Hey y'all! How's everyone doing? We're just going to jump right into it so strap yourselves in for a not so wild ride? Idk man, I'm running on fumes and anxiety at this point so I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Like always, I enjoy comments, in fact I thrive off of positive comments and love constructive critique ones cause it shows an author that their readers are actually paying attention and enjoying their work. Thanks for reading this story! Virtual hugs and cuddles to y'all.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except any OC's that may come up, any world building that has not yet been officially stated by the books and any plot points/structures that have not been used in the books.
Warning: No beta, we die like Stingbulbs.
Chapter 4: The Hell that is School that even Magic Can't Fix
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It was a beautiful day.
The sun was shining.
The birds were chirping.
The air was crisp and fresh, free of any smog of the cities.
Breakfast was delicious and made many wonder how they were going to stay in shape if they were wolfing down five star meals three times a day.
Magic was in the air.
But not even all the magic in the world could make attending school any easier. In fact, it may have made it even harder.
Sure there were no math, science, language arts, social studies, or gym classes.
But there was transfiguration, potions, history of magic, charms, astronomy, defense against the dark arts, herbology, and flying classes.
While some of them, Seth greatly looked forward to, others...not so much.
But there was the silver lining that classes didn't even start until nine am! He couldn't remember the last time he was in school, barring college, where he was able to get up after six in the morning.
Another silver lining was the knowledge he'd gained from a combination of his adventures and duties in the preserves and having already lived through the hell that was the American education system.
So the first few weeks of magical boarding school actually weren't too bad barring a few...hiccups.
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"Oh! Where do you think they are?" Hermione whispered to Seth, as she glanced around for any sign of Harry and Ron. Worry for their well-being and frustration over their tardiness for their first class were warring across her face.
The two boys were the only Gryffindors who weren't present at their first Transfiguration class and also their first class in general. Everyone else was sitting patiently and waiting for the professor. Some were also wondering where their wayward housemates were. Others were unnerved by the tabby cat that sat on the professor's desk and stared at them all with bright green eyes.
Finally, the doors to the classroom burst open and the aforementioned boys stumbled into the room.
"Oh thank god, McGonagall isn't in yet," Ron panted out in relief, "See Harry! I told you we'd be fine."
"I would've liked to be more than fine though, Ron," Harry panted out in annoyance, "Like on time so we wouldn't have had to run."
"It's not my fault that the castle is so huge," Ron protested, "Besides, you're the one who wanted us to take the staircase before the bowl of fruit."
"I thought it was a shortcut because of how many floors it passed," Harry objected.
"Whatever," Ron lightly scoffed, "Let's just find a seat before McGonagall arrives and gives us detention."
"That's Professor McGonagall to you, Mr. Weasley," a woman's voice called out.
Ron and Harry stiffened as the other Gryffindors looked around for where the voice may have come from. The only place they could think of was from the cat but there was no way the cat could talk, right?
The cat crouched on its hind legs and jumped off the desk. Then, like something out of a movie, the cat shifted into the human form of the severe looking woman from last night's sorting.
Professor McGonagall stood in her green robes and black witch hat with a disapproving frown on her face.
Everyone whispered to each other in excitement.
"She's an animagus!" Hermione excitedly whispered to Seth, "That's completely brilliant!"
"Hell yeah, it is. I can't wait to pull that off myself," Seth whispered back to her, equally excited, "Just think of all the things I could do, everything I could get away with!"
"Seth!" Hermione quietly cried out, scandalized.
He laughed at her expression before returning his attention back to the two boys being scolded by the professor.
"That was bloody brilliant," Ron gasped out in awe. Harry stood gaping next to him, completely dumbfounded by the advanced show of magic.
"Thank you for your assessment, Mr. Weasly," McGonagall said with a small sarcastic smile, "Perhaps it would be more useful for me to transfigure you or Mr. Potter into a pocket watch so then at least one of you would be on time."
"Sorry, Professor," Harry apologized, looking down chastised, "We got lost on our way here."
