The alarm blares much too early for Harry, who immediately shoves her head under her pillow to block it out. After her early morning fright, she's only gotten two more hours of sleep, and it's not nearly enough.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione's bossy voice intrudes, and the pillow is yanked away. Harry rolls over on her back to glare at her new-found friend, who looks completely unrepentant and far too awake for this time of day. "We're going to be the last ones down to breakfast at this rate," Hermione bemoans, flapping her arms a bit in distress.

"Fine," Harry grumbles and forces herself out of bed. They are the last two in the first years' dormitory, much to Harry's surprise. Even Luna's bed is neatly made up, the only sign of the odd girl a necklace made out of very large corks hung over the bedpost.

Despite Hermione's concerns, the Great Hall is only half-filled when they make it down, after getting lost twice and having a run-in with Peeves-who was surprisingly helpful in guiding them down the correct corridor, even if he did pelt Hermione with a water balloon. Her hair is still damp, and Harry can just barely catch the angry murmurs directed at the frizzy mop.

"Sleep well?" Penelope asks down the table, to a general chorus of agreement. Even Luna nods, although Harry can see a subtle shiftiness in her expression. Probably the same as her own, really, since she has no desire to try to tell anyone the confused jumble of nightmares that marked her first night at Hogwarts.

Robert passes out the schedules and Harry looks down at hers with curiousity. Most of their classes are with Hufflepuff, it seems, although one Potions class every week is shared with Gryffindor, and one Charms class is shared with Slytherin. Interesting, Harry thinks, stuffing her schedule into her book-bag. They have Charms first and at least she can feel safe in that. Professor Flitwick is her Head of House, and she already knows how he feels about her. She has no such guarantee about the rest of the professors.

Especially the sallow-faced, hook-nosed one with very greasy-looking black hair who can't seem to stop glaring at her. Penelope told her last night his name was Professor Snape. When she looked at him then, sat next to stuttering Professor Quirrell, her scar had hurt like mad. Today, her scar feels fine, although he doesn't look any kinder.

"What's Professor Snape teach again?" Harry pipes up, after swallowing her mouthful of toast. Robert's the one who looks around, giving her an encouraging sort of smile.

"Potions," he answers. "You've got it after lunch, I think."

"Thanks," Harry says, feeling her stomach turn sour. Great, she thinks, prodding her scrambled eggs with her fork. I don't even get a full day here before meeting someone who hates me.

"Don't worry, Harry," Luna says beside her, startling her. "Professor Snape's just plagued by Wrackspurts, I think."

"Those don't exist," Hermione breaks in sharply, her tone rather brittle. Luna just looks at her, tilting her head to one side.

"You would say that," Luna nods, then gets up and skips off, slinging her book-bag over one shoulder. Harry notices that she is still barefoot.

"She is mental," Hermione declares, shaking her head.

"She's just different," Harry repeats, cheeks colouring. "There's nothing wrong with different, Hermione."

"If you say so," Hermione says, but she looks greatly unconvinced.

The first half of the day goes rather well, even if Harry despairs of ever learning how to flick her wand correctly, and before she knows it, Potions is fast approaching. All through lunch, she just picks at her food, until even Mandy Brocklehurst, a very earnest-eyed Ravenclaw first year, tells her to knock it off and just eat for Merlin's sake. But she can't. Every time she looks up, Snape's glittering dark eyes are on her, glaring at her, and the thought of swallowing another bite makes her throat lock up.

"Let's just get this over with," Harry finally says, pushing away her plate with a sigh. The walk down to the dungeons feels like a trip to the gallows. All Harry can wonder is why does Professor Snape hate her so much?