They had just arrived at Tina's room after the older sister had pulled Queenie away from the library and away from Newt. Queenie made herself comfortable on the soft, dark blue couch Tina had transfigured last year when she had gotten her own room.

„What's up Teenie?"

Tina pulled off her robes and kicked her shoes off before sitting down on her bed, facing Queenie. "You're doing it again."

Queenie pouted. "He seems like a nice guy. I was just trying to be friendly."

Tina sighed. "Queenie, why are you doing this to yourself all the time? I know you want friends, real friends, but it's not like you'll make friends by walking up to them and introducing yourself."

"Um, sorry to burst your bubble Teen, but that's exactly how you do it. I know it's been a while for you, but I didn't expect you to be this rusty."

Tina snorted, throwing a pillow at her sister's face. Brat.

Queenie giggled and threw the pillow back at Tina, who caught it and put it out of her sister's reach. "Seriously Queenie, you know as well as I do that you'll get hurt. Just like all the other times."

Queenie sighed. "That's probably true. But Teenie, I can't just sit around and do nothing. I have to try. Mom and dad always told us to fight for what we wanted, and I want friends. Why shouldn't I try?"

Tina pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her face on her knees while looking at her sister. "I know. But it's not fair to you and it's not fair to them. You can't have a real friendship with someone and not tell them that you can hear their every thought. It doesn't work like that. Both of you will get hurt sooner or later."

Queenie crossed her arms in front of her chest, sitting a little straighter on the couch. "What am I supposed to do then? Tell them I'm a natural Legilimens and ask if they are okay with me reading their thoughts because I can't really control it all that well yet and that I sometimes have to run away from them because all the thoughts are getting too much?"

Tina sighed. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"I would, you know? Just tell everybody and we can be done with all these secrets."

Tina's eyes opened wide and she turned her head to look at her sister urgently. "You can't do that! You know that, Queenie! Promise me! Promise me you'll never tell anybody!"

Queenie couldn't follow all the wild thoughts rushing through her sister's mind, only getting flashes of pictures and thoughts. She grabbed her head and grimaced. "Teenie, would you calm down please? It's too much."

Tina jumped, only now realizing the pained expression on her sister's face. Slamming up her Occlumency shields immediately, she looked at her sister apologetically. "I'm sorry Queenie. But I'm serious, you have to promise me not to tell anybody what you can do. Ever."

"Can you imagine how hard this is for me? Some people are projecting their thoughts really loudly, I can't shut them out."

Tina moved over to her sister and wrapped her up in a hug. "I know. I know I expect a lot from you. And I'm really sorry about that. But you know why you need to keep your abilities a secret, right?"

Queenie nodded sadly. "I know. I just sometimes wish I had never gotten this ability."

"Don't say that. It has saved us more often than I can count. I am grateful for you. And for your ability. Even though some privacy would be appreciated sometimes."

Queenie scoffed. "What would you need privacy for? You haven't even looked at any boys for as long as I have known you."

Tina's face started burning and she slapped her sister lightly. "Not that kind of privacy!"

Giggling loudly, Queenie hid her face in her sister's shoulder. "I know. I'm just teasing you."

"I know. Can you promise me?"

Sighing deeply, Queenie nodded. "Yes, I promise. It's really hard not to cheat at written exams though. Can you imagine? I'd never have to study again, I could just pluck the right answers out of the professor's head."

"You know that cheating won't help you with the practical side of things."

"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry. But a girl can dream, right?"

"Right." Tina agreed.

They stayed silent for a while, enjoying each others presence. Queenie started shifting after a few minutes. "I'm sill going to talk to Newt again."

"I know."

"We can all become friends, wouldn't that be exciting?"

"I don't need friends."

"He's British."

Tina raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean."

"I heard British men are gentlemen. I'm sure he is a really nice guy underneath all that awkward exterior."

"You're sure? You don't know?"

Queenie shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't really get much from him. It's the accent. It's much more pronounced in his mind."

"Be careful please."

"I always am."

