves.
Some more insults were thrown at the poor boy and Harry wanted to intervene but he was too late as the blonde boy sped up and shoulder tackled the Gryffindor Boy, who let out a scream even Madam Hooch must have noticed as she turned on her broom to look for the potential problem.
Over time they slowly had risen to forty feet. This height combined with the shoulder tackle had unseated the Gryffindor. Even with magical means the chances for the boy to survive without direct intervention would be slim. Harry cursed himself for not looking up more utility spells like the cushioning charm or the charm to slow the descent of an object.
He did the same thing he would do if he were in his Drake form. Flipping over his back, Harry lay flat on the broom, feeling gravity losing her hold on him for a moment and speeding up after the screaming student who held on to the tumbling broom by his fingertips.
The wind was rushing against Harry's face, a feeling he was familiar with, his vision fixed on his classmate in need. Before he could reach him though the Gryffindor lost his grasp on the broom he was holding onto. Freefalling, the boy had taken up some speed and the ground was coming closer fast.
Instinctively Harry called up his magic and poured it into the school broom. The twigs began to smoke and spray red sparks but he gained the speed needed. Reaching out with his hand he grasped a part of the boy's robes, and with the other tried to pull both of them up. He could hear the telltale sound of wood breaking under stress. Harry could only hope that what he was about to do was enough. Under some struggle, he tried to get the broom back into a horizontal position. As the G's pushed down on his body, the sound of a crack was heard and his broom broke in two. The Gryffindor rolled over the grass and lay there, pale but overall, he looked all right. Harry himself was breathing heavily. That could have gone wrong if he would not have been accustomed to maneuvers like this.
"You alright there?"
The Gryffindor nodded slowly. "Yeah… Thanks… About that" He was shaken and spoke slowly nearly stuttering.
After the teacher came down both of them were sent to the hospital wing for a check-up. Harry was about to rant at the flying teacher. Deep inside him, his inner dragon so to speak wanted to berate her that she was not prepared for problems.
Neville, the name of the Gryffindor that he saved, had introduced himself to Harry on the way up and both had a small conversation. As the topic switched to which subject was the other's favorite, Neville made sure that the Ravenclaw understood his passion about Herbology. Harry liked his enthusiasm. Finally, he could talk to someone who tried to get to know him and not be blinded by all the Boy-who-lived things. Yes, there was Sayuri. But she was one person. To get to know a new one in that regard was a welcomed change.
Both took a calming draught after the matron made sure that they were medically fine. Mdma Pompfrey was adamant that Harry should have had some shoulder problems after he pulled the weight of Neville out of a free fall. Something she fixed on Neville with a flick of her wand. Scanning him many times and not finding anything out of place had the matron question her own charmwork.
Harry could have helped her. He could have explained that after his ritual that gave him his drake form, his body was much more resilient than even a magicals body in comparison to a non-magical one. But, that would have given her more information about him, that Harry wanted to give her. So after some minutes of the Hogwarts's medi-witch being puzzled, she gave him a pepper-up and sent the boys on their way to their respective common rooms.
Flitwick had congratulated him for his feat and given him points. He was also invited to the Ravenclaw Quidditch Tryouts. They would be held in two weeks and Harry looked forward to it. Doing a sport in the sky sounded lovely. Harry exchanged some tutoring in flying against some insights of plants and other greenery with the Longbottom Boy. A way to increase his own knowledge and get to know Longbottom too.
After all that excitement he looked forward to the end of the week, where they would be in for a double on Potions in the afternoon. Harry regarded Potions as a magical art form.
A great introduction to ritual-based magic. Yes, one needed to know the specifics of the ingredients and it was much more structured, but by all the Arithmancy and the documented reactions to different ingredients, there was that small part where the more spiritual meaning of the certain ingredient came into play. Potions could be done by those considered as Squips, but those potions mostly lacked in potency if compared to a potion made by a full magical with the same skill. Those without the ability to channel magic struggled to put their intent and direct their magic in the same quantity into the potion. A small ritual.
