"You reckon you've made an enemy?" Matty repeated Reagan, with an incredulous tone. "Obviously you have, did you see how seething mad he was?"

"What've you gone and done to him, Ray? That Kyle was in a right state!" Lukas said.

"I didn't do nothin'. He was the one that started pokin' fun at me in the first place."

"Obviously you didn't 'do nothin', he stomped off like a five-year-old. What was it?" Matty asked.

Reagan shrugged. "I may have given him cheek?"

"Nice!" Teddy exclaimed, raising a hand up in the air for a high five. The other boys looked worried. "What? The prat deserved it. Did you see the way he was pushing those kids around yesterday? Nearly shoved someone out of the boat on the way here!"

"Well, as much as he would've deserved it, giving him cheek doesn't seem like too good an idea. He'll only give you trouble if you do something like that. I'd recommend not getting on his bad side," Matty said.

"I think it's a bit late for that... Oh man... I didn't even mean to step on his foot yesterday, why did he take it so personally?" Reagan said, digging his hands into his hair.

"You stepped on his foot, too?" Matty said.

"Accidentally stepped on his foot. Like I said, I didn't mean to, there was just so many people..."

"Okay, here's another suggestion then," Matty said.

"What?"

"Avoid him. Like the plague," Matty said, with careful emphasis on the last word. "Understand? Like the plague."

"That doesn't seem likely," Reagan replied.

"It's a big castle, how would you run into him?" Matty questioned loudly, throwing his hands in the air.

"Well, it's not like I ran into him just now... he approached me, not the other way around." Making a gesture for reversing with his fingers.

"-Right. Didn't take that into account," Matty said after a short moment of thought.

"Maybe you should just ignore him if he tries to bother you again," Connor piped up suddenly, after remaining silent the whole time.

"That's actually not that bad of an idea..." Matty mused.

"Alright then, I'll just... ignore him. That should do it. If I don't listen then he can't do anythin'," Reagan said, then looked at Connor. "Ehm... good idea, Connor."

"No problem," Connor replied with a small smile.

"We should probably get to class 'fore we're late, not sure if Macmillan's gonna favor us just because we're in his house," Lukas said, and the boys all set off for their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"Good afternoon, class," Professor Macmillan said to the class of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, watching as a few of the students (including Reagan and Connor) went for their quills and parchment. "We won't be needing those just yet. Put them away for now." And the students put them away, looking fairly perplexed. "We'll be doing a fair amount of hands on in this class. That is, more doing than writing."

The students went from perplexed to excitedly attentive just like that. Macmillan smiled. "That doesn't mean we won't be writing at all, of course, but that this class is more based on experience and having you properly prepared to handle a dangerous situation should it arise. We will start with a demonstration, then a small lecture, and you all take notes. In some cases, I will ask you to practice, but only in the case of self-defense against something non-human."

The students all looked rather pleased at the way things were being run in this class already. "We are going to start out with the Curse of The Bogies, which requires reciting the incantation Mucus ad Nauseam. Repeat after me. Mucus ad Nauseam."

"Mucus ad Nauseam," The students all chanted.

"Very good, very good. For the demonstration, I have got your Transfiguration teacher, Mr. Hilliard, to agree to volunteer," Macmillan gestured over to Hilliard with his wand, who waved half-heartedly and gave Macmillan a look that said 'If anything goes wrong, I'll throttle you'. Macmillan seemed to ignore this look altogether. "Mr. Hilliard, if you will please face me."

"I still don't like this, Ernie," He said, facing him and holding his wand up to hold up the guise of putting up a fight.

"Not to worry, Jeremiah, no harm will come of you!" Macmillan said cheerily, which worried the students quite a bit. "Mucus ad Nauseam!" He said with gusto, flourishing his wand and pointing at the other man.

Hilliard's nose immediately started running with snot. The students all either laughed or made noises of disgust. Along with the runny nose, the color seemed to drain from the man's face and he looked rather sickly. "Ah-ah-ACHOO!" The man sneezed rather loudly, but thankfully none of the students got caught in the crossfire.

"As you all can see, the Curse of the Bogies gives you a cold which—if not treated—will be terrible enough to leave you sick for weeks. It also, as the name tells, gives you a particularly bad case of the bogies," Macmillan said, looking over at Hilliard, who was now blowing his nose. "Mr. Hilliard will be just fine, though, I assure you." Hilliard took this as his cue to leave the room, glaring at the other man.

Half of the students wore a look of pity for the man, while the other half was snickering and smirking at the whole thing, probably scheming who they'd use the hex on when they had the chance.

"Blimey, a curse that gives you a sick day? I don't think I'd go out of my way to dodge that," Connor said, eyebrows raised high and seeming very impressed.

