Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world both belong to J.K. Rowling, several publishing companies (Bloomsbury Books, Raincoast Books, Scholastic Books), Warner Brothers, Inc., and as I'm not a part of any of them I therefore own none of it. I'm making absolutely no money off of this, please don't sue. I do, however, own the following: Geoley, the Hunter family, Cassiope MacColin, Sojin Young, nearly all of the first years, and the story itself. So nyah :P

Important! This is a fic about original characters. Nearly all of them are based on real people (including myself). This does not automatically make them Mary-Sues! Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but it's very, very true. Now that this has been said, let us proceed with the story :)

Chapter 5

Tying up the end of her braid, Cassiope MacColin cast a glance at the bed next to hers. Though it was already seven o'clock, she had yet to seen any indications of life from behind the curtains that surrounded Ruth Ann's bed. Cassiope turned around to find two more of her dorm mates, Nimuë Chandler and Parnelle Oaken, casting similar looks at the silent blue curtains of the Yank's bed. Finally, all three girls looked at each other.

"Should we try waking her up?" Parnelle asked tentatively, winding a strand of her black hair around a finger nervously.

"I don't know... She said last night that she's not used to being here yet. She has, um, let jag?" Cassiope replied, frowning slightly and uncertain if she had correctly remembered the term Ruth Ann had used the night before.

After a hurried discussion between the three girls, it was decided that they would risk a quick peek behind the bed curtains. Cassiope was the first one to regain the use of her mouth and voice what they was in all their minds after the curtains had been drawn back. "Chicken pajamas?" she choked.

"And she has a stuffed bear, too," Parnelle added wide-eyed. "It's so cute..."

A smirk blooming on face, Nimuë clapped her hands together happily. "I just thought of something! Since she's obviously not ready to go to breakfast, let alone class, it is our duty as her house mates to help her out. Come on, girls, give me a hand!" This said, she grabbed one of Ruth Ann's arms and started pulling the comatose girl toward the edge of the bed.

Once Ruth Ann had been dragged to the edge of her bed, they proceeded to sit her upright, letting her legs dangle down over the side. Stepping back to study her handiwork, Nimuë frowned. "No one should be able to sit up that straight while remaining in a deep sleep state," she grumbled.

Still a bit nervous, Parnelle chanced a quick glance at the diminutive blonde standing next to her. "Well, we've got her sitting upright, Nimuë. What are we supposed to do with her now?"

"Dress her and take her down to breakfast. Cassiope, see if you can find a fresh robe and some socks in her trunk; Parnelle, you're going to have to fix her hair." Nimuë proceeded to issue orders, and it was not very long before they had Ruth Ann dressed, presentable, and standing up in front of the door – still asleep and completely unaware of the actions of her fellow Ravenclaws.

Taking the stairs one step at a time, the girls were able to get Ruth Ann down to the common room with little difficulty. Nimuë went first, guiding the American carefully down the spiral staircase, Cassiope gave Ruth Ann encouraging little shoves from behind all the while. When they reached the bottom, they found that they had to wait for Parnelle, who had apparently forgotten something and had to run back up to their room to fetch it. Carefully holding one of Ruth Ann's arms in order to keep the girl from falling over, Cassiope turned to look at the stairs that led to the tower dormitories right when Parnelle burst into the room, breathing heavily. "Hey, sorry about that. I just thought that it would be a good idea to get this," she said, holding up a slightly grubby wand for them to see. "Even if she is asleep, we shouldn't make her go around without her wand."

The wand was slipped into Ruth Ann's pocket and the group pushed on out into the corridor, then off towards the Great Hall. Before they had gone very far the found that they had to stop again, as Cassiope had the bright idea of hooking Ruth Ann's hands onto the back of her belt so that it was not necessary for someone to have to guide her by hand. Curiously enough, this trick seemed to work, as the sleeping student had no troubles keeping up with her house mates.

As she neared the big double doors that lead to the Great Hall, Cassiope was surprised to see a group similar to theirs, only this one was made up of Hufflepuffs several years above them. Like the first years, they too were guiding a sleepy looking student, this one a boy. A boy with black hair spotted them and nudged his sleepy friend in the side. The sleepy Hufflepuff blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes and peered at them. He smiled. "Well," he yawned, "it's nice to see that someone's taking care of Ruth Ann."

