Year Three at Hogwarts
(---)
Chapter 11: Times of Friendship
Tyler, Morgan and Sam arrived in the common room to find that there were a few bits of food and dessert spread all around which he saw weren't so different from that of the Great Hall's. He suspected that somehow, some food must've been stolen but at the moment, he could care less. Tyler and Morgan went off to some corner with a bit of food while Sam went off to be among the first and second years.
While Tyler was eating, his mind went back to the play Morgan made before to block Jacke's advance to the snitch. If Morgan hadn't blocked Jacke then Jacke would've got it while he was still trying to get to him.
"Hey Morgan," Tyler said while they were eating together in peace. "Thanks, for helping me out with the snitch. I couldn't have found it without you and you helped me catch it by delaying Jacke."
"Oh...no problem. Happy to do it. We are on the same team, you know," she said looking down, hiding her face.
"Well thanks anyway Morgan. I probably wouldn't have won without your help. I'll find some way to make it up to you."
At that moment, Regulus and Matt slumped beside them with cups of cider and pumpkin in their hands.
"What a fantastic game mates," Matt said cheerfully putting his cups down and placing his shoulders around both Tyler and Morgan's necks.
"Yeah, you started Slytherin well by winning the very first match of the season. Builds up the confidence to keep it up." Regulus then bent down to look at Morgan with proud eyes, like how someone would do so for a younger sibling. "Morgan, you were truly fantastic. I didn't expect you to be so good in this first game. You were really showing the bludgers you hit and your targets that you weren't to be thought weak just because you're a girl."
"Oh, so you expected me to be bad," she said glaring at Regulus and crossing her arms but she had a slight smile on her lips.
"A little," Regulus said before he had to dodge Morgan's attempt to smack his head.
They continued sitting there, chatting about the game and the third year friends also talked of the approaching Hogsmeade trip one week away.
(---)
The school, on the following day, had to endure hearing the slytherins' taunts of how they started the year with a good quidditch lead. Jacke noticed that some of the older and bigger slytherins gave him narrow eyes of suspicion and hatred while others gave him fake sorrow and concern about losing the game, which made him clench his teeth every time he heard a smart remark.
Luckily, he had Reggie, Brad, Tyler, Max and Jennifer comforting him and making sure that he didn't play into their hands and do something that would land him in detention. Jacke was also happy to see that when there was a crowd of the usual older slytherins coming close to him, Regulus was among them and got them to change their direction by pointing towards the direction of the Great Hall where some girls were. He caught Regulus winking at him while Jacke responded by trying not to look at him and mouthed an inaudible "Thank You."
Reggie and Brad were just finishing up an essay for Professor Reckler on the pros and cons of Pepper Up Potion, which mainly was a potion which was like magical steroids and would increase your speed, stamina and reaction. But it would also raise your heart rate and would make the person stressful and violent like. They were working on how to explain with 12 inches when Tyler and Jacke sat by them.
They sat and started to talk on the latest quidditch game. Jacke told them of the taunts that the slytherins were giving him whenever he was in the area.
"They keep saying, "Oh Walker, sorry there. You must be so devastated to be out manned by a girl." I almost jinxed them but Max and Jenny stopped me."
"Jacke, ignore what the older slytherins are saying. You were great, believe me, I really thought you would beat Tyler from when you shot out to the snitch when Tyler wasn't looking," Reggie said to Jacke patting his shoulder.
"Standing right here," Tyler said raising his hand for attention, which made Jacke crack a good smile. "Anyway, you should be proud of yourself. No one has ever dodged one of Morgan's attacks cleanly like you did," he added at Jacke's questionable face that he made when Tyler thought he should be proud. "I barely do that, Morgan always makes the bludgers glaze me every time she aims for me."
"Well...when you put it that way. Stellers was pretty good, I admit that. She did get me worried that I was going to be flying straight down to the ground if I hadn't stopped when I did."
"Yeah, well I owe alot to Morgan since because of her, we're tied now. Two a piece."
"Not for long Tyler," Jacke said with his eyes full of challenge.
"I just hope that the rest of us could avoid Stellers' attack when we play against you," Brad said looking up from his essay. "By the way mates, where should we meet on Saturday, before we get to Hogsmeade?"
The other three seekers put some thought on where they should meet up with each other when Tyler got a good place.
"Why not meet right on the outside, to the left of the General Doors. That way, we can't miss each other when we leave the castle?"
The other three nodded at this while they all made plans on where to go and what to buy when they went through Honeydukes. Reggie pointed out that if they wanted to save room for the Halloween Feast, they better not overstuff themselves.
