Hermione getting her reputation. After breaking a Ravenclaw bully's wand, she claims that muggles are better fighters than wizards because they know true pain. She then describes what her parents do. They are Dentists. Word quickly spreads not to mess with Hermione Granger.
Harry, Ron and Hermione facing Quirrel and Voldemort in the Infirmary in 29.
After barely surviving a fight with Quirrel, Harry throws a bedpan at Volauvent's fleeing soul.
The massive Oh, Crap! moment the Death Eaters have after Harry rises up behind Voldemort, after surviving a second killing curse at only twelve years old, and casts a cutting charm at Voldemort. Some consider career changes on the spot.
Snape manipulating Malfoy and Rita Skeeter in chapter 19.
Chapter 26: Also doubling a CMOH, Hermione trying, if failing, to save Harry from falling to his death, followed by both Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams pausing the game to try and catch him and the ENTIRE SCHOOL casting charms to ensure his safe descent. Oh, and Harry catching the Snitch on the way down.
McGonagall's Cool and Unusual Punishment when she has to give Harry a detention for something that she knows he didn't do note it was part of Dobby's early schemes, and Harry has to be punished for it in order to draw out the culprit : Harry has to scrub the Great Hall floor... using scrub brushes as ice skates, ala Pippi Longstocking, and occasionally getting levitated upside-down to do the same to the ceiling!
The frighteningly masterful Batman Gambit that is chapter 39.
Jones standing up Umbridge to protect Harry and Percy stunning her from behind before she could hex the two of them. To say nothing of what McGonagall does.
Harry rescuing Snape from Nagini and leading Ron, Hermione, Snape and Hagrid to the Chamber of Secrets.
How McGonagall procures the Fake!Locket horcrux: she transfigures several beetles into elephants and has them suck up the potion that the locket was near and deposit it in a tank she summons. This works and neither she nor Dumbledore are hurt in the process.
Harry's resurrection and subsequent Big Damn Heroes moment in chapter 63.
Snape finally trapping Lucius into working for him. After Pansy ends up with the diary, Snape asks Lucius if he knows just what family he messed with. Lucius doesn't think much of the Parkinsons but Snape reminds him that he's forgetting Pansy's maternal family... namely the Borgia, aka the deadliest assassins in the world, known for their poisons. And after pointing out that they might eye Draco up as a target, Lucius practically begs Snape for protection.
The moment Snape reveals Voldemort is a half-blood, Pansy's mother promises to give Snape the full might of the Borgia to destroy Voldemort in revenge for what he almost did to Pansy.
After Sirius and Remus are hired as Hogwarts instructors, Sirius starts a prank war with Harry, that Snape fully encourages because of his own lingering issues with Sirius, and Sirius doesn't stop because of his lingering guilt issues over Harry. It gets forcibly ended (with a distinct subtext of 'Or I'll give you two detention and I don't care whether you're teachers) by McGonagall. The awesome bit is when Harry's POV quietly reveals that he was getting really fed up with the whole thing and deliberately arranged for McGonagall to be a witness at just the right time. Harry's learning more from Snape than he knows!
