That evening, Kellen and Daphne had dinner at the Gryffindor table, along with Hermione, Desiree, Harry, Ron, and Neville.

"I can't believe you sat at the Slytherin table at lunch today, cuz," Desiree said with a grin. "You've got some guts for sure."

"I'm glad I did," Kellen replied as he grabbed a forkful of broccoli. "I met some pretty cool kids there. In fact, they invited you and Hermione to join them sometime."

"Whom did you meet, out of curiosity?" asked Hermione.

"I met Tracey Davis, who's probably Daphne's closest friend. She's quiet, but friendly. I also met one of their prefects named Gemma. She's really nice. And I met a mutual friend of Daphne and Draco's – Pansy Parkinson. She's got some sass, but she's actually pretty cool," replied Kellen. "I think she tolerates me more than she likes me, but just getting along with her is a big deal."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Hermione. "I may be a Gryffindor, but I'm not adventurous enough to head over to the snake pit by myself." She smiled at Daphne. "No disrespect intended, Daphne."

Daphne returned the smile. "None taken. Even Pansy's got some serious reservations about heading over to the Gryffindor table, and she's full of piss and vinegar!"

"I think she's mostly bark and little bite," Kellen added. "I think she tries to act tougher than she really is."

"You're right, Kellen," Daphne agreed, "but while she is a good girl deep down, she has to maintain that 'tough girl' persona because the Parkinsons are just one of several Slytherin families that suck up to the Malfoys. It wouldn't be a good look for her, or her family, if word ever gets out that she's actually a sweetheart in private."

"Were you friends with her prior to Hogwarts?" Kellen asked.

"Yes," Daphne answered. "She's very different when she's not in the same room as Malfoy. You got a little bit of honey and a little bit of vinegar from her today, because he was at the same table as us, but thankfully far enough away where you can see bits of her true persona."

"I take it that she has a rather complicated relationship with Malfoy… like, she likes him, but she also doesn't, if that makes sense," Kellen surmised.

"I think that's accurate," Daphne said. "I mean, she knows Malfoy's a prat, but he can also be charming. She genuinely does like him for the most part, but he can also annoy the mess out of her." She leaned over and gave Kellen a side-hug. "Oh, I know you're probably sick of me saying this, but thank you for coming to my rescue earlier today. I feel like I owe you a debt I can never repay."

"What happened?" Desiree asked. "This sounds like an interesting story."

"We were at our first flying lesson earlier," Hermione said. "Kellen was helping both Daphne and myself – he and Harry take to flying like a duck takes to swimming – and when we were practicing our takeoffs and landings, Daphne lost control of her broomstick. It must have shot up well over a hundred feet, and it was heading straight for the castle. It would have collided with the castle wall, but her broomstick was shaking so badly that she lost her grip and fell off."

She gestured to Kellen. "I thought he was half crazy, but Kellen took matters into his own hands. He took off light a bolt of lightning and went to her rescue. He steered that broom like he'd been flying for decades, and just casually stood on his broomstick and caught Daphne in his arms as she fell. You should have heard the cheering from both the Slytherins and Gryffindors – it was like nothing I've ever seen or heard!"

"That's not even the half of it," Daphne chimed in. "Professor McGonagall witnessed his act of heroism. She didn't look very pleased at first because I know Kellen broke multiple rules, but she ended up awarding Gryffindor fifteen well-deserved points, and what's even more amazing is that now he's on the Gryffindor quidditch team! He's going to be the backup keeper – to none other than the captain himself, Oliver Wood!"

"Yes, I can see Kellen being a great keeper," Ron said. "He's got a protective instinct like no other. It's not every day that a firstie makes the quidditch team." He extended his hand to Kellen. "I'm proud of you, mate. I'm really, really glad you're one of us."

Kellen smiled as he took Ron's hand. "Thanks, Ron. I'm proud of being a Gryffindor for sure, but after meeting Daphne and some of her housemates, I have a newfound respect for Slytherin. There really are some good witches and wizards that come from Slytherin."

Ron nodded. "Daphne seems to be a good one. Wish she was one of us, though."

Daphne giggled. "I was extremely close to being a Gryffindor, Ron. I leaned toward Slytherin more because of my family, but if I could do it all over again, I would have picked Gryffindor. My parents would have been shocked, sure, but they'd get over it. Hermione and Kellen are sweethearts, I really wish we were housemates."

Desiree smiled radiantly at Kellen. "I'm very, very proud of you, cuz. I thought you were insane for picking Gryffindor over Ravenclaw, but you're definitely in the right house."

Harry smiled at Kellen. "I also wanted to thank you, Kellen… I know it wasn't your intention, but you've helped take some of the unwanted attention away from me lately. It's nice to just be, well, me for once."

