Hello again everyone. Ready for another chapter?
A special thanks to those that have reviewed and offered their thoughts on the story so far. Feedback is always appreciated.
Oh yeah, I don't own this franchise by the way. Just in case there was ever any confusion.
Chapter 3: Hogwarts Classes
After spending the weekend getting settled in, Scorp and his friends were eager to start their classes on Monday.
It wasn't long before they were disillusioned.
Their first lesson was Transfiguration. With the Slytherins as classmates. Taught by Professor Montague, who gave Scorp the impression of favouring the Slytherins.
The trouble began as they were approaching the classroom. Scorp was using his cane, and Albus and Kiyomi were walking along beside him. As they got closer to the classroom, they heard some unsettling girly giggles.
"Did you see them fall over during the sorting? How pathetic."
"Shame, the Malfoy's used to be a really respectable family. Guess they got a bit too pure."
"My family is as pure as the Malfoys. But Mum didn't want to have any inbred children, so she tricked a Muggle into being my father. It sucks having Muggle genes, but at least I wasn't born like that."
"Yeah. Oh well at least he didn't get into Slytherin. Our House has fallen quite a bit since the olden days. Hey Elsie, couldn't your father do something to get Slytherin back on top?"
"Just because his a school governor doesn't mean he can do what he likes. There are equality laws. Hey Sally, why did your mother have to trick a Muggle? Couldn't she have just married someone from abroad? That's what my father did; he went all the way to Namibia to meet my mother."
"She wanted to marry my father though. Oh now they're here. Oi puffies! How's life in the reject House?"
"You know, the Sorting Hat really considered putting me in Slytherin" Kiyomi said. "But if you four are what Slytherin girls are supposed to be like than I'm glad it went with Hufflepuff."
"And what's that to mean Hatstall?" Elsie said.
"Well um, If you can't figure it out for yourselves than these not much point in me explaining it" Kiyomi said.
"How would a pathetic lump like you hope to get into Slytherin anyway?" Elsie said.
"Not by begging to be placed there because that was Mummy and Daddy's old House" Scorp said. "That is what pathetic lumps do."
Elsie may have been preparing to say something more, but at that moment most of the other Hufflepuff First Years arrived and the four Slytherin girls were hopelessly outnumbered.
"Does anyone know those Slytherin's names?" Scorp asked his Housemates.
"The ringleader is called Elsie Runcorn" Albus said. "And the one that said her father was a Muggle is Sally Rookwood. They were sorted just before me."
"One of them is Elizabeth Baddock" Ariel Bletcherly said. "I went to Tutor Group with her, and she is just Pure-Blood mad."
No-one could remember the name of the other girl in the group, but soon enough Scorp found out that it was Autumn Page. He recognized her voice during the roll call, and as Professor Montague kept choosing her to answer questions and award points to - despite the fact that Scorp knew all the answers had had his hand up for every question - he knew he'd never forget it.
Apart from calling only on Slytherins to answer questions, Montague showed favouritism in other ways. When Higgs-Black, Parkinson and Selwyn turned up a minute late, Montague told them they were 'pushing it close' but seemed to show understanding when they said they had gotten lost. When Huan Xu showed up less than a minute later, Montague made a big fuss about him being the last to arrive, said that he had had all weekend to learn where his classes were, and docked five points from Hufflepuff.
However Montague didn't seem as biased as Scorp had heard Professor Snape had been. He didn't bully anyone; well, apart from Huan.
Montague didn't give them any notes. Instead he showed them how to turn matches into needles and then told them to get into groups.
"Seven groups of four and one of three" he said. "I don't care how you all arrange it, just be quick."
Everyone quickly got into a group with the people sitting closest to them, until Scorp, Albus, and Kiyomi, and Higgs-Black, Parkinson and Selwyn were the only groups of three and Rex Vallant was leftover. The tall boy gathered up his things and moved across the room to join up with the Hufflepuffs.
"We may be in the same House" Vallant said. "But those three guys are just mongrels."
Vallant was an asset to the group, as he had a natural aptitude for Transfiguration and was able to help the Hufflepuffs with their matches. This was especially good for Albus, who was struggling with the matches more than anyone. Halfway through the lesson though, Montague dropped a bombshell.
"Transfiguration is a mostly solitary branch of magic" He said. "However I find that First Years tend to learn the Basics of Magic better in groups. You will practice all the spells I teach you as a group, helping each other as you are now, and you will stay in your groups until I believe you are ready to practice spells on your own."
"That sounds good to me" Albus whispered to his group.
"However" Montague said. "I don't want you all to be distracted by chatting to friends. I've been watching you all, and I have a pretty good idea how to best arrange these groups."
