"Talking"

Thinking

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I'm stirred from my sleep by Blur, tugging at my blanket. "What do you think of our new home blur?" I ask her, lifting her up onto the bed and scratching behind her ears. She purrs with approval, although I'm not sure whether she's approving of the new home or simply enjoying me scratching behind her ears. As much as I love playing with her, I do need to get up and get ready for breakfast.

As I freshen up in the bathroom, Theodore Nott comes in, frowning at me before leaving the room again. I suppose while he doesn't go out of his way to show it, he must in some way agree with the blood purity agenda Draco is so loyal to.

Before Long I'm ready to leave for Breakfast. I decide to wait for Daphne and Tracey in the common room, sitting down and picking up a copy of the Daily Prophet, a newspaper I've concluded is at best, of similar quality to the tabloids that Petunia would always have delivered. 'Wizarding world shocked about Gringotts break in' I Immediately flick to the page with the rest of the story, wanting to find out what had been taken, not that the bank would be likely to inform the public of this. A few lines of fear mongering later, the article does reveal what was taken, nothing. Apparently the vault was emptied a week ago. Trusting that nobody would be foolish enough to steal from one of the ancient vaults, buried deeper below the surface, reserved only for the wealthiest patrons of the bank such as the Potter family.

As I look up from the newspaper, everything of interest from it all found on the cover and across a single double page spread, I spot Tracey walking in from the first-year girl's rooms wearing her robes extremely scruffily, clearly not liking the formal feel of the outfit. "I don't know why Daphne insists on taking so long getting ready." She grumbles to me, clearly bored and wanting to get to breakfast. "You know how she is though, couldn't..."

"I actually don't" I cut in.

"Don't what?" Tracey enquired

"Don't know how she is." I reply. "I mean I know that she's from a pureblood family; dislikes Draco and his creepy obsession with her; and seems to enjoy a good mystery." Other than all of our conversations have been small talk."

"Well I'm sure I can think of one or two ways to fix that Dante." Tracey remarked, an evil grin appearing on her face.

"What's Tracey trying to fix now?" I hear Daphne deadpan from behind us.

Tracey turns to address Daphne "Oh just an issue that came up before you came in. Nothing important."

Daphne attempts, half-heartedly, to glare at me, convincing nobody. "So it's not enough that you're gossiping about me behind my back isn't it? Hiding it too. Humph!"

I meet her gaze with my own, immediately breaking through her mock look of indignance, instead replacing it with an infectious smile that I can't help but return. I decide to end Daphne's suffering. "I think that begins to solve the problem doesn't it Tracey? Now I know that she can't hold a straight face to save her life. I had simply pointed out that we don't know each other particularly well yet."

"Tracey, why do you always have to behave like this?" Daphne asks, seeming mildly annoyed at her friend.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Daph. Anyway, we both know you can't stay mad at me." Tracey quips.

With that, the three of us leave our common room and head for the great hall.

Once we've finished eating, we collect our timetables from Snape before comparing them. We all have double potions first with the Gryffindors, followed by transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs. After that is a break for lunch, before defence against the dark arts with Gryffindor again and charms with the Ravenclaws.

Making our way back to the dungeon for our potions lesson, we discuss whether or not we'll actually be able to brew a potion today, or whether we'll simply have to go through our textbook for the year. With me and Daphne both having already gone through all of the theory for the year in all of our core subjects, and Tracey not being too far behind us we're all hoping for the first option, not wanting to spend a double lesson recapping something we've already learnt.

Soon after arriving in the potions classroom, Snape swoops in and begins writing instructions on the blackboard.

"In this classroom, the magic we do may not be so flashy as a lot of the other subjects, but that doesn't make it any less potent. Potions is a precise art, and those who follow the instructions properly, only making amendments for altered effects after already mastering the base potion will do well in this class. Now I'm sure you've all done your pre-reading, so we will jump straight into brewing. I do not have time to cover the theory of potions this trivial for you, so with the exception of today, where I have provided instructions on the board, I will simply let you know the week before what potion you will be brewing, and you will hand in your detailed instructions on how to brew it as your assignment each week.

With that he begins prowling around the room as we all begin to make our potions. It only takes a few minutes before snape begins vanishing failed attempts at the potion. Clearly not a lot of people read the book before the lesson.

Towards the end of the lesson my potion is finished, and despite it being exactly how it should be as far as I could tell, Snape tells me it's only just about passable. Most of the Slytherins have a passable potion by the end of the lesson, however only one of the Gryffindors can say the same, a bushy haired girl named Hermione. All of the other Gryffindors either produced a potion that wouldn't have the desired effect according to snape, or had their potions vanished for their own safety.