To say that Harry James Potter had expected more from Potions would not be very far-fetched. First, he was grateful, that the Ravenclaws did have the Lessons with the Hufflepuffs. What he had heard from Neville about what happened in their lesson was atrocious. Slytherin students sabotaging Gryffindor cauldrons. Accepting the risk that students could be hurt. Naturally, the Professor would intervene, would he not? Not Professor Severus Tobias Snape.
He just took points from Gryffindor Students for being dunderheads.
Neville had ranted after lunch to Harry how the boy had looked forward to the subject but now lost all interest and was looking forward to the time when he could drop it after the OWLs.
Harry tried to convince him that Neville should not stop just because a professor was not able to do his job properly. In his mind, the young Potter was wondering though. Snape's behavior should have led to his dismissal long ago if the rumors of the student body were true. He had read up on the bylaws and how a professor of Hogwarts should hold her or himself. Obviously bias and to single out students without good reason? That was certainly against them.
Harry was moving those topics to the back of his mind, as he took a place beside Sayuri at the table in the Great Hall. Besides Neville, the girl had an attitude he could work with really well because they both had the same work ethic in class. Stay silent, do your job, and leave. For Conversation, the free time was sufficient outside of class and at meal times. They chatted about how the classes had been and their expectations of the potions lessons. Making sure they would arrive at the classroom on time. Enter the professor.
The Professor entered dramatically closing the blinds and stalking at the front with a billowing cloak. Something Harry just found incredibly amusing. It seemed that the professor wanted to project a strong intimidating image. But like he already witnessed in France those kinds of people were often lacking in the rhetorical department. The professor compared the names on his scroll with the people in attendance and stopped at Harry's.
"Ahh Mister Potter our newest and misunderstood celebrity. We are so honored that you took the time out of your busy schedule to appear in this class." The disgust was noticeable in the voice of the Professor.
Harry had to sigh before answering. "Pardon Professor, but did you just try to single me out?" His voice was clear and confident but not attacking just a neutral question, that had the Potions Master on his case immediately.
"That will be 10 points from Ravenclaw for your cheek"
"Objection, Professor." Harry just replied calmly.
"Another 20 for insubordination." Snape sneered looking in the face of his nemesis spawn with his childhood friend and crush.
"Objection, based on the Hogwarts bylaws…" Harry could not finish as he was rudely interrupted by a very harsh and loud Potionsmaster.
"100 points from Ravenclaw and Detention with me for the Rest of the week. You are just as arrogant as your entitled father. He was just a waste of space as you are and should have never graced these halls. I will have nothing of that." Snape had now clearly lost all restraint as his stoic face had twisted into a grimace.
The class looked like they watched a tennis match between the two and now the eyes were back on Harry Potter. He just stood up calling his wand to his right hand. The windows began to rattle as Harry's magic built up. An emerald green shroud showing himself as an invisible wind let his hair float. As he spoke it was clear and resonated with magic. Some of his classmates quickly tried to hide. Some looked on interested in what he would do this time "I, Harry James Potter, invoke the right of Appeal to a Hogwarts Professor's unjust and unworthy actions. So mote it be"
As a white light came out of his wand a gong resonated in the castle. Two people were immediately sought out by Hogwarts Elves. The Deputy Headmistress and the Head of House Ravenclaw. Luckily both had a free period at the moment. Seconds later they appeared in the Potions classroom. Puzzled they took in the scene as a magic radiating Harry Potter stared down a seething but bound Severus Snape.
Professor McGonagall was the first to take in the situation noticing that Filus already had his wand in his hand. She looked at one auburn-haired first-year Hufflepuff.
"Miss Bones? What happened here?"
The Twin Tailed eeped before she could answer. "Ahh Professor? Err? Potter invoked the Right of Appeal or something."
