The first day of classes is havoc. The Hufflepuff first-years all leave the dorm together, Sarah and I included. Justin's with us too, but he seems to have struck up a bit of a connection with Ernie. I'm glad, to a degree. Even though Justin's a nice guy, a good friend, he's also almost exhaustingly cheery and talkative, and it's too easy for me to slip up and say something that doesn't fit with my story as Ian Forth.
We make it to the Great Hall with no mishaps and without getting lost. I feel rather proud of this accomplishment, because I know with absolute certainty we're going to be getting lost a bit around the castle. At least I can find my way between the Great Hall and the basement without trouble.
Heaping my plate with bacon and toast, I almost knock it all onto the floor in shock as over a hundred birds stream inside. Owls, messenger owls. They're flying around, dropping letters and papers and the occasional parcel. A letter drops in front of me and I look up to see Henri's owl fly off. I look around to see that Sarah's gone to sit with Emily at the Ravenclaw table. I won't follow her. I haven't seen Sam yet. I open the letter.
John -
How's magic treating you? I hope your first day wasn't too traumatic and you met some good people. Just checking in to make sure everything's alright and in order. I don't know what to say - there's just so many things I want to know about where you're at.
-Henri
Be careful what you write. Mail mightn't be very secure. To anyone else, it would probably sound like a really pointless, awkward letter. I stuff the letter into a pocket as Sam falls into a seat beside me, lightly panting. I raise an eyebrow.
"How goes it?" I ask, nudging my plate slightly away from his flailing arms as he assembles his breakfast.
"Uuugh," he groans. "This place is a bloody maze." I just grin.
"What does your schedule say?"
"I have Herbology first, in Greenhouse 1. Where on earth do you reckon that is?" Sam replies in exasperation.
"Great, we must be in the same class then," I grin, happy that we'll be able to spend time together in class. He looks tired, and while one hand is shovelling food into his mouth, the other is rubbing at his eyes. Obviously his misdirectioned wander through the castle hadn't helped.
Herbology with the Gryffindors is peaceful and a lot of fun. Sam introduces his dorm-mates to me, and Sarah and Lavender Brown are caught up talking. Professor Sprout, our Head of house, finished talking about five minutes ago, introducing us to the subject and laying out the rules, expectations and vague coursework for the term. I think Sarah and Lavender met through their families because they already seem familiar.
The Irish boy, Seamus Finnigan, seems like good company, and Sam seems to have attached to him of all the Gryffindor boys. He also introduces me to Neville and the red-headed Ron Weasley and the famous kid I know nothing about, Harry Potter. He has an interesting lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, and his round glasses fit a lot better than Sam's. Dean Thomas seems nice enough as well.
A character that certainly intrigues me is Ms Granger - Hermione, I remember from the Sorting - who seems to have been put in the wrong house from what I've heard and seen. She has an answer for every question Professor Sprout asks, eagerly raising her hand.
After Herbology, I have Charms. After an hour spent with the tiny Professor Flitwick, I can predict that my next few classes of the week won't have much work in them. We'll just be going over introductions and settling into school and routine.
On the way between Charms and lunch, we manage to get lost on the way back from the South Tower. There are few students in the halls, most already down in the Great Hall. Just our luck that there's a ghost hanging around the fourth floor. However, when Ernie tries to get his attention, he turns and notices the group of us. He has dark eyes, wicked yet laughing, and a wide mouth.
"Ickle firsties! Lost in the castle, are we?" he says with an evil cackle.
"Uh, n-no. Sorry for bothering you," I stutter before anyone else can speak up. I really don't like this guy. He just laughs maniacally in response.
"Don't want to Huff and Puff your way down to lunch for a bit of fun?" he says, and evil glint in his eye. A sinister grin is stretched across his face. We shake our heads mutely, backing up as a group.
"Peeves! Stop harassing the first-years before I call the Baron over! Now, go away!" An older student with red hair wearing a Gryffindor tie approaches with hasty steps, an annoyed look on his face. Peeves wags his tongue at him and disappears into a suit of armour and takes a bow.
"Pretty Percy; you should be more like those brothers of yours." Peeves tsks with disappointment, emerges from the armour and swoops, laughing, down the hall, leaving indignant yelps from the portraits behind him as he upsets their frames.
"Follow me. You're looking for the Great Hall, yes?" A few stammered 'yes's and mute nods later, we follow the Gryffindor boy through the castle. He's a Gryffindor prefect, and Ron Weasley's older brother. We're back shortly, and I'm in no hurry to experience a run-in with the poltergeist again.
I sink into a seat beside Sam at the Gryffindor table.
"What happened to you?" he asks when he notices the tired and slightly horrified look on my face. He seems in a better mood but more sleepy than at breakfast.
"Peeves the poltergeist was going to help us back from Charms after we got lost," I gesture to the rest of the Hufflepuffs around their table. Sam sighs with sympathy.
