Zarif yawns as he awoke the next morning and started to get dressed for classes, putting on his Gryffindor wizarding robes. After doing so, he headed down to the common room where many older students already were and some were about to head down for breakfast. During breakfast, all the students received their schedule and after eating went back to gather what he would need for classes before leaving on his way down he got a bit lost in the castle and asked an old man who had a cat if he could point him in the right way to the potions class which the man disgruntledly did.
On his way back, he greeted Harry and Ron on their way to the same class and joined them, trying his best to ignore the onlookers and such. The classes turned out at first to be a lot like muggle schools with magical history and to, Zarif's surprise, charms to start out with. However, they didn't even start teaching them any magic but the theories and stuff at first so he didn't even get to use his wand.
Transfiguration was an interesting start as well. The first thing that happened was Professor McGonagall gave a speech, showing she would be a very strict teacher. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and told to try to turn it into a needle.
Zarif breathed deeply, trying to steel his nerves, the professor was eyeing him closely for his attempt. It was clear to him she knew of his condition and was waiting to see how bad it would be. Zarif pointed his wand at the match and tried casting the spell.
Zarif takes a deep breath before aiming his wand and giving a gesture with it, already feeling his muscles tense up from the incoming recoil. He then said the one spell word needed and saw the match shake with some magical stream around it until it shoots back towards his hand and made him grunt as his wand flew out and landed in the back of the class, getting everyone's attention now as they stop what they are doing.
McGonagall said nothing as she watched him go get his wand and wrote something down as he returned to his chair.
"Back to work everyone," McGonagall called as she kept watching Zarif mutter under his breath as he kept writing.
Zarif wasn't deterred though and tried it again, this time trying to feel it out and does it, slowly seeing if this would help with it.
The match shook again, the magical stream wrapping around it until all of it shoot back towards him and almost knocked his wand out, but he quickly held on tight and felt his arm go flying behind him. Zarif groans as he holds his arm and looks to the match to see that a third of it had the base of a needle while the rest was still the wooden match. 'Better.'
Zarif continued with this trial and error till at last, he had a needle which McGonagall walked up to the desk he was at and examined it closely. "Well done for making your match into a needle in your condition for class. Gryffindor shall receive five points."
Zarif gives a slight chuckle before wincing and lifts his sleeve slightly to see many lines of bruise marks on his wand arm before bringing the sleeve down. 'So one spell equals a bruising line still.'
At the end of class, before Zarif could leave, McGonagall calls out to him. "Mr. Trazax, a moment."
Zarif stops and sighs as he turns around to face her, his wand arm still clenching once in a while from the spell casting.
After everyone had left, she used her wand to shut the door and lock it. "Let me see your arm," McGonagall instructs.
Zarif sighs and puts his stuff down on a desk before lifting his sleeve and shows his bruised arm.
"As I thought. You will report to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing before you go to lunch with the rest of the school," McGonagall instructs.
Zarif nods before grabbing his things and walking off, almost hating they have to specially watch him for his condition. "One more thing Mr. Trazax," McGonagall says.
Zarif stops and turns his head at her. "Yes?"
"From now on, any class that involves a wand for spell casting you are to see the professor doing it for the extra lesson to work with you on account of your condition," McGonagall informs.
"Right. Anything else?" Zarif asks.
"No. You may go now," McGonagall says unlocking the door with her wand.
Zarif, to his displeasure, learned from Madam Pomfrey that he was to have weekly check-ups because of his condition whether or not he had detention.
Zarif groans as he heads down to the Great Hall and sees everyone already eating away and goes to find a seat at the Gryffindor table. Unfortunately, ending up between the two twins that seem to talk in pairs. Thankfully though they seemed more interested in talking to each other than noticing him. From what Zarif gathered, they were looking for someone to be the seeker on the house Quidditch team.
From there, he headed back to the library to study as much as he could with all of what he could find. When he got there, he found Hermione already there. Zarif, seeing this, did his best not to disturb her while looking for a book on potions.
Zarif hums as he looks over the potions section to try to find any book for the large range of potions that Snape might give…as he doubts that, from the conversation he overheard from the students at lunch, Snape would do a beginners line of potions. Rather, he might jump all the way to the top or above the middle. Thankfully he knew quite a bit about potions from his time with Merlin.