When Montague had finished rearranging the groups, Scorp had serious doubts that he really did know how best to arrange them. Scorp ended up switching places with Zumna Nour, ending up in a group that contained silent Caleb Towler, Slytherin Dorian de Montmorency, and of course, Autumn Page.
Albus and Vallant were kept together, but Kiyomi was switched with Harriett Summerby and place into a group with Hubert, and the Slytherins Raven LaPlante and Elizabeth Baddock. The three Slytherin mongrels were also split up, with Selwyn being grouped with Angel and Huan - the two Hufflepuffs Scorp thought lest likely to be able to deal with a bully - and another Slytherin named Daniel Jones. Parkinson ended up with that horrid Rookwood girl, as well as Ariel and Josie. Scorp felt most sorry for poor John Cadwallader, who was in a group with Higgs-Black, Runcorn, and another Slytherin named Archie Macmillian.
Each group were given a pile of matches to work on, and straight away Page began to cause trouble.
"So how do you know where to aim?" She said to Scorp as he worked on his matches.
"I remember where I put them" Scorp said.
"Oh, I see."
The next match he took from the pile moved away from him sometime between him putting it down and casting the spell.
"That was low Page" de Montmorency said. "Give him back his match."
"He can't even tell it's gone" she said.
"Give it back to him" de Montmorency said. "Our group isn't going to be the last one stuck together just because you can't grow up."
"Erm, hello, we have a blind kid on our team. We're going to be held back anyway."
Scorp poked his wand forward until he found the pile of matches, and then shouted the incantations they had been learning at the top of his voice. He knew he would get people under estimating him, but he hadn't thought it would make him this angry.
"Wow" de Montmorency said. "That is so cool."
"Interesting" Professor Montague said. "But that isn't quite what we want to do Mr. Malfoy. Just work on the matches individually."
"What did I do?" Scorp said.
"The whole pile of matches is now shaped like a giant needle" de Montmorency said. "standing on the tip too, so most are floating. How did you make them levitate?"
"I don't know, I just thought about them turning into a needle."
"The matches are stuck together" Caleb said. "I can't get one out of the needle. And I think it's stuck into the desk."
"Oh" Scorp said.
"Great" Page said. "Now we can't Transfigure any more matches. Great job Malfoy. You bloody idiot!"
"I still think that it's really cool though" de Montmorency said.
"Thanks" Scorp said.
Page let Montague know what had happened and he gave them more matches to work on. He also used a string of spells to get the matchstick needle out of the table, and gave it to Scorp.
"As interesting as this needle is, I think you might like to keep it as a memento of your first Transfiguration accident" He said. "Of course, I have a feeling that you'll be giving me more accidents like this to study later on in the year, eh Mr. Malfoy?"
Scorp couldn't tell if Montague was praising him or criticizing him, and decided that the best response would be a polite yes sir, and to gracefully accept the needle.
"I bet if you were in Slytherin he would have awarded you some points for that matchstick needle" Kiyomi said later as they made their way to the Astronomy Tower for Astronomy Theory. "And he was so mean to Huan, even though those other gits were late too."
"I bet he was in Slytherin himself" Albus said. "I mean, his too young to have naturally silver hair; I bet he keeps it died for Quidditch games."
"Speaking of Slytherin" Kiyomi said. "Raven was pretty nice."
"So was de Montmorency" Scorp said. "Though Page was such a cow."
"So was Baddock. Urgh! She asked us all about our families, and she seemed absolutely horrified when she realised the rest of us were Muggleborn."
"My group seemed pretty good" Albus said. "Rex helped us all, Zumna was really friendly, and Harriett was well, Harriett."
"Urgh" Scorp said. "At least I can be rude back to Page."
Even though it was too early in the day for a practical lesson, they started their lesson at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Professor Sinistra gave them an introductory lecture about Astronomy and it's importance in both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. The class was made up of both Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, but despite being the Head of Ravenclaw, Sinistra didn't play favourites and called on both Houses to answer questions. After the introduction, she took them downstairs to a classroom just below the observatory. The three Huflepuff's took seats next to Birdie and Kurt and talked together while the class was settling down.
"Sevy" Birdie said. "Um, I was talking to Rose this morning during Charms."
"Ah yeah?"
"And she didn't accept your apology yesterday."
"Yeah Birdie. I knew that yesterday when I made it. What is the big deal anyway?"
"Don't worry Sevy, she'll get over it" said Kurt.
"She will" Birdie said. "But um, until then, the two of us want to remain neutral, if that's alright with you."
