"Al, wake up!" Ignatius shook Albus till he woke up.
"What?"
"It's almost 7:30! You might be able to stuff in a few eggs for breakfast if you hurry."
Al yawned. "What time does breakfast end?"
"7:45." Ignatius went on to wake up Xavier.
After dressing in their robes and grabbing their book bags, the three boys rushed downstairs to the Great Hall. Albus made himself a mental note never to go to bed late again.
"Where were you?" asked Rose.
"Sleeping in," Al mumbled as he sat down across from her.
"Nice," she smirked. "On the first day of class."
"Shut up," Al said, heaping some scrambled eggs and toast on his plate. "What's first period?"
"Potions taught by Professor Tahir. With the Slytherins," Rose said.
"Yikes," Xavier said as he was eating.
"Why is that a problem?" said Rose's new friend, Hazel.
"You don't know?" Xavier was alarmed.
"She's Muggle-born," Rose put in.
"Well, basically, Gryffindors don't like Slytherins and Slytherins don't like Gryffindors," Ignatius summed up.
Hazel raised her eyebrows. "Why?"
"Slytherins are supposedly evil. An old Gryffindor saying was that there wasn't a witch or wizard who went bad that didn't belong to that house. But that's actually not true," Al said.
"Really? Who went bad?" Xavier asked.
"Peter Pettigrew," Rose said matter-of-factly. "Betrayed James and Lily Potter."
"Who?" asked Hazel, blinking.
"It's a long story," Al said.
"I can tell you all about it later," Rose told Hazel.
After shoveling a bunch of food in their mouths, Al, Rose, X, Ignatius, and Hazel made their way toward the Potions room in the dungeons.
They barged through the door, and the class's attention turned to them. Not everybody was there yet, the classroom was quite empty, but class had already started.
"Sit down, please," Professor Tahir said sternly. He was tall man with dark skin, black hair, and a long beard.
"Sorry, Professor," Rose apologized.
"Quite alright," he nodded. "Go on, now."
The five sat in an unoccupied row.
"Hey, Weasel!"
Rose and Al whirled around, and saw Geranium and some other Slytherin girls sitting behind them.
"What?"
"It's your relative," Geranium pointed at a jar on a shelf containing a pickled rodent.
"Is she a Slytherin?" Hazel asked Rose.
"Who are you, Muggle-born?" Geranium spat out to Hazel.
"Hey, cool it!" one of her friends sitting next to her was scowling. "I'm a Muggle too!"
"Sorry, Karmen," Geranium said hastily. "But at least you're good enough to end up in Slytherin. Some people end up in Gryffindor." She shuddered when she said "Gryffindor," like it was contaminated or carried a disease.
"Are Gryffindors that bad?" her friend, Karmen, asked.
"It's tradition to hate each other," Rose said.
"I think I get the whole Slytherin vs. Gryffindor thing now," Hazel whispered to the others.
"We thought you'd might catch on," X smirked.
"Quiet, now!" Professor Tahir barked. "Now, as I was saying, before a group of you interrupted... today we won't do any actual potions. First day of class is always boring, because all you do is go over rules, and today that's exactly what we'll do."
A groan went through the classroom.
"Don't worry, though!" Professor Tahir said. "Potions is a very useful subject. That's why it's common core here at Hogwarts. Admittedly, it isn't as important as Charms, but if looked at the right way, can be a lot of fun."
Rose raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss...?"
"Weasley, sir. If I may ask, which potion will we make first when we get to it?"
"We'll be learning to cure werewolf bites," he smiled. "But first and foremost, we most go with the tradition of being boring on the first day of class."
He passed around a piece of parchment with a list of safety rules to each student.
"I would like you to read through this, then sign your name at the bottom. If you don't feel comfortable signing your name, you won't participate in any activities."
"So he's totally giving us a choice," Xavier muttered.
Al went through the list.
1. Never disrespect your fellow classmates or your teacher.
2. Only brew potions as instructed.
3. If something catches on fire, douse it with water or get the teacher's help until you learn to perform the Aguamenti spell.
4. Handle ingredients and brew concoctions with caution. Risky behavior will not be tolerated.
5. Make sure your sleeves are rolled up and hair tied back for safety.
6. Don't lean towards your potion too closely, as it could bubble or boil and accidentally spray bits of it in your eyes or on your face. Wash your face and/or eyes immediately, even if the potion isn't harmful.
7. Have fun but be safe at the same time. Education isn't ENTIRELY torture.
After signing the paper, Tahir went over the rules together as a class. Al could fall asleep. So could everybody else.
