Chapter 7:

Harry was awoken with a jolt in his bed that was charmed to wake him up at 5:00 AM. Out of habit he wiped the sleep out of his eyes and crawled out of bed. Quickly making his way to his trunk, he pulled out some workout clothes that Sirius had gotten him from a company he invested in overseas.

They were a tight fit, but they made him feel stronger and faster than he probably was. After only a few minutes he was fully dressed and making his way down into the common room. With his wand in its holster on his wrist, he confidently strode into the empty room, which that showed while his housemates were hard workers they were not supremely early risers.

Harry grinned as he exited the portrait, and slowly lazed himself towards the entrance hall. Easily walking onto the grounds Harry wondered if anyone shut the great hall doors...ever?

Putting that thought in the back of his mind, at the feel of fresh air he took off towards Hagrid's with the intention to make his way towards the quidditch pitch and back. He wasn't particularly running for distance this morning, but he was trying to make a map of the grounds in his head.

Feeling brave with his wand at the ready he even ran along the edge of the forbidden forest to see if we would catch any of the unicorns that Hagrid was always talking about. However, luck was not with him as all he saw was a centaur that was watching him from a distance.

After some time he did manage to make it to the quidditch pitch, and the greenhouses. After running past both of those he began to feel a little winded and made a last-mile sprint towards the Black Lake. When Harry made it to the sandy beach he plopped down on the sand in an effort to catch his breath.

After a few moments of laying on his back and staring out at the beautiful sunrise, he pulled himself to his knees and closed his eyes. He felt his heartbeat and his very magic flowing through his body. This meditation technique is something that Severus Snape had taught him to control his Occulmency shields. The young boy took deep breaths and began to pulse his magic out just a little bit.

He didn't need to open his eyes to know that nearby rocks would be floating in the air and that the water was rushing to his feet a little harder than before. Harry's breathing was steady, and he felt powerful with his whole magical core at the ready. Professor Snape taught him that true power rested somewhere between rage and serenity, a place of balance, and trust in his magic.

Taking the meditation to the next level he put his wand down in the sand and began holding his hands out to the side with his palms pointed towards the sands. He increased his breathing slightly and he felt a pull in his magic as he began floating off the ground just a little bit.

Harry smiled at how attuned he was to the magic around him, and he had never felt more powerful since the very magic of Hogwarts was surrounding him at this point.

After a moment of further concentration, he dropped to the ground with a deep breath and a smile. He then grabbed his wand and stood up flexing his shoulders a bit. Pointing his wand out towards the water he flicked his wrist, "Reducto, Stupefy, Deprimo, Expelliarmus, Incarcerous!"

Harry felt the chain of five spells he had been working on for some time come into place with beautiful ease. The key to chain spells was that the precision of each attack had to be spot on, or the next curse would not come out right, in turn destroying the effectiveness of the chain.

Harry grinned as he watched the spells hit the water and explode. With finesse, he did this chain spell a few more times each greeting him with success. He then changed into some more powerful hexes he was taught, "Defodio, Expulso, Diffindo!"

A quick three chain that he was told to only use in emergencies left his wand with a sharp power behind each one. Smiling Harry put his wand away after practicing those spells a few more times, then closed his eyes and meditated for a bit longer.

As the sun beat down on him a little higher in the sky, he knew it was reaching seven fifteen and that he was supposed to be in the great hall by eight, so with a final sprint of approximately a mile, he made his way back to the castle, with still no sight of anyone.

However, once he crossed into the entrance hall he could see that a select few students were already up drinking some type of tea or coffee and looking at the morning paper. He could also see Dumbledore sitting at the high table alone. Harry didn't bother to go into the great hall, but he did wave good morning to the headmaster, in which he got a small nod in return, and made his way towards the common rooms.

When he reached the entrance a good majority of the house was awake. When he crossed through the house as most people stared at him in confusion as he was currently drenched in sweat, and with what some would consider little clothes.

His T-shirt was basically just covering his body and had no sleeves which allowed the tone in his arms to be shown off a bit. His shorts were a bit looser, but they were still only down to his knees which showed the strength of his calves. He noticed none of his roommates were downstairs yet, but he did see Tonks shaking her head at him with a smile.

With a calm walk towards his common room, he heard the whispers behind him. Taking it all in stride however he came into his room to see Justin and Ernie looking into his bed, probably just now realizing he was gone, "If your looking for me boys your a couple hours behind."

Ernie and Justin both whirled around with clear signs of relief, Ernie said, "We thought you might have run for it in the night!"

Harry chuckled grabbing his fresh robes out of his trunk, "Why would I do that? I like it here in Hufflepuff, and I haven't even met everyone yet. I think it's a little early to be running out, wouldn't you say?"

Zacharias sniffed the air, "Good Lord Potter, is that stench you?"

The green-eyed boy rolled his eyes, "Yes Smith, it's called sweat, not that I expect you would've worked hard enough in your life to know what that is!"

The boy growled, "I sweat all the time playing Quidditch!"

Harry rose his eyes, "You can play Quidditch?"

Zacharias held his nose in the air like the pompous git he was, "Of course, I can! I reckon I will be the starting seeker next year!"

Harry laughed, "Good luck with that! I just wonder how you are going usurp Cedric, he has been a seeker since his second year, and he's pretty good! I have played with him before, and I am not sure I could take his spot. Not that I am going to. I will take a Chaser position until Cedric leaves, then I may try out for Seeker. I hope you give me some good competition Smith!"

The pompous boy took that as a compliment and had also indeed realized that Cedric was probably the superior seeker for now. Harry made his way over to the bathroom where he quickly washed off and cleaned up a bit for his first day of class.