"Yeah that's cool" Albus said. "I wouldn't want to put you two in the middle of whatever is going on between us anyway."
"Okay, thanks Sev. But um, you do realise that as part of our neutrality we aren't going to stand up for you or your friends if she says anything bad about you. Likewise, we won't stand up for Rose and her friends if you guys say anything bad about them."
"Elliott Frost is a cow" Kiyomi said.
"We won't defend her" Birdie said.
"Tara Cattermole is a blond bimbo" Scorp added.
"You're blond too" Birdie said.
"And you just defended her" Scorp said.
"No he didn't" Kurt said. "He was merely pointing out a contradiction."
"Yeah, a contradiction that made Scorp's insult seem meaningless" Kiyomi said. "Which is pretty much the same thing. You've already broken your neutrality."
"I did not" said Birdie. "You tricked us."
"I see" Kiyomi said.
"Are you two sure you aren't meant to be in Slytherin?" Kurt said.
"I have traits of all Houses" Scorp said. "But the Hat said that my Hufflepuff traits were the strongest."
"The Hat was really torn between Slytherin and Hufflepuff for me" Kiyomi said.
"Slytherin and Hufflepuff?" Birdie said. "Not Slytherin and Ravenclaw? Well, obviously not since you're in Hufflepuff, but it didn't think about putting you in Ravenclaw at all?"
"Nah, 'defiantly not Ravenclaw' were it's first words to me."
"Quiet class" Professor Sinistra said. "I'll be talking about our Solar System now, please get your notebooks and quills out and follow along. Mr. Malfoy will you be alright if I draw diagrams on the board?"
Scorp felt his face go pink at being signalled out. Hadn't all the teachers read the report on his abilities? Oh well.
"I'll be fine Professor" Scorp said, as he felt through the neatly organized compartments in his bag and pulled out a small Snitch-sized cube. "My board-reader will tell me whatever you write or draw up there." He let the small cube go, and heard it flutter over to Sinistra. She stood there in puzzled silence for a few seconds, probably watching the reader hover near her hand as it eagerly waited for her to write something. Then she said "okay than" and told the rest of the class to hurry up with their quills and books.
Scorp got out his Astronomy notebook, an inkbottle, and his headset. Kiyomi had said that the headset looked like 'one of those microphone-telephone thingies they have in Mum's office' when he showed it to her before. It sat on top of his ear, with an earphone bud in the ear and a microphone reaching down to his mouth. Scorp could adjust the microphone; when it was away from his mouth he could speak normally, but when he held it up to his mouth a silencing charm made him speak without sound, and a quill attached to the headset by a thin wire wrote down what he said. If he held down a button on the top of the headset, a small microphone attached to another wire hovered over his book, and read back what he had written. By adjusting the dial on the headset, he could control how fast the writing was read to him and whereabouts on the page it read from. In Scorp's opinion the headset was Uncle Blaise's greatest invention.
Using the headset, Scorp took notes on what Sinistra said. Whenever she wrote on the blackboard the reader would quickly scan the board, then fly back to Scorp and whisper in his other ear what it had seen.
Scorp found Astronomy interesting enough, the planets seemed more real to him being described as worlds rather than invisible dots in the invisible sky whose position was of great importance. Though, halfway through the lesson Sinistra stopped talking about the planets as worlds, and started going on about positional stuff. Scorp found the second half of the lesson quiet boring.
As did Kiyomi.
"Who cares what it means when the Moon is in such-and-such position in the sky" Kiyomi said as they left the classroom. "I want to know more about what it's actually like on the Moon."
"Yeah" Scorp said. "I wonder what it would feel like to walk around without any gravity. But yeah, I hope it's not all just position in Earth's sky for everything that we learn.
"I think it's going to be like that all the way through" Birdie said. "Hey Scorp, I don't want to embarrass you like Professor Sinistra did, but how are you going to manage the practical lessons? Do you have a specialized telescope that describes what's in the sky?"
"I have one" Scorp said. "But it's really hard to use. Space is big you see, and if I'm not focusing on anything it doesn't have anything to tell me, so I don't know where to aim next. It's kinda useful for constellations, but it's useless for planets. I think I'll be better off just getting someone else to tell me what they see."
"Pity you can't just send that reader up into the sky to tell you where everything is" Albus said.
"Yeah, the stars are so far away that... hey wait, we could still do that! Not with the stars obviously, or the planets unless I'm willing to wait years for it to get back. But I could send my reader to the moon!"
"Would you get anything out of that?" Albus said. "I mean, there isn't any writing on the moon for it to read back to you."
"Yes Sevy" Birdie said. "There is no writing on the moon. That is the big logical flaw with this plan."
