The next morning at breakfast, the boys received their schedules.
"What the heck? I don't have any classes with you guys!" Ben exclaimed, comparing his schedule to Jeff's and Charlie's.
"You're not in Care of Magical Creatures." Charlie pointed out.
"You two are taking that class? Are you crazy?" Ben asked.
"It's my favorite class." Charlie told him.
"It's hazardous to your health." Ben told him.
"Just because you nearly died last year doesn't mean it's dangerous." Jeff said with a playful smile.
"Yeah, who knew Nifflers could detect gold tooth fillings?" Charlie asked.
"I do after I almost choked on one." Ben grumbled. Jeff and Charlie couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey Charlie?" Fred and George came up to him.
"Exactly how boring is History of Magic?" George asked.
"Pretty boring." Charlie told them honestly.
"So...if you were us, what would you do? Exploding Snap? Dungbombs?"
"Personally, I favor illegal model broomsticks, but since it's your first day, I advise you to maybe pretend to be paying attention, at least for the first week."
"Pay attention?" Fred and George looked revolted by the very thought. Charlie sighed. He should have known that that would be expecting way too much of the twins.
"Fine...you don' t have to pay attention. Play hangman or something."
"Okay."
"We just wanted to make sure we had your permission before we started slacking off in classes."
"Yeah, so then Mum can't blame us."
"Thanks a lot." Charlie said dryly.
"No problem." Fred and George offered big, dopey grins before returning to their breakfast.
"No more History...this year is going to be great!" Jeff said enthusiastically.
"Oh I know!" Ben said, seeming to have forgotten that they didn't have any of the same classes. "Hello Lucy." He smiled as she as Claire walked by. "And where are you lovely ladies off to?"
"Care of Magical Creatures." Lucy smiled.
"You're taking it, aren't you Charlie?" Claire asked.
"Er...yeah." He said.
"Why don't you walk with us?" Claire asked.
"We're not done eating yet." He nodded his head at Jeff.
"Oh...you're taking it too?" Claire asked, clearly not impressed.
"Yep." Jeff replied, eyeing her coolly. He felt the same way about her as Charlie did. He just didn't have a problem with showing it.
"Well...it'll be fun!" She said. "I guess we'll see you there."
"See you." Charlie said. The two girls walked off.
"Maybe I should take Care of Magical Creatures." Ben joked.
"You're hopeless." Chalire told him.
"A hopeless romantic!" Ben quipped, which made all three boys burst out laughing.
"Well, the crowd is starting to disperse. Should we head to class?" Jeff asked.
"Yeah, let's go." Charlie stood.
"Have fun in the danger zone." Jeff waved, smirking.
When Ben and Charlie arrived in the class area just outside the forest, they saw that most of their class had already arrived. The class appeared to be small. Twelve stools had been placed around three tables that had been set out. One table was full of Hufflepuff students. Claire, Lucy, and another of their friends, Nina, sat at another. Two Ravenclaw girls occupied the third. Charlie scanned the class, and saw Claire waving frantically to get his attention and patting the seat next to her. He pointed at Jeff and shrugged.
"Hey, let's go sit over with them." Jeff said, indicating the two Ravenclaw girls.
"Er...okay." Charlie hesitated. He had never actually gotten to know Elle Reiley or Hazel Jones, but had his reasons for being nervous around them. Hazel was Ravenclaw's star Chaser and last year, during a very close Quidditch match, Charlie had collided with her, nearly snapping her arm in half. It was the only time he had ever been embarrassed on the Quidditch field.
Almost as though he had read Charlie's thoughts, Jeff said, "Don't worry about what happened last year. It was just an accident."
"But it was so embarrassing!"
"It could have been a lot worse."
"Yeah..." Charlie said as they approached the table.
"Is anyone sitting here?" Jeff asked the two girls. They looked up at them. Charlie felt his ears turn red.
"No." Elle replied.
"You can sit here." Hazel said.
"Thanks." Jeff said. He took the seat across from Elle. Charlie sat down across from Hazel.
"Alright class, listen up!" Professor Kettleburn addressed the students. "Welcome to the N.E.W.T. level Care of Magical Creatures class. As you may or may not have heard from students in previous years, I like to start my N.E.W.T. students off with a group project. There will be three groups. Each group consists of the people at your table, so I hope you like who you're sitting with. Your assignment is to pick one magical creature of your choice to research. I will give you a list of every topic you need to cover in your presentation, but how you present is up to you. Now you will have the rest of the class period to talk amongst your group and decide on a magical creature."
"Wow, this is going to be fun." Elle smiled enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Hazel agreed. "So...anyone have any thoughts on what our creature should be?"
"I've always thought chimeras were cool." Jeff offered.
