[[!meta title="Punishment"]]

Harry *knew* it had been a bad idea.

Madam Hooch had told them that if anyone flew on their broom while she was
away they'd be expelled. But Draco had gone off with Neville's remembrall and,
like an idiot, Harry had chased after him.

And of course he'd gotten caught. Now Professor McGonagall was dragging him
off to who-knows-where and by this time tomorrow he'd be back at the Dursley's.

All of a sudden, the thought occurred to Harry: This isn't fair! He'd been
defending a classmate from a bully, and Professor McGonagall hadn't even let
him or his housemates defend his actions! Harry made up his mind then and
there; whatever punishment he was assigned, he would fight.

If they kicked him out, then maybe that would be okay. At least living with the
Dursleys didn't involve everyone staring at his forehead all the time and
whispering behind his back. And they only hated him for his magic; maybe if he
was kicked out of magic school they'd be more accepting of him.

Harry was thoroughly mired in his resentment, or he would have been more
surprised when Professor McGonagall stopped at the charms classroom instead of
the Headmaster's office. He was startled out of his brooding when the Professor
spoke his name.

"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood -- I've found you a Seeker."

The older student looked at Harry with what he assumed was a manic glee. So his
punishment was to be at the hands of this bully.

"Are you serious, Professor?"

"Absolutely. I've never seen anything like him. Was that your first time on a
broomstick, Potter?"

Harry scowled, and replied with a terse "Yes." Of course it was his first time
on a broomstick; he was raised by muggles! Harry tuned out the conversation
again for a moment, preferring to focus on his anger rather than hear the
Professor describe (he assumed mockingly) his first attempt at flying.

Again his thoughts were interrupted, this time by Wood. After a brief
interrogation -- no, he *obviously* had never heard of Quidditch before -- and
it appeared a decision was made. Harry was to be a Seeker for Wood on some
sport team, and he was to train hard, or McGonagall would consider additional
punishment.

An indefinite sentence, at least the whole year, from what he could gather. For
trying to help one of his housemates, the people he was supposed to think of as
family. Handed down by the head of that same house, with no opportunity for him
to even defend his actions.

As Professor McGonagall walked away, she said something about how he should
make his father proud. Harry didn't listen; he preferred to believe that his
father would've wanted him to defend a classmate and would not have wanted him
punished. It never even occurred to him that the Professor felt the same way.

<hr/>

"You're *joking.*"

Harry was sitting morosely, picking at his dinner. He'd just told Ron that he
was being punished for the rest of year, although he hadn't told him exactly
what he'd be doing.

"Just drop it, Ron. I don't want to think about it right now."

"But, working you for a whole *year?*"

"I start next week."

"All you did was stop that git Malfoy!"

"Please, Ron, I don't want to talk about it."

Of course, it was hardly a minute later that the aforementioned git decided to
walk up to the Gryffindor table and contribute his thoughts.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the
Muggles?"

"I'm not expelled, Malfoy. McGonagall is starting my punishment next week."

"Ha! That'll teach you to go up against your betters, Potter!"

Ron, his face red with anger, jumped up from his seat and yelled, "Well at
least Gryffindors aren't too cowardly to fight our own battles!"

"I'd take you on anytime on my own. Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel,
midnight, in the trophy room. Who's your second, Weasley?"

"Harry is!"

"Wait, what? What's a wizard's duel? Ron, what are you getting me into?"

Malfoy turned back to Harry and responded with a sneer, "Oh right, you were
raised by *muggles.* It's wands only; no contact. Second fights when he's
unconscious."

"Ron, I can't do that. If I break any more rules, I'll get expelled for real."

Ron just stared blankly at Harry for a few seconds, before exclaiming, "Seamus,
then! Who's your second?"

Malfoy glanced briefly at Crabbe and Goyle, then decided, "Crabbe," and walked
back to his table. After Malfoy and his cronies had left, Ron just stared at
Harry across the table.

"I'm sorry Ron, but I really can't afford to get in any more trouble,
especially not tonight."

"Hmph. Some best mate you are." With that remark, Ron directed his gaze down to
his food, and refused to look up again for the rest of the meal.

As Harry sullenly walked back to the tower after dinner, he found Hermione
Granger beside him. Without any warning, she grabbed his hand, and whispered,
"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying. You did the
right thing, you know, refusing to help with that duel. And I'm sorry you're
getting punished for helping Neville."