The low grumbling of his stomach and some light tugging on his hair woke Newt up from his slumber. He stretched his limbs and yawned loudly. A hollow thud could be heard as he started to get up and Pickett started chirping animatedly.

After his bleary eyes had finally opened enough to see his surroundings, he noticed the slowly rising sun and quickly looked at his watch. 6:55 am. He hadn't overslept, thank god. He didn't want to be late to his first day of classes. And he was famished, missing breakfast would be equally as bad.

Turning his body around, he sat up, his feet just missing the book that had fallen off the bed earlier.

I must have fallen asleep last night, Newt thought as he sniffed at his clothes. Classes start at 8, there should be enough time for a quick bath. Newt quickly freshened up in his bathroom and was ready to go twenty minutes later. He quickly fed Pickett, put on his robes and shoes, let Pickett climb into his pockett and was off to find the dining hall. Or whatever it was called here, he just wanted to find the place where the food was.

After finding the entrance hall again, it wasn't hard to find the food. He had followed a stream of other students around a corner when the loud chatter of a few hundred people and the heavenly smell of breakfast registered with him. Stopping before entering the hall he took a minute to observe the room.

It was big. That was the first thing Newt noticed. Bigger than the great hall but he was sad to notice that they didn't have an enchanted ceiling here. He still remembered the awe he had felt as he had stepped into the great hall at Hogwarts for the first time as a young boy. Ilvermorny had a normal ceiling made out of stone, nothing special about it. The big house tables he was used to from Hogwarts were missing as well. There were dozens of bigger and smaller tables scattered across the room, Newt couldn't make out any order to them. There wasn't even a big table for the teachers. Judging by age, he guessed the teachers were sitting in the far left corner, some of them sitting alone while they ate and read the paper and some of them sitting together in groups, happily chatting to each other. He could even make out one or two students sitting with a teacher.

The students were scattered across the room, mostly sitting together with their house mates but he could make out a few students sitting with students from a different house. Nobody looked at them funny or anything, so Newt thought house pride wasn't as big a thing as it had been at Hogwarts. He had had a few friends from other houses, of course, but it was always a bit of a gamble to show up together at the great hall. It wasn't frowned upon, they were actually encouraged to make friends with people from different houses by the teachers, hence the shared classes they had, but some students didn't feel the same and didn't react well to people having friends from other houses.

Another difference to Hogwarts was that the food didn't already sit on the table, waiting for students to eat it. If he had observed it correctly, people just asked for what they wanted and it appeared in front of them.

The growling of his stomach reminded him why he was here and that he didn't have all day to stare if he wanted any breakfast. Before he could search for an empty table to sit at, a hand clapped him on the back forcefully and he stumbled a little.

"Ah, sorry pal. I just wanted to say good morning. Do you want to sit together?"

Newt turned around after he had stood up straight again and was met with Jacob's smiling face.

"Um, sure. Good morning to you too."

Jacob grinned and started leading him to an empty table. "Excellent. How was your first night here? Did you sleep well?"

The two boys sat down at an empty table and Newt watched as Jacob told the thin air what he wanted to eat. What kind of magic is this? Do they have house elves in the kitchen as well? he wondered as he carefully asked for a cup of tea and two slices of buttered toast. It appeared immediately, his tea still steaming hot. He bit into the toast with gusto, his stomach remembering that it hadn't had dinner last night.

"Ah, sorry Jacob, I am a bit hungry. I slept well, thank you for asking."

"Good, good. So, you're starting your classes today, yes?"

Newt nodded, carefully taking a sip of his steaming cup of tea. It wasn't as good as his mother's, or as good as the one he could brew, but it was acceptable. "Yes. I've had most of these classes before so I don't think I'm going to have much of a problem with them but I've never had Native American Magic before. What kind of magic is it?"

Jacob grinned. "Oh, you're going to have fun in that one. No wands allowed, pal. It's basically a wandless magic class."

Newt's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you serious? I thought wandless magic was really difficult to learn."

