Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Rewritten - A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 12: A Taste of Adventure

The days and weeks flew by. Before Harry knew it, two months had passed since his arrival at the school. The castle had begun to feel like home, a wonderfully strange and extraordinarily magical home that Harry loved very much. Sumptuous meals, owl post, days filled with magic lessons, evenings of fun and laughter in the Gryffindor common room, hours whiled away with his best mate Ron as they explored the castle and grounds; these things were beginning to feel normal rather than seeming like a rare treat. For the first time in his life Harry was truly happy with his lot.

There were some snags of course. Harry's academic success was mixed. Protective Magic had become Harry's best subject and Quirrel had quickly become his favorite teacher. He had also come to appreciate Charms where they were learning all sorts of handy things from locking and unlocking spells to manipulating wind, water, earth and fire. He'd decided that he didn't mind Magizoology and Herbology and made a decent effort there. The other three classes were a different matter. Harry had, over fifty hours of classes with Snape, acquired a solid dislike for both the man and his subject. He was also less than enthusiastic about Transfiguration, which was at least as complex a subject as Potions. And he had ceased to make an effort with History of Magic, deeming it the only completely boring aspect of the magical world.

And then there were his nemesis, Malfoy. To Harry's and Ron's dismay, Malfoy and some of his pals like Anthony Goldstein and the Ravenclaw girls had proved excellent students. Malfoy outdid Harry in every class except Protective Magic. During their first meeting, Malfoy had reminded Harry of Dudley. But where Dudley was fat, ugly and stupid, Malfoy was good-looking, intelligent and talented, while also possessing the same instincts for bullying. Malfoy was also even more popular among the first years than Dudley had been in Harry's primary school. All of this meant that Malfoy had usurped Dudley's place as the boy Harry most hated.

Harry had dearly wanted a chance to make Malfoy envious of him and just such a chance had fallen into Harry's lap when October and with it, the Quidditch season had begun. Quidditch, played on broomsticks, was the sport in the magical world. Everyone constantly talked about it. The school held a Quidditch tournament each year, with one team from each house playing, and it was a core event of the school year. Only students from second year onwards were allowed on the teams; Malfoy had already boasted to everyone that he'd be on the team next year. But Harry, who'd flown well on his first day, showing himself to be a natural, and who'd continued to fly well during Saturday flying lessons with Madam Hooch, had been accepted into the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year itself, making him the youngest house player in about a century.

Word had gotten around the school quickly bringing even more attention and stardom to Harry. First years who'd been thoroughly impressed with Malfoy's ability to hold parties in the hall reserved for prefects and the endless parcels of sweets, cakes and treats that he got from home, were a lot more impressed that Harry was going to play for Gryffindor. Malfoy had turned green with envy the first time he'd heard about Harry's selection and continued to shoot jealous looks every-time he saw Harry surrounded by a gaggle of admirers, some of whom followed Harry right onto the Quidditch pitch to watch his training sessions with the rest of the team.

All in all, Harry's indirect battle with Malfoy was going in Harry's favour, for, as Harry told Ron, who wanted to be better at academics when you could be better at Quidditch and be selected for the house team?

On the last day of October, Harry and Ron rose early, woken by the delicious smells wafting into their dormitory. When they headed down to the common room, they saw that Halloween breakfast had been sent up to them while the Great Hall was decorated for the evening feast.

After breakfast, Harry and Ron headed to their Thursday classes. They had double Potions first. The approaching festivities had not mellowed Snape one whit. He kept them working until the very last minute and then set them their largest pile of homework yet. McGonagall was every bit as bad during double Transfiguration but she did at least wish them a happy Halloween.