A/N: This chapter has the first real class period. Yay. I have a couple of warnings, though. One, the classes aren't set up like they are in the books (at all), since I couldn't figure out exactly how they're supposed to go. In this, there are two class periods per day; one after breakfast, then one after lunch. That, of course, would make each class about three hours long, but just know it bothers me too.

The second thing are the OCs—(reviewers: NOOO! NO, DON'T DO IT!) yes, the OCs. They aren't going to play a huge role, though, or help save the day or anything like that—they're only named and given personalities for the purpose of better description (actually, out of all the ones I made, I think I only actually use about two). I wanted to avoid making them entirely, but thanks to my whimsical idea to put Bakura in first year, I'm stuck. But in any case, I'll bet that they annoy me more than you.

Me, 2014: I added a little bit more about the OCs when I was editing in 2011. I think they would have played better supporting roles in this story if I'd given them a little more love, but oh well. The only real thing that bothers me about them now is those outrageous names...(I couldn't name them something normal. No, it had to be things like 'Olseth' and 'Astrava.' They were probably so bullied in elementary school.) As I've been working on my Artemis Fowl fanfiction Noble Heart, I've really tried to change that bad habit and give all the OCs normal names that are easy to remember. (Which is important, because there are /a lot/ of them.)

Chapter 10: Herbology

Bakura arrived in the Slytherin common room with all his packages in tow. It took a bit of thinking to remember which dorm room he had come from that morning, but fortunately the common room was empty, and he was able to retrace his steps without an audience.

He went immediately to his bed and was startled when his foot accidentally struck something hard underneath it. He reached down and discovered an empty trunk, which he dragged up and laid on the bed. It was old and banged up, but it would make things easier. Someone must have left it for him to use. Professor Snape? He had trouble picturing it.

Bakura began arranging his supplies inside the trunk, and after a moment's consideration, dropped the trenchcoat in there, too. However, it made an odd jangling sound that made him pause. Suspicious, Bakura inspected the pockets, and soon found a handful of gold wizard coins he had seen in the Gringotts vault. Bakura had a sneaking suspicion he knew where the coins had come from, and who had put them there.

Bakura sighed and shook his head, folding the trench coat back up and placing it inside.

Next, he drew out the new, clean robes and put a pair on. Much better, he thought, observing himself in a tall mirror by the washbasin in the corner.

Bakura pulled out his course schedule and studied it. Tonks had told him since they had gotten done early, he would probably have time to make it to his afternoon class if he hurried.

His class that afternoon was Herbology, located in the green houses outside the castle. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

Bakura gathered all the supplies he would need into a shoulderbag, including his textbook One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and a pair of dragon hide gloves, and set out for his first class of magic.

As Bakura made his way up a flight of stone stairs and to the broad grassy grounds of the castle outside, he found the place oddly empty. He supposed everyone must still be at lunch.

Bakura located the greenhouses with relative ease and, deciding to take the extra time to relax a little, found a place to sit down on a hill just to the east. He laid back with a sigh. The landscape had a gentle slope and the grass was a beautiful shade of green, despite the fact that they were nearing the end of summer, fall already on the verge of setting in. Perhaps even that was another result of magic. A soft breeze was blowing, making the grass ripple like water. Bakura could see what looked like a forest a ways away and a small hut right near the edge—

"Hey, what're yeh doin' there?" said a voice.

Bakura stood up so quickly he nearly overbalanced, and when he turned to face the newcomer, the color drained from his already pale face.

"Huh? Not causin' trouble, are yeh?"

Bakura tilted his head backward until he could see the face of the enormous being standing before him.

He swallowed. Reading about giants and watching them on television didn't quite do the experience justice. This must be how Yugi and the others had felt facing Zorc as little miniature figurines.

As Bakura registered what the man had asked him, he gestured wordlessly at the greenhouses.

"Herbology next, eh?" the man said. "But in't that a first year class? Oh, wait a mo'..." He gave Bakura a rather pensive look through a mess of wild black hair matted with dirt. "Yer tha' new student, righ'? Dumbledore tol' me about yeh."

Bakura meant to say something, but the words got lost somewhere on the way to his throat as he stared up at the giant. Instead, he swallowed hard and nodded feebly.