"What about acromantulas?" Elle asked. "I've heard rumors of a giant colony living in the Forbidden Forest."
"I have too. But they can't possibly be true. There hasn't been an Acromantula sighting in decades...maybe even centuries..."
"I like hippogriffs. They're such beautiful creatures." Hazel commented.
"I love hippogriffs." Elle said with a dreamy look in her eye.
"I know." Hazel smiled. Hazel and Elle were best friends but they were so close, they might as well have been sisters. "What about you Charlie?" Hazel asked.
"What?" Charlie asked, somewhat scared that she was about to bring up last year's Quidditch match, but she did no such thing. Instead, she looked at him with large brown eyes and asked her question.
"What creautres do you like?"
"Oh...well...I don't know. I like all of them."
"What's your favorite?" She asked.
"I've always had a thing for dragons." Charlie didn't have to think about that answer for a second, but braced himself for a negative reaction. Usually when he talked about dragons around a girl, she would shudder or say something like, "Dragons! Ooh...they're so scary! And they're brutal murderers! I don't like them!"
"Dragons are amazing. And they're really beautiful." Hazel said sincerely. Charlie was shocked.
"You like dragons?"
"Yeah. When I was younger, my parents would take me to Renaissance Festivals and there would be the most beautiful statues of dragons guarding castles or treasure chests. I would go home and pretend that I had a pet dragon who guarded all my treasure." She smiled sheepishly. "I can't tell you how excited I was when I found out dragons were real."
"Didn't you always know that?" Jeff asked.
"I'm Muggle-born." Hazel explained.
"Oh, I see." Jeff said.
"What's your favorite dragon?" Charlie asked Hazel, suddenly wishing he had started talking to her long before this moment.
"I don't know too much about different breeds, but I really like Swedish Shortsnouts. I love their coloring."
"Blue's my favorite color." Charlie told her.
"Me too." Hazel said.
"Mine is golden yellow. And orange. And green."
"You have a lot of favorites." Jeff laughed.
"I love colors." Elle shrugged. "So, what are we goning to do? For our project?"
"Anything is fine with me." Hazel said.
"Same." Charlie said.
"I don't care." Jeff said.
"Well, I'm glad we're such a decisive group." Elle said sarcastically. The group laughed.
"Yeah, I guess someone does need to make a decision." Charlie said.
"Okay, what was mentioned?" Hazel asked pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill.
"Chimeras, acromantulas, hippogriffs, and dragons." Jeff told her.
"Well, everyone knows about Hippogriffs, so we can cross that one off." Hazel said.
"We don't have to do chimeras. I don't think there's too much information about them out there anyway." Jeff said.
"I think dragons would be a good choice." Elle announced.
"Me too. There's a lot of information about them and too many people who don't understand them. I think educating everyone would be a great idea for a project." Hazel said. Charlie couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always thought he and Hagrid were the only ones who had such feelings about dragons.
"That sounds good. Everyone alright with that?" Jeff asked.
"Yeah." Elle said.
"Of course." Charlie said.
"Wonderful." Hazel smiled as the rest of their class began to depart.
"Class is over." A student informed them.
"Right. Excellent." Jeff said.
"This project is going to be fun." Hazel said.
"Yeah. Thanks for letting us work with you." Charlie said.
"No problem." Hazel smiled. "We'll see you guys later." She and Elle waved and walked away.
"Why didn't we get to know them earlier?" Jeff asked Charlie.
"I was just wondering the same thing." Charlie said. "Hey, what do we have next?"
"Er...let me check." Jeff pulled out his schedule. "Potions."
"Joy." Charlie moaned.
"Hey Charlie. What's your group doing?" Claire asked, catching up to him and Jeff.
"We're going to research dragons." Charlie smiled.
"Oh! Dragons are so scary!" Charlie looked at her with a bemused expression. "We're going to study unicorns."
"Unicorns are cool."
"They're beautiful." Claire said dreamily. "Was that Hazel Jones you were working with?"
"Yes."
"Didn't you break her arm last year?" Claire asked.
"Yeah..."
"Touchy subject." Jeff interjected.
"Wow! I'm surprised she's even talking to you!" Claire seemed surprised.
"Yeah, me too. Well, see you later." Charlie said.
"Wait! What class do you have next?"
"Potions."
"I do too! I'll walk with you."
"Er...okay."
"Where's Ben?" Lucy wanted to know.
"He's not taking Care of Magical Creatures." Charlie replied.
"Yeah...he got a little more than he could swallow last year." Jeff grinned.
"Literally." Charlie laughed. Claire and Lucy looked at them curiously. "Forget it." Charlie told them.
"I hate Potions." Lucy said.
