Collin went into Charms class, eager to find out what exactly the Nox Spell could do to help him in the situations he regrettably knew he'd find himself in. Flitwick stood on his pile of books as the class piled in and started to explain. "The opposite of Lumos is Nox." Collin's eyes widened as he realized what the spell was. "This spell is the subject of today's lesson." Collin knew his Lumos tended to get out of hand sometimes, so this would help. "If you need to extinguish your wand in a pinch, Nox is the way to do it." Flitwick brought out his wand, lit it, and then looked to the class. "Allow me to demonstrate…NOX!" The wand instantly dimmed, much to Collin's delight. He knew he'd need that spell. "Nox is the incantation for the wand-extinguishing charm. Remember to focus on your pronunciations. In Charms, you have no room for error!" Flitwick then brought a group of the class over to the chalk board. "Many people misunderstand what the wand-extinguishing charm does. Read the board for the correct answer." The board had many things on it. When the groups switched, Collin went to look over notes in his book before they had to cast the spell. "I believe you're ready to make an attempt." Flitwick said after a few minutes, nearing the end of class. The man was like clockwork. "Try casting Nox." Each student tried to do it for several minutes.
When it got to Collin's turn, he first cast Lumos so that he had something to extinguish. Then he cast Nox as his spell was accidently blinding people again. He was nervous. "Nox." He concentrated on only extinguishing his wand's light. He sighed in relief as it was the only light to go out.
"Good control, Mr. Hedgehog." Flitwick nodded before continuing on to his other students. Collin sighed in relief as he started to pack up. He had flying next.
Collin made his way down the long stairs, racing against Rowan and his other classmates; some into the little race the short human did, others just walking along. Collin smirked as they reached a certain part of the stairs and jumped up only to slide down them like he was surfing. He was lucky no teachers were there to see the short human slide down the grand stair case, taking dangerous jumps as the stairs changed, and somehow managing to save himself while keeping all of his supplies for classes on him. He beat Rowan and Ben by only a couple of minutes as he waited for them just outside the main entrance of the castle before the three ran off towards the Training Grounds. The trio had taken to racing to classes together, Ben usually being slowest unless they were late. They had started doing it one day after Collin had fallen asleep studying and had woke up with minutes to get from one end of the castle to another. Not only had he somehow managed to just barely make it to class on time, but he had surprised all of his classmates, who now wanted to know his speed, and how he had managed to do it. He had no real idea himself though, so the group sometimes just raced to see if they could beat him to the next class. If any of the teachers knew about it, they said nothing, as the entire first year class of Gryffindor always made it to their class with time to spare now.
Madam Hooch started them on broom maintenance so that they would be mounting decent brooms. Collin went to his station with Merula, Rowan, and Penny. Hooch then gave them another lecture about how certain things could kill them while flying. Collin wrote everything as usual in his notes. She then asked a question about Quidditch. A boy from Ravenclaw answered the question. Hooch then got onto a broom to demonstrate proper techniques. The students lined up to summon their brooms shortly afterwards. Collin summoned his with no problem, as did a few of his classmates now.
Eventually, Madam Hooch called out to the class. "The time has come to climb aboard your broom. Stay focused and uninjured." Each of the students mounted their brooms, ready to try and lift themselves off the ground, if only temporarily. Collin gave an encouraging smile to Ben, hoping to keep the lion calm and give him confidence. Ben looked a little better. He managed to mount it properly, but only managed the bare minimum to get off the ground. Collin, being one of the smallest of the group, had a little trouble mounting a broom that was about twice his height. He tucked it under him, and closed his eyes as he slowly removed his legs. He waited a few seconds before looking down, relieved he hadn't fallen yet. After a quick nod from Madam Hooch, he dismounted, happy to be on the ground again.
After curfew, the two boys met in the hallway. "This is where Snape and Filch were talking…" Collin whispered.
"I'm starting to have second thoughts, Collin. If Snape told Filch to stay on guard, he'll be back soon." Rowan gulped. "The stories I've heard about how he punishes misbehaving students make Snape look like a pleasant Hufflepuff." Rowan looked at Collin with concern. "Are you sure we should be searching this corridor?"
Collin thought about it, all the consequences, his friend's feelings… Collin sighed. "You're right… Let's go, Rowan." Suddenly, he heard a sound. "Wait, did you hear something at the end of the corridor?" He looked at the other end with concern.
"Based on my research, there are at least twenty-one different entities that could be roaming the corridors at night, and every one of them is potentially terrifying. What should we do, Collin?"
Collin looked a little defeated. "Let's… just search this place as fast as we can, and hope whatever it is isn't coming this way." The boys quickly searched the entire corridor, as well as the door. Collin frowned. "We aren't going to be able to work out what's really going on unless we get inside that room."
Rowan adjusted his glasses as he thought about their predicament. "An impenetrable lock, a mysterious door, and the constant threat of being caught by Filch…" He looked at his small friend with a grimace. "Getting into that room seems impossible, Collin."
Collin rolled his eyes at that word. "I'll find a way… but I'll still need your help." He grimaced.
"I'm always here to help, but…"
Collin's eyes widened at a sound and he pulled the taller boy into the shadows. "Shh! Someone is coming!"
Rowan's eyes also went wide as he realized what it was. "Not someone. Some thing…" It was Mrs. Norris! Filch's cat!
Collin didn't see the danger of the feline just yet. "Oh… it's just a cat?"
Rowan was already pulling the smaller away from the red eyed feline. "Not just a cat, Collin. That's Mrs. Norris. She alerts Filch when students are misbehaving on school grounds!" The tabby hissed at the two boys before running off.
Collin frowned. "Do you think she's going to get Filch?"
"I don't know, but we'd better get somewhere safe like the common room. RUN!" Rowan started the run, but Collin, while smaller, was just as fast and caught up to him. It had been an exciting night.