Harry Potter: Another Chance

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 23: Teachers meeting

At the end of the first week of the school year, all the teachers have a meeting to discuss the new students among other things.

"Well, why don't we start with the most obvious one first." Dumbledore proposed with a kind smile.

"How is Neville Longbottom adapting to Hogwarts?"

The professors all looked at each other with complicated expressions.

"He's…He is trying very hard, I think." Commented McGonagall.

"He seems to have trouble with his wand movements, and…his magic in general." Flitwick looked away.

"He is useless!." Spat Snape with frustration.

"He got boils all over his face while trying to brew a simple anti-boils potion. That reaction shouldn't even be possible!" The professor raised his hands in the air.

Dumbledore sighed. This was not what he was hoping to hear. His eyes moved to the new professor of defense with a tinge of hope.

"Professor Nayar, what about you? surely he is at least decent for defense magic."

"Longbottom? the fat clumsy one?" The big man looked pensive for a moment.

"I thought he was a squib!, I had to question Miss McGonagall about it."

"He did ask…" Confirmed the professor.

"I see…" Dumbledore looked a bit distraught.

"Well, he seems great in herbology!. The boy knows his plants and, I think he has a natural talent for it." Commented Professor Sprout with great enthusiasm.

"Thank you, Pomona...that is something, I guess. And for the rest of the classes, I am sure there is nothing to worry about. Young Neville must be a bit overwhelmed during his first week of school…is there any other student worth mentioning?." The Headmaster asked.

"Yes, actually!" McGonagall perked up.

"I have a most excellent student in my house. A muggle-born girl called Hermione Granger, shows great promise in transfiguration and is very dedicated to her studies."

"Yes, Granger. She is quite excellent and very hard-working. I was very surprised that she didn't end up in my house, to be honest." Remarked Flitwick.

"A muggle-born?, that's very impressive indeed." Dumbledore seems to recall something then.

"The Potters' firstborn was also starting this year, which house did he end up in?"

He had to admit that his attention during the sorting ceremony had been focused completely on Neville Longbottom. But he should have paid some attention to the other boys, especially the Potter one. 

The Potters had been some of his most loyal supporters during the beginning of the war. His relationship with them became somewhat strained after the unfortunate death of Sirius Black.

He remembers that Lily had blamed the Order for their lack of direct action against Voldemort and his forces, saying that if they had done more, Sirius could have been rescued.

But not all is lost. He has managed to maintain casual correspondence with James Potter after the defeat of Voldemort and he was sure that the Potters would come back to his side once the Dark Lord makes his return so he should keep at least a casual eye on their son and make sure he does not fall with the wrong crew.

"Yes, He is one of my Lions." Answered Minerva with pride.

The Headmaster felt relieved to hear that but didn't show it. This was the best-case scenario for him.

"I'm sure that James will be delighted."

He managed to hear Snape mumbling some unpleasant words but decided to ignore them. After all these years, he is still bitter with the other man. Dumbledore can only hope that Severus will not take his frustrations with James' son.

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The first weekend had arrived and most of the students had made plans.

Groups have formed among the new students.

Ron and Seamus had been sticking to Neville like glue, accompanying him everywhere he went and acting very protective when someone else tried to approach and talk to their famous friend.

Hermione had talked with Neville a few times and the tension from the first day had disappeared. 

But Ron and Seamus were not very fond of her after she corrected many of their mistakes during classes. So she was mostly kept out of their business.

She also didn't seem to get along with the other girls, so Harry would find her often reading alone at the Griffindor dorm.

As for Harry himself. He had no interest in getting close to any of the other children. He loved the fact that he could see many of his former friends alive and happy again, but he had no reason to interact with them at this point. 

To him, they are just little children and he finds the idea of dealings with them and talking about toys and Quidditch, just… extremely boring.

He rather spends his free time by himself, doing something useful like training.

"Gladius!" two swords were conjured in front of him before he banished them towards two different targets, one to his left and the other to his right.

One of the blades impacted the dummy dead center and sent it tumbling backward, the other blade missed the target by a few inches and embedded itself in the wall.

Harry looked at this with disappointment. This was one of his best combat tricks. A basic combination of conjunction and the banishing charm. It was a simple but effective way to deal with multiple enemies.

"I used to be able to conjure dozens of those and send them out with pinpoint accuracy…"

He knew that he had a long way to go before he could reach his previous level of strength.

Is not that he lacked patience, as he understood that his body was very young and his magic was still developing.

The problem was his lack of intel on Voldemort's location and his future plans. The uncertainty was making him very anxious. He could attack at any moment and he was not ready yet.

"Uh.."

He tried to walk and almost fell down. He felt tired….very tired. He has been pushing himself every day to his limit.

"That's enough for today… let's go back and take a shower."

He looked at the clock on the wall, it was late, almost curfew.

"shit, I missed dinner…"

His stomach complained in response.

"Shut up, you can have double breakfast tomorrow."

Harry picked up his things and hurried back to the dorms, not expecting to find anyone out at this hour.

So, it came as a surprise when Hermione came running to him as soon as he opened the painting to enter.

"Harry, thank God you are here!. I need your help!" She said with urgency.