"Who doesn't?" Jeff muttered as they entered the dungeons. Glancing around the room, Charlie wasn't surprised to see that not many of their peers had opted to take N.E.W.T. level Potions. Besides the four Gryffindor students, there were only three Slytherins. Charlie and Jeff took seats behind Claire and Lucy when the dungeon door opened. Charlie turned and was delighted to see Hazel and Elle walking in. Hazel, sensing someone watching her, looked at Charlie, grinned, and waved. Charlie smiled and waved back. Then he noticed that they were accompanied by a Ravenclaw boy, Edgar Brooks. Charlie didn't know him, but had often seen him hanging out with the two girls. For some reason, Charlie was annoyed to see him following them.
"Hey guys." Elle greeted Charlie and Jeff, taking a seat behind them. Hazel and Edgar sat down on either side of her.
"Hey." Jeff turned and smiled, genuinely glad to see them.
"You guys know Edgar Brooks, right?" Hazel asked.
"Yeah. Hi." Charlie nodded. It soon became obvious to Charlie that Edgar was interested in Elle, and suddenly his presence didn't bother him at all.
When Professor Snape entered the room, the entire class stopped talking and was silent. As he called role, he paused to sneer or make a cynical comment about each student that wasn't a Slytherin.
"Brooks...You want to endure another year of this? Very well." Edgar rolled his eyes as soon as Snape had his back turned. "Grace...perhaps this year you'll learn to speak." Snape's cold eyes flashed at Jeff, who turned a brilliant shade of pink. "Jones...on the contrary, perhaps you'll learn to control that smart mouth of yours." Charlie turned to look at Hazel, who raised an eyebrow at Snape but didn't say anything. "Reiley...Ah yes, the know it all. Are you still keen on making everyone in the class think you are better than they are?" He asked cruelly. Elle's eyes brimmed with tears of embarrassment, but nevertheless held her head high. "And Weasley...Weasley? You made it to this class? I daresay that is nothing short of miraculous, espcially after a few of your dismal test scores last year." Now it was Charlie's turn to be embarrassed. Snape thought he was stupid! He felt his ears turning bright red. "Well, I can't say I have very high expectations of this class." Snape drawled. He then began to tell them all that they were to accomplish throughout the year, and assigned them a lengthy essay that would surely take them all week to complete.
"What a slimy, mangy git." Jeff muttered once they reached the halls.
"What was he thinking? Embarrassing the entire class like that?" Hazel asked angrily.
"Shouldn't we all be used to it by now?" Edgar asked.
"That's no excuse!" Elle fumed. "He has no right to be cruel like that. Some of that stuff he said really hurt."
"I don't know how I'm going to put up with an entire year of this." Jeff grumbled.
"Charlie!" A voice from behind them called. The group stopped to see a small boy hurrying their way. Charlie recognized the young Gryffindor as Oliver Wood, a Quidditch-crazed boy in Percy's year. "When are Quidditch tryouts?" He panted, clearly winded from trying to catch up to the sixth year students.
"Er...I was thinking of holding them Friday evening. Are you interested in trying out?" He asked, and suddenly felt completely dumb. Of course he was interested in trying out. Why else would he have chased him halfway down the corridor?
"Yeah! I really am! I want to play Quidditch!" Oliver said enthusiastically.
"I can see that." Charlie laughed. "Well, I'll have a notice posted in the Gryffindor common room as soon as I decide on a time."
"Great! See you later Captain!" Oliver said loudly before scampering away. Charlie watched him, a bit stunned, before his friends' laughter broke the silence.
"Looks like you have a fanclub, Charlie." Elle giggled.
"Looks like you have a new Keeper." Jeff corrected, smiling.
"Wow...I don't even know what to say." Charlie said.
"He certainly wants to play Quidditch." Edgar observed.
"Really?" Elle asked blankly.
"He's very enthusiastic. He'd probably be really good." Hazel noted.
"That is if he can hold still long enough to get five feet off the ground." Jeff commented.
"True." Hazel said.
"Are you guys holding any tryouts this year?" Jeff asked Hazel.
"No. No one graduated last year, so we still have our old team." Hazel replied.
"That's good. You all were excellent last year."
"Thanks." Hazel smiled. "Of course, we're no Gryffindor...but we do have a good time."
"Didn't you break her arm last year?" Edgar asked. Charlie, again, felt his ears turn red. Was Edgar trying to make him feel awkward?
"Er...yeah..." He muttered.
"It was an accident. Besides, Madame Pomfrey mended my bones in a second. No big deal." Hazel said nonchalantly.
"How did that happen anyway?" Elle asked. Charlie felt his ears get redder. Did they really have to talk about this on their first day back?
"I had just thrown the Quaffle and I guess you were chasing after the Snitch, right?" Hazel asked.