(---)
The days following had started to be filled with so much anticipation for the weekend that the days started to seem longer as people wanted the week to end.
Professor Squall sensed their anxiousness and he moved from teaching them about dark creatures to learning some good spells that would come in handy for dueling. He assigned all the third years to practice the advanced stunning hex. He spoke on the matter during Tyler's class with the slytherins
"I know that this spell is usually taught during the course of your fourth year but I think it's best to learn this one as soon as possible since it's a very popular and frequently used spell in dueling for as long as I could remember hearing. I think it will take the whole week to get you all to master it so I will set up targets for you to practice on. Then on Friday, I will pair you all up. Okay, you can start."
Everyone in the class went up to a target and started to shout out the 'Stupefy' incantation but all were having difficulty seeing any effect. Tyler, however, was the only one to use the hex correctly, which he assumed that he and his classmates shouldn't be so surprised of. He did prove to them his ability with this spell when he battled Jacke in the tournament last year. Tyler could still remember when his father showed him the spell before he had bought a wand. His father wanted Tyler to be able to defend himself should anything happen to him in the event that their secret got out.
After he used it five straight times without failure, Professor Squall pulled Tyler aside.
"Mr. Solemn, you're very good with the spell. From what Ms. Stellers tells me, you performed the spell flawlessly last term."
Tyler put his hand behind his hair, a little in embarrassment. "Yeah, err...my dad...he taught me how to perform it."
"Well, I must say that he obviously did a great job. Mr. Solemn, would you mind if I call you by your first name when we are in private?"
"Err, no, of course not Professor," Tyler said a little confused and surprised at actions of his teacher.
"All right, why don't you try and help your classmates out a bit."
Tyler went over to help Morgan and Matt with their stunners. It was hard to get them to have progress but he knew how to handle this from the experience of teaching this and a few other spells to his fellow seekers last term, after the tournament they were in. Tyler also caught Professor Squall looking at him very peculiarly. It wasn't a look that made Tyler worried, just curious.
(---)
After a week of waiting, it was not only Saturday, and not only Halloween, it was also the day of the Hogsmeade trip. Almost every third year woke up a little early on that day and were all gathered in their common rooms. The seekers were no exceptions; they too were in the common rooms talking among a few of their house members.
Brad was talking to his fellow housemate, Hawkster Jones in his year. Ever since they fought in the tournament, they've gotten to know each other better. Hawkster seemed to be a little on the hard side but was actually quite nice. Just like the case with Jacke's housemate comrades, Hawkster told Brad that he first thought Brad as the person no one in their house should trust with beliefs of Tyler cursing himself, Reggie and Jacke. But after seeing the way the seekers battled each other, Hawkster saw that maybe that wasn't the case.
Brad was also starting to feel a little like his old self before he came to Hogwarts and his confidence was building in the area of friends. He even told Hawkster a bit of his life before Hogwarts that he didn't even tell anyone else other than Reggie. He never even told Tyler and Jacke that he had a baby sister. Hawkster was a very important friend to Brad since he thought it was nice that he had someone in his own house to talk to for a change. He did really like his friends but he needed friends in his own house too.
When it became time, everyone who was going to the village started to leave the common room for the main doors.
In the Ravenclaw common room, Reggie talked with a few of the girls waiting or not waiting for the announcement to leave for the village and ended up making a few giggle with some jokes. Reggie flirted with a few of them which made the giggling more frequent but Reggie, unlike his other friends, liked hearing girls giggle. He started to notice how beautiful girls looked lately and started to fool around more, and he enjoyed it. He had already set a date for the next Hogsmeade trip. Obviously, the girls liked him back and Reggie started to be surprised with his new confidence as of late. He had made a new friend in his year by the name Laura Collins after the tournament last year.
'Tyler's slytherin confidence must be rubbing off on me,' he thought a little gratefully. 'But...I guess I have a bit more since Tyler wouldn't understand girls if someone taught him about them for a hundred years, kind of like Jacke too.'
Reggie didn't think of himself as a handsome guy but he found out that even he wasn't smart enough to not see that he was starting to be. He guessed the reason that he was starting to be confident with girls was because he notice that a few of them in the library always seemed to double back every time he was sitting at a section just to pass by him. He even caught a few looking at him from their desks at class, the Great Hall, and of course the library with attentive eyes.
He asked Laura about it since it was obvious that she was in on girl gossip and told him that girls saw that he had handsome blonde hair, nice gray eyes, was a good quidditch player and was mysterious based on his friendship with the other seekers especially Tyler. Laura told him that this is what girls in his house saw in him.
