Professor Lockhart was rambling about his great accomplishments when Jacob began to lose interest again. With a flick of his wand, Professor Lockhart was once again bound in ropes.
"Release me," he yelled.
"First admit you're an imposter," Jacob said calmly.
"If you would know how to read, you would read my books and see that it's all true," Professor Lockhart said.
All of a sudden, he was dangling upside down from a nail that jutted out above the doorway. Just then, the door opened and Fred and George Weasley walked into the room.
"We came for Jacob," they said.
"What should I do with him?" Jacob asked the twins gesturing towards the professor.
"I wonder how he would look with pink hair," Fred said.
Jacob grabbed his wand and watched as Professor Lockhart's hair turned pink.
"Don't do that," Luna said. "You are encouraging the nargles to get him."
"What are nargles?" George asked.
"You don't want to know," one of the Ravenclaws said. "Between Looney and the retard, we have an unusual class."
"Nobody insults our friend and gets away with it," Fred snarled as a bucket of magenta paint suddenly spilled on the student.
"Where did the paint come from?" Jacob asked curiously.
"We left it outside the door in case your classroom needed redecorating," George said with a grin.
"What should we do with the professor?" Jacob asked.
"I don't think the pink hair looks good. Let's try blue," Fred said changing the hair color. "I meant what should we really do with him?" Jacob asked. "I can't let him down until he admits he's a fraud, but every time I set him on fire, Professor Dumbledore comes running."
"An interesting dilemma," Fred said.
"What do we do with a phony professor?" asked George.
"Do you really know how to set him on fire?" Fred asked.
"I do it fairly often," Jacob said, "But Professor Dumbledore comes down immediately if I do."
"Perfect," said George. "Let's do it and run for it."
Jacob pointed his wand at the ropes and watched a small fire ignite. The three boys ran to the Gryffindor common room. A moment later, Professor Dumbledore joined them.
"May I ask why you're out of class?" he asked them.
"I had vibes that Jacob was losing control of his magic," George said, "So Fred and I ran to get him so he doesn't inflict any harm on innocent professors."
"I understand," said Professor Dumbledore, "but why did you not return back to class?"
"We felt it would be best to stay with young Jacob and make sure he stays calm," Fred said. "After all, a classmate just called him a retard. We can't let anyone hurt our friend."
"I'm assuming that's the boy who is covered in paint," Professor Dumbledore said. "Considering that I just warned him about that behavior last night, he deserved whatever punishment you boys gave him. Has this name calling been going on long?"
"No, last night was the first time," Jacob said. "But he must have always been thinking it."
"I'll leave you in these boys' capable hands," Professor Dumbledore said. "Try not to play with fire."
Jacob spent the afternoon listening to the twins talk. He didn't always understand, but he enjoyed being with them. After a while, George asked how he made Professor Snape laugh.
"I transfigured something into ice cream," Jacob said. "Doesn't everyone like ice cream?"
"You'll have to teach us that trick at dinner," Fred said. "I want to see if I get the same results."
As class ended, more Gryffindors came into the common room. A few noticed Jacob and asked about him, but Fred and George only said that he was a Ravenclaw friend. When Harry walked in, they started singing some silly song about the heir of Slytherin.
"Why are you singing that?" Jacob asked. "He's not the heir."
"Just for fun," Fred said. "He knows we're teasing."
Jacob looked around the common room. He saw a familiar looking red head girl writing in a diary. He pointed the wand in her direction and lifted the diary out of her hand.
"Give it back!" Ginny yelled.
"Hey, let's see what secrets little sister is writing," George said with a grin.
Jacob said the diary on fire. As soon as he did, Professor McGonagall walked into the room. She immediately extinguished the fire and returned the diary to Ginny.
"What do you think you are doing?" Professor McGonagall asked Jacob.
"That diary is evil," Jacob said.
"Do you have any proof?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"No, but I can feel it," Jacob said.
"Unless you have proof, there is no excuse for damaging a student's property," Professor McGonagall said.
"Why is he here?" Percy asked. "Is it because of the petition the Ravenclaws made?"
"No," Professor McGonagall told him. "Students cannot request for removal of dorm mates. However, all the Ravenclaws are already where they should be in Transfiguration and Charms thanks to Jacob. If anyone here needs help, now is the time to ask."
"Isn't he a first year?" Oliver Wood asked.
"Yes, but he can do seventh year work in those subjects," Professor McGonagall bragged.