"The reader describes pictures and terrain as well as words" Scorp said. "What else could go wrong?"
"Do you know how long it would take to fly to the moon and back?" Birdie said.
"About three to five days" Kiyomi said. "Of course, the reader probably won't be as fast as the Apollo spaceships, but it would still have to be pretty fast to leave Earth."
"So how are you going to throw it hard enough or make it go fast enough to do that?"
"We have Potions next" Kiyomi said. "We can ask about good rocket fuel then."
"Rocket fuel? For something as small as a Snitch? Using Potion ingredients? That's crazy!"
"It's usually the crazy things that end up being the most fun" Scorp said. "What else do we need to work out?"
"What? No way, I am having no part of this!"
"How will you steer it once it's in space?" Kurt asked.
"Kurt! Don't encourage them!"
"Sorry."
"Coming back it will home in on me" Scorp said. "But I'm not sure how we'll direct it to the Moon. How do they steer Spaceships Kiyomi?"
"I have no idea."
"We'll have to do some research then" Scorp said. "But this is going to be so awesome!"
During their mourning tea break the Hufflepuffs began going over their plans to send a reader to the moon and back.
"Maybe we shouldn't ask Professor Llewellyn about rocket fuel directly" Kiyomi said. "This could get us into trouble."
"How could we possibly get into trouble for doing something like this?" Scorp said. "We're just sending a cube to the Moon."
"I doubt any potion powerful enough to do that would be allowed though" she said. "Especially for First Years."
"Good point" Scorp said. "Okay, we'll keep quiet for now."
"Maybe we should just forget the whole idea" Albus said. I mean, we don't want to blow ourselves up or anything."
"Don't worry Al, we'll be fine" Scorp said.
After morning tea they had Double Potions until lunch, and it was so fun that Scorp forgot all about finding rocket fuel. The Potions classroom was in a basement room like the Hufflepuff Common Room, with a thin window that allowed warm rays of light in, but could be closed off if they were brewing a Potion that needed darkness.
Professor Llewellyn was a jolly old woman whose enthusiasm for her subject was inescapable as she gave them all her introductory spiel. Once she was done talking to them, she got the class to write a list of as many potential potion ingredients they could think of, and then quietly came over to Scorp, Albus, and Kiyomi's desk.
"Hello dear" she whispered to Scorp in her thick Welsh accent. "Sorry I couldn't get a chance to talk to you earlier. I just want to know if you'll need any help with class work or potion brewing."
"I'm all good to go with taking notes and reading of the blackboard" Scorp said. "And my Dad has been teaching me how to brew potions for years, I'll be fine. Well, okay, I'll need help with anything where I need to determine colour or how a potion looks, but I can identify ingredients and chop things up and stuff really well."
"That's good" she said. "And you two are his friends?"
"Yeah" Albus said.
"Well you help him if he needs it. I let my classes talk while working, so you three won't stand out if you have to tell him what the potion looks like."
"Okay" Kiyomi said.
"Now Mr. Malfoy, don't be embarrassed if you need to ask me for help. This is a hard enough subject for sighted children; you won't be the only one that needs help. And I'll come to you if you put your hand up while we're brewing."
"Okay, thanks Professor."
She got the class brewing a simple healing Potion that smelled of frangipanis, and that used a lot of flowers as ingredients. After the lesson she kept Scorp back for a few minutes to ask about getting a homing bracelet like the Goyle's had.
The only thing that Scorp and his friends didn't like about Potions was that they shared the class with the Gryffindors. He had heard Rose Weasley's gang of girls - now up to four - make comments that he found even more offensive than Runcorn's.
"Come on Rose" Elliott Frost had whispered. "I bet you five galleons that he chops off his fingers cutting up the dittany."
"He won't" Rose said. "Albus will help him with it."
But Scorp hadn't needed Albus's help, and began cutting up the dittany by himself; with his fingertips curled inwards for safety of course.
"His doing it himself" Cattermole said.
"So is Nott" Frost said. "Hey girls, who do you think will cut themselves first?"
"Well girls," Llewellyn said "Would you care to speak a bit loader so the rest of the class could hear you?"
"No, we're sorry Professor" Rose said.
"But you said we were allowed to talk amongst ourselves" Frost said. "As long as it didn't distracted us from our work."
"Well, it seems to me that you're all spending more time watching your classmates than your potions. Miss. Cattermole, you were supposed to drain the frangipani petals once the water boiled. And Miss. Weasley, that is not how you cut up dittany for this potion. It needs to be in long thin strips. Like how Mr. Malfoy has it. And by now your potion should be changing from pink to green, like how Miss. Nott has it."