Kellen returned the smile. "I know the feeling, Harry. You didn't ask for your fame in the wizarding world, but you're handling it as well as can be expected. I know certain folks – namely Snape and the Malfoys – might think otherwise, but you're honest, kind, and humble. You may have to pay them lip service, but when you're with us, you're free to be yourself."

Kellen turned to Hermione. "Would you like to start your first Norwegian language lesson tonight?"

Hermione's eyes sparkled. "I'd love nothing more, Kellen," she replied. "I can't wait to begin!"

Kellen chuckled. "Kjempefint." (Terrific.)

Later that evening, after Hermione, Kellen, Harry, and Ron finished their homework, Kellen and Hermione began their Norwegian language lesson.

"You know some German, if I remember correctly," Kellen said.

Hermione nodded. "Some, yes. I'm not fluent like you, though."

Kellen grinned. "As long as you have a cursory knowledge of German. That's very helpful because Norwegian is actually rather similar to German – they're both Teutonic languages. They aren't as closely related as say, Dutch and German, but they're close enough where you can readily identify lots of similarities. The vocabulary should sound quite familiar, and while there are grammatical similarities, Norwegian syntax is somewhat simpler than German, so you have that going for you."

"Oh good," replied Hermione. "I was afraid that Norwegian might be more complicated."

Kellen chuckled. "Not at all. The alphabet and pronunciation is a bit different than German, so let's start with that. Now, there are two varieties of written Norwegian – Nynorsk and Bokmål. We'll be using Bokmål as that's what I learned."

Kellen went over the Norwegian alphabet and phonology with Hermione. He was very impressed at how accurately she was able to pronounce the rather strange-sounding vowels Norwegian had, and how quickly she was picking things up.

He then went over some basic vocabulary with her – namely pronouns, a few basic nouns, and conjugation of a few common verbs.

"You're a natural," Kellen said. "I think you're picking Norwegian up more quickly than I ever did."

"You're also a gifted teacher," Hermione replied. "I mean, you successfully taught Daphne and myself how to defend ourselves with magic earlier. This is a relative walk in the park." She then giggled, and her cheeks turned pink. "Erm, Kellen… would you mind speaking in Received with me again please? I know it's not 'you', and your native Minnesota dialect certainly has its charm – it's cute, I promise – but your Received Pronunciation is divine. If anything, it's more pleasing than many native speakers, to be honest. It almost makes me melt."

"Oh, very well," Kellen replied in Received. "Is that better?"

Hermione cracked a huge smile. "Much. Now you sound like a proper Hogwarts wizard."

Kellen shrugged. "My mum would be proud, I suppose."

Hermione leaned over and kissed Kellen on the forehead. "You know she'd be very proud of you."

Kellen chuckled. "You're intent on hammering that bloody Minnesota dialect out of me, aren't you?"

Hermione smiled coyly. "I don't know… maybe."

Kellen smirked. "Truth be told, it's kind of goofy-sounding anyway. I know I'd have gotten teased about it at Ilvermorny."

"There's no shortage of silly accents here in the U.K.," Hermione responded.

Kellen nodded in agreement. "Oh, I know, I've heard quite a few. Scouser, Northern, and with all due respect to Hagrid, West Country…"

"I can't imagine Hagrid speaking anything but West Country," giggled Hermione.

"I know, that definitely suits him," agreed Kellen. "And I can't imagine you speaking anything but Received. Your dialect is quite lovely."

"It's just standard Received, it's nothing special," Hermione replied.

"It's not just the dialect," Kellen clarified. "You sound so formal, so proper, so… articulate. I love it."

Hermione wrapped her arms around Kellen. "Thank you, Kellen. Not many people notice that, but I'm glad you do." Her face brightened again. "Oh, don't forget that tomorrow during our free period, Professor McGonagall invited us to her office for a friendly chat."

"That's right," Kellen said. "I'll be there for sure. I remember her saying that she'll make some spruce tea for me."

"I've never had that," Hermione replied. "I'm used to old fashioned breakfast tea or chai."

"My grandmother makes it," Kellen said. "It's delicious."

Hermione nodded. "Perhaps I'll try some tomorrow then. I'm sure it is delicious." She smiled at her friend. "Thank you again for sharing your language and culture with me. It's fascinating, really. I wish there was something of my heritage that I could share with you, but I'm just plain old English, I'm afraid…"

Kellen chuckled. "It's my pleasure, Hermione. Permission to speak in my native dialect again, please?"

Hermione smiled. "I was rather hoping you weren't going to switch back anytime soon, but permission granted."