McGonagall sighed, feeling sympathetic towards the kicked puppy and his red haired companion.
"I will let you off for today since it's only your first offense but do be sure to take ample time in arriving to each of your classes," she warned, "It would not do for Gryffindor House to lose points for something so trivial."
Harry and Ron nodded at her, completely dumbfounded and also very intimidated by her words.
"Now unless you want me to transfigure you into a map, you can go and find your seats," she ordered before walking to the large chalkboard by her desk.
Ron and Harry rushed to follow her orders as McGonagall waved her wand over the chalkboard. Writing slowly appeared on the board, revealing a lesson titled "Match to Needle."
"Welcome to your first transfiguration class. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. I expect complete concentration and absolute attention to detail," McGonagall said as she clapped her hands together with a small smile, "Now, let us begin."
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"Repeat after me," Professor Flitwick instructed as he stood on top a tall stack of books with more stacks trailing beside it like a cascading staircase. "Swish and flick."
He moved his wrist up in a swishing movement followed by a sharp flick down.
The entire class followed his movements with varying degrees of engagement.
Hermione narrowed her eyes as if trying to completely replicate Flitwick's movements from the way his arm moved down to the precise placement of each finger around his wand.
Ron and Harry were horsing around with Ron playfully moving his wand in such a way that sent Harry into a fit of giggles.
Seth...was bored. So very bored. He lazily replicated the movements and daydreamed about fighting off dragons with his sword for that sweet, sweet loot.
"Good!" Flitwick complimented, "Now repeat another twenty times."
Seth groaned and let his head fall down to the table with a thud.
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"Seth! Psst! Seth!" Hermione quietly hissed at him as he continued to snooze the hour away.
While everyone who had suffered through the non magical education had psyched themselves up and prepared as best as they could, none of them expected History of Magic to be this...boring.
The class was taught by a ghost, Professor Binns, who died while sleeping in front of the teacher's room fire. Then he got up like nothing happened and went about his routine as usual. Seth thought that it would at least be exciting to have a ghost as a teacher but no.
The Gryffindors entered the class, ready to learn, and were met with Binns sending Seth a suspicious glare and then proceeding to ramble on about the Goblin Wars until everyone was doing anything but listening.
Except for Hermione who had to have some sort of super power because she was still wide awake and attentively taking notes even though her attention did waver whenever Binns repeated himself, which happened quite frequently.
Everyone else had either nodded off or decided to do their own reading. Some were even getting started on homework for other classes. Only a small handful were trying to stay engaged like Hermione though they soon admitted defeat. One of them, Seamus Finnigan, actually left the classroom before he was escorted back by an unamused McGonagall.
Seth, who proudly wore the badge of master procrastinator with an impressive track record of A's and B's despite doing the assignment the night before, decided that it was high time for a nap. He could do homework later.
Hermione alternated between taking notes, listening to Binns drone, and trying to wake Seth up which was probably the only reason why she was still awake.
"Seth!" she hissed again, now tickling his nose with her quill.
Seth furrowed his brow, eyes staying stubbornly closed. He bat the quill away. Hermione huffed and finally left him alone. But she was secretly formulating plans on how to keep him awake for future history classes. Maybe some itching powder or sugary caffeinated drink?
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Seth sat with his back hunched, shoulders up to his ears, jaw clenched, and body tense like a rubber band about to snap.
Hermione occasionally glanced at him in worry but was usually too focused on trying to make sense of Professor Quirrell's soft mumbling lecture about something that may or may not have sounded like vampires.
The entire classroom was dark with only the bare minimum of lighting provided by candles lit all around and in danger of setting fire to one of the many curtains closed around the various windows. The entire room smelled like garlic with some musty undertone that made it harder for everyone to focus on Quirrell's mumblings.
There were also many dark arts related artifacts strewn about, presumably already purified or with multiple safety charms layered upon it.
