This chapter was edited by Gladiusx.

Arithmancy Class

Harry, Hermione, Tracey, and Daphne entered the class, finding a few students already seated while Professor Septima Vector leaned on her desk with her arms folded. Like most classrooms in Hogwarts, it was designed as a lecture hall with a pitched floor so that those in the rear sat higher than those at the front in tiered seats, allowing them to see the lecturer. Harry led his friends to the nearest seat, placing their books, quills, and parchments before sitting down and waiting for the class to begin.

Harry used this chance to inspect their professor. Septima Vector was a young woman, yet that meant nothing when it came to witches; she could be anywhere between twenty-five and fifty, though he wagered she was on the younger side, considering she had only been teaching for eight years. Her choice of clothes was a crimson robe and a dark red wide-brimmed witch's hat, and both had gold linings adorning them with geometrical diagrams. Professor Vector also wore a gold necklace with a large ruby that she let dangle over her clothes.

Combined with her honey-blonde hair and maroon eyes, Harry wagered she was a Gryffindor through and through. In fact, he could have sworn he saw her several times during their quidditch matches, cheering their team wildly. No, that couldn't be; a teacher would not forgo decorum like that for the sake of some spor–

Septima Vector caught him staring and grinned wickedly at him, causing Harry to gulp and inspect the rest of the class instead. Considering their year's low numbers, he should not have been surprised to see students from all four houses. Hannah waved at him as she sat between a girl he did not know and Justin Finch-Fletchely. The muggle-born boy nodded politely before talking to the other girl. With his sensitive hearing, Harry caught her name, Leanne.

The classroom was large enough to seat nearly a hundred students easily, yet by the time the last student arrived and Professor Vector shut the door, just over a dozen of them were seated. Millicent Bulstrode sat alone at a table all to herself, same with Fay Dunbar. The tall Gryffindor looked around the classroom, finding Harry and Hermione seated with Tracey and Daphne, and frowned, subtly glancing at Bulstrode before shrugging. Yet the Ravenclaws took most of the seats; nearly their entire year had chosen Arithmancy, and they occupied two tables at the front of the class, right in front of the teacher.

"Do you think we should move forward as well?" Hermione asked hesitantly, and Harry grimaced inwardly. They must have been over a hundred feet from the Professor's lectern.

"Good morning, class." Septima Vector's voice was loud and clear, with a booming quality to it even without magic–very suitable for cheering loudly in a quidditch stadium. "Before we start, since there's so few of us as it is, I will have everyone move forward and sit closer together."

With the decision taken off their hands, Tracey shrugged and stood, the rest of them following suit. It took a minute for the class to join the Ravenclaws at the front and take their seats. The Hufflepuffs sat together, Harry joined his friends, while Fay ended with Bulstrode at the third table.

"Good, the acoustics of this room are quite decent, but I would rather we not have to shout across the room to get our points across." Professor Vector grinned, "I keep my shouting to the Quidditch matches, but I promise not to be biased just because you aren't Gryffindors."

Several students chuckled at the levity, confirming Harry's suspicions: First McGonagall and now Vector? Was every second teacher a Quidditch fanatic in Hogwarts?

"Now, Arithmancy." Vector pushed off her desk and approached the blackboard. A piece of chalk floated by itself and wrote a mathematical equation. "Can someone tell me what to expect from studying such a profound subject?"

Naturally, Hermione's hand shot up before the professor finished the question. When Professor Vector pointed at Hermione, the Ravenclaws at the front were already muttering unhappily. "Arithmancy is a magical discipline that studies the magical properties of numbers, including predicting the future with numbers and numerology."

"Good, a textbook definition of the subject. Take two points for Gryffindor. Yet, what else could a witch or wizard use Arithmancy for?"

Hermione frowned, and Professor Vector looked expectantly at the Claws, who seemed lost in thought and unable to answer. After a few seconds, she clicked her tongue in amusement. A cough from beside him had the professor turn to Tracey, "Yes, Ms Davis?"

"While Hermione is correct in that the origin of Arithmancy is connected to divining through numbers, nowadays, the subject has advanced so much that it is far more nuanced than that. Most of what classical Arithmancy was used for is now covered in the divination curriculum, while modern Arithmancy has evolved to include spell crafting, wand lore, the study of wand motions, how incantations and chanting function, and other esoteric aspects of magic."