"Can you show us something?" Katie Bell asked.
Jacob levitated three quills. He transfigured them into knives and set them on fire. He began juggling the knives and fire with his wand. The door opened and Professor Dumbledore walked in.
"I believe I asked you not to play with fire," Professor Dumbledore said while putting out the fires and putting down the knives. "Considering this is the third time today, this is your final warning for the school year. If you ever start another fire, I will be taking back a present I gave you."
"Please don't," Jacob begged. "I need it to talk."
"So don't start any more fires," Professor Dumbledore told him.
He left the common room. Jacob sat quietly while others raved about his performance. At dinner time, he walked with the Gryffindors and sat at their table.
"You're at the wrong table," Penelope told him.
"Young Jacob is giving us transfiguration lessons," Fred said.
"Did he explain what you need to do in exchange for his lessons?" Penelope asked.
"I thought friends help each other," George said. "I wasn't aware that being friends is a business transaction."
Penelope approached Percy. "The rule in Ravenclaw is that if Jacob helps someone with Transfiguration or Charms, they need to help him in a different subject. Your brothers don't agree to that."
"I'll talk to them," Percy said.
Meanwhile, Jacob showed Fred and George how to transfigure their food into ice cream. He transfigured his own food into popcorn. Fred leaned towards the head table and transfigured Professor Snape's food into ice cream. Professor Dumbledore watched with a twinkle in his eye.
"What do I need to do to get ice cream?" He asked Professor Snape.
"I guess Jacob is giving lessons," Professor Snape said.
Professor Dumbledore looked over at the Gryffindor table and pointed to his own plate. George saw and transfigured Professor Dumbledore's food into ice cream.
"Hey, I want some too," Hagrid said.
Professor Dumbledore made eye contact with Jacob and pointed to Hagrid. Jacob transfigured Hagrid's food to ice cream. Professor Lockhart looked over at their table, held up his plate, and grinned. Jacob, Fred, and George exchanged a mischievous look. Fred and George waved their wands towards Professor Lockhart's plate. He saw something that looked dark and rich on his plate and tasted it eagerly. He nearly spit it out as the words, "Eat dirt", formed on his mud pie. Fred and George burst out laughing.
Professor Dumbledore fought back a chuckle as he said, "I guess you and Jacob aren't on the best terms, Gilderoy."
No other professors requested ice cream. After finishing dinner with the Gryffindors, Jacob headed back to the Ravenclaw common room. The room seemed very quiet. Everyone was busy doing homework. Jacob quietly sat down on a couch. When nobody said anything to him, he lay down and turned his mirror face down so he can think privately. He felt a pressure building up inside of him and tried to think of the best way to release it. Before going to Hogwarts, he would have run around the room screaming and flapping his hands. If that didn't work, he would start howling. He had a feeling these behaviors wouldn't go well in Ravenclaw. He realized that magic usually releases some of the pressure he normally feels, but this time it wasn't enough. Pulling the hair and pinching the skin on his mirror didn't replace pulling real hair and hearing people scream, but he would get in trouble if he hurt anyone. He thought about all the toys he used to play with at home. They each fulfilled different needs for him. He decided what he needs most is a toy that makes noise. He thought of his xylophone, keyboard, piano, tambourines, and maracas. He didn't have any of them here. He didn't even have a tape recorder or TV. There was no way to make noise.
He thought about other ways to make noise. He remembered times when he used pots and pans as drums. Sometimes he took them from the cabinet, sometimes from the stove, and sometimes from the fridge. If they weren't empty when he took them out, they were empty by the time he finished with them. He looked around the common room. There were no pots or pans.
He remembered some other objects that made a good drum set. His parents have a cabinet filled with various treasures. Some were antiques that were inherited from grandparents while others were sterling silver objects that they received as presents. Of course, after Jacob used them as drums, they were all in pieces. Mummy took her favorite silver candlestick to several different silversmiths to find out how much it would cost to reconnect all the broken pieces. After hearing the price, she returned it to the cabinet. Every few months, she tried again, hoping to find someone cheaper. Jacob wondered if he would be able to repair it when he came home for the holidays.
After looking around the room, Jacob realized what would make the best drum set.
AN: I'm actually trying to get my broken candlestick repaired this week. If anyone knows of any good silver smiths in or near Lower Manhattan that I didn't call yet, please PM me the info. Thanks.