The Deputy Headmistress looked at Flitwick, who also had a questioning look. With both of them not understanding what was happening they looked at the one person who seemingly did something they did not know was possible.
The Half-Goblin looked at his student after he had made sure that Severus was not held in place by his Claw. "Mister Potter if you would indulge us and explain?"
Harry looked at them both and his face showed evident disappointment. He reigned his magic back in before he answered. "Under the magical Bylaws of Hogwarts in the Section of proper decorum of Hogwarts Professor Section Two the Right To Appeal was introduced. If a student has objected to the punishment of a Hogwarts Professor three times in a row in a short amount of time, an investigation into the case is enforced by the castle wards. The student only has to invoke his right to appeal by stating so. If the wards of the castle feel hostility between the student and the professor the latter will be held by said wards. The investigation shall include the Deputy and the Head of the House the student is part of. If the Professor is found in violation of the Hogwarts charter, he has to be put on probation. If the student is found guilty of abusing his rights, the punishment will be doubled. Two senior Professors, both Heads of House, and one of them the Person in charge of the discipline that is not in the know about this is slightly concerning Professors" Harry finished.
Flitwick summoned a Hogwarts Elf and asked for the rule book in his office. As the elf appeared shortly after with the book in question, he was reading through the thick book like a true Ravenclaw, seemingly in seconds by inhaling it, looked at Minerva and nodded.
"Well Mister Potter, how about you explain what happened, and after that we listen to Professor Snape's view of the Matter. Class dismissed." The Deputy spoke with a clear voice. The Students cleared out after they got another stern look from the Transfiguration Mistress. Harry waited before he looked at all three professors. He recounted the complete event. Even the words that were said with a calm voice, till he reached the final rant of the potions master where he struggled to keep his emotions occluded enough to stay calm.
"I will say this only once" he switched the wand for his enlarged staff. That had the eyes of his professors bulging. "House Potter will not let that stand unpunished, I can not say what my father did or did not do. But I am not him. Gringotts did not inform me that we would have open business with House Snape. I can only think that potions master Snape did that to single me out and spit in my face with his words."
He pointed his staff challenging at the still-bound potions master. "As one person once said, just bring it. Be sure to come at me with your best, because while I won't start any more aggression I will make sure to end it." Holding the Staff in both hands he held it centered before him, the runes on it glowing in the same emerald green as his eyes.
As the wards lowered and allowed for the potions master to defend himself, he started with the same thing he ended with.
"You arrogant brat. Just like your father, you think you can waltz in my classroom and demand things? Because you are a Potter? You are nothing!"
The classroom was a narrow space. Snape had not even his wand out, as the two other professors erected a privacy ward to discuss what happened. Harry not even letting them out of his gaze for a second could see how the face of the pale potions master would gain more reddish color with each second. Both McGonagall and Flitwick seem to berate their colleague only for Flitwick to step out of the bubble for a moment.
"You can go, Mister Potter, your punishments are negated and void. I can understand that you may want to do more but I would ask for some patience so that the staff can deal with the situation."
Harry looked at his Head of House, it sounded reasonable to him. "Just one thing Professor, I think that potions master Snape has earned his title as potions master. He is most likely skilled. But what I heard from older students, classmates, and friends, he is not suited to teach aspiring practitioners, and if his actions against my House and Honor will continue I will take action."
The Half Goblin looked shocked for a moment. He had heard of it for some time. How his claw had worded everything let him know some things. First, he acknowledged that Severus Snape was a potions master, so he treated him with some kind of respect for the achievement and title.
Second, he only said that he was not qualified to teach beginners. Even that was not wrong. Some masters and mistresses in their field would only teach those they would consider worthy of their attention and Snape looked like he was more like them.
Then the personal attack, which he even repeated with them both as witnesses gave enough credibility to overturn Harry's punishments.