But still, there was this persisting dark presence that made Seth twitchy. His senses were going nuts trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. He also got a sick feeling growing in his stomach from how the dark presence felt.
Normally, due to his Shadow Charmer nature, the darkness was a comforting presence, like a cool shower on a hot day. Sometimes if the darkness was more ill intentioned or evil inclined, the coolness would turn into a chilly feeling that would range from a nip to the nose to full blown frostbite.
But this darkness felt so wrong. It was like something was decaying while wrapped in a fake shell to mask the smell of rotting.
Hermione glanced over to him again and he tried to give her a reassuring smile but it came out as a grimace.
The end of this class couldn't come soon enough. God, he was already dreading taking this class for the rest of the year. He wondered if the Weasley twins knew anything that could help him skip. If not, then now was the perfect time to invent something.
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"I wish my sister could see this," Seth idly commented as he stared up at the clear night sky littered with stars. "She'd be so jealous."
A feeling of homesickness overcame him as he thought about all the nights that he, Kendra, and their friends and family would chill on the roof of the house on especially calm nights. They would eat all kinds of sweets while pointing out all the stars and constellations before giving them their own ridiculous nicknames.
His favorite was the Taurus constellation renamed to 'I've fallen and can't get up' by Grandma Sorenson who ribbed Grandpa Sorenson about needing a life alert earlier when he'd fallen in one of the stables and had to call out for help cause he kinked his hip.
"Your sister's name is Kendra right?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, god, she's such a nerd and a really annoying older sister too," Seth responded, the homesickness coming through in his voice.
Hermione smiled at him sympathetically. "And yet you named your owl after her and always make sure to write a letter home at the end of each day."
He smiled wryly at her. "Gotta fill up my letter quota early or else I'll never hear the end of it from my family. Man, I wish cell phones could work here. I don't think I've written this much since kindergarten."
"Yes, it would certainly make communicating with my family much easier," she agreed while writing in another constellation on her star chart, "My dad is apparently still rather startled whenever an owl appears and my mum's trying to make her handwriting more legible again."
"Your parents are both dentists right?" he asked, peeking through the telescope to find another constellation.
Hermione voiced her agreement. "What do your parents do?"
"Eh, just normal boring stuff like work in an office and doing accounting," Seth shrugged, "Nothing too exciting."
"So then how are you affiliated with the preserves?" she asked, unable to keep her curiosity at bay.
Seth smiled secretively at her. "That's for me to know and you to drive yourself insane over figuring out."
Hermione pouted as he laughed and the two returned to their astronomy assignment, basking in a friend's presence under the beautiful night sky.
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"Oh come on, Neville," Seth whined, "There's nothing to be scared about. They're just pod flowers, nothing dangerous here."
"As long as you don't agitate it and inhale the spores. They'll make you very dizzy," Hermione chimed in.
Neville flinched at the mention.
"But not so dizzy that you'll end up in the infirmary," she quickly backtracked, also trying to calm the nervously shaking boy.
"Just give it a poke," Seth encouraged, "Come on. I know you're afraid but that's okay!"
Neville looked at Seth skeptically. "That's not what grandmother says," he mumbled out miserably.
"Well your grandma's an old coot who wouldn't know self-preservation skills if it slapped her on the ass," Seth retorted.
Neville stared wide-eyed at him in shock while Hermione cried out indignantly, "Seth!"
But Seth ignored her and continued plowing on, taking Neville by the shoulders and staring him down. "It's okay to be afraid," he reiterated as firmly as he could, "But do it anyway."
He let Neville go and stepped back. Neville looked at him, wide-eyed and shaking, before he swallowed down his fear and his eyes hardened with determination. He was still shaking as he lifted a finger out to the puffapod.
Seth and Hermione watched, enraptured, as Neville's finger slowly got closer and closer and closer to the closed pink pod. Finally, the finger made contact and the pod sprung open, blooming into a beautiful pink flower with purple highlights.
