A/N: I'm so sorry to those who've actually enjoyed this story so far for the delay. I've had a bit of a block about how to continue on with the first week of Cain's lessons. Also, I know that there was no mention in the books about Flitwick offering advice and guidance, but I felt like that's something he would've done at some point.

Once again, I am sorry for the delay Please forgive me D:

Also, Happy New Year, everyone!

2015

~shipperoftheships67

Xx...xX

Chapter 7

After dressing in his black school robes, Cain filled his bag with his books, extra parchment (just in case), a quill and inkwell, and his wand. He wasn't entirely sure if he would even need his wand on the first day of lessons, but he didn't want to have to come back and have to quickly answer a question from the eagle.

Cain, Ravie, and the other first years-after triple checking that they had everything-followed a group of fifth years down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Cain threw a glance up toward the staff table where all the professors and the headmistress were already seated and chuckling merrily, well all of them except for a rather nasty looking woman who was sitting partly off from the rest of the group. An incredibly tiny man was perched on a chair next to a portly, rosey-cheeked woman wearing dark yellow robes.

"Who's that little guy?" asked Cain as he leaned across the table to Ravie. She turned to look up at the group of teachers.

"Oh, I believe that's our Head of House." She reached for the pitcher of orange juice and went on, "His name is Filius Flitwick, and he was in Ravenclaw himself as a student here."

"Really? That's awesome!" Cain exclaimed. Flitwick must've really loved Hogwarts if he's been here that long, Cain thought to himself.

Professor Flitwick, upon noticing that the Ravenclaw table was full, jumped from his chair at the staff table and waddled, more quickly than Cain would've thought possible, across the Hall to his gaggle of students. He produced a bundle of rolls of parchment and sent them flying down the Ravenclaw table, each student receiving the correct piece.

"Welcome, first years," he squeaked. "I am Professor Filius Flitwick, and I will be your Head of House. My element, as well as my subject here at Hogwarts, is Charms. I will explain more of what you'll be learning from me when our first lesson begins come Wednesday morning." He paused for a bit, before looking into the face of every first year.

"I want every one of you to know that, should you have a problem-any sort of problem-you can always come to me for advice or guidance. No matter the subject, I will always do my best to lend a hand. I just need to make myself clear. I have a weak spot for and genuinely care about the well being of each of the students that have been Sorted into my House. Ravenclaw is given only the most knowledgeable students, but even the cleverest minds could use some help with a heavy load." The professor gave his House a curt nod and a grin. "I bid you all good day."

As Cain watched tiny teacher walk away, he could tell that Flitwick would probably be his favourite teacher. He and Ravie unrolled their schedules and read over their first list of lessons.

As Cain and Ravie waited for their friends to arrive, they chattered with the other Ravenclaw first years about how nervous they were for their first lessons and wondering how difficult they might be as the Hufflepuffs streamed into the Great Hall, amid a loud chorus of voices. Cain scanned the throng of people until he found Sebastian speaking with a young girl. He waved them over.

"Hey," said Cain, "We've got our first lesson together." Cain showed his schedule to Sebastian who looked just as excited about it as Cain felt.

"This is fantastic! And it looks like we've also got Transfiguration and Charms together as well." He glanced to the girl next to him. "Oh, this is Fida, by the way," Sebastian introduced his friends. "Fida, these are Ravie and Cain." She waved to them shyly. "Where did you get this?" Sebastian indicated the class schedule.

"Your Head of House will give them to you guys when your table's filled up," Cain told them. "Who's the Head of your House?"

"Professor Flavus," Fida mumbled nervously. "I hope she isn't scary."

Cain shrugged his shoulders indicating that he didn't know whether or not Professor Flavus was overly strict or cruel. He hoped, for Fida's sake, that she was a friendly and jovial spirit.

"What about yours?" asked Sebastian.

"Ours is Professor Flitwick. He teaches Charms," Ravie answered, taking a sip of her orange juice. "Honestly I can't wait for his class. It's the one I'm most excited for." Cain nodded in agreement.

"I can't wait for flying lessons," said Fida, perking up. "My dad had been teaching me to ride a broomstick properly before I'd even gotten my letter."

"A broomstick?" Cain asked incredulously. He had never heard of such a thing. He figured that it was just a myth or something that witches and wizards would actually ride a broomstick.

"Yes, a broomstick," Ravie responded, chuckling once again at his ignorance to all things magical. "We use them as a means of transportation as well as to play Quidditch."

"What's Quidditch?" Cain asked with exasperation.

