CHAPTER EIGHT: First Day

Evan awoke to Jason nudging him. As he opened his eyes, he could see Jason was already in his uniform, but also was wearing a black slouch beanie.

"Evan, get up. We're gonna be late to class. It's already 7:30" Jason told him. Evan shot up out of bed, grabbed his phone, and checked the time. Jason was right. Evan then looked and saw he didn't set his alarms. He set his phone back down on the nightstand, since phones could only be used in the dorms. He quickly got dressed, and him and Jason started running to their first class. Charms in Class 2-A with Professor Resparatin. When they got to the classroom, Athena was waiting outside.

"Wow, I'm surprised you made it on time. C'mon, let's get going" she said to them then walked inside. The boys followed her. As they sat down, Evan looked around the room. The tables were situated around the room, with a space in the center. Once all the students sat down, Professor Resparatin apparated in the center of the room and continued to start the class.

"Alright students" Professor Resparitan's voice was monotone. "You all should have your copies of Chadwick's Charms, volume one. Please take them out and turn to the introduction" Evan did just as the professor had said. The words on the page were fine-print, and Evan had a hard time looking at the page without his eyes focusing in and out. Jason leaned over to Evan.

"Is this class going to be only reading books, because if so, this'll be my least favorite" Jason muttered. Professor Resparitan shot a glare over in their direction.

"Mr. LeStrange. Why don't you read the first paragraph to the class" his voice now more awake. Jason froze when his name was said.

"Yessir. In the ancient world, magic was much more freely practiced than it is in the modern world. Many ancient countries, such as Greece and Egypt held wizards and witches in high regards. Oracles, for example, were usually practitioners of divination, and a few were even regarded as the early Seers. Charms were developed as a way to use magic freely and even occasionally for the witch or wizard to defend themselves" Jason read aloud. Professor Resparitan smirked.

"Thank you, Mr. LeStrange, for being my example. I do not allow talking in my class unless I give you permission. That is if I call on you, or if we are working on a charm. Now. Each volume of Chadwick's Charms is for a different year. As you are first years, it is logical to start with volume one. This volume has ten charms that we will learn throughout the year." Professor Resparitan explained while holding up the book. A girl across from Evan raised her hand. Evan noticed the Horned Serpent crest on her robe. Professor Resparitan nodded at her.

"Professor, will we learn about duelling in this class?" she asked. The professor let out a sigh.

"The basics, but I do not conduct duelling lessons until year two, Miss Dubach" Resparitan answered her. "Now, as you may have noticed, there are some Non-Ilvermorny students with us today. These are the transfer students from Hogwarts and Castelobruxo. They have chosen to stay for the school year while the Triwizard Tournament is conducted. Not every student was lucky enough to have been transferred for the year, as most of the students that came are old enough to participate in the tournament, and after the champions are chosen, even more of them will return to their schools."

Evan looked around the room and noticed a few students not in Ilvermorny robes. One girl caught his eye. She was wearing a grey sweater with red and gold trim with the crest of a lion on it. Her hair was bright red and her eyes were emerald green, more vibrant than Evans. She was sitting next to a boy who was wearing a uniform nearly identical to hers. He had bushy brown hair and blue eyes. Evan stared at them for a moment before turning back to Professor Resparitan. The professor smiled before continuing the class.

"Now, let's continue the lesson, Who wants to finish the introduction?" Resparitan asked. One of the boys from the Horned Serpent house raised their hand and continued reading from where Jason had left off.

The class let out about an hour later, the red-haired girl came over to the trio. Athena looked at her with a confused stare.

"Can we help you?" Athena's hostility rang through her voice. The girl extended her hand.

"I'm Lily Potter. I'm a Gryffindor over at Hogwarts, but I guess my first year's gonna be spent here, so I'm gonna try to make friends" she said, her voice topped with a Londoner accent. Evan shook her hand and introduced himself.

"And I'm Jason LeStrange" Jason said excitedly. Evan looked over at him, and saw some red in his usually pale face. She smiled at him. Athena rolled her eyes.