A while later, a toad statue up on Tahir's desk screeched, waking up the half-asleep students and marking the period's end.
"Oh, it's that time already!" said Tahir cheerfully. "Time for the next period!"
The students hurried to get their things and scrambled to the door for Herbology.
Geranium bumped into Rose and sent her stumbling.
"See ya 'round, Weasel!" she cackled. Her friends didn't laugh with her, but they didn't make her stop either.
"I'm gonna kill her one day," Rose breathed.
"I really don't advise that," Ignatius said.
.oOo.
Being a student wasn't that hard. By Friday, Al decided that his favorite classes were Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms. Al was particularly good with spells, and besides Rose, was the most knowledgeable when it came to Defense Against the Dark Arts, as Harry Potter was his father.
Professor Tahir was a lighthearted, yet stern teacher. He liked to call of students who never raised their hands, forcing everyone to participate. Rose didn't like him that much because he never called on her, though she raised her hand for every question he asked.
Professor Longbottom was the professor Al was most acquainted with, and admittedly, favored Gryffindor more than the other houses. He told interesting plant stories and allowed the students do hands-on activities and experiments in the greenhouse.
Professor Pugnan, a thin, wiry wizard in his thirties who reminded students of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes", taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. Al heard this was only this third year as a teacher, but Pugnan was a get-down-to-business sort of person, and had the magical ability of keeping the class quiet effortlessly.
Binns no longer taught history of Magic, like in Al's father's time at Hogwarts. He had been replaced about 7-8 years ago by Professor Throne, a woman in her fifties with dirty blonde hair with streaks of gray. She had large glasses that swallowed her face; much like Trelawney's but rather than looking like an insect, her glasses made her look like a wise owl. Throne was strict, yelled a lot, and rarely smiled.
Charms was still taught by Flitwick. Al liked this class because it was funny seeing him stand on a large stack of books in order to see the class, and funny hearing him talk in his squeaky voice. He also liked Charms because he already knew many spells, including Wingardium Leviosa, which was the first spell they worked on in class.
Xavier, however, was a hopeless case. He hadn't even mastered the "swish-and-flick" motion without the actual incantation.
Professor Fortescue, niece of the famed ice cream shop owner, had replaced McGonagall for Transfiguration, since she took on the job as Headmistress. She reminded Al of a berry. Al heard from older students that she was an expert baker.
It was Charms, the last period on Friday. Students were levitating small or light objects, like quills, feathers, parchment, or books. Al could already levitate a chair (he was that good), so Flitwick instructed him to help Xavier.
"C'mon X, you can do it," Al said.
"I can't and I won't," Xavier smiled cockily. "And you can't make me."
"You're so hopeless."
"I know. I didn't come here to be smart, Al. I came here to play Quidditch."
"And you came here because kids are required by law to go through education," Al raised his eyebrows.
Xavier tossed his wand up in the air and caught it. "I don't give a damn about education."
Al chuckled. "Tell that to yourself when you're a house elf or a janitor for some rich pureblood family."
"What? Like Malfoy over there?" Xavier indicated Scorpius, who was busy levitating a book and was being pestered by Geranium.
"Yeah. You'll be scraping food residue from his teeth."
"Yikes."
"That's what happens to people who neglect schooling," Al told him.
Xavier rolled his eyes. "Now you sound like Rose."
"Well, we do share the same blood, you know. She's my cousin," Al reminded him. "Anyway, we're off task. Try levitating a feather or something."
Xavier sighed. "Fine, Rosie."
Al smacked his friend's head. Xavier laughed and said, "Wigardium Leviosa!" while swishing his wand to the right, then suddenly flicking it towards a feather sitting on his desk.
The feather slowly rose into the air, then zipped around the classroom and started tickling people's noses.
"Oho!" Xavier pounded on his chest like a gorilla. "I'm awesome!"
But it wasn't Xavier's doing at all. Out of the blue, Peeves appeared, startling many students.
"Wee! Much fun, annoying ickle firsties!" He flew around the classroom, knocking over desks as he did, tickling screaming students' noses. Rose was one of them, and Al saw that she sneezed.
"Out, Peeves!" Flitwick pointed at the door, his squeaky voice shook with fury.
Peeves grabbed Flitwick's nose. "GOT YOUR CONK!"
"OUT!"
Peeves pouted in mock misery and floated out of the classroom.
Flitwick put everything back in order. "Sorry for the interruption," he apologized. "Everyone go on. Back to what you were doing."
"That dude is awesome!" exclaimed Xavier.