Zarif kept studying the book until the bell rang, signaling classes would start soon causing him to sadly close the book and put it back before starting to head to potions class.
The potion lesson class started much like charms did until professor Snape came to Harry's name on the roll call. "Ah, yes. Harry Potter our newest celebrity," Snape says, causing a few Slytherin's to snicker behind their hands before continuing on the roll call, briefly pausing with Zarif's as well, but played it off as if nothing special.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word, like Professor McGonagall, Snape had caught everyone's attention. Like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death, if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach," Snape says.
Snape then rounded on Harry and asked, "Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Snape asks.
Zarif looked to Harry, but his expression said it all to him. Harry was clueless about what those ingredients were. Zarif, seeing this, looked away bored now which didn't escape Snape's notice. "I don't know sir," Harry answered after a moment.
Snape. seemingly satisfied with this, rounded on Zarif now. "And what of you Mr. Trazax? Do you know as you seemed to care less about the answer Mr. Potter was going to give," Snape says.
"Draught of the Living Death," Zarif states.
"Excuse me?" Snape asks.
"Draught of the Living Death. Both of those things are essential to the potion Draught of the Living Death," Zarif clarifies, making Snape raise his eyebrow at Zarif.
"It would seem Mr. Trazax has been studying for this class. Although this isn't an unwelcome surprise to the usual dunderheads I have to teach, it is still not worth any house points," Snape says going back to the front of the class. "Now then, who can tell me what is a bezoar?" Snape asks looking to the class again before rounding on Zarif again, seeing him organizing his papers than looking at him and ignoring Hermione's hand.
"Mr. Trazax, care to answer since you aren't paying attention?" Snape asks with a bit of a sneer.
"A goat's stomach," Zarif says writing down what had been covered now.
Snape said nothing as he looks like he was busy trying to decide to be angry or elated. "Yes, Mr. Trazax. A bezoar is a stone that is found inside a goat's stomach and it will save you from most poisons," Snape says before turning onto Harry, seeing Zarif was now taking notes. "Potter, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape questions.
"I don't know sir," Harry says once again as Snape ignores Hermione with her hand in the air.
"For your information Potter, monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?!" Snape calls at the rest of the class followed by a rummaging for quills and parchment.
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, Snape took extra long at Zarif and Hermione's caldron examining.
"Hermione, I am telling you as someone who has helped brew potions before, you need to grind it like this to properly do it," Zarif says as Hermione had insisted they do it how the book had written. "Trust me, some books are written by people who haven't even done these steps and just heard about them. They tend to not hear every step," Zarif explains as he kept grinding down the ingredient into a bowl.
"What seems to be the problem here?" Snape asks, looking down at the two.
"Ah, professor. We are having a bit of a disagreement on how we should crush the snake fangs into powder. Can you lend your expertise and tell us which way is better?" Zarif asks.
"Show me," Snape instructs both of them.
Zarif and Hermione proceeded to do it. Zarif from experience which Snape took note of and Hermione from how the book instructed. After a bit of time, Snape finally made the judgment call. "Mr. Trazax's way is better Granger."
Hermione looked surprised as Zarif kept working. "Shall we get back to work?" Zarif asks.
Snape was about to say something else when an acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. 'What happens?' Zarif thought in shock as he made sure to stay out of the potion.
"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
Neville just whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville. "You, Potter. Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought
he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? Three points from Gryffindor," Snape sneered.
'Yep. This guy loves taking points,' Zarif thinks as he gets back to his station and sighs as the mess they made in the panic.
Potions ended a few hours later with no major incident. Zarif was about to go somewhere to do something to relax when he recalled what the head of his house had said and gone to her class for extra lessons. And thus the school life started to fall into a routine with the school for the next few days. That was until Zarif while walking to the library on a Sunday, passed by a very interesting scene. Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle had isolated Neville in an empty corridor and were bullying him. Then something happened. Merula Snyde came around the corner. "Well, well, if it isn't Snape's little pet and his two little cheerleaders."
The three stopped and Zarif could barely make out that Goyle, whose face he could see the best, was a bit afraid. 'This is a first…' Zarif thinks as he watches this whole thing play out. Merula, even though was a fellow Slytherin, started to bully the three, even blasting Crabbe when he tried to back away. She also didn't forget about Neville and soon the four were huddled together in a corner. 'Alright. Time to break this up,' Zarif thinks walking towards the scene.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Merula asks, noticing Zarif walking over to them. "Wait. Aren't you that kid that can't make a good spell without getting backlash?" she asks smirking now.