"Yes Professor" Rose said. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise to me" Llewellyn said. "Just remember in the future that if you are going to be paying so much attention to your classmate's potions, that you should at least take note when they do things right. Now, a little reminder to everyone. Just because I'm not as strict as some of your other teachers, that does not mean you can get away with anything. If I hear anyone saying something disrespectful about a classmate then not only will I deduct points from that person, but the whole class will have to work in silence for the rest of the year."
After the professor's speech was over and everyone had returned to work, Kiyomi gave Scorp a gentle nudge.
"If looks could kill, you'd be dead" she said to him. "Rose is looking at you like she really wants to hurt you."
"Yeah, she would have hated having the teacher point out to everyone that you were doing something better than her" Albus said. "Oh, and Kath is waving to us."
Scorp waved towards the Gryffindor side of the room, and gave a thumbs up too. After class they walked to lunch with Kathryn and Esther, and were all talking about how good their first Potions lessons had been. They walked past Rose's group, and Scorp heard her say something about 'favouring Hufflepuff' to her friends.
At the great Hall they separated from Kathryn and Esther, but were quickly joined at the Hufflepuff table by Hope and Mercy. Mercy had so many questions about their first day of classes that Hope barely got a word in all lunch. It was only after the bell rang and they went off to History of Magic that Hope mentioned her mother was still a bit cranky because Gloria had gotten into a duel with another seventh year Slytherin during morning tea, and that they shouldn't do anything to upset her.
However during their lesson Professor Goyle seemed her usual cheery self. They took the class with the Ravenclaws and as far as Scorp could tell, everyone was completely enthralled.
"Since there are no spells to learn, or potions and plants to play with or planets to look at, some of you may consider History of Magic as the boring class" She had said. "However this class is one of the most important ones you'll take while at Hogwarts. Everyone come with me; leave your stuff here, we'll be back soon. But there is something very important I need to show you."
The class talked excitedly as she led them through the school, but Professor Goyle remained silent.
"We're going through the Entrance Hall now" Kiyomi said to Scorp. "I guess whatever she wants to show us is outside."
"Yeah... oh, maybe it's the Battle of Hogwarts Memorial" Scorp said.
"Oh yeah" Albus said. "That would have to be it."
And indeed, When Goyle next spoke, it was to say they had arrived at the Battle of Hogwarts Memorial.
"This obelisk' She said. "Was erected to pay tribute to the Fifty-Four people who lost their lives fighting against Voldemort at this school nineteen - actually, almost twenty - years ago. Behind it is a smaller plaque, with the names of the Dark Side casualties engraved on it."
"Why?" called out a Ravenclaw boy. "I mean, what is the point of honouring the Death Eaters? They were evil!"
"Very few people are truly evil, Mr erm,"
"Hilliard" he said. "Steven Hilliard. But even if they weren't completely evil, they served Voldemort! Why should they be honoured with a nice war memorial?"
"After a war, the dead on the losing side are just as dead as those on the victorious side" Goyle said. "Also, many of the dead on the Death Eater fought on that side out of fear for their families. Are we to condemn them for doing what they thought they had to do?"
"Well, I guess not" Hilliard said. "But not all the Death Eaters were forced to fight!"
"No not all were. So, shall we go through the list of Dark Side casualties and judge everyone to see if they are worthy of getting a memorial? No, there is no point in putting the dead on trial. All we can do is remember them, and try not to follow the same path they did. After all, war is a terrible thing no matter which side you are on."
"Your husband was on the Dark Side, wasn't he?" asked another Ravenclaw boy.
"Who said that. Ah, Mr. Burke I assume. You look just like your brother. Well yes, my husband was a Death Eater. And if any of you harbour any Pure Blood Supremacist ideals, I would suggest you talk to him so that he can disillusion you."
"Were you a Death Eater too?" Burke asked.
"No. I was a prisoner of the Death Eaters. I was sentenced to life in Azkaban for being a Muggleborn."
"Oh my god" Hilliard said.
"Oh my god indeed" Goyle said. "But now I'm married to a former Death Eater. You see, the purpose of history isn't to memorize dates and names, but to learn from past events. The Voldemort eras are prime examples of this; after the First Voldemort War, our society did not learn from our mistakes. We did nothing to change the circumstances that saw Voldemort come to power, or gain so many followers. As such, we were completely unprepared when he returned, and many lives were lost due to the mistakes made by the Ministry for Magic.
