Almost two months have passed and Harry was more than a little disappointed with Hogwarts. No, not with the castle itself, but with the courses...so far, at all the classes apart from Potions, they have done nothing except for studying theory! But he didn't care about theory. What Harry wanted was to learn how to use his magic. And in his mind, studying all those diagrams and boring theorems would not help him turn into a cat and then back again into a human at all – yes, professor McGonagall did not lose the opportunity to impress the first-year students with her mastery over Transfiguration.
With his thoughts flying towards the professors at Hogwarts, Harry had mixed feelings: there were some decent ones that looked like they really knew what they were talking about – like McGonagall, Snape and Flitwick – but there were also some of them that were simply useless. For example, the professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts was utterly useless. Not only Harry could barely understand what was he talking because of his stuttering, but he couldn't even sleep during his class because of the horrid smell.
'No, for real, that stench of garlic could probably kill even humans, not only vampires.' Harry thought while his eyes unconsciously started to water at the vivid recalling of the smell.
Besides the DADA professor, there was another useless one, the teacher of History of Magic. Harry almost had a panic attack when in the very fist class of History of Magic, he fell asleep!
No, the reason for him panicking was not the fear of losing points or getting detention – he could care less about these things – but the fact that he had been wearing his precious Gorgoneion around his neck when he fell asleep! Even with his precious pendant around his neck, Harry had actually fallen asleep!
Until then, Harry has been able to study for even 12 - 14 hours straight without feeling any bad consequences as long as he didn't take off his pendant...yet now, only 15 minutes in the class and he already fell. Apparently the saying "you can't win every battle" was true even for such a godly magical artefact like the Gorgoneion. Harry didn't know whether should he be impressed or scared by the ghost professor's ability of putting everyone to sleep.
Following this his line of thought, Harry started thinking about Severus Snape, the Potions professor and the Head of his House. He had mixed feelings about him as well.
One hand, he seemed like he was a real expert at what he did and he cared a lot about the students in his house, going even to the extent of offering them additional potions classes to make sure they were better than the rest of the student body of Hogwarts...not a fair teacher, that's true, but who would care about something like this as long as they were the ones being favoured?
On the other hand though, professor Snape seemed to fully ignore Harry's existence. The two of them never exchanged any words outside the moments when Snape called the roll at the beginning of the class and Harry had to confirm his presence there.
And it was especially because of his indifference as the Head of the House towards him, that Harry has gotten in his current predicament.
At the banquet at the start of the year, Gwyneth Ashwood and Danforth Martlesham – the third year duo that had struck a conversation with him – warned Harry that he would suffer some real difficulties in this House.
The reason for that was his ancestry. Harry Potter was...a Potter. None of the members of his family have ever ended up being sorted into the Slytherin House! Most of them have ended up in Gryffindor, some would be sorted in Ravenclaw and some even in Hufflepuff...everywhere but Slytherin! Because of that, neither of his housemates looked at him with good eyes. Furthermore, Draco Malfoy and the other two big oafs always following him around never lost a chance to annoy the heck out of him. During the first week at Hogwarts they have even ambushed him while he was alone in one of the castle's many corridors.
Although they were all wizards, the three Slytherins were wizards only in name at that time. They couldn't do any spells yet, it was only their first week at Hogwarts after all. Because of that, the three attackers have relied on their fists' strength...a thing which proved to be their downfall.
Draco, Crabbe and Goyle have never before received such a violent beating – after being harassed for nearly an etire week straight, Harry's blood rushed to his head and he didn't care about consequences anymore: 'telekinesis'-empowered punches and kicks rained upon his three assailants like a waterfall.
How could have 3 children born with a silver spoon in their mouths compare themselves with a hooligan who had to survive by himself for years on London's streets? It was like comparing 3 garden snakes with a viper:
Flashback
"Well, well, well...what have we gotten here...a filthy little half-blood trash." Draco Malfoy sneered mockingly and his two partners laughed dumbly at the same time at his words.
In that moment, Harry saw red in front of his eyes. Never before in his life has he had to suffer being mocked by anyone without getting back at them. Especially, not for an entire week, continuously.
'To think that there would come a day whe I would be bullied by a bunch of still wet behind the years brats...I'll show them what happens to those that have the guts to fuck with me!' Harry raged in his mind, determined to beat them half to death.
