Son of the Dark Lord

Chapter 10: Third Day

The next morning at breakfast, Harry received his owl order packages. He was extremely happy to have pajamas of his own. Draco and Alexander also insisted that the dress robes would come in handy for weekend parties the wizarding families sometimes threw. Hermione, who had been listening to their conversation, suddenly turned to Draco.
"Draco, what to witches wear to these parties?"
"Well, I don't usually pay all that much attention, Hermione, but I know my mother often wears a fancy muggle dress under a set of outer dress robes."
"What are outer dress robes?" Alexander spoke up with her question.
"Well, dress robes are sold in layers. You have an under robe, which is a heavier material and is usually colored. Then there is the over robe which is lighter, and is typically white or black. It is also the robe you often remove during the parties."
"Oh, so it's like a dinner jacket?"
"I....I suppose so." Alexander said with a nod.
"Harry, could I borrow your owl order book on muggle fashions and dress robes? I'd like to see what they have available."
"Of course, Hermione. I'll get the dress robes one out of my dormitory, but here is the one for muggle fashions."
"Thanks, Harry. You know, we really ought to get going now. We have no idea where the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom is. The other four murmured their agreement, and they set off to collect their bags. Harry threw his purchases on his bed and remembered to grab the owl order book, as promised.
A fifth year in the common room heard them speaking about Defense Against the Dark Arts and offered to show them the way.
"I'm Marcus Flint, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Professor Quirrell seems to be a competent instructor, you should enjoy the class." They all introduced themselves then walked in relative silence until Marcus stopped in front of an open door. "Well, here you go. Enjoy the class."
"Thank you, Marcus. We appreciate it."
"You're welcome, Draco. Goodbye." They all said goodbye then walked into the still-empty classroom. Hermione, obviously, sat in front, and, predictably, Draco sat next to her. Harry, Vincent, and Gregory filled the remaining seats in the front row. As they waited for class to start, they discussed what Marcus Flint had said.
"I hope this class is as good as Marcus said." They all nodded.
"There's really only one way to find out, Hermione."
"And what would that be, Draco?"
"Sit through class, of course."
"Oh, of course." They all looked up as the class suddenly became quite noisy. "Oh, that's right; we have this class with Gryffindors as well." They all sighed. Weasley sat directly behind Harry and began speaking to Neville.
"Think about it. How else could he have done it?"
"I don't know; it just doesn't seem right. Alex says that he's not."
"Well, he is in Slytherin and Alex is an traitorous idiot." Vincent suddenly turned in his seat to face Weasley.
"Shut your gob, Weasley. No one wants to hear your lies."
"Lies? What lies? How else did Potter defeat the most evil wizard ever if he himself is not a seriously dark wizard?" SMACK! The Slytherins all rushed to hold Vincent back.
"Don't, Vincent! He's not worth it. He's just a Gryffindor."
"HE WAS LYING ABOUT HARRY!" They Gryffindors rallied around Weasley who was lying on the ground.
"What's going on here?" Harry spoke up first.
"Professor Quirrell! Weasley was slandering me, so Vincent punched him."
"And what exactly was Mr. Weasley saying that could possibly merit such a response?" This time Neville spoke up.
"He was calling Harry a dark wizard. And saying that Alex was a traitor for hanging out with him." Professor Quirrell grew red. When he spoke, his voice took on a strange quality, as if two people were speaking.
"That is a serious allegation. Mr. Weasley, how dare you say such a thing?" Weasley shrugged. He was still holding his nose, attempting to stop the bleeding. "Mr. Crabbe, detention in my office tonight. You are not a muggle, and therefore should not fight like one. Mr. Weasley, three night's detention in my office starting tomorrow. You have no right to slander students. Not in your own house or any other. Now, get to the hospital wing." Dean Thomas helped Weasley out the door. "Now, the rest of you, settle down. Because Defense Against the Dark Arts will require so much practical application, the class has been divided into two sections. On Wednesdays, when both houses are present, we will cover theory of spells and different dark creatures on alternating weeks. On Fridays, when only a single house is present, we will practice spellwork. I will be able to provide you with more individual attention that way."
Professor Quirrell then launched into a lecture about how defensive spells should be used. He covered the ideas of dodging, blocking, and spellcasting. Harry took copious notes. At the end of class, they were assigned a twelve inch essay on proper uses of a shield spell.
"Class Dismissed. Mr. P...Potter, please stay behind, I would like to speak with you." Harry gulped, but told his friends he would meet them in Herbology.
"Yes, Professor Quirrell?"
"I hope you do not take Mr. Weasley's accusations seriously. You are not a dark wizard, far from it."
"No, I don't, sir. But thank you, sir."
"I must ask you a rather personal question, Harry."
"What, sir?"
"Do you remember anything about the night you received that scar?"
"No sir. Well, not really. I remember a flash of green, but otherwise, nothing." Harry thought Professor Quirrell looked pained.
"Very well, hurry on to class now, Harry."
"Yes, sir." Harry asked a passing ghost to help him find his way. Luckily, it was one of the ghosts unassociated with a house, so he was more than willing to lead Harry to Herbology. He barely made it on time and was pleased to see that Gregory had saved him a seat.
"Thanks, mate."
"You're welcome, Harry." They spent the lesson drawing a detailed sketch of the plant they had chosen as favorite to hand in with their essays. After class, as they made their way to lunch, Harry explained what Professor Quirrell had wanted to his friends.
"Well, that's an odd thing to ask. What difference does it make to him?" Harry shrugged.
"Draco, you need to think about it from all angles. What if Professor Quirrell was somehow involved that night? Maybe he wanted to see if Harry remembered him. Or perhaps he knows something about what happened that no one else does."
"Hermione, that's brilliant. It makes sense. So, I guess we need to keep an eye on Professor Quirrell then. Do you think this has anything to do with how everyone winces at my last name?"
"Maybe, Harry, but it's far too soon to say."
"Well, we'd best hurry if we want to make it to Charms on time."
"Good point, Harry." Professor Flitwick once again lectured on the theory of charmwork. This time he covered the wide variety of practical applications for charms. He chose not to assign them an essay for homework, rather, he assigned chapter 1 of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 and chapters one through three of Magical Theory. They all returned to their common room to work on their homework before dinner.
At dinner, Professor Snape stopped by their table to inform all of the first years that Professor Sinistra would meet them in the common room at 11:50pm. After dinner, Harry, Hermione, and Draco helped Vincent and Gregory finish their homework. Harry was already noticing an improvement in them. They were more confident in their work. He hoped their problems with school were rooted in a lack of confidence. That would be easy to improve. He had also noticed that they were very introverted. Neither spoke much even when their group was having a conversation.
All five of them had finished their homework by the time Professor Sinistra arrived to collect them for class. Their practical lesson for astronomy was actually quite fun. Professor Sinistra had them all lay down on mats she had conjured. Then they took turns finding and naming one constellation. You were not allowed to say a constellation someone else had. They kept cycling through the class until no one knew any more constellations. Professor Sinistra then took over and pointed out another twenty they had missed. By then, their hour was up and she took them all back down to their dormitories.
Absolutely exhausted, they all bade good-night to each other and stumbled to their dormitories. Harry quickly changed into his new pajamas and crawled into bed. He was asleep before his head even hit his pillow.