Vlad briskly and excitedly exited the great hall and ascended the marble staircase towards the multiple hallways that lead to the classrooms. After some doing and a few wrong turns, Felix and Vlad managed to find their potions classroom. As they rounded the corner towards the entrance, Vlad could hear a girl saying "It's ok I'll get it!" followed by a blur of black hair and robes as a small figure ran straight into Vlad. Vlad being much larger than whatever he had bumped into was still standing, the same could not be said however for what Vlad now realized was a small first-year girl. Vlad quickly went to help out the girl, apologizing profusely and helping pick up the contents of the girl's school bag off the ground. Vlad picked up a few loose pieces of parchment and handed them to the girl. Judging by the blue and white tie the girl wore, Vlad knew she was from Ravenclaw. The girl had a very small frame and was practically swallowed up by the robes she wore, which were obviously too big for her. She was clearly Asian with a small rounded face and short cut straight hair.
"Um, I can't find my glasses…." said the girl.
Vlad looked around and saw her glasses behind him, but when he went to pick them up, a delicate and manicured hand with green nail polish, picked them up before he could reach them. The manicured hand was then accompanied by a very shrill girlish voice.
"Watch where you're going!" the other girl said angrily.
Vlad looked up and could see a very angry girl standing before him, holding the glasses and looking at him with what looked like a mixture of anger and annoyance. This new girl was wearing a white colored shirt, with a long green and silver bow tie, that showed she was a Slytherin. Vlad then recognized her as the red headed girl who had questioned Brightwood the day before.
"I'm sorry-" Vlad managed to get out before the girl cut him off.
"You should be, running into people, shame on you!" said the girl unpleasantly.
Vlad was just about to rebuttal, but the small Ravenclaw girl spoke first.
"Victoria, it was my fault!" said the small girl.
Victoria looked as though she had just been insulted, "Yui! My books, please! Class is about to start!" She then handed Yui her glasses and gave an aggravated/expectant look.
Yui looked as though she had just made a grave mistake, and quickly picked herself up off the ground saying, "Yes, right, I'll go now…" as she hurried off down the corridor.
Without saying another word, Victoria turned into the classroom in a huff and didn't look back at either Vlad or Felix.
"Who the hell does she think she is?" said Felix angrily.
"A bitch apparently…" said Vlad in response, brushing the dust off his robes.
A few moments later Vlad and Felix were inside the Classroom and seated. This classroom looked like a semi-circle lecture hall, with a chalkboard and podium at the front. Vlad then noticed Octavia waving at him and Felix from across the room. She was sitting with Victoria and a few other Slytherin and Ravenclaw girls. Felix again expressed his annoyance by saying "Why's Octavia sitting with that nightmare?" Vlad merely shrugged and casually waved back, and was met with a scowl from Victoria. Less than a minute before class was set to start, Yui came into the room, breathless and holding a few textbooks, she took a seat behind Victoria and gave her the books. Victoria gave Yui a bright smile and Yui smiled back weakly, clearly out of breath.
Eventually, the bell rang and Everyone fell silent. Then a couple students gasped as a ghost glided in through the chalkboard. The ghost was an old man, probably in his 80's or so, he wore a sweater vest complete with slacks and tie. Large horn-rimmed glasses covered his face, and a long silvery bushy beard that stretched to the floor seemed to have sucked up all the hair from his head because this ghost was bald.
"Good evening everyone," said the ghost in a sort of dull expressionless drone. "My name is Professor Bins…. And I will be your History of Magic instructor for the year… and most likely for every following year, for no one knows more about the history of magic than I…" Professor Binns was incredibly monotone, Vlad was impressed that the ghost could keep his voice at that constant pitch for so long.
The class seemed to drone on forever. Vlad struggled to feel invested in the material being taught, but his attention was slipping as his eyes began to droop due to his lack of sleep. He noticed a similar reaction from the other students around him. Felix had his head propped up on one elbow, and his head would occasionally sink, only to immediately pop back up again. After what seemed like an eternity, Professor bins closed the book in front of him with a loud snap, waking everyone from their stupor.
