T H I R T E E N
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The following morning at breakfast, Harry had been deemed an object for others to gaze upon in pure awe, fascination and fear. He felt like something on display in a museum that everyone was desperate to see.

He chewed his bacon and tried to act nonchalant about the whole situation, but in retrospect it was bothering him though he supposed he should have been used to it, after all his first year had been much the same. The only good thing that came of the attention, was a chance to preoccupy himself with something else and forget about his dream. He seemed to be looking for distractions quite a bit.

Thankfully, breakfast was over sooner than it had begun and next thing he knew, those in the Great Hall began to disperse as they received their schedules.

For Gryffindor House, an old wizard with a plump face and the stubbly remains of a beard was in charge of passing out schedules.

"Who's that?" Seamus Finnigan whispered from across the table, his eyes on the odd looking wizard.

Hermione, unsurprisingly, was the one with the answers. "That would be the new head of Gryffindor House," she said without skipping a beat.

"New Head? Why would we need a new head?" Dean Thomas asked, joining the conversation.

"Well someone had to step up, didn't they? What with McGonagall being Headmistress now and all," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Does that mean we don't have Transfiguration with McGonagall anymore?" Ron asked. His schedule landed with a loud slap in front of him. He picked it up and frowned. "How come I can't read anything?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, giving him a look of amusement. "It's upside-down," she said, collecting her own from the old wizard.

Ron blushed and turned it around. "Oh, that's better, thanks."

"Mr Potter, your schedule," the wizard spoke, placing it down in front of Harry. He leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Your friend Hagrid wants to know if you'll still be paying him a visit today?"

Harry nodded. "Wait- did Hagrid ask you to tell me that?"

The wizard payed no heed to his question. "I'll let him know then." He winked and pointed to the column of classes on Tuesday's. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow, cheers." He tipped his cowboy hat and moved along to the next group of students.

"Did you catch a name?" Seamus asked, eyes following the strange wizard as he walked away.

Harry shook his head. "I think he might be a friend of Hagrid's."

"Anyone have first period free?" Ron interrupted. He was staring at his schedule in extreme concentration.

Hermione shook her head. "I have Arithmancy." Her eyes widened and she jumped up in her seat. "Ten minutes! I'm going to be late." She was dashing out of the Great Hall before anyone could comprehend what had happened.

"I should go too," Ginny said, standing up. "I've got double Potions...with the Slytherins."

"Don't have too much fun." Ron laughed at her expression.

"At least I don't have to spend two hours with Malfoy later," she retorted, pointing at her brother's schedule.

Ron's smile faltered and he and Harry let out a simultaneous groan.

"We're all in this together," Dean said, sympathetically, holding up his own schedule.

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By the time fifth period rolled around, Harry and Ron were exhausted. Despite it being the first day, their teachers had wasted no time in getting back on track which meant giving overwhelming amounts of homework to all of the students. More things for Harry to distract himself with.

"War is no excuse for your grades to fail," Ron said in an irritatingly high pitched voice as they waited outside the dungeons.

Harry gave him a questioning glance. "Which teacher said that?"

"Nobody," he grumbled, "but they might as well have."

"We don't have that much to do," Hermione said, joining them. She barely paid them a second glance as she shuffled through some notes from Ancient Runes with a slight frown.

Ron gave her a look of mock horror. "Not that much? You've got to be kidding me."

She spared him a look from behind her notes, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she let a smile slip onto her face. Ron stared back at her, a faint blush tinting his cheeks.

Harry coughed loudly, breaking the eye contact between his two best friends. They averted their eyes quickly.

"Slughorn's here," Hermione mumbled, hastily pushing past them both and hurrying into the classroom. She dropped her books down at the very front of the room so she was sitting directly in front of Slughorn's desk.

The professor beamed at her as she sat down. "Good to see you again, Hermione," he said with a booming voice. She opened her mouth to reply but he cut her off as he caught sight of Harry. "Ah, Harry!" he exclaimed, "I trust you'll still be my star student this year? Conquerer of the Dark Lord and Master of Potions!"

"Uh, yeah of course, Professor," Harry managed.

Slughorn grinned. "Atta boy!"

Hermione looked like she had swallowed a sour lemon. She scowled as she took out her things. It was no secret she hated Harry being able to best her in Potions.

Ron shuffled over and took a seat next to her with Harry following behind.

"Welcome back," Slughorn declared, surveying the group of students he had the fortune- or perhaps misfortune of teaching. The class was made up of seven Gryffindors, including Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dean who was sat at the back of the room, as well as three Slytherins, a selection of Ravenclaws, and Ernie Macmillan who was once again the only Hufflepuff.

"I thought we would start off with something fun today," Professor Slughorn continued. "Make anything you like- within reason of course."

Hermione raised her hand to most likely object. "But sir-"

At that moment, the door was flung open. All eyes turned their attention towards the boy who stood in the doorway, panting. He put his hands on his knees and bent over, letting out long laboured breaths. "Sorry- sorry I'm late," he managed to get out. "I got lost."

Slughorn's brows drew together in confusion. He yanked a handkerchief out of his pocket where it had been poking out and removed his glasses which he wiped slowly before putting them back on. A grin broke out on his face.

"Ah, Mr Jackson, I've heard quite a bit about you."

The boy blinked. "What?"

"Welcome to N.E.W.T Potions, why don't you take a seat?"

The boy's jaw dropped open along with the rest of the class. Slughorn wasn't known for being strict but would he really give a student a free pass? The boy in the doorway seemed to come to the same conclusion and he opened and closed his mouth. Perhaps he wasn't used to being let off so easily. "But I'm late?" he said. "Aren't you going to give me detention or something?"

Slughorn chuckled. "Or something," he muttered. "Say, why don't you see me after class? I could use someone of your potential."