Neville's shoulders slumped in relief when for once he had not gotten the short end of the stick as none of the defensive spores of the pod were released. He turned to his two partners and smiled giddily at them. Hermione nodded in approval while Seth held two thumbs up.
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"So what do you think Snape's gonna be like as a teacher?" Seth asked. He was leaning forward over his worktable to speak with Ron and Harry who sat at the worktable in front of him.
Neville glanced around nervously, keeping an unasked look out for the sudden appearance of the rather terrifying potions professor. Hermione looked across the room at them in disapproval with a disinterested Lavender Brown idly examining her nails seated beside her.
"I dunno but given everything I've heard about him I guess he would be a miserable greasy git," Ron responded with a glum frown.
"Well he can't be that bad, right?" Harry hesitantly asked.
Ron gave Harry a look. "Harry, he literally stared you down during the welcome feast like you were a bug on the bottom of his shoe."
"Yeah, I'm still curious as to what's up with that?" Seth wondered, "Like did your parents bully him when they were in school or did he like your mom and there was this whole love triangle situation going on?"
Harry shrugged helplessly. "I dunno. I never knew my parents because of the whole," he waved a hand up at his scar. The others nodded in understanding. "The only things I know are my parents' names, James and Lily, they were amazing wizards, and that I look like my father but have my mother's green eyes."
Seth hummed in thought.
Suddenly, the doors of the classroom burst open with a slam that startled all the students, both Gryffindor and Slytherin alike. Professor Snape swept in, his black robes billowing behind him like he was some tragic Shakespearean protagonist.
He made his way to the front before turning around to face the students with a deep frown. Snape scanned the students, letting his eyes trail over his unwanted audience before stopping dead center on Harry. He narrowed his eyes at Harry, who flinched at the sudden attention, before returning his gaze back out to the group of students in red and green.
"There will be no silly wand waving or incantations in this class," he declared while looking down at them all with disdain, "That said, I don't believe any of you will appreciate the subtle science that is the exact art of potion making."
"However, for the few of you who may possess the...disposition," he walked down the main aisle between workbenches, staring each student down as if able to see into their very souls, "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even how to stopper death."
"But then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not want to bother with this class," Snape sneered, stopping his sweeping walk to stand right in front of Harry.
Harry sunk down in his seat, hoping that his hair was sufficiently covering his scar. Ron tried to shrink and become unnoticed behind him. Neville flinched from how close the professor was to him. Hermione and Seth both frowned from Snape's subtly rude attitude while the other students whispered to each other - the Gryffindors in worry and the Slytherins with smugness.
"Mr. Potter," Snape dismissively remarked, "Our new...celebrity."
Harry tried to sink further down in his chair but only succeeded in looking like a sad sack since there wasn't much chair left for him to sink down on.
"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry frowned at the question and could only shake his head in response.
Snape raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "You don't know? Well then, let's try again. Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?"
Hermione's hand shot up in the air. Her eyes narrowed at Snape as if trying to mentally drag his attention over to her. Harry shot her a grateful look as he shook his head and hoped that was the end of it.
"I don't know, sir," he answered.
Snape continued, undeterred, "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfs bane?" His attention still zeroed in on Harry and deliberately ignoring Hermione who was now waving her hand wildly back and forth.
"I don't know, sir," Harry answered, quiet and subdued by all the insecurity issues his terrible childhood piled onto his too young shoulders.
"Pity," Snape said as he looked to Harry with a plethora of unidentifiable emotions that went straight over everyone's heads except for Seth's. Seth narrowed his eyes when he saw a hint of disappointment and was that grief? But why?
"Clearly fame isn't everything. Is it, Mr. Potter?" Snape said, getting one last dig in before sweeping back to the front of the classroom.
"There is no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane because they are both names for the same plant also known as aconite. A bezoar is a stone like mass found in the stomach of a goat that acts as an antidote to most poisons," Snape lectured, pace and subtle emotions ratcheting up the more he spoke, "And if I combined powdered root of asphodel with an infusion of wormwood, I would brew a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the draught of living death."