Reggie kept talking among the girls until it became time to go to the school's entrance so he left with Laura and a few of her girlfriends down from Ravenclaw Tower.
Jacke decided to wait outside the common room until it was time to go since he hated hearing the giggling a few of the older girls...and his age and younger when Hogsmeade was involved. He just had his back to a wall and was enjoying the giggle free area until he felt a tap on the shoulder and saw Jennifer at his left side.
"Hi, Jenny."
"Hi. I see you're not waiting in the common room for the time to go."
"The giggling the girls are doing was giving me a headache. What's wrong with them anyway?"
"Oh, it's just that a few of the older ones use these times to go on dates and stuff."
"Oh." Jacke was hoping that he wasn't turning red.
"So, you're going with your friends huh?" It wasn't really a question.
"Yeah, we're planning to just hang around and see what the best that the village has to offer. What about you?"
"Oh, I'm just going to walk a little about with Max and a few others. Maybe we'll bump into each other later."
"Yeah hopefully we will." Jacke was starting to feel a little hot in the collar but was saved any more nervousness when Max came around.
"There you are Jacke. I was looking for you. It's a madhouse in there huh?"
"Why do you think I'm out here for?" Jacke said a little too glad in his opinion.
With Max there, Jacke was feeling more relaxed and the three Gryffindors talked amongst themselves until it was time to get going.
Tyler was just lounging on a chair with his head laid back trying to catch some sleep since he had a hard time sleeping last night with the thrill of the trip coming up that he was barely aware of anything around him. He was until he felt a big tap on his shoulder that was too aggressive to be from a friend. He looked and saw that it was the seventh year Rebastian Lestrange with the other seventh years including his quidditch captain Tanner.
"Well Solemn, I hear from one of our girls in our year that she caught sight of you still hanging out with those loser of friends of yours," Lestrange said talking to Tyler like he was holding a wand at him.
"You mind explaining that to me," Tanner said narrowing his eyes at him like he did during his overstated lecture.
"None of your business," he said glaring at them with the sharpest gaze he could muster.
"I would've thought that they would've stopped. Well at least with Falkner and that Carter Mudblood after what happened before the game last week."
"What?" he asked in surprise.
"Oh you didn't know. Let's just say that fell victim to a well needed talk," Lestrange said with a sneer creating snickers and grins from the ones around him.
"Get lost," he responded in a tone that he was deeply angry and not to mention annoyed.
"Oh...very forceful Solemn. That kind of tone will surely make people fear you," Tanner said mocking Tyler's tone.
"Hey, leave me alone with him," Lestrange said to them. When they left, Lestrange took a chair next to Tyler as if they were about to have a friendly conversation. Tyler really wanted to jinx Lestrange right then and there but he knew that it was impossible since he could see that his buddies were still close by. "I'm going to give you a piece of advice between us slytherins. Lose the Gryffindor and the mudbloods and you'll thank the rest of us for getting rid of your problems before they could even start. You'll be bait for the Dark Lord if you don't."
Tyler clenched his teeth under his lips and balled his hands into fists that were threatening to pierce his skin. "Yeah, definitely won't want to do something he won't like huh?" he said sarcastically.
Lestrange gave him a cold glare after mocking Voldemort. 'If he only knew that he's my cousin,' Tyler thought with ironic humor.
"You'll be made to regret that. Mark my words."
Then he went and walked off leaving Tyler wondering what Lestrange meant by that. He didn't have much time to worry about that since Matt and Morgan joined up with him and he instantly forgot he was angry and they talked amongst themselves until it was time to go.
(---)
The four seekers waved bye to their respective friends and joined each other by the doors like they agreed. They all went over in the back of the line of students and saw the wonderful village of Hogsmeade. The first thing that all four of them did was put on a fascinated look of impressed faces.
"Wow," Reggie said looking around at the buildings and houses.
"Come on," Brad said excitingly. "We didn't plan our day to just be looking through it. Let's go."
They started to walk throughout Hogsmeade, going no particular place first. They were just taking in the sight. Tyler had always lived at the Slytherin Mansion and only saw a few times, Diagon Alley so it was a good sight to see how it was in a regular wizarding town. Jacke lived in a muggle house that his parents expanded the inside so it was larger then you could expect. But, despite him living among muggles, he didn't really know that much about them since he was always surrounded by magic at home and whenever he went to wizarding events and to Diagon Alley. Reggie and Brad both also lived in muggle neighborhoods so it was the first time that they got to see a regular wizarding neighborhood for a change.