Right as Sebastian was about to answer Cain's question, in a more amicable way than Ravie perhaps would have, they noticed the woman in yellow as she strode over to the table full of Hufflepuffs. Fida and Sebastian waved their goodbyes to their Ravenclaw friends and hurriedly went off to have breakfast and receive their own schedules.

"We have Professor Longbottom for Herbology first," said Ravie with another glance down at her schedule. "Then we go on to History of Magic with the Slytherins."

"Ya know, I've heard that the Slytherins are real jerks," said Cain as he took a rather large bite of his bacon. Ravie nodded her head.

Just then, Cain noticed a gang of said Slytherins walk into the room like they owned the place. There was a sneering boy with a pale, pointed face in the lead of his own little squad. Cain would've bet that the nearly-white haired boy was from a wealthy family, and that his two cronies were only there because they wanted a leader. With the way they held themselves, you'd think that they'd been there longer than twenty four hours. The three boys were only first years, just the same as every other new student.

Suddenly the boy in the center of the Slytherin trio looked directly at Cain, his grey eyes staring coldly into Cain's own blue. The boy stalked toward Cain, who stared right back deftly refusing to be the one to look away. He'd dealt with his share of bullies and knew that the worst thing you could do is to let them think that they've won.

"So you're the American, eh?" he drawled. Ravie huffed out a chuckle at his cockiness. Cain ignored her and nodded nonchalantly.

"Yes, can I help you with something?"

The boy snickered and crossed his arms. As he was about to speak, another voice made itself heard.

"You must be Scorpius Malfoy." The blond boy turned to face the other boy who had apparently just entered the Great Hall.

The newcomer was a year or so older than Cain, and was also a bit taller. He had jet black hair that hung untidily over his bright brown eyes. He was currently giving the young Malfoy an evil stare.

"I suppose that would make you James Potter, then?" Malfoy responded as he noticed a couple more first years walk in behind Potter. The two younger children were a boy that looked just like a smaller version of James except with bright green eyes instead of brown, and a girl with fiery red hair and a smattering of freckles across her nose.

"Well, it seems you're a bit smarter than I'd previously assumed," the eldest Potter quipped.

Malfoy turned away from Cain and moved nearer to the Potter boys, to better shoot sarcasm and insults at each other. Cain, secretly glad that he didn't have to deal with the Malfoy boy any longer, rolled his eyes at their bickering and turned back to his breakfast, but the name Potter stuck with him. He looked up as Simon Xavier joined him and Ravie at the end of the table.

"Are those two Potter kids related to the Harry Potter?"asked Cain.

"Well, yes," Xavier answered slowly, looking at Cain like he might just be a little slow. "Those are James and Albus Potter. They're Harry Potter's sons. And the red haired girl? That's Rose Weasley. Ron and Hermione Weasley's daughter."

"Yeah? I've read about them."

"Well now you attend Hogwarts with their children," Xavier laughed.

Cain could hardly believe it. He supposed that they were just normal kids like the rest of them, but it seemed like they should be different after all the things that their parents had done. Saving the entire magical community from the Dark Lord; Voldemort. He looked back to watch the feud a moment longer before gathering up his things to run off to Herbology with Sebastian, Ravie, and Fida.

The batch of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs trekked across the school grounds after breakfast and waited by the entrance of the first greenhouse door. Cain and Ravie told the Hufflepuffs about the Potter boys and the Weasley girl. Sebastian exclaimed that the girl must've been the child of Ronald Weasley, the man from Cain's Chocolate Frog card. Cain nodded vigorously and told them what Simon had said to them.

"That's wicked!" Sebastian exclaimed just as they noticed Professor Longbottom opening the greenhouse. "We go to school with famous people!"

"Famous peoples' children," Ravie corrected him with a laugh.

The group of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs filed into the room and gathered in groups of four around worktables as Longbottom started his first lesson of the term.

"Now, class," he started. "Who can tell me the properties of Devil's Snare?"

Immediately, half a dozen hands shot into the air, and Longbottom looked proudly out at his class of students. He seemed genuinely impressed by how many people thought they knew the answer. He pointed to Ravie whose hand was one of the first thrown into the air.

"Devil's Snare is a plant with the magical ability to constrict or strangle anything in its surrounding environment or something that happens to touch it," she spouted out, as though she were reading it from a textbook. "Struggling or resistance to Devil's Snare will cause the plant to exert a greater force of constriction."

"Well done, Ms. Ravenwood," Professor Longbottom praised. "Ten points to Ravenclaw!"

Cain gave her a pat on the back as Longbottom went on explaining the uses of Devil's Snare and letting them know exactly what could happen if one became ensnared in the vicious vines of the plant.

