Classes

Xen and Teddy headed down to the Great Hall just as Neville was handing out timetables. Teddy grabbed his and quickly looked it over, before grinning and pointing to Xen's.

'Look, we have Transfiguration and Defence with Ravenclaw, that means we get to see Victoire,' he said, smiling. Their smiles quickly disappeared when they saw that they had Potions first thing with the Slytherins. As if on cue, Derek Boyle came in with his cronies, shoving another kid out the way.

'Wonderful,' groaned Xen.

'Oh cheer up, you could have had Stinksap stuck in your sheets,' said Michael who had just appeared and sat down opposite them, with David close behind.

'Who had Stinksap stuck in their sheets?' asked Teddy curiously, ladling scrambled eggs onto toast.

'Terence, we did it because he wouldn't stop reading those books of his, and it was keeping us up,' replied David. Xen and Teddy laughed as Terence appeared, covered in plasters and bandages.

They had Transfiguration first, and Teddy was paired with Victoire, which he was pleased about. Their teacher, Professor Foxworth, was an upright woman with bushy red hair scattered with white. She was very no nonsense, and set them to work immediately, turning matches into needles. By the end, some of the Ravenclaws had managed to Transfigure their matches a little, and Teddy's had gone pointy at least. Only Victoire had fully transfigured her needle, awarding Ravenclaw ten points.

'Potions, next, with Derek Boyle, oh wonderful,' said Xen as they left the room. He had been paired with Terence, and had looked suicidal for most of the lesson. They got thoroughly lost on the way, and ended up ten minutes late to class. Everyone was sat down and starting to put ingredients in their cauldrons.

'Ah, Lupin and Finch-Fletchey, thank you for finally gracing us with your presence,' said their teacher sarcastically. She was tall and thin, with a pinched, spiteful look about her, maybe it was the fact her cold grey eyes looked like they belonged to a mass-murderer, or her pursed lips. 'Ten points from Gryffindor, for each minute you were late. Sit down, or I'll double it!' They hurriedly sat down and pulled out their cauldrons.

'What's she called?' whispered Teddy.

'Professor Crudelis. You do not want to get on the wrong side of her,' replied Michael, who was sitting behind them.

The boys started putting ingredients in their cauldrons. It was discovered that Potions was not Xen's strong point. Soon his potion was steaming and bright yellow, with the occasional spark omitted. Sweating, Xen tried to make it better, but it just got worse and worse until the classroom was filled with acrid yellow smoke. Crudelis strode up, glaring.

'What did you do? I suppose you put salamander tails in before the scales of kelpie, didn't you? Idiot boy!' she vanished the potion and smoke in a second, leaving Xen with an empty cauldron. 'For those of you who have successfully made their potions, put a small amount in a flask and bring it up to my desk immediately.' Teddy looked guiltily at Xen before going up with David and Michael.

'Bad luck, mate,' said Teddy as they left the classroom. Xen shrugged, looking depressed. 'Ah, come on, it wasn't so bad, and it was just your first day.'

'Hey, Finch-Fletchey, I saw what happened in potions. Maybe you should go hunting Nargles instead, like your mother!' yelled Boyle.

'What?' Xen spun round, fists raised. Teddy grabbed his robes and tried to pull him away. 'What did you say about my mother?'

'Yeah, I suppose you get it all from her, retard. She's crazy! You know what they called her when she was here? Loony loopy Luna!'

'SHUT UP ABOUT MY MOTHER!' yelled Xen.

'Come on, Xen, they aren't worth it,' hissed Teddy, pulling him away. Boyle and his cronies roared with laughter.

'Why did you pull me away?' cried Xen.

'Xen you can't get in a fight on the first day. They're just a group of stupid Slytherins who have nothing better to do. Don't let them get to you!'

'Get to me! They aren't getting to me! Gah, I just want to punch the little git!' Xen stormed into the Defence classroom. Sighing, Teddy resignedly followed.

Professor Zipton was leaning against his desk as they filed in. A tall black man in his forties, he had a casual, laid-back air about him. Lazily he indicated to their seats and they quietly sat down, looking expectantly up at them. He opened his mouth to start, when the door banged open and Victoire rushed in, looking pale.

'Sorry! I got lost, I didn't mean to be late!' she cried. Professor Zipton just smiled.

