Collin made his way over to the Charms Classroom for his daily Charms lesson one day, only to find Professor Flitwick was waiting for him just outside the room. This was unusual and good cause for concern to the young boy. "Ah, there you are, Mr. Hedgehog." Flitwick looked a little concerned about something. "You are excused from today's lesson."

Collin's eyes widened. "Excused? Why?" He tried to go over what he could have done to get kicked out of class.

"Today's spell is the Knockback jinx. It is sometimes used in dueling, and can be incredibly painful to it's victim." Collin nodded slowly as he understood what the teacher was saying. The Knockback jinx was one of Merula's favorites, and he didn't particularly want to learn how to fight more anyway. "Given your history, I think it's best to not teach you another dueling spell at this time."

Collin nodded. "Y…You're right, Professor. I can't manage to stay out of trouble no matter how hard I try…" Collin sighed. "I'm going trying to focus on my studies…"

Much to his surprise, Flitwick's expression lit up. "Your humility and self-awareness lead me to believe that you may have learned from your mistake, Mr. Hedgehog." Flitwick then leaned in and whispered to the boy. "Not to mention, it might help you get out of trouble as well…" He then opened the door for the boy. "Please take your seat." Collin looked at the professor, confused, and received a nod. He then made his way to his seat. Flitwick returned to his tower of books. "Today we will be learning the Knockback Jinx – an excellent spell for pushing things out of the way! Let's begin…" He glanced at Collin and Rowan, both already having their journals and quills out to take notes. That was what he wanted from them. Good. "To properly cast Flipendo, you perform your wand movements perfectly. Nevertheless, casting this spell is dangerous. I have prepared a lecture on proper safety. Listen…" After the safety lecture, he asked the class what kind of spell Flipendo was. Rowan raised his hand and answered correctly by saying it was a jinx. Flitwick then split the class into two groups. "The angle of your Flipendo jinx is adjustable, come look." He pointed out to the white board for the first group. Collin made sure to add in his calculations for his own height difference from the other students. When the groups switched, Flitwick addressed both groups with the instructions he had given their previous groups. "You must stand addressing your target properly when casting Flipendo. Observe." He stood in the middle of the desks and showed his wand movements. Collin started to copy down move for move into his journal, his quill writing and drawing quite quickly. "Who thinks they can demonstrate this stance?" He looked around near the end of his demonstration. He spotted Collin who was finishing up his last sketch. "Collin Hedgehog!" Collin's head shot up. "Come join me in the aisle, please." He assisted Collin in his stance, and Collin took it from there, showing that he knew what to do. "Good." The class then gathered into one again. "Please review Flipendo. We will be practicing in a moment." Collin got out his book to study over more while. "Focus on your pronunciations. In Charms you have no room for error!" The students then got up, one at a time, to duel against a test dummy in the middle of the room in front of the class.

Collin's turn came up, and he looked at the test dummy nervously. He concentrated on his stance, and then looked at the tall, imposing figure made of metal. 'Just… imagine it's one of them…' He took a deep breath and cast his spell. "Flipendo!" The jinx knocked the test dummy back quite a few feet, but nothing so startling as it could have been.

Flitwick smiled at the end, as he made a final announcement. "Good work, everyone! Be careful when casting this spell, or you could be the one who gets knocked back!"

Rowan smirked as the boys cleaned up their supplies. "Nice work, Collin. Someday they'll write a book about your expertise in Charms, and I will read that book so many times, the pages will disintegrate." Collin couldn't help but laugh at that. "In the meantime, Flipendo will help us escape the locked room if we have to."

Collin grimaced. "And it will help us defend ourselves if there's anything dangerous inside. We just need to keep working on our plan…"

The two then made their way to the potions class where they were to suffer through another potion class, though Collin actually liked the class, and didn't mind the challenge of dealing with Professor Snape.

Collin took a deep breathe and made his way to the tall human in charge of the class. "Professor Snape," Snape turned towards the short human. "I just wanted to apologize again for dueling on school grounds, sir."

Snape raised a brow. "The only thing I care less about than you, is your apology, Hedgehog. Sit down." Collin nodded and returned to his seat.

Merula whispered over to him. "Have you told anyone about what Snape and Filch said in the corridor?"

Collin nodded. "Yes, I told Rowan. No one else though."

"You are such an idiot!" Merula hissed. Then she calmed down. "Thankfully, your little friend is useless, and won't ruin my chances of getting inside of that room."

Collin rolled his eyes. "Why are you after the Cursed Vaults?"

"It's none of your business."

"It is my business because, as everyone loves to point out, my sister was searching for those vaults." Collin looked at her carefully, analyzing her purple eyes. 'She wants to prove herself… she'll learn soon enough…'

"And she failed because you come from a family of failures." Collin raised a brow. Merula didn't know his biological family as well as she thought she did. "Now shut up, and pretend to study before Snape hears us talking about the vaults."

Snape called the group's attention. "Today you will learn to brew an Herbicide Potion. The lesson starts. You will create a potent Herbicide. Do not let one drop find its way to the Greenhouses. Watch closely." The students came over to the cauldron. Collin got on his usual stool and observed, taking his usual notes. One mistake brewing Herbicide Potion could have lasting consequences. Stay Focused!" The students were then required to weigh their potion ingredients. After the students went to their desks; Snape spoke again. "Add your ingredients like seeds to soil…" Then he smirked darkly. "Just don't touch the soil…" His face then went back to his normal neutral face that seemed disappointed in everything around him. Snape watched Collin as he put in his ingredients, being extra careful to not let anything blow up, or touch the liquid. He then announced that he would watch the students as they stirred to be sure they were doing it correctly. Shortly after, as the class neared it's end, Snape snapped once more. "Finish your potions quickly. I will not tolerate laziness."

Collin finished up his potion but somehow he had still noticed Merula had mis-counted for stirring. "You should stir it two more times."

"Excuse me?" Merula asked incredulously. She was good with potions, but even the best could miss something here and there.

Collin took a deep breathe and tried to explain. "Professor Snape said to stir the potion seven times, clockwise. I noticed that you only stirred it five times."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Merula snapped.

Snape came over at that moment. "Shockingly, in this solitary instance, Hedgehog is correct." Collin blinked and looked up at him in shock. "Even a reckless, incompetent fool like you can become a middling wizard by following instructions, Hedgehog. Ten points to Gryffindor." Collin's eyes couldn't get any wider.

"T…Thank you, Professor Snape."

"Dismissed." The class then left the room.

Collin was the last to leave after cleaning up his area, as usual. "See you tomorrow, sir."

"Must I?"

Collin merely smirked as he left his potions professor. He really did like the class, even if the teacher didn't like him. He'd get on Snape's "Adequate" list if it was the last thing he did at Hogwarts.