"It is. But every student has to be able to do at least some basic spells wandlessly to graduate. Of course some people are better at it than others and you are allowed to drop it after a year if you're really struggling, but you are required to take it for at least a year and learn some basic spells. If you're really good at it and you've mastered enough spells wandlessly, the professor is even giving you the option of getting some animagus training. Only the best students get in that class though. Professor Etsitty is really strict when it comes to that class. Only a handful of people take it each year."

"Great. How am I supposed to learn all that in a year?" Newt mumbled, more to himself than to Jacob but the other boy still heard him.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you're going to do great."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Relax pal, don't panic before you even know what you're panicking about. When do you have your fist Wandless Magic Class?"

"This afternoon."

"Don't worry then, you've still got some time. What class do you have this morning?"

"Potions."

"Ah, me too. We can go together and I can show you the classroom if you want."

"That would be great, actually. Are you a Thunderbird as well?"

Jacob chuckled. "Nah, I'm a Pukwudgie." He said and tapped the crest on his chest. "But we share potions and some other classes with the 'birds."

Newt hesitated for a moment but asked his question when Jacob looked at him encouragingly. "You don't have a problem with me being in another house?"

Jacob shrugged. "Why would I?"

"It's just, at Hogwarts we had different houses as well and there was always a massive emphasis on house pride. Most people didn't really want to have anything to do with the other houses."

"Eh, there is some house pride going on here as well, but mostly when it comes to Quodpod. You wouldn't believe the things the students say to each other during a game of that. But people aren't generally bothered by houses."

"But why do you have them then?"

"Mostly? Connections. Getting to know your peers early on is quite helpful for a career. And friendships of course. And it's nice to be surrounded by and share classes with people who share at least some of your interests, no?"

"Well, yes, I guess so, but I still don't really get it."

Jacob chuckled and stood up, waiting for Newt to do the same. "Don't worry about it, pal, you'll get used to it. Now, if we don't want to be late, we have to go."

Newt nodded and followed as Jacob led him out of the dining hall and down a corridor he hadn't been in yet. He was grateful the other boy had decided to help him and show him around, otherwise he would have gotten hopelessly lost, he was sure about it.

They arrived a few minutes later. The room was nondescript, looking like every other classroom he had ever been in. The only difference was the cauldrons scattered across the room. Most of the students were already standing or sitting at the tables, chatting with each other animatedly. As he swept his gaze across the room, he actually recognized someone. It was the brunette girl Queenie had introduced to him yesterday. What was her name again? Something with a t...

Before he could think about her name further, a tall, middle-aged man walked into the room, closed the door behind him and walked to the front of the room. Newt looked around the room hurriedly, trying to find a free seat. Jacob tucked at his sleeve and silently motioned to a seat two rows behind him. Newt hurried over to the seat and sat down. He was glad there was nobody sitting next to him. Not that he wasn't grateful for Jacob's help but a little peace and quiet from social activities were just what he craved. He wasn't used to so many people.

"Good morning everyone. I'm sure you all noticed this but we have a new student today. Mr. Scamander, would you mind introducing yourself briefly?"

He did, in fact, mind very much. He gulped nervously as all the students turned around and mustered him with varying degrees of interest. He began sweating and nearly stumbled over nothing as he tried standing up hastily. "Um", he began, not sure where to look. "My name is Newt Scamander and I'm finishing my last year of schooling here. I used to go to Hogwarts." Deeming that enough information for one day, Newt quickly sat down again.

The teacher mustered him through skeptical eyes. "That was... quite informative. Anyway, my name is Professor Johnson and I teach potions. I take it you are familiar with brewing potions?"

Newt nodded, still uncomfortable with the continued attention. "Yes, sir."

"I heard you nearly finished your seventh year at Hogwarts so I trust you will be familiar with most of our curriculum. If not, feel free to ask. I need to evaluate your skill level and I don't want to let you do a written exam, those are dreadfully boring. So I will watch you a little closer over the next few weeks, trying to determine your competence."

Great. He could do without people paying him any kind of close attention. Not wanting to irritate the teacher in anyway, Newt just nodded.