"An excellent assessment, Ms Davis. Take ten points for Slytherin," Tracey nodded and smirked imperceptibly at Hermione, but the bushy-haired girl was busy writing everything their friend said. Harry grinned inwardly as Tracey huffed before focusing back on the teacher. "To add more context, while historically, arithmancy may have started as a method for ancient wizards to connect to the gods and divine their intent, and thus the future, nowadays, it is no longer that cut and dry. At some point in the Near East, about a thousand years ago, the subject evolved from its holy and divine nature into a more cold and logical rationale. Modern-day divination still retains the traditional method of divining the future that modern arithmancy abandoned in favour of the numbers themselves. Yet, both could not be truly divided from each other, for holy and magically powerful numbers, which are analogous, still exist, and depending too much on logic when it comes to magic is an exercise in insanity."

Harry found himself fascinated as Professor Vector continued to explain, and soon, everyone was writing down everything the teacher said. They had not even opened their books yet as the professor went about the history of the subject, the divide, and what modern Arithmancy offered them. Spellcraft, for example, required a high aptitude for charms, yet knowing the numbers and logic behind the magic helped immensely in understanding which wand motion was needed for the spell to work. They even touched on chants, though Professor Vector merely said that, for the most part, they were crutches unless the spell used was Olde Magic or Divine in nature.

Both terms confused the students, but the teacher patiently explained them. Apparently, some spells had to be intoned as they invoked powers beyond their comprehension, and no logic could truly explain them. They simply worked that way.

Harry was particularly interested in the effects Arithmancy had on rituals, though Professor Vector had not gone into details beyond hinting how it could be used for esoteric magics. Considering the Ministry's stance on teaching rituals to students, Harry resolved to ask the professor more about it later.

All in all, Professor Vector had managed to entice them into the wonders and possibilities of Arithmancy…so naturally, the boisterous witch had to bring them back to reality with a statement that brought Harry's imagination grinding to a halt.

"Excuse me?" Mandy Brocklehurst from Ravenclaw squeaked, "W-What do you mean basic maths?!"

"Did I stutter, dear?" Professor Vector leaned on her desk as she grinned at the Ravenclaws before her. "How do you expect to do the most basic calculations if you don't know the multiplication table?"

"B-But, that's such a muggle thing!" Lisa Turpin complained, and Harry had to stifle his chuckle as nearly everyone in the class looked at the teacher like she had grown a second head. Even Daphne was groaning as she dropped her head on the desk, all the while Tracey giggled at her sister.

"Don't you dare say it, Tracey!"

"I told you so."

"I said don't say it!" Daphne pinched her sister, who yelped and pinched back as the rest of the students complained to the teacher about what they realised would be nothing more than a muggle maths class for the majority of the term.

"Enough, students!" Professor Vector barked, her previous humour gone as she gazed at them all, pausing on Justin, Hermione, and himself. "Now, I know some of you come from a muggle background and may have already taken similar classes in those schools you attended. But please — refrain from teasing your magical-raised counterparts for having an actual childhood that did not include memorising the multiplication and division tables. Now, everyone who does not know how to solve for X, pull out your books and open page four for our first exercise. The rest of you can read ahead for next week's class."

While it may sound like she was disparaging the muggle-borns, Harry realised it was the opposite; Septima Vector was practically calling the pureblood children lazy hedonists who never bothered to study the most basic of mathematics. Hermione, Tracey, Justin, and himself managed to solve the simple equation on the board easily enough, much to the professor's approval. They moved to a separate table to read ahead while the rest of the class clumped together as the teacher taught them basic maths that Harry remembered taking when he was ten. Even Jon's knowledge of numbers came in handy, as while the methods were different, maths was still maths.

The rest of the class moved on and finished without any issues, with the professor giving everyone maths homework except for the four of them, who only needed to read ahead. Justin waved farewell and rejoined his friends as they left for Transfiguration. Hermione suddenly declared she needed to ask the professor something before hurrying back, just as Daphne joined them, grumbling all the way down the busy corridors as students rushed to reach their next class. Harry grinned at the girl's antics, though he was positive she truly was miffed this time, which further called for him to tease her.

He might not have forgiven how she teased him when he was short.

"So, Tracey, how come you know maths so well while Daphne did not?"