As they took in the scenery, the air around the village was very different from the sight. Everywhere they looked, they saw grown up villagers looking on alert and some even had wands in their hands. It was no mystery why not as they saw fliers of Caution on store windows and posts. They went over to one and after reading it understood completely.
Caution!
Due to the present events, know that it is best to stay on alert in the event of a Death Eater attack from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Keep yourselves armed with wands at all times for your defense. If you come across a suspicious character(s), please don't linger and report to the Ministry of Magic. This is for your own safety.
Tyler let out a breathe of air at this sign which Jacke caught out of the corner of his eye.
"Tyler, come on. Let's forget about your git cousin and have fun like we wanted."
Reggie hit his shoulder and hushed him. "Jacke, you really are picking a nice place to have this conversation." Reggie looked around and saw that thankfully, no one was around to pick up on that.
"No, it's okay Reggie. Don't worry. He's right. Let's forget about my crazy cousin and have fun."
The four of them headed over to the joke shop of Zonko's. There they found a number of jokes and fun wizarding objects. Reggie bought himself some Filibuster Fireworks. Brad bought some of the fireworks and a pack of Dungbombs. Tyler bought himself some Stink Pellets and Jacke got himself Rainbow Changing Ink.
At the request of Tyler, the seekers trudged off toward the Shrieking Shack. It was a tall, little shack that was completely boarded and sealed up. It was also fenced off but the four of them could see that it would make very little difference. The whole building itself gave off a feeling that everyone should stay away if they knew what was good for them.
After looking around the shack for a few minutes, Reggie pulled them off to visit the local village bookstore. Tyler and Jacke tried to resist but Reggie along with Brad's support convinced them to come along. When they stepped in, they noticed that it was a little on the empty side which the two fun going friends tried to point out to Reggie and Brad but they countered saying that that would make it better to look around. Reggie looked around some of the more boring looking books while Jacke, Tyler and Brad went off to look for more interesting stuff. Brad went and got a book on magical devices.
"Well, I am part of the wizarding world now so might as well learn how they run things," he commented.
Jacke and Tyler looked at each other with a dazed look. Brad was starting to like studying and reading spare stuff a little too much which they were sure was of Reggie's influence. After Reggie and Brad picked out a book, Reggie started to say that Tyler and Jacke should at least get one. They tried to tell him that they didn't want anything to read since the schoolbooks were enough. Brad whispered something to Reggie's ear and they both set off without them further down the shop. They said that they could go wait outside while they got one more thing.
"Is it me or is Reggie becoming more involved into his studies?" Tyler asked Jacke.
"Yeah, I've noticed. He says that with the extra studying that he's doing now, he won't be regretting it later."
"What about?"
"Don't know. I think he's got Brad in on it."
"Yeah, and what is with the book Brad wanted. If he wanted to know about magical devices, he could just ask us about them. My family kept quite a few back at home so I know quite a bit about some, even some of the darker ones."
"Yeah...but still, it's not like even we know them all."
"True," Tyler said nodding.
Then their fellow seekers came out of the store with a big bag holding their new purchases.
"So we don't have to get a book?" Tyler said a little too hopefully.
"Nice try," Reggie said narrowing his eyes at them. "We got the two of you something that has nothing to do anything with work at all. Brad came up with it. He thought that if it was on something that the two of you love then you wouldn't mind reading it."
"Really? What?" Jacke said a little doubtfully.
"This," Brad said pulling out a book. The title read, The Great Almanac of Quidditch.
Tyler and Jacke were actually a little speechless that Reggie and Brad succeeded in getting a book that they would probably not mind reading at all. Jacke even made a grab for it but Brad pulled it back into the bag.
"Later."
The four set off to where Jacke wanted to go next which was in Honeydukes. They bought a good selection of Droobles Blowing Gum, Honeydukes Chocolate Bars, Fizzing Whizzes, Bertie beans, Sugar Quills. They were all about to start eating some until Brad pointed out that there was still the Halloween Feast back at the castle.
They sat on a bench just looking out at the village, not saying a word. They merely looked off and just enjoyed each other's company. Then out of nowhere, Reggie said something that hadn't been on their minds after the first week of school.
"Guys, I want you guys to know that I've been doing a little training in my spare time to prepare for the time that we're going for the potion."
"Training?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah, I've just been trying to get myself to manipulate and create wind faster and also mastering my eagle form so I could have a better advantage for whatever is through the portal that your ancestor hid the potion. I've also been reading up good spells that might be helpful and also looking at a few good creatures that might be good for guarding. Brad's been helping me a bit with that and also has been a training partner on the other side of the lake, outside where our old cave was. Haven't any of you been training? I know Brad has. What have the two of you been doing?"
