The rest of the day was significantly more peaceful for James. He spent most of the afternoon doing his homework, with the Transfiguration assignment being longer than everything else combined. Bella returned shortly after lunch, feeling quite happy about her lesson.

"We all improved so much" she explained. "Nigel was being such a wimp earlier, but he was so good. If he actually did the test, he would have passed for sure."

"How did Darren improve?" James asked.

"How should I put it?" muttered Bella. "The last time I saw him, his broomstick kept on whacking him to the floor. Montague kept him behind so he could focus all his efforts on him."

"Poor Darren" James said sympathetically. "Nothing's going right for him. Here we are casting spells and flying brooms, and he hasn't done anything yet."

"You don't suppose he got into Hogwarts by accident don't you?" Bella wondered. "I know Abraham was joking earlier, but…"

"If Darren was a muggle, then the broomstick wouldn't have reacted at all" a voice explained from nearby.

Bella jumped, and turned round. One of the fourth year students had overheard their conversation whilst reading a book.

"Oh it's you Benedict" said James. "Bella, this is Benedict Falcon; Gryffindor chaser."

"Falcon" Bella muttered. "Are you related to Floyd?"

"Floyd is my younger brother" replied Benedict. "How did his flying test go?"

"He failed" answered James.

"That will disappoint him" said Benedict. "He's quite the fan of quiditch. Still, he should use this opportunity to strengthen his skills, so he can try out for the Ravenclaw team next year."

"Benedict, is it normal wizards to lose control of a broomstick?" asked Bella.

"It can happen, if the wizard has a poor grip on how to perform magic" replied Benedict. "Professor Longbottom lost control of his broomstick during his first flying lesson. Though from what you've told me, Darren's loss of control was far worse. If you don't mind me asking, how's his physical fitness."

"He's fitter than all of us" James replied, with a hint of jealousy. "Montague said as such."

"And before he came to Hogwarts, he played football a lot" Bella added.

"Yeah, he has all of his football awards decorated around the dormitory" James went on. "He said he was in discussions with Chelsea, Manchester, somewhere beginning with A."

"So his loss of control wasn't down to lack of fitness" Benedict muttered.

"I'm sure he'll get the hang of it now Montague has him all on his own" James said optimistically. "What are you reading there anyway Benedict?"

"It's called Lord of The Rings" answered Benedict.

"Never heard of it" muttered Bella.

"I have; it's a muggle book" James exasperated.

"I have a collection of over thirty thousand books in my dormitory" Benedict explained. "A lot of them are from muggle authors. I find it fascinating to see how magic is perceived from the perspective of a person with no knowledge of it. It's highly interesting."

James and Bella nodded awkwardly, then returned to their studies. They did not see Darren again until after dinner. He didn't say anything to them, and went straight upstairs to his dormitory.

"I take it that it didn't go well" Bella predicted.

"Hopefully Jackson doesn't give him a hard time" James muttered. "Though I reckon he's moaning in his pillows too."

He hadn't seen Jackson since Sebastian dismissed him. The cruel part of James' mind found it refreshing that he could do his homework, without Jackson boasting that he already finished it.

James didn't speak to Darren again until breakfast in the Great Hall. He was eating porridge with a moody look on his face.

"How did flying go?" James asked softly, as he sat next to him.

"I was eventually able to keep the broom still about a metre above ground" Darren sulked.

"That's good" James said encouragingly. "At least you're not being tossed all over the place."

"That's one way of looking at it" Darren muttered. "Everyone else can actually fly."

"Ah, James" Teddy Lupin called out from behind. "I tried looking for you yesterday, but I couldn't find you."

"I was busy with homework all day" James replied. "Talk about starting softly."

"Well I just wanted to offer you my congratulations for making the quiditch team" Teddy continued. "Just make sure you train hard, and prove that you deserved it."

"Yes" James murmured.

It now occurred to him that if he didn't do well in his opening match, then he could easily be thrown off the team in favour of Jackson Lestrange.

"Well you seem surprisingly on top of your homework at least" Teddy grinned.

"What do you mean surprisingly?" demanded James.

"You know exactly what I mean" Teddy said piercingly.

"Just what exactly did he mean?" Bella asked from the other side of the table, as Teddy left to chat with Victoire Weasley.

"I may or may not have been bothered to do any homework at primary school" James replied.

"Who'd want to do muggle school homework?" sneered Bella. "It's completely pointless."

"Dad didn't think so" James went on. "He thought it was important for all of us to know how the muggle world worked. Besides, if I didn't do my homework, I just got detention."

"If I didn't do my homework, I was forced to spend three hours doing lines" Darren added.

"I'm glad I never went to your school then" James gasped.

As James was drinking his morning coffee, the owl post arrived, and for the first time since he arrived at Hogwarts, one of the owls dropped a letter next to him. He grabbed and opened it, expecting it to be from his parents.

