It was hard work, but with Henry and Regulus's help, Hayato began to become more confident, and his grades actually started to improve.
In one memorable Mathematics class, Hayato more than completed a factor tree. He included the prime numbers as factors, each of them with a "1" next to it. When Mrs. Binns asked him why he did that, he said, in complete honesty, "Because it's a factor tree, and obviously trees are supposed to have roots, right?"
Mrs. Binns couldn't argue with that.
Another class that was very enjoyable was Flying.
"First thing's first," said Madam Leopard. "Starting your bike. Stick your dominant hand over your bike, and say 'up'. The majority of you will have to actually touch your bikes, though."
The first year, Block B (and some C) students did exactly what she said. Absolutely nothing whatsoever happened.
"Come on! Did Instructor Hayne teach you nothing?"
"Madam, we're still only covering the theory," said Katie Martin, her long brown ponytail swishing as she turned to face the teacher. Frustrated with this, she tried to redo her ponytail.
"In that case..." She began going around, tapping the power button on each bike herself. "And please don't do that here, Miss Martin."
Once all the bikes were turned on and were hovering in the air, Madam Leopard told them to mount their bikes. This was done pretty much the same way as mounting a horse, by sticking your foot in the pedal, swinging your leg over and sticking your other foot in the other pedal, then strapping/buckling them in.
"Now, look carefully at your bikes. See the handle bars? You squeeze those to break. To accelerate, push back on the pedals. The farther you push them, the faster you'll go. On my whistle, you are going to take turns flying at ground level. Mr. Goyle is first. Everybody else dismount!"
Hayato's face paled.
"You will stop at the tree over there, and then you will come back. Do not go up; stay close to the ground. Get ready, Mr. Goyle." Hayato was slightly trembling now. "3, 2-"
Hayato tried to make himself as small as possible, pressing himself flat against the bike, and in doing so accidentally accelerated.
"Mr. Goyle!"
Hayato was clutching his bike for dear life, speeding all over the place, having completely lost control.
"Mr. Goyle, come back here this instant!"
Hayato's bike flipped upside-down. He screamed as he flew into the tree that had been indicated. His bike got caught on a weak branch.
Madam Leopard sighed and rushed over to catch him when the branch inevitably snapped.
Hayato fainted.
"No one is to move while I take Mr. Goyle up to the Hospital wing. Not an inch, you hear? If I see a single bike in the air, you will be out of Hogwarts before anyone can say 'Quidditch'.
Sandra Brown noticed a glint in the grass. She walked over and picked up Hayato's school PDA. It had fallen from his pocket.
"I wonder how much this'll sell for?"
Regulus's eyes bulged, but he dared not stand up to his sister.
Somebody else did dare, though. Mike Greene, a dark-skinned, dark-haired Gryffindor boy with glasses, stepped forward.
"Give it here, Brown," he ordered, a hint of a threat in his voice.
"No. I think I'll leave this somewhere for Goyle to find. How about...up a tree?"
She mounted her bike and took off into the air, as several of her Slytherin friends laughed.
"Who wants to play a game of catch?" she asked.
Three Slytherin girls joined her.
Mike mounted his bike.
"Are you crazy!" said Regulus. "Didn't you hear Madam Leopard? You'll be expelled!"
Mike ignored him, and blasted into the air.
"What an idiot," Regulus muttered. Henry had to agree.
"Give it here Brown or I'll knock you off your bike!"
"Is that so?"
Mike rushed at her. She dodged.
"Okay, okay, you can have the stupid thing!" said Sandra. She wound back her arm and then threw Hayato's PDA as hard and far as she could.
Mike rushed after it. Time felt like it was slowing down for a moment as it neared the side of the building...
And then he caught it. All of the Block A first years but the Slytherins cheered or sighed in relief as Mike touched down to the ground, people hugged him and congratulated him, and then-
"Mike Greene!" said Mr. Nelson. "Follow me."
Mr. Nelson led him away from the class.
Everyone was sure he would be expelled.
