Harry entered the Great Hall rather exhausted as he had spent most of the night in the chamber with the founders and only got three hours of sleep before he had to get to class. He noticed Hermione was not there, likely having already eaten and gotten to class early, and Ron was sitting with Seamus and Dean arguing over Quidditch; therefore, he decided to sit near the chasers. They beamed at him and began chatting as they ate with Alicia giving him a pointed look about how little he was eating, which essentially told him to take more food.
They were interrupted by McGonagall as she walked up to them and said, "Here is your schedule Mr. Potter and I have made the revisions you asked for yesterday. I sincerely hope you do not disappoint." After she walked away, Harry looked down and saw his schedule and groaned.
4th Year Schedule – Gryffindor – Harry Potter:
Monday: Double Potions 8-11 am (w/Slytherins), Ancient Runes 11:15-12:15 pm, Lunch, Charms 1-2pm (w/Ravenclaws), Break, Herbology 4-5pm (w/Hufflepuffs), Dinner
Tuesday: Transfiguration 8-9 am (w/Hufflepuffs), History of Magic 9:15-10:15 am (w/Ravenclaws), Break, Lunch, Care of Magical Creatures 1-2:30 pm, Double Charms 3-6 pm (w/Ravenclaws), Dinner
Wednesday: DADA 9-10 am (w/Slytherins), Double Herbology 10:15-1:15 pm (w/Hufflepuffs), Lunch, Potions 3:30-4:30 pm (w/Slytherins), Break, Dinner, Astronomy (w/All 4th Years) 10pm–1am
Thursday: Double History of Magic 8-11 am (w/Ravenclaws), Arithmancy 11:15-12:15 pm, Lunch, Double Transfiguration (w/Hufflepuffs) 2-5 pm, Dinner
Friday: Double DADA 8-11 am (w/Slytherins), Lunch & Dinner served at usual times
Harry was now convinced that the universe hated him as, with the exception of Fridays, his schedule was fucking insane and likely drafted up by Voldemort himself and now to start off the year, he had to sit with Snape and his pet Slytherins for three hours right before going to the school's hardest elective, all before lunch. His reaction caused the girls to snatch the paper from him and they gave him sympathetic looks before they packed up their belongings and headed out, Harry split from them to walk towards the dungeons.
When Harry arrived in Potions class, he was greeted by his fellow Gryffindors and ignored by the glaring Slytherins who detested him with a passion, especially a certain blonde ponce who had again partnered up with Blaise Zabini with Crabbe and Goyle sitting behind them; although, it looked like Zabini would rather be anywhere else. Contrary to popular belief, Harry was not biased against Slytherin House like Ron was, as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw hated him just as much, he just was much more wary of them because of how many Death Eaters came from there and also the only Slytherin that he saw often was Malfoy himself.
He subtlety turned his attention to the Slytherin girls who were closer to front as the Goblin's words about there being a potential Lady(s) Slytherin for him rang through his head. There were four Slytherin girls in his year; Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, Tracey Davis, and Daphne Greengrass, none of which he knew well at all. He discounted the first immediately as Bulstrode and Theodore Nott were apparently contracted together and everyone often saw them snogging together, much to the chagrin of all. She was sitting next to Parkinson, who also supposedly had a marriage contract with Malfoy of all people as that is what he liked to tell everyone, and now that he thought about it, while she was usually around Malfoy, she was almost always quiet and had the same miserable look that Malfoy's mother had on at the World Cup when ever she was around Draco and his goons. Davis was the most likely candidate by default as she was usually much more approachable and outgoing than the others and as a Half-Blood, likely didn't have pureblood bias. Finally, there was Greengrass the Ice Queen, who stuck to Tracey, Pansy, and her sister Astoria while being cold and condescending to everyone else and she looked at him like he had just killed her dog.
Harry's thoughts about his nonexistent, but still somehow turbulent love life, came to a screeching halt when Count Dracula, I mean Snape walked into the room and quickly sneered at everyone. Harry quickly went to sit down next to Neville, who would end being his partner for the year; he usually sat with Ron but decided to help Neville avoid Snape's wrath because he knew his shy companion could be great at this but not with the bat standing over him. After Snape went over the syllabus, he told them to take out their materials and begin brewing a healing potion from their textbook; of course, the git didn't go into explaining how to do it, he just told them to get on with it. Old Harry might have panicked, but the New Harry who spent last night reviewing potion basics with Salazar Slytherin himself did not and he began to use the new unique methods about how to cut, crush, and mix the ingredients with the help of Neville, who was kind of freaking out that Harry wasn't using the book.
About half an hour before class ended, Daphne and Tracey were the first to complete their potion and after Snape examined it, he gave them an O and then proceeded to glide over to Harry and Neville, likely to mess up their work.
"Feeling the pressure of disappointment again Potter? It's not like that would be a first." Snape grinned at them with some of the Slytherins laughing. However, Snape was caught off guard by the smile on Harry's face.