"Yeah." He murmured.
"Anyway, the Quaffle had just left my hand, so my arm was still outstretched, and it was just the perfect timing because then there was this awful snapping noise and the next thing I knew I was on the ground in someone's arms and I couldn't feel my own arm or remember what had happened."
"Wow...that must have hurt a lot." Jeff said. Charlie glared at him. Wasn't he supposed to be on his side?
"Not really. I remember feeling dizzy and numb and not knowing what had happened, but no pain." Hazel said. Their conversation had brought them all the way to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Yeah...I still feel really bad about that." Charlie told her.
"Don't. Like I said, it was no big deal." Hazel told him.
"Still...I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Besides, it's Quidditch. I think there's some kind of unwritten rule that everyone will get injured at least once." Hazel joked. Charlie laughed, relieved that she didn't hold the accident against him.
"Okay...time to go eat. I'm starving." Elle announced. Edgar had already settled himself next to some Ravenclaw boys and had stared eating.
"Yeah, me too." Charlie agreed.
"Well, see you later." Hazel said.
"You girls want to eat lunch with us?" Jeff asked as Hazel and Elle went to join Edgar.
"Are we allowed to?" Hazel asked.
"I don't think we are." Elle said.
"Well, our tables are right next to each other. We could sit facing each others table and use our laps as tables." Jeff said. Elle and Hazel looked at each other.
"Sure." Hazel said.
"Yeah. That'd be fun." Elle agreed. They walked over to the aisle in between their tables and sat down facing each other. As soon as they started eating, Ben joined them and gave his friends a strange look.
"Charles...Jeffrey...Have we forgotten how we sit at the lunch table?" He spoke as though he were addressing a couple of five-year-olds. The girls laughed.
"No...we're just talking." Jeff told him.
"To who?" Ben asked.
"Ben, you know Elle Reiley and Hazel Jones, right?" Charlie asked.
"Oh yeah, hi." Ben said. "Didn't you break her arm last year?" Ben asked Charlie, pointing at Hazel.
"Yes." Charlie sighed, growing tired of being asked that question.
"Didn't it hurt? Charlie's kind of a big guy." Ben asked.
"Thanks a lot." Charlie glowered at him.
"I don't really remember feeling anything, to be honest." Hazel answered. She too, was clearly tired of the Quidditch story.
"Weird." Ben said as he sat down next to Charlie. "So, why are we sitting like this again?"
"Ben's not exactly the brightest member of our group." Jeff told the girls apolegetically.
"Clearly." Elle grinned.
"What are you talking about? I'm smart!" Ben told him.
"What's two plus two?" Charlie asked.
"Five." Ben joked.
"I rest my case." Jeff said. The girls giggled.
"So, how did you guys meet? Because unless I'm very much mistaken, you didn't even know each other this morning." Ben asked.
"Well, we knew each other, we just never really talked before this morning." Elle explained.
"Ah. So, how'd you guys get to talking?" Ben asked.
"We're all taking Care of Magical Creatures and ended up in the same group for a project we're working on." Charlie told him.
"Ha! Have fun with that." Ben gloated. "So what's the project?"
"We're going to research dragons." Hazel told him.
"Ooh, scary." Ben commented, spreading marmelade onto a roll.
"You don't care at all, do you?" Charlie asked.
"Not really." Ben replied honestly. "Hey, have you two ever-" He began to ask Hazel and Elle when the doors to the Great Hall crashed open and Fred and George came barreling in, screaming bloody murder, with Hogwarts' caretaker, Argus Filch, right on their tales.
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE MONSTERS!" He screeched.
"CHARLIE SAVE US!" They screamed and clung to their older brother's legs for dear life.
"What did you DO!" Charlie asked, feeling scared himself.
"THEY SET OFF FIFTY DUNGBOMBS OUTSIDE MY OFFICE THEN THEY TURNED POOR MRS. NORRIS YELLOW! YELLOW!" Filch screamed himself hoarse.
"Do you have a problem with yellow?" Jeff asked. Filch glared daggers at him.
"Don't you start with me, boy." He growled.
"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall came over to see what the fuss was about.
"These little demons have left filth all over the castle and they turned Mrs. Norris yellow." Filch informed her.
"That was an accident!" Fred piped up.
"Yeah! We were actually trying to turn her into a scorpian, but something went wrong." George confessed.
"Yeah...now she's just yellow." Fred shrugged. "Don't really know how that worked..." Professor McGonagall was not amused.
"Come with me, you two."
"DON'T LET HER TAKE US!" Fred and George yelled at Charlie as Professor McGonagall dragged them away. "NOOOOO!"
After a few moments of silence, Elle commented, "Well that was dramatic."
"That's one word for it." Charlie said helplessly.