Despite his anger, Harry still looked around for a moment to see if there were any witnesses. After all, the reason for him not beating them to a pulp the very first moment they started bullshitting almost a week ago was this: he couldn't afford to act openly. Sometimes he was too rational for his own good. And he reckoned that considering his shaky status among his peeres, attacking openly some of their own would only make him the receiver of their ire and hate.
But after Harry glanced around and realized that it was only the four of them on that corridor, Harry smiled cruely. Seeing Harry grinning like a loon, Draco had foreboding feeling and he almost chocked with the snide words he was about to say.
"I finally got you alone you motherfucking bastards! To think a bunch of snot-nosed brats like you have the balls to act like that in front of me. I put up with your shit for an entire week...let me show you what 'never tickle a sleeping dragon' actually means."
'Never tickle a sleeping dragon' was Hogwarts' motto... Apparently, even when being livid with anger, the nerdy side of Harry's personality which had been brought out by the Gorgoneion was still present.
With an angry wave of his two hands, Crabbe and Goyle were levitated and clashed one into each other before falling on the floor groaning in pain. At that sight, all of Draco's bravura and his big mouth disappeared. He started to step backwards trembling – Harry's face was almost purple by now because of all the pent-up anger during the week being released at one moment. Draco was terrified.
A heavy punch collided with the blonde boy's face and a sickening crunch came from his nose. Draco collapsed on the ground seeing stars in front of his eyes and Harry began to savagely kick and punch at his face and torso like a madman. He only stopped when the boy lost his consciousness.
Harry lifted himself from atop Draco and after sending one more kick at his face, he spit on him in a very disgusting manner.
By then, Crabbe and Goyle have already gotten up to their feet, but the sight of Harry savagely beating up Draco like a psychopath petrified them. It was the first time they have ever witnessed such a brutal violence. They, themselves, have never even seen anyon hit someone else before apart from their parents punishing their House-Elves. But this level of savagery and violence was entirely new for them.
When Harry turned with his face towards them, Goyle let a sound almost like a whimper. With Draco's blood dripping from his knuckles and with the veins on his forehead throbbing, Harry emanated a very dangerous aura.
But by the time when the thought that they should run away finally popped into Crabbe and Goyle's minds, Harry has already reached them. Despite the two of them being a head taller than Harru and more solid than him, their outcome was no better than Draco's. It was a one-sided beating.
Flashback end
For an entire week afterwards, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle have resided in the Hospital Wing. They have been beaten very badly, and their wounds were not light.
Not only had Madam Pomfrey been appalled at their appearance, even the rest of the professors tried to find out who has been the one to wreck them like that. But to everyone's frustration, the three of them refused to say a word.
Whether they were scared about the consequences of them snitching on Harry, or they were too ashamed to admit that three of them got beaten to a pulp by a single guy - that was unclear. Moreover, due to their state, it never went through the professors' mind to suspect anyone younger than 13 years old of being the culprit. In their minds no eleven years old like Harry was capable of inflicting such damage. Not even Dumbledore seemed to suspect Harry because the wounds the three boys received were not made by magic, but clearly by punches and kicks. Dumbledore didn't believe a scrawny boy like Harry was capable of besting two massive for their age Crabbe and Goyle at the same time, even if he used his mastery over the Levitation Charm.
However, despite the brutal beating the three of them received, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle didn't seem to have learned their lesson. Two weeks after their wounds got healed completely, they started harassing Harry and all the other half-blood students in Slytherin (and not only) once again.
The reason for their newfound confidence was that everywhere they went, the three of them would be followed dutifully by a 7th year boy from Slytherin. Technically, it was actually his 8th year at Hogwarts - yes, it was the one about whom the read-haired boy from the side of the Gryffindors said in the train that he had failed his NEWT. Harry learned that his name was Marcus Flint.
Because of the new addition to the group, Harry couldn't find any opportunity to mess them up again. And what angered Harry even more was the passive attitude the professors took towards their behaviour. Everyday inside the Great Hall, Malfoy and his little gang got into verbal spats with Neville Longbottom and his friends and everyday, Draco would say loudly something snarky about how "Mudbloods" and half-bloods were the Wizarding World's trash and how they should be treated like slaves.
Scene break
It was now almost the middle of the night but Harry had no thoughts of going to sleep. He was seated on one of the leathery sofas in the Slytherin Common Room watching the fire burning merrily – it was already October and they were in a Dungeon; it was expected to be cold enough for a fire to be needed.