"C'mon boys. We gotta get to our next class. It's in class 6-A, so we gotta get going" Athena said as she started walking towards the stairs. Evan looked at her.

"Athena. You do know that we're not friends. You just kinda assumed we wanted to hang out with you since we were all sorted" Evan shouted at her. Athena stopped and turned around. Jason and Lily backed away and ran up the stairs. Evan assumed they were going to class to avoid the argument that was about to occur. Athena stormed over to Evan.

"We're not friends?" she said, her voice angry, but her face distressed. Evan saw the tears in her hazel eyes, reflecting the flame from the nearby torches.

"Not really. You just kinda assumed yesterday" Evan explained to her. The torches made the tears in her hazel eyes look golden. Athena wiped her eyes and muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry. I've never really had friends that I wasn't forced to be with before" she told him. Evan felt remorse for her. He looked at her. What he saw wasn't the same stuck-up girl he saw yesterday. This time, when he looked at her, she was broken. She was clearly hiding something behind a wall, that Evan seemed to break down with a single sentence.

"I'll be your friend, but you should've just asked, instead of assuming. But first, what's up with the act of not liking anyone when you first meet them?" Evan asked her. Athena's face lit up. She wrapped her arms around Evan. Evan stood there in shock. Athena released Evan and smiled at him.

"Well, I'd rather not show weakness if I can avoid it, so I decide to act like I don't like people" Athena explained, her eyes still wet with tears. Evan nodded.

"That's understandable. I'd love to talk about this more, but we should catch up with the others" Evan explained. Athena nodded in agreement and the two sped up the stairs, to their next class. They caught up with Jason, Lily, and the boy Lily was with in Charms class. Jason smiled at them as they came up.

"Athena's good. I talked to her" Evan told them. He then looked at the boy and introduced himself. The boy smiled and introduced himself as Hugo Weasley. The five of them entered the classroom to see Professor Finnigan sitting on top of a chest, with a dragon made of fire expelling from his wand.

"Welcome students! To Defence Against The Dark Arts!" the professor exclaimed. As the students entered and took their seats, Professor Finnigan stopped the spell and the fire dissipated. "Today in class, we're going to go over the syllabus for the year" he told them. As he started reading, Evan looked at the clock on the wall.

By the time dinner came around and all the classes had been concluded for the day, Evan realized that he actually didn't know much about his friends. So he decided that he would try to talk to them more at dinner.

"So, Jason" Evan said in between bites of mashed potatoes. "I know you share the last name, but are you actually related to them?" Jason looked at him, his eyes glossed over.

"Yes and no. I mean, my father was a member, but they disowned him. I suppose it was because of me and my mother. See she was what they called a muggle. I think we call them No-majs over here" Jason explained. "I guess the LeStranges are so obsessed with being purebloods, they don't even include family who doesn't stay what they consider pure"

"Right. Aren't they one of the few families who are still on the Sacred Eighteen?" Athena asked. Jason nodded.

"Only because they disowned my dad and me."

"That's harsh" Evan hopped in. Jason nodded.

"I don't worry about it too much" he said with his mouth full. Athena rolled her eyes. Evan glanced up at the professors, and saw Everwinter staring in his direction. Evan couldn't place if he was staring at him or someone, something, else. The phoenix that Evan saw on the tour of the school flew up and perched itself on one of the banisters above Fontaine. Evan stared at the bird for a while before it flew back out of the great hall. Athena looked at him.

"You obsessed with that bird?" she joked. Evan squinted.

"There's something not normal about it, but I can't place it. See my mom told me stories about Dumbledore's phoenix, and for some reason, something seems off about that one" Evan said just as Fontaine made an announcement.

"Students, Yesterday, we announced that out school would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament. Well today, we choose our challengers. You see, all day today, the students who wanted to possibly be the challenger from their schools put their names in the Goblet of Fire. So now, we make our choices, and who else to do it, than Mr. Harry Potter!" Fontaine announced.