Quest of the Seekers: Elements of Transformation
Year One at Hogwarts
Chapter 4: Starting School on Your Terms
Tyler and Matt took the staircase that led down to the boy's dormitories. They found a door that read 'First Years' and saw that it had four four- poster beds. Two boys were already in there unpacking their suitcases. Tyler decided to introduce himself.
"Hi, I'm Tyler. Tyler Solemn."
"Yes and I'm Matt Carroway. Who are you, mates?"
The boy with a confused looking face said, "I'm Zack Moore."
The other boy with curly, blond hair said, "Alex Nott."
"Well, I guess we'll be fellow dorm mates for the next seven years. I'm sure it'll be a great time."
Tyler and Matt started unpacking their belongings and then changed into their pajamas. They were in the process of going to sleep when muggle-born talk caught their attention.
"I mean, my father told me they don't belong here.
"Yeah, I got that from both my parents, Zack. Did you guys get warning to stay away from them too?"
Matt answered. "No I didn't but I'll keep it in mind."
"I didn't and I don't care all the same." Everyone looked at Tyler like he was the strangest thing to have just walked in. "Well, if they didn't do anything then why worry about them. They've done nothing so that I could see them as bad so why bother with it?"
"I guess you have a point, Tyler. Maybe your parents were all paranoid. Anyway, the thing we should worry is our first bit of classes so lets get some sleep."
Okays ran through the room and Matt put his head to his pillow and the others followed suit. Tyler, however, laid awake looking out his window and couldn't help but wonder how the year would play out especially after what he experienced that day.
The next day Tyler met up with Jacke, Reggie and Brad after breakfast.
"Did you get your timetables?"
Yeah, we did. What do you guys have first? From what I heard at least two of us will be together at a time."
It was true. Their classes were with two houses at a time. Tyler had Charms and History of Magic with Brad the Hufflepuffs. Herbology and Transfiguration were with Reggie the Ravenclaws. Finally, Potions and Flying Lessons were with Jacke and the Gryffindors. Nothing eventful happened for two weeks until the announcement of the first Quidditch match of the season was made. It was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin and tensions between the two started to heat up.
The two houses' arguments and fights made it so tense that one major sound could set up a duel in the corridors. The four boys, however, managed to avoid confrontations by hanging out in the library and under a tree on the grounds helping each other with homework and playing games. Brad was very interested in Quidditch since he never seen or heard about it before. After explaining the rules, the other three listened as Brad explained the rules of muggle soccer and compared the two. They continued hanging out together until one day when a fifth year Slytherin barged in on their fun while playing Exploding Snap. Tyler and Jacke were just playing alone by their usual tree.
"Oh and what do we have here? I don't think anyone told you but we don't hang out with any Gryffindor show-offs!"
Jacke shouted back. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"It means you don't talk while I'm talking. Silencio!"
Jacke tried to speak but when he opened his mouth nothing came out which made Tyler scream at his fellow Slytherin.
"Why did you hit him with that hex?! He didn't do anything to you!"
"He's part of that no good mudblood loving house so it was good enough for me. You shouldn't be hanging with them."
"Really?! Because I don't remember hearing anything from our head of house."
"Professor Reckler shouldn't have to tell you something which you should know."
He started to raise his wand. Then a voice brought them out of the argument. "Leave them alone!"
The three of them turned to see what the noise was coming from to find it was a boy taller than either Tyler or Jacke, had straight, even black hair and was in Slytherin robes.
"Leave the kids alone. They're just small kids playing."
"Yeah, well what if I don't? What are you going to do?"
"Well, I don't think Severus will love to hear a big Slytherin picking on a little one for no reason."
The fifth year got very nervous and started sweating. "Severus?...Er...Okay but don't think I'll take this lying down Black!" Then he stomped away.
"Are you okay?"
Yeah, thanks. Oh hold on. Finite Incantartem!" The spell shot from Tyler's wand freeing Jacke from the Silence Charm.
