"Zapabalooga," yawned Chase to the portrait of the Skinny Man. The portrait didn't move.
Beside him, a Prefect chuckled. "It's Zapabarooga." As she said this, the portrait swung open.
"Good day, good day! New student, huh? Hey, Everest!" Skinny Man said cheerfully.
Everest, the Prefect, grinned. "Hey. I need to get to the Prefect rooms, fast. It tends to get a little squishy in there, my sister says. Well, I really must go." And she dashed off, her purple-dyed hair swishing behind her.
Chase climbed in and saw Marshall already there.
"Rex isn't our room," he said as he opened a door, revealing four twin-sized beds. "Rocky is."
"Who's Rocky?"
"First-year, six years old, half-blood. His full name is Rocky Reinhart, wizard surname Raggi."
"Rocky Raggi. Huh."
"Chase, do you think we should tell Rocky about your brain?"
Chase shuddered. That word was almost as frightening as "hair" now. "I do think—I do think we should get to know him a little before first. I mean, it'd be totally awkward if he just came into the room, and I'm like, 'Hey, Rocky, I'm gonna die. Will you help us?'"
"The Rotza'd scare him half to death."
"Talkin' 'bout Rocky?" It was Callum. The boy shut the door behind him.
"Yeah. And the Rotza," Marshall replied.
"Oh, so you finally found me out. You know what? Nobody cares. You're just nobody."
Chase knew better than to think of that. He knew Rotza just wanted him to kill himself.
"Chase? You've been looking glazed for a long time." Marshall sounded worried.
"Oh? It's nothing. I was just thinking about the Rotza."
Callum didn't seem to have heard Rotza. "Well, I guess we should send an owl to your parents telling them you're in danger—"
"NO!" Chase shouted. "If mom and dad figure out—if they do—they'll kill me. Kill me for sending the family into danger."
"Chase, you need help. You've said it yourself: you don't want to die. And the only two people who'll understand are your parents," Marshall contradicted.
So, with shaky hands, Chase wrote a note:
Dear family,
It's the first night at Hogwarts. Our room is magnificent. We ate a lotta good things at the banquet. The problem is: I threw up, and then some weird voices started coming from my brain. Only me, Callum, and Marshall can hear it, though. We suspect it's the Rotza. You know what it is. If you forgot, Ella definitely remembers.
Callum, Marshall, and I think Rotza is trying to make me kill myself. So far, he hasn't tried. Send a letter back to me. Help me do a little research on the Rotza, too. Thanks.
He signed it, and tied it to Galdur.
"Li'l guy, do this for me. I'm in danger, 'kay, little guy?"
The owl, as if understanding Chase, hooted determinedly and flew off, for the first—and probably most serious—fly of his life.
"Morning, Rocky." Chase grabbed his wand. "What's our first class?"
"Care of Magical Creatures," the grey-haired boy answered.
Chase pulled out his schedule. "And then Potions with Creedyn Chot, Defence Against the Dark Arts with Disha Ladd, Lunch, Charms with Valter Zander, and finally a flying lesson with Professor McGonnagal."
"What broomstick do you have?" asked Marshall as he adjusted his hat.
"The new and improved Silver Arrow."
Callum dropped his broom. "What the...that's super expensive!"
"Barkali bought it for me."
"That can go, like, 120 miles an hour!" Callum exclaimed.
Just then, Galdur flew in. A short string of paper was tied to his right talon. He hooted proudly.
"Great job, Galdur!" Chase said warmly, untying the paper. "It's not a Howler, at least."
The trio read it:
Dear Chase, Callum, & Marsh (the writing looked rushed),
BE CAREFUL. The Rotza is very powerful. It can kill whenever it wants. THE ROTZA HAS THE POWER TO NOT GO HAYWIRE AFTER KILLING.
"We didn't know that. So the Rotza was trying to trick us," Callum said.
Chase, I did some research, and I found out that Rotza stole the Hat on the same day and time that your you-know-what turned blond. We think the Rotza went into your brain that day, unaware that he turned your you-know-what into a different colour.