"We met him last night on the way to the dorms. Percy told him off, but he dropped walking sticks on Neville's head before he left."
"Ouch. What did you just have?" I ask, putting some much-needed food on my plate.
"History of Magic. I almost fell asleep. I think Professor Binns is the most boring teacher in existence." At the look I give him, he defends himself. "Hey, I was one of the few people who managed to not go to sleep." His glasses slide up his forehead as he rubs at his eyes as testament to his words. "I don't know how Hermoine did it." We fall into comfortable silence, each in our own thoughts.
"Who has a class in the dungeons? It's more than a little creepy," I suddenly protest. "And why does a school have a dungeon?" Sam gives an open harumph, shrugging his shoulders.
Our potions class is shared with Ravenclaw, I discover, when I walk into class with Sarah. Ernie, Justin and Hannah are already here, but no more Hufflepuffs. Emily and a pretty Indian girl, Padma Parvati, are sitting in the middle of the room. Emily motions for us to join them. Hesitantly, I follow Sarah and sit on the outside, furthest from the two Ravenclaw girls, the Sorting Hat's warning running through my mind.
I shuffle in my seat nervously as three Ravenclaw boys sit behind me. As soon as the clock ticks over, the teacher marches in and stands over his desk. One look at him and I'm trying to keep myself in my seat. He easily resembles the Mogadorians that almost caught us in Belgium: dark hair, pale skin, dark eyes, and dressed in black. That, and a bad vibe, one that leaves me squeamish and thinking that I'll dislike this teacher.
He calls out the register. When he reaches my name, instead of just my surname, he calls 'Mr John Smith' with a sneer, followed shortly after by 'Mr Zacharias Smith'. I hate that my name, although fake, is shared with such a person as Zacharias. The little I've seen of him so far hasn't inspired me to like him. Kind of similar to Professor Snape. Finished with the roll, Snape begins talking about the class, like the other teachers had done earlier.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
I can feel the scowl on my face. My hands are clenched tightly on the edges of my seat in order to prevent me from doing something stupid; either leaving the class or saying something to this so-called teacher. The whole room is silent.
"Who can tell me what I would get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Snape asks the gaping silence. When no one volunteers an answer, "Boot?"
"I-I don't know, sir," one of the Ravenclaws behind me stammers.
"How about you, Macmillan?" Snape frowns, turning his glare to Ernie, who mutely shakes his head. "Asphodel and wormwood make an extremely powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death. Can anyone tell me where I would look for a bezoar?" At the continued silence, Snape's face twitches slightly.
The silence is broken by a loud crack! and every head in the room turns in my direction. I can feel my face heating up and look down at the chunks of wood in my hands, snapped off the chair.
"Mr Smith, detention after class for breaking school property. Is there a particular reason why you felt the need to break the chair?" Snape sneers. Everyone's still staring at me.
"No, sir," I gulp out. I carefully put the pieces of broken chair on the table and try to make myself as small as possible. Once Snape has finished glaring at me, Sarah asks if I'm okay. Then he gets us to work in partners to brew a simple boils cure, Sarah pairs up with me. It's the first actual work we've had to do today.
"Your snake fangs are too coarse. Trying to destroy more of my classroom with this abysmal attempt to produce explosive soup, Smith?" Snape slurred. Sarah puts a hand on my forearm in a calming gesture.
"Sorry sir, we'll grind them finer," Sarah says. Snape moves on. At 'Corner and Goldstein', two of the Ravenclaw boys seated behind me, he gives a superior sniff and his snarl remains in place, but he says nothing else and proceeds to the next pair.
"Finally, perhaps some talent has arrived. What Boot and Hoyle have here is what I expect from all of you. Two points to Ravenclaw," Snape says with a touch less derision in his voice, peering into the cauldron. It's obvious they're working in a good team and are further ahead than the rest of us.
At the end of the class, I'm in a worse mood than when I broke the chair. The professor's a big bully and seems to hate children, which is what completely stumps me as to why he's working as a teacher. I'm walking with Justin and Susan to History of Magic, having just been reminded by Snape to be 'back later this evening for your detention.'
History of Magic is just as boring as Sam had said it was. Professor Binns, an old ghost, has such a monotonous voice I wouldn't have believed it without hearing it. I don't remember anything Binns said during class. Now it's time for the dreaded detention with the Potions Master.
Snape has me cleaning all the cauldrons that were used during his day's classes, manually. Not that I know any magic that would be able to do the job. It takes almost two hours, and by the time I stumble into the Great Hall for dinner, Sam and Seamus are almost finished their food. Sarah is sitting with Emily at the Hufflepuff table, but they look like they're about to leave, having finished.
A few students look up and stop conversation when they notice me, but thankfully it only lasts a couple of seconds before they go back to their engagements.