Daphne grumbled even louder while Tracey smirked, "My mother homeschooled me in most muggle subjects and offered the same to Daphne. My sister declared that as a witch, she had no need for such plebeian arts."

"Oh dear, I am sure she regrets it greatly now." Harry bumped shoulders with Daphne, who just groaned with a blank look as she muttered the multiplication table for nine, only to freeze when she reached nine times seven. "Sixty-three. A good trick to remember them is multiplying it by ten, then subtracting the number by the amount needed to reach the number you need. So, seven times ten is seventy; subtract once, and the answer is sixty-three. You can also break it into smaller chunks, depending on how you memorise them, then add them up that way."

Harry continued to give a few more tips on remembering the multiplication tables, much to Daphne's joy, which quickly wilted, "But what about division?! I have never had to worry about that in my life! Counting money is boring, and when you have so much of it, does it even matter anymore? Besides, I have Tracey for such boring matters, right, sis?"

"Hmm, I don't know. I might decide to move out and travel the world." The blonde girl's emerald eyes gleamed with mirth. "I shudder how you would deal with the goblins then. A simple withdrawal would most likely end with you begging on the streets."

Daphne continued to lament this new world she suddenly found herself in. Tracey was grinning wickedly at her sister; it was a strange sight to see the usually calm girl smiling so much as she took every chance to rib her sister. Harry thought she had a pretty smile, with her three little moles stretching under her eye — especially when she caught him staring and blushed lightly.

They were approaching a girl's bathroom, and Harry noticed a bushy head peeking through the door. He slowed near it and allowed the sisters to walk past as they bantered. More students hurried on, giving Harry enough cover to subtly wave Hermione over and join them. Daphne turned around when she asked him a question and didn't find him, only to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, Hermione. Welcome back. Did the professor help you with what you needed?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Professor B-Vector was quite helpful. Arithmancy is a fascinating subject, and I can't wait to study it in more depth as we advance through the years."

Hermione's slip was subtle enough for Daphne to miss, yet Tracey narrowed her eyes before shrugging as Harry led the way to the grand staircase and waited for the stairs to reset for their next class. "Professor Vector certainly has a talent for teaching. A good storyteller as well. She managed to get us so excited about the subject."

"Only to break all our hopes and dreams." Tracey joked, "Mum warned me that Arithmancy will begin slowly, but the benefits that will come make it one of the more exciting electives in Hogwarts."

"Yeah, which is why I chose it over Ancient Runes. At least Arithmancy has actual uses, while runes are all about memorising dead languages to make up spell chants for them or something." Daphne shouldered her book bag as one of the staircases connected, leading down. "This is ours. Time for Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Have fun, you two."

They waved farewell as the sisters hopped on with other students before the staircase was unlatched and slowly descended from the seventh floor. The Transfiguration class was on the first floor, yet they needed to take a different staircase, or it would drop them off at the far end of the castle.

Within a few heartbeats, a staircase leading down connected; Harry and Hermione hopped on, along with several other students; the grand staircase might seem random in how it worked, but after living in Hogwarts for a couple of years, its tricks were easy to discern. It operated more like a lift, but the trick was to know which side the staircase he was on would connect to the floor he wanted. Otherwise, the staircase might still go to the ground floor but drop him in front of the entrance hall instead of the corridor leading to the Transfiguration classroom.

As they hurried down the corridor, Harry checked his surroundings, found themselves private enough and asked Hermione. "I didn't get the chance to ask, but how were your other classes?"

"Divination was complete and utter nonsense," Hermione muttered. "Professor Vector made it sound like it would be so interesting, too, but either she was mistaken, or Professor Trelawney is simply a bad teacher. She spent most of the class tormenting Neville and Dean with baseless prophecies of vague doom and misfortune. Did Dean discover some long-lost relative recently?"

"Yeah, it was just yesterday before the train left that he met his uncle. Why? Did the Divination professor divine something about it?"

"Hardly. She merely hinted about it like she hinted several other students would face misfortune. How she did it was manipulative, preying on the students' weaknesses and families. She acts all mysterious and gives just enough truth to cause the students to believe her, but I suspect she did a lot of research on her students beforehand and used that to her advantage."

They entered the class, finding McGonagall in her cat form sitting on the desk. The class was nearly empty, just a couple of Ravenclaws near the front, but before Harry could grab a table, all the Ravenclaws who were with him in Arithmancy hurried past them, in addition to Fay muttering 'scuse me' as she moved to a table near the front. Wait, did the girl just follow them silently all the way here? Maybe they should have included her more since they were sharing classes.

