Hell. That one word was all you needed to sum up History of Magic with professor Binns. The class dragged on and on, James found it hard to fall asleep, now he could understand what Teddy and his friends meant, and why they had been laughing so hard. How the professor could still be teaching was a miracle really, or maybe he was purposefully there to torture the students. James wasn't sure. All he knew was that he was glad he was out of there, and that he needed to talk to uncle George to find a way to get out of future classes.
Dinner had passed without much happening, Jade continued to sit with James during meals, but Corey and Jeremy didn't join them, they were apparently a little upset with James for leaving without them after flying class, James hadn't even thought it was something they would get mad about, Isabelle wasn't annoyed with him for it. James had tried to give them the map that Teddy and his friends had made them as a peace offering, but they had told him not to bother before sitting down further away at the Gryffindor table.
After dinner, James had retired to his dorm room, where he found Bear waiting for him, with a letter from his parents, he excitedly opened it.
Dear James,
Congratulations of making Gryffindor! We are all so proud of you.
We are glad you're having fun and making friends, pay no mind to Malfoy.
Your dad says its no wonder there are more Gryffindors these days, he says its a lot easier to be brave now that there is no threat. But don't let that affect your happiness over making the house! You are such a brave young man!
We miss you terribly. Lily sends her love.
We have also enclosed some owl treats for Bear, keep it up!
Say hello to Neville, Hermione, Luna and Colin for us all!
And be good!
Lots of love, mum and dad.
James read the letter several times, before opening the treats for Bear.
It was great hearing back from his family, he had hoped they would say more though, but it was no matter, he had survived his first full day on his own at school, and James felt like he was on top of the world. Nothing could bring him down. Crawling into bed, he shot a glance at the two empty beds in the room, having not seen his dorm mates after dinner he hadn't had a chance to try and make it up to them, he supposed he would have to try in the morning. But for now, it was time for bed.
The next morning James woke up to an empty room, Corey and Jeremy must have woken early, James thought. Making his way into the common room he saw that most students had already left, it was only Jade sitting there, she had been waiting for him.
"Finally!" she shouted "Class starts soon, I was beginning to worry that id actually missed you and you had already left!" Jade continued. James realised, his room mates hadn't woken early, they had just let him sleep in, wether they did it on purpose hoping he would sleep in and be late for class, or wether they had just thought he would wake on his own, he was not sure. What he did know, was that he had now missed breakfast, and wouldn't get to eat for hours. It was not looking to be a good day.
First up, they had charms, where they learnt the levitation spell, it was quite easy for James, and he was soon making his feather dance around the room, once he had made sure Jade knew the spell. He had tried to help Jeremy and Corey, but they more or less ignored his advice, so James had left them. If they wanted to be mad at him over something so silly, let them, he thought. Instead he turned his attention to Lucien, he hadn't spoken to the boy since the sorting ceremony, he had had an easy time fitting into Hufflepuff, it seemed, he had made friends with a girl named Elena Fowley, who he was currently sitting next to, she seemed nice enough, but James found he didn't have much in common with her, and they struggled to make conversation.
Their second class was care of magical creatures, James greeted Luna and as his parents asked, said hello for them, she began the lesson in her serene tone, and they soon learnt all about unicorns, they learnt about the healing properties in their blood, and how they were hunted into near extinction. She claimed they used to be as common as horses, but now after centuries of hunting there were very few left, according to professor Lovegood they used to dwell in muggle areas, but now they were considered a mythical creature as they were rarely seen anymore. It just so happened that there was a herd living in the forbidden forest.
After an uneventful lunch, where the other two Gryffindor first year boys continued to ignore James, the trio, James, Jade and Isabelle found their way to the greenhouses, were they had double Herbology, Professor Longbottom spent the first lesson going over simple potions ingredients, giving the students and over view of their properties and how they would affect potions. It was a very enlightening class, James never having made a potion before, only ever watching his parents make them on occasion.
Once dinner had ended, the first years made their way all the way up, past the seventh floor, for their astrology class, James wasn't sure what was worse, looking at stars for an hour, or suffering through professor Binns for an hour, both were decidedly boring. James knew that once he had the choice, he would not be continuing either of these classes.
By the time they returned to the common room, James was exhausted, but stayed to talk to the other Gryffindors none the less, if they were supposed to be like a second family, he should probably at least have a conversation with them. He learnt a lot about the others in his house, while they were unsure about having a Slytherin enter their midst, they could understand and were sympathetic towards Jade, none of them wished to spend an entire seven years of school in a dormitory of their own. Some of them thought she should just swap houses and fully be a member of Gryffindor, while assuring James that her house wasn't really an issue. James thought that maybe they were trying to be more accepting of her because she was his friend, and he was Harry Potters son, he wasn't sure, but ultimately decided it didn't matter, as long as they were nice to his friend.
James realised today, that Jade really was his only actual friend at this point, and he didn't want anyone to make her feel unwelcome, he felt protective of her, much like he did with Lily.
The rest of the week passed in a very similar manner, James went to every class, and tried to pay attention, tried to take good notes, as his aunt Hermione had advised on multiple occasions, but as it grew closer to Saturday, it became harder and harder to do, really he was just lucky that the teachers didn't assign homework in the first week.