Chase, you be most careful. During Lunch, go to the Charms classroom earlier, and you'll find a note on the farthest desk on the right from the teacher's, Professor Jamu. In case this note gets to somewhere else, I will not reveal any more. But be careful. And don't lose your super-expensive broom. Remember that. It'll be crucial as long as Rotza is in your brain. Tuck and your other siblings want to say hi and good luck in your...um...dangerous adventure. Best of luck, son.
Love, Dad
P.S.: we think the Rotza is attacking you at the same date and time it entered your brain. That time and date will be in the note at the Charms classroom.
"Chase," Callum said. "what's you-know-what?"
"My hair," Chase replied. "Before it was brown, remember? I told ya."
"Rrrrriiiiiggghhhht." Callum nodded, suddenly looking a tiny bit nervous. Then, just as quickly, his mood shifted again. "I remember."
"It just changed. Changed when we were playing Scrabble."
"Chase," Marshall said suddenly, "can you get your parents to send the game here? They can make it smaller and put a timer on it so it'll become bigger when it comes here. We're not supposed to use magic out of the classes."
"Sure," Chase agreed, and he wrote a note requesting this to the family. He tied the paper to Galdur, who took off happily.
"Let's go to the Care of Magical Creatures classroom now," Rocky said.
When they arrived (which was a miracle, they got lost so many times!), they saw—
"Barkali?" Chase sputtered.
"That's Professor Barkali for ya. It's me, Chase." The tall man grinned. "Now, is everyone here? Good, good! Please take your seats."
Chase, still surprised, sat down on the seat closest to Professor Barkali.
"Yes, hello, everyone. I am Zuma Barkali, the professor who will be teaching you Care of Magical Creatures. Now, me, do quit speaking! I am here to show you, today, the Varshas."
"What're the Varshas?" a girl from Hufflepuff asked.
"I'm going to show you." Barkali put up his wand and cried, "Annuarum Appearus!"
"Annuarum is a word in Latin, right?" Rex asked.
"Why, yes. Or Annuarum Commutationum," Professor Barkali answered. "But now—look!"
They looked. A tiny purple creature had popped out. It had a stubby tail, and was covered in feathers. It had three huge, beady eyes, and a short, stubby tail.
"Cool!" a girl exclaimed.
Another creature. This one was blue, but except for their colours, the purple and blue little creatures were the same.
"Cool!" Rubble, one of the boys in Hufflepuff, exclaimed.
"Yes, yes. The Varshas train owls to fly, to eat magical foods to get them going, and all the essentials to be a magical owl." Barkali put a hand on the blue creature, which let out a little happy hoot.
"They can speak owl. Now, I want everyone to say, 'Accio Varsha' and you should get one."
"Accio Varsha," muttered Chase. A green one flew to his desk. He looked around and saw a Hufflepuff girl, Violet, mispronounce "Accio", and instead her glasses flew upward and landed back on her chair. He stifled back a giggle.
"Very good, Chase, splendid...you too, Callum, careful now, Benjamin, don't let the Varsha rip up your book, they have very sharp talons." Barkali nodded and continued. "Now, I want you to scratch the Varsha on its back, and the Varsha should let out a hoot that goes like this:" And the professor hooted in a very musical kind of way.
Chase scratched his Varsha on the back. It didn't hoot. He did it again. It didn't move. "C'mon," he whispered frustratedly.
"Chase, that's not how you do that," he heard Barkali say to him. "Two fingers, not one. Yes, you finally got it, Lionel. That's right, Marshall, just the hoot needs to be louder."
Chase's owl-thingy let out a hoot too. He smiled proudly and scratched again. The Varsha hooted again.
"Yes, that's right. The Varsha's hoot will put the owl to sleep. Now, flick the Varsha on the ear. That'd get the Varsha to give a food for owls out of his paws.
Chase flicked the ear. Nothing. He tried again, and this time a small brown thingy appeared in the Varsha's paws.
"Great job, Chase, you too, Sidney...perfect...that should be brown, not green, Rubble, try again. That's right, All of yours are now perfect. Love it.
"Very good, that's all for today. Goodbye, you should head to Potions now." Barkali waved them away. "Have a good day. Accio all Varshas!"
Chase watched as all the Varshas headed to the professor's table. He had a feeling that The Care of Magical Creatures would be his favourite subject.