Checking his watch, he saw only two minutes remained until class started. Quickly grabbing a table near the middle, they placed their school stuff before continuing their talk. "That's a lot of work just to make a show. From my understanding, Divination is still a study, and no one expects us to be seers to learn the subject. What makes you think she would go out of her way to keep up with appearances?"

"She failed to predict a single thing about me other than claiming I will not last the year with her." Hermione scowled, "Of course, she would fail to predict anything about a muggle-born whose muggle records are not easy for some half-drunk witch to divine. As for me not lasting the year, if she continues to be such a sham, I'll probably quit before Christmas rather than wait until the year ends."

Harry snickered. Hermione had truly grown if she could insult teachers so blatantly without batting an eye. And she could ignore Tracey's subtle provocations, too!

Movement from the teacher's desk showed the cat staring at them unblinkingly, and Harry wondered if McGonagall heard them. He could have sworn he sensed mirth and satisfaction from the cat, which confused him; since when did a stern woman like the deputy headmistress endorse insulting teachers?

"Why not quit now and save yourself the trouble?"

Hermione's face scrunched up with indecision. "Maybe she isn't a fraud and will teach us something useful. And if I quit now, I will lose the privilege to you know what."

"Oh, and we definitely don't want that to happen." Just in case, he must figure out some way to convince Hermione to keep her classes, or it would be a waste! "What about Muggle Studies?"

"Hmm? Oh, that. It's…interesting?"

"Are you asking, Hermione?"

"I mean," Hermione tried and failed to stifle a grin, "it's interesting to see how wizards view the muggle world."

Before they could continue, rushing footsteps sounded from outside, and the rest of the class, mostly Gryffindors, arrived just as class started. McGonagall transformed back to human, closing the door with a wave of her wand, and began the lesson.

It was a fascinating subject today as they discussed animagi, which truly interested Harry. He and Hermione focused intently as the teacher transformed several times and explained the specifics of how to become an animagus, but also why few ever attempted it.

Or it would have been fascinating if half the class was not so busy glancing furtively at Dean and Neville, so much so that McGonagall stopped the lesson in exasperation. "Dare I ask if you had Divination earlier? And I assume one of you will face a great misfortune sometime before the end of the year?"

"Oh wow, Professor McGonagall predicted the truth so easily! Professor Trelawney claimed Dean would lose his newly found family before summer."

Parvati gushed in awe, even as Lavender looked starry-eyed at McGonagall.

"Neville will also find himself with family woes. Professor, you must be blessed with a powerful inner eye!"

The look on McGonagall's face was absolutely worth listening to the inane rant that went on for the next five minutes about how imprecise and unreliable Divination was. Though the Transfiguration professor barely stopped herself from attacking Professor Trelawney directly, Harry could tell she did not at all respect the Divination teacher.

Meanwhile, the subjects of the so-called prophecy could barely hide their scowls as they glared at Parvati and Lavender. Harry stared strangely at the girls as he did not think they were truly so asinine to buy into some charlatan's codswallop in one lesson. Focusing slightly, he realised he was half-right; the girls were taking the mickey out of Dean and Neville, but they certainly felt interested when they discussed the subject.

Perhaps if that Trelawney teacher had made more correct predictions, Harry would have considered learning. But even then, Arithmancy sounded so much more flexible and useful.

Transfiguration ended shortly after, with McGonagall having to rush through most of the materials as lunch break approached. Still, human shapeshifting was an extensive subject they would continue to study throughout the year. They still have homework for next Monday to begin working on inanimate-to-animal transfiguration. Harry would have to dive into his godswood later to reflect on the lessons in case he missed something.

As they made their way to the great hall for lunch, they passed by a stairwell that had Hermione pause. "Harry, do you mind stopping by the library first?"

"Already, Hermione?" He grinned as she frowned before shrugging and leading her to the stairwell. There was no one around as everyone rushed for lunch, and the library should be empty on the first day of school. "We got time, I suppose. Although, I'm surprised you haven't already gone there and headed to the Great Hall using that. No one's around, by the way; now show me the Time Turner."

