The Amazing Thing About: Friendship. Chapter five.
Towards the end of class, Eliza had somewhat managed a vanishing...Kind of. She managed to make her quill flicker out of sight before it reappeared burnt to a crisp. "Please don't ever try that on anything living." George smirked. She threatened to use it on him if he didn't put a cork in it. "Izzy would never." Fred piped up and it made Eliza pause. "Izzy?" She asked. He shrugged. "It was that or Eli." He said. Why did it have to be either? What was wrong with her name? She hadn't had a nickname aside from when Luke or Alicia called her El on the rare occasion or when Connor called her his 'little darling.'
"Whatever." She said and picked up her bag.
They parted ways after class and since she had another free block before dinner she retired to the great hall to study until it was time to eat. There were a couple of other students who'd elected to do the same so she took a seat, pulled out a book, and started taking notes. Eventually, she would have to dedicate more time to practicing instead of reading but it was only the second day. Best to get the basics down first.
Eventually, other students began to fill the tables and Eliza put her notes and book away as Hannah took the seat next to her. They talked about the herbology class that morning and Hannah revealed she'd chosen Aconite as her plant of study for their first assignment. It was an easy one, a guaranteed passing grade. Definitely a smart choice. When Kelly joined them the subject turned to their last class.
"At least you managed to turn it back with one try." She said as Eliza informed them of her success. She groaned at the encouraging words. "Yeah, now I just have to master vanishing without blowing anything up." She said before shoveling potatoes into her mouth. The girls then talked about the subjects they were most concerned with for the exams. It was the year that they needed to be thinking about their futures but Eliza felt like hers was already set in stone. She was golden when it came to potions and herbology. She just really needed to work at getting her spells down for the rest. Particularly Defense Against The Dark Arts. At her current stage, she could safely bet that she could defend herself from a hedgehog.
Laughter drew her attention. She looked over her shoulder to see the twins joining their friends at a table with another young man who was beaming from ear to ear. They were clapping him on the back and saying something but the chatter in the room drowned it out. "So the Weasley twins, huh?" Hannah asked as Eliza turned back to her plate and began cutting up some meat for Rikki. "Hm?"
"You were sitting with them in class." Hannah said. "Are you guys friends?" The question made her think. Sure, they'd been friendly but were they friends? She couldn't say just yet. "I guess." She shrugged. School friendships could be fleeting as most teenagers would agree.
"I'd be careful with those two." Kelly said. "Couple of troublemakers."
Eliza turned her attention to Rikki who was patiently waiting for his food for a change and praised him as she fed him. Kelly's words didn't surprise her much. The two were fun-loving goofballs from what she'd experienced so far. They always looked like they were up to something though. "I'm sure they're not all that bad." She said. Her friends back home didn't have the greatest track record of keeping their noses clean. Ugh, home.
At the end of dinner, though, she was eating her words.
As she was heading back to the common room she passed the hall she'd seen the twins down the night before. She could see a haggard-looking man stomping towards the end of the corridor muttering and obviously very aggravated. "Whole place flooded. Those little-" Eliza looked down and noticed there was water all over the floor spreading towards the main hall. She lifted her robes and kept her head down as she passed the man. She had a sneaking suspicion as to who was behind it but she kept her mouth shut and carried on her way. 'Not my business.'
As she set up in the common room she could hear her housemates talking about the flooded hall. Some of them were amused but others rambled on about how it was an act of complete disrespect to the school and its rules. Eliza kept to herself though. She doubted very much that Fred or George would care about what a couple of students thought. Was that what they meant when they said Ravenclaw believed they were better than other students?
The next day passed without much excitement. She, Kelly, and Hannah all sat together for classes and she only caught sight of Fred and George during meal times. It was an easy day for her because she only had potions and herbology for most of it, followed by ancient runes towards the end. During potions, she whispered helpful instructions to the girls and gave them her notes to copy which they returned before bed.
It wasn't until Thursday after charms class that her mood soured. During class she'd been introduced to Lee Jordan. Though she'd sat away from the twins they aimed enchanted paper planes at each other when the professor wasn't paying attention. It earned her a few sideways glances from her housemates but it was harmless fun. It wasn't until one of Lee's planes dive-bombed her desk that Professor Flitwick noticed.
When class ended she was ready to leave when Flitwick stopped her. "Ms. Montgomery. I'd ask that you stay behind for a moment."
Her heart sank into her stomach as she assumed she was in trouble. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the greatest idea to be horsing around in one of the subjects she needed to be paying attention in. It was a shame they didn't have any of her preferred subjects in common. Then she could at least make fun of them for once. Then again she had no doubt she'd be in a ton of trouble if Snape caught her not paying attention. The idea made her shudder.
"As the head of Ravenclaw house, I thought it would be appropriate to have a little one on one." Flitwick said and her nerves eased a bit. "We are a proud house with many of our students being the best and the brightest." Okay, that sounded a lot like boasting but there was nothing wrong with a bit of pride. She stayed in her seat not wanting to have to look down at the professor as he approached her desk. "I was looking over your school records. You are very gifted in potions. I spoke to Professor Snape and he said you were 'at the very least adequate.' which is an enormous compliment coming from him."
