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The next morning I felt amazing when I woke up. My bed was so much more soft and comfortable than my bed at the orphanage and I had had the best sleep of my life. I felt bad to have to wake up and I wouldn't have, but I heard Danus and Marius plotting to pour a bucket of freezing water on my head. "I'm up. I'm up," I announced.
We got dressed. To my surprise, I found a green and silver tie by my bed and that my cloak now had the Slytherin badge on it. We got dressed and only then did I remember James existed, because he was the first to leave the dorm. Danus, Marius and I exchanged a look and I shrugged my shoulders. If he was going to share a dorm with us, he should start talking or we might step on him one day.
"What in Merlin's name are those?!" Marius exclaimed when he saw my worn out pyjamas.
"They're supposed to be pyjamas," I answered.
I hadn't told them I was raised in an orphanage and I wasn't really looking forward to telling them. From what I'd gathered most pureblood wizards, like myself, had grown up in some big manor or something. It was kind of embarrassing. I'd already told them about my dead parents, but it was as far as it was going to get.
We went to breakfast and I saw Janet there. I swear, her hair looked exactly the same as it had yesterday. She had either not washed her hair last night or spent hours in front of a mirror. Considering her look, my money was on the latter. I had to admit that green and silver looked great on her. "Good morning," I said to her.
"Morning," she answered.
We sat down and got some breakfast. There was so much food in this place! I felt like eating everything, but that would give me a stomache ache so I avoided it as much as possible. A plump professor handed us each a timetable while we were eating.
"Ugh," Janet exclaimed after reading it "Our first lesson is Charms with the Gryffindors."
Gryffindors. Mel was in Gryffindor. And thinking of Mel, she had all my books. I had to go get them. I excused myself and went over to the Gryffindor table. Today, Mel's hair was royal blue. She was eating but not talking to anyone else. Too bad Lupin wasn't there to keep her company. I walked up to her and tapped her shoulder. She turned around.
"Hey," she said to me.
"You have my books," I said "I need them."
"Oh, right," she said and reached under the table to grab a bag and give it to me. "You'll find they're all in there," she said.
"Thanks," I thanked her and left.
The bag was heavy. When she said all, she had really meant all. I went back to the Slytherin table and to my spot next to Janet. "Why were you at the Gryffindor table?" she asked me once I sat down.
"Nothing important," I answered and dug back into my pancakes.
When breakfast was finished, we went to Charms class. I was afraid we would get lost in such big a castle, but luckily Janet knew where she was going. "My father brought me here a couple of times," she explained. Her father had some high position in the Ministry of Magic.
A short professor taught Charms, professor Flitwick. He was so short he had to stand on books. We didn't do much in his lesson, we only practiced a wand movement he called the swish and flick.
Next, we had Transfiguration, again with Gryffindor.
The Transfiguration professor was the headmistress, professor McGonagall. "I'm not going to lie to you," she told us "Transfiguration is one of the most difficult subjects you will encounter during your school years. You will need to concentrate hard and study so that, when the time comes, you will be able to do something like this." With that, she took out her wand, pointed it at her desk and turned it into a peacock and back again.
Of course, we weren't going to start with something that complicated. She gave us a match and we had to turn it into a needle. Even that was complex. I didn't manage anything, but a boy from Slytherin did. We were all glad about that, we showed the Gryffindors we were better than them. Slytherin and Gryffindor had this rivalry. I didn't know how but I got swept in it since my first day.
Finally, after many hours, classes were over and we went for lunch. I was starving and could believe the amount of homework we'd been given, even though it was the first day.
"Do you want to explore the Forbidden Forest?" Janet asked me after lunch as we headed back to the common room. The truth was that I'd been looking forward to her asking me this ever since last night, but I had different plans.
"Nah," I answered "I forgot something in the History of Magic classroom so I have to go and get it."
"Oh," she sounded disappointed "Okay, then. I'll ask Zaria to come with me."
I was sad I had to miss on such an outing, but I guess she could ask me again someday. I left my bag in my dorm. James was there, the only one there, sitting on his bed and reading a book. I didn't talk to him, he actually sort of ignored me.
I left the Slytherin common room and headed down the corridors. I then went outside, I knew Mel loved being outside, she could be nowhere else. How right I was. There she was, talking to Lupin as they walked towards an old hut.
I waited until they wouldn't see me and then followed them. I couldn't help but miss the look of sadness on Mel's face, I wondered why she was sad. They got to the hut and knocked on the door. The giant who had brought us to the castle in the boats, Hagrid, opened it.
"Mel, Teddy," I was close enough to hear him greet them "So good ter see ya. Come in. Come in."
They went inside and the door closed. I ran and positioned myself under an open window so I could hear what was going on inside. I heard Hagrid pour tea for them.
"So 'ow's being back ter school, Teddy?" I heard him ask.
"Great," Lupin answered "I mean, I miss gran and Uncle Harry, but it's nice to be back. Last night, I, Liam, Rey and Charlotte couldn't stop talking about the holidays. We stayed in the common room until midnight, but then we couldn't keep talking because Rey and Charlotte had to go to the girls' dormitory. We continued this morning and professor Feinard got so irritated he almost gave us detention."
"Well, tha won' do," Hagrid answered, laughing softly "It's only the first day, you'd better stay out of trouble. I don't think ye've forgotten last year."
"How could I forget it?" Lupin said "I thought Rey was never going to talk to me again after that."