Skill gained: Potions

Unfortunately for me, Daphne and Tracey, the next lesson is transfiguration, not due to any dislike of the class, but due to who would be in said class. Because of this we don't make our way there particularly quickly, taking the time to explore the castle a bit before we go to the class. Just before we head back towards the transfiguration classroom we notice a window with a view out over the black lake, the sun, most of the way towards its zenith, reflected beautifully by the lake. We take a minute to enjoy the scenery around our new home, before Daphne turns to me, speaking softly "What a wonderful view."

At this, Tracey bursts out laughing. "Are you talking about the view out of the window or the one in front of you?".

"Tracey!" Daphne screeches. "I was talking about the view out of the window of course! I can't believe you'd say that." after this she lowers her head, looking to the floor, a subtle smile appearing on her face. "Not that I think you're bad looking Dante. Quite the opp..." She catches herself. "Don't we have a lesson to get to?"

Once we arrive in the transfiguration classroom I notice a cat on McGonagall's desk, sitting regally, watching the students come in and find seats. Before we can find somewhere to sit however, Draco comes up to us, a sneer on his face. "Don't you have anyone better to hang around than this filth?" he asks Daphne and Tracey, venom dripping from his voice. "You can come and sit with me now, but I'd watch out, spend too much time around mudbloods like him and people may get the wrong idea."

"And what idea would that be Mr Malfoy?" McGonagall asks, leaping off the desk as she transforms out of her cat form.

"N-nothing Professor." Draco stammers, quickly moving to find a seat.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff for your attitude towards your fellow students." she states, before telling the rest of the students to take their seats. "Transfiguration is one of the most dangerous subjects you'll learn in your time here. It can do many incredible things, such as what I showed you earlier, the animagus transformation, something you will all have the opportunity to try to learn if you continue to study the subject until your seventh year. Imagine what would happen however if I transformed back slightly wrong, with my brain a few centimetres to the left for example. I'm sure you can all imagine how that would end." Many students in the class wince at the idea of this. "Today however, we will be doing something much less dangerous." She flicks her wand and the box of matches on her desk opens itself and the matches are distributed amongst the students.

She explains that we will be trying to transform the matchsticks into needles, before explaining how we will need to visualise the needle, concentrating not only on the shape, but the material properties of the needle as well. If you fail to do any of these things, you'll fail to fully realise the transformation, or even fail to change the matchstick at all.

With that she lets us get on with attempting the transformation, wandering around to revert any partial transformations, allowing the student to try again. Daphne manages to get the transformation right within a couple of minutes, spending the rest of the lesson trying to help me and Tracey with it. My best attempt comprises of me correctly changing the material perfectly, but only partially transforming the shape. This results in me splintering myself on my now metal matchstick. McGonagall rushes over to me before I can pull out the splinter, and quickly reverses the transformation, pulling the metal out of my finger quite painfully. She explains that if some of the metal had stayed in my finger when I pulled it out, I'd have likely spent a day or two in the hospital wing regrowing a finger when the transfiguration wore off.

Feeling a little shaken now, I don't manage any more good attempts at the transformation. The fact that Tracey manages it before the end of the lesson doesn't help my confidence.

Once our lunch break begins, we quickly make our way down to the great hall lead by me, my stomach demanding we don't make any delays in getting food, much to the amusement of my two friends.

Given the reception I received when I was sorted into Slytherin, I'm surprised when the twins responsible for the hair colour prank come over to sit with us.

"We feel that..." One of them starts.

"You look a little lonely. The three of you here..." The other continues

"All on your own." The first twin finishes.

"We were wondering if you'd appreciate some company?" They ask, speaking in sync. "Also sorry about our mother and little brother, we know they can be a bit too much sometimes." One of them adds.

"Of course, we'd love some company." Tracy replies immediately. She leans past one of them to grab some food before taking a sip from her drink. Her face goes pale as boils appear all over it. "How?" She questions the twins.

"Quite simple really. I just switched our drinks as soon as you were done pouring that potion into mine. Not so sneaky after all are we firstie?" The twin who she tried to prank replies.

"Damn you two!" she chuckles. "Should have known you'd see that. Watch out though, next time I'll surely get you."

After lunch is our defence against the dark arts lesson, or defence as I've taken to calling it. This is the class I'm most excited about, after all, who doesn't want to learn how to fight. Maybe if I do well enough in this class, I'll even be able to enter some of the competitions on the junior duelling circuit. This excitement is crushed as soon as the lesson begins, our teacher mumbling and stuttering about the aims of the class. At this I take out my book and begin to recap my theory on the subject, a much better use of my time.

