Harry Potter: Don't touch

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Harry was up late reading a transfiguration textbook and didn't get much sleep. He was roused by Justin, telling him that he had to get up quickly if he didn't want to oversleep for breakfast. Harry wanted to sleep through breakfast, and more than that, he was willing to sleep through lunch and dinner if he could just get five more minutes of sleep.

- I'm getting up, I'll be right up, wait," Harry said, mimicking the cheerful voice, and turned on his other side.

He dozed off immediately. He dreamed of a beautiful large park. There were deciduous and coniferous trees of all kinds everywhere. Colourful leaves were falling from them, swaying gently. There wasn't a soul around. Harry was alone in this park, he lay down on the grass and began to look at the beautiful blue sky with fluffy white clouds....

And then a bucket of water was poured over Potter's head.

Harry, along with Justin, were the very last to arrive for breakfast when most of the students had already left the hall. It made Harry think that he could calculate the time when there would be the least amount of people at the meal, and come at just such a time. He didn't think about it for long, though. All his thoughts were taken up by the first transfiguration lesson. He had only read half of the textbook and didn't quite understand what it said.

So at breakfast Harry didn't notice what and how he ate, nor did he pay attention to the stares directed at him. Just as Potter was about to get up, Samuel Park came up to him and handed him his schedule for the week. Harry, without even looking at the timetable, immediately stuffed it into his bag.

Finally, after eating breakfast, Potter and Finch-Fletchley hurried to the transfiguration room. Luck had favoured them here, the stairs were almost still and in the right position, so they were not the last to arrive at the B-one classroom. Finding plenty of empty seats, Harry immediately took the furthest and outermost desk. Justin gave him a strange look, but sat down in the seat next to him. Before class started, Harry decided to take a look at the classroom where the class would be held. The classroom looked... ordinary.

It was a large room with desks arranged three by three in four rows. There was a teacher's desk at the end of the room, with two blackboards and a large globe next to it. The room was rather dark, lit only by a few candles on the teacher's desk.

Even in such a seemingly simple classroom, though, it was not without its oddities. On the wide teacher's desk, which stood on the pulpit elevation, a cat of European breed was sitting among many different items. What was surprising was not even the fact that the animal was clearly not where it was supposed to be, but the way it was sitting. The cat sat without a single movement, staring at a single point somewhere on the opposite wall.

It didn't last long though, a short boy with brown hair and a blue robe who had just entered, seeing the animal, began to slowly walk towards it.

- Ki-isya! - he exclaimed joyfully and tried to take the cat in his arms.

The poor animal's reaction was instantaneous; it quickly jumped back and hissed at the boy. But the young clawed cat couldn't be stopped so easily.

- Hey, come on, I just want to pet you," he said and tried again to catch the cat.

The furry creature dodged and jumped off the table. It never landed on the floor: in an instant, the cat was replaced by a tall, elderly sorceress in an emerald robe.

- Minus twenty points to Ravenclaw, Mr Booth! - she said angrily.

Terry Booth jumped back in panic and stared at the wizard with an expression of universal horror on his face.

Justin pulled Harry by the sleeve of his robes and pointed at the clawed man.

- Look, that's the look on your face when you ran out of the Great Hall during the allotment," he said, trying to hold back a burst of laughter.

Finch-Fletchley laughed out loud. He was immediately joined by all the students in the class except one....

Except whom do you think?

No, wrong, Harry Potter was laughing along with everyone else. The only one not laughing was Terry Booth, who was still reeling from the sudden shock.

Finally the situation was defused, all the other students entered the room, and the lesson began.

- Hello, students! You are in a lesson on transfiguration, one of the most difficult and dangerous magical sciences. I urge you to keep my classroom in perfect order. If anyone breaks it, they will be out of the classroom once and for all. I've warned you. My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. I will be your tutor in transformations for five or seven years, the length of time is up to you. In my classes you will learn that a wizard has the power to significantly change the external or internal structure of an object, as well as to reproduce both of these actions simultaneously," Professor McGonagall began to say, but stopped, raised her wand and turned the table into a pig.