"Very well." Professor Johnson steered his attention to the whole class and started talking about a potion that heals paralysis. It seems like they would be brewing a lot of medicines and antidotes over the next few weeks. Newt was fine with that. He had already brewed quite a few of them and he thought they were very useful. One never knew when such a potion would come in handy.

The rest of the class went by pretty quickly. After telling them about the Anti-Paralysis Potion, Professor Johnson told them to open their textbooks on page 25 and start the preparations. After that, each student got their own cauldron and started their potion. Newt didn't have any problems, having made this specific potion before at Hogwarts. Jacob came by twice and asked if everything was going okay and if he needed any help but Newt told him he was fine each time. Mustering Newt's cauldron, Jacob came to the conclusion the he didn't need any help and went back to his own table, where he started a conversation with the boy sitting next to him.

Newt was glad for the peace and quiet and enjoyed the rest of the class.

When the class was over it was time for lunch. Newt quickly put his things away and before he could think about how he would find his way back to the dining hall, Jacob was already next to him.

"Ready, pal?"

"Yes, thank you." The two of them started walking. "Jacob, not that I'm not grateful but I feel like I'm taking too much of your time. Don't you want to spend time with your own friends?"

Jacob smiled at him. "Don't worry about it pal. They understand. And it's not like I spend every meal with them anyway. I spend a lot of my free time helping out in the library."

"Well, thank you for your continued help then."

The other boy grinned and clapped him on the back again. Newt stumbled again. I guess I have to get used to this, he thought as he straightened up.

They arrived at the dining hall and grabbed a table. They sat down and Jacob ordered some mashed potatoes and steak. "Um, Jacob?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you know what kind of food they have in the kitchen?"

Jacob chuckled. "I've been at this school for over six years. I know their usual schedule."

"Um. Any suggestion what I should get today?"

Jacob laughed, apologized and quickly told Newt what was on the menu today. After ordering some steamed vegetables and potatoes, Newt dug in with gusto, enjoying the food.

When Newt had eaten everything, the plate vanished. Neat, he thought.

"So, Jacob, what in Merlin's beard is Quodpod?"

Jacob looked at him with a shocked look on his face, a piece of steak nearly falling off his fork. "You don't have Quodpod at Hogwash?"

"Hogwarts" Newt corrected.

"Sorry. No offense, pal."

"None taken. And no, we don't. We play Quidditch."

Jacob was just about to start explaining, when a bright voice interrupted them.

"Newt! Oh, isn't it just wonderful to see you again! You don't mind if we sit with you two, right?" Queenie asked, already sitting down at their table. She had dragged Tina along who stood next to them with a long suffering expression on her face.

"Um, sure, go ahead." Newt mumbled, not sure what to say in this situation that didn't sound rude. He thought Queenie was nice and friendly and he was grateful for her help, but he didn't want to make friends. He just wanted to finish this year so he could return home to the Hippogriffs.

Queenie looked at him with a glint in her eyes before grinning brightly. "Thank you!" She turned around to look at Jacob while Tina sat down next to her, quietly ordering a meal for herself and her sister. "I'm sorry, I've seen you before but I don't quite remember your name. I'm Queenie, it's nice to meet you."

Jacob smiled and nodded at her. "I know who you are. My name is Jacob, I'm two years your senior."

"Great!" The young blonde smiled and looked back at Newt. "So, how was your first class? Teenie said nothing exploded."

Newt's eyes narrowed. "I'm perfectly able to brew a potion, thank you very much. I'm actually quite good at potions."

Queenie's laugh sounded like the tinkling of small bells. "Sorry Newt, I'm just teasing you. So everything went well?"

Newt shrugged. "I guess so."

Queenie mustered him for a second before turning her attention to Jacob. "He's not the most talk-active, is he?"

Jacob guffawed. "Nah, but he's a nice guy. Very polite. I think that's because he's British."

The blonde girl giggled and started a conversation about all the things she had heard about 'the Brits' with Jacob. They seemed to be getting along swimmingly.

