This train of near harassment went on for the rest of the class. Snape stalked around the classroom practically glaring at every student's cauldron as if they'd personally offended him. There was no encouragement or corrections, only yelling and point deductions, truly Snape had to be the worst teacher Harry had ever heard of. He spent the rest of the Potions Class in a bad mood. Maybe he could find some alternative to attending this particular class? Snape was clearly determined to pick on him for some reason, so actually learning anything from the man was doubtful at best and laughable at worst. Harry sighed as he left the classroom in the dungeons; the first week had been going so well until now.
"What's got you so down today, nerd?" Tonks asked from beside him causing Harry to jump almost a foot off the bench he was sitting on in the Great Hall. Tonks' laughter led to an embarrassed blush spreading across his face.
"Tonks! Do you really have to sneak up on me?" Harry demanded as he breathed out gustily.
"Yep!" Tonks replied with a grin. "So what's got you all moody?"
"I think Professor Snape hates me for some reason." Harry replied.
"To be fair, Snape hates everyone that isn't a Slytherin, so you're not the only one." Tonks explained with a shrug.
"Why is he a teacher then?" Harry questioned only getting a shake of the head from Tonks in reply.
"Visiting again, Tonks?" A girl's voice spoke from behind the two. Turning around the two came face to face with Penelope Clearwater the Ravenclaw Fifth Year Prefect.
"Yep, just checking in on Harrikins!" Tonks chuckled as she ruffled Harry's hair.
"Oi!" Harry objected as he pulled his head away from her hand.
"While I can't say I approve of this…'relationship' between a Seventh Year and a First Year, as long as you aren't violating the rules I won't say anything. I'm just glad Harry has at least one friend." Penelope sighed as she looked at the two. Harry's face was bright red in embarrassment while Tonks grinned back at her.
"He's not my boyfriend, he's my nerd, you're just jealous that he likes me better!" Tonks laughed as she playfully stuck out her tongue.
"That's fine." Penelope sighed again. Dealing with Tonks was always an experience, though she did count the Seventh Year Hufflepuff among her friends.
"Join us for dinner Penny!" Tonks demanded as she pulled Harry into her side and motioned Penelope to take the spot beside Harry. Harry's blushing looked to be getting to unhealthy levels as he struggled to get out of Tonks' grip so Penelope sat down in the offered spot quickly.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Penelope asked once Tonks let the First Year out of her arms.
"I'm fine." Harry mumbled as he looked down at his plate refusing to meet anyone's eyes until his face wasn't red anymore. Tonks' snickering wasn't helping on that front.
"That's good. After not seeing you hang around with any of your year mates I was getting worried that you did not have any friends." Penelope admitted. As a Prefect it was her responsibility to look after the younger students. Seeing a new First Year without any friends was worrying and Penelope felt like she needed to do something to fix the situation.
"What're you saying, Penny? Harry's got the two of us! We're the best friends he could have, right Harry?" Tonks exclaimed with a wide grin.
"Yes, Tonks, thank you Tonks." Harry mumbled quickly only to be pulled into another sideways hug by the playful Seventh Year. "Tonks! Stop it!"
"Nope!" Tonks teased as she ruffled his hair again.
"Tonks don't harass Harry." Penelope scolded getting the older teen to let Harry go again.
"Fine, ruin my fun." Tonks grinned getting an eye roll from Penelope and a deadpan glare from Harry as he tried to fix his messed up hair.
The three chatted as they filled their plates with food and enjoyed their evening meal. By the end of dinner Harry definitely counted Penelope as his friend. Said Prefect smiled fondly at the First Year before both were pulled into a group hug by Tonks. Naturally there was much protesting from the Ravenclaw duo.
It was Saturday after breakfast and Harry found himself walking around the castle. He was currently looking for a place to practice his Magic. Hogwarts was large and had a plethora of empty classrooms. While he could work on most of his trinkets in the privacy of his dorm room, casting spells could potentially destroy his bed or his possessions. So here he was roaming the halls of the castle looking for an out of the way place to practice. Imagine his surprise when he came across what appeared to be an old Ancient Runes classroom. There were charts on the wall detailing various Runes and their affects. Harry looked around the room finding nothing of interest until he looked through what would be the Professor's desk. Inside a drawer of the desk laid three wooden cases. Upon opening said cases Harry found three Rune carving kits, most likely they'd been extras for the class when it was still held in this room."This is great!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. He'd been convinced that he'd have to spend some of his limited funds to Owl Order a kit for himself. Both Tonks and Penelope had offered at dinner to pick one up for him on the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, but that wasn't until near the end of October and Penelope told him the kits in Hogsmeade cost a Galleon and six Knuts. Owl Order kits cost a Galleon and three Knuts but had the standard eight Knut delivery fee added on top of that. Finding three kits in good condition would be a major boon to Harry's crafting. Plus this room had plenty of space, it was a classroom at one point meant to house upwards of twenty students, so he could probably practice spells here too.
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