They had stopped near an alcove overlooking the grounds, and just to be safe, Harry cast Muffliato around them. Hermione unbuttoned the top of her shirt to extract a brass hourglass with a long golden chain and showed it to him. "I can't just use it as I like, Harry. I promised Professor McGonagall to only use it for classes."

"Wait, you mean you don't plan to use it nearly every hour of the day?" Harry looked aghast, "What about homework or just resting? Needing the library is part of classwork. McGonagall can't expect you to just not sleep so you can finish your homework."

"Well," Hermione looked torn, "It's only the first day, and I feel fine. I still promised–"

"Hermione, I don't care what you promised McGonagall, but I'm telling you now, if you don't use the Time Turner to recover from classes, I'm taking it away." Hermione's eyes widened, "Yes, young lady, I will go to Dumbledore, and he will force you to choose which classes to take, regardless of what McGonagall says. Now, will you promise not to be obtuse and use this device to its full potential?"

His friend idly fingered the innocent-looking hourglass before gazing at him strangely, "You'll really do it, won't you? Threatening me like that is not fair, Harry."

"You are my friend, and I care deeply for you. If you can't take care of your health, then I will have to pick up the slack whether you like it or not. So, what will it be?"

"It's not that simple, Harry. The Time Turner only has enough grains to travel back twelve hours. I can use it safely to go back an hour, but it does not recover the grains until I return to my original time."

"So, if you use it to travel from ten am to nine am, it would recover those grains by eleven am?" Hermione nodded. "That's still more than enough time for us to hit the library, finish what you need, travel back an hour to have lunch, then go to class. How many times have you used it today?"

"Twice. My first class was Muggle Studies, and then I hurried to the Entrance Hall to use it. I joined you for Arithmancy before excusing myself to use it in Professor Vector's office. All the teachers know about it and have promised to help me find safe spots to travel."

"Yeah, it would be dangerous if you travelled back in time only to appear right on top of someone."

"It's not just that, but I must avoid meeting another rendition of myself. I'm unsure of the specifics, but Professor McGonagall said I could go mad if that happened."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "What difference would it make? If both renditions of you know about the Time Turner, then you could even help yourself."

"Do you think I did not think about it, Harry? Still, I would rather play it safe regardless."

"Alright, suit yourself. How many hours do you have right now?"

Hermione checked the Time Turner and pointed at one side of the hourglass with golden grains floating upwards. "I think I nearly recovered an hour already, so probably eleven, but it's safer to say ten."

"And you have no more conflicting classes today, meaning you are safe to use all eleven hours later and by the time morning comes, the Time Turner will have fully charged." Harry grinned, "We can make so much use out of this, Hermione. Imagine having nearly unlimited library time for you and training for me. A lot of sleep time as well. Oh, and if we constantly use it smartly, then by the end of the year, you would have grown older by half a year, getting you closer to seventeen and majority!"

Something seemed to flash behind Hermione's brown eyes, and Harry sensed determination and resolve from the girl. "Alright, let's do this."

"Wait, are there any side effects for using it with someone else?"

"No, Professor McGonagall explained that as long as we fit inside the chain, then all will be fine."

"Why would McGonagall specifically explain this?"

Hermione froze before her eyes widened in shock, "Do you think she knew I would use it for someone else?"

"Probably. I mean, they must be barmier than a mad hatter if they thought giving so much power to a thirteen-year-old was a smart idea. I am sure they already knew I would be egging you on to use it anyway."

Hermione sighed in relief before hiding the Time Turner back under her shirt. "Okay, let's finish what I need in the library, then we can go back for lunch."

"Good."

They hurried up the stairwell, jumping over an annoying vanishing step that Harry wondered why it even existed, then came out on the third floor with the library in front of them. Hermione led the way as she purposely walked to Madam Pince and whispered something to her that caused the vulture-like woman to frown before whispering back and waving her away.

Harry did not want Hermione to think he was eavesdropping and waited until she led him deeper into the library, which was not as empty as he thought it would be. Several older students were out and about, writing essays or examining books and scrolls, most likely studying for O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. A slight disturbance caught his attention behind one of the bookshelves, but he waved it away when he noticed a boy and a girl hurrying away with their heads down, their school robes hiding their features. God, it was too early for couples to be snogging in the library.

Finally, after Hermione grabbed several books from the shelves and led him to an empty table near the windows, Harry asked her what she had talked with Pince about.