"Oh look at the time," said Bins trying to sound surprised and failing completely, "Class is about to end… please collect your things and prepare for your next… class." People stood up and stretched, there was a constant stream of yawns and groans as the children picked themselves up and prepared to leave. Whilst packing his bag, to his surprise Octavia walked up to him.
"What a rough class to have first thing in the morning…" said Octavia through a yawn.
"It wasn't that bad," said Vlad, "Just don't put your head down and you'll be fine."
Octavia was going to speak again, but was cut off by the bell, "See you in Potions," Octavia said with a smile, "I'll wait up and we can be partners!"
Felix sourly Rose to his feet and without a word left the room.
"What's wrong with him lately…" said Octavia sadly.
"He feels you're ignoring him I guess…" said Vlad.
"Oh he's just being melodramatic, he'll get over it. It's not like we're not friends anymore or anything...:"
Vlad stepped out of the classroom and made his way back to the common room to grab his potions kit, but when crossing the main threshold at the top of the marble staircase suddenly there was shrieks and scream erupting all around him. Vlad looked around quickly and saw dozens of students with a black substance seeping off their heads and sloshing onto the ground. A wave of panic hit him when all of the sudden a large balloon fell and plopped upon right atop his head. Black liquid began to seep down his head and trickle onto his shoulders. Vlad leaning forward was able to allow for most of the black goop to fall off his head and drop to the floor rather than his clothes. Vlad then realized by the smell, that the substance was simply ink. When Vlad looked up he saw a ghost with tons of balloons in his arms, laughing hysterically as he pelted people with the ink bombs. The ghost was wearing a jester outfit and had large poofy hair and an almost comically long nose.
"Bombs away!" the ghost yelled as he let go of all of the balloons at once, showering the people who were walking up the stairs.
"PEEVES!" yelled a Gryffindor girl with a long waist length braid who was wiping the ink from her face. Judging by the badge on her robes, she was a Gryffindor prefect. "When I report this to Potter you'll be sorry!"
But Peeves simply laughed louder and ascended through the ceiling. Vlad swore to himself as he felt all the black goop stuck in his hair. He would have to wash it out before heading to class. Vlad looked over to a nearby grandfather clock and saw there were only 10 minutes until his next class. Vlad raced down the stairs towards the Slytherin common room, raced by Sir Wilhelm and over to his room, to grab his kit. He checked the time and found he only had 5 minutes now. Rushing to the bathroom he washed his hair as best he could, and when he was satisfied that all the ink was gone, he burst once again through the portrait hole and towards his potions classroom. A few moments later he was racing through the halls towards the potions classroom, which was located in the dungeon area, thankfully close to the Slytherin common room. When his classroom was finally in sight, he was suddenly aware of a commission being made ahead. There was arguing from the nearby stairwell, followed by a scream. Suddenly as Vlad was about to pass the stairway, a boy came tumbling in front of him. He fell hard on his back and was wincing in pain. Vlad looked at the top of the stairs and saw two Slytherin sixth years laughing and holding a book bag.
"Know your place mud blood," one of them had said as they began laughing. The two boys then threw the book bag down the stairs and it fell with a loud crack and the sound of breaking glass. The boys then looked at Vlad and as if what they were doing was perfectly normal, they waved hello to him and continued up the stairs away from them laughing still. The boy managed to sit up and Vlad found he recognized him. He was the boy from the Hogwarts Express, the one who was sorted into Gryffindor. He was rubbing his cheek, which was bruised.
"Bunch of jerks! Jeez, Vallery was right…" the boy was saying to himself.
It wasn't until Vlad reached down to pick up the boy's book bag, did he realize Vlad was there.
"Oh… sorry you had to see that…" said the boy.
"It's alright…" said Vlad picking up the boys bag, only to find that the inside was full of spilled ink, broken glass and ruined parchment.