"John!" Sam calls me over to him. I sit next to Seamus, because the seat next to Sam is occupied by Hermoine, and the opposite seats are taken by Harry and Ron. "You look like hell. What's up?"
"Detention with Professor Snape from-"
"So you did! You broke one of Snape's chairs! You wait til Fred and George hear about this. You'll be the new hero of the school! Nobody likes that nasty old snake," Ron butts in, in an awestruck and accusing way. I'm not quite sure what to make of him. This is the first conversation I've had with him.
"Honestly, Ronald! It was a stupid thing to do, and I'm sure John knows that. He doesn't need your hero worship for something that goes against the school rules," Hermione pipes up from Sam's side, looking rather annoyed. "You do know that it was wrong, don't you?" She continues, accusingly facing me. I nod, my eyes tracing patterns in the table.
"Calm down, Hermione. I don't think it was intentional," the Irishman speaks up, though he has a big grin on his face disagreeing with his words. Hermione just huffs with annoyance. Her outburst has silenced Ron, who's sitting opposite fuming.
"It was only a chair! I'm sure worse things happen every day... And how do you hate Snape? You haven't had him yet," I protest. Hermione gets up and leaves with a reproachful sniff.
"Fred and George like pranking him. He's the worst of the teachers, they say. And he's the Head of Slytherin house. And he was staring at Harry last night at dinner." Ron explains around a mouthful of food.
"Besides, that's not the point. The point is that you got detention on your first day, for breaking a chair!" Seamus finishes for the red-head. I feel like slamming my head into the table. Upon seeing who I suppose are the Weasley twins, Fred and George, approaching, I do so.
"Hey Ron," one says.
"This that brave Hufflepuff who broke ol' Snape's chair?" the other asks. At the confirmations from around the table, they chorus, "Awesome!" I still haven't raised my head from the table, but I hear them make their departure.
"Hey, John, you going to eat something?" Sam asks worriedly beside me. I pull my face away from the table, stick a potato in my mouth and leave with the excuse of sending a letter to Henri. Sam volunteers to come with me, and I don't decline.
Finally finding the owlery, I pull some parchment and a pencil out of my bag. I need much more practice with a quill before I can use one reliably. Sam however pulls out a quill and ink and starts playing around while I write.
Henri -
It's a castle. The school is a bloody castle. In Scotland, I think. I don't know if you're aware, but we're sorted into houses by this talking hat that sees into your mind. I've heard that one of my cousins are in Ravenclaw, but I haven't seen them yet - I don't want to make my life complicated just yet. Anyway, I'm in Hufflepuff house, so is Sarah. Do you remember Sam? His mum ambushed you in the Owl shop. I think we're pretty much friends, but he's in Gryffindor. Also I broke a chair today and got detention from the Potions Professor, Snape. He reminded me a lot of the people we met on that holiday to Belgium. I don't think they're related though.
Also, I ran into Justin Finch-Fletchley, my old friend. I don't want to go through that explanation again. Ian isn't such a bad middle name, but I was a bit worried he wouldn't believe me. Also, there's another Smith here. People keep asking if we're twins. The guy is horrible. I'm starting to get peeved. Oh yeah, there are ghosts here, and a poltergeist. The portraits and pictures move and are sentient. It's definitely weird.
Do you have any news back home? I'll see if wizards have any kind of news or anything tomorrow.
- John
Checking it over briefly to make sure I'm happy with it and that all my meanings are obscured, I tie the roll of parchment to the leg of one of the school owls, give it a treat and send it off. Turning back to Sam, he's attacking his soggy parchment with his quill. In places, he's drawn around ink spatters to form pictures of typical martians. Some of the larger dots have rings sketched around them, like Saturn. Most of the page however is covered in blotts and scribbles. With a final attempt that results in a series of loops concluded by a puddle of ink, he packs his things away with a sigh.
"You alright, John?" He hasn't mentioned the detention yet.
"Yeah, I just needed to get some stuff out of my system. Snape didn't help, but I think I'm good now." I sigh. Sam just nods in understanding.
"If you want to talk about it…" he offers. I think he wonders how I managed to break the chair. None of the others have the kind of quiet intelligence Sam seems to possess.
"Nah. I'm alright. Let's just go to bed. I could really use some sleep before tomorrow," I say with a yawn. Sam readily agrees and we head to our dorms quickly, breaking apart when he turns up a flight of stairs towards the Gryffindor common room.
The other boys - Ernie, Justin, Zacharias, and Wayne - are already in bed when I get back. I take no notice of them, and when I climb under the covers, I'm asleep almost immediately. I welcome it wholeheartedly after the day I've had.
A/N: Oookay sorry this has been a long time coming. There will definitely be no more updates til at least 11/11 when my exams finish. I'll also try and fix this up then as well. Enjoy.