"Makes you really sick though. One of my cousins was practicing that curse once, auntie really pitched into 'im when he got his little sister so sick they had to go to St. Mungo's," Lukas replied, arms crossed over his desk.

"Yeah, it'd be better to go with a skivving snackbox instead," Teddy said, leaning back in his chair so far that it was in danger of tipping over.

"Guys, be quiet...!" Reagan hissed, looking back from the door Mr. Hilliard just left, to the other boys.

"Boys, is there something you would like to share with the class?" Mr. Macmillan questioned, eyes on the boys as he strolled past them.

"They were discussing the use of the curse, sir," Matty said, finally piping up.

"Very well, then. If you would leave discussion until after class, I'd like to finish the lecture," Mr. Macmillan said, now addressing the five boys instead of the four who were talking.

"Yes, sir," The boys said in unison. Matty only nodded.

"Good. So," He began strolling away from them, back to the front of the room. "I will not be having you practice this curse, as accidents are bound to happen and I'm sure none of you would like to miss out on your first week," He ignored the collective groan of the students. "I know, I know... it's very disappointing, but it's just policy. I promise you will get to do some wandwork eventually. For now, though, quills and parchment out."

The class set to work taking notes on Professor Macmillan's lecture of the Curse of the Bogies, and then they were dismissed.

"Until next class, students!" Macmillan had called out the door as students darted out of the door to their next classes. "Please remember to read the first chapter of The Dark Forces before next class period!"

"Race you lot to the Quidditch pitch!" Teddy called back to the other Hufflepuff boys as he darted ahead of them, out of the room.

"You're on!" Lukas shouted, running as fast as his short legs could carry him so he could catch up.

"Guys—this isn't a good idea!" Reagan shouted to them when they had gotten further ahead. He heaved a sigh in realizing that they hadn't heard him, and then ran after them.

Connor just watched as the others sped ahead while walking beside Matty and asked, "There's no chance of me catching up to them, is there?"

"No chance at all," Matty replied.

After a few minutes, the three boys had eventually made their way down several flights of stairs without a scratch, and made their way to a landing that was not far from the great oak doors.

Teddy looked over his shoulder back at the other boys, smirking. "Come on, you seriously can't catch up?" Teddy gloated, accidentally tripping over the leg of the very weak and wobbly Professor Hilliard, who was on his way to the Hospital Wing for treatment of the cold that Macmillan had foisted upon him during his demonstration for the class.

This act made both Hilliard and Teddy tumble to the ground, but while Teddy seemed unscathed due to many years of bumps and spills, Professor Hilliard was not nearly as lucky, as not only was he in a weak state already, but he hit the ground with such force that he had blacked out.

"Sorry, professor!" Teddy shouted as he righted himself. Hearing no response, he looked at the professor with wide eyes. "Professor-?"

When Teddy had stopped, both Lukas and Reagan had gained on him, and Reagan could be seen barreling down the hall.

"Reagan, look out-" Teddy called.

"What-" Reagan said, not able to stop so quickly and tripping over the professor's outstretched arm, throwing him onto the floor. "Ouch."

"I said look out!" Teddy said, standing over him.

"Sorry, I couldn't stop," Reagan said, scrambling up to his feet.

The boys heard rapid footsteps coming in their direction and whipped their heads to the source of the noise, to see Lukas speeding down the hall. "Lukas, slow down, you're going to-" Reagan hollered, holding out his hands. Lukas had barreled straight into Reagan, knocking them both over. "Crash. That really hurt, Lukas," he whined.

"Sorry there, Ray!" Lukas said, scrambling to his feet and offering Reagan a hand to help him up. "What's happened to Hilliard?" he asked as he looked down at the ailed professor.

"I dunno-" Reagan replied. "He was like that when I'd got here. What happened, Teddy?"

Teddy ran a hand through his hair, trying his best not to let it change to the vibrant orange that only ever showed up in moments of worry. "I—er, I tripped over his leg and he—he kinda just flipped on his back and," he looked down to the professor then back to the boys. "I think he's passed out."

"Teddy!" Reagan shouted, eyes wide and brows raised in an expression of panic.

"I didn't mean to do it—I wasn't looking where I was going," he said, eyes flicking to the window.

"We have to do something! What if he's seriously hurt?" Reagan asked.

"But—flying! I don't want to be late for that!" Teddy whined, gesturing to the window.

"I'm kind of with Teddy, I don't want to miss flying," Lukas said. "There's still loads people here, someone'll find him eventually and take him to the infirmary."

"Yeah, yeah! And it's not a good idea to come to a class late on the first day anyway, it'll just leave a bad impression!" Teddy reasoned, likely more with himself than anyone.

Reagan looked thoroughly conflicted, and after a moment of pause he finally heaved a great sigh. "Alright, fine. We'll let someone else handle it."