"After the Second Voldemort War, there was an effort to change our society, so that a man like Voldemort can never get so much power again. This year, we will be learning about the Voldemort era. We will begin by looking at the attitudes of the Ministry and the prejudices that Voldemort exploited. But for this term, I will be giving you an outline of Worldwide Magical History to get you started on the basics. Now I'll give everyone five minutes to look around here, and then we'll be going back to the classroom."
After class, Birdie and Kiyomi were talking excitedly.
"She makes everything sound so fascinating" Kiyomi said. "I never thought that history could be so important."
"I'm amazed that she managed to get so much into that one lesson" Birdie said. "I was looking forward to having a ghost for a teacher, but after today I wouldn't want boring old Mr. Binns at all!"
All that night in the Hufflepuff Common Room the First Years were excitedly comparing the teachers and classes they had had today, and were speculating on the rest of their classes. They didn't have long to wait; the next morning came around all too quickly.
At breakfast Uncle Blaise's large eagle owl landed in front of Scorp, delivering a smallish package for Scorp, and an even smaller one addressed to Kiyomi.
"Thanks Galytsy" Scorp said, giving the bird a piece of his sausage and opening his package. "Ah look guys, it's your bracelets. Here put them on; you can't hide from me now. Ah, these two more. Must be for Hagrid and Llewellyn. What did you get Kiyomi?"
"To Kiyomi Kanno" She read. "Oh, there was a letter attached to the parcel Scorp. Ah-hem. 'To Kiyomi Kanno. I must admit I was a bit surprised when Scorp told me who his two new friends were, but Scorp seems to think you and Mini Potter are the best kids in the whole school, so you are both obviously special people.'"
"Mini Potter?" Albus asked.
"Don't worry, his rude to everyone" Scorp said. "Keep reading Kiyomi."
"Okay. 'Scorp mentioned that Albus has an invisibility cloak, and with his own Teacher Radar the two of them will make quite a team when it comes to wandering the castle at night. Not that Hufflepuffs are usually renowned for breaking the rules, but I'm sure everyone feels the need to explore at times. I originally made this item for Scorp, but I thought you might feel left out not having your own item of mass rule-breaking, and decided to give it to you instead. I also imagine that being Muggleborn, you may appreciate it more than Scorp anyway. I call this a Stone of Agony (yes, the reference to Muggle pop-culture is intentional.) Keep it in your pocket, and if you are near something that is being hidden by magic, it will rumble.
'Use it well, and be a good friend to Scorp. Yours Sincerely, Blaise Zabini.' Oh wow, a stone that finds secrets!"
"That is so cool" Scorp said. "Uncle Blaise makes the most amazing things."
"Oh hang on" she said. "I have to write back to him!"
She brought a quill and parchment out from her bag, and she wrote a nice letter thanking him for the stone and the bracelets. Scorp asked her to add a few more questions about his inventions, and then she signed it for both of them and gave the letter to Galytsy, who flew off with it just as the bell rang.
They had Charms first off. Again they were with the Slytherins, but Professor Travers was no Montague.
"Some of you may know that I am a Slytherin myself" he said. "And I'd just like to make it clear that that doesn't mean there will be any favouritism in my classes. I'm more likely to get a bonus at the end of the year if you all do really well, so I am going to help each and every one of you to master my class."
By the end of the lesson Scorp thought that Travers was the coolest teacher in Hogwarts, but later that day they had Herbology and Defence Against The Dark Arts, and both Professor Longbottom and Professor Nguyan gave Travers tough competition for the title.
Both were former Aurors, and both were able to put their classes at ease with humour; Professor Longbottom with his goofy self-deprecating humour and Professor Nguyan with her witty retellings about some of the more humours results of certain hexes and jinxes she had used in her career.
Professor Longbottom was Albus' Godfather and was particularly friendly with the trio, which for a while made him Scorp's coolest teacher. However after Nguyan demonstrated the leg-locking curse on Frost, Scorp decided that she was his current favourite.
Lessons at Hogwarts quickly began to feel like a normal part of their lives. By the end of the first week everyone had their own ideas on who was the best teacher (by this time Scorp had changed from Nguyan to Goyle to Llewellyn and finally back to Longbottom - for now) and of course, they had began receiving homework.
The Hufflepuffs took almost half their classes with the Ravenclaws, many of whom had picked up Birdie and Kurt's habit of calling Albus 'Sevy' or 'Sev'. It was during their practical Astronomy lesson on Friday night that Scorp first fell into this habit.
"Well, this telescope is as useless as I thought it would be" Scorp had said. "Hey Kiyomi, can you please tell me the co-ordinates for Cygnus and Aquila?"
"You're meant to identify them yourself" Birdie said. "Asking for the co-ordinates is cheating!"
"How am I meant to find them for myself?"