"Thanks Tyler. And thank you for helping us...er"
"Regulus. Regulus Black. I'm in fourth year, Slytherin House." He then turned to Tyler. "You must be Tyler Solemn. Severus told me about you at the common room when he pointed you out."
"Oh you know Severus? Wait, why did you use Severus to scare away that other guy?
"Oh, you didn't know? Severus, as a first year, knew more hexes and curses than most of the seventh years and he's gotten more since then. He can't stand it when big students pick on smaller Slytherins even if it's a Slytherin itself. Luckily for me, I'm on friendly terms with him and I don't like seeing young Slytherins getting bullied either. By the way, why was he bothering you anyway?"
"Oh, because I was playing a game with my friend Jacke here."
Regulus looked over Tyler's shoulder to see Jacke standing there. For a second it looked like Regulus had a look of hatred but then it was as if it was difficult for him to hate Jacke.
"Well, I could see why. We usually keep to our own house. Severus told me that you defended yourself and the other houses and it impressed him since no one talked to him so defiantly yet still talked to him with respect."
Jacke suddenly stepped up to Regulus and extended his hand for a shake. "Thanks for helping us out, Regulus. That was nice of you. I'm Jacke Walker."
Regulus looked at Jacke like he never saw something like him before. He extended his hand slowly to Jacke until it made contact and shook it. Then spoke. "It was...my pleasure, Jacke."
"We really appreciate it, right Tyler?"
"Right. Say Regulus, why not join us in our little game? What do you say?"
"Sorry but I still have homework. Maybe another time. Good to meet you Tyler and you too Jacke. I'll see you at the Slytherin table at dinner, bye."
Regulus walked back to the castle leaving the two young wizards with their interrupted fun. Reggie and Brad came and joined them later and were told about what happened. Reggie looked surprised while Brad's expression made it clear that he was mad.
"How could he curse you like that?! Maybe Snape should go and curse him. That should teach him a lesson. In fact, maybe I should go and give him a good hex."
Reggie decided to step in. "Look, maybe we should avoid confrontations ourselves. The Quidditch match is next Saturday and tensions are high between the houses. Lets keep away like we've been doing before and I'm sure we'll be fine."
The days leading to the match weren't easy for any of the young friends. Many of the older students in their houses pressured them to be against the Slytherins for the match. Jacke, Reggie and Brad didn't participate in any of the anti-slytherin talk as to have respect for Tyler. Tyler, however, wasn't in the same kind of situation like the rest. In the common room he was avoided by some of the students even in conversation. It seemed that they wanted to pressure him to be against Gryffindor but were afraid to. It seemed Regulus was right about Severus and his effect on people. No one wanted to trouble Tyler for if they tried to force him then Severus would step in. The only housemates that were talking with Tyler were Severus, Regulus and Matt. Tyler had become on normal terms with Severus and Regulus and they later became great friends.
Matt and Tyler always helped each other with their studies while together in the common room and became regular friends. If their studies troubled them which was mostly Transfiguration and potions, Regulus or Severus were more than happy to help out. It seemed Severus knew quite a lot about potions just as much as the dark arts and Tyler recommended that maybe he ought to become a professor for the subject. However, when confrontations between Slytherin and Gryffindor broke up in the corridors Severus became very ruthless. To Tyler, Severus seemed like a calm and good person so it was like he became a stranger. It seemed that the Marauders had put a trip jinx on the corridor to their common room and it caught Severus along with the other seventh years. Hexes and jinxes flew off until Professor Reckler came and stepped in and handed detentions out to everyone. Tyler felt that an explosion between the first years would break out like that and unfortunately it did.
During the morning mail an owl belonging to a Gryffindor first year had rammed into another owl causing the mail to drop on Tyler's dorm mate Zack Moore. Needless to say he exploded over this while holding the wounded bird.