Tyler looked down on the ground. He had completely left what was possibly the greatest wonder of the wizarding world completely slip his mind with quidditch training along with Sam and Morgan and with the excitement of Professor Squall's defense classes. Jacke was smitten with Jennifer and with quidditch training with Max.
"Well, I haven't really trained myself good yet but I'll start soon, promise," Tyler said holding up two fingers straight ahead vertically.
"I'm in. I need the practice. I just hope I haven't gotten rusty."
"Well, I hope so or you could come out inside out from whatever is through that portal."
"Relax Reggie," Tyler said putting his hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. We've been through a lot together and we'll get through this together."
"Yeah," Jacke said backing his mate up. ""We always find a way", remember?"
Then they all reached forward and piled their hands on top of each other, threw them up, made them all come down made make a fist like they were grabbing a snitch and changed "Seekers" together.
After that, they left the bench they shared and went for the last place in which Brad asked if they could go, The Three Broomsticks. The walked in at the sight of a wizard café. Tyler went and ordered four butterbeers while his friends found their own booth. They all tapped their butterbeer bottles together and started to drink. They just talked peacefully until Reggie saw Professor Squall walk into the shop and take a seat not too far from them.
"Hey look, Professor Squall must be here to check for order again," Reggie said pointing over to him with a butterbeer still clenched with it.
"What do you mean again?" Jacke asked.
"Oh, before your game last week, he saved Me and Reggie from some creep called Lestrange and his pals when they tripped us up and started messing with us," Brad said making a little hard face at the unpleasant memory.
'So that's what he meant,' Tyler thought as he spit out his butterbeer after hearing that.
"What's wrong mate?" Jacke asked looking over at his friend.
"Nothing," Tyler said coughing up a bit. "Why didn't you say anything to us?"
"Doesn't matter. Like we could do anything," Reggie said making a hard face matching Brad's. "Besides, like Brad said, Professor Squall helped us out. He's even a better guy outside the classroom," Reggie said smiling a bit.
"Yeah, he seemed a little excited to see the game between Gryffindor and Slytherin though."
"And you know what," Reggie said suddenly remembering something. "He called you by your whole name when we told him who we were rooting for."
"He did?" Tyler asked a little surprised. "That's funny," he said a little to himself.
"What? What funny?" Jacke asked.
"Oh, he pulled me aside earlier in the week and asked if he could call me Tyler when we were in private."
The other three seekers scratched their heads at how their teacher was acting. They didn't feel anything dangerous from him, just were a little curious of how he acted.
"Did you know him before this Tyler?"
"No Jacke, I didn't even see his face before starting school this year. But I have a funny feeling about him. It's like...like I should," he said looking no particular place in front of him in thought.
"Should we keep an eye on him? This is starting to be close to last year," Brad said looking over at Squall again.
"No, I don't think we should. Just because he's acting close to what Arnold was doesn't have to mean anything. Maybe he's just plain friendly and just happens to just be fond of you Tyler," Reggie said as he took another sip of butterbeer.
"Hmm...maybe."
They turned to look at Professor Squall as they started to finish up their butterbeers. Before they took their last sips to their drinks, Squall got up and caught their eyes. He waved them off with his head and smiled in their direction, linking eyes with Tyler for a mere second. Tyler realized that he didn't feel anything threatening but warm coming from Professor Squall as he left the shop.
When it became time to head back to the castle, the four of them shook hands as they went their separate paths to find their in house friends and join them back up to the castle. Despite a few bumps and suspicions, it turned out to be a pretty good day of hanging out with your best friends in a wizarding village. None of the seekers were willing to trade the day they had with each other for anything.
(---)
End of Chapter 11Swollen Fridge: Thanks for your review. I know I answered your question already but for those who read your review and were wondering the same thing, Yes, Tyler and Jacke did play and duel against Brad and Reggie before, it's just that those two like keeping score with each other.
Author Notes:
Well there goes a good day in Hogsmeade for the seekers. Just what was Lestrange talking about when he threatened Tyler? We know he becomes a Death Eater so we could say that he's capable of anything. Also, what's Professor Squall's story. He is a friendly figure but we've all learned that there is always something behind something. Why is Professor Squall treating Tyler differently?
The next chapter will start to move us more ahead with training and spell work. Like Reggie said, they don't know what's guarding the Potion of Fecundity so they have to be ready for anything.