The common room was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. It actually extended partway under the lake, which gave the light in the room a green tinge. The common room had lots of low backed black and dark green leather sofas and it was decorated with skulls and expensive dark wood cupboards.
But the most impressive thing was that thanks being built partially under the lake, the windows of the common room were like an aquarium's glass walls. Because of that, one could often see the fishes and the other magical creatures residing in the lake. Harry had even seen once the Giant Squid!
If you asked students at Hogwarts which was the most impressive part of the castle, most of them would either tell you that it was the Great Hall or the Astronomy Tower. However, those in Slytherin would always tell you that their common room was the most impressive part of the castle. And many students would have agreed with them if they had been given the chance to see it. Unfortunately for them, no outsider has put a foot inside Slytherin House's common room in the last 700 years! It is understandable that they wouldn't know too much of its grandeur.
But in that moment, Harry did not care about the decorum of the room at all.
"Those gits...they're like a pack of rabid dogs. They only stay put for as long as they feel pain. When the pain passes, they forget about it and start barking again." Harry muttered darkly under his breath.
These two months he had spent at Hogwarts have been some of the most frustrating in his life so far. He had had to swallow his anger and let three stuck up pricks harass him while being unable to do them anything because of that 7th year student.
Harry had confidence to fight against anyone of his age and even against Muggle adults, but he was not a fool. Although Marcus Flint was somewhat stupid for his age, Harry was convinced of the fact that the older boy knew more than a few offensive spells. After all, that was the most attractive type of spells for muscle-heads. It was lile with the Muggle gangters: regardless of how stupid the were, everyone knew how to use a knife or a gun when it came down to it.
Despite being aware of above mentioned things, Harry could simply not take it anymore. Everyone has a limit of how much they can tollerate, and Harry's patience had long since passed the threshold. Harry instinctively knew that if it hadn't been for his Gorgoneion clearing up his mind every time it had gotten muddled by anger, he would have snapped weeks ago, consequences be damned.
To actually act against a 7th year wizard was a source of anxiety and worry for Harry. Not even while walking London's streets during night-time had Harry felt so much pressure. Because Harry knew that if managed to beat the living shit out of the older boy, once he openly went against both Draco and Marcus Flint, the entire House would side with them. And that would mean his demise because It would be like being forced to fight an entire gang by himself in a space as small as a supermarket...a gang whose members all had magical powers.
But he had to do something! He needed to find a way to get back at them! And that's how he came with an idea...after stalking Marcus Flint for almost 3 weeks, Harry found out that twice a week, Marcus Flint would secretly sneak into Hogsmeade to buy Firewhisky. With that occasion Harry had also learned about the secret tunnel that led outside Hogwarts' ground. He had yet to try it out, but he was glad that he found a way through which he could escape should the need arise.
What was Harry's plan though? He had decided to attack the 7th year Slytherin by surprise and then take him to the banned corridor on 3rd floor. He hoped that that way, when the old and smelly caretaker found him, Flint would be expelled. After all, Dumbledore had said clearly at the end of the banquet in the evening they arrived at Hogwarts that no-one was to approach the corridor on the third floor unless they wanted a violent death.
'I call bullshit on that!' Harry thought while sniffing in contempt.
'But if the old fart went as far as to make death threats, I'm willing to bet even my trust vault that there is something very important being kept in there. Something which students should not even know about.'
'And when that dumbass will be found in there, if this is not going to get him expelled, then I don't know what will.'
Harry chuckled softly at his malicious thoughts and sat up from his seat. He put a stocking on his head to hide his face and left the Slytherin common room, the stone statue guarding its entrance closing it back right after he disappeared from its sight.
Harry sped through the castle's stairs and corridors and after ten minutes, he arrived at his destination – the fourth floor, right in front of a stone statue. It depicted a fat and bald wizard which sported a smug smirk on his face; it was the statue of Gregory the Smarmy.
By the time he arrived there, Harry was shaking in excitement and even through the stocking that covered his head, a large grin could be seen adorning his face. After 3 whole months of being "a good boy" (yes, he was counting the month when he had lived at the Leaky Cauldron as well) he was finally breaking again some laws/rules! Sure, he did beat up the "dumb trio" a few weeks ago, but that had been on the spur of the moment. It didn't count. What he was going to do now, was something he had been planning on doing for weeks.