Dear James

I'm very proud to hear that you made the quiditch team, I'm sure you'll be great. Since it's Sunday, and you all have the day off, can you, Darren and Bella come and see me in my hut at nine o'clock. There's something I want to talk to you about.

Hagrid

"It's from Hagrid" James exclaimed. "He wants to see us all at nine o'clock."

"Do we have to" moaned Darren. "I've been on that broomstick for so long yesterday; I haven't had time to do any homework."

"Well if worse comes to worse, I'm sure you won't be forced to write lines for three hours" James replied cheekily.

James talked with Bella some more until the time came to go to Hagrid's. Darren was very reluctant to go, instead wanting to go to the library to start his homework.

"This better not take long" he warned irritably.

"There yer are" Hagrid announced cheerfully. "A better brew than anything them house elves in the kitchens can provide yer."

"Cheers Hagrid" thanked Jackson Lestrange.

"I'm glad you didn't have any trouble getting here" said Hagrid.

"The school prefects have begun escorting me throughout the castle" Jackson muttered. "Victoire Weasley walked with me to the Great Hall, Harrison Pucey showed me where you live, and Teddy Lupin's going to meet up with me here to take me to the library."

"It's ridiculous that it's getting so bad that you require an army of prefects everywhere you go" Hagrid bemoaned. "I should have told yer the day I met yer. At least then, yer would have been prepared."

"Thanks Hagrid, but I don't think that would have gone too well" Jackson grinned. "And one last thing Jackson; you share the name with a crazy woman, so prepare to be bullied all the time."

"I suppose that would have spoilt the day" chuckled Hagrid. "But with all this being said Jackson, I do need to talk to you about James Potter."

"What about him?" Jackson asked, his tone suddenly more sour.

"It's not his fault that you've been picked on" Hagrid told him.

"He keeps on being rewarded over me for being the son of the chosen one" Jackson argued. "I was better than him, and Sebastian still picked him to be on the team over me."

"That wasn't on James though" Hagrid explained again. "And it certainly wasn't on that boy Darren."

"Don't you start" Jackson moaned, now turning away from Hagrid.

"How you've been treating him was wrong, and I think you know that" Hagrid said.

"Maybe I criticised him too much" Jackson muttered.

"Picking on Crawford, whilst being protected all day and night by prefects makes you a hypocrite" Hagrid went on. "I know why yer doin' it; because it feels good after you've been picked on yourself. But that just puts you on the same level as the people who were bullying you in the first place."

Jackson didn't say anything for a while. He drank his tea in silence, then invited Hagrid's boarhound onto his lap, and stroked him.

"You're right" Jackson admitted reluctantly. "I'll apologise to him next time I see him."

"That shouldn't be too long" announced Hagrid.

The door to his hut was then knocked on so loudly, the dog lying on Jackson's lap jumped off, and began barking at what it viewed as intruders.

"Down Fang, down" Hagrid ordered the dog. "Come in everyone, take a seat."

Hagrid opened the door, and James, Darren and Bella all entered the hut. They were all surprised to see Jackson sitting down in one of the armchairs.

"What's he doing here?" James demanded.

"Jackson Lestrange has something he wants to say to you" Hagrid replied.

"Yes" Jackson muttered.

He got up and walked over to Darren.

"What is it?" Darren asked suspiciously.

"Sorry for making fun of you" Jackson apologised. "It was wrong, and I was just trying to make myself feel bigger. I'm sorry."

"Thank you" Darren muttered.

"There we are" beamed Hagrid. "Do you have anything to say to James?"

"I think I see Teddy outside" Jackson answered. "Thanks for the tea Hagrid."

He left the hut without saying a word to James or Bella.

"Rude" Bella called out after him.

"Ah well, at least he apologised to you Darren" said Hagrid. "It's at least a start."

"When did you meet Jackson?" asked James.

"I was sent to inform him that he was a wizard, and that he received an invitation to Hogwarts" replied Hagrid, whilst pouring some more tea. "All muggle-born wizards have a representative from here to show them how things work; like Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Platform Nine and Three Quarters."

"I guess that makes sense" Bella muttered. "I always did wonder how muggle-born wizards found out where Diagon Alley was."

"Does that mean you met Hagrid too Darren?" asked James.

"Sorry" Darren gasped, having spent the last few minutes on his knees and playing with Fang.

"No, this is only the second time I met Darren" Hagrid butted in, as he handed out some mugs of tea. "First time was when you all got off the Hogwarts Express."

"Professor Longbottom visited me" Darren clarified. "I met him the first time for him to tell me that I was a wizard, and then again a few weeks later to be taken to Diagon Alley."