Harry looked up at the look of concern and worry in Hermione's face, and found
himself thinking, he may have just lost his first best mate, but at least
there's still someone who cares about his feelings. He cracked a tiny smile,
and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Hermione returned the smile briefly, before blushing and
looking away. Together, they walked back to the tower in silence.

<hr/>

Ron had spent the evening ignoring Harry, and loudly talking with Seamus about
the duel that night. Everyone in the common room could hear Ron's conversation,
and Harry was now sure that any chance Ron had of making it to the trophy room
without getting caught was long gone.

Neville was still in the hospital wing being treated for fall from his broom
(another reason, Harry thought, to keep his head down and obey the Professors'
instructions). Not really on friendly terms with anyone else at the moment,
Harry sat and studied with Hermione.

It was something of a novel experience. For his whole life, Harry had been
discouraged from excelling in school; it would not do to be better than Dudley
at anything, after all. For all that Harry was angry at Hogwarts, he had still
been excited about learning magic, and Hermione was happy to show him how to
properly apply himself to his studies.

Hermione was bossy, opinionated, and neurotic. She insisted on making a
schedule for Harry to study by, she reviewed all of his work and found much of
it lacking, and she was aghast at his messy writing and sloppy organization.
When she discovered his notes were not merely incomplete but *nonexistant* she
seemed to very nearly have a heart attack. For Harry, the evening felt like a
rushed review of his entire schooling to date.

Strangely, perhaps, he found himself enjoying it.

<hr/>

Neville returned to the dorm just before lights-out, and Harry took the
opportunity to greet him and return the remembrall. Neville was greatly
thankful and apologetic when he heard about Harry's punishment, which Harry
quickly brushed off, saying he didn't regret doing the right thing for a
friend.

Seeing Ron still boasting in the corner with Seamus, Harry invited Neville and
Hermione to sit with him at breakfast the next morning. After some earnest
smiles and nods of agreement, the three students each retreated to their
respective beds for sleep.

Of course, Ron and Seamus got caught out after curfew. Harry was rudely
awakened sometime after midnight by the two boys being marched back into the
dorm. Bleary-eyed and tired, he barely had time to recognize the two before
Ron let into him, "This is all your fault! We lost 50 points each and got
detention because you abandoned me! Some friend you are!"

"Ron, I told you what would happen. It's not my fault you didn't listen."

At this, Ron's face turned almost as red as his hair. Just as he looked like he
was about to explode in anger, Neville interrupted the argument, "Ron, if you
wake up the prefects, you'll just lose even more points."

Ron spun about and exclaimed, "Nobody asked you, squib." With that, he stormed
over to his bed, collapsed on it, and angrily threw the curtains shut. Seamus
gave Harry and Neville a sad look before quietly saying, "I'm not mad at you.
Sorry about Ron," and heading to his own bed.

<hr/>

At breakfast, Ron was sitting as far away from Harry as possible, occasionally
sending angry scowls down the table. Harry, Hermione, and Neville spent the
meal talking and doing some last-minute review for potions class, blithely
ignoring the angry redhead.

Harry knew he needed the review. Last week, in their first potions class,
Professor Snape had singled him out for not knowing anything about potions.
Obviously wizarding students were expected to have picked this up before
school began. Hermione had known the answers, because she studied ahead.
Neville said he didn't recall ever being specifically taught about potions by
his rather distant Gran, and even so, he had known the answer to at least one
of the questions and if pressed would "maybe" have remembered where to find a
bezoar.

And now, Harry was a known rule-breaker, and had only narrowly avoided being
expelled somehow. He wouldn't get any second chances. He had to study, and
show that he deserved to stay at Hogwarts. Neville, too, was highly motivated;
he knew he was magically weak, and potions was one of very few careers open to
someone like him.

So Hermione took them along for a crash-course two hour review of first term
potions. In a whirlwind of review she went over the various stirring motions,
ingredient preparation, and exactly what had gone wrong with the previous
week's exercise. As she said, it was "barely enough, and you'll forget it soon
because we've gone too quickly, but at least you have a chance of getting some
useful practice during today's lesson, and tonight we'll go over it again and
revise all your notes and start working ahead like you really ought to."

Both Harry and Neville were amazed at how much she could say in a single
breath.

"Thanks, Hermione. You're a better friend than I deserve." If Harry hadn't
been deprived of love as a child, he might have hugged her.