There were surprised shrieks, mostly from the Hufflepuff students' side of the table. McGonagall then turned the pig, which had managed to retreat to the corner of the classroom, back into a table. Levitating the furniture back into place, she continued:

- 'Before we get into the actual science, I want to give you some organisational details. In every class, whether it is a practice or a lecture, you will be assigned homework. The answers to the questions you will have to hand in to me properly formatted. If there is no proper formatting, your work will be graded zero. Now let me tell you about our course. The main textbook for this year, and beyond, will be "Introduction to Transfiguration for Beginners" by Emeric Switz. I hope everyone has purchased it, as I have personally listed it on the list of required reading. For the first five years, Transfiguration will be a compulsory subject to study. After that, attendance at my lectures will be selective. Seniors will only attend my office if they get a good score on the Super Awesome Magic exam at the end of their fifth year and want to continue their studies with me. Transfiguration is a very difficult science, and I will not tolerate neglect.

Harry had only written down on his parchment 'do your homework properly', and was now thinking about the teacher's phrase that 'Introduction to Transfiguration for Beginners' was the textbook for the first two years. So he didn't have to read it in its entirety?

After that, Minerva McGonagall talked a bit about the theory of transfiguration, the different definitions of transfiguration in antiquity, and informed them of the different foundations of the science.Harry had no idea how he was going to use it or why he would write it down, but nonetheless, he wrote every word on the parchment anyway.

And so, after the boring part of the lesson, Potter was given his very first ever assignment using magic. All the students were given a match each and set a goal - by the end of the lesson, they had to turn the matches into needles.

Harry didn't really remember the first topic in the textbook, which explained how to do basic transformations, but he still had some knowledge in his head, and he was hopeful that he would be able to complete the assignment.

Harry picked up his wand and, clearly visualising the needle in his head, tried to change the match...

He didn't expect to succeed the first time. It was important for him to see a positive trend, for example to make the end of the match sharpen, or to turn an ordinary match into a silver match.

But what was his surprise when the match started to happen... Nothing.

The result didn't change after the second, third, or eighth try. It wasn't until Harry lost count that something finally happened to the match. It was the very trend Potter had been waiting for. Only the trend wasn't getting better, it was getting worse.

The match suddenly flew off the table and hit the head of the girl sitting in front of him. She yelped and turned to Harry, allowing him to see her: she had brown eyes, red hair braided into two pigtails, and freckles all over her face that made her look a little younger than her age.

- I'm sorry, it was an accident. I was trying to turn a match into a needle, and for some reason it hit you in the head," Harry excused himself.

- That's all right," she smiled. - My name is Susan Bones and you're Harry Potter, aren't you?

- Yes, that's me. It's nice to meet you, Susan.

- Nice to meet you too. I've heard about you, my aunt told me, she said you lived with Muggles who treated you terribly.

- Well... That's pretty much it.

Harry knew at once which aunt she was referring to, and he felt bad that the same Madame Bones had told someone about his problems.

- Don't worry, you won't get hurt here. It's a good thing you came to Hufflepuff, everyone here is friendly and understanding. They always have been, my aunt told me.

What Amelia Bones had told Susan, Harry never found out, because McGonagall interrupted their conversation:

- Minus ten points to Hufflepuff, Potter, Bones. I thought I told you I forbid extraneous conversation in my lessons. Let's see what you've achieved. Perhaps you've already completed your assignment and that's why you're talking?

Susan blushed and tried to turn the match into a needle, but was unsuccessful.

- Well, that's disappointing. How can I be pleased with you, Mr Potter? - McGonagall turned to him.

Harry raised his wand and tried to show the transformation. Perhaps if he had thought a little more about his last experience he wouldn't have tried, or at least pointed his wand at the needle from the other side, but Harry didn't think about the reason his last attempt had failed. As if nothing had happened, he pointed his wand at his matchstick, which he had picked up from the floor moments earlier, and swung his wand with all his might. The match flew at the teacher with great speed, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that Harry managed to turn the match into a needle.

Minerva managed to cover herself with her hands at the last moment, and the needle hit her arm instead of her rib cage, and went through, hit her clothes, and fell to the floor.