"Actually sir, Neville and I have just finished and our work is ready for your approval." Harry said, which caused everyone to wide-eyed, none more so than Hermione who was partnered with Ron. Snape sneered and examined the cauldron, fully prepared to fail them both, but was shocked when the potion was almost perfect. He stared at Harry, likely trying to determine if he cheated and when he couldn't find anything, he was forced to give the two an O as well as he turned his attention to Dean and Seamus who just blew something up. He thought Neville was going to kiss him he was so happy and he noticed Hermione looking at him curiously but she just went back to work with Ron and looked around to see Greengrass looking at him with narrowed eyes and Davis giving him a smile.
Eventually, class was over and most people were able to finish their work, and Hermione was almost distraught when she received an EE because of Ron's foolery. The trio then began walking out of the dungeons when Ron spoke.
"Great we got Divination next before lunch, what a nightmare." he grumbled.
"Actually Ron, I have decided to take McGonagall up on her offer and I switched out Divination for Ancient Runes and I have decided to take Arithmancy too." Harry said, causing both of his friends to drop their jaws in shock.
"Why the Bloody Hell would you do that?" Ron asked.
"Bad things keep happening to us Ron, so I have decided to take my schoolwork more seriously from now on to better hone my magic and sitting in Divination isn't helping." Harry said rather hotly. Hermione smiled at him for such a statement, but she also was studying him with slight suspicion. Ron just muttered under his breath, but eventually accepted his answer and soon they broke from Ron to head to the Runes classroom.
Ancient Runes took place in a small classroom, due to not many taking the course, and was taught by Professor Babbling, who was a small bundle of energy and welcomed everyone in as they took a seat. Harry decided to sit next to Hermione, as she was the only other Gryffindor in the room, the rest were mostly Ravenclaws but he did notice Pansy and Daphne sitting next to each other in the room and they both raised their eyebrows at his presence but didn't say anything. The professor eventually waited until everyone was seated before saying a few words.
"Hello everyone, and welcome back to Ancient Runes. Now before we begin today, I would like us all to welcome our new student for the class, Mr. Harry Potter." she said as she began clapping and stopped when very few others did. "Now, I know you are all curious about the syllabus, but first I would like to test your knowledge and so in front of you all is a box with different symbols on it and I would like you all to translate it to the correct phrase so it can be opened within the next fifteen minutes. Good luck.", she finished and left them to their own devices.
Harry was grateful Rowena had showed him a couple of tricks about Rune boxes last night and so Harry got to work and got slightly agitated when Hermione asked him what he was doing as he wasn't following the directions, to which he just rolled his eyes and cheekily told her he was just being awesome. When the time limit finished, Harry had finished his work for inspection and when Babbling was done, she said "Congratulations to Ms. Granger, Ms. Greengrass, Ms. Parkinson, Ms. Li, and Mr. Potter for translating all of the Runes in the allotted time and extra credit to Mr. Potter for being creative in his translations. Now, lets continue class with going over the syllabus." Harry was beaming at getting praise like that after having spent the last decade not even trying in school due to the Dursley's beating him for doing well; however, he noticed Hermione had a jealous look on her face and he was hoping it wouldn't cause issues later. Pansy and Daphne were looking at him with suspicion and curiosity but he ignored them and just spent the rest of class waiting for it to end.
After they were dismissed, they headed for lunch where they saw Ron essentially mow down a couple of poor first years to get his food first, and Harry along with Hermione decided to join him despite Ron pigging out again.
"Regretting your decision yet mate?" Ron asked, confident in Harry's answer.
To which Harry smirked and said, "Actually Ron, I got a higher grade than Hermione did on our first assignment." which caused Ron to nearly choke on his chicken and Hemione to huff.
After Lunch ended, the trio made their way to the Charms classroom, where the claws were waiting for them, along with their Head of House who served as the teacher in the tiny form of Professor Flitwick.
Flitwick gathered everyone's attention and said, "Good afternoon class, and welcome back. Today before we begin, in an effort to promote cooperation between houses, I have decided to split you up into pairs of two with each pair consisting of one lion and one of my eagles. Now when I call your name, please take a seat next to the partner I have assigned you." causing almost everyone to groan. Harry waited patiently for his name to be called, despite the feeling of panic he had as all Ravenclaws, minus Penny, he knew of hated him as they think him a glory hog.
Eventually, after Hermione got paired with Padma Patil and Ron with Terry Boot, his own name was called and he was partnered with a girl named Su Li and it took him a minute to remember the girl as he usually forgot about her due the girl's quiet nature and shyness. He knew very little of her, only that her father was important in China's magical community and her mother was from England, which is why they sent Su here to Hogwarts. He had never spoken to her, but he once remembered Penny telling him that Su was a standout in academics, even for a Ravenclaw, for almost every subject. The problem, she told him, was that Su was an extreme introvert and only spoke when asked a question or when she was with one of her few friends. She's like a female Neville, Harry thought. However, once he sat next to her, he took a minute to realize she was quite beautiful as Harry was almost instantly attracted to her and thought she could rival Daphne, Tracey, Pansy, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, The Chaser Trio, and maybe even one day, Penny and Tonks.