"Yeah," the giant said. "Well, yeh can call me Hagrid. I teach Care o' Magical Creatures, so I'll be seein' yeh on Thursday, then."

With that, Hagrid headed off whistling down the sloping lawn in the direction of the hut near the forest.

Bakura stared after the giant, transfixed, until the huge form had reached the hut. As soon as he was out of sight, Bakura let himself collapse back against the ground. He let out a huge sigh of relief.

'Could have been worse.' Still, he had a feeling this was going to be a long year.

Bakura had only just barely begun to get his heart rate down when he lifted his head only to catch sight of several figures making their way over. He sighed slightly and climbed shakily to his feet. He recognized some of them as the boys who'd been in his dormitory that morning. He also recognized only too well the sneers on their faces—he'd seen those looks in public school too many times not to know when some kids were set on having a type of fun he wasn't going to like.

He pressed a hand to his chest, and felt the familiar metallic ring with its five dangling spirals. Oddly enough, as he pulled his bag off the ground and slung it over his shoulder, he realized he found the object strangely comforting.

"Well, well," said one of the boys, coming to a stop right in front of him. The boy's short hair was blond with flecks of darker colors, and despite the roundness of youth in his face, there was something hard in his eyes. He spread his arms wide in a theatrical way and made a show of looking over his shoulder at his audience, expression full of mock-pity. "Here's the one stuck rooming with first years. And look at this—he's even taking classes with first years. This is too sad, even for a mudblood."

This was met with several appreciative snickers. However, one of the boys did not laugh, a boy with a sharp-angled face and carefully combed black hair. He eyed Bakura carefully with suspicion.

The first boy's arms were still spread apart. "Please to meet you," he said, mockery dripping from every word. "My name is Armando Olseth, and welcome to Hogwarts. We hope you'll feel right at home, mudblood."

More snickers.

Bakura decided the best response was no response, and was relieved when he glanced back and saw a short woman with flyaway hair coming up the path toward them. Judging from the smears of dirt on her clothes and mud caked under her fingernails, he guessed this to be the herbology teacher.

They all filed into the greenhouse and they took up stools around long tables on which sat a collection of odd little flowers in pots. They had spindly stems of a deep black color that rose up into delicate white petals at the top. Bakura had an impulse to touch one, but decided that might not be a good idea.

The students all turned to look up at the front.

"All right!" barked the professor. "I'm Professor Sprout, and I'll be your Herbology teacher over the next few years. Now, you may have noticed that you have a pair of dragon hide gloves on your supplies list. That is because we'll be dealing with quite a few dangerous plants here, and it's essential you always follow all my instructions to the letter."

There was scattering of murmurs throughout the class, some excited, some apprehensive.

"Now," continued the professor. "That plant in front of you—as it happens, that one's nothing to be afraid of. I want to impress on you just how dangerous plants can be, but I want you to know that they can also be more help than just about anything. That there is a Moly flower. If you're under a dark enchantment—say, a potion that affects your senses or mood, or a hex or jinx, chewing the leaves of this plant can cure you. Or, for particularly strong spells, sometimes you need someone to brew a restorative potion, and this is often a key ingredient."

Bakura had his textbook out, and flipped to page detailing the flower and its properties. A flower that healed and protected. He liked the sound of that. If only all magic was like this.

By the time Herbology let out, Bakura was famished. But since dinner wouldn't be served for a couple more hours, he had to find some way to pass the time.

Despite their attitude towards him, Bakura was glad to follow Olseth and his other dorm mates back to the common room. He had been wondering how exactly he would find his way back without help.

"Snake's venom," said Olseth, and they entered through the hidden door.

Bakura headed straight to the dormitories, collapsing onto his bed once he got inside. He sighed deeply and rolled over onto his stomach. How he would love to be back in Domino right now, where normal people saw him as normal and his friends understood that he wasn't normal, but did not condemn him for it.

Bakura got up and pulled his trunk out from under his bed. Crouching on the floor, he glanced over the different covers of his textbooks. Bakura picked up one titled A Light in the Dark in interest. 'This must be the one for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class,' Bakura thought, running his fingers over the cover.

He settled back onto the bed and cracked it open. Bakura inhaled the fresh scent of a new book and he couldn't help but feel a little comforted. He'd always found that smell invigorating.