As the lesson went on, Professor Longbottom allowed the students to split into pairs to re-pot the dangerous plants; they were outgrowing their current containers. He told the class where to get their smocks and gave them the rundown on how to properly and carefully remove the plant and replace it into the next planter pot. Longbottom dimmed the lighting in the greenhouse for this lesson in hopes that the plants might be a little more cooperative.

As Cain and Sebastian fought to not allow the savage tendrils to wrap themselves around their forearms, they failed to notice their neighbors' Devil's Snare as it slowly snaked across the table and up around Cain's bicep. The plant was finally detected as it began to forcefully squeeze around the young boy's arm. Cain gasped and tried to pull away from the ever tightening corkscrew of the Snare that encased his limb.

"P-Professor," he panted out as he remembered that he needed to remain calm and not fight it. "It's got a good grip on me, sir."

Longbottom immediately came to Cain's aid as he brandished his wand and pointed it at the bit of greenery firmly latched onto Cain's arm. "Lumos Solem!"

A blinding flash of light emanated from the tip of the Professor's wand and the Devil's Snare immediately released its hold an shrank back into its new pot. Cain tried to rub the feeling back into his fingers as he stuttered out his thanks. Professor Longbottom waved off the appreciation, and demanded to know if Cain felt that he should visit the hospital wing.

"No, no," he answered hurriedly, not wanting to look like a pansy in front of the entire class. "I think I should be fine once the blood gets back into my arm." He laughed and tried to shake the pins-and-needles feeling from his flesh.

"Alright then," said the Professor before he addressed the entire room. "I think that'll be enough for today. Class dismissed."

There was a small cheer as the students returned their smocks and gathered their bags to leave for their next class.

After trudging their way to the castle and up several flights of stairs-Fida accidentally shoving her foot through the pesky vanishing stair and turning a violent shade of crimson as Cain and Sebastian hauled her out of it-, Cain and Ravie bid goodbye to the Hufflepuffs and went their separate way.

The pair of Ravenclaws finally found the History of Magic classroom by the fourth door they tried. The only empty seats were in the far right corner in the back of the room. There was already a pair of Slytherin girls seated at the next table over. Cain opted for the window seat, forcing Ravie to be next to the green-tied first years.

Cain was beginning to wonder if a teacher was ever going to show up when a sudden gasp from the front of the room caught his attention. He whipped his head around to see one of the shimmering opaque ghosts gliding through the black board. Cain's jaw dropped as he realised that this class was obviously about to be taught by a dead wizard. Cain's excitement was short lived.

"I am Professor Binns," the ghost droned. "I'll be teaching History of Magic to all of you for the next seven years."

Cain had a sort of internal groan as he and Ravie shared a look of pure disbelief. How could a class at Hogwarts, a school of magic, be even remotely boring. Well, if you wanted an answer, you've found it in the class of Professor Binns. Not ten minutes into a long, monotonous lecture of the Warlock's Convention of 1709, the entire classroom was full of people trying desperately to not snore. Ravie had her chin propped on one hand, her quill hovering over a huge black dot of ink on a piece of parchment. Cain was nearly laying on top of her by the time the bell finally rang signalling the end of the dreadfully long class and the start of a promising lunch.

"Well, thank Merlin that's all the lessons we have today," Ravie sighed as she stretched her arms above her head. "I could do with a nap by now."

"Really? That's all for today?"

"Yes. Honestly, Cain, did you even look at our classes?" she rolled her eyes and led the way from the classroom. "It says, plain as day, that we only have Herbology and History of Magic on Mondays."

Cain nodded as he remembered seeing that. "I just feel like there should be more in one day," he muttered as they trotted down the grand staircase, carefully avoiding the disappearing step.

Ravie gasped as she saw her friend Nicholas, now with red tipped hair, and sprinted across the Hall to the Gryffindor table. Cain, not wanting to be left alone at the Ravenclaw table, followed her. Nicholas, upon seeing them, rose as a grin spread across his face.

"Rae!" he exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck as though she hadn't seen him in years.

"How's your first day going so far," Ravie asked him.

"It's going well. A sixth year told me this morning that having blue hair wouldn't be acceptable for a Gryffindor, so he changed it," he told them with a laugh. "How's it been for you guys?"

"That's awesome," said Cain as he reached out to touch Nicholas's hair. "Everything's been great so far," Cain answered. "Well, aside from Binns's class though."

"Is that the class taught by the ghost?" asked Nicholas.

Ravie nodded with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "He is so monotonous." Nicholas laughed and waved as Sebastian and Fida entered the Great Hall. They strode over to them and joined in chattering excitedly about their first day of lessons.

"Isn't your name Tenebris?" Sebastian demanded as he got closer.