Professor McGonagall looked in amazement at the blood that was gushing from her palm, picked up her wand and healed the wound with a single stroke. Then, without even looking at the needle, she said:

- Evanesco.

The needle disappeared, and only now did McGonagall turn her attention to the boy. She looked like she was about to breathe out a column of fire from her mouth. Harry squirmed in his chair in fright.

- Minus fifty points to Hufflepuff," McGonagall said noisily, her long, thin nose flaring wide. - And detention on Saturdays at six o'clock at night in my office. For a month!

With those words, she walked off towards the Ravenclaw table. Justin glanced fearfully at Harry, but to the latter's delight he remained silent.

Looking around, Potter found himself met with many unpleasant stares from the Puffenduys.

* * *

By the end of the lesson only three people, if you didn't count Harry, had managed to turn a match into a needle, and all of those people were from Ravenclaw. He thought that was a little strange, Samuel had said that Hufflepuff was also strong in their studies, but it didn't seem to be happening yet... Well, you can't draw conclusions from one lesson.

Harry decided not to dwell on what had happened with McGonagall. He realised that he couldn't fix anything anyway, and decided not to turn the other teachers against him, so, taking advantage of the fact that the teacher had stopped paying attention to him, he spent the rest of the lesson and the break after it repeating Potions.

The room where this science would be studied was in one of the dungeons. It took Harry a long time to find it, as after the transfiguration lesson, he and Justin had split up and each went to the lesson separately. Harry found the room a minute before the lesson started, and when he entered it, he immediately felt the oppressive atmosphere in the room.

It was cold, much colder than the castle itself, and the room itself didn't inspire confidence, with glass jars filled with specimen animals floating along all the walls. Harry felt like he was in a horror film. He saw Justin holding his seat at the end of the desk and walked quickly towards him.

- What took you so long? - Finch-Fletchley asked as Harry approached.

- Couldn't find the study. We'll talk after class, okay?

Justin nodded and lay down on his desk waiting for the lesson. Just as the bell rang, the teacher himself entered the office. He looked like a maniac: a black-eyed, thin man with unhealthily coloured skin, a hooked nose and greasy, shoulder-length hair. Harry remembered what Justin had told him about Professor Snape teaching Potions. Apparently, that was him.

Snape, rustling his robes, walked quickly into the classroom and sat down at the teacher's desk. He pulled out a journal and began to introduce himself to the students. It was more like intimidation than familiarisation. The teacher would say a name and then glare at the student who responded. Such familiarity made Harry Potter uncomfortable. And so, after Padma Patill, it was his turn.

- Oh, yes," the professor said softly. - Harry Potter," Snape looked intently straight at the Puffendui. - Our new celebrity.

It seemed to Harry that the Potions professor addressed him twice as angrily as the others.

Finally the 'introductions' were over.

- You are here to learn the science of making magical potions and potions. A very precise and delicate science," the professor began.

He spoke almost in a whisper, but the students heard every word clearly.

- The silly waving of a wand has nothing to do with this science, and so many of you will find it hard to believe that my subject is an important part of the science of magic," Snape continued. - I don't think you can appreciate the beauty of a slow-boiling cauldron of subtle odours, or the soft power of the liquids that coursed through a man's veins, bewitching his mind, enslaving his senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, how to brew triumph, how to cork death. But that's only if you're any different from the herd of chumps that usually come to my lessons.

- Potter! - Snape said suddenly. - What would happen if I mixed crushed asphodel root with a tincture of wormwood?

At such an unexpected question, Harry was confused. All but one of his thoughts went out of his head: "Would Snape catch him if he ran out of the study and into the room where he hid last time? At this point, some Ravenclaw boy raised his hand with a confident look, but the Potions teacher didn't think to ask him. He was looking at Potter, waiting for his answer.

Making a huge effort on himself, Harry banished the thought and tried to make sense of the question. He had read about wormwood tincture, but asphodel root....

- I'm waiting, Potter," Snape said dismissively, "If you don't know, be kind enough to tell us.

The sight of the angry teacher finally made Harry lose the will to think and he used simple logic. The plan for this lesson was to brew a potion for boils, so that was probably the answer.