He looked over the table of contents, searching at random for something of interest. The chapters were labeled things like "Protecting Yourself Against Inferi" and "Avoiding Dementors and Their Kisses." Bakura didn't find these all that helpful, since he didn't know what an 'Inferi' or a 'Dementor' was.

Bakura glanced over at the page number column and then slowly turned the pages until he reached the chapter about Inferi. He read:

An Inferus (plural form: Inferi) is the term used for a dead body bewitched to obey the will of a witch or wizard.

Bakura's hand twitched, and he slowly closed the book. Somehow, reading about zombies hadn't been exactly what he'd had in mind when he'd been looking for something to pass the time.

Bakura's stomach grumbled feebly again and he sighed.

He put the book back in the trunk and, after a moment, stood up. He wandered over to the door, thinking he might do a little exploring of this magical castle. It was an unbelievably mysterious and fantastic setting, he would like to see more of it. Though he would have to be extremely careful not to get himself lost.

As he stepped into the common room, he saw that most of his classmates from Herbology were still there.

Bakura hesitated, suddenly less sure of the wisdom of leaving the common room than he had been a moment before. He knew how to get back in now, but he wasn't entirely confident he could find his way back when he needed to

Bakura stood in the entrance to the room, shifting uneasily for a moment, until a group of people came up from the dormitories and were none too happy to find the white-haired first year blocking their path.

"Move!" snarled one with pale skin and bleach blond hair, and he shoved Bakura roughly to the side, nearly knocking him to the ground. The teen's two friends, who reminded Bakura strongly of the Giant Orcs he kept in his deck, laughed heartily as they went on past.

Suddenly the bleach-blond frowned at Bakura over his shoulder as he got a better look at him. "I remember you," he said. "You were on the train." He smirked slightly at the others as they all turned to look, and Bakura had a bad feeling.

However, his look of derisive condescension turned suspicious. "You know something?" he said. "I don't recognize you at all. You look like a sixth year, or at least a fifth year, but I've never seen you." His eyes narrowed. "Are you really in Slytherin?"

They were gaining an audience now.

"Well," Bakura began uneasily. "I guess you could say...I'm starting a bit late." He was tempted to ask what a Slytherin was, but on second thought decided it might be best if he let it slide.

The boy raised his eyebrows in temporary surprise, then snorted loudly. "A bit late? That's a laugh. You mean you haven't learnedanything?"

"Ah..." Bakura started, a little afraid of the teen's reaction if he was forced to confirm his suspicions.

But the bleach-blond took this as an affirmative answer anyway, and his amusement disappeared, replaced by disgust. "I don't believe this. You're one of them, aren't you? You shouldn't be here. This House isn't for mudbloods."

Bakura had heard the term mudblood more than once already, and still had no idea what it meant, but decided he was better off not to ask. He knew from experience silence was often the best defense against the bullies of the world.

The teen wrinkled his nose, like he'd smelled something foul. "Well, don't touch anything," he said. "Keep your grubby hands off the furniture, mudblood, we like to keep the place clean."

He turned to leave, while the two goons at his side snickered appreciatively. However, before he was gone, the boy paused and glanced over his shoulder. Smirking, he added, "By the way, nice hair cut."

The others snickered again and one girl who had already been in the common room let out a shriek of laughter.

Bakura mentally sighed. He had a feeling he wasn't going to be making many friends at this school. It seemed like the nicest people he'd met today had been a dull, wraith-like Auror and a giant. But then, perhaps all magical people were a bit temperamental and condescending.

Unable to keep a slight color rising in his pale face, Bakura exited the common room as fast as he could, eager to get away from the unfriendly group of students.

"Between light and darkness, the gateway to chaos is opened."

A/N: The Malfoy/Bakura interaction edited a little bit as of April 2014, to make it consistent with what I changed in chapter 2. (Yeah, I'm totally shooting myself in the foot with all these changes, I had trouble enough keeping everything as consistent as I could when I was actually writing in a normal, linear way...)

Thanks for reading, and if you have a second, please leave a comment! :J

May, 2015: Did a little more editing for flow with the new chapter 9, and also added a bit to the Herbology class, as I thought it felt a little clipped. As always, thanks for reading so far, and let me know what you think!

Rewrite posted September 2015