"Uh, yeah," Cain stuttered. "Why?"

"What?" Nicholas exclaimed. "The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is a Tenebris."

"Seriously?" Sebastian nodded and asked if he thought they might related. Cain shrugged his shoulders.

"Well we have Defense Against the Dark Arts tomorrow with the Slytherins," Cain said. "I'll talk to the professor then."

"I'm so mad at my parents right now," Ravie said suddenly.

"What? Why?" Nicholas asked.

Ravie went on to complain about how she was named Raven Ravenwood and that she was in Ravenclaw House. Nicholas laughed at the irony and turned to pile his plate high with food. With a chuckle Sebastian and Fida went to the Hufflepuff table after making plans for everybody to meet back up out on the school grounds before curfew.

As Cain and Ravie made their way back up to Ravenclaw Tower, they were stopped suddenly by a sudden piece of chalk pelting Cain in the back of the head. He spun around to find Peeves sitting crosslegged in midair wearing a smug grin. Cain wondered briefly what would happen if he suddenly started throwing punches at a ghost.

"Oohh," the ghost purred wickedly. "Ickle firsties out all by their lonesome!"

Ravie glanced nervously at Cain who was anxiously wishing a professor or prefect would come round a corner and send Peeves away. He didn't like the evil glint in the poltergeist's eye.

"Peeves," came the raspy voice of another ghost that seemed to materialize from nowhere. Now that he thought about it, it was quite possible for him to have materialized from nowhere. "You will leave these children to their devices at once."

"O-oh, Your Bloodiness," Peeves gasped with fright, suddenly looking less like he wanted to put firecrackers in their pants, and more like he wanted to run away and hide. "I-I'm sorry Mr. Baron, sir. I'll just be on my way then, sir. Oh, please forgive poor Peevesie his joke, Your Bloodiness, sir." Peeves spun around and squealed down the fourth floor corridor.

"Th-thank you, sir," Ravie stuttered out to the Bloody Baron, ghost of Slytherin House. The bloody ghost did not respond, only drifted on down the corridor and through the wall and into an empty classroom. Cain and Ravie exchanged a confused look and continued on their way.

At the top of Ravenclaw Tower, Cain rapped on the wall above the bronze knocker and was asked:

"A man is sitting in a pub feeling rather poor. He sees the man next to him pull a pile of Knuts from his pocket.

He turns to the rich man and says to him,

'I have an amazing talent; I know almost every song that has ever existed.'

The rich man laughs.

The poor man says, 'I am willing to bet you all the money you have in your pocket that I can sing a genuine song with a lady's name of your choice in it.'

The rich man laughs again and says, 'Okay, how about my daughter's name, Joanna Armstrong-Miller?'

The rich man goes home poor. The poor man goes home rich.

What song did he sing?"

Cain snorted with a roll of his eyes. Ravie just looked at him questioningly.

"What?" she demanded. "You've already got the answer?"

"And you don't?" he retorted dubiously. "Obviously it's the 'Happy Birthday' song." The door swished open, allowing the pair of Ravenclaws entrance. Ravie rolled her eyes with a disbelieving chuckle as she followed Cain into their common room.

They claimed the worktable in the far corner of the room to get a headstart on their homework from Professor Binns. It was excruciatingly boring, but they managed to, with each other's help, get it done in less than an hour. Cain glanced at the large clock hanging over the doorway and figured that Nicholas, Sebastian, and Fida were probably waiting on them in the front lawn of the school.

Walking over the school grounds to the lake, Cain glanced over to the hut at the edge of the Dark Forest and saw a massive canine sunbathing by the front entrance. Just then, Hagrid came bustling from the small building carrying a large, singed, wooden box. Upon noticing Cain and Ravie watching him, Hagrid balanced the box into one hand and waved merrily to them as they passed. They returned the wave with friendly smiles.

Ravie pointed down to the lake where she could see the others waiting for them on the bank. They could see that Sebastian had his shoes off and his pants rolled up to the knees as he waded out into the water. As they watched, a giant squid tentacle stretched from the glassy top of the water. Sebastian froze with fear, but the tentacle only splashed water at the boy playfully. They laughed with relief and ran the rest of the way to the lake.

"It's about bloody time," Nicholas shouted as the Ravenclaws finally made it to the water's edge. "We were beginning to think you'd never show up."

"Well, unlike some people," said Ravie, shoving him in the arm, "We've just finished our homework."

"What? Already?"

"Yes already," Cain chuckled, "Did you expect us to wait till the last second?"

