Hogwarts Friends, Hogwarts Enemies

Chapter 2 – Fears and Flying

There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

- Pink Floyd, 'Learning to fly'

Severus was a little shy among his housemates, who all seemed to be making friends so quickly, but on the other hand, he was beginning to really enjoy lessons. Even in learning Muggle subjects in primary school he had always been far ahead of the rest and that was so boring, but Ravenclaws were the clever ones, and the teachers went on at a comfortable pace. He felt he was in his element at last.

Defence against the Dark Arts was easily his favourite subject. Professor Bulwark was a strange sort of man, with a sense of humour that crept up on you like a Tebo (a warthog with the power of invisibility), and lessons that frequently shocked the unsuspecting types. Severus felt all the better for this, as he discovered he had an instinct even for Bulwark's more unusual surprises – he was highly praised for this. Awareness was key when dealing with the Dark Arts, the professor told them.

Professor Bulwark was a radical, who had shown them each their Boggart and how to deal with it within the first week. With threats from Dark Wizards on the horizon, fighting fear was as important as fighting curses, and the Boggart was a way to do that. Severus's Boggart turned into a small crouching boy – oh dear, a victim of the Muggle bullies he had frequently, unwittingly, used magic upon when most afraid, but only enough to make them taunt him more because they perceived, dimly, that he was a weirdo. Severus cried, 'Riddikulus!' and the boy was robed, and had a wand. It was him, of course.

Potions was good too – due to the less intensive nature of the lessons, Ravenclaw shared them with Gryffindor, and he could talk with James and Peter, as well as their friends, Sirius and Remus. He liked Remus, too, who was quiet but seemed friendly. He wasn't sure about Sirius, who was rather sardonic, but James seemed to like him.

Severus quickly discovered he was talented at Potions too – he found himself surprised when he realised he had learned most of the Magical Draughts and Potions, correctly stating the ingredients of every potion they were tested on. No one seemed to mind that he'd placed himself top of the class so early, except perhaps for Sirius – or was that just paranoia? Sirius seemed a little put out that he got so many questions right.

Brewing their first potion, Severus was paired with Remus, James with Peter - Sirius was on the adjacent workbench with a Ravenclaw called Geoffrey Cooper, and they ended up discussing the whole lesson with the Boggart.

"Sirius had a horrible looking troll," James said, for Severus's benefit. "Nearly scared the rest of us half to death as well… He gave it clown's make-up – weird sense of humour Sirius has." He chuckled. "Remus had a crystal ball."

Severus looked at his quiet workmate, who was blushing. "Future scares me too," he said, in an attempt to reassure him.

Remus gave a small smile. "Why don't you tell him what yours was, James?"

James said, "Mine was the fear of people finding out my real middle name."

Peter sniggered, "Actually it was a gnome."

In spite of himself, Remus laughed, and Severus laughed a little too. James looked a little annoyed, but not particularly ashamed. "It's a phobia!" he said, defensively. Then he blushed and smiled. "Yeah, I know its crazy. They just freak me out…"

"What was yours, Peter?" Severus found himself asking the chubby boy, curiously. He didn't get a chance to answer, because James and Remus were now laughing so hard at the memory that Professor Samovar was glaring sternly at them.

Eventually they got their breath back, for Peter to say in a small voice, "It was Professor Bulwark." Which started his friends off again. Severus was fascinated. "What happened?"

"Well…" Remus began. "He was so embarrassed, not to mention scared silly by the sight of two of them in the same room, that he couldn't think of a proper Riddikulus, especially without offending Professor Bulwark and making the situation ten times worse…"

"But…" James continued, "Bulwark realised this and was laughing so hard himself he completely put the Boggart off. He gave ten points to Gryffindor for the best laugh he's ever had. Apparently, no one's ever had him before, which is surprising seeing as he does his best to terrify everyone."

There was a pause.

"What was yours, Severus?"

"Oh…" He paused. "A Tebo."

"What's that?" Peter asked.

"Invisible warthog," Remus explained. "Horrible things."

Whilst Professor Samovar was distracted with someone else's cauldron, James flicked open his copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to show Peter the description.

The lesson soon ended, and Severus reached for his timetable.

"Who've you got?"

"Madame Hooch… who's she?"

James beamed wide. "Flying teacher. Best subject ever. Apparently having the time of your life on a broomstick is actually work in this place…"

It was Ravenclaw with Hufflepuff in the flying lesson. Severus lined up quietly with his housegroup in one line, and Hufflepuff lined up opposite.

"Severus!" a girl squealed, and a couple of the Ravenclaws laughed.

"This your girlfriend, Sev?" It was Mandy Farrell.

"Oh… er, hi, Mandy…"

She beamed. "How's Orion?"

"He's… fine…"

Mandy continued to chat enthusiastically. It was silly, but he felt a bit afraid of her. Or rather, he felt afraid that she would start to wonder why he didn't answer back with such verbosity… that they would all start to see him as quiet and strange…

Meanwhile, the Ravenclaws were sniggering unhelpfully at his obvious awkwardness. Minutes later, Madame Hooch entered. She was an awe-inspiring sight, wind-swept hair and owl-like eyes. As she spoke, he watched his classmates itching to use the brooms. It was a wonderful moment when the broomsticks leapt into their hands… and soon they were tentatively raising into the air, the breeze whistling around them and echoing their cries of delight. Madame Hooch wore a pleased smile at their elation…

Mandy had already got the hang of it, looping around her slightly more cautious friends. "This is great… Severus, you OK?"

Carefully, he moved his broom towards her, and then dared to swoop down to where they were. The girls all giggled at his shaken but pleased look. "Wow," he said softly, for a rare moment allowing his emotion to show.

"Brilliant, isn't it?"

"It is," he said appreciatively. He'd never felt so free. Up here, feeling like a child of the wind… it was impossible to feel anything but just right.

***

A/N – I never expected that meeting with Mandy!

A/N 2 – I dug out that Pink Floyd lyric after writing this chapter, and it's just right :-)