Chapter 3: It's time to do Magic!
Corvus sat next to Astoria, following rest of the sorting. He had not been shocked to see Olivia being sorted in Gryffindor, but Astoria had. She gasped and covered her mouth. "What will her parents say?" The sorting continued. Corvus stopped and stared as Nora's name was called. He could see from her face that she was terrified. He almost laughed and had to cover a smile when she was about to jump off the chair with the hat on top of her head. She clearly hadn't expected the hat to speak. Almost five minutes later the hat yelled: "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Corvus clapped. 'She got where she wanted. Better there than in Gryffindor, it's more acceptable for us to hang-out.' He quite liked Nora, she was shy, yet kind. She respected the speaker and read the room well. She didn't push anyone to speak, and left room for silence. She stuttered, but Corvus noticed that she spoke out her mind. He wanted to get to know her better. He just couldn't explain himself why. She was a mud—muggle-born, but for some reason he couldn't find a reason to mind.
The sorting ended soon. Professor Dumbledore declared the feast started. The food appeared front of everyone, and people started to eat.
"Hey, Corv, my man, you made it!" Draco came to him and clapped behind his back. Opposite of him sat down Astoria's big sister Daphne. Astoria chatted cheerfully with her sister, while Draco forcefully kept up the conversation. All too soon he started brag about his summer and how he was going to make in the Quidditch team. "This year the House Cup will be ours. Especially since that stupid Potter and poor Weasley decided not to show up. Hah!"
Draco kept telling a tale about the boys being expelled and kept talking about himself. People around him kept laughing, some were real while some were clearly faked. Corvus ignored the group for rest of the dinner, and concentrated on his plate, time to time looking around the Great Hall.
He saw Michelle being surrounded by some older students and having heated conversation. Her eyes showed passion and frustration. Clearly somebody had said something to piss her off. Corvus just had no idea what and wasn't certain if he even cared to know.
Furthest away from him, he saw Olivia. She was smiling and laughing among other Gryffindors. She clearly had made herself a new home.
Then he laid his eyes on Nora. She was blushing, wearing small, shy yet genuine smile on her face. She was chatting with two of her house mates, whom Corvus had never seen before. Because of that he concluded that they weren't from pureblood families, though the guy could have been a Weasley, with the red hair of his.
Corvus wasn't certain how much time passed, before Professor Dumbledore introduced the staff, gave his speech and let people go. He and Astoria went in the end of line of Slytherin first-years. There was fourteen of them. After everyone was together, they began to follow the Prefects. They walked to the Entrance Hall and took a turn left. They went downstairs until they arrived in dungeons. They walked some more, 'till Corvus saw bare stone wall. "Pureblood", the prefect said, and entrance came before their eyes.
Corvus eyes became wide open. From the windows, anyone could see that they were underground and under the lake. The windows brought greenish light into the dark room. The common room was decorated with green lamps, dark, yet cozy leathered sofas, skulls and dark wood cupboards. There was also old, worn-out chessboard in the middle of the room.
Within nine new girls and five new boys, Corvus went with the rest of the guys, to their only new dormitory. He changed into his sleeping robes and went to bed. He closed his eyes and fell to sleep.
Nora woke up early. She got up slowly, trying not to wake up others as she changed into her new school robes. She braided her hair as she walked downstairs and admired the room around her. Warm sunlight was slowly finding its way into oval windows. The room was decorated with black and yellow furniture and there were different kinds of plants everywhere. The wooden tables and round doors reminded Nora of wasp nest's hidden honey. The crown of the room was heartful portrait of Helga Hufflepuff.
Nora exited the room through barrel shaped door. She started to walk towards the Great Hall and got lost couple of times. About half an hour later, Nora finally arrived in breakfast.
"Nora! Over here!" A cheerful voice yelled. Nora was welcomed in Gryffindors table with wide smile and open arms by Olivia.
"Mo… morning, O… Olivia", Nora greeted.
"Oh, come on Nora, just call me Liv, Livia or Livvy", the blond girl grinned. "No need to be so formal. You are up early. Did you sleep well?"
"Ye… yeah, I co… couldn't be…believe th… this to be real."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. But it truly is and that's the best part."
"Yeah", Nora smiled gently, and took food on her plate.
The two girls chatted with comfortable pace about their morning, and expectations about the coming days. About half an hour later they saw familiar black hair and brown eyes. "Michelle! Come here!"
Michelle was in a very bad mood as she sat down with the two girls.
"What's wrong Mich?"
"Three of my dorm mates are… are snobbish… imbécile! And one is nice, but… drôle."