"Whom does this owl belong to?!"
A Gryffindor stood up and took back his owl but Zack pulled back his hand. Jacke went to Zack and stared at him face to face.
"Just give him back the owl, Moore! It was just an accident."
"No! He has to pay for this stupid bird's foolishness."
Tyler had it with Moore's attitude so he decided to step in. "Zack, just give the guy back his owl. Jacke is right; it was just a stupid accident. So just give the kid back his owl and that will be the end of it."
Zack looked at Tyler like he was the village mad ghoul but gave in and handed back the bird. Matt Carroway however pulled Tyler to himself for a private chat.
"Are you crazy, Tyler? Do you know that by you being against one of us could get you in trouble with the rest of the house. You should have let Moore jinx that Gryffindor and maybe even let him curse that Walker guy."
"That Walker guy, Matt, is one of my friends. He happens to be a great guy."
"Okay, okay Tyler." Matt didn't seem to want to have an argument with Tyler. "I just think that Walker should've minded his business."
He sat back down leaving Tyler to change his seating. He decided to go sit with Regulus so he could cool off. He hated that he yelled at Matt but he left him no choice.
"Regulus, do you mind me sitting here?"
"No, come on. You know Tyler; you should make more of a stand because Severus won't be around forever to make sure you won't be bullied. Make a stand, Solemn for Merlin's sake."
"Well, I do know my variety of curses that I picked up from my dad. Defense against the dark arts has been easy for me because of that. I guess you're saying to defend myself in 1 duel to be left alone?"
"Yes, you should Tyler. Show them you're not weak. Make your terms known."
'Ok, I'll show them all that I'm not a pushover,' he thought to himself.
Author Notes: End of chapter four. I hope you enjoyed the story thus far.
ObssesedwithHarryPotter: Thank you for the tip on putting quotations on the dialog. I've gone back and fixed the other chapters.
Chapter 5: Tyler's first matches of the season will have quidditch action and Tyler will have a run in with the Marauders. Please Review.
Year One at Hogwarts
Chapter 4: Starting School on Your Terms
Tyler and Matt took the staircase that led down to the boy's dormitories. They found a door that read 'First Years' and saw that it had four four- poster beds. Two boys were already in there unpacking their suitcases. Tyler decided to introduce himself.
"Hi, I'm Tyler. Tyler Solemn."
"Yes and I'm Matt Carroway. Who are you, mates?"
The boy with a confused looking face said, "I'm Zack Moore."
The other boy with curly, blond hair said, "Alex Nott."
"Well, I guess we'll be fellow dorm mates for the next seven years. I'm sure it'll be a great time."
Tyler and Matt started unpacking their belongings and then changed into their pajamas. They were in the process of going to sleep when muggle-born talk caught their attention.
"I mean, my father told me they don't belong here.
"Yeah, I got that from both my parents, Zack. Did you guys get warning to stay away from them too?"
Matt answered. "No I didn't but I'll keep it in mind."
"I didn't and I don't care all the same." Everyone looked at Tyler like he was the strangest thing to have just walked in. "Well, if they didn't do anything then why worry about them. They've done nothing so that I could see them as bad so why bother with it?"
"I guess you have a point, Tyler. Maybe your parents were all paranoid. Anyway, the thing we should worry is our first bit of classes so lets get some sleep."
Okays ran through the room and Matt put his head to his pillow and the others followed suit. Tyler, however, laid awake looking out his window and couldn't help but wonder how the year would play out especially after what he experienced that day.
The next day Tyler met up with Jacke, Reggie and Brad after breakfast.
"Did you get your timetables?"
Yeah, we did. What do you guys have first? From what I heard at least two of us will be together at a time."
It was true. Their classes were with two houses at a time. Tyler had Charms and History of Magic with Brad the Hufflepuffs. Herbology and Transfiguration were with Reggie the Ravenclaws. Finally, Potions and Flying Lessons were with Jacke and the Gryffindors. Nothing eventful happened for two weeks until the announcement of the first Quidditch match of the season was made. It was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin and tensions between the two started to heat up.