But Harry's high subsided eventually when the watch at his left wrist showed that it was already 1 am and Marcus Flint had still yet to come. Getting bored, Harry's thoughts began to fly to various random things.
'Come to think of it, this sock was unexpectedly charmed someway.' Harry thought as he touched the stocking covering his face.
Harry had nicked the pair of stockings two days ago from a blonde girl in his house called Daphne. He didn't want to take them from her especially, he didn't care either way. It just happened that she was the one the ha let her door unlocked first. That Harry stole from her was in part her fault as well since she didn't pay enough attention to her actions - at least this was Harry's train of thought.
The Slytherin Dungeon offered its inhabitants very good lodging conditions – there would never be more than 2 students sharing the same room. For example, Harry shared a room with a dark skinned boy called Blaise, Draco with a brown-haired boy called Nott, Crabbe with Goyle etc.
Because of that, when both Daphne and her roommate Tracy left along with rest of the house to lunch in the Great Hall, Harry sneaked into her room and stole a pair of clean stockings – yep, he was not a pervert, he had no interest in sniffing dirty clothes.
At any rate, what amazed Harry now was that after breathing more than an hour through the stocking covering his face, it didn't become wet all! It might not look like a revolutionary fact for someone who had been raised in the wizarding world, but for Harry who has never heard of such a thing, it was brilliant. He decided right then that he would actually shamelessly ask Daphne someday what kind of charm was placed on that pair of stockings.
'Imagine, spending the whole summer not breaking a sweat. Like literally!' he thought with a hint of excitement.
That was because although summers were not as torrid in England as they were in other parts of Europe, during the years he has spent on the streets, Harry has experienced on his own skin just how hot the weather could actually get. For Harry – and for any ordinary Muggle for that matter – having clothes that would eliminate their sweating during the hot summer days was reason enough to put him in a very good mood.
But Harry was shook off from his thoughts when he heard a soft creaking sound coming from the statue. The fourth floor corridor was mostly bare with nothing to hide behind of, the statue of Gregory the Smarmy being pretty much the only decoration. Because of that, Harry ducked into the nearest empty classroom and waited.
After a while, Marcus Flint's heavy steps could be heard and Harry's ears even picked up some of the 7th year Slytherin boy:
"Stupid NEWT...McGonagall...cunt.."
Harry had to struggle hard to supress his laughter at Marcus' words about the stern Transfiguration teacher. Apparently it was the Transfiguration NEWT that made him repeat the 7 year at Hogwarts.
Harry looked around in the room he hid. It looked like an abandoned classroom. There were some old and broken desks laying around, but what attracted Harry's attention was the large mirror near the wall. It had an old and majestic feel to it and Harry felt like he was being compelled to look at it.
But then, the Gorgoneion around his neck pulsated and Harry was woken up as if he had just been in trance. He immediately averted his eyes from the mirror and he couldn't help the lingering fear that he felt at that moment in his heart.
'This world is simply too unpredictable and dangerous! Even a random object could cause one's death and sometimes you can get cursed without even touching it'
These were Harry's thoughts and at that moment his appreciation towards his magical pendant increased once again. No, Harry didn't know which would have been the mirror's effects if it hadn't been for the Gorgoneion cutting them off, but he was sure they couldn't be nice. So far, the Gorgoneion has not done anything but protect his mind from unwelcome intruders - and it had actually had the intelligence to allow the Sorting Hat a peek into Harry's mind, which meant that those not meaning to harm him would not be obstructed!
'Probably this mirror would have screwed with my mind, making me unable to ever look away from it or some shite like that.'
But Harry was distracted from his thoughts again when he heard the loud sound fart coming from the corridor.
'Filthy skunk...and he's supposed to be a pureblood, an aristocrat.'
Estimating that the 7th year Slytherin would very soon reach the end of the corridor and climb down the stairs to the 3rd floor, Harry left the classroom and started tiptoeing after him.
When Flint reached the stairs that led to the third floor Harry pushed his arm forward forcefully and the air in front of his palm distorted. The next moment, Marcus Flint was sent hurling trough the air and crashed painfully on the marble floor.
At being sent hurling through the air, the boy let out startled cry and Harry growled in frustration.
"Merlin's balls!" Harry swore - and yes, he had also picked up some of the wizards' swearings - "He was supposed to lose his consciousness or to at least be dazed, not to squeal like a dying pig."