Because the three boys had stopped when Professor Hilliard had fallen, Matty and Connor were able to catch up with them as they made their way out of the great oak front doors and down the lawn to the Quidditch pitch. Connor had proclaimed himself the winner, but neither Teddy nor Lukas seemed to remember that a race happened in the first place.

"Oh, nevermind then," Connor mumbled as he looked out into the distance. "'course you're not accepting that I won, Teddy, apparently I'm too fat and stupid to do it myself."

Teddy rolled his eyes, picking up what he had said while he was bringing up the rear down the steps. "I didn't even say anything close to that-"

"Just leave him alone, he's still bitter about earlier," Matty said dismissively.

"Oh, Poor Professor Hilliard!" A fourth-year Gryffindor girl exclaimed to her friend as they were strolling along the green down to the Black Lake, behind the five boys. "I heard that he had to be carried away to the infirmary on a stretcher! Gladys said that he looked absolutely dreadful, I wonder what happened to the poor thing."

"Oh no, did you hear that?" Reagan asked once the girl and her friend had passed them.

"What?" Teddy asked.

Connor had peeled his eyes from the distance. He'd been focused on something flying in the distance over the Quidditch pitch quite hard, and seemed excited to get over there and see exactly what it was.

"Professor Hilliard's in the infirmary! And it's our fault, so we should go visit and apologize!"

"Wait, your fault?" Matty asked. "What have you gone and done now, Hammond?"

"It wasn't me," Reagan said, blushing brightly. "Well… I did trip over his arm, but it was Teddy who'd hurt him."

"Oh. You can spare the details, then-" Matty said dryly. "Knowing how he made such a scene at the sorting last night, it was probably a disaster."

"Suppose I should give him a proper apology, since it was my fault in the first place," Teddy interjected, scratching his head as his hair unconsciously morphed into a pink color, embarrassed with his clumsiness.

"Well, if there's no reason for me to go, I'd rather not," Matty said. "I don't like being around hospitals. Makes me nervous."

"I think I'm going to finish unpacking, I forgot to do it last night," Connor said sheepishly, rubbing his neck.

"I'll go… I didn't really do anything but I still feel kinda bad about it," Lukas said.

"'Right then, it's settled. Teddy, Lukas and I will go to the infirmary after class," Reagan said.

So the five boys followed the rest of the Hufflepuffs, as well as the Gryffindors, to the Quidditch pitch for flying lessons. Although the first-years were not allowed a broom for themselves, they were still able to take broom-flying classes so those who didn't know how to fly already would be able to get acclimated to it.

"Oh man, this is going to be so cool!" exclaimed Ashley, bouncing along with the other first-years on their way to the pitch. "I already know how to fly, but I only ever flew on those toy brooms. I can't wait to get up in the air on a real racing broom! What kind do you figure they got, Morg?"

Morgan gave a shrug. "Dunno, I don't think they've got anything all that extraordinary since there's so many kids here. I'm not sure they're racing brooms, either."

"You mean we're flying on broomsticks? You actually do that?" Connor asked, eyebrow raised high.

"Of course! What other way is there to fly?" Ashley stated.

"He could've heard about the flying car, Ash, that's probably why he's confused," Morgan said to his friend.

Connor's eyebrows raised so high they were in danger of disappearing into his hair. "Flying car?!" he exclaimed.

Ashley and Morgan exchanged glances with each other, both of them with eyebrows raised as well. "Y'aint heard of the flying Ford Anglia story?" Morgan asked.

"No," Connor said, brows creased in confusion.

"Well, it was in '92, back in Harry Potter's second year-" Ashley started.

"You can tell him about Harry Potter's exploits later, Mr. Crosby," said Madam Hooch, the Flying instructor, as the first-years gathered around the Quidditch pitch. "Afternoon, all. I'm sure you must be very excited to get up in the air."

There was some assorted murmurs of excitement from all the students.

"Very well then, all of you go over to the spot where there are brooms placed on the ground. No shoving, please, Mr. Dressler. Stand right beside your brooms when you find a spot."

All the students scrambled over to a spot and stood there, while Reagan was still searching for a spot.

"Over there, Mr. Hammond," Madame Hooch said, pointing over to a spot next to a brown haired boy, who was jabbing his red-haired housemate in the rib with his elbow for laughing at Reagan.

"Now. I want you to stick your right hand out in front of you, like so," She explained, sticking her right arm out with her hand facing the broom. "And then say, UP. With feeling. UP." The broom did as she commanded, and raised into her right hand.