Newt was glad the younger girl's attention was elsewhere for the moment and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he saw that Tina was watching him. He looked at her questioningly but she just smiled tightly and shook her head, continuing to eat her lunch.

Odd, he thought, looking at her a little closer. She was pretty, he guessed. Wavy brown hair that barely reached her shoulders and brown eyes. And tall. She was nearly as tall as Newt himself and he always got reprimanded by his mom about his tall height because she couldn't give him a comfortable hug anymore.

"Oh sweetie, you're nervous?" Queenie's voice pierced through his thought's like a sweet melody that was way too loud and he jumped in his seat. He turned to look at Queenie who was watching him with a soft smile.

"Um, what?"

"Jacob told me you were nervous about your NAM class."

"My what now?"

Queenie rolled her eyes. "Native American Magic. Wandless magic."

"Oh, well, I suppose I am. I've never had it before."

"Don't worry, Teenie can help you. She's great at Wandless Magic."

"What?"

"What?"

Newt and Tina asked at the same time, looking at Queenie with confusion (Newt) and annoyance (Tina).

"Well, you are great at it Teenie. You are getting your animagus lessons right now, so you don't really have much to do in NAM anyway. You can help him, can't you?" Queenie looked at her sister imploringly.

"I'm busy Queenie. You know that."

"But he's my friend."

I am? When did that happen? Newt thought, not really knowing what was going on anymore.

"Animagus lessons are hard. It's not like I'm just sitting around doing nothing."

"But didn't you tell me that the first step to becoming an animagus is to meditate with a potion, trying to find you spirit animal? Sounds like sitting around and doing nothing to me."

Tina sighed. "Meditating is not doing nothing."

"Um, Queenie, I'm grateful that you want to help me but I don't even know what is expected of me. And if Miss Goldstein is busy, I don't want to take up too much of her time." Newt said, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else.

"Nonsense, she can make some time. Can't you?" Queenie looked at her sister imploringly, daring her to say the wrong thing.

I'm going to pay you back for this Queenie. You won't notice what hit you. Tina thought loudly, hoping her sister would get a headache from the sheer volume of her thoughts.

Queenie winced but turned around to Newt. "She'll help you, don't worry. Now, it's time we get going, afternoon classes are starting soon. Teenie, show him where the classroom is, see you all at dinner!" She chirped and left the table quickly, leaving three people in stunned silence.

Jacob was the first one to regain his voice. "Well, I don't have to show you to your classroom then. I've got History of Magic now, I'll see you at dinner, pal." Jacob clapped him on the back, nodded at Tina and went on his way.

That left Newt and Tina alone. She still hadn't said anything and Newt was getting nervous.

"Um, you really don't have to help me Miss Goldstein, I'm sure I'll find my way to class myself."

Tina snorted and got up. "Please call me Tina. And it's not a problem, I'm going the same way anyway. Might as well show you where you need to be."

She started walking and Newt hurried to follow her, keeping a step of distance between them, not really knowing how to approach this situation. He knew Tina didn't want to help him with classes but it's not like he had asked her to and he didn't even know if he needed any help to begin with. Well, he probably did, let's be honest, but he thought Queenie's offer of help was a little premature.

They walked in silence for a few moments, until they reached the classroom.

Three hours later Newt retracted his earlier statement. He did need help. Desperately. Professor Etsitty had been patient with him and spend nearly the whole three hours helping him while the other students had a different assignment, but he hadn't managed to do even the simplest spell or charm wandlessly. Professor Etsitty had assured him that this was normal, that witches and wizards were so used to channeling magic through their wands that doing it without one was really difficult at first. He was sure Newt would get it eventually but he also encouraged him to get a tutor. The professor had given him the option of taking the beginner classes with the first year students but Newt had refused immediately. Even if he didn't have a lot of it, he still had his pride and he didn't want to be made fun of by snotty eleven year-olds.

Learning enough wandless magic to graduate in a year was going to be really hard. Maybe he should ask Tina for help after all. She had already kind of agreed after Queenie had bullied her into it, right? Right.