Harry snapped out of his thoughts when Flitwick started talking again, "Today, we will be learning the Accio charm, which allows a person to summon essentially anything to them, even from a distance. I want each of you to begin practicing and helping your partner if needed, please try not to summon anything dangerous as I do not want to suffer another knife to the groin incident for a student."
Harry was recalling Godric's words last night about for Charms and Transfiguration, one needs to have their mind work in tandem with their magic and use the upmost concentration and try to imagine what you want to happen and let your magic complete the action. Harry raised his wand and pointed it at his textbook, which was about ten feet away from him now when he backed up, and shouted Accio. The textbook did come at him, but a little too fast, as it hit him in the gut before he could catch it, knocking him back. This caused Su to go wide-eyed and rush up to him.
"Are you okay?", she asked shyly and Harry nodded.
"I guess I need to learn catch or at least dodge better, but it could be worse", he said as he pointed to Ron who just used the charm accidentally on Terry himself, causing them to knock each other down.
Su just giggled, which Harry thought was adorable, and said "I suppose that's true, but is still better than what I can probably do.", scolding herself at the end there.
Harry decided to speak up, "I don't believe that, my friend Penelope Clearwater says you one of the top students in your house and I know she is no liar.", he said with a blinding smile.
Su blushed at the praise and found a slight new confidence with the Head Girl and Harry Potter both praising her and so she decided to do the charm on her own, using her bag and she actually managed to get it right on the first try. Harry and Flitwick both beamed at her and told her good job, which caused her to sputter and duck her head. After a few more tries, Harry completed using the charm without risk of bodily harm and the two continued to practice as the rest of the class was just beginning to get the hang of it. By the end of class, Su and Harry had developed a good working relationship despite their own awkwardness, and while they weren't exactly friends, they made excellent partners; better than Hermione and Ron were faring with theirs.
Class ended and Harry and Su said goodbye to each other, as Harry began to walk away with his fellow Gryffindors. All of whom were complaining about being paired up with their Ravenclaw counterparts, except him. Are the houses really so divided that easily? I knew it was bad, but arguing so hotly over something as small as this? Harry tried to rationalize this, as he felt that since he was the heir to all four Hogwarts houses, he almost felt it was his responsibility to try and fix it; a seemingly impossible task since the other three houses essentially despised him for various reasons.
Harry decided to split from the group and use his free period to head to the chamber to ask if the founders had any advice on this matter. After explaining the situation to them, they said that in their day the four houses may have had different values but they still respected and admired each other. He was shocked to learn that the assigned seating by house in the Great Hall was not a thing when the school was built as you could sit anywhere you wanted and were encouraged to sit with members of a different house. Over the centuries, though, that apparently changed as the students became so enamored with their House values that they began to grow to hate the other houses and when people like Grindelwald and Voldemort came to power, unity of the houses was a forgotten memory. Harry stayed in the chamber for the rest of break time to learn a couple things from Salazar on Herbology before going to the class, but his mind continued to be plagued by these thoughts of the houses.
Eventually, Harry bid goodbye to the founders and headed for class, eventually running into Ron and Hermione who were curious at his absence since he wasn't in the library with her or the common room with him to which he just replied he was 'around'. The trio made their way to the greenhouses and walked into the room where they saw their fellow Gryffindors and the fourth-year puffs, two of which stood out to him the most – Susan Bones & Hannah Abbott. Susan was perhaps the truest personification of a Hufflepuff as they came just like Cedric, as she was fiercely loyal to her friends and kind to everyone she came across, regardless of what color robes they were wearing; as such, while they were not friends per say, they did make very polite conversation in the library and in class. Hannah was a different story, while she was loyal and kind, she was easily manipulated by the people around her as he witnessed in second year when she listened to that tosser MacMillan about how he was attacking the muggleborn students without any proof and ever since then, she has always been wary of him and treated him like he didn't exist just like the rest of her house.
As the trio stood opposite them at the table, Susan waved at Harry and he waved back, which caused Hannah and Hermione to scowl for different reasons. Soon enough Professor Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff House, came into the room and began explaining what they would be doing this year and told them to begin to grow wormwood and other plants that might make a specific healing potion. Many were surprised when Harry was the first behind Neville to successfully gather the correct ingredients and use them properly, resulting in some grumbling from Hermione and the badgers and a congrats from Susan and Neville. Harry left class with a smile on his face as, despite the long day he had, he could feel that he was really making progress in his classes and as a result, was beginning to feel good about himself in a way he never really has before. Now he could only pray he felt that way the rest of the week.