I glanced at Ron and rolled my eyes. Jeez, is everyone's reaction to Wilson going to be like that? Well not everyone's, I thought. Malfoy most certainly wouldn't hesitate to hex or jinx me if he found out.

"It's a ferret." I replied, stroking Wilson's head. He gave out a content chatter before shooting off into the grass.

"I can see that." Ron said. "But is it-"

"No." I said. "It's not Malfoy."

"Bummer." Ron muttered.

"Your parents got you a pet ferret?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Yeah." I said with a shrug. "I didn't want an owl, and i'm slightly allergic to cats."

"So you got a ferret." Alex said.

"I actually wanted to get a ferret." I said defensively.

"I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with having a pet ferret." Alex said raising his hands in surrender. "I'm just surprised because it's not a normal pet that a Witch or Wizard has."

"Well you should know that I'm not normal." I said with a smirk. "Normal's overrated."

"You're not human?" Alex teased.

"You know what I mean." I said, rolling my eyes. "By not normal I mean that I'm not the usual 'Slytherin' that I've been seeing."

"That's true." Alex said with a nod.

"Hermione?" I heard Ron ask. "Could you help me with the Silencing Charm?"

"Sure Ron." Hermione said turning her attention towards him. "See?" She said. "If you just do the wand movement and say the incantation you'll get it! Silencio!"

She waved her wand at a nearby bird that was singing and it abruptly stopped.

"You make it look so easy." Ron said with a frown. "Silencio!"

He waved his wand at another bird but it just kept on singing.

"You sure that you're not doing it wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I am!" Ron said waving his wand frustratingly. "Silencio!"

A small bush nearby caught on fire and Ron groaned.

"I'm almost as bad as Neville." He complained. "I need to get this down by tomorrow."

"You'll get it eventually." Alex said encouragingly.

"Eventually isn't soon enough." Ron muttered. "I mean homework on the first day back?"

I pulled out my wand and waved it in the general direction of the fire and put it out.

"You need to be able to visualize the spell happening." I explained. "It helps with the harder spells. You also really want it to happen."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked turning to me looking confused.

"Well…" I paused and tried to think about how I could explain it. "You know the Muggle story Peter Pan?"

"Peter what?" Ron asked confused.

"Peter Pan." Harry spoke up. "It's a story about a boy who could never grow up."

"Oh." Ron said. "I've never heard of it."

"I won't tell the whole story." I said. "The important thing that I'm trying to get as is that in the story Peter Pan is trying to get these children to go with him to Neverland, and the only way you can get there is by flying."

"Did they take brooms?" Ron asked.

"No." I said. "Peter had a fairy named Tinker Bell that had pixie dust. That's how they flew to Neverland."

"Pixie dust?" Ron asked once again confused. "Does that even exist?"

"Of course not Ron!" Hermione said. "It's a Muggle story so it won't be factual magic wize."

"Oh ok." Ron said with a nod.

"But before they could fly to Neverland they needed to believe that they could get there and that they really could fly."

"So I just have to believe that I can do the spell?" Ron scoffed.

"Never underestimate the power of belief." Alex said seriously.

I nodded I agreement. "Belief is part of the process." I said continuing. "Another thing is that you have to really want it to happen, whatever your spell is. Why do you think it's so hard for a person to cast Avada Kedavra? They must really want the person they're trying to kill to die for it to work. The philosophy of that can be applied to other spells as well. Just doing to wand movement and saying the incantation isn't enough. You have to believe that you can do it, that you really want it, and that you have to be able to visualize it happening."

"So if I do that then I'll be able to perform any spell?" Ron asked sounding interested.

"Not any spell." I said. "It doesn't work like that."

"Then how does it work?" Hermione asked crossing her arms.

"How should I know?" I said with a shrug. "Magic is a true paradox. We know how to use it but we don't know how it works. I could go into a whole speech about what my theories are on the subject."

"You have theories on how magic works?" Alex asked surprised.

"Of course." I said. "My dad use to teach the Magical Theory class at Ilvermorny."

"You have Magical Theory at your old school?" Hermione said.

"Yes." I replied.

"Do you have it just for the first years?"

"No. It's a class that you pick up if you choose to your first year and then you stick with it for the rest of your schooling. Why don't you try doing the Silencing charm again?" I asked Ron. "This time try the techniques that I told you about."

"Sure." Ron said looking uncertain. "But what should I try it on?"

"Here." I said, picking up Wilson as he was passing by me. He chattered angrily at me. "Try it on Wilson."

"Ummm… ok then." Ron said. Scrunching up his face he pointed his wand at Wilson, who started to panic in my arms. "Silencio!"

Wilson stopped chattering immediately and Ron stared at his wand in disbelief.

"I did it!" He said. "I actually did it!"

"Told you It'd work." I said smugly.

"That's a pretty nifty trick." Alex said. "What do you think Harry?"

"I suppose so." Harry said not really paying attention.

"Are you sure that it's not cheating?" Hermione asked.

"How can it be cheating?" Ron said. "You're not using anything to help you cast the spell. At least not really."

Hermione frowned but didn't say anything. Right at that moment I heard the bell ring from inside the school. Waving my wand over Wilson I muttered the reversal incantation and slipped him into my pocket.

"Where are you headed to next?" Alex asked as we gathered up our things and stood up.

"Transfiguration." I replied as we began walking. "I don't really know where the classroom is."

"I can show you where it is if you want." Alex suggested. "My class isn't that far from the Transfiguration room."

"Oh, thank you." I said getting slightly embarrassed.

"No problem." Alex said.

I heard Harry, Ron and Hermione whispering to each other as they followed us back into the castle.