A/N: Thank you guys for hanging on with me there for a while; I was on vacation, and stuff has been occupying my time. This next chapter is all about the classes that the trio has together, and it includes the introduction of a fairly major character...

Chapter IV

The first few weeks at Hogwarts progressed fairly quickly; Albus, Rosie, and Pandora enjoyed having their classes together, which consisted mainly of Transfiguration with Professor Mandy Brocklehurst, Charms with Professor Susan Bones, Herbology with Professor Neville Longbottom, Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Anthony Perkins, and Potions with Professor Zacharias Smith. The trio agreed heartily on one thing: the most obnoxious of the teachers had to be Professor Smith.

They started with Transfiguration. On the first day, the class, consisting of first-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, waited eagerly outside the classroom for their very first lesson ever at Hogwarts. Soon the voice of a cheery-sounding woman called, "Come in, quickly, we've only got an hour after all!" The students filed into the classroom, and Albus, Rosie, and Pandora all sat together, feeling grateful that they had somebody they knew to sit with.

Professor Brocklehurst was a kind, fair, and yet rather shy woman in her mid-thirties, about the same age as Albus' parents; her dark hair was done in one long, thick braid reaching to approximately her elbows, and her warm dark blue eyes were enough to make any student feel welcome, even though she was the Head of only Ravenclaw house. Today she stood at the front of her young class, and she began, "Good morning, students! I presume that most of you have indeed heard of the fabulously important subject of Transfiguration?" About three-quarters of the class raised their hands, though there were a few students who did not, and looked sheepish. Among the students who did not raise their hands was a small, pretty Ravenclaw girl with short copper hair and deep hazel eyes, along with a couple of light brown freckles sprinkled sweetly across her nose. She looked around at the rest of the class, until finally her eyes settled on Albus, who was glancing shyly at her. Albus quickly looked away, not only feeling his cheeks turn pink, but he felt quite stupid as well.

Professor Brocklehurst smiled around and said warmly, "Well, if you haven't heard of Transfiguration, I'm sure you'll do splendidly! That is, if you do your homework and pay attention!" the class twittered and giggled to themselves, feeling much better about the lesson in general.

From that point, they began learning to transform matches into pins, a task to most that seemed both tedious and very frustrating. Michael Macmillan, the plump blonde Gryffindor boy a few tables away, was bright red in the face and looked about to pass out from the sheer effort; it was only until Brocklehurst hurried over and said, "Mr. Macmillan, don't let's overexert ourselves!" that he finally ceased trying so hard.

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After a rather unsuccessful Transfiguration lesson came Charms. The teacher was, once again, a woman, Professor Bones, and Head of Hufflepuff house; therefore, the Charms lesson would be spent with Hufflepuffs.

"I've heard the Hufflepuffs are supposed to be quite friendly, I thought I might get into Hufflepuff myself!" the slightly annoying Ravenclaw girl, Katie Aarons, was chatting incessantly with her friend next to the trio as they made their way to the Charms classroom, "But it seems that intelligence was a more prominent quality in me..." Katie walked by with her nose high in the air, and Albus and Rosie snorted and hurried forward, dragging a slightly confused-looking Pandora along with them.

At last they reached the Charms classroom, and they almost instantly began practicing Wingardium Leviosa, which, according to Professor Bones, was "an elementary spell that should be mastered by all first years!" Professor Bones was a slightly plump, rusty-haired woman with a sunny disposition, around the same age as Professor Brocklehurst. She was kind and helpful, though she often got carried away on different subjects, usually about members of her own family, particularly her old auntie who, in her living days, had once been a Ministry official.

Very few people were able to complete Wingardium Leviosa as Professor Bones had explained it, Rosie being one of them; she smiled happily as her feather hovered lightly in the air, almost taunting Albus as he desperately tried to do the same with his. Professor Bones walked by their table, and smiled dazzlingly at Rosie. "Excellent job, Miss Weasley! A true natural with a wand, just like your mother!" Rosie blushed with gratitude, while Albus muttered darkly to himself and Pandora glared at her feather as though it had done her a great personal wrong.

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The next class after Charms was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, again. Professor Longbottom was the Head of Gryffindor house and a close family friend of both the Potters and the Weasleys; Pandora said that her mother spoke fondly of him as well, and that he had even come to tea a few times.

"From the few times I've met him, he seems quite nice," Pandora was saying as the trio made their way down to the greenhouses, "He and Mum are really quite close, they were great friends at school, and I always hoped I'd end up in his house..."

"Well, look here, it's the spineless famous boy, the filthy little half-blood, and his weird blood traitor of a girlfriend..." Scorpius Malfoy had blocked the three friends' path, with two Slytherin boys standing behind him; one was quite short and fat, and the other was tall and thin. They laughed stupidly in unison, and Scorpius grinned smugly. Rosie looked livid, though Pandora looked simply confused.

Nevertheless, anger flared up in Albus, and he snapped, "Don't you talk about my friends like that, Malfoy!" Malfoy let out a sneering laugh, and he began in a mock high voice,

"Oh Mummy, save me! Potty and his two idiots threatened me, they might shoot sparks at me and sprinkle flowers in my hair!" the Slytherins laughed, and Scorpius said haughtily, "Honestly, Potter, you need to consider who you're talking to..."