"In English please Mich?"
"Oh, y… you d… don't ha… have to fo… force yourself to t… tell i… if you d… don't want t… to!" Nora added.
"No, just three of my dorm mates were really rude, and arrogant, and sale stupid! They insulted my parents and spoke some white trash things!" Michelle's eyes burned with anger. "Anyway, they were being very racist. One girl is nice, but a little weird. One guy was nice enough. He's actually half Korean. There's also Indian girl a year ahead me, so I'm not alone."
"We… well, it's go… good, that you f… found some nice pe… people", Nora smiled. "And yo… you sh… shouldn't c… care ab… about th… those st… stupid co… comments!"
"Here, here!"
Michelle smiled a bit, anger slowly fading away. "Thanks…"
"Oh… by the w… way, I th… think I'll be d… done wi… with Dr… Dragonfly in Amber by th… the end of the week. Do you w… want to re… read it af… after me?"
"Yeah, sure!" Michelle's eyes sparkled once again with excitement. "Have you read Patricia Wrede's books?"
"N… No, I haven't."
"Oh, I have the two first books of her Enchanted Forest Chronicles – series with me if you're interested, I can borrow them to you!"
"Wh… what is th… the series about?"
"Oh, it's about a princess, who doesn't meet people's expectations. She decides to run away from home and live with dragon."
"Really! Muggle world has stories about dragons?"
"Yes, w… we do", Nora smiled. "A… and I'd l… like to re… read it."
"Cool, let's exchange them after you're done!"
"Do you have a lot of books with you?" Olivia wondered.
"Oui! I took some traditional story books with me, way too many novels and some poetry. I'm at the moment reading French masterpiece: La Promesse de l'Aube, it has also been translated in English, but it loses something within the translation. Romain Gary is just parfait!"
"You sure, you're eleven years old?" Olivia teased with playful grin.
"Ah, shut up Liv!" Michelle blushed. "It's actually my parents' book, I borrowed it. I haven't read it yet." Michelle continued, and nudged Olivia at her shoulder. "By the way, did you hear that Harry Potter came here late last night by a flying car!"
"Oh, yes. His friend was driving the car and they hit the Whomping Willows! I actually saw him yesterday!"
"No way!"
"Yes! He looks just like I imagined!"
"Does he have the-?"
"Yes! It's exactly the shape of lightning!"
"Umm… who a…are you gu… guys talking a… about?"
"Oh yeah, you don't know about Harry Potter!"
The girls explained Nora about a man who-must-not-be-named. Nora still didn't know his name, since both of the girls refused to mention it. They also told her about a boy named Harry Potter, who was also called "The-boy-who-lived". Nora felt sorry for the boy. She remembered seeing him the bookstore with Gilderoy Lockhart, and how uncomfortable he had seemed in the older man's hold. She was certain that the boy would rather have his parents than his fame, because Nora knew what it was like to orphan.
Their conversation ended when Olivia yelled: "Hey, Raven Boy! Come here!"
Corvus walked towards them and sat down beside Nora. "Seriously, Raven Boy?"
"Well, your name basically means raven", Olivia shrugged.
"He still doesn't belong to my house", Michelle said fiercely. Her body had become tense, and eyes were filled with anger and fear. She shot daggers towards Corvus, who didn't seem to care about the girl's reaction. Nora wondered, why Michelle's attitude towards the boy had suddenly changed from yesterdays. Nora only gave Michelle puzzled look but didn't say a word. She didn't want to push anyone, nor make the atmosphere more tense.
Olivia was about to say something, but her and Michelle's interest turned towards the-boy-who-lived. He had just arrived in the room with his friend with red hair. "Wh… who is th… the boy wi… with him?" Nora asked. She found the boy cute.
"Ron Weasley", Corvus answered, only glancing at the boys.
The other girls didn't care. "You were right. He looks just like I imagined!" Michelle admired. "Do you think, he would give me his autograph?"
Nora was softly starting to ask Michelle not to do that, but Corvus beat her up to it, with his brutal honesty: "No, you shouldn't. He won't give you one."
"How would you know that?"
"Because it's clear as day, that it would only make him uncomfortable. He hates being famous."
Michelle was about to snap at him but was silenced by the morning mail. Olivia's face turned pale. She had gotten herself a red letter. "'Livia, if I was you, I'd take that and run." Corvus didn't have to tell Olivia twice. She took the letter with her and ran as fast and as far away as she could. On her way out, she almost stumbled on Astoria, who was walking towards the group.
"What happened to Livia?" Astoria asked.
