The youngest child in Hogwarts had an interesting day, just like her brother, and it involved Zacharias Smith, the kind yet unloyal boy in Hufflepuff.
Zach was kind and gentle and protective of those he liked, but he was not loyal, nor did he like Hazel.
A rare argument broke out in the Common Room of Hufflepuff on the ever popular topic of flying lessons.
Zach wasn't a natural flier, but liked to believe he was. Hazel had seen pictures of him atop the childs broom he rode, but the posture and grip of the blond was completely off.
Of course, it involved Zach right in the middle, while Hazel tried to stay on the outside.
Blubbering in her head about pompous idiots, Hazel tried to eat breakfast, but found herself unable to get more than a small bowl of oatmeal down before the idea of being on a quidditch team overwhelmed her.
She brushed a soft lock of red hair behind her ear, noting with pleasure that over the past few months her hair had browned slightly, taking up a few hints of her brothers dark brown hair. They did not really look like twins, but if you saw them together, the way they acted was an easy indicator.
Oliver, sitting to her left, looked very nervous at the thought of flying. Oliver, or Iver as his friends sometimes called him, was a average height boy with platanium blond hair and pale blue eyes. He had a more angular face than most people, and if you didn't know him, Oliver could easily be mistaken as the evil leader of something. But really, Oliver was just an energetic, possibly ADHD, mischevious, nervous boy like any other. One that had turned twelve just that morning, where the rest of Hufflepuff threw him a party, ignoring the fact that he hadn't told anyone but the narrator when his birthday was.
November eigth.
Hazel had given her friend a kneazle, as she knew her friend loved animals, including Mrs. Norris. The blond haired boy did not have a pet, as he hadn't known that having an owl was useful, Oliver being muggleborn. Even if Oliver didn't know owls were awesome, he wasn't very sure about flying pets, hence the kneazel kitten that Hazel had asked Cedric to grab in Hogsmeade the previous weekend. It had all worked surprisingly well, considering that getting someone a pet at boarding school was highly illogical.
Megan, the brunnette girl with chocolate brown eyes, had given Oliver a set of quills, inkwells, parchment and other objects of the sort. It was a desperate and possibly futile attempt to convince Oliver to use his gift with words more often.
But sadly, Zach was all for ruinning the fun.
The brunnette had decided that ruinning someone's birthday with self absorbed talk would be great fun indeed.
So all through breakfast, Zach was chatting away happily to anyone within earshot about how amazing he was at flying. Dodging helicoptors and hang-gliders, when Hazel finally butted in.
"What is a helicoptor, Zach?"
To which Zach sneered. "Well, you should know that much, Potter."
"Precisely my point. By avoiding my question, you have indirectly shown that you have no idea what the heck a helicoptor is. So shut up and allow Oliver to have the spotlight on his birthday." Hazel gave Zach her amazing 'I'm gonna kill you' stare, that caused the brunnette to flinch, at which point Gabriel Tate broke in.
"Okay, okay, kidlets, enough with the argument. Hazel, we all know you have a wicked glare, Zach, we all know you are excellent on a broom, but both of you, please, no more arguing. We are Hufflepuff, no arguments, young'uns. You'll understand after the first quidditch match. We are a family. We may bicker over silly things, but we never argue." Gabe then considered his words again.
"Well, we don't really argue, just bicker. No, we don't argue, we argue with the intent to tease and annoy. Ehm-"
But Hazel cut the prefect off before he could stutter about whether the 'Puffs argued or not. "It's fine, we get it, Gabriel," she said, rolling her eyes with a smile.
Gabe didn't bite for the calm behaviour, and gave them both stern looks before placing another bite of his porridge, continuing to watch them teasingly through almond shaped, brown eyes.
Classes passed normally, though their was a lot of shouting in Quirrel's class, and loud breathing in Snape's (such events led to Hazel having a week of detention for breathing slightly louder than Malfoy).
Hazel's potion was perfect, despite Malfoy's consistently trying to foil it, just ending up foiling his own, yet still receiving full marks for it, while Hazel's received a zero for cheeting.
Snivellus Snapeta Snape did not deem a mere Hufflepuff worthy of a good mark. Only Sprout, Flitwick and Hooch did.
The anticipation built within Hazel like a balloon filling with air, about to burst.
By their last block, no one could sit still, whether from nerves or excitement.
Flitwick was laughing as he bustled the first years off to Flying, some needing no encouragment, others needing to be hustled along by the classmates.
Hazel was practically bouncing (it seemed that being eleven again gave her way more energy, as though her seventeen year old self was on a sugar high and had found out that they had killed Voldemort. Of course, if she were to be told that Luna or the others who had died were suddenly and magically (impossible, Hazel knew) were still alive) as she waited for the flight teacher to arrive.
By the time that she did arrive, Hazel's heart had climbed up to her throat in a uncomfortable position from the intense excitement that was radiating in the air.
Oliver was pacing while Hazel watched calmly and Megan watched slightly nervously.
Hooch strode calmly and slowly out onto the field, though she looked slightly shaken.
"Everyone stand on the left of a broom now, hurry up! Now, put your right hand over the broom and say 'Up!' strongly."
Hazel obeyed, stating 'Up!' forcefully, imbuing her will upon the wooden instrument.
It flew to her hand before anyone else had even spoke.
Five minutes later, everyone had brooms in their hands, and Madame Hooch gave the orders to mount and kick off.
Hazel kicked off hard.
