Severly-Cumberbatched: I'm glad you kind of like this I hope you enjoy this new update!
Hanalei: Thanks! I hope you like this next chapter just as well!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Maybe one day…
Friday
November 1st
11:55 a.m.
"Kyra, you just need a pinch of dragon dung. Stop dumping the whole bucket on it," Al rolled his eyes.
Kyra glanced down, and noticed a great deal more fertilizer than she intended was cascading down from her bucket, smothering her Pygmy Plant. She quickly brought the bucket back up, and set it on the trestle table she was sharing with Al and Ben.
"I can fix that," she said unconcernedly, grabbing a nearby trowel and scooping the excess dung out of the plant pot and back into the bucket. Ben and Albus shook their heads – Kyra never really put much effort in at all during class, yet she still had that uncanny ability to pass all her homework assignments with considerably good marks. Al and Ben often couldn't help but feel a little jealous.
"Three minutes, kids!" Professor Longbottom called to the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first-years gathered in his Herbology class. "Finish repotting your Pygmy Plants, and don't forget to hand in your papers on the proper defense against Puffapods."
"Thank God," Ben sighed, tossing his trowel aside and brushing his hands clean. Ben hated Herbology, probably because the dirty work involved always made him look messy for the rest of the day. Kyra smirked at Al, who smiled back, knowing what was about to come.
Kyra carefully picked up her newly-refilled bucket of dragon dung.
"Hey Ben, could you –? OH!" Kyra turned toward Ben and "accidentally" tripped, causing the contents of the bucket to dump all over the front of Ben's robes. Ben jumped back, looking positively stricken.
"Hey, what're you –!" he shouted, but too late: dragon dung spilled all down the front of his robes, and his neck, hands, and chin were doused in the dark brown muck. Al snickered, but Ben looked about ready to kill.
"Oops," Kyra said, unable to hide a small grin.
"KYRA!" Ben bellowed, lunging toward her.
Kyra dodged him, throwing the bucket aside, now laughing her head off. Albus began to laugh as well – it was always funny to watch Ben lose his cool, especially over trifling matters like dirt. After several moments of grappling, Ben got ahold of Kyra from behind by pulling her into a headlock. He then took his other dirt-covered hand and smeared it all over Kyra's face.
"How do you like that, huh?"
"Ew, Ben! Stop it!" Kyra screeched, squirming to get away from the hand.
"Break it up, you two. Come on," Professor Longbottom said firmly, walking over toward them and, with Albus' help, pried them apart. "You guys are making a huge mess."
"She started it," Ben threw a dirty look at Kyra, who made a face right back at him.
"I don't care – just clean this up or it'll be ten points from Gryffindor," Longbottom said in a tone that expressed to Kyra and Ben that they ought to do what they're told. They obligingly began to clean the dragon dung off themselves and off the floor where it spilled, while Al and the rest of the class washed up and handed in their papers. Al then lagged behind, waiting for his two friends to finish up, before they all trekked their way up to the castle for lunch.
~/~
One of the strange things about eleven-year-old children is that they can argue and bicker and fight all day long, but at the end of the day they will go on with their lives as normal as ever. Indeed, by the time the three kids reached the Great Hall, Kyra and Ben were now talking quite cheerfully of the Gryffindor Quidditch team's prospects on their upcoming game against Hufflepuff, as if their little scuffle in Herbology had never occurred.
"Jeremy Ronsen's got a strong arm," Ben said to Kyra as she and Al sat on either side of him at the Gryffindor table. "And Hufflepuff's got that Petie Fletcher captaining – we've totally got this one in the bag."
"But our Seeker's that complete wanker Jordan Reemer," Kyra countered, pulling a tureen of peas toward her and spooning some onto her plate. "I heard he cost our House the Cup last year. And Hufflepuff's brought in last year's reserve, Cassandra Collins – apparently she's like a young Shurik Annushka."
"That's what I heard too… Kevin Greeley told me she managed to catch the Snitch during practice last week in ten seconds flat."
"Yeah, I hope Jeremy and the other Gryffindor players are up for it. If Reemer can get his head on properly, I'd say we've still got a good shot at winning…"
Albus, though tempted to join in, chose instead to just listen to their conversation, and for many minutes, he merely ate his dinner of porkchops and potatoes while watching his two friends speak animatedly about their favorite sport.
Kyra Dobsen and Ben Staglovich were Al's two best friends here at Hogwarts – though he got along fairly well with the other kids in his class, not to mention his brother and extended family, at the end of the day it was always Kyra and Ben he stood by.
Al watched as Kyra began talking excitedly about her favorite Quidditch team, the Falmouth Falcons, who just won their match against the Chudley Cannons. He found it interesting that Kyra was such an avid fan of Quidditch – she had been raised by Muggle parents, and had no idea that Quidditch even existed until she came to Hogwarts. Indeed, during her short time here, she had grown very much attached to the sport, and consistently challenged the boys of their year to debates about Quidditch fouls, which almost always ended in her favor. In fact, the only other person who seemed to love Quidditch more than Kyra was Ben.
Kyra laughed as Ben did a cruel but accurate impression of their Seeker Reemer, who tended to swat at the Snitch like a pesky fly rather than actually catch it. Ben positively adored Quidditch, and other than his narcissistic tendencies, this was pretty much all his friends knew about him. Ben Staglovich was an interesting case, Al and Kyra knew – he actually had not begun attending Hogwarts until the beginning of October. From what they understood, Ben had a very strict wizard father named Aengus, who reveled in the Dark Arts and had forced Ben, his only child, to go to Durmstrang. But his mother, Mallory, had soon after left her husband, pulled Ben out of that school only a couple weeks into term, and sneaked him out of the country. She had made a special deal with McGonagall, and Ben was now able to study here at Hogwarts. Ben had admitted all this to Al and Kyra several weeks after his arrival, soon after the three children became friends, but never gave them any of the details of what had transpired...
"Yo, Al!"
Albus jumped slightly when he realized Kyra was waving to get his attention. "Sorry, what?"
"Daydream, much? C'mon – time for History of Magic," she hopped to her feet, happy at the prospect of the final class before the weekend being so close at hand.
"Plenty of time for daydreaming then, eh?" Ben chuckled, getting to his feet as well. Albus smirked.
"Definitely," Al stood up, grabbing his bag.
"C'mon, then," Ben slung an arm around his best friend's neck, pulling him to his side. Next moment, Kyra squeezed herself between the two, wrapping her arms around their waists. They all laughed, and together began to make their way out of the Great Hall toward their final class of the week.
A/N: I realize this chapter was more of a character profile for my beloved OCs and their friendship with Al, but I hope you guys don't mind too much… rest assured, the story will pick up next chapter!
Please read and review! I promise every new reviewer will be given a little shoutout from me :)