"Yeah, thanks!"

"You're welcome Harry, Neville. Now, let's hurry to class. You don't want to
be late! That wouldn't leave the right impression at all!"

<hr/>

"OK, well, that wasn't great. But what went wrong, and how will you fix it for
next time?"

The three of them were sitting in the library after class. Neville's eyes were
puffy, and he was staring unfocused straight ahead, like he was about to cry.
Harry kept hitting his head on the table, muttering "stupid, stupid, stupid"
to himself with each whack.

"Enough of that, you two! Yes, you screwed up, but you didn't lose any points,
and it was better than last week. Now pay attention, or you won't get any
better!"

Harry raised his head, and Neville turned to focus on Hermione. "You're
right," Neville said after a moment, "it was better than last week. I didn't
melt my cauldron; just ruined my potion."

"So, what went wrong?"

"Every time that Professor Snape walks past, he gives me this *look*, and I
panic and screw up. I accidentally added salamander tails instead of eye of
newt, and it almost exploded!"

"That's right, Neville. But why *didn't* it explode?"

"Well, uh, I saw that it was starting to heat up on its own, so I grabbed the
pine needles and threw them in to neutralize it. But that just turned it into
a solid chunk and I got a Troll for the day!"

"Neville, don't you see? You were in a tense situation, and you reacted
exactly the right way! You stopped an explosion, and saved yourself from a
trip to the hospital, because you didn't panic! I mean, sure, your potion was
ruined, but you did the right thing! You just need to have a little more
confidence in your abilities, and Professor Snape won't be able to knock you
off-guard anymore!"

"I... huh, yeah, I guess I did do okay. But how are we going to make me able
to work with the professor stalking around like that?"

"We'll work together on it. I'm sure there's some books around here somewhere
on how to improve your confidence or shut out distractions or something. If
not, we can order some; I know my parents have something like that. What about
you, Harry, what went wrong with your potion today?"

"Everything! The color was wrong and it was too thick and I can't do anything
right because I'm just a stupid freak!"

"Harry, stop! You are not stupid, and you aren't a freak! Harry, what grade
did you get?"

"Snape said it was barely acceptable."

"Professor Snape, Harry, and acceptable means you made the potion! That's a
passing grade! Now, we'll have to work to improve on that, but you did well,
considering."

"Really, Hermione?"

"Really, Harry. Now, let's start going over your work, so both of you will do
even better next time. Neville, why don't you go ask Madam Pince if there are
any books on improving your focus and ignoring distractions. Harry, I want to
start by going step-by-step through today's potion so we can see what went
wrong. OK?"

<hr/>

> The present time is Friday, after class. The following Thursday is
> Hermione's birthday. The day after that, Harry gets the broomstick at
> breakfast, with the note:
>   DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE
>   It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody
>   knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will
>   meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first
>   training session.
>   Professor M. McGonagall
> See chapter 10 for dialogue: Malfoy confronts Harry over broomstick,
> Flitwick intercedes, Oliver trains Harry and starts him practicing with the
> team three times per week.

> There's this idea I have: Harry has no idea about anything in the Wizarding
> world, yeah? So, first year, beginning of the year, he's in broom flying
> class and does something that he *knows* is going to get him punished, and
> then McGonagall drags him off, and makes him seeker. *Obviously,* this is
> his punishment. Instead of being exciting, he dreads it, and tries to hide
> it, and just generally resents the whole thing. He's intentionally terrible,
> it ruins his friendship with Ron, and reshapes his whole Hogwarts
> experience...
>
> In large part, the setup for this needs Harry to be so self-absorbed in his
> anger that he doesn't really follow the content of the conversation between
> McGonagall and Wood. So he never realizes that she's *complimenting* him,
> and instead constructs a narrative in his mind of mockery and punishment.
> Once the resentment sets in, I think the progression is obvious; Harry
> starts to restrain himself from acting out because he's being punished,
> which prevents him from rising to Malfoy's taunts, which isolates him from
> Ron and endears him to Hermione.

> Right now it seems like this is a oneshot, but I suppose it might turn into a
> genuine novella if it's turning out interesting.

> There's some dialog lifted directly from *Philosopher's Stone*, as I'm
> trying to mirror scenes that appear in canon. Hopefully there's enough
> original content that it doesn't read as plagiarism.