"I doubt you'd last five minutes in a duel with my cousin, Malfoy!" Rosie spat, stepping in front of Albus and glaring into the pale boy's face. Scorpius' navy blue eyes narrowed, and he wrinkled his nose at her; for some odd reason, he seemed to take Rosie a lot more seriously than Albus.

"Oh, yeah? Why don't you try and prove it, Weasley?" Malfoy hissed, though just as Rosie opened her mouth to retort, Professor Longbottom appeared beside them.

"Is there a problem?" he asked politely, looking from Rosie to Scorpius, both of whom were glaring at each other, their eyes full of hate.

"No, professor, we're finished now," Rosie replied, shoving her way past the Slytherins and hurrying on to the greenhouses with Albus and Pandora on her heels.

Once in the greenhouses, Professor Longbottom began his beginning speech, and once he was finished, they began inspecting several simple magical plants, not coming into great contact with them. While inspecting, Rosie was muttering darkly to Albus and Pandora, "That Malfoy brat is a real git...A child only an insane mother could love..."

Albus wasn't listening. He was instead peering at the fluffy leaves of a Flutterby Bush, thinking of the pretty Ravenclaw girl from his Transfiguration class. He watched Pandora, who was smiling at an odd, spiky-looking plant, and Professor Longbottom was explaining rapidly to her the properties and defenses of the plant...

"Albus, are you even listening?" Rosie cried incredulously, bringing Albus back to his current situation, "...Oh, never mind. We shouldn't have to waste our time on vile people such as he...Oh, look, class is almost over already..."

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Professor Anthony Perkins was the Head of Slytherin house, as well as the D.A.D.A. teacher. He wasn't warm and fuzzy like Professor Brocklehurst, nor was he cheerful and witty like Professor Bones; he was serious, but not necessarily unkind. He was very reserved, and kept his hands clasped behind his back. He surveyed the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins carefully as they filed into their desks, making Albus feel slightly fidgety, as though just by looking at him, Professor Perkins would instantly know all of his deepest, darkest secrets, memories, and desires.

Scorpius Malfoy, along with three other Slytherin boys and a very pretty Slytherin girl, sat in a row of desks behind the trio. Malfoy was whispering with them and staring determinedly down at Albus, Rosie, and Pandora, and the Slytherin girl sitting with him giggled nastily. "Ignore him, Al. He's just an annoying, self-centered little brat," Rosie said just loudly enough so Malfoy could hear her.

"Welcome to first-year Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am Professor Perkins, and I will be your teacher in this particular subject for the next seven years," he slowly walked around his desks, closer to the students, so that Albus was able to get a better look at him; he was thin, his dark brown hair was streaked with grey, and his eyes...

Hang on, Albus thought, peering closer; however, it seemed that his own eyes were not mistaking him. Professor Perkins' eyes were violet. Not straight-out purple, but violet, a grayish-purple, and his eyes were different enough from most other people's to keep Albus staring rather rudely at his professor's face.

There was something different about Professor Perkins. Something that everyone in the classroom appeared to have picked up on, because when the lesson was finished, Rosie instantly leaned in to Albus and Pandora and whispered, "Is it just me, or is Perkins the creepiest person you've ever met?"

Pandora looked at her, her silver eyes widening (if it was at all possible) in surprise, "I didn't think he was creepy. I thought he seemed very nice...Perhaps a little gruff and rough around the edges, but I have a feeling that once you get to know him, he's a very interesting person."

Albus smiled at her in relief, because Pandora had just voiced exactly how he'd felt, and even better, she had been able to put it in intelligent words.

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The last class for that day was Potions with Professor Zacharias Smith. Smith wasn't the Head of any house, which, no doubt, most likely made him feel spiteful towards the other teachers. He, by far, was Albus' least favorite teacher; the only nice part about Potions was that it was spent with the Ravenclaws.

Albus quickly arranged it so that he, Rosie, and Pandora were sitting relatively close to the pretty Ravenclaw girl from that morning. As he sat down, she smiled shyly at him, and he only succeeded in giving her some sort of demented grimace.

Professor Smith ran a hand through his straw-blonde hair, and he said in a nasal sort of voice, "Good afternoon, I'm Professor Smith, your Potions master,"

Like the rest of the teachers that day, Professor Smith gave his beginning-of-the-year speech, and the rest of the lesson was spent going over various potions they would be covering that year.

Once Potions was finished, the Ravenclaw girl came up to the trio. Rosie and Pandora smiled at her uncertainly, but the girl was fixed on Albus. She smiled warmly at him and said, "Hi! I just noticed who you are, you're Harry Potter's son, aren't you?"

Albus nodded, feeling a bit disappointed that the first thing she had spoken to him about was his heritage, his oh-so-famous father, "Er...Yeah, I am,"

The girl grinned brilliantly. "Well, I'm Charlotte, Charlotte Carmichael. It's nice that we have two classes together!" she said cheerfully.

Albus blushed, though he didn't know why. He smiled lamely and berated himself for it once Charlotte had left. He hurried up and followed Rosie and Pandora to lunch.

A/N: Whoo! That was long! Reviews, please!