"Yeah, I am. I have Vengeactus syndrome thanks to Voldemort's followers," Zarif says, making most of those there flinch before he motions for the other boys to leave.
"You got nerve for saying his name," Merula says, trying to push him back by intimidation as she leans forward with a slight scowl.
"I am not afraid of a dead man. So what's your story?" Zarif says, actually standing his ground. "You afraid of them or lonely and so you bully others to make yourself feel better?"
"I am just the superior witch around here," Merula states, crossing her arms now.
"Oh, really? How about you prove it? A little competition between us. You win, I will admit to a whole crowd of people you are better than me," Zarif challenges.
Now Merula smirks. "See, this is the better attitude. What's the game?"
"We first years got our first flying lesson coming up, right? How about the first one to get a distinction from Madam Hooch in our classes with her wins when it comes to actually get in the air?" Zarif challenges.
Merula grins. "Deal. And I better hear you embellish my standing once I win."
"I keep my word. Also, we seem to be alone now," Zarif says, calling her attention that the four ran away while she was distracted.
Merula growls as she ran past him, trying to find the four. 'And that is what Merlin would call a misdirection,' Zarif thinks walking away smirking, unaware two redheads were watching the exchange.
A few days later, Zarif walked down with the rest of the Gryffindor first years to the flat open lawn of where the lesson will be. The Slytherins were already there, Draco having intentionally placed himself as far away from Merula as he could. Zarif locked eyes with Merula as she had a very confident smirk on her face. Zarif said nothing as they all waited. Zarif, after a bit, started to tap his foot impatiently. None of them had to wait for long as Madam Hooch showed up her hawk-like eyes looked at them before barking at them. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Come on. Stand beside a broomstick. Come on, hurry." Hooch obviously was a bit impatient like Zarif himself to his surprise.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'up'," Madam Hooch instructs as they got in the line.
"Up!" Everyone started to call, but only three people's brooms went right to their hands. These were Harry, Merula, and Zarif.
'Well, now. Harry is a natural and Merula too. I may have to watch out or I may have to go through with that bet,' Zarif thinks.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows, correcting their grips. From what Zarif could tell, it was to Merula's delight when Madam Hooch told Draco he had been doing it wrong for years. Even Zarif had heard Draco's bragging in the Great Hall during meals to everyone who would listen. It was obvious that he took great pleasure in rubbing his parent's wealth in other's faces.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," Madam Hooch instructs before continuing, "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle. Three, two," Madam Hooch informed, but before she could blow the whistle Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips. "Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle
'He has no control over it right now, does he?' Zarif thinks watching him climb ever higher now to twenty feet. 'Yep. He has lost control,' Zarif thinks in confirmation as he saw Neville's scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom. 'I can't watch,' Zarif thinks covering his eyes with a hand. The next things he had heard was a loud thud and crack.
"You can look now," Merula says a bit chastising, seeing this from him.
Zarif peeks out and sees Neville laying in a heap with Madam Hooch now looking as pale as Neville had. Soon she turned to the rest of the class before saying. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."
Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him. No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" Malfoy says, causing many of the other Slytherins joined in except for Merula who looked mad at Malfoy, but not for the same reason Zarif was most likely as he had to force his hand to not finish the movement to cast a spell at the boy.
"Shut up, Malfoy," Parvati Patil snapped.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl said before going on to mock her, "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."
"Oh, you mean like you Pansy?" Merula says smirking, making her shut up quickly in fear, remembering how Merula doesn't like when someone steals the bullying spotlight from her.
"Look!" Malfoy says not yet remembering this face, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."
'A remembrall?' Zarif thinks, starting to become a bit greedy and wanting it before berating himself and shooed the thought away.
"Give that here, Malfoy," Harry said quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch as Zarif moved over to Merula.
"Looks like we will have to wait till next week at this rate," Zarif whispers to her as they watch this.
Merula sighs annoyed. "Fine. And I will win that one."
Malfoy smiled nastily at Harry. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find…how about…up a tree?"
"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leaped onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"
The whole class watched Harry grabbed his broom. Only for Hermione to try and stop him. "No, Madam Hooch told us not to move. You'll get us all into trouble."