Nicholas rolled his eyes and turned back to watch Sebastian and the squid splash each other. By the time he crawled from the lake, Sebastian was dripping from head to foot and giggling hysterically. He plopped onto his back in the grass and tried to ring the water from his shirt tail.

"I'm ready for a nap," Sebastian huffed.

"You didn't have to sit through Binns's class today," Cain huffed back as he stretched out next to his Hufflepuff friend.

"Isn't Binns the ghost teacher?"

"Mhmm," Ravie mumbled sleepily.

"I'm gonna fall asleep out here," Cain muttered, finally feeling the effects of his first day of Hogwarts as he started to drift off.

"Maybe we should go back inside," Fida said, standing and pulling Sebastian to his feet by his hands. The rest of them agreed and, with grunts and groans, pulled themselves up and shuffled back to the castle. They regretted not being able to spend as much time with each other as they would've liked, but they all knew that it would better once they all got into the swing of things.

Back inside Ravenclaw Tower after supper in the Great Hall, Cain spread out a roll of parchment, dipped his quill into his inkwell, and started his first letter home:

Dear Mom, Dad, and Annabelle,

I'm sorry I haven't been able to write to you sooner, but I was completely worn out last night after the Sorting. I'm assuming that I'll mostly only be able to write in the evenings due to my classes.

Speaking of classes, you'll never believe the subjects they teach here! I've only had Herbology (a plant called Devil's Snare-rightfully named-attacked me!) and History of Magic which is taught by a real ghost! Even with the professor being a ghost, nearly everyone fell asleep within the first few minutes. No matter how hard you try, there's almost no way to keep awake in there.

There's also another ghost, a poltergeist, named Peeves. He's a major prankster and, far as I can tell, only listens to another ghost called the Bloody Baron. I'm not quite sure what the story is behind why they call him that. There are so many different ghosts around here, I don't know how I'll ever keep them straight.

This place is amazing. To get into my dormitory, I have to knock on a wall near a bronze door knocker shaped like an eagle, and answer a riddle. Paintings, portraits, pictures-anything of the sort-moves. The people in them can move, visit other paintings in their frames and even talk to people passing by. Once, on our way to our History of Magic class, a woman painted inside a silver frame gave my friend Ravie and me directions so we wouldn't be late. I think that even the suits of armor can walk around on their own.

So far, everything is going great here. I just wanted you to know my first day went great!

I love you guys!

Love,

Cain

P.S.- Here's a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans that I got on the train. But tread lightly, when they say every flavour, the mean every flavour.

P.P.S- You can send Mercury back to me in the morning. He'll probably be tired when he gets there. Thank you!

Cain searched his trunk for his leftover box of Every Flavour Beans and used a piece of twine to tie it together with his letter and headed out to the owlery in search for Mercury. Before he could even leave his common room, Cain heard a familiar pecking at the window overlooking the Forest. He pulled the window doors open to allow the bird to flutter onto the nearby table top.

"How did you know I needed you?" Cain asked the bird suspiciously as he tied the package to his family onto its leg. Mercury just hooted in response.

Cain held his arm out for Mercury to hop on and walked him over to the open window. He fed the owl a treat before sending him on his way. With a stretch and a yawn, Cain headed up the stairs to change into his flannel pajamas for bed.

As he sat on the edge of his bed, Cain looked at his wand curiously. He thought of the spell that Professor Longbottom had used to make the Devil's Snare let him go. Lumos Solem. It had produced the a bright light, much like a flash flight, and sent the vicious weed slithering back into its own pot. Cain picked up his wand with a glance at the door to make sure it was shut.

Staring intently at the tip of the magical piece of wood, Cain whispered the incantation. "Lumos Solem." He gasped as the point glowed for a moment before repeating the spell, a bit louder this time. "Lumos Solem!"

As his wand shone as bright as the professor's had, Jeremy Reedus walked into the shared room and let out an impressed laugh at Cain's successful spell.

"Well done, mate!" he shouted. "I can only get the dimmer lumos spell to work properly for me yet."

"Really?" asked Cain, a bit breathlessly. "This is the only spell I've ever tried so far. I just wanted to give it a shot before I went to sleep."

"That's incredible!" Reedus chuckled as he started changing for bed as well.

With a satisfied sigh, Cain laid his wand atop his night table and rolled underneath his blankets. After only a moment's hesitation, he slid the silk eiderdowns closed around his bed.

"G'night, Reedus," said Cain through the bed curtains.

"Night, Tenebris."

The other three boys came into the dormitory shortly after Reedus and Cain had gone to bed. Cain listened to them shuffle around and give each other muted "goodnights" as they dressed for bed. Within mere minutes, the only sound heard in the first years' dormitory was the deep even breaths of its sleeping occupants.