Dunderhead - A Harry Potter story: Snape becomes Harry's mentor

Chapter 15

"Harry are you sure you're alright?"

Hermione had repeated this question a few times now since Harry had followed his two best friends down to breakfast. He knew that he looked as irritable as he felt. "I'm fine Hermione. I'm just not looking forward to potions." Harry said to her apologetically. He felt that he had to give more of an answer than the blunt yes that he had been providing up to this point, and it was certainly true that he was not looking forward to potions. The thought of the lesson made his stomach cramp up. 

The Great Hall was noisy and active today. Harry could see the Weasley twins handing out what looked to be sweets from their snack box collection. They had the sense to conceal what they were doing from Dolores Umbridge's beady eye at the staff table by slipping them onto people's plates of food, which they passed to their buyers under the pretence of politely sharing breakfast with the other House tables.

"You never told us much about Monday evening." Ron said pointedly to Harry as he turned away from watching his elder twin brothers with a sour looking on his face. "Apart from that Snape gave you a book."

Harry had not laid eyes on the book since Hermione had commandeered the large text on Tuesday, but he was not in any particular hurry to ask for it back. Harry also rather selfishly hoped that Hermione might be making some legible notes for him that she had translated from the book: some points raised had not made an ounce of sense to Harry and Monday was slowly inching nearer. Snape would want to know how much Harry had read and absorbed.

"It was just the usual. Snape performed Legilimency on me and I barely occluded him." Harry told Ron gruffly.

Ron looked like he was about to say something about Snape's methods and the unfairness of the whole thing when Ginny interrupted him; "Ron, did you finish that Charms essay last night?" She asked leadingly. Harry knew that she must have registered the irritable look on his face, and he was grateful that she had distracted Ron. 

Harry did not look around the hall today for Mint like he had been doing at the start of every meal, three times a day, for the last two days. In fact, Harry was beginning to suspect that this girl never turned up for a single meal in the Great Hall, unless he had just completely forgotten what the girl looked like and had overlooked her, but he didn't think so. Though Harry may be a bit clueless about girls, he knew that he would recognise Mint by her heavy brow if he saw her again. Harry was still bewildered by the girl's notebook and he knew that, if he did see her, he would have to ask her because it was too personal a detail not to. The photo had been of his parents and Harry could not understand it. Was this just a year designed to make him encounter numerous, uncomfortable things? First Cho and his undecided feelings for her, then his distressing breakdown in front of Snape, and now this diary. If you could call it a dairy, he thought. After all, most of the entries were an odd stream of conscious thought, sporadic homework timetables, odd but brilliant little drawings, and a photo album in the middle. It was more like a teeny tiny scrapbook.

Hermione, who was sitting next to Harry, and only half aware of the toast dangling limply in her hand as she perused a heavy volume with the title; Transfiguring the transfigured, turned to Harry and asked him if he would like her to go through some of the points raised in the Occlumency book with her. "I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, of course." She said hastily.

Harry thought privately that Hermione would actually have had the most justification of anyone he knew to insult his intelligence, being as clever as she was. Anyway, if he could take Snape hounding at him for his incompetence, then he could certainly appreciate one of his best friends lightly insinuating that he was less successful in book comprehension than they were.

"I wouldn't think that but honestly I couldn't care less if you told me that I was reverting into a brainless eel or something." Harry said to Hermione to try to make her smile. "Really, Hermione, I'm grateful for any help, thanks."