Charms on the other hand is a much better lesson, with Flitwick talking about his time as a duellist to show us that while a lot of charms are simple, they can be extremely effective if used creatively. After this he teaches us how to lift a feather with the levitation charm, a much easier exercise than the transfiguration.

Given his experience on the duelling circuit, I decide to stay behind to ask him about it. "Professor, I was wondering about the Junior Duelling circuit. Obviously, I'm nowhere near ready right now, but I was hoping to get some advice on what to focus on to get to a point where I'd be ready to compete."

"It's always good to see new students with an interest in duelling. However, I'm afraid I'm not sure I'll be of much help to you right now. Duelling styles are a very personal thing, and what works for me will almost certainly not work for you. I can however lend you a couple of books on the various styles and how to adapt them to suit yourself. Duck!" With this he reaches his hand out towards me as I duck down, expecting a spell, before seeing two books fly into his outstretched hand, directly through where I was previously standing. "See what I mean about simple charms." he hands me the books. "Once you've learned a few more spells talk to me about this again and maybe I can give you some pointers."

Quest: Learning to duel

Objectives:

Read the books from Flitwick

Learn more combat spells

I thank the diminutive professor for the books, excited to have some new reading material. I really need to visit the library. With that I turn to leave the room. "I'm expecting good things from you, Mr Batin.

Skill gained: Charms

"What was that about?" Daphne asks inquisitively, her and Tracey having waited for me.

"Oh, I was just asking about how to get into duelling. I think I'm a long way off being more effective with my wand than I am with my hands though." I explain.

"Well, you were quite good with your hands back on the train." Daphne states, her cheeks turning pink as she realises what she's just said. Tracy for once missing her chance to tease her friend. At this we begin the walk down to dinner.

Once I'm back to my room, I read through the first book Flitwick gave me, detailing the main offensive and defensive duelling styles, as well as their common variations and which offences tend to be paired with which defences. One of the styles that appeals the most to me is transfiguration, despite my lack of any apparent talent in the subject, since it allows the user to attack from all sides, not just firing spells directly towards the opponent. Transfiguration also allows for the creation of solid walls in defence. This can block nasty spells such as shieldbreakers, a spell designed purely to pierce through shield spells, having little to no effect on the opponent, or any physical shield they may put up. Another style I like is elemental based attacks, which again can be directed to attack your opponent from any direction, while also being used as a counter to certain defences such as earth-based attacks targeting the ground underneath the opponent getting around any shield spells they may be holding up.

By the end of the first book, I don't have enough time to do more than scan through the contents page of the second book, seeing that it's a continuation of the first book, detailing how to blend the styles together to create a style that suits you, as well as how to adapt your style to exploit your opponent's weaknesses. Soon after I'm done reading the contents page, I turn in for the night, too tired to continue my studies.

The lessons for the rest of the week are similar to the first day, albeit with a reduced timetable after the first two days. In the first year, every subject is covered in the first two days to quickly give students an introduction to every subject, before a more relaxed timetable is adopted, with each class having one lesson per week. This doesn't mean that the workload is light by any means, since all of the lessons are just practical now, with the teachers setting required reading from the textbooks to cover the theory. Outside of this, me Daphne and Tracey have taken to further study in the library. We've also been teaching ourselves spells in unused classrooms, feeling that only practising our spellwork in class and working only on theory outside of this isn't an effective way to learn, since spellwork requires a lot of practice.

During the first few weeks, I improve my study skill a lot, as well as my skills in transfiguration and charms. Once I managed to get the matchstick to turn into the needle and back successfully for the first time, I quickly get the hang of it, reaching a point where I can transfigure small objects into other objects of a similar size. Whereas transfiguration is a branch of magic that largely focusses on intent and imagination, with only a few different incantations, charms is much more about learning individual spells, with each having its own incantation and wand movement associated. Defence is the one class where the teacher actually goes through some of the theory with us alongside the practicals, with Quirrell splitting the classes fairly evenly between teaching spellwork, and showing us some of the magical creatures we may encounter, albeit in a safe environment.

Over these first few weeks, I also make friends with some of the Gryffindors, namely Hermione, who me and Daphne bond with over our sometimes-excessive studying habits. She often studies with me and Daphne while Tracey is busy plotting her next prank against the twins, an endeavour in which she is yet to find even the most limited success. Unfortunately, she isn't the biggest fan of studying with Tracey, not enjoying the near constant verbal sparring between us three Slytherins. The other Gryffindor I've made friends with is Neville, who's taken to spending a lot of time in the library studying with us, but can't ever seem to apply what he's learning to any of his