After the new term started, Hermione resumed her routine from the previous year—spending every break in the library studying. But unlike the original timeline, she wasn't researching Nicolas Flamel.
This time, Harry hadn't told her anything about the Philosopher's Stone, so she was simply studying for the sake of learning and preparing early for the end-of-year exams.
Harry had tried to persuade her many times that it was still too early to start revising, but she was like a busy little bee—as if stopping would make her life meaningless. Buried in her books, she would occasionally lift her head and say, "Merlin said: opportunity favors the prepared."
And just like that, a month passed.
Harry found himself even busier than Hermione.
Quidditch training had resumed.
They were out practicing in cold, damp weather when they heard the news: Professor Snape would be refereeing the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match.
Aside from Harry, the rest of the team—Fred and George Weasley, and captain Oliver Wood—felt an immediate chill that had nothing to do with the weather.
George fell off his broom and landed face-first in the grass. "If he's the referee, he'll find every excuse he can to penalize us."
Complaints filled the air.
…
In the common room.
Hermione glanced at Harry a few times before finally speaking up. "I heard Professor Snape is going to referee the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."
"Yeah," Harry nodded.
"You should quit the team," Hermione advised. "Otherwise, he'll definitely give you trouble during the match."
Harry replied, "But Gryffindor doesn't have a backup Seeker. If I quit, we can't compete."
…
During the next few practices, Wood became even stricter. Even in awful weather, he insisted they show up for training.
As he put it, "We need to train harder, follow every rule, and not give Professor Snape any reason to deduct points."
On a warm and sunny spring Sunday, many students were enjoying the weather in the library.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside. A few students entered and explained what had happened.
Malfoy had been practicing a newly learned spell—the Leg-Locker Curse—on passing students.
He wasn't stupid—he only targeted first-years who were easier to intimidate. He never picked fights with older students.
His behavior was already infamous among the first-years, but none of the victims dared speak up. They simply hopped away on stiff legs, trying to avoid trouble.
As for the upper-year students, they preferred to stay out of it. After all, everyone knew who Malfoy's father was.
What surprised everyone was that it was Neville who eventually stepped in to stop Malfoy.
Harry could imagine the scene clearly—Neville probably stammering, maybe even shaking, but at least he had stood up to him. That alone made him far braver than he used to be. Last year's events had really had an impact, Harry thought with satisfaction.
Not far from Harry sat Percy Weasley. When he overheard some girls admiring Neville's courage, his expression twisted.
Harry smirked to himself. He had seen Percy come in earlier—right when Malfoy had been causing trouble outside. But Percy, despite being a prefect, had chosen to ignore it.
Harry had interacted with Percy enough to know Ron's older brother was vain, obsessed with appearances, and had an unhealthy fixation on authority.
He didn't want to cross Malfoy, likely because Lucius Malfoy was a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Magic—where Percy desperately wanted to work after graduation.
…
In Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Quirrell looked even paler than usual, and the room was thick with the smell of garlic.
That day's topic was how to deal with werewolf bites.
Since the New Year, Quirrell's teaching had noticeably improved. The awkward stumbles and failures from the start of the previous term were gone.
But shortly after the lesson began, Harry suddenly stood up and walked straight out of the classroom, completely ignoring Quirrell.
Quirrell smiled awkwardly as he watched him go.
The other students were stunned—and envious.
To them, walking out of class like that was basically the coolest thing in the world.
But Harry had a reason—his scar was burning again. Voldemort was probably trying to peer into his thoughts.
Harry knew there was still a fragment of Voldemort's soul inside his mind. It was a serious threat.
With that kind of "insider," even a weak piece of Voldemort's soul could potentially use Legilimency on him—and that was absolutely unacceptable.
Especially because no one could ever find out the truth: that Harry didn't belong in this world.
He constantly searched for a solution to this problem, but soul magic in the wizarding world was still barely understood.
Even in the original story, Harry never resolved this issue on his own.
It wasn't until the final battle that Voldemort's Killing Curse destroyed the soul fragment lodged inside Harry—a curse that should have killed him, but instead severed the parasitic connection.
Only then was Harry truly whole again.
…
Time passed, and the long-awaited Quidditch match finally arrived…
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⚡ The Rebirth of Harry Potter
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