Nimuë frowned and gave him a suspicious look. "Who're you?" she demanded. Cassiope snickered slightly at her year mate's protectiveness, though she hid her smile behind her hand when the blonde girl glanced at her.

"'M her brother," the boy said sleepily, resisting the tug of his friend. "See you... 'round," he mumbled, giving his friend and allowing himself to be dragged into the Great Hall.

"Gee," Parnelle said in surprise, "there's more than one of them – imagine that! Cassiope, you don't think this... what did you call it?"

"Let jag."

"Let jag, then, is contagious, do you?"

They had reached the Ravenclaw table. Cassiope carefully detached Ruth Ann from her belt, and sat her down on the bench before seating herself. In reply to Parnelle's question she shook her head. "I don't think so, she – Ruth Ann, that is – said last night that it was because she's still tired from flying here from America."

Sliding in across the table from Cassiope, Nimuë let out a low whistle. "Whew, imaging that – flying from America! I bet her butt is killing her, I know mine would. Well, at least she's prepared for when we have flying lessons..."

A boy sitting to Cassiope's right looked at the girls in amazement, then began to laugh, "Oh, oh, this is too much – you three actually think that she flew on a broom! Haven't you ever heard of an airplane?"

Nimuë turned and gave him a look that was fast on its way becoming infamous among those who ate at the Ravenclaw table. "What, pray tell, is an 'airplane'?"

"It's a sort of flying machine that Muggles use," another boy said. "I'm Jamie Lockwood," he added, "and he's Barney Kighting."

"I remember, you," Parnelle piped up. "You were in front of me in the line for the Sorting last night. You were making faces at Professor McGonagall's back."

"Speaking of Professor McGonagall," Cassiope broke in before any sort of argument could erupt, "have any of you looked at your schedule of classes yet?" She began buttering her toast with one hand while she spooned porridge into Ruth Ann's mouth with the other.

There was a general rustle of robes and paper as the other first years checked their pockets to check if they had thought to bring their schedule to breakfast. Finally, Jamie triumphantly held up a ragged bit of paper. "Here it is. Let's see... Today we have Charms after breakfast, then Herbology, lunch, after lunch double Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, and finally Defense Against the Dark Arts," he announced to the other first years around him.

Swallowing a mouthful of egg, Barney frowned. "What's 'Transfiguration'? I've never heard of it before."

Still spooning porridge into Ruth Ann's mouth, Cassiope answered his question, "It's where you change one thing into another thing. Like turning straw into gold or water into wine. My sister, Neaghb, told me about it." Having reached the bottom of the bowl of porridge, Cassiope set down the spoon, pushed Ruth Ann's mouth shut, and wiped the other girl's face off with a napkin. "We should get going. Class starts soon, and we still need to get our books and stuff from the tower."

They were on their way out of the hall, having once again hooked the sleeping girl's hands to Cassiope's belt, when a black-haired Gryffindor ran up to them, caught Ruth Ann's arm, and started to talk to her. "Ruth Ann! It's great to see you again. I tried to get a spot near you in the line for the Sorting last night, but this other girl just pushed me out of the way, talk about rude! Anyway, there's this girl who's also in Gryffindor, and she's really neat, and..."

Ruth Ann, it was needless to say, continued to sleep, though she did stop walking when the other girl caught her arm. Cassiope, who had been jerked back by Ruth Ann's sudden lack of movement, turned to see why the other girl had stopped. Seeing the Gryffindor, she gave an apologetic smile. "She can't hear you. She's still asleep she has let jag," Cassiope explained.

"Jet lag," Barney corrected her. Cassiope pointedly ignored him.

"Oh. Weird... So you just attached her to your belt and she started walking with you?" asked the shorter girl, who was now studying how Ruth Ann had been hooked onto Cassiope's belt.

"Pretty much. I'm Cassiope MacColin, by the way." Cassiope smiled, and held out her hand. The other girl grinned, immediately taking Cassiope's hand and shaking it vigorously.