They boy reached over and grabbed his bag and said, "Damn asshole Slytherins, made me late to class…" He looked into his bag and swore to himself, "That's just great! Now how am I supposed to go to class…"
Vlad helped the boy stand up, but once he did the boy gave Vlad a quizzical look.
"What happened to your hair dude?"
"Long story…" said Vlad, realizing his hair must still have some ink in it.
"Hey listen.. Can I borrow some ink and parchment?" said the boy desperately
"Sure I guess" responded Vlad pulling out some ink and a few rolls of parchment.
"You're a lifesaver!" said the boy gratefully taking the ink and paper, "I'll make it up to you I swear!"
"No problem…" said Vlad eager to get going to his next class.
Then the two boys started walking towards the same classroom.
"You have potions right now?" asked the boy.
"Yeah"
It was then that the boy finally noticed the green and silver necktie Vlad was wearing.
"Oh, your Slytherin…" the boy seemed to stop and think a moment, then smiled at Vlad, "I guess there's hope for you guys after all," he said with a smile.
Vlad didn't know whether he was just insulted or complemented, probably because it was a little of both.
The two then opened to door to the potions room.
They entered a cobblestone chamber where rows of two person tables were lined in front of an elevated platform, where none other than his house representative, Professor Brightwood was standing. Each table had a single cauldron above a fire pit carved into the tables. The cauldrons were bubbling and clouding the ceiling with a dark blue fog.
Brightwood gave the two boys a disapproving look and said, "Ah Mr. Kardash, and Mr. Bautista, so nice of you to finally arrive," Everyone in the classroom turned to look at the two boys who had just come in. One was disheveled and had a bruised cheek, the other had wet drooping hair with flecks of ink here and there on his robes. Vlad caught a glimpse of Octavia, who looked at Vlad sadly. She was partnered with Victoria, who was looking at Vlad as though something unpleasant had just come in the room.
"May I ask why you two are late, and why you look the worse for wear?" said Brightwood expectantly.
Jaime was about to speak, when Vlad interrupted him, "We were stopped by peeves, he was causing a mess in the main corridor."
Brightwood paused for a moment considering this, "Jaime why is your cheek bruised?"
"I.. uhh… slipped on some ink," said Jaime, catching on fast. It was made all the more believable by the fact that Jaime too was flecked with ink, from the smashed ink bottles in his bag.
Brightwood paused for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh, "That Peeves… causing havoc even on the first day…" Brightwood cleared her throat and continued, "Very well, since you two are the only ones without partners, please take the empty table in the back, and do your best to try and follow along with the class."
Jaime and Vlad made their way to the edge of the classroom and sat down at the empty desk.
"Thanks for covering for me," said Jaime in a whisper, "I didn't want to have to let everyone know I just got my ass handed to me, uhh Vlad was it? I think I remember you from the sorting…. the hat took forever with you."
"Yeah, don't mention it…" said Vlad.
The two then tried their best to catch up with the class, and for the most part succeeded, no thanks to Jaime however. It was as if Jaime was totally lost when it came to what each ingredient was called, and was always asking Vlad questions. When Jaime leaned in to add some thumblet thorn extract, he found out why. There on The inside of Jaime's robes, pinned to his shirt was a muggle born pin.
When Class had finished, Vlad and Jaime had just barely managed to scrape by with an acceptable brew. The assignment was to create a potion that would turn apples into oranges. Their brew, however, turned the apples into tangerines, but apparently, that was close enough for them to receive a passing grade for the day. When exiting the Classroom Octavia waved weakly at Vlad with a smile and walked off with Victoria and a few other Slytherin girls.
"Alright, let me buy you something from the student store," said Jaime, "It's only fair… just don't pick something too expensive."
"It's fine…" said Vlad, but Jaime wasn't having it. For the next minute or so Jaime argued adamantly about how he needed to repay Vlad for his kindness, and in the end, Vlad relented.
