Worthy Of Magic

Part 4 - Hogwarts

They tried to befriend him. They tried to talk to him.

They tried to welcome him and all they felt was a concrete wall, reinforced with steel.

He buried himself in books and attended his classes with religious fervour.

Learning about magic was all he cared about.

Harry Potter had successfully gained a reputation as an anti-social and a snob.

Charms and Transfiguration were Harry's favourite classes. He had risen to the position of star student. Prodigy in the making with the ease with which he mastered spells. Theory was unnecessarily twisted and complicated but the magic was simple. Harry had mastered control over the Void a long time ago. All that was needed now was direction and with the wand, it was too easy.

Potions was weird. The Professor seemed to target him during the entire class and Harry ignored him while answering all the questions. It was the few times anyone ever got to hear his voice. The soft quality of it made those in hearing vicinity shudder. They felt like a dangerous undertone lay hidden in his voice. Even Snape left him alone after the first class.

History of Magic severely disappointed Harry. The ghost who taught the class seemed to be stuck in some kind of time loop. He repeated the same story with a haunted look and haunted voice while he haunted the classroom of History. The monotonous drone of the ghost made Harry make a note to learn how to exorcise ghosts.

Astronomy felt like a waste of time. He had no desire to learn about the constellations and their meanings. But when the teacher told them about the position of stars affecting magic in a unique way, Harry was all ears.

Defence against the Dark Arts was astoundingly ridiculous. The Professor stuttered all the time and never got around to teaching them anything apart from learning how to block a pinching spell or about how to cast a pinching spell. The name of the class was nothing like he had imagined after reading that book on Dark Arts. The book he had bought had nothing about spells in it. It only spoke about the horrors and products of Dark Magic. It was more like a vague history book than knowledge. That got Harry thinking and with the desire to learn more about this mysterious Dark Arts, Harry was on the prowl in the Library.

To his annoyance, the books he wanted were in the Restricted Section and he couldn't enter without the permission of a teacher. The wailing screech when he had crossed an invisible line had shown him what would happen without permission. His ear still throbbed after the librarian had dragged him away and it took all his will not to kill her then and there.

Kill.

The word echoed in his mind more often than ever after his arrival in Hogwarts.

He restrained his instincts. His thirst for magic kept his blood from boiling. It simmered all the time, but it never boiled. Harry knew if it boiled, Dumbledore would take magic away from him.

"Excuse me," a haughty voice interrupted his dark thoughts.

Green eyes slid of the restricted section signboard and refocused on a girl. It was the same girl from the Market and she didn't look pleased to see him.

Harry looked at her with a blank stare.

"You're Harry Potter. You didn't think that was something you could have mentioned the first time we met?"

Had she forgotten he had brushed her off the last time they met, thought Harry.

He turned away from her strolled deeper into the library. Maybe there was something he could find that wasn't in the restricted section and was worth a read.