"Birdie is shrugging, but he doesn't look like he wants to admit you're right" Albus said.
"Thanks Sev" Scorp said. "Now tell me what else I should do Birdie? I've written down all the ones I can remember, and I can't remember where in the sky they all are, so it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."
"It's kinda like that for us too" Kiyomi said. "I can't remember where they all are, and the stars all look the same to me. I haven't even found Cygnus and Aquila yet."
Albus didn't give any indication that he had even noticed Scorp's slip. But he did pick up when Kiyomi called him Sevy the next day.
"Well we only have three Transfiguration lessons next week" Albus had said as they relaxed by the lake. "Double Transfiguration on Tuesday morning and then another lesson on Wednesday. Then we're free of Montague and Page and Baddock until the Monday after."
"Yeah, but we have more Astronomy lessons during the even weeks than we do on odd ones" Scorp said. "And we don't get that free period on Tuesdays either. Just one on Thursday mornings that we will probably be sleeping through since we're up late with Astronomy Prac the night before."
"I don't think that Tuesday free period is going to stay free" Albus said. "First Years are meant to have a flying lesson once a fortnight, and there isn't one in our timetables yet. I bet we'll soon have one in our free period. Hmm, we also have Integration next week. I wonder how that will go?"
"I don't really think I need to learn about how to get along with Muggleborns" Kiyomi said. "I wonder who we'll have flying with? Hopefully the Ravenclaws. It would be horrible with the Slytherins or Gryffindors. I mean, Raven, Zumna, Dorian and Rex are all cool, but Higgs-Black and his gang are mongrels, and don't get me started on those girls."
"And the Gryffindors" Scorp said. "Yeah Kath and Esther are awesome, and a few others seem nice. But well, you know."
"Yeah" Kiyomi said. "Rose and Frost and their gang. Sevy, are you sure you can't have a good talk to her? Or maybe get Roxanne to talk to her instead?"
So far, Roxanne was the only one of Albus's older cousins to spend any time with them, and even that was just a quick encounter in the library when she showed the trio her Father's new screaming joke books. But then again the older Goyle's hadn't been around too much either. Libby and Ruby had joined them and their younger sisters at the Hufflepuff table on Wednesday to apologise for being so busy.
"Well first off' Albus said. "Roxanne and I have both talked to her, and she seems to be determined to keep being angry at me. And secondly, are you two going to start calling me 'Sevy' too?"
"Oh, sorry, did I call you Sevy then?" Kiyomi said.
"Yeah. This is actually the second time you've done it. And Scorp has done it like, three times."
"I only did it once."
"On Tuesday you and Birdie were talking and you said that 'Both the Slytherins in Sevy's Transfiguration group are cool', and you called me Sev in Astronomy last night. And you said 'good morning Sev' this morning when you woke up."
"Oh, sorry. I only noticed the slip during Astronomy."
"That's alright. I guess Sevy is better than some of the things Higgs-Black has been calling me."
"Most of the girls in our House think 'Sevy' is really cute" Kiyomi said. "I think the only one who hasn't called you Sevy yet is Harriett."
"I hate the way she says 'Albus'" Albus said. "She makes it sound like I'm some really powerful wizard."
"She referred to you as 'Alby' the other night" Kiyomi said. "And it didn't sound cute like when Victorie says it. It sounded really wrong."
"Oh great."
"Al" Scorp said. "I was wondering, do you really object much to being called Sevy?"
"Well, if everyone is going to do it I guess I don't have a choice."
"Don't worry Al" Kiyomi said. "I'll just call you whatever comes to mind. And don't worry, I won't call you Alby."
"Yeah" Scorp said. "Sorry Al; I guess I shouldn't try and rename you without your permission."
"Hey, you don't need to apologise Scorp. Birdie's the one that started it. Or maybe I should say Rose started it, since she was the one that came up with the name 'Birdie.'"
"Why doesn't that surprised me?" Kiyomi asked.
"I wish my parent's hadn't given me such a common name" Albus said. "I bet you two have never had this kind of problem."
"I sure haven't" Kiyomi said.
"Me either" Scorp said. "In fact, I can't even remember there ever being any debate about whether or not I liked Scorp or Scorpius. And I don't remember anyone ever calling Paulie by his full name on a regular basis. Names are strange."
"Especially when you've got one like 'Scorpius'" Al teased. "Hey, what is Paulie's full name anyway? I'd been assuming it was just Paul, but something about the way you say full name makes it seem like it's longer."
"Yeah" Scorp said. "Scorpius, and Paul Malfoy. To names that go together well. Nah, it's short for Paullus. One branch of my family has a thing for star based names, and another has a thing for Roman names."