"Now that is no fun. Following all the rules is boring, don't you think?" Zarif asks smirking, not even bothering to look at Merula.
"Don't encourage him," Hermione says to him.
"And he is away," Merula says as Harry kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared. His robes whipped out behind him. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and a few near Zarif and Merula screamed and gasps from girls and an admiring whoop from Ron.
"Want bet who will come out on top?" Zarif asks Merula.
"Potter will. Malfoy is a coward," Merula says smirking, thinking of how easily she intimidates him.
Those on the ground watched as Harry turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy, on the other hand, looked quite stunned. "Give it here, or I'll knock you off that broom!" Harry threatened.
"Oh, yeah?" Malfoy calls defiantly trying to sneer, but only ended up looking worried.
Harry leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people around Zarif and Merula were clapping.
"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.
"Catch it if you can, then!" Malfoy shouted, and he threw the remembrall high into the air and streaked back toward the ground. The crowd watched as Harry leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down and the next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball.
Zarif had to resist the urge to tell those screaming around him that Harry was in control of his broom from the look of it and not to worry. They all watched as he stretched out his hand nearly a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the remembrall clutched safely in his fist.
"We might have to compete with him for the top spot in the class," Zarif says to Merula who only grunted in acknowledgment.
"HARRY POTTER!" a cry everyone heard before turning to see Professor McGonagall running toward them. As Harry got to his feet, trembling. "Never…in all my time at Hogwarts…" McGonagall starts, not truly sounding angry yet. Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "how dare you. You might have broken your neck."
A few fellow Gryffindors tried to explain away the situation, but McGonagall would not hear of it and lead him away with her to the castle, leaving the group unsupervised again.
"Does this school have a problem with adult supervision?" Zarif muttered bluntly.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle all looked very pleased and triumphant with themselves but started to pale when they heard. "Have fun teacher's pet?" Merula had walked right up behind the three.
'She is both good and bad for me…eh. She is not really going after me unless I steal her thunder,' Zarif thinks shrugging as he leans against his broom.
Madam Hooch eventually came back looking a bit in a foul mood and it didn't help any that she had heard what had happened. That class, Malfoy lost his house thirty points but didn't take away points from Gryffindor just yet as McGonagall had taken him away before she had returned. The class soon ended and the three Slytherin boys ran as fast as their legs could carry them from Merula.
'Heh, they don't realize predators love to hunt,' Zarif thinks smirking, seeing Merula following them slowly.
Zarif headed back with Ron, talking about what had happened in class. Ron was very excited by all of this, but neither saw Harry again till made their way up to the great hall for lunch for dinner.
"So…detention?" Zarif asks, knowing that probably wasn't it.
"No detention," Harry informs making Ron start to beam more excited.
"So you were sent where?" Zarif questions.
Harry proceed them to talk about what all that happened ending up being the seeker for Gryffindor. "You're joking," Ron says with his mouth full.
Harry shakes his head as Zarif starts to tune them out now till he saw the twins. "Well done," George said to Harry in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too. Beaters."
"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," Fred chimed in an equally hushed tone. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry. Wood was almost skipping when he told us."
'These guys are really excited about the game,' Zarif thinks this as he was listening in now. "So how is the game played out?"
"You don't know?" Fred asks.
Zarif shrugs. "Haven't been able to see much of the sport."
"Alright then. Come with us. We will teach you," Fred says looping an arm around his.
"Uh…why not? Kinda bored anyway," Zarif relents sighing as he grabs a chocolate laced bread and follows the two twins.
The twins started to have a back and forth conversation with him, telling him all the rules and positions in the game. As they talked, Zarif started to notice a pattern of when and who would start talking and when they would stop.
"And what about the brooms? What's allowed with them?" Zarif asks curiously.
"Anything within regulations. No illegal hexing or tampering with any brooms," George says as they saw the end of the secret tunnel their friend Lee Jorden found, but the twins already knew about it.
"Just you wait. I will find a secret passage you don't know about," Lee boasts to the twins.
'I somehow doubt that,' Zarif thinks shaking his head as he starts heading back to the house common room to go to bed. Once there, he found Ron and Harry missing, but shrugged it off as he climbed into his bed and starts reading a spellbook till he falls asleep.