The last statement though was the one he was the most careful about. If somebody would say that in the Nation, it would end with the blood of one of them on the armor of the other. Feuds and even wars and been fought over the honor of a house. He would have to investigate further. "Understood Mister Potter, also I have to remind you that honor duels are outlawed on the Hogwarts Grounds for a reason and I hope we can come to a peaceful solution."
Harry nodded slowly before he left the classroom leaving the three professors behind. Shortly after that, they were joined by the Headmaster. It was not clear for how long the conversation lasted but some Slytherins would claim that the dungeons shook two or three times before their dinner.
Harry had gotten the answers to the letters he sent to the three persons he had been ordered to write to two days after that event. Andromeda had praised him for standing his ground and saving a friend. Tonks, the name Nymphadora had told him to address her with, did so too. Ophelia, his third contact told him not to give up ground, even to try and establish his footing and court. It could only help him later, and her of course but that she would never say openly.
Harry began to enjoy his time at Hogwarts after the first week. He started reading ahead his materials after the subjects did not challenge him enough, he even started to write part one of his master plan for making a difference.
He wanted to write a kind of study guide to get the mundane born and raised to snuff as fast as possible. By mixing up progressive thinking and using further knowledge of old traditions that even some purebloods did not practice anymore he wanted to make some careful first steps into the shark tank called politics. Even if he knew that he had enough time to build alliances, to get those most likely looking for shortcuts as first customers was kind of a cheap move but all had to start small did they not?
The project Title at the moment was 'Things to do before coming to Hogwarts'. Not much of a creative naming scheme but he thought it better to be precise than creative. Mostly he was scribbling down drafts in History of Magic. The only subject he was one hundred percent sure he could test out of any time of the day it would be possible. Currently, he is looking for ideas for the first chapters.
So, you are magical? That's a good thing but also comes with some important things you should know. First magic is great but a dangerous thing. Even the smallest mistakes can lead to serious bodily harm so always be careful with experimenting. Or where you point your wand and intentions at. [...] Another important topic is that the magical society of Great Britain should be treated as if you were entering another country. Because of longer life spans, the main focus of the magical side is on established traditions, that may depend on which magical community you join but at the moment we are looking at Great Britain only. [...] But let's get to the major point of why I put together some facts and tips for all of you out there. It all starts and ends with the different types of blood purity. You see, there are three kinds of magicals. Mundane Born, First Generation Wizards often referred to as Muggleborns, after that, you have the Halfbloods, someone with one magical parent and one Muggleborn or non-magical parent. Last but not least followed by the so-called Purebloods, with, you maybe guessed it, two magical parents with a minimum of three generations of magicals. And now here starts the problem. You see the British magicals still hold on to the Houses of Lords system. Surely they invested blood and effort to build up the land but the Houses slowly went into extinction. This twisted the balance and former true purpose into something else.
After two blood-based wars and rising rates of magicless-born children born to magicals, from an outside perspective, it looks like those houses that tried to stay pure are slowly bringing themselves down.
Now with rising rates of first-generation wizards and witches with each generation, they are scared, and like each predator who once was strong and could not be faulted, attacked.
Now they feel pushed into a corner and react accordingly. [...] Because of that I conclude that the traditions of a society like ours should be respected, but not at the cost of getting bullied because the parents don't fit into someone's expectations. So show them that you are trying to fit in but not at the cost of your self-respect.
Each day Harry would try to come up with chapters and content. While preparing a kind of study club for the first years. Still a work in progress. Maybe he should have started to make more friends first, as most students in first year evaded him like the plague. Scared after what rumors had enriched his reputation after that meaningful first potions lesson. So he needed to work on his standing before he could check in with his Head of House but it was slowly getting there. Good thing he had still enough time in class for all his prep work while still staying ahead.