"Oh, just asking her if she had a suitable room for us to travel back. Like you said, it would be dangerous if someone stumbled on us popping out of nowhere. At best, they would think we managed to apparate inside the castle grounds, which I'm sure you know is impossible, but you scared me with the idea of appearing on someone."

"I'm sure it would not be that dangerous, just a bump and a bruise if even that."

"Harry…I meant, what if I appear right on top of someone already standing where I am?"

He grimaced and understood her then. To say it would be a messy result would be an understatement. Nevertheless, with nothing more to say, they decided to work on their homework; Hermione needed all the time she could get with her extra classes. By the time the clock approached one in the afternoon, Harry was just able to finish McGonagall's foot-long essay on human-to-animal transformations and was eager to find a private spot to experiment with his metamorphic powers. Nevertheless, he controlled his excitement as what they covered was barely the tip of the iceberg when it came to Transfiguring a living being.

Hermione, on the other hand, had only just finished her divination homework, with much grumbling and curses under her breath, and stared forlornly at the three different subjects she still needed to finish.

"At least the Arithmancy homework is just reading." Harry tried reassuring her as they packed their things and made their way to the private lounge, normally reserved for fifth years and above. "And you still have the weekend to work through the rest."

"I suppose," Hermione sighed before withdrawing the time turner again and somehow extending the chain far longer than it should go–magical chains, sure, why not? "Alright, come here, Harry. Closer, we can't risk anything dangling outside the chain, or it would be destroyed!"

Harry did as asked and practically hugged the bushy-haired girl, who was too busy fretting and making sure nothing was out of place; perhaps he should start using a mokeskin pouch to carry his books. Finally, Hermione was satisfied and brought the Time Turner in front of their faces.

"This is the first time I did it with someone."

"Wait, didn't McGonagall show you how it worked?"

"No? She trusted I knew what I was doing and did not want to waste any grains."

Harry frowned; that was a poor excuse, but he sighed inwardly. Hermione didn't waste time as she turned the hourglass once, and suddenly, Harry got a vague sense of vertigo as the world around them slightly shook. Finally, the shaking stopped, but the lounge looked the same; Hermione retracted the chain and peeked out the door.

"Okay, looks clear, let's go."

They walked out calmly to an empty library, Harry wondering what people would think if they saw them exiting a private lounge together before Hermione stopped him as they approached an aisle's exit. Harry found the same OWL and NEWT students from earlier, but then the sound of footsteps approaching from another aisle had his eyes widen as he realised what was about to happen, and he quickly grabbed Hermione and hugged her closely.

His friend nearly squeaked, but he whispered urgently in her ear, "Our past selves are passing through."

Hermione's eyes widened as she nodded in his arms. Harry dared to peek and found a handsome copy of himself and Hermione walking past as they searched for a place to sit. His past self suddenly paused, and Harry knew they had to go. Cursing his excellent senses, he dragged Hermione and nearly ran outside the library, pausing only when they approached Pince's desk, the librarian glaring at them as if they kicked her cat.

Finally, they were back in the corridor, but just to be safe, Harry led Hermione to the same stairwell they used to climb here to catch their breath.

"That was fun." Harry grinned at the heaving girl. They had not run any real distance, but he could sense adrenaline and excitement from her. "Thanks for the trip, Hermione. Let me know when you use it again later, even if it's for classes. I could use the extra time."

Hermione huffed before straightening out her robes, "Of course, you would want all the extra time to squeeze in some more training."

"Heh, you know me too well. Though, I was thinking of using that time to explore the castle instead."

"Oh, with your invisibility cloak, you would not need to worry about bumping into your past self. Smart."

Harry nodded, not wishing to scare her, but he entertained meeting with his past/future self just to see how it went. Even now, he ingrained the idea that he could find himself face-to-face with a future rendition of himself and prepared his mind to accept it easily. Hopefully, that would be enough.

They languidly made their way back down the stairs, chatting about school and classes, before walking past the clock at the entrance hall, finding it ten minutes past twelve; they still had nearly an hour until Care of Magical Creatures, and according to the note on their timetable, the class will be at Hagrid's Hut. After fixing their watches, they entered the great hall, finding it packed with lunchgoers. Harry waved Hermione onto the Gryffindor table as a certain crimson-haired girl waved at him.

"I'll catch you at Hagrid's." He told Hermione before hurrying to the Hufflepuff table and sitting beside a beaming Susan, who immediately hugged and kissed his cheek. "Hey, Suzie."