James thought that the choice of professors was a bit strange. Hagrid being half giant made him stand out in muggle communities; yet he had to go visit Jackson in a crowded orphanage, whilst Professor Longbottom had to see Darren on his own.

"Speaking of Jackson, there's something I want to talk about with yer" Hagrid said, a bit more sternly than James was used to.

"If this has anything to do with him deserving a place on the quiditch team more than me…"

"This has nothing to do with that" Hagrid interrupted. "As far as I'm concerned, you both passed, so both of you deserved it. This is about what has been going on between the both of yer."

"What do you mean by that?" James asked.

"I don't want to see you fighting each other" Hagrid explained. "Yer Gryffindors, I want to see you support one another."

"It seems to me that he's going to end up as our version of Draco Malfoy" Bella added, and James nodded in agreement.

"It's exactly that sort of scenario, that I'm trying to avoid" Hagrid argued.

"Hagrid, can I play with the dog outside please?" Darren piped up, not liking the sound of where the conversation was going.

"There's a big stick near the door that he'll fetch if yer throw it" Hagrid told him.

They all waited for Darren to leave with Fang, before continuing where they left off.

"I'm don't want Jackson to become my rival" said James. "But if he's continuing to act the way he does, then I will…"

"I'm telling you now, I don't want to see any of that" Hagrid said authoritatively. "I've seen yer dad with Malfoy. I've seen yer grandad with Snape. You might have listened to yer father's stories, and be taken in with how heroic and cool he was against Malfoy, but I'm telling yer, Jackson isn't what Malfoy was."

"I swear he is at times" James muttered.

"Don't think like that" Hagrid reprimanded him. "Jackson's had a real rough start in Hogwarts. Imagine now being told that you've been invited to the best school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. You bought all yer books, wands and everything; you've been waiting for hours on the Hogwarts Express, and then as soon as you've arrived, everyone starts ganging up on yer, and treats you like dirt."

"I get that, and it's wrong what other people did to him" James argued. "But the way he's been acting all high and mighty towards Darren and me isn't right either."

"I never said it was" Hagrid admitted. "That's why I had a word with Jackson, and had him apologise."

"To be fair James, he did apologise to Darren at least" Bella added.

"He didn't say sorry to me" James said bitterly.

"Yeah, that didn't go quite to plan" Hagrid muttered. "The thing is James, you're the complete opposite of Jackson. You have the name of a hero, and are treated far better than Jackson because of it. No matter what Jackson does, promise me that you don't go looking to make him your Malfoy."

"Fine, I promise" James replied.

"Good" said Hagrid. "Now enough of that dour business, tell me about your first week of school. It'll be interesting to hear how it compares to your parents'."

James and Bella told Hagrid everything from their Charms class on Monday, to the History of Magic lesson on Friday morning.

"It was the most boring lesson I've ever been in, and I went to a muggle school" James moaned.

"You slept through all of it; you have no right to call it boring" complained Bella.

"I won't say it was good that you slept through yer first lesson" said Hagrid. "But let's just say that Professor Binns doesn't tend to give out detentions for it, if you know what I mean."

"I get you" grinned James.

"What was yer last lesson then?" asked Hagrid.

"Transfiguration" Bella replied tearfully.

"Ah" Hagrid muttered. "Yes, you don't need to go into detail. I think I know what that lesson was like."

"It's not fair" Bella cried. "How come teachers like Thicknesse exist at Hogwarts."

"Thicknesse's employment here is down to some weird legislation from the ministry I don't really understand" replied Hagrid. "Best advice I can give you two, is not to give Thicknesse any excuse. Just do yer lessons with him, and don't cause any trouble."

"Understood" said James.

"That was a bit depressing" Hagrid grinned. "Tell me how yer flying test went."

They spent a while longer talking about how everyone did in the flying test, when Hagrid's front door slammed open.

"Potter" Patricia Muggs, one of the Gryffindor beaters roared at the top of her voice. "Teddy told me you were here. Get of your rear end, and get moving."

"What's going on?" James asked in a dazed manner.

"Quiditch practise" Patricia shouted.

"Sebastian didn't say anything about quiditch practise today" panicked James.

"That's because I decided on it today" Patricia explained. "Unlike Sebastian, I don't think we're going to beat Slytherin just because we're Gryffindors. We're going to beat them because we've trained harder than them."

"Can't we wait until next week?" begged James.

Patricia didn't say anything, but glared at him, and started beating her club against the palm of her hand.

"No need for violence Patricia" Hagrid shouted back. "If James doesn't want to practise, I'm sure Jackson would take his place."

James leapt out of his chair at once, and ran out of the hut. Patricia smiled at Hagrid, then slammed the door shut.

"How do you think he'll do?" Bella asked Hagrid.

"If he's anything like his father and grandfather before him, he'll do just fine" Hagrid responded.