As it turned out, he wasn't. Nobody knew why.
Nobody knew why, that is, until the Gryffindor Quidditch team tryouts, when all applicants to the position of "seeker" were turned down.
Rumors of who had been picked flooded around the school for several days, but the first years knew immediately who it was.
"I can't believe this! They're rewarding him for bad behavior!" said Regulus.
Hayato glared at him.
"Okay, maybe not that bad..."
"No, Regulus is right," said Henry. "He could have been killed. They should have expelled him, yet instead they're just putting him on the team when normally first years aren't allowed anyway."
Before they knew it, it was nearly the end of October, and Thanksgiving and Halloween were near.
Originally in the United States, Thanksgiving had officially been the 4th Thursday in November. However, in order to better recognize all the other countless thanksgivings and harvest holidays celebrated in different subcultures (and so that it would be on the same date every year), it was moved to the day after Halloween. People still celebrated their own individual cultures' Fall holidays, but the official Thanksgiving of all three nations of the United Republics of North America was the day after Halloween, November 1st. (In Mexico it was a day later.)
In spanish class, they learned about the Mexican version of Halloween, "el Dia de los Muertos" or "the day of the dead". In Mrs. Binns's class, they worked on Halloween and Thanksgiving related activity sheets, and in Social Studies, for the first time ever, Ms. Binns let them have a free period in Social Studies. (This was not out of the kindness of her heart. It was her father's "death day".)
Soon enough Halloween itself arrived, and there was a spectacular feast. However, the Thanksgiving feast was truly a sight to behold. The Hogwarts cooks had really outdone themselves.
Regulus convinced Henry try something called a "latke", a pancake made of shredded potato that Hayato insisted was really good with applesauce. Naturally, Henry tried it plain. Then he dipped it in sour cream. It was definitely better than Hayato's idea of dipping it in applesauce.
There was so much turkey: white meat, dark meat, legs, ribs, breasts, wings, and even some that were from imported species, all seasoned in different ways.
For some reason, Instructor Hayne had yet to be seen. Why wasn't he here yet?
Right on cue, one of the sets of double doors at the entrance to the hall opened, and Instructor Hayne limped in. People stopped eating and stared at him as he passed. He was bleeding and bruised in several places on his body. His bald head had several cuts on it, and his clothes were torn; He looked like he had gotten into a fight. Finally, after what seemed to be an age, he approached the staff table at the front of the hall, and rasped,
"Intruder, I...tried to stop them...thought you should know."
Then he fainted.
Students began to panic. Mr. Rooney stood up.
"Quiet!"
Nobody heard him. While Mr. Rooney tried to figure out what to do, Mr. Richards (the head janitor in case you've forgotten) shouted at the top of his lungs, "SHADDUP!"
That got everyone's attention.
"Everyone please," Mr. Rooney pleaded. "Don't panic. Now, the-the heads of houses and I will go to the entrance hall to apprehend the intruder."
He was careful to say "apprehend" and not "find".
"Everyone else, please head back to your common rooms in an orderly fashion. After this is over, dinner will be brought to you there."
Mr. Rooney, Mr. Nelson, Mrs. Binns, Dr. Cook and the English teacher, Ms. Georgina (she preferred to be called by her first name.) rushed out the doors of the Great Hall ahead of everyone else. The remaining teachers divided everyone into groups based on their house, year and block, and then escorted them out of the hall.
By the time they reached the Hufflepuff common room, Everyone was whispering about what had just happened. Eventually, pretty much everyone agreed that whoever the intruder was, he or she must have had powerful hackers at their disposal. If anyone had doubted Hypnos's involvement before, they probably didn't now.
Henry's mind was whirring. He wasn't sure he believed that story. Someone had tried to break in-perhaps to hide, to hurt people, or...to steal something.
"Gringotts is probably the safest building on the continent, unless you count Hogwarts."
But then, did that mean a teacher had let the intruder in?
Henry didn't dare voice his suspicions, but he resolved to keep a closer eye on Instructor Hayne from now on.