"Hey, Harry. I missed you."

Harry smiled at his girlfriend, enjoying her warm touch as she hugged his arm to her chest. How he longed to take her somewhere quiet and snog her senseless. Judging by her blush and content grin, Susan would be all for it.

Still, he was hungry.

"Come now, Suzie, you must have lunch before dessert." He channelled some magic to his hand as he patted her thighs, earning himself a quiet moan. "Not to mention we are making quite the show."

The buxom girl flinched as she realised nearly everyone around them was staring in shock. The boys, in particular, looked like he announced that exams were tomorrow. Then there was Hannah, grinning like a loon on Susan's other side.

"So, you two are really dating?" Leane, the girl from Arithmancy, coughed from across the table and looked at them strangely. Harry nodded, pulling Susan into a tighter side hug. "I know Witch Weekly wrote an article about it a few months ago, but they never followed up, so I assumed–"

"What the hell, Potter!" The lanky blonde boy, Zacharias Smith, finally recovered and smacked the table. "We thought you were dating Granger or Greengrass or whatever."

"What makes you think so?"

"Well," Ernie cleared his throat in that pompous manner of his. "You were sighted in Diagon Alley with several girls multiple times. I suppose we were simply surprised since Susan said nothing about it."

"And I have no reason to tell anyone how my love life goes." Susan rebuked coldly, causing the two boys to awkwardly look away. His girlfriend turned back to him. "Now tell me, how was your day!"

Harry chuckled before grabbing lunch and discussing their lessons between bites. At some point, Harry and Susan started feeding each other as they tried each other's food. He knew his girlfriend was not a big fan of steak, but he managed to have her try his medium-rare steak, and she got him to try pumpkin pie later on. Even though Harry was looking forward to his treacle tart, he had to admit the pie tasted great, especially after he washed it down with tea.

It was strange how easily they went back to the same routine they had in summer, considering how chilly things had been earlier. Perhaps Susan wanted to put the matter behind as they returned to normalcy.

"So, will I see you in Care of Magical Creatures later?" Harry asked as they enjoyed dessert.

"Yes, I picked it along with Ancient Runes for my electives. This should be fun, though I worry about the teacher."

"Why? Hagrid is great and even studied extensively over the summer to cover the subject. Besides, there's no one who knows magical creatures better than Hagrid."

"I suppose that's true."

Harry frowned inwardly as he sensed wariness and uncertainty from Susan. He had an idea why she may not be a fan of Hagrid, but discussing this now would be problematic. Checking his watch, they still had nearly thirty minutes before class, giving Harry an idea.

He suddenly kissed her brow before whispering in her ear. "Want to leave early so we don't get lost?"

There was no way Susan would misunderstand, considering he was rubbing her thighs under the table and channelling magic into her. Judging by her hitched breathing and smile, she definitely agreed.

"Yes~" She half-sighed, half-moaned. Harry grinned before glancing at Hannah, whose eyes were wide yet nodded shyly.

"Go on, I'll keep the rest busy."

"Let's go."

They quickly left the Hufflepuff table, ignoring the envious eyes of many of the older boys. Susan was definitely eye-catching, yet she was his, and Harry would duel any fool who dared even look at her longer than politeness dictated.

Within a few minutes, Harry led his girlfriend to the clocktower overlooking the grounds and found a secluded spot before hurriedly turning to Susan. No words were spoken as they simply kissed and tasted each other's lips and tongues. His hands were around the girl's waist, and he pulled her closer to him, squishing her large chest to his own and not shy about showing her how excited she was making him. He knew nothing would come from this, especially not when they needed to head to class soon, but for now, this was their moment.

Harry still needed to tell her about the birthday date he was planning for her tomorrow. Later, though, he was too busy getting her drunk on his magic, though he too was growing intoxicated by her taste.

School is boring…or is it? Harry learns a new branch of magic that promises a lot, yet so far only has him bulli Daphne.

It's still a win in his mind.

It is said that mathematics is a magic of its own.

Time Turner shenanigans! There's no way Harry would allow such a handy tool to be misused. Expect extensive usage of the device with unintended consequences.

Harry and Susan's spat did not last long, it seems.

School chapters will probably drag on for a bit as I establish a routine, but don't worry, I won't go over every class every day.