"I'm Sojin Young. I actually met Ruth Ann on the platform yesterday – her trunk ran into me," explained the Gryffindor, grinning. "Look, I have to get going – I have Herbology and I need to trek all the way over to the greenhouses – but I'll see you around, all right?" Still smiling, she slipped through double doors to the Great Hall.

Somehow – Cassiope was never sure quite how – all of the first year Ravenclaws in their little group made it back to their common room, grabbed their bags and books, and found their way to the Charms classroom with time to spare. Sighing with relief, Cassiope dumped her book bag on an empty desk near the front of the class, then proceeded to disentangled Ruth Ann's hands from her belt. As she did this, she could not help but wonder whether Ruth Ann was ever going to wake up for their first day of classes. While Cassiope did not especially mind helping Ruth Ann to breakfast and their classes, if she continued to sleep through everything she was going to miss parts of the actual class, which would inevitably lead her falling behind due to missed material.

Sighing, Cassiope decided that if necessary she could always poke Ruth Ann in the side and wake her up. Stepping back, she stared at sleeping girl. Now that Ruth Ann was no longer attached to her belt, Cassiope had no idea how she was going to get the Yank to sit at a desk. Even if she did manage to get Ruth Ann to sit, how would she get her up again once class had ended?

She was about to ask Nimuë for help when a tiny wizard – shorter than even Parnelle – entered the classroom from one of the side doors. Recognizing him as one of the teachers she had seen eating at the high table during dinner the night before, Cassiope quickly sunk into her seat, pulling Ruth Ann down with her. Thankfully, Ruth Ann made no resistance to this effort, settling down in her seat promptly, if somewhat ungracefully.

The Ravenclaw first years watched as their Charms teacher climbed up the stack of books that had been placed on the chair behind his desk. From his position atop the books, he smiled and clapped his hands. "Hello. I'm Professor Flitwick and I will be both your Charms professor and your Head of House during the next seven years you spend here at Hogwarts. Now, before we start on some of the basic Charms you'll be learning this week, I'd like us all to introduce ourselves to each other, so that we all know who is who."

Starting on the side of the room closest to the door, each student introduced him or herself to the rest of the class. As she resumed her seat after her own introduction, Cassiope suddenly realized that the next (and last) person to go was Ruth Ann. Who was still asleep. Cassiope rubbed her forehead and chanced a glance at the professor. Yes, the cheerful little wizard was looking expectantly at Ruth Ann. Sighing in exasperation, Cassiope took a deep breath. "And on my right is Ruth Ann Hunter. She's not awake yet because she has let jag–"

"Jet lag!"

"Shut up, Barney. Ruth Ann is from America and she's not used to our time zone yet," Cassiope explained, crossing her fingers out of sight under her desk. Hopefully Professor Flitwick would not count Ruth Ann's somatic state against her. Cassiope had met the girl only just the night before, but for some reason she felt it was her duty to keep track of the Ruth Ann, if for no other reason than that she was the only one in the room who had actually spoken to a lucid Ruth Ann.

Professor Flitwick gave Cassiope a smile of understanding. Apparently he already knew about Ruth Ann's need to adjust to the time difference between Hogwarts and wherever Ruth Ann came from. Dimly, Cassiope realized that the professor would most likely have had a similar experience with Ruth Ann's brother, if that was indeed the identity of the Hufflepuff boy they had seen outside the Great Hall earlier that morning. "Very good, very good. Now, with that out of the way, who can tell me some different types of charms that might be used on a daily basis? Mr Lockwood?" He nodded to Jamie, whose arm was straining upwards, waving back and forth, in a desperate move to be called on.

"Incendio!" Jamie said brightly.

"Alohamora," Cassiope volunteered.

"Scourgify," a boy with shaggy brown hair grumbled, "my mum loves that one."

"Isn't there a severing charm?" Edmund Gammun asked nervously.

"Jelly-legs," Nimuë said, a smirk on her face.

Lex Hawksman turned around and glared at her, "That's not a charm, that's a jinx."

