Izuku was having the time of his life at Hogwarts. Apart from the initial points loss in his first Transfiguration class, Izuku and Hermione had earned so many points in their first week that Gryffindor was almost double Slytherin's score.

All of the teachers were incredibly good at what they did, and despite the fact they had only done theory so far the two Gryffindors were eager to learn more.

The only class they hadn't had yet was Potions, taught by Professor Snape, but that would be rectified in the next few minutes as Izuku and Hermione stood outside the old wooden door of one of the dungeons alongside the rest of the Gryffindor first years.

  As the first years trimmed in green and silver finally arrived, chatting amongst themselves and occasionally throwing the odd sneer in the Gryffindor's direction.

  The dank dungeon's door was slammed open from within, a wave of ice cold air brushing past the first years, and a rotten smell that couldn't be identified. Potions? Dead plants? Dead bodies? It could have been any of them, though the last would confirm the rumors spread by a pair of identical older students that Professor Snape murdered any student who failed their end of year exams.

  "Enter." A cold voice commanded from within.

  The Slytherins walked through the damp doorway first, obviously already familiar with both the environment and the voice.

  As Izuku passed through the doorway his eyes adjusted to the sudden gloom, and he could make out a black robed shape standing beside the doorway. Shoulder length greasy hair, a long, hooked nose and thin lips that were even thinner thanks to his constant scowl.

  Professor Snape did not look like he was looking forward to this lesson.

____

  "Tell me Mr Midoriya, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

  Izuku briefly panicked as Hermione's hand shot into the air before remembering that he'd read that chapter of his Potions textbook not 24 hours before. The last chapter of the textbook was almost entirely dedicated to the Draught of the Living Death. As a slightly advanced potion it provided a comparison to the first year potions contained in prior chapters. It wouldn't be an actual part of the curriculum until 6th year, as even with his extra reading Izuku didn't understand more than half the steps needed to brew it.

  "The Draught of Living Death, sir."

  The man seemed surprised for a moment, dark eyes examining the green haired boy before moving on.

  "Miss Granger... What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

  Hermione didn't even need the few seconds Izuku did to think over his answer.

  "There is no difference Professor, they are different names for the same thing. It is also known as aconite." She said, her prim and proper voice earning a few snickers from around the classroom.

  Snape appraised the similarly busy haired child sitting next to Izuku with an identical look. His eyes snapped to one of the boys who'd laughed, Weasley, Izuku thought.

  "Mr Weasley. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

  Hermione's hand shot up again, despite the fact that Snape's back was turned to her. Weasley meanwhile, was turning red from the tips of his ears down to his neck.

  "I don't know." He shrugged half heartedly.

  Snape seemed almost joyful that a student couldn't answer the question. It was a little sad, in Izuku's opinion, that the easiest of the three questions was the one that couldn't be answered. What magical child didn't know where a bezoar came from? They're practically the first aid kits of the Magical world! Well, for potion accidents, poisoning and infections anyway. Most other things like broken bones, scuffs, cuts and bruises could be fixed with a single spell, according to Moste Magike Maladies.

  It was unfortunate that the book was all theory and no practical. It didn't even name the spells so that he could look them up or ask somebody!!

  Realising that Snape had ended his tirade on Weasley's lack of brains, and calling him a dunderhead, Izuku opened his book to page one and began copying down the rules around a cauldron. Twenty times each. This was practically writing lines!

_______

  During their second week the classes began to gradually move away from basic safety and rules in the classrooms and on to the first chapters of their textbooks, which more often than not was theory based. Professor Flitwick allowed them to attempt the Lumos Charm, though the only people in the class who managed it were Izuku, Hermione and a girl in Slytherin, Greengrass.

  Finnegan somehow managed to blast a chunk of the stone ceiling out, which both impressed and baffled Izuku.

  Transfiguration was very heavily based in theory. The better you knew how and why the spells worked, the easier it became to transfigure something into something else. Professor McGonagall had promised an already bored class of eleven year olds that they would be doing the actual spells next week, turning a matchstick into a needle.

  Herbology with Professor Sprout was very hands on from the get-go. Greenhouse One was filled with a vast collection of mostly harmless magical plants, many of which were used as potion ingredients in their Potion classes. At least, when they got to actually brewing.

  Defence against the Dark Arts was the class Izuku had been looking forward to the most, but it turned out to be quite a letdown. Professor Quirrel could barely stutter out a sentence, and he seemed to focus more on the theory of defence rather than the practical, if his assigned textbook was any indication. Though they were admittedly only eleven, so maybe they would move on to practical in a few years?

  Astronomy was held at midnight at the top of the Astronomy Tower every two weeks on Wednesdays. They were exhausted the next morning in Charms, but it was fascinating learning about how moon phases affected magic cast, especially in the case of rituals.

  History of Magic was quite possibly the worst class Izuku had ever taken. The ghost teaching them, Professor Binns, had the flattest, most sleep inducing voice Izuku had ever heard. The only person who remained completely awake was Hermione, who was also the only person taking notes.

  Izuku had taken notes in their first class, but once he realized the ghost was just reciting the assigned book by heart he decided that class was better spent reading his advanced Charms textbook. Hermione had huffed angrily at him when she saw he wasn't paying attention to the old ghost, but Izuku pulled out his History of Magic textbook and flipped to the page Binns was currently reciting, his finger moving beneath each word as the ghost said it.

  "Now, this little rebellion had far greater implications than just a goblin uprising... The British milling company was also terribly affected, in that the wood provided by the Muggle sawmills, which at the time were somewhat-"

  The girl had seemed rather downtrodden after that. Her note taking became no less diligent, but she had a rather pouty expression on her face for the remainder of History.

  Their final class of the week was during the time slot on Wednesdays left open by Astronomy being at midnight, and was only available to first years. It was a bit of an oddity when compared to the other core classes, as the lessons were just flying classes on broomsticks. The broomsticks themselves seemed rather old, putting it kindly.

  Hermione, who was already rather worried about flying lessons, almost started panicking as she eyed the lumps of wood held together by twine and prayers. Izuku had been looking forward to learning to fly, but he was also put off by the state of the school equipment.

  Madam Hooch was nice enough, if a bit stern, and she seemed just as worried about what would happen when a group of children mounted the ancient brooms.

  Weasley was the first casualty, smacked in the face by the handle of his broomstick as he called "up!".

  Longbottom was the next, although his injury was significantly worse. He'd fallen off his broomstick as the ancient lump of junk bucked and swerved dangerously, breaking his wrist as he hit the ground.

  Madam Hooch took the whimpering boy away to the hospital wing, with a warning to the class about remaining on the ground.

  Izuku watched absently as the defective broomstick flew itself into the branches of a tree off in the distance of the grounds.

  The tree proceeded to kill the broomstick.

  Malfoy picked up a small glass ball that Longbottom had apparently dropped in the commotion, trying to taunt the Gryffindors with it.

  Rising into the air on his broomstick, the blonde boy exclaimed that he'd hide it somewhere for Longbottom to try and find.

  Looking between Malfoy still taunting them from above and the Death Tree a few hundred meters to the left, Izuku quickly came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it.

  Turning to Hermione, he asked a quiet question about what she thought of the Transfiguration Homework from the lesson before Flying. His first (and only) friend's eyes lit up as she began rambling about the intricacies of Transfiguration.

  Malfoy was given a month's detention when Madam Hooch returned, causing the Gryffindors to laugh. The arrogant boy just sneered in their direction, turning back to his housemates.