October '91
It was the first of October and a Friday. Classes were finished and Harry and some other hopefuls stood on the quidditch field. In front of them was the complete Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. Harry did not know most of them but the Captain was a seventh-year everyone just called Eliza she played Keeper. She had built up the team from scratch in her last year and introduced the Chasers, Roger Davies, Marcus Belby, and Eddie Carmichael—the Two Beaters, Edgar and Maxine.
The Seeker position was currently empty and was the main reason for this tryout.
The Tryouts were mostly beside the vacant Seeker position to build up some reserves and because of that open for the first years students too. Thanks to that they had some veterans this year. Harry looked at Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, and Sayuri Lee who had also joined the Tryouts. Everything started with some basic flying drills. Something even Eliza joked about because Ravenclaws should be natural in the air, shouldn't they? The first years had no problem with the drills. Even as they were split into position drills they did well enough. Something the captain liked. What put her really out of her depth was when she put Harry against Cho in a direct Seeker Battle.
"Okay, you two, our Beaters will use the bludgers to try to prevent you from catching the snitch. The objective for you two will be to catch the snitch before the other. It will be the closest thing to a real game. First and foremost, try to dodge and be the fastest to the Snitch alright?"
Both nodded, and the seeker hopefuls got on their brooms rising into the air. Harry felt at home as soon as his feet left the ground. It was troublesome not to change slightly to get his wings out. Something he found useful to navigate very narrow angles on a broom.
Sayuri sat with the rest of the team looking at the seeker's battle.
"Look at Potter go? Chang has no Chance." Belby said as Harry pulled out of a dive corkscrewing upwards to dodge a bludger and loose Cho on his tail. The Japanese Girl was impressed and could only agree with the Chaser.
What he did, looked so effortless, like he could feel each small wind current. It did not take long for Chang to overshoot him time and time again, getting frustrated with her opponent and trying for something different.
Sayuri could only sigh as she could observe her trying to make Eyes at Harry or get him to notice her curves. She just started developing for Merlin's sake. It was like she was air to him, except she was near enough that Harry would have to block her or something. The young wizard had his eyes on the objective and every obstacle but not on her.
A glint of gold, and Harry pumping a closed fist in the air. Both landed and Cho threw her broom to the ground angered stomping off. Something Sayuri had only one thing to do about, chuckling. Stupid Bint. The Chinese had tried to bully her the day before. Trying to get a raise out of her because they had thrown away their good name and standing and moved to Japan before she even was born. She was not really on good terms with Chang after that and to see Harry destroying her three to zero was something.
Eliza looked after her seeker only to switch to Harry.
"Well Harry, that was something and with Cho throwing the Broom I would say congratulations on making the cut. You must be the first starting firstie in a century or so." She shook his hand and left him after telling him when the team would meet for practice.
Harry was hugged by Sayuri and Terry and Anthony gratulated him with a shake of hands. The two boys and the girl were now part of the reserve.
"So Harry how do you feel, being selected as Seeker?" She had put her long red hair in a high Ponytail for flying was the first thing Harry had noticed before looking at her Amythyst-like eyes.
"Well, really accomplished?" he chuckled at her pout. "And famished. I know you know Sayuri." That put a smile on her face and both made their way to the location Harry had found some days ago. The Kitchens, for a short snack.
Out of Harry's notes for his Book
One of the most forgotten and misunderstood things is rites and rituals to connect with your magic on special days in the year. Those of Irish origin may even know them already.
I speak of Samhain (1. November), Imbolc (1. February), Beltane (1. Mai), and Lughnasadh (1. August).
Besides those four days, there are four flexible ones.
Starting with the winter solstice or yule around the 21st of December. A night of deep magical power, perfect for prophecies and dark magic.
It's twin, Litha, or the summer solstice. usually celebrated on the 21st of June. Linked to protective magic, light spells, and renewal.
The solstice events create the north and south positions to the east and west which are the two equinoxes.
Ostara or the Spring Equinox, is a time of renewal, fertility, and growth. Herbology spells are most potent, and magical creatures become more active. Not only magical creatures, in the old times this time was often used to conduct rituals that would help couples in their family planning.