Eliza straightened in her seat glad that she didn't look like a complete loss to the head of her house. "And your test scores have been wonderful over the years" He paused. "But I'm afraid you're lacking when it comes to application." She was well aware. It wasn't exactly something she felt happy about. "I plan to change that." She said. He smiled. "That's the attitude I like to see."
"Now I'm not here to tell you who to be friends with" She could hear the 'but' coming. So she was in a little trouble. At least enough to earn her a lecture. "But if the Weasley boys are going to distract you from your work I would suggest thinking about what you find more important. Your education or your friendships." That felt a tad harsh but she could see where he was coming from. She'd have to buckle down and show that she was serious about her studies which meant no more paper airplane fights.
Eliza nodded. "I understand, sir. I'm sorry for fooling around during the lesson." She apologized. Flitwick waved it off. "It's to be expected. Just keep the antics outside the classroom." He said. When he dismissed her she was almost out the door when he called her name and she turned back. "I truly hope you find the second chance here that you're looking for." It was as if he was trying to tell her he knew about why she transferred without talking about it at length. She nodded quickly. "I promise." She told him before slipping out the door.
Eliza felt like she'd gotten off easy but out in the hall she was met by the very three people some of the brief lecture had been about. They'd obviously been pressed to the door trying to hear what was going on. Fred nearly toppled over Lee trying to move out of the way and George was staring at the ceiling as if it were the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"Er..Just waiting around to see if you got in trouble." Lee said shoving Fred away from him playfully. "He didn't hold you for long." George added.
Eliza shook her head. "Nah he just wanted to talk since I'm a newbie to Ravenclaw and all." She said. "Basically told me he had high expectations but the subject of you guys did come up." She continued as she walked passed them on her way to the stairs.
"What did he say?" Fred asked but she didn't spare him a look as they descended down. "Oh, just that I should think about if I value friendship or my studies more."
Lee was next to her with a look of confusion on his face. "Why not both?" He asked.
Fred answered for her. "Because her spell work is rubbish." To which she couldn't even argue. Instead, she stopped at the bottom of the stairs and shot him a glare. "You're right. It is. Hence why Flitwick brought it up." She was frustrated, though she knew snapping at them was wrong.
"I'm sorry." Eliza apologized and Lee frowned. She'd literally just met him that day and she was already being a jerk. "It's not your fault. I just have to..Go practice." She ran her fingers through her hair and headed off.
At least the practice room she chose was empty. She could handle her shortcomings in peace. While she worked she couldn't help but feel regret about the way she'd taken her frustration out on people she was trying to be friends with. The twins had looked mildly shocked at the way she lashed out and she wouldn't blame them if they wrote her off and never spoke to her again. It would suck but if that's what happened she couldn't be upset at them for it. She was on edge and it definitely wasn't helping her spellwork any but she chipped away at the time, determined to make even the tiniest bit of improvement. Rikki explored the room unphased by what she was doing and she envied the ferret.
Eliza worked through both study blocks and half of lunch before she called it quits. She had absolutely no appetite and went straight to her next class. Rikki had enough treats to keep him happy until dinner. The rest of her day was eaten up by Defense Against The Dark Arts and History of Magic. While she stayed close to Hannah and Kelly she kept her attention on her lessons.
On the way to dinner Hannah asked her if she was alright. "Yeah. Just got a lot on my mind." She said. Kelly raised an eyebrow. "It's only the fourth day of classes and you're already overwhelmed?" She asked. Eliza nodded and watched Rikki ahead of them. "Something like that." She didn't feel like getting into it with them though so she changed the subject to food.
Sitting down to eat Eliza was pretty quiet until Kelly brought up Astronomy which they had after and Hannah very confidently stated that it should be illegal to have classes after dinner. "Right? I just want to take a shower and go to bed." Eliza grumbled pushing her food around her plate.
"Well, hey, it's almost the weekend. Any plans?" Kelly asked.
"Sure. I PLAN to practice so much that I give myself carpal tunnel from all the wand work I'll be doing." Eliza said and Hannah laughed.
"Oh, come on. Take some time to relax. We can show you around the grounds outside the castle. Bring some snacks. It'll be fun." Kelly sounded excited and Eliza had to admit that her mood was infectious. What would it hurt to explore with them? She was curious to learn a little bit more about the place. Hannah was already listing off what snacks she kept stored away.
While the other two got lost in planning Eliza looked around the Great Hall but she didn't see a certain set of twins. She'd thought about looking for them and apologizing properly but it seemed that would have to wait.
Astronomy took her mind off of how guilty she felt. However, back in her dorm for the night Eliza decided to write a letter to her friends telling them all about her first week so far. She told them how much she missed them and how she was getting along in classes. She pointedly left out any mention of anything that had to do with last year. Sitting down and writing to them made her feel a touch less lonely but it would never compare to their late-night hangout sessions. Eliza tucked the letter away and lay awake using fond memories of her friends to ease her into happier thoughts and simpler times.