The two houses' arguments and fights made it so tense that one major sound could set up a duel in the corridors. The four boys, however, managed to avoid confrontations by hanging out in the library and under a tree on the grounds helping each other with homework and playing games. Brad was very interested in Quidditch since he never seen or heard about it before. After explaining the rules, the other three listened as Brad explained the rules of muggle soccer and compared the two. They continued hanging out together until one day when a fifth year Slytherin barged in on their fun while playing Exploding Snap. Tyler and Jacke were just playing alone by their usual tree.
"Oh and what do we have here? I don't think anyone told you but we don't hang out with any Gryffindor show-offs!"
Jacke shouted back. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"It means you don't talk while I'm talking. Silencio!"
Jacke tried to speak but when he opened his mouth nothing came out which made Tyler scream at his fellow Slytherin.
"Why did you hit him with that hex?! He didn't do anything to you!"
"He's part of that no good mudblood loving house so it was good enough for me. You shouldn't be hanging with them."
"Really?! Because I don't remember hearing anything from our head of house."
"Professor Reckler shouldn't have to tell you something which you should know."
He started to raise his wand. Then a voice brought them out of the argument. "Leave them alone!"
The three of them turned to see what the noise was coming from to find it was a boy taller than either Tyler or Jacke, had straight, even black hair and was in Slytherin robes.
"Leave the kids alone. They're just small kids playing."
"Yeah, well what if I don't? What are you going to do?"
"Well, I don't think Severus will love to hear a big Slytherin picking on a little one for no reason."
The fifth year got very nervous and started sweating. "Severus?...Er...Okay but don't think I'll take this lying down Black!" Then he stomped away.
"Are you okay?"
Yeah, thanks. Oh hold on. Finite Incantartem!" The spell shot from Tyler's wand freeing Jacke from the Silence Charm.
"Thanks Tyler. And thank you for helping us...er"
"Regulus. Regulus Black. I'm in fourth year, Slytherin House." He then turned to Tyler. "You must be Tyler Solemn. Severus told me about you at the common room when he pointed you out."
"Oh you know Severus? Wait, why did you use Severus to scare away that other guy?
"Oh, you didn't know? Severus, as a first year, knew more hexes and curses than most of the seventh years and he's gotten more since then. He can't stand it when big students pick on smaller Slytherins even if it's a Slytherin itself. Luckily for me, I'm on friendly terms with him and I don't like seeing young Slytherins getting bullied either. By the way, why was he bothering you anyway?"
"Oh, because I was playing a game with my friend Jacke here."
Regulus looked over Tyler's shoulder to see Jacke standing there. For a second it looked like Regulus had a look of hatred but then it was as if it was difficult for him to hate Jacke.
"Well, I could see why. We usually keep to our own house. Severus told me that you defended yourself and the other houses and it impressed him since no one talked to him so defiantly yet still talked to him with respect."
Jacke suddenly stepped up to Regulus and extended his hand for a shake. "Thanks for helping us out, Regulus. That was nice of you. I'm Jacke Walker."
Regulus looked at Jacke like he never saw something like him before. He extended his hand slowly to Jacke until it made contact and shook it. Then spoke. "It was...my pleasure, Jacke."
"We really appreciate it, right Tyler?"
"Right. Say Regulus, why not join us in our little game? What do you say?"
"Sorry but I still have homework. Maybe another time. Good to meet you Tyler and you too Jacke. I'll see you at the Slytherin table at dinner, bye."
Regulus walked back to the castle leaving the two young wizards with their interrupted fun. Reggie and Brad came and joined them later and were told about what happened. Reggie looked surprised while Brad's expression made it clear that he was mad.
"How could he curse you like that?! Maybe Snape should go and curse him. That should teach him a lesson. In fact, maybe I should go and give him a good hex."