Mabon. Hold around the 21st of September, a harvest festival, marking gratitude, balance, and preparation for winter's descent. Perhaps the best time to brew complex potions, as it is the best time to conduct rituals for wisdom, study, and balance.
Those days are special days for magic for all those living in Great Britain. As magic was very connected to the land around druids and we freely roamed it, they found out that on those special days. Rites and Rituals connected to the Background of the respective day had a higher chance of success. We today can only thank them for their experimentation and self-sacrifice in uncovering those major things for us.
Let us take Samhain for example. On this day of fellowship with the other plane of the living, if done right it is possible to connect with your guardian spirit or something Native American tribes do, their ancestors, asking for guidance, or protection.
Naturally, all good things can be corrupted and twisted, which is one reason the British Ministry for Magic banned most sacrificial rituals and deemed them dark in nature.
We will come back to the classification of magic in a later chapter, but let us get into one of the simplest, safest, and oldest rituals you can and should do on Samhain.
What you need is one fire that was not lit by magic, something to sacrifice like an apple, for example, a candle, and a stone bowl inscribed with some easy runes. [...] If you followed the instruction for the rune drawings put your sacrifice in the fire and begin channeling magic to the runes of the bowl by pointing your wand and chanting. The candle should rise above the bowl now and be lit. [...] Your sight will be on the inside of your mind now and if done correctly you will meet someone. Who or what you meet exactly will depend on your intention and the will of magic so to speak. For general safety Instructions [...] On your first time never, and I repeat never do a ritual on your own. Always have someone knowledgeable with you to support and point out errors.
31 October '91
It was the night of All Hallows Eve, Halloween, or the short hours before Samhain and Harry had regretted not hiding under his cloak and being somewhere else. He should have prepared his room for the ritual but no. He was sitting here at the feast looking at unholy amounts of sugar and other stuff, the decorations were tasteful for a mundane Halloween party impressive even, but they missed the respect you should have for the world behind the veil.
Harry had to understand the sour looks on some of the more traditionally raised students, even he, who had entered this world some years ago had problems to stomach everything. A short look opposite the table was enough for him to know that Sayuri had similar Problems. She had more ground in the Japanese way of magic which was based on Shintoism to some kind but she was integrated enough to know about the traditions of the land they are staying in at the moment.
The feast was progressing and some chatter had risen while some of them enjoyed the confectionary and desserts as the hall doors opened and the DADA Professor rushed in and yelled something about a troll in the dungeons before collapsing.
Pandemonium broke loose till the Headmaster ordered Hufflepuff and Slytherin to stay in the Hall while Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were to be escorted to their rooms. Both parties accompanied by a teacher and their prefects were on their way as Harry got bumped into the side and fell back out of the masses noticing Neville Longbottom.
"Harry, I think Hermione from our House is missing, I told our female prefect but she told me to stay in the group and she would look after her when we would be safe in the common room. I think after her encounter with Weasley today in Charms I heard her roommates mentioning that she hides in the second-floor girl's bathroom. That should be okay If we make a detour right?"
"Damn, Neville really, that's one strange prefect you have. Sure nobody deserves to be smashed to pieces by a troll. Follow me, I found a shortcut to the second floor. This way."
They rushed around a corner, using a secret passage behind a suit of armor and arriving at the second-floor girl's bathroom just some minutes later. Harry could feel that something was coming closer and he opened the door to the bathroom without hesitation just yelling. "Coming in, we have a troll on the loose and have to get out of here!"
Neville followed him hearing the sobbing in one of the stalls and after he repeated the warning of the troll he got Hermione to stop sobbing. With Harry's support, they got her out of the bathroom after some vocal protesting only to see the Troll crossing the corner just down the hall on the other side. Harry turned to Neville. "Take her and run. I will distract him. Don't argue and just go!" His voice had some confidence in it and even as Hermione tried to stay back she just was overpowered by Neville who also wanted to stay back, but knowing Harry, if he told you to start running they better start running.