Snape paused dramatically though his eyes shone from some memory rising up to the forefront of his mind. There was a brief silence as everyone held their breath, waiting to see what he would do next.
The shine immediately disappeared as quickly as it appeared and he slammed a hand down onto his desk with a resounding smack. The sound jarred the students back into reality as Snape demanded, "Well? Why aren't you all writing this down?"
Students frantically scrambled for their quills, dipping them in ink before quickly scribbling out notes. Snape whirled around to wave his wand at the nearby chalkboard. The recipe and brewing process for a "Cure for Boils" revealed itself.
As Seth calmly wrote down his notes as legibly as he could, he frowned thoughtfully to himself as he mulled over the reason behind why Professor Snape was so hostile to Harry. There was something niggling in the back of his mind, something to do with the meaning of flowers or some shit like that, but he couldn't quite grasp what it was. Eventually, he shrugged to himself and decided to make a mental reminder to ask Kendra about it in his letter later.
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The Gryffindor and Slytherin first years stood separated into two rows on the field of the courtyard. Two rows of broomsticks were placed beside them as they all chattered excitedly or nervously about their first flying class.
"Come on, Neville. You'll be fine!" Seth exclaimed, doing his best to be reassuring to the extremely nervous boy.
Neville tried to protest, stuttering nervously, "B-But-"
"But nothing," Seth cut him off, pointing at the stern woman with short cropped white hair marching over, "Look the teacher's already here so just suck in your gut and do your best. If it all works out, great! If it doesn't, you can have exclusive 'I told you so' rights."
That did little to nothing in reassuring Neville but he still appreciated the gesture anyway.
"Good afternoon, class. I am your flying instructor Madam Hooch," Hooch said as she briskly walked down the lane between the two rows of students.
"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch," the students all said like the good little kids they were supposed to be.
She whirled around to face them all, staring down with yellow hawk like eyes. "Welcome to your first flying class," she said as she waved a hand over at the brooms on the grass. "Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation? Step up to the left side of your broomsticks. Come on now, hurry up."
Each student took a hasty step forward to comply with her orders.
"Now hold your right hand out over your broom and firmly say 'up'!"
Each student held their right hand out and said 'up' with varying results.
Harry's broom immediately shot up into his hand much to the boy's surprised delight. Draco's leisurely rose into his awaiting hand. Hermione's rolled around on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum and Ron's smacked him in the face. Everyone else's brooms go up and down like a yo-yo as they repeatedly order their broom up.
Seth didn't even bother to say anything as years of dealing with magic had taught him that magical objects always carried some degree of sentience. Thus like an animal, they could sense your intent without you having to say anything. So he gave his broom a look, released a bit of his power through his hand, and without even having to say a word, the broom shot up into his hand.
He held his broom and acted like nothing out of the ordinary happened, unknowing of the narrow eyed gaze Hermione was giving him at his little display.
Once everyone had their broom in hand, Hooch nodded satisfactorily.
"Now that you've got a hold of your broom, I want you to mount it," she ordered.
Everyone threw a leg over the broom.
"And make sure to grip it tight," she warned, "You don't want to be sliding off the end."
"When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off of the ground, hard," Hooch said as she looked each student sternly in the eyes, "Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly to touch back down. Now on my whistle. Three, two..."
She blew into her whistle and like a chain reaction, Neville's broom suddenly lifted into the air without his permission.
He whimpered in fear as the broom slowly rose up. Seth let go of his broom to quickly jump up and grab hold of Neville's broom, hoping the extra weight would bring it back down.
"Mr. Longbottom! Mr. Sorenson!" Hooch cried out as if yelling at the two would stop what was happening from happening.
But the broom kept rising and eventually, Seth had to let go or else he'll be dragged along with Neville on whatever journey his broom felt like taking.
"Mr. Longbottom! Come back down this instance!" Hooch demanded as Neville's broom zoomed off and jerked him around like a bucking bronco.