- Boil potion, sir," Harry said.

Harry began to stammer because of the fear he'd been through.

- Wrong, Potter," Snape said, disgust appearing on his face. - Well, what can I say. Apparently fame isn't everything. Apparently, living with Muggles is not conducive to intelligence.

All the fear and uncertainty drained from DADA - he was angry.

- But let's try it again, Potter," the potionist stubbornly refused to notice the Ravenclaw student's raised hand, and when he saw that the teacher wasn't going to ask him, he sullenly lowered it. - If I asked you to bring me a bezoar stone, where would you look for it?

Harry didn't even bother to think about the question. Bezoar is an antidote for almost all poisons, it is mentioned on almost every fifth page in Magical Potions and Potions. He was about to give his answer when the idea occurred to him that it might be a trick question. After all, if he was given the task of bringing a bezoar stone to school for the summer holidays, he wouldn't go cutting up a goat and picking its stomach.

- At the apothecary," Harry said confidently and looked the Potions Master straight in the eye. - 'If you ask me to fetch a bezoar stone, I'll go to the apothecary.

That he had said something wrong, Harry realised immediately. Numerous chuckles erupted from the Clawcats, and Snape's black eyes glittered furiously.

- Minus ten points to Hufflepuff! For your insolence, Potter, you will be punished. Practise is this Saturday at eight o'clock at night," Snape hissed angrily. - I don't remember anyone going to detention on their first day of school, although your father seemed to be close to the record, but you beat him, no doubt. And that's not all, I want you to learn a lesson: if you don't know the answer to a question, you must say, "I don't know, sir."

- Bezoar stone can be found in the stomach of a goat, but if you ask me to fetch it, I'll go look for it in a chemist's!!!! I'm not going to cut up a goat! - Shouted Harry, forgetting all his fears.

The mention of his father had made him completely angry.

Snape looked at him with surprise, which was immediately replaced by hatred.

- Minus five points to Hufflepuff, you can't raise your voice at a teacher. Well, Potter, if you're so knowledgeable, perhaps you can tell me the difference between wolf poison and a monk's cloak?

- Wolf's bane or monk's cloak, aconite, borage, Venus's slipper, they're all the same plant. It is a very strong poison, but is nevertheless used to make many potions. The only potion mentioned in the textbook is the awakening potion, but in the history of magic textbook you can learn about the use of aconite in wolf antidote," Harry said confidently.

The Potions Professor stared at Harry with obvious surprise, and not only him, almost all the students in the class kept their eyes on Potter, even the boy who knew the answer to the first question looked at him with respect.

But Harry didn't notice all those stares, he was replaying the contents of the Potions textbook in his head, the goodness of repeating it before class. He wanted to show Snape that he wasn't going to be humiliated and insulted, but he wasn't willing to give up so easily.

- What is the use of the Herbicide potion? - Snape continued his interrogation.

- The destruction of weeds, and indeed any plants.

- What are mistletoe berries used for in potions?

- An antidote and... Erm. A potion to erase pam-- No, forgetfulness potion, here.

- What can you tell me about Felix Felicis?

Harry's stalled. What? Felix Felicis? He began to quickly think back to all the potions masters he knew. There was no Felix Felicis among them. Harry then started going through historians and spell creators. Finally he had to admit that this was the first time he had heard of the man.

- I don't know," Harry hissed through gritted teeth.

Snape grinned.

- Right, it's sixth year, you can't know that. Congratulations, Potter, you've learnt your lesson," the Potions professor smiled contemptuously. - One point to Hufflepuff.

What? Just one?

- Yes, Potter, just one," Snape seemed to read his mind. - And I'm not cancelling your detention, I think it would be good for you to work hard.

Snape looked smugly into Harry's face, apparently expecting another outburst of rage, but his efforts went for naught.

- Yes, sir," Harry tried to put all his hatred into those words.

Snape didn't even seem to notice, he turned to the class and said:

- 'Right, now let's start the lesson. The topic is a potion for boils, the recipe is on the board, let's see how you can handle it. Thanks to Potter, you'll have a little less time to make this potion. I suggest you hurry up.