Looking behind him, Harry noticed the pair of Lions entering the secret passage that would get them back to the grand staircase. Turning back just in time to use his extended Staff to bat away the upper body of the knight armor the troll had picked up and thrown at him. Getting screamed at by a troll charging at you was something Harry didn't even know if he wanted it to be on his list to cross out before he died. As he looked into the beast's eyes as it got nearer he knew that getting killed by a troll was certainly not on it.
Harry channeled magic into his limps using the speed boost to rush at the troll. Mountain Trolls were good at smashing things down to small pieces, but they were no quick thinkers. The rune at the end of his staff lit up in emerald green changing the blunt end into a sharp blade made out of dragonhorn. Twirling the staff in his hands Harry managed to cut into the troll's skin as he slid between its legs.
It was not a very deep cut but enough to draw blood. Also, the troll growled in pain, turning and swinging the club at the young wizard. Quickly standing up he pushed the staff to the ground putting up a shield for the club to be repelled by that shield.
The resonating gong-like sound enraged the troll just some more. Using the club to rain down on Harry with one swing at the other. While the young wizard used a mixture of shielding and dodging he was slowly pushed into a dead end.
Cursing himself for his bad positioning he put not enough power in the next shield and the kinetic energy resulting threw the wizard into one wall.
Harry's vision blurred slightly but he could see enough to see the club raised again and making his way at him. It was like the time slowed down for a moment. Looking at the nearing club like it was moving incredibly slowly he tried to stand up, but something was not right with his legs.
Harry looked at the place where he had first drawn blood and used an inverted version of the Accio spell to get him to that point. At that moment time sped up again and the club hit the wall where he was a second before.
Sending stone flying Harry quickly put his finger into the troll's blood and drew one rune out of the Vampiric Alphabet.
Using the sympathetic connection he established through the blood the rune would draw out the troll's blood. A good plan he thought. The beast screamed as it felt getting weaker as its life slowly tickled out of it.
The troll's resistance worked against the young wizard's plan. That and the flying club the troll aimed at Harry.
"I will neither let you harm the castle, my friends, or me anymore." Harry looked at him never noticing as the green aura around him manifested. First, he used a crude magical pulse to push the club out of his way. Shortly followed by pointing his staff at the troll. His hissed command in Parseltongue while imagining a clear picture was all he needed. Many snakes were conjured out of the staff's end and flew straight at the troll. One word was spoken with the cold emotion of someone who had endured much. The hiss would have stopped weaker minds from fighting. "KILL!"
Harry felt the pull on his magic and quickly ended the blood magic. After this, he just witnessed what he created with cold indifference.
It was like a wave of serpents that crashed against the troll. Different sizes, forms, and species of snakes did not let the beast take one step more in the direction of their summoner. The longest of them had wrapped his legs together taking him down thanks to his momentum. While the others sunk their teeth into each part of skin they could find. The venom of some of them was corrosive enough, that someone could hear a sizzling sound, as the skin was attacked by it and dissolved a patch around the bite. In just a blink of an eye, the troll had so many bites and different wounds that he died seconds after the first contact with the snakes.
Okay, he overpowered the last spell. The conjuration and the spell needed to end the blood magic that would also erase any traces was too much for his young body. Maybe he miscalculated.
"Shit." The next he knew he saw black, the staff automatically resizing and traveling to his hips as his hand had opened. He laid two feet away from the troll face up.
That was the exact image, the small Professor Flitwick that had been led here by the Ghost of Ravenclaw tower had found. A passed-out Harry Potter and a dead Mountain Troll littered with bites and patches of skin missing faced down and club lying around.
"Merlin, what happened here?" He exclaimed before sending a patronus off to inform the headmaster, that the Troll was dealt with and he had an injured student to take to the hospital wing.