Seth gave Hooch a disbelieving look that he shared with Hermione and a bunch of other muggleborns and half bloods with muggle education.
"Does it look like he has any sort of control over that thing?" Seth asked her, incredulous that the teacher wasn't trying to find another way to help beyond demanding Neville to get a hold of the situation himself.
Hooch looked to him in surprise before realizing how incompetent she was being as an instructor. She quickly pulled her wand out as Neville's broom whipped the poor boy around, no doubt giving him a concussion or whiplash at the very least, and zoomed back down towards the group.
Before she could cast a spell to stop him, his broom picked up speed leading everyone to dive out of the way in order to not get run over. Everyone gasped as the broom traveled up in a loop before passing by a statue with a long spear that caught the end of Neville's cloak, yanking him off.
The cloak wasn't strong enough to hold him though and quickly ripped. Seth grabbed his broom and jumped on, taking off before anyone could react. Neville fell from the statue but his cloak was thankfully caught by a torch stand sticking out halfway underneath. Seth leaned forward to pick up speed just as Neville fell out of his cloak. He quickly caught him and slowly brought them back down to the ground.
"Mr. Longbottom! Mr. Sorenson!" Hooch exclaimed as she made her way over to the two boys. "Are you both alright?"
"I'm fine," Seth responded, "But I think Neville might have a concussion or whiplash."
Hooch helped Neville get off the broom though the poor boy was swaying back and forth a bit on his feet and his eyes were slightly glazed over.
"I think you're right, Mr. Sorenson," Hooch said, "Would you help take him to the infirmary? I'll help direct you both in the right direction."
Seth nodded and grabbed Neville's arm to sling over his shoulder to support him.
"And I would normally give detention to students who disobey orders and pull reckless stunts but given the circumstances, I shall reward Gryffindor 15 points for your quick thinking and actions in saving your classmate's life," Hooch stated, making the other Gryffindor's whisper to each other excitedly.
"Thank you, Madam Hooch," Seth said with a beaming grin.
"Alright! Everyone is to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I direct Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Sorenson to the hospital wing. Understood?" Hooch declared as she ushered the two boys out of the courtyard. "If I find a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts faster than they can say Quidditch."
Hooch guided the two boys through the winding halls and staircases of the castle until they reached a large hallway with a single door at the end.
"The door at the end is the infirmary. You are dismissed from the rest of the lesson to make sure Mr. Longbottom is alright before you head to your next class," Hooch told Seth as she pointed to the infirmary doors, "If doing so will take longer than necessary, make sure Madam Pomfrey gives you a pass."
Seth nodded as he tightened his supporting arm around Neville who was starting to look a bit green in the face.
Hooch nodded. "Good. Now off you go. I need to make sure your classmates actually heed my warning."
With that, Hooch swept away as Seth slowly guided Neville to the infirmary. Madam Promfrey ushered the two towards a bed and helped Seth lay Neville down as gently as possible.
"Thanks for helping me, Seth," Neville whimpered out as the potion he'd just taken worked its magic.
Seth gently pat Neville on the shoulder. "No problem. That's what friends are for!"
The smile Neville gave him at being called a friend made Seth want to wrap the boy up in a blanket and feed him all the chocolate he wanted.
He then mentally slapped himself for that thought cause damn. He'd been hanging around Kendra for way too long cause now he'd become the one thing he never wanted to be in a million years.
The Mom Friend.
And scene! Can I just say that the professors at Hogwarts, while individually great or unique, are actually the worst when it comes to being teachers?
Like in the movie Hooch just yells at Neville like that's actually going to do anything or in both movies and books where there's a revolving door for the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class or the blatant favoritism towards Gryffindor and prejudice against Slytherins by EVERYONE except the Slytherins or how Snape bullies kids but is still allowed to teach anyways cause he's the best at potions?
Like do they not have programs to teach people how to be teachers or something? Or do they just think that as long as they're good at the subject and aren't evil maniacs then it's totally fine? Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you all next time!