"Howler", Corvus said. Astoria grimaced.
"Wh… what is a ho… howler?"
"— STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —" Nora heard yell from her left. She saw the cute boy, Ron, going pale and staring at the letter.
"That", he pointed at the yelling red envelope "is a howler."
Nora nodded shocked, and the whole hall heard Ron's mother's screaming words. She saw some people laughing and pointing at the boy after the letter disappeared. Nora only felt sympathy towards Ron and Olivia, who had gotten the similar letter.
After some minutes Olivia came back to the table. She looked sad and pale. "Morning Livia. You just missed the other howler that was sent."
"What? Who else got one?"
"The Potter's friend! It was his dad's car that they crashed. He looked so embarrassed!"
Before the conversation could continue, soft voice cut down the conversation:
"Ms. Wilkins, I was looking for you from our house table."
"Pr… Professor Sprout! So… sorry to c… cause you tr… trouble."
"Not at all dear", Professor Sprout said with warm smile. "It's good to see group of students from different houses and backgrounds together. Here is your timetable."
"Th… thank you Pr… Professor."
"Good, now carry on."
Nora opened her timetable:
Monday:
9:00-11:00 Double History of Magic
11:15-12:15 Double Defence Against the Dark Arts
13:00-14:00 Lunch
Tuesday:
9:00-11:00 Double Potions
11:15-12:15 Double Transfigurations
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Double Charms
Wednesday:
9:00-11:00 Double Charms
11:15-12:15 Double Herbology
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Flying (starting day will be announced soon)
Thursday
9:00-11:00 Double Herbology
11:15-12:15 Double Defence Against the Dark Arts
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Double Potions
22:00 - Astronomy lessons
Friday:
9:00-11:00 Double History of Magic
11:15-12:15 Double Transfiguration
13:00-14:00 Lunch
Others got one by one their own timetables. "Hey, we'll have the Charms lessons together!" Michelle rejoiced. "Oh, and then I'll have the history of magic! It sounds interesting!"
"Yeah, I have Potions at first, so we'll spend some quality time together Tori and Raven Boy! Oh, and then I'll have Herbology together with you Nora!" Olivia exclaimed. "I guess, I'll see you Mich in lunch."
"Oh, n… nice, sh… should we start to he… head out Michelle?" Nora asked.
"Sure! See you guys at Herbology, and you Livvy at lunch!"
The two girls left the Great Hall and started walking towards their first lessons. They almost got lost, but some older students helped them on their way.
The Charms classroom was large. Michelle and Nora went to sit closer to front. Soon after them arrived Daisy and Matthew. "Hey Norra! I didn't see you comin' to breakfast, with whom you with?"
"M… mor… morning D… Daisy, Matthew… I was si… sitting w… with some people I m… met yesterday o… on the t… train", Nora smiled at the two. "T… This is M… Michelle."
"Hey, nice to meet you."
"Wow, you're like so pretty!" Daisy cried out with excitement. Her speech sounded like a song. "You're a Ravenclaw, aren't you?"
"Um… merci?"
"In her dialect people add a word 'like' almost everywhere. So, she just means well", Matthew explained.
Michelle smiled a little, feeling shy, yet Daisy continued the conversation as if nothing had happened: "It is so exciting to start with magic, innit! I wonder where we begin."
Before anyone could answer her, a short man entered the classroom, and greeted everyone with piping voice: "Good morning, as some of you might remember I'm Professor Flitwick. Today we shall start with the basic theory of doing magic, and if we have time in the end of the class, then start with light making charm. Does anyone know the name of the spell?"
Nora wasn't surprised to see a lot of students from Ravenclaw raising their hands, including Michelle. She was also happy to see quite many people from her own house to raise hands.
"Yes, mister?"
"Prewett, Professor. The answer is Lumos," Matthew said.
"That's correct, five points to Hufflepuffs!"
Next to Matthew, Daisy was smiling from ear to ear. She reminded Nora of radiating sun. Some Ravenclaw students muttered under their breaths. They had wanted to show their skills to their head of the house. Professor Flitwick carried on the lesson, teaching the students basic theory of spell making: "… and remember that the key to magic is the correct pronunciation. There has been lots of witches and wizards, who have pronounced spell incorrectly and they have harmed themselves…"
Nora went pale after hearing those words. She had stuttered all her life, and now she would have to say the spells perfectly. If she failed, she might hurt herself, or the people around her. It had been one kind of miracle, that she had gotten to Diagon Alley and back home with floo powder, with her pronunciation. Now, she would have to say all the spells without any stuttering.