'Don't worry, we all get lost in our first few days. You are?'

'Victoire Weasley.'

'Well, Miss Weasley, you may take a seat.' Victoire slipped into a seat next to Teddy, missing the reproachful look from her Ravenclaw friends. Teddy and Xen did see it, however, and glanced ominously at each other. Zipton raised his hands for silence, and they entire class looked back up at him.

'There are many dark things in this world, both human and creature. Though Voldemort has been dead for a long time, many of his followers are still on the loose, as are many dark creatures. So this class is here to teach you to protect yourselves from those things. You may be afraid in this class, you may find things that I show you frightening. But I can assure you that if you come up against a Death Eater, or a transformed werewolf, you will be able to fight them off!

We will start with the simple Disarming Spell. Very easy, very affective, for if a wizard does not have his wand, he is virtually defenceless. So, repeat after me: Expelliarmous!'

'Expelliarmous!' chanted the class.

'Very good, now split up into pairs and practice it together. First person to disarm their opponent gets ten points for their house!'

'Hey, Victoire, can I be with you?' asked Xen. Victoire opened her mouth to say yes, but before she could another Ravenclaw girl appeared beside her.

'She's with me,' the girl said sharply, dragging Victoire away. Victoire glanced over her shoulder at the two boys, and mouthed sorry, before turning around and talking to the Ravenclaw. Teddy and Xen scowled and stood opposite each other.

'How come, when she's late, she gets the nice teacher?' grumbled Xen.

'I don't know. Expelliarmous!' cried Teddy. Xen's wand jerked as if to break free, but he tightened his hold and raised his.

'It's unfair. Expelliarmous!' Teddy's wand barely wiggled. Teddy was pleased to find that he disarmed Xen on his third try, beating everyone else and earning himself the ten points. Xen was still in a bad mood as they went upstairs to the Common Room that evening. They had only been given homework from Crudelis – a scroll explaining the uses of the potion they made in class, a gentle Sleeping Draught.

'Hey, guys, look at this!' called Michael, running up. His long black hair was falling over his face, but he ignored it in his excitement. 'Flying lessons, on Friday!'

'Guess who with?' sighed David. 'The Slytherins themselves.'

'What, we have to learn to fly in front of Boyle?' cried Xen. 'But I've never flown before, and he's a little brat!'

'I know, it sucks. Anyway, we have this scroll to do for Crudelis by tomorrow, and currently I've only written: Sleeping Draught is used in…' said Teddy. 'So let's get working!'

'Right, line up, quickly now,' the first years scurried to line up behind the broomsticks. Their teacher, Professor Weasley, was none other than Angelina, who had decided to do part time Quidditch teaching, as it wasn't a very demanding job. 'How many of you have ever got on a broomstick?'

A few kids, including Derek Boyle and Teddy, raised their hands. 'Good, good. Well, riding a broomstick is easy, as long as you aren't scared. Being scared is a flyers biggest handicap. But we won't be going very high for the moment. Now, everyone pick up their broomsticks and climb on.' Everyone obeyed her, and she strode up and down, correcting people's grip.

'Right, now, on my whistle, rise a few metres into the air, hover for three seconds, and come back to the ground.'

By the end of the lesson, three people had fallen off, one broom was broken and only Teddy and Boyle had really shown any talent. Boyle was of course preening like a peacock as they went back in.

'I think I'll try out for the Slytherin team, you know. I'm by far the best, they can't help but choose me. Far better than Lupin, I'm surprised he was even noticed. But then, apparently Lupin knows Professor Weasley, so she was obviously showing favouritism,' he said smugly.

'Are you going to try out?' asked Xen to Teddy.

'No,' replied Teddy shortly.

'Why? You're really good!'

'I don't want to play Quidditch properly, okay? Anyway, first years never get onto the team.'

'But –'

'Look, we have to get to Charms; I don't want to be late.'

'Teddy! Teddy, wait up!' Xen ran after him. 'Teddy, why don't you want to play?'

'It's none of your business, Xen. Just leave me alone!' Teddy ran off, leaving Xen looking confused behind him. That evening Teddy came up to Xen and apologised, but didn't tell him why he wouldn't play. Xen knew not to breach the subject, but was still curious about why. They both grinned at each other when tales of Derek Boyle's failure at the Quidditch try outs reached them.