"Ah, that makes more sense" Al said. "Hmm... Paullus... maybe having a very common name isn't a bad thing at all."
"Okay then" Scorp said. "Well, I guess we'll keep calling you by it then. Sorry in advance if I slip up though."
"Yeah" Kiyomi said. "And if we do end up renaming you, just blame Birdie. Or Rose."
"Thanks guys" Al said. "Oh, just please, whatever you do, don't call me Severus. Caleb insists on calling me that and it's just crossing the line."
"Wait, Caleb talks to you?" Scorp said. "I haven't heard him speak much outside the Transfiguration Group; and usually then he only speaks a little bit."
"Yeah" Al said. "The other night while you were practicing your guitar in the Dormitory and Kiyomi was busy with homework. I saw him alone just looking around the Common Room, so I went and cornered him. You know, just let him know his not alone."
"Yeah," Scorp said, "is he okay?"
"He said he was... but like, you can tell he isn't. Anyway, his just like me; in the wrong House and having family trouble because of it."
"Really?" Kiyomi said.
"Yeah. Now look guys, you can't tell anyone this; Caleb said he was meant to go to Slytherin. His family is really like, Pureblood, and they're not happy with him being in Hufflepuff. Apparently his Aunt is really furious."
"Now that's just stupid" Scorp said. "It's just a House; why should it matter to adults where we go? I mean, I can understand other kids getting upset, but parents? Why such a big fuss?"
"Well no-one wants to disappoint their parents" Kiyomi said. "Right Al?"
"Oh yeah" Al said. "Just consider yourself lucky Scorp."
"Okay then" Scorp sighed. "So what shall we do? We have to let Caleb know his welcome in Hufflepuff. I mean, imagine feeling like you disappointed your parents and that your an outcast in your House."
"Yeah" Kiyomi said. "Maybe we should get him to help with the Reader Launch?"
"Nah" Al said. "I think, well, the past week just everyone being friendly may have helped him settle in. But his shy, and he seems to have a lot troubling him. I asked him if he wanted any help and he just said it's something he needs to sort out himself. I think we should just stay friendly, but give him his space."
"Yeah alright" Kiyomi said. "Forcing him to be social might just make things worse for him."
Scorp, Kiyomi, and Al stayed by the lake talking for a while longer before heading off to the Great Hall for dinner. They sat with their fellow Hufflepuffs, and John did such an accurate impersonation of Elsie Runcorn that Scorp almost chocked on his pumpkin juice. Not long after that they were visited by Al's brother and cousins.
"Hi there Albus" James said.
"Hello James" Al said.
"I know you've been avoiding me."
"No I haven't, I just don't have that many chances to meet you since we're in different Houses and years."
"Yeah, well let's change that" James said. "Every year I throw a little 'first weekend' party for the family and our friends in the Room of Requirement. It's tomorrow night; just after dinner. Why don't you come along and bring all your little friends?"
"This is the second weekend" Kiyomi said.
"And the Room of Requirement was destroyed during the Battle of Hogwarts" Scorp added.
"First of all, this is the first weekend after our classes" James said. "And secondly, only the Room of Hidden Things part of the Room of Requirement was destroyed. The room itself is just badly burnt. Thirdly I'm inviting you two to a party, you could be a bit nicer."
"Okay, thanks" Scorp said. "Did you want to go Al?"
"Why hasn't anyone mentioned these parties before?" Al asked.
"It's a secret" Fred said. "Duh."
"I don't know, this sounds kind of fishy" Al said.
"Rose will be there" James said. "And it will mean a lot to her if you still join in with family events."
"Oh alright. I'll go. Scorp, Kiyomi, do you two want to come?"
"Sounds good to me" Scorp said, even though he was trying to think of a way to make sure they weren't walking into a trap.
"Not to me" Kiyomi said. "I smell a rat. But I'll still go with you two."
"Excellent" James said. "Well I'll see you three tomorrow night. Bye everyone."
"And don't forget Malfoy" said Louis. "I'm watching you."
Scorp listened to their footsteps walk away, wondering just what the three Gryffindors had planned for them.
"That sounds like a huge trap" John said.
"I know" Al said. "But if it's all real and Rose is there, I really should try and make things good with her again."
"Can I come too Alby?" asked Harriett.
"You want to walk into a trap with me?" Al said.
"Oh it won't be a trap. Please let me come, I want to meet all the Weasley family. That will be so cool."
"No" Al said. "Sorry Harriett, but this could be trouble."
Harriett retreated into a brooding silence, and Scorp had to wonder just what they were getting into.