Professor Flitwick continued the lesson with the correct hand movements. Towards the second half of the lesson, he started to teach the Lumos spell. But Nora could only vaguely hear his words. She had let her stuttering conquer her mind. "Are you okay Nora? You look little pale", Michelle asked.
"Y… yeah, I… I'm f… fine", Nora lied, and gave the other girl small smile.
Corvus watched the girls leaving. He wasn't surprised of Michelle's hostility towards him. He was already used to it. It just was what his family name did to people. Most approached him carefully and with fear. He wondered how Nora would react when she found out about his parents. Would she also look at him with eyes filled with disgust?
"So, what does your timetable look like?" Olivia asked.
Corvus looked at the paper in front of him, trying to memorize it:
Monday:
9:00-11:00 Double Herbology
11:15-12:15 Double Defence Against the Dark Arts
13:00-14:00 Lunch
Tuesday:
9:00-11:00 Double Charms
11:15-12:15 Double Transfigurations
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Double Potions
Wednesday:
9:00-11:00 Double Potions
11:15-12:15 Double History of Magic
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Flying (starting day will be announced soon)
Thursday
9:00-11:00 Double History of Magic
11:15-12:15 Double Defence Against the Dark Arts
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Double Charms
22:00 - Astronomy lessons
Friday:
9:00-11:00 Double Herbology
11:15-12:15 Double Transfiguration
13:00-14:00 Lunch
"We have potions with you guys," Astoria piped out and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not going to doom you, even though you were sorted in Gryffindor."
Olivia gave her small and sincere smile: "Thanks Tori."
"Don't mention it. But should we start to head out? I heard that Professor Snape can be quite strict."
"Well, to others, but you guys", Olivia said, meaning the Slytherin house. Her house mates had told her horror stories about Professor Snape, and the way he treated people from other houses. "But yeah, I think we should head out."
The tree of them walked downstairs to the Dungeons and sat far back of the dark classroom. Olivia and Astoria sat side by side chatting. Corvus had empty chair next to his. People were avoiding the seat next to him like plague. The two girls felt a little bad for him, but they still wanted to sit together, since they got the chance.
Soon the classroom was filled with students, and Professor Snape walked in. He didn't wear a smile on his face, nor did he seem very keen to teach. The man got straight to the point: "Morning everyone. The art of potions doesn't teach you to wave your wands aimlessly, nor big powerful spells. But it can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory or even stop the Death itself. But only if you are willing to listen the instructions it gives you." His voice was stern and held no room for interruptions. "Now, all eyes on the board. Here is your instruction. All the ingredients you need are in the back of the classroom."
Professor Snape flicked his wand and instructions to make Boil-Cure Potion came on the board. Some students took their time, wrote down the instructions and all the ingredients that they would need. Some went immediately to the ingredient table and took the things they needed and started to make the potion. "If you manage to follow the instructions, then in the end, the potion should be blue and raise pink smoke."
Corvus wrote down everything quickly with a neat handwriting and went to get all the ingredients. He prepared everything that he would need during the first half of the potion making before starting. He followed instructions to the tee and could leave his potion in making before starting the second part of the potion. He earned ten points to his house with his succeed.
Some other students didn't have such a peaceful time with the potion making. The table next to him, Olivia had managed to make the potion boil over, and she had to re-start the potion making. For that Professor Snape had taken away ten points from Gryffindors. Astoria also didn't do that well. Her potion was having weird colour. She knew, she had done something wrong, she just didn't know what.
At the end of the lesson Corvus added ten more points for his house. He was the only one in the lesson to make perfect potion. The Weasley girl hadn't been far from him, she only had brewed the potion too short time. Olivia's potion was far from blue. Astoria's potion was actually blue, but it didn't give out pink steam.
The glass left with relieve from the Dungeons. The Slytherin students headed out towards History of Magic lessons that located on the first floor of the castle. Gryffindor students had Herbology. Olivia waved her goodbyes to Corvus and Astoria as she walked together with the rest of the Gryffindors towards the greenhouses.
The Ravenclaws were already in the classroom, when the Slytherin students entered. Michelle was sitting in front with a boy from her house. Astoria and Corvus took again a seat from the end of the classroom. Soon to everyone learned that an actual ghost taught the class, and even sooner everyone's but one's eyes almost closed down. To everyone's surprise, it was Astoria who fell in love with the subject.
Few slept. People chatted and laughed. Some wrote down some notes, but none's were as detailed as Astoria's. Corvus couldn't understand, how she managed to avoid the Professor Binns deathly tired voice. He understood even less, how she could find the subject so interesting. Corvus had tried to start a conversation with the girl, but she had just shushed him down.