He ran towards the spot where Marcus Flint crashed and the sight made even Harry shudder – the reason for Flint's desperate yells, was one of his arms: it was bended to an unnatural angle and the bone was almost protruding through the skin. But before the older boy could let out another yell, Harry's put his hand on Flint's shoulder and chanted in his mind the incantation:
'Petrificus Totalus!'
The 7th year student was completely immobilized as if he was paralyzed and Harry sighed in relief when his screams stopped.
Harry had had a hard time learning to do this spell. The first reason for this was that for the first three weeks or so, Harry didn't even understand why was there a real need for him to say an incantation. Truth being told, he was not clear even now about it, the only explanation he could come up with was that it helped the weak-minded people concentrate. After all, until then, he has never used any words to control his magic. He simply made it follow his will.
Just a few days before, Flitwick finally started to make the first year students practice the Levitation Charm. Harry could perform the spell both wandlessly and nonverbally - he has been capable of doing this for years! Yet, when being asked to do the Levitation Charm by reciting the incantation and doing the specific wand movement, Harry didn't manage to move even an inch the white feather he was supposed to make it float. That was also because even to this day, Harry has not managed to get a positive reaction from his wand. In fact, Harry believed that taking an ordinary stick and doing magic with it would most likely render better results than using his own wand which always rejected his touch.
Eventually, after spending a great deal of time and effort, Harry managed to master the Full-Body Binding Curse (it was the first that he had wanted to learn because its uses looked very appealing to him), but then he stumbled upon another problem: while he had seen other students using this spell on others from distance, he was incapable of obtaining an effect unless he touched his target.
It goes without saying just annoyed Harry got every time he thought about his shortcomings.
While Harry's mind was pondering on all these things, his body didn't stay still. With a wave of his hand, the still body of the 7th year boy started to float in front of Harry and he climbed down the stairs to the third floor.
Just when Harry stepped into the forbidden corridor on the 3rd floor..
"Meowww"
A scrawny cat with dust-coloured fur and bulging yellow eyes meowed loudly and Harry broke into a sweat.
"Shitty cat!" Harry yelled and out of frustration delivered a kick to the poor cat, sending it mewling at 10 feet away.
It was obviously Filch's, the caretaker's cat! It was one of the most hated beings at Hogwarts, 'battling' for the first place alongside its master, Filch, the poltergeist Peeves and the head of Slytherin House, Severus Snape.
Just as Harry swore vehemently while thinking that things couldn't possibly get any worse, right at that moment he heard a loud bellow:
"STUDENTS OUT OF THE BED!"
"STUDENTS OUT OF THE BED, ON THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"
Harry felt like screaming in frustration. He couldn't think of any situation when he has ever had so much bad luck like in this night.
"Fuck my life! Charms corridor is on the third floor as well!" Harry said through gritted teeth.
'But how did that bloody ghost find out about me?' he thought 'I made sure that not even portraits saw me...no, wait...could it be there are other students haunting the corridors besides me? Why now?!' Harry lamented.
He ran across the forbidden corridor on the 3rd floor and stopped at the first door which seemed to lead to a classroom. But when he tried opening with the thought of dumping Marcus Flint there and run back to his dorm, he realized the door was locked.
'Alohomora!' Harry said in his mind as he touched the handle...but his spell didn't work.
"Alohomora!" Harry shouted the incantation out loud this time.
While his spell failed once again, to his growing anxiousness and panic, Harry's ears picked up the sounds made by the footsteps of several people.
"OPEN THE FUCK UP, DAMNIT!" Harry roared as he pounded at the door with his fists.
A ripple of magic went from Harry's fist through the heavy wooden door, making it tremble, and to his glee and bewilderment, he door opened up with a click. He has been right after all! He didn't need fancy and tongue-twisting incantations to do magic!
But he shook his head and not wasting a minute more, Harry slapped Marcus Flint's face while chanting a Finite in his mind and before the older boy started screaming again because of the pain he felt from his broken arm, Harry threw him through the opened door hurriedly with his wandless and nonverbal Levitation Charm.
When Harry closed the door, it locked back automatically and he broke into a mad dash towards the Slytherin Dungeon.
But Harry barely got to the entrance of the second floor, when a blood-curdling scream and ferocious growl that would make even a lion sound like a kitten, made his heart almost jump out of his chest.
"NO, HELP! Aaargh! AAARRGGH!"