"UP!" The students all chanted at once, raising their right arms in front of them. Each of the students had varying success. Reagan's would lift off the ground by an inch and then fall back down as if magnetized; while Teddy's was in his hand on the first try. Lukas's was also in his hand at once; while Holly's was stubbornly sticking to the ground and leaving her to chant: "UP! UP! UP!" while getting dangerously red in the face. Ashley and Morgan's got up easily; while Connor's wasn't at all, prompting Matty to give him an earful about 'not saying it with enough feeling'. From what the other Hufflepuffs had gathered, Matty wasn't one for noise, so Connor's inability to get his broom off the ground was frustrating him thoroughly.

"Ugh, you need to be clearer! You're mumbling! You aren't going to get it off the ground that way, you bloomin' idiot! Do you need everyone to hold your hand through these lessons?" Matty shouted at him.

"Mr. Autberry, that is quite enough! It is my job to instruct, five points from Hufflepuff!"

"What—but... Madam Hooch, I was just-just helping him!"

"Helping him into a mental breakdown, maybe, Con looks like he's about to start crying."

"Shut up, Teddy!" Connor shouted, getting red in the face.

"No buts, Mr. Autberry! And Mr. Lupin, don't you whip them up. If you three will please let me go on with my lesson, that would be much appreciated."

The three boys looked ashamed. "Yes, Madam Hooch..."

"Good. Keep at it, Mr. Bailey. And Mr. Autberry, please keep your comments to yourself,"

Matty nodded quietly, and Connor went back to chanting "Up, UP", this time more fervently than before.

After ten more minutes of the children demanding their brooms to come up, everyone finally had them in their hands.

"Very good, all of you. Remember, this is your first time, so patience and persistence is key. Now, I want all of you to mount your brooms, not unlike you would mount a horse. Swing your leg over the side of the broom, grip the broom tightly so as to not slip off," She held up her whistle. "And when I blow my whistle, kick off the ground, hover for a few moments and come back down."

The students did as Madam Hooch instructed, and waited for her whistle. "Good. Very good, and now," She raised the whistle to her lips and blew it.

The students kicked off hard on the ground to get up into the air, but some of them were having trouble, including the red-haired Gryffindor and Reagan. The Gryffindor's broom didn't seem to want to leave the ground, but Reagan's problem was just the opposite; while it was hovering in the air, it was higher than the others, and his broom didn't want to be stationary.

"Uhm... is it supposed to be this high?" Reagan called down to Madam Hooch nervously.

"It's a bit too high, Mr. Hammond, if you could guide it back toward the ground by pointing the end downward, that would fix it," Hooch instructed.

Reagan pointed his broom toward the ground, but the broom decided to take Reagan in an entirely different direction. It did go toward the ground, but at the last minute when Reagan would just be able to touch ground with his feet, the broom swept high into the air again and zoomed away from the Quidditch Field where they were practicing. "Mr. Hammond! I said to GUIDE IT BACK DOWN! COME BACK THIS INSTANT!"

The broom was now much higher than it was before, and going far faster despite how Reagan was trying to pull back like he'd seen his cousin do to get the broom to slow down. His arms were wrapped around the broom as if his life depended on it. "I can't! I can't get it to go down!" He hollered past the wind.

"All of you," Hooch addressed the rest of the class. "Stay here on the ground. I'm helping Hammond back down." She mounted her broom and went after Reagan.

Reagan and his broom disappeared from the view of the Quidditch pitch, looping around the Divination Tower, leading some very concerned Ravenclaw students away from their classwork to the window to see what was going on. "Oh, dear me-" The Divination teacher, Sybil Trelawney said in a faraway voice as she saw Reagan hanging on for dear life to his broom. "I daresay I saw that coming… how unfortunate."

After looping around the Divination Tower, the broom suddenly jerked downward as he got close to the courtyard, where he accidentally bowled into several students. "Sorry!" Reagan shouted back at them.

He looked forward to himself coming near one of the openings between the columns, and he tucked his body as close to the broom as he possibly could, and came through the other side unscathed. "Thank god-" Reagan muttered, stomach lurching as the broom jerked down yet again and Reagan found himself going down the cliff side, dipping dangerously close to the Black Lake.

"Mr. Hammond, remain calm!" Madam Hooch called as she got somewhat close to Reagan.

"I'm as calm as I can be in this situation, ma'am!" Reagan called over the wind, still wrapped around his broom.

The broom suddenly jerked upward again as he got dangerously close to the great stone bridge that led up to the castle.

"Mr. Hammond! Point the nose of the broom downward! You are going to crash!" She shouted at him.

"I'm trying to! The broom isn't going where I'm guiding it!" Reagan shouted, trying desperately to get the broom to go downward.

The broom still flew forward and was too close to the bridge that he couldn't possibly turn it away. Reagan could do nothing else but close his eyes and wait for the impact.

[Julia Mal1]Class #3

[Julia Mal2]Class #4