Corvus sighed. He wasn't certain if he could manage the double lessons without falling asleep.
Nora reserved a seat for Olivia in the Herbology classroom. She was sitting in the table of four with Daisy and Matthew. "Umm… M… Matthew, you s… said yo… your father is a s… squib, umm… wh… what d… does that m… mean?"
"Norra, butty, why you are so nervous? No need to stutter so much with us!" Daisy said before Matthew could answer. Her words made Nora feel embarrassed and blush. Matthew gave Daisy disapproving glare. "Daisy, you're being really rude here."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to be offendin' or anythin'."
"I know, you still were", Matthew scolded the girl, and Nora wondered if the boy was truly their age with the sharp tongue of his. "Anyway, squib means a person, who comes from magical family, but is unable perform magic. My father came from one of the 28 main families and is only one known squid in his family line. He worked as an accountant in a big bookstore. He died few years ago to nasty pneumonia. After that my mother has raised me and my sisters. Mafalda will join me in few years. Mathilde in four."
"Oh, I… I'm l… looking f… forward t. to meet th… them."
"Well, be careful what you wish for, that's all I will say on the matter."
"Yeah, your sisters are really somethin'."
"True, though Mathilde isn't that bad."
Before the conversation went anymore on, the Gryffindor students walked in. Olivia walked towards Nora's table with sad smile. "E… everything a… alright O… Olivia?"
"Yeah, just failed at everything in the potion's lessons. And the Professor was really mean. He took away twenty points from my house because of me."
"Oh, it… it's okay, I d… didn't so w… well in C… Charms either", Nora tried to make her friend feel better. "But n… now y… you're wiser and w… will definitely do b… better next time! By the w… way th… these are D… Daisy and Matthew f… from my house."
"Nice to meet you", Olivia said.
"Wow, you're like so pretty!" Daisy said once again, being excited. Behind her Matthew laid his head against his hands. Nora had a feeling of Déjà-vu. "I love your eyes! Thee are pretty pair, thoe so different!"
"Oh, okay, thanks I guess?" Olivia said, feeling confused. "I actually like my eyes as well. Not so many has so clear blue and green ones at the same time."
"Good afternoon glass! I'm Professor Sprouts. Welcome to Herbology classroom. During our lessons we will go through some of the most common herbs and plants. How to recognize them, how they grow, how to defend yourselves against them, and how to use them. Before moving to plants, all of you need to know some common spells that will help you grow the plants and defend yourselves. But, since this is your first lesson, we will go through some theory."
Nora sighed with relief. Next to her Olivia raised her an eyebrow. She wondered, what made the girl go relaxed. Because what Olivia felt was perfectly opposite. She couldn't wait to learn actual spells. The classroom listened Professor Sprouts explanation about the plant called Puffapods and started to take notes. Nora found the page on their schoolbook and found the plant beautiful, yet deceitful.
The lesson went by quickly and Professor Sprouts gave the students some homework before the class was dismissed. Olivia and Nora's first school day had gotten an early ending. The group of students headed to the Great Hall for lunch. The two soon noticed that Astoria, Michelle nor Corvus had arrived in yet, so the girls sat down on Hufflepuffs table with Daisy and Matthew.
The group ate lunch and chatted about their first day, and about fifteen minutes later the others joined them. Nora saw Michelle saying goodbye to an Asian boy, that Nora thought about being the same person she had mention earlier in the morning. "Hello, how was your day?" Michelle asked as she sat down beside Nora. Corvus and Astoria sat on both sides of Olivia.
"Well, still alive. Potions was… well something. But the Herbology wasn't that bad."
"Yeah, they both sound really interesting. I really liked Charms, but the History of Magic almost bored me to death!"
"I hear you; I also thought it might be interesting, but I was death wrong."
"Am I the only one, who enjoyed the lesson?"
"Yes, Tori, you were."
Nora smiled as the others bickered about the lessons. Maybe she wouldn't be a brilliant witch, but she would have the most amazing group of friends.
AN/ I did some research, and in the 1992, the 2nd of September was Wednesday. So that's from where their studies started. I studied and worked hard for their timetables, so I decided to write them down. I made certain that their studies would meet and not mix, and also the Golden Trio wouldn't have any studies at the same time with them. Once again, please let me know if you find any errors in my writing. I love to improve! I also hope I managed to write the Welsh English somehow right, I've done a lot of research, but I'm far from perfect or native speaker.
With love: Z-Chan