[[!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 very
nearly seemed to 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.



> 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 *Sorcerer'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.