"Uh, sure, okay then."

Harry watched, bewildered as the boy walked slowly towards the back of the room. His appearance was rather shabby; he hadn't bothered to wear a tie and his hair was acquitted in an effortless mess much like Harry's own.

He made to sit down next to a girl with a head of blonde hair but he thought better of it and instead settled for a seat a few spaces down, right next to Malfoy. The scrawny twerp eyed him with a combination of disgust and fear. The boy gave him a half-hearted smile. It was not returned. Clearing his throat, he diverted his attention towards the front but not before letting his gaze linger on Harry. A sense of power radiated from him, something he hadn't noticed the night before. If he could remember correctly, the boy had been a new addition to his dorm, though he hadn't payed much attention to him then. His eyes widened when he realised that he was also the boy from the train. The one he'd caught looking at him.

"-follow any recipe in your book-" Professor Slughorn's voice snapped him out of his trance. "-just remember, if you chose to challenge yourself, I might award extra marks." His eyes twinkled and he not so subtlety looked in Harry's direction.

Hermione raised her hand. "Sir, this is being marked? It's only the first day."

"Of course not," Slughorn chuckled.

"But you said-"

"Nonsense, child." He straightened his tie and winked at the class. "However, if you do exceptionally well, I might be persuaded to award Gryffindor House extra points."

"Extra points?" she questioned, with a look of sheer determination.

"You've got this lesson to produce an astounding potion of epic proportions," he announced to the class. "Without a doubt, you will all manage to amaze me. Ingredients are all in the cupboard!"

Ten minutes later, when Harry finally did decide on a potion to make, half the class had already started. He tried to ignore the look of disappointment Slughorn was giving him and headed to the cupboard.

He selected precious few ingredients, almost knocking over a carton of cobbled mushrooms in the process, and took his supplies back to his cauldron.

Deliberately slow, he took his time chopping the gorgon scales into equal quadrants and eventually set them to boil in his cauldron with essence of greengrew. Once it began to bubble, he added a drop of chimera blood from a silver vial. The substance in the pot changed to a murky yellow. It emitted a putrid odour and something told him he had already failed. His thoughts were confirmed when he caught Hermione eyeing his cauldron with satisfaction.

If there was ever a time he needed the Half Blood Prince, it was most definitely now.

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"Times up!" Slughorn called, coming round to inspect the students' cauldrons. He passed by Hermione's cauldron first and nodded approvingly. "Celerity Concoction." He bent over her cauldron and inhaled a waft of the substance. "Nice touch with the pickled toenails. Ten points to Gryffindor."

He reached Ron's cauldron next which was a fluorescent pink. "Next time, boil the cattails before the bat spleen," he said. "And the colour should be a bit darker."

He turned to Harry next. "My star student!" Slughorn exclaimed. He broke out into hearty laughter. "Great joke! How about you show me your actual potion?"

"This is my actual potion," Harry deadpanned.

Slughorn's face fell. He sniffed. "Well we all have our bad days."

He continued on to the rest of the room. Hermione was trying to hide her pleasure.

"It's not funny! I need your help," he exclaimed desperately, turning to her. "I can't fail potions. If I don't pass I won't be able to become an Auror."

"I'm sure you'll still be able to become an Auror," she said, a twinge of bitterness in her voice, "they wouldn't deny 'the Conquerer of the Dark Lord,' a privilege like that."

"Hermione," he pleaded.

She thought about it for a moment. "The moment you become top of the class again-"

"That won't happen," Harry assured her, knowing full well Hermione didn't want Harry to become better than her again.

"Fine," she conceded, "I'll help you."

"Thanks, you're a life saver!"

"What about me?" Ron asked. "Do I get complimentary lessons from you, privilege of being your boyfriend?"

Hermione blushed pink. It was understandable that her and Ron were not entirely comfortable with their relationship status yet. Before she could answer, her attention was captured by Slughorn's booming voice from the back of the room where he was inspecting Malfoy's cauldron. Harry and Ron followed her gaze.

"What have you got for me?" Slughorn asked the blonde boy.

"It's a potion for growing things," Malfoy paused, "maybe Clarisse could use it on her robes," he suggested, grinning.

Clarisse tightened her grip on her spoon and gritted her teeth. "How about you use it to grow a pair and come fight me like a man," she growled. Her cauldron was letting off vast amounts of smoke and Harry worried that any minute now she would tip its contents onto the irritating blonde boy who she'd somehow succeeded in making an enemy of. The thing that worried him the most was that he wouldn't even try to stop her. He and Malfoy had been on better terms but their relationship was far from perfect and he hadn't forgotten the hell he'd put him through.

"La Rue! Malfoy-" Slughorn began. He was interrupted by the sound of a loud bang as a cauldron exploded. Snail guts and a variety of other intestines went flying and hit the floor, walls and desks, coating everything in lime green sludge. The cause of the disaster was the boy who had entered late, the same dark headed boy from the train. What was left of his cauldron was smouldering. The boy coughed and stared down at the mess in front of him. He wiped some of the green sludge from his face and spluttered. "This isn't poisonous is it?" he asked.

Slughorn waved his wand and the mess vanished. "Class dismissed," he said, "And Perseus, stay behind."

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THREE THINGS

1. For some reason, this story isn't showing up in the search bar. I don't know why. I searched this story on wattpad and it won't come up. Am I the only one having this problem?

2. If you're liking the story so far, don't forget to vote/comment or even tell your friends. It would mean a lot!

3. I haven't done this yet, but I'd just like to thank you all for reading this story. I've got a lot of the plot worked out now and I hope you'll enjoy what's coming!

Hopefully the next update won't take as long. Sorry if this chapter was too short. I'm still suffering from temporary lack of creative ideas.