The student store was filled with various items that the students could purchase, such as school supplies, snacks, clothing and even a few choice potions. Vlad picked out a vile of ink and some scrolls of parchment, but since it was lunch time at this point, Jaime insisted Vlad buy a snack, and so Vlad picked out a bottle of Crystal Cider.
"Oh, I've been wanting to try that, I think I'll get one too." said Jaime picking up a purple crystalline bottle.
A few moments later they sat in the outdoor courtyard adjacent to the student store. They both found a comfy spot that was in the shade of a cherry tree and sat against the wall. Vlad saw Jaime pulling at the bottle from all angles trying to open the bottle. Vlad tapped him on the shoulder and showed him that you needed to tap the top with your wand, and the crystal topper would shrink and fall into the bottle causing the Cider to fizz and pop, releasing small sparks of various colors. Jaime in awe pulled out his own wand and copied Vlad, relishing in the reaction the beverage made.
"So cool!" said Jaime, drinking the Cider happily.
"Your muggle born right?" asked Vlad.
"Yeah… Guess it's pretty easy to tell huh?"
"Especially when you wear that around," said Vlad pointing to the Muggle-born pin attached to his shirt, "Why do you wear that?"
"Well… My prefect gave it to me so that the teachers would know that I'm not very familiar with the Wizarding world… but it seems to be causing some unwanted attention," said Jaime pointing to the bruise on his cheek.
"You're just asking to be called a Mudblood if you wear that around…" said Vlad.
"What is a mudblood?" asked Jaime, "I know it's probably an insult, but I don't know what it means, although I have a pretty good idea…"
"It's a really bad word that is used to describe Muggle-born wizards, it's about the worst thing you can call someone who is from a muggle family."
"Oh well, doesn't sound so bad to me." said Jaime taking another swig of his cider.
"So what happened? Did those Sixth years just beat you up because you were wearing the pin?" asked Vlad.
"Well no… I was running to class cuz I was late, then these guys go and trip me causing me to spill my ink bottle. I guess they saw I was a Gryffindor first year and decided to have some fun with me... guess our houses don't like each other very much, cuz all I hear about you Slytherins is how you're all a bunch of jerks."
"I've also heard nothing but good things about your house from my fellow Slytherins." said Vlad sarcastically.
"Anyways," said Jaime resuming his story, "I told them they owed me a new ink bottle, then they saw my Muggle-born pin and. Well, you saw."
"Why don't you just take it off, doesn't seem worth the trouble if you ask me." said Vlad finishing off his bottle of cider.
"No way," said Jaime seriously, "Taking off this pin is like being ashamed of who I am, and I'm not about to let some assholes make me ashamed of my parents, or any of the rest of my family."
Vlad realized that this must be that trademark righteousness that Gryffindors were known for, part of him thought he was being dumb, but he could at least understand where he was coming from. Though he could see how his fellow Slytherins could find this trait annoying.
"Anyways, you don't seem to care that I'm a muggle born. Most Slytherins always sneer at me when they see this pin," said Jame.
Vlad leaned back against the sun-warmed stone wall and said, "Well, there is no evidence that purebloods are any different from Muggleborn wizards. In fact, if it weren't for the existence of muggle born Wizards and half bloods, the wizarding race would have died ages ago."
"The way your talking, I could've sworn you were a Ravenclaw," said Jaime with a slight chuckle.
"Well most of my family is Ravenclaw, so maybe some of it rubbed off…" said Vlad.
"Are you a pureblood?" asked Jaime.
"Yeah" responded Vlad.
Jaime then stood up and went in front of Vlad and extended his hand towards Vlad, "Ok then, Vlad Kardash, pureblood Slytherin! You are the nicest Slytherin I've met so far, so how about we be friends?"
Vlad found Jaime's behavior to be somewhat cringeworthy, but it was kind of endearing in a strange way.
Vlad sighed and Reached up and took hold of Jaime's hand and said, "Fine, but you better stop with all that cringey talk ok?"
"No promises." said Jaime with a smile.
Meanwhile, Felix stood watching the two from afar holding his book bag strap a little too tightly.