Professor Ferrell continued to frenzy-work us with her incredible enthusiasim, which sometimes made us suspicious. She could also turn, at a moment's notice, to a sober and quietly disappointed teacher, or one of a number of personalities. It scared us!!
Of all the classes, Charms was undoubtedly my favorite. Professor Perene was a young yet wise teacher, and he taught me a lot. People teased me about being the "teacher's pet," but not too many, and I didn't mind. Teasing is something I can take.
Our second week at Hogwarts, I was sitting between Melissa and Benny at breakfast in the Great Hall when I felt someone looking at me. I scanned the Gryffindor table, and to my surprise and-slight-delight, it was John Weasley. He turned beet red and turned back to his breakfast, keeping his head down, but I had learned something, and he didn't stop looking at me.
Melissa never said anything, but I was sure she knew everything that went on with her brothers-the Weasleys were very close, and we usually sat with the twins in the common room to play Gobstones and wizard chess. They loved to play pranks, but they never cheated, just made us distracted by doing weird and funny things. The twins were fun, especially John. I thought he put on a special act when I was there...of course, that could have been my imagination.
Getting to sleep at night was easy. Tori Gibbons had bought every dormitory its own self-refilling teapot from Hogsmeade, with her own money (although we all pitched in to pay her back later), and you could also specify the type of tea you wanted and how much milk and sugar went into it. Since I was the main person using it in our dormitory, I could usually have whatever type of tea I wanted anytime, and I love tea, so this was great for me. Wizard tea is also somehow better than Muggle tea, although I still can't place the difference.
Patrick Aster, another Gryffindor first year, was incredibly funny, and he entertained us all in the common room by acting like a jester, telling jokes that made us all groan, and wild stories about his childhood. He became almost a celebrity, and people now called him "Amazing Aster" when they met him in the halls or in class.
Potions wasn't as much of a horror as it had been for Harry Potter way back then, and I was glad of it. Professor Snape was long gone, thank goodness!! Our Potions teacher was a smiling and softhearted young lady named Professor Lakaz. We all adored her extreme kindness. She never even thought about getting one of us in trouble!!
All of the teachers were gearing up for the Christmas holidays that were coming up, especially Professor Lakaz. She taught us how to make Automatic-Refill Hot Spiced Cider Mugs, and five different Christmas Scent Potions - my favorite was the pine-flavored one.
Professor Perene was excited, too. He showed us how to do really wonderful Christmas charms, like ones that would put glowing, sparkling stars on a tree in an instant, and ones that would make millions of tiny presents pop open in the air to reveal shiny confetti that would tumble down. And Professor McGonagall Jr. was seen always in the hall, carting around sprigs of holly, little mini-trees, wreaths of all kinds, or Design-A-Magic-Mug kits.
But even though this stirred up excitement in many, the thing that really made us students hyper was the announcement of a new Christmas event: the schoolwide dance!! This year's Santa Swing was sure to be absolutely marvelous, and Tori, Melissa, and I stayed up late almost every night, speculating who would ask each girl out.
Secretly, I wondered whether John would ask me to the dance. I had been getting to know him better and better, and the more I knew about him, the more I really wanted to dance with him on Christmas Eve. He loved to play with Dasher, and Dasher loved his company. He got good grades, and played funny pranks, and told jokes better than Patrick Aster's. But every time he saw James heading to Quidditch practice at night, his jaw clenched, and I knew he was still so angry about not being chosen for the team.
One night, after Tori and Melissa were both asleep, I grabbed a cup of tea and sat by my windowsill, unable to sleep for some reason. I looked across the beautiful Hogwarts grounds, the silent Quidditch field - poor John!! - next to the dark Forbidden Forest, the seven greenhouses lined up side by side, and Hagrid's homely hut. Suddenly, two silvery shapes came out of the Forbidden Forest. One, I was sure with a sinking of my heart, was Patrick Aster. And the other - well, I had only seen pictures in books - it couldn't be - but it was. Professor Snape.
Author's Note: Ooooh, I feel
evil ending it there. ;) Sorry, guys!! Anyways, I would like to
thank you all tremendously for leaving such encouraging comments
in your reviews. You keep me going, honestly you do!! Remember
to point out any errors if you see them, too - I love to improve
my spelling and grammar, and I don't mind constructive criticism.
Beware, though, of the *very* fine line between constructive criticism
and negative complaints!! Thanks so much for everything, guys.
Have a great day and I hope you liked this one!!