"An' wha' about you, Mel?" he asked and I stood on my tiptoes so I could hear better "I hear ye were sorted in Gryffindor. How is it goin' there?"
"It's fine," Mel answered softly and I heard her sip her tea.
"Why the long face?" Hagrid asked her.
"Melena is just upset because someone isn't talking to her," Lupin answered and I had the feeling that someone was me.
"If he doesn't care abou' ye Mel, 'e's not worth it," Hagrid said.
"It's not that," Mel said "It's just… We've been friends forever and he just doesn't understand that I do care about him. I thought he would take it well, but he's not. And now he won't even talk to me. I bet he hates me."
Well, hate was a strong word, but I didn't like her.
"He's just another bloody Slytherin," Lupin said.
"Language, Teddy," the giant scolded him "Don't pick it up from yer Uncle Ron."
"He's not like the rest of them," Mel said, bringing me up again.
"He is way too much like them," Lupin told her "And he's gonna be worse, if you ask me."
"He's not!" Mel insisted and I wondered what was so wrong about Slytherin "We could still be friends if he talked to me."
"Mel," Hagrid told her "I don't wish ter discourage you, but I've seen a Gryffindor an' a Slytherin try to be friends before an' it's never worked. Take Lily Evans and Severus Snape, for example. Ye know where tha' went. I wouldn't like ter see anyone hurt yer feelings tha' way."
I'd heard enough. I didn't like them talking about me this way. Angry and frustrated, I made my way back to the castle and to the common room. I almost yelled the password to the wall. I stormed inside and almost walked into a couch.
I went into the dorm, slamming the door shut behind me. I heard a soft whimper and saw James still sitting on his bed and white as a sheet. He had dropped his book on the floor when the door had been slammed shut. My anger soothed a bit. I hadn't meant to scare anyone, I had just allowed my anger to take over me.
Not feeling like doing any talking, I took my bag and left the dorm as he leaned down to pick up the book. I sat down on a couch next to Danus and some other boy he was talking to. I pulled out a piece of parchment, my quill and ink and started my Transfiguration essay.
"Oh, hey, Danny," Danus said "I didn't notice you were here."
"I only just came," I answered.
"You're the one who stormed in here, right?" the other boy asked me.
"Yeah," I answered.
Danus introduced him as Dominic Novak. Apparently, they'd known each other for a couple of years before coming to Hogwarts because their dads were old childhood friends. We sort of copied his essay for History of Magic because he was the only one who had taken notes, the only one who hadn't fallen asleep.
The teacher, professor Binns was a ghost and so boring that everyone fell asleep. Dominic had stayed awake because his dorm mates had bet him that he couldn't.
Janet and Zaria came back from the Forbidden Forest before it got dark, to announce that it was amazing and make me wish I had gone with them. But Janet said that she was planning to go again, so I made a note to tell her to count me in when she did.
Before we were sent to bed, I had her explain the Heads of our House to me. So, we had two Heads of House, professor Slughorn and professor Snape. Professor Snape had died during the second Wizarding War, but remained in Hogwarts in portrait form. Because of what he did during the war, he is our Head of House. His job is to tell Slughorn what to do, even though sometimes Slughorn does whatever he wants to do. You are never sent to the office to see Snape unless you do something very serious.
As I lay in my bed, I tried to gather everything I'd learnt this day. Mel wasn't as backstabbing as I'd thought, but even if I did want to talk to her again, there was no way Lupin would allow it. So, basically, the only thing between us would be Lupin. I fell soon fell asleep, all this playing in my head.
Our next day began with double Potions, which was taught by Slughorn. He began by reading the list of names. The first one he announced was George Abner, the Hufflepuff I'd met on the boat. George called out "Present."
"Anderson, Max?" he called out next.
"Present," the Ravenclaw answered.
"Andrews, Melena?"
"Present."
"Are you in any ways related to Bianca and Daren Andrews?" he asked her.
"They're my parents," she answered and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.
"Ah, yes. Wonderful. They are most excellent Aurors. Now, where was I? Armstrong, Phillip?"
"Present."
"Bayleaf, Amy?"
"Present."
"Heldon Bayleaf's girl?"
"No, sir."
"Pity. Boxer, Jessica?"
"Present."
"Bumis, Lyra?"
"Present."
"Candon, James?"
James simply raised his hand from where he was sitting.
"Not the son of Nero Candon!" Slughorn sounded the most excited he had since he started reading the catalogue.
James nodded shyly and he clapped his hands together. "Excellent!" he said and turned back to the roll of parchment he was holding.
After a long list of names, he called out Janet's. He asked her who her parents were and when she told him, he smiled at her and said that they were very talented wizards and that she should be very proud to have them as her parents. Then he went on.
"Oaen, Decimus?"
"Present."
"Odny, Daniel."
"Present," I answered.
Slughorn paused and looked at me and I felt uncomfortable. "Are your parents' names Silvia and Romanus Odny by any chance?"
I gulped. I didn't want this to be when everyone would find out that I was an orphan. I couldn't decide between telling the truth and lying. After some seconds of thought, I decided on the latter.
"Yes, sir," I answered.
However, unlike with most, he didn't comment any further. He simply nodded, coughed and turned back to his parchment. Janet looked at me with a quizzical look and I simply shrugged. I didn't know what this meant either.
On the first hour, Slughorn explained some basic stuff such as bezoars and aconite to us. The next hour, he explained the importance of different types of cauldrons and vials. I took as many notes as I could manage. I couldn't stop spying on a certain Gryffindor, however.
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