After only ten minutes he was joining his housemates down in the common room where the fifth-year prefect, whom he learned was Hannah Abbot's older brother Darrel, called out, "Alright first years, follow me down to the great hall, I know it's not very far, but its tradition that the prefects guide you on the first day."

Harry stood in the back of the first years with Ernie and Justin explaining where he was this morning, while Justin whistled, "My older brother, who is nonmagical is a track star down in London. I am sure he would be impressed that you are getting up and running every morning. Why do you do it though?"

Harry shrugged and noticed not for the first time that the first years were listening, "Running and swimming make my stamina stay up, and help me in dueling. It's also good to be in shape because no matter how strong you are magically sometimes it's better to run and live another day. That's what my godfather taught me."

Zacharias asked in shock, "You mean to tell me pureblood Sirius Black runs like a muggle every morning?"

Harry laughed, "I don't think Padfoot has been able to run the length he was able to as a kid, but I know when my dad and he were going through auror training as cadets they ran a lot to stay in shape. It's supposed to help you in lasting longer in dueling."

Darrel Abbot, who listened in, asked, "What do you know about dueling Potter?"

Harry knew that most of his skills were supposed to be kept quiet, but he figured talking about his experience wouldn't be so bad, as long as he didn't mention his teachers, "Only been doing it a lot in the past year, but my dad tells me Potters are all usually battle magic proteges. I don't know if I can claim to be that good, because all I have to compare myself to is the adults in my life, or my little brother, who is a fast little devil, but packs no real punch."

Darrel Abbot smiled, "Well I am the captain of the Hufflepuff dueling team, maybe sometime this week we can find an empty classroom and test you out. I need some younger blood because we lost a lot of power last year. Tonks is probably going to be the best dueler we have, but let's face it mate, she's clumsy and beats herself more than her opponents do!"

Harry laughed, "I have seen that before! She is my cousin on my godfather's side, so I watched her in a dueling league one summer. She's good, but she knocked herself out in the finals when she held her stupefy too long and stunned herself!"

Darrel erupted into laughter, "I think I will be asking for my dad's Pensieve so you can show me that one Potter!"

Harry smiled at the older boy and they had arrived in the great hall fifteen minutes early because Darrel had told us, 'if you're early your on time. If you're on time, you're late.'

Harry took his seat at the Hufflepuff table which was in between the Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors respectively and hoped that Neville would sit behind him so they could get a chance to speak. Professor Sprout greeted the first years enthusiastically, "Good morning 'Puffs! It is good to see my old students back, and my new students arrive! We will be holding a house meeting tonight, so please everyone be sure you are in the common room at sunset! I have your schedules here, and I look forward to seeing all of you tonight!"

With a flick of her wand, the schedules went out to each of the students and Harry smiled at the ease in which his head of house displayed magic. Harry now regretted not getting to know Professor Sprout growing up. He had been closely affiliated with Snape, Mccongagal, and Flitwick, but had only even met the Professor once, at Bones Manor.

Harry knew that Amelia Bones, was Susan's godmother and that she often spent time with her aunt when she could. Being the head of the DMLE was a full-time job for sure. Even with the fall of the Dark Lord.

Breakfast went by for a while until Neville had made his way into the great hall with the Gryffindor first years behind him. Percy Weasley and Neville were speaking professionally and Harry had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

Neville made eye contact with Harry, and the Potter motioned his eyes to the seat behind him, and Neville quickly took it. Harry spun his chair, "Sleep well, Neville? I half expected to see you out there running this morning?"

Neville shook his head, "Will start tomorrow, I wanted to have a little lie-in, before we broke into our training regiment."

Harry gave the boy a smile, "Well I charted out the grounds so I can show you all the highlights tomorrow. Has Mccgonagal given you your schedule yet?"

Like in the movies all classes will be shared by the first years. It won't be divided into houses like in the books. I am doing this for the simple reason to give the boys a chance to stay together and give them a chance to unite the houses over time.

Neville nodded, "Looks like we have Transfiguration first. Then Potions, with Snape."

Harry thought about correcting him on his addressing of the resident potions master, but thought better of it when he realized it would just cause a fight on their already shaky grounds, "At least we won't have to deal with our problem until tomorrow!"

Neville looked at his schedule to see Defense Against the Dark Arts listed, and grimaced, "I will keep my eyes open on it. Let's eat breakfast and head up to the fifth floor together shall we?"

Harry nodded and quickly finished eating his food. When the two boys stood up he noticed Ron Weasley shoot over to the two boys, "Morning Harry, how was it with the Puffs last night?"

Harry glared at the boy for only a split second, "It was fine Ron. My roommates are cool, but it will definitely take some getting used to. I haven't ever had to sleep in a room with more than one person in it at any given time. Even when Rosalie used to come to sleep with me, it was odd, but I guess now I'll be getting used to it!"

Ron accepted this heartily, "I know what you mean! Come on we should get going, if we are late Mccgonagal will likely turn us all into pocket watches!"

Harry nodded knowing that is exactly something Minerva would do, and turned to his roommates, "We're heading up to Transfiguration, you guys want to join us?"

Wayne, Ernie, and Justin were still eating, so they told him they would catch up, but the girls quickly stood to follow, having been done eating. As the group of six made their way out of the hall Harry started a conversation with his housemates, "How'd you sleep last night ladies?"

Hannah who was as witty as ever shot back, "Better than you apparently. What is this I heard about you getting up at five in the morning to go running?"

Neville looked surprised, "You didn't tell your housemates you were leaving?"

Harry shrugged, "I wasn't really thinking about it last night, and I didn't want to wake anyone this morning."