"No, he isn't," Rose interjected. "He disrupts the learning environment."
Before Xavier could say something back, Flitwick called out, "Oh! Class dismissed!"
As the students streamed out of the Charms classroom, Xavier and Rose argued.
"School isn't just about learning, you know."
"Oh, really?" Rose challenged. "Then what's it about?"
"Hmmm, let's see," said Xavier in mock wonder. He counted on his fingers. "Making friends, having fun...and...oh yeah- Quidditch!"
The two continued to bicker through the hallway. Al tuned them out. It'd been such a long week.
.oOo.
When Rose and Al went to Hagrid's, James, Fred, Alice, and Roxanne were already there.
"Hullo!" Hagrid smiled. He offered them cups. "Tea?"
"Yes, please." They took cups of tea and sipped from them. It was quite delicious, but Al found one of Hagrid's hairs in his.
"'Ow was yer first week?"
"Good. I like Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms," Al told him.
"I already made an enemy," Rose said after gulping down some tea.
Hagrid sighed. "Uh-oh. Who?"
"Some Slytherin girl," Al said. "Geranium Zambini."
"I hate her brother's guts!" Fred exclaimed, jumping up from his chair. He hit his head on a shelf above him. "Ouch. That hurt," he winced.
"Really?" Roxanne said. "He's cute."
Everyone stared at her, and she turned red. "What?"
Al heard Hagrid mutter something that sounded like, "Bloody 'ormones."
"How's the pranking?" Rose asked the three troublemakers. "I haven't noticed anything funny going on with anyone's shoes."
"Ah, about that," James smiled mysteriously. "We haven't started yet."
"We start next week," Alice informed her. "We're also taking requests."
"Requests?" Rose was shocked.
"Oh, you know. Like if there's someone you hate in particular, we find out what they hate, or what their worst fear is, and we use it against them," Fred said.
"And you don't get caught?" Rose squeaked.
"It's all about timing," James said mischievously. "And sometimes, we just blame it on Peeves."
"How do Mum and Dad never find out?" Al was shocked.
"We don't talk about it at home. And only people we like know that you make requests. Luckily, Hagrid keeps it hush-hush for us."
"Yer righ' about that," Hagrid grunted. "Yeh don' know 'ow many times I've been tempted to tell yer folks about the mischief yeh do."
"Please don't, Hagrid," Alice pleaded.
He softened. "Yeh know I won't."
Dominique and Victoire came in. "Hi, Hagrid!" they chanted in unison.
"Hullo! Tea?" he offered them cups, which they both took graciously.
"How are you?" Dominique asked.
"Quite well, thanks," he replied. "How was yer first week?"
"It was pretty good," Dominique said. "Professor Pugnan showed us this weird creature called a Pogrebin that looks like a rock. It follows you around but it stays in your shadow. If you stop walking, it'll try devouring you, but it takes really simple hexes to get rid of it."
"I've never 'eard o' this species," Hagrid scratched his beard. "Should I get one?"
"NO!" everyone shouted in unison. They went quiet again, slightly pink and embarrassed.
"Oh, alrigh'. I won't." He turned to Victoire. "How're yeh, Victoire?"
"I wrote to Teddy," she smiled sadly. "I miss him."
"Hey, I saw you two snogging!" James laughed.
Victoire narrowed her eyes at him, and she wasn't the only one. "Pretty soon, you'll be snogging girls, too, James," Rose said coolly.
"No, I won't," he protested, but he turned red.
"I'm not so sure abou' that," Hagrid raised his eyebrows. Everyone but James laughed.
The door opened again, and Louis, Frank, and Lucy, Uncle Percy's daughter, came in.
"Hey, you lot!" Hagrid smiled. "How're yeh guys?"
"Good!" Frank beamed back.
Hagrid got up and poured some tea into three more cups and offered it to them.
"Thanks," they said.
"How's ev'rything?" Hagrid asked them.
"Pretty good," Lucy said. "We've got an essay due to Professor Tahir on Monday."
"Crikey!" exclaimed Fred. "Already?"
"Yep," Louis nodded. "School. Love it, right?"
"My friend Xavier quote, 'doesn't give a damn about education.'" Al did air quotes with his fingers. "He just cares about Quidditch."
"Wow," Hagrid said. "Tha's rather rash."
"I know, right?" Rose sighed. "Learning is wonderful."
"You should've ended up in Ravenclaw," James shook his head. "Bloody nerd."
"To be fair, Quidditch is really exciting," Roxanne remarked. "Tryouts should be interesting."
"Gryffindor is going to be too powerful this year," Fred pumped his fist.