The next morning revealed a bright sky smiling down on the Great Hall as everyone breakfasted. Willy and Amadé, clad in their new House colors, sat at the end of the table again, Amadé chattering excitedly about the coming lessons while spreading enough jam on his toast to eclipse the bread.
"It's Transfiguration first with the Hufflepuffs, then Potions with the Ravenclaws, and then I might need a quick nap. Pass the jam, would you? I don't have enough on here."
Willy absently pushed over the sticky sweet spread. "Have you practiced any spells yet?"
Amadé shook his head. "Not really. I did a few and they backfired so badly my mum made me pack away my wand and not take it out until school. How about you, have you practiced?"
Taking a large bite of porridge, Willy looked thoughtful. "I've been making sweets and things since I was really little, so I guess you could call that Potions. Not so many spells, except the one to light a fire and a few others. I'm very good at that one. Incendio."
He flicked his wand at the tablecloth, and the white linen was ablaze. Amadé yelped, grabbed a goblet, and emptied coffee over the small fire, putting it out. Willy looked disappointed.
"That was my drink. I was drinking it. Why did you spill it out?"
Amadé sighed. "You set fire to the tablecloth. That's why. I'll pour you some more. Want some cornflakes?"
Willy wrinkled his nose. "I never understood why people sharpen pencils right into a box. Disgusting. Just some more coffee, please. And don't you think that's enough jam?"
"No," Amadé said readily. "I can still see the bread."
"Amaderl! My little warrior!"
A taller, more muscular version of Amadé came trotting up to them, grinning broadly as he ruffled Amadé's hair. "Welcome to Slytherin, cousin! And who's this?"
Amadé grinned back. "Willy Wonka, my new friend- Joseph Zascal, my favorite cousin."
Joseph put out a hand for Willy to shake. "Pleased to meet you, Wonka. Play any Quidditch?"
"Not a speck."
"Oh." Joseph shrugged. "Well... we need spectators too. See you around, both of you- I've got to get off and make sure Mezmir doesn't spike my pumpkin juice again."
"Who's Mezmir?" Willy wanted to know. Amadé shrugged.
"Dunno. We've got class in a couple of minutes, so finish your coffee and let's go. Tell you what, we'll catch Joseph at break and ask him to tell us everything we need to know about this place and everyone in it."
Willy swigged the last of his drink and stood up. "Right, off we go. I say, though, I wish there was an easier way to get around this place. Too many stairs."
Transfiguration passed quickly and relatively uneventfully, unless you counted Amadé turning his desk into a toadstool, and upon Professor Dumbledore's polite entreaty to turn it back, Transfigured it into a large flowering geranium.
"At least he didn't dock us points," Amadé reflected as the two walked down to the dungeons for Potions. Willy looked at him.
"Us? He said he was very impressed with my work."
"He was just trying to make you feel good," Amadé reflected wisely. "Oh look, here's the classroom. Professor Slughorn's teaching- Joseph told me he's our Head of House. Think he'll be extra nice to us?"
"Well, I do have that unidentifiable charm," Willy reflected. Amadé grinned. The first years of Ravenclaw and Slytherin lined up outside the classroom until they were told to enter.
Professor Slughorn was large, with gingery hair and a bald spot and an enormous smile on his round face.
"Welcome to Potions!" he exclaimed happily as everyone sat down. "This class is complex, yet straightforward; you'll do well if you've the spirit of it, as well as a good head for instructions and an innovative mind. There's that certain something about brewing a potion- it's an art, not a chore. I hope to be able to teach it to all of you throughout the years. Right then, let's start off the year with a simple Bulbaceous Beverage. Turn to page fifteen, please. Ingredients are in the cupboard, the method is on the board- oh, and as a special treat for the very first lesson, I am offering fifty points to the brewer of the best potion. Off you go now, and good luck!"