"It's still a charm," Nimuë shot back

"Miss Chandler brings up a good point, though I highly doubt that any of you will be using the jelly-legs jinx on a daily basis. Curses, jinxes, and hexes are all charms. They are simply grouped together different categories in order to help define how they are mainly used – in this case, all three are charms that may result in less than savory affects on whatever they are cast upon. Miss Linar, if you understand how a curse works, what else can you do with that information?"

Yawning hugely, the girl gave Professor Flitwick a sleepy look. "You know what will happen if you use it?"

"And if you know that, what else do you know?" The class stared at the professor, unsure of what he was asking for. Finally, Nimuë tentatively raised her hand. "Miss Chandler?"

"Well, if you know how a curse works, like what will happen if you use it, don't you also have an idea of what to use as a counter-curse? Because the charm that would get rid of the curse would be the opposite of whatever the curse does?"

"Excellent, excellent! Two points to Ravenclaw! Now, going back to the charms that you have mentioned," Flitwick nodded to the chalkboard behind him, across which an enchanted piece of chalk had been moving earlier, recording the different charms as students mentioned them. "What do all these have in common, besides being charms?"

Cassiope grimaced at the absolute silence that answered this question. It looked as if no one knew the answer, and no one wanted to be the sacrificial goat and volunteer a response, however erroneous it might be. She was about to raise her hand in order to give a mediocre answer – anything to get the class moving again – when a new voice spoke up.

"Everywhere... they're everywhere."

Everyone was shocked as they realized that the speaker had been none other than Ruth Ann, who had apparently begun to talk in her sleep.

Professor Flitwick smiled at her. "Well, it seems Miss Hunter knows the answer, even if she isn't exactly up to actively participating today. All these charms are, indeed, 'everywhere.' They are used for many different specialties of magic; not one belongs to only one category. For example, you might use Incendio in Potions class in order to light the fire under your cauldron, while the jelly legs curse is actually a type of transfiguration charm – it involves transfiguring the state of a person's legs." He winked at Nimuë, and added, "Though I do not believe that Professor McGonagall will be teaching any of you that particular charm in Transfiguration. Charms can be found in nearly all branches of magic. Because of this, they are sometimes referred to as 'the building blocks' of magic."

As Professor Flitwick moved away from basic charm theory and onto the more practical, hands-on portion of the class, Cassiope dipped her quill into her ink pot and began quickly scribble notes on a fresh sheet of parchment. If nothing else, the notes would serve to help Ruth Ann catch up once she had finally adjusted to the time difference. Cassiope became so interested in what Professor Flitwick was saying that she lost track of the time. It came as a surprise to her when Professor Flitwick wound the class to a close and informed them that they now had a half an hour break to use as they pleased before their next class began.

Having packed up her writing supplies and her parchment, Cassiope turned to confront the problem of extracting Ruth Ann from her seat. At breakfast, it had been a simple matter of standing behind Ruth Ann and pulling upwards on the back of her robe. But it did not look like that method would work here, as the back of the chair was in the way, decidedly different form the benches that stood next to the massive tables in the Great Hall.

Screwing up her courage, Cassiope leaned over sleeping girl and was about to give a wholehearted attempt at dragging her up from her seat, when Ruth Ann let out a big yawn and raised a hand to rub at her eyes.

"Nnn," she said, still half asleep. "What time is it? I had the weirdest dream where I went to school and..." Ruth Ann trailed off as her eyes adjusted to the light of the classroom and finally managed to focus on Cassiope's face. "And you're definitely not my mom."

"No. No, I'm not. I'm glad to see you're finally awake, though. Now I don't have to figure out how to get you out of your seat," said Cassiope, smirking slightly.

"I don't know if 'awake' is exactly the term for this situation," said Ruth Ann with another yawn. She lowered the hand that had been rubbing her eyes, and glanced about the room. "Say, where did Chickenman go?"

–––

Curiously enough, one of my betas asked me whether I took Flitwick's speech about charms being "the building blocks of magic" from the books. I am proud to say that no, I did not. It is completely my own – which just goes to show that I think about these sorts of things way too much.

He's everywhere, he's everywhere! Chickenman!

Next chapter: dwarf philodendrons; on the subject of foreign food; a cat; extraterrestrials and their Plots.