Reggie decided to step in. "Look, maybe we should avoid confrontations ourselves. The Quidditch match is next Saturday and tensions are high between the houses. Lets keep away like we've been doing before and I'm sure we'll be fine."
The days leading to the match weren't easy for any of the young friends. Many of the older students in their houses pressured them to be against the Slytherins for the match. Jacke, Reggie and Brad didn't participate in any of the anti-slytherin talk as to have respect for Tyler. Tyler, however, wasn't in the same kind of situation like the rest. In the common room he was avoided by some of the students even in conversation. It seemed that they wanted to pressure him to be against Gryffindor but were afraid to. It seemed Regulus was right about Severus and his effect on people. No one wanted to trouble Tyler for if they tried to force him then Severus would step in. The only housemates that were talking with Tyler were Severus, Regulus and Matt. Tyler had become on normal terms with Severus and Regulus and they later became great friends.
Matt and Tyler always helped each other with their studies while together in the common room and became regular friends. If their studies troubled them which was mostly Transfiguration and potions, Regulus or Severus were more than happy to help out. It seemed Severus knew quite a lot about potions just as much as the dark arts and Tyler recommended that maybe he ought to become a professor for the subject. However, when confrontations between Slytherin and Gryffindor broke up in the corridors Severus became very ruthless. To Tyler, Severus seemed like a calm and good person so it was like he became a stranger. It seemed that the Marauders had put a trip jinx on the corridor to their common room and it caught Severus along with the other seventh years. Hexes and jinxes flew off until Professor Reckler came and stepped in and handed detentions out to everyone. Tyler felt that an explosion between the first years would break out like that and unfortunately it did.
During the morning mail an owl belonging to a Gryffindor first year had rammed into another owl causing the mail to drop on Tyler's dorm mate Zack Moore. Needless to say he exploded over this while holding the wounded bird.
"Whom does this owl belong to?!"
A Gryffindor stood up and took back his owl but Zack pulled back his hand. Jacke went to Zack and stared at him face to face.
"Just give him back the owl, Moore! It was just an accident."
"No! He has to pay for this stupid bird's foolishness."
Tyler had it with Moore's attitude so he decided to step in. "Zack, just give the guy back his owl. Jacke is right; it was just a stupid accident. So just give the kid back his owl and that will be the end of it."
Zack looked at Tyler like he was the village mad ghoul but gave in and handed back the bird. Matt Carroway however pulled Tyler to himself for a private chat.
"Are you crazy, Tyler? Do you know that by you being against one of us could get you in trouble with the rest of the house. You should have let Moore jinx that Gryffindor and maybe even let him curse that Walker guy."
"That Walker guy, Matt, is one of my friends. He happens to be a great guy."
"Okay, okay Tyler." Matt didn't seem to want to have an argument with Tyler. "I just think that Walker should've minded his business."
He sat back down leaving Tyler to change his seating. He decided to go sit with Regulus so he could cool off. He hated that he yelled at Matt but he left him no choice.
"Regulus, do you mind me sitting here?"
"No, come on. You know Tyler; you should make more of a stand because Severus won't be around forever to make sure you won't be bullied. Make a stand, Solemn for Merlin's sake."
"Well, I do know my variety of curses that I picked up from my dad. Defense against the dark arts has been easy for me because of that. I guess you're saying to defend myself in 1 duel to be left alone?"
"Yes, you should Tyler. Show them you're not weak. Make your terms known."
'Ok, I'll show them all that I'm not a pushover,' he thought to himself.
Author Notes: End of chapter four. I hope you enjoyed the story thus far.
ObssesedwithHarryPotter: Thank you for the tip on putting quotations on the dialog. I've gone back and fixed the other chapters.
Chapter 5: Tyler's first matches of the season will have quidditch action and Tyler will have a run in with the Marauders. Please Review.