"Finally," Kellen exhaled in his Upper Midwestern dialect. "I hope you enjoyed it."

"I did," giggled Hermione. "Thank you."

The next day, Hermione and Kellen waited by Professor McGonagall's office door during their free period, as requested.

"Come in," Professor McGonagall said in an inviting tone. "Thanks for bearing with me, something came up a little bit ago and I just finished up. Please, have a seat."

The two young Gryffindors sat down in a couple of plush armchairs.

"I don't think I need to ask you what kind of tea you'd like, Mister Grimseth," purred Professor McGonagall. "Miss Granger, what would you like today?

"Normally, I'd say chai, but that spruce tea Kellen likes sounds rather tasty. I'd like to try some if you don't mind – but only a little milk and sugar, please," replied Hermione.

Professor McGonagall nodded as she started filling the teacups. "And how would you like yours, Mister Grimseth?"

"Same way, please," Kellen replied. He usually liked his tea a bit sweeter than Hermione, but he didn't want to come across as overly indulgent.

"Here you are, dears," Professor McGonagall said as she handed Hermione and Kellen each a cup of tea.

"Thank you," the children replied.

"I have a little something for my two most talented students," Professor McGonagall said. She opened a drawer in her desk, and produced a spellbook. "This is a book with some slightly more advanced Transfiguration spells – I feel that you both are talented and responsible enough to handle this. I have included a few various items in this bag that you can use for practice. This is just a loaner, so if you can return this in say, two weeks, I'll loan out another textbook in another subject if you'd like. I know that a lot of the material we're covering this year is beneath you two – particularly you, Mister Grimseth – so I hope this whets your respective appetites."

"Thank you, Professor," Kellen replied. "I can't wait to practice some of those spells."

"You're welcome," Professor McGonagall said. "Now, as precocious as you are, Mister Grimseth, please take care to remember that you're still an inexperienced wizard, and there are some spells I just don't think you're ready to learn yet, so please just stick with the ones that are in this book for now."

"That's fine, Professor," Kellen said. "That should take the edge off, for sure."

"Oh, and I should have something finalized between Mister Wood and yourself soon. I fully expect for you to receive a note at breakfast tomorrow," added Professor McGonagall.

"Perfect," replied Kellen.

Professor McGonagall then smiled at Hermione. "Now Miss Granger, I have a question for you." She nodded at Kellen. "Mister Grimseth, this is going to be rather personal, so unless you need anything from me, you're excused. You may wait outside, this will only take a minute or so."

"That's all I have, Professor," replied Kellen. He smiled at Hermione. "I'll hang outside the office in the meantime." He left the office and gently closed the door.

Professor McGonagall continued. "Miss Granger, I understand that you're used to getting top marks at your old Muggle school. Does Mister Grimseth… intimdate you, at least as an academic rival? Personality wise, he's as sweet as they come, so that's not an issue. But would the prospect of finishing second to him bother you?"

Hermione shook her head 'no'. "While it is a bit of a blow that I'm not quite as smart as he is, the fact that he's so kind and helpful does make it a lot easier to stomach. I'm sure you can tell how close we are… we study together, we compare notes – we always help each other. He's impossibly brilliant, yes, but he's not perfect, and thankfully he knows that. He pushes me to be better, and I try to do the same for him. If he gets better marks than me, I'll be the first to congratulate him." She beamed. "And in the unlikely event I get higher marks than him, I know he'll be the first to congratulate me. We're truly that tightly-knit."

Professor McGonagall smiled again. "I'm very glad to hear that, my dear. And I can tell that you two are very close friends – you do seem to have lots in common besides an aptitude for magic. You're both reserved, but kind-hearted, and you seem to have a taste for Muggle novels." She chuckled a bit. "Though you seem to be a bit more level-headed, as he has a tendency to dive head-first into things, like yesterday's flying lesson. I've never felt so upset yet so proud at the same time."

"He's a Gryffindor through-and-through, Professor," said Hermione. "He was a little reckless yesterday, yes, but there was no way I could stop him. But what I like about him is that he's always true to his word. He wasn't going to let anything happen to me yesterday during our flying lesson - thankfully it wasn't me on that runaway broom. I felt terrible for Daphne, but I'm sure nothing makes her feel safer than having Kellen as her friend. He's definitely her knight in shining armor… and truth be told, he's mine as well."

Professor McGonagall grinned. "I'm beyond fortunate to have Mister Grimseth in my house. I fear he's going to cost us more than his share of house points, but I'm not really worried because I know how easily he can rack them up. I have a hunch that Gryffindor will come out on top at the end of the term, and we'll have our Minnesota friend to thank for that when it's all said and done."

Hermione beamed. "I hope you're right, Professor."