Thus ends year 1. It's been an interesting experiment, and I've found that I like it. As always, read and review if it suits your fancy.
Through A Half-Breed's Eyes
Okay
Okay.
Damn.
Well, I'm still alive.
My heart's pounding, I'm barely breathing, and I'm actually flickering between mage sight and regular vision.
Plus side! I'm not dead.
Not so plus side. I'm not sure that Dumbledore doesn't know what I am.
His ominous statement of bringing in a professor I can relate with is just that: extremely ominous. What is he going to bring in? Some high cultist of some kind? A demon?
Maybe a dark wizard of some kind. That'd make more sense. I'd not trust any of the others with children.
So! I'm back from the lair of the vaunted Lord of the Light. And I'm not dead.
I'm not going to sleep well for a while. That's for sure.
Void take me... I seriously thought he was going to pull a wand out on me, and just straight up kill me where I stood.
He either knows nothing; knows everything, but is lying in wait; or is planning on leaving me be until I do something unforgivable.
On the plus side, Ginny's also curled up into a ball, although I can say with absolute certainty that she's balled herself up tighter than I have.
It's really sad that I'm proud about that.
Exams were about as expected. My grades were sorta schizophrenic, because I really didn't give a damn about a few of the courses. Notably, Herbology, I did reasonably well, mostly due to just ignoring the harm certain plants could do, and pretending that I counteracted them. It's sort of like passing a boating course by jumping into the water and dragging the boat to the end.
History of Magic, I didn't even hand in the exam. Or look at it.
Or show up for it.
That might bite me on the ass later, but I don't really care. Hold me back, whatever.
Transfiguration and Charms were both okay, but not great: I'm good at those sort of things, but theory wise, I'm sorta sketchy.
Potions, I passed quite handily. You don't mess around with poisons, bombs, and healing salves.
Defense, on the other hand, was mostly just a hand-written test, wherein we were given a scenario, and asked how to react. My scenario was 'Confronted by Vampire'. My response was the standard 'Stake, Salt, Burn, Gloat.'
In those exact four words.
I'm quite happy to say I got full marks for it.
Ginny did well too: slightly better in the magical aptitude portions (Which is depressing), horrifyingly bad at potions (seriously, the teacher's an ass, but who wouldn't be?), and okay at the rest.
And now it's time to head home for the summer.
Eugh, on the train again. I managed to sit down with Ginny and Luna this time, so I wasn't entirely alone.
Luna was back to being weird. Her father must have smuggled her more medicine from home. However, her weirdness is toned down, compared to before. Perhaps since I know the real her, there's less need for her to hide? She's still reading, making strange observations, and refers to me as a 'Fel' (which is technically what I am, although I've not really heard that descriptor very often), but her eyes aren't as far away as before.
I really, really want to put a fully trained Luna up against Potter, just to see how much of the surrounding countryside would remain standing afterwards.
Ginny's finally recovered enough to be smiling and laughing with Luna's occasional statements. I mean, a few of the things she's remarking on aren't really that funny. Conspiracies, while unlikely, tend to be true more often than not.
Do I keep writing in this book over the summer?
Probably not. This is for my time at Hogwarts. I've got other books to write in for my summers.
Oh hey, Ginny's brought in some food from one of the carts. I'm gonna grab one of the boxes.
It's in the shape of a frog. Huh. And it's animate! I managed to catch it mid air, which is easier than expected, because it has a magic spark.
It smells pretty bad, but Wizarding candy is supposed to be weird.
Luna's trying to warn me off, so it's probably joke candy.
I wonder what it tastes like.
Huh, not bad. Sweet, a bit bitter. A little creamy?
Oh. Shit. So that's what Luna meant.
First things first, I am so glad that I got my diary away, before I painted the bottom of the compartment.
Chocolate.
Yup, I forgot about the demonic chocolate intolerance. Even worse, I...
Well, Ginny's back to being shell-shocked. Luna's looking at me like I've done something hilarious.
I managed to avoid getting anything on either me, nor Ginny, which is a definite plus.
Thank the void for cleaning charms.
So, the frogs are a definite no-go.
Unless I need an excuse to escape something. Actually...
I just made a grab for another Chocolate frog box. Ginny's screaming at me hysterically, and Luna's giving me a look like the cat that caught the canary.
Apparently stating that the chocolate was for 'emergency use only' was enough to calm Ginny down. Still, her hair's a bit frazzled, and the scent of yuck is still hanging in the air.
We're moving our things to another compartment.
I made another grab for the candy when Ginny wasn't looking.
The Jelly Beans are okay. The beans all taste sorta different, but they all have this similar undertone... and it's not like the flavors are very distinct. Not my favorite thing.
Now the green lollipop? That's something that's great. It tastes a bit weird, a bit like blood, a bit like that time I got struck by lightning, but other than that, it's probably the best thing in the pile. It's kinda tangy, bitter, and smooth. Almost like a lemon, actually, except more.
Ginny is once again looking at me like I'm crazy.
Seriously, I'm not suspicious at all when designing spells, but when eating candy, I've got a neon sign over my head?
Addled, that one is.
The station's coming up, so I think I should get off.
My first year's… been definitely different, that's for sure.
Jury's still out on whether it's different-good or different-bad.
All I know is I have a HELL of a lot of prep to do before I consider myself ready for the next.
Potentially dangerous old men, random monster attacks…
When I was told that there was a war brewing, I didn't believe it.
But now, I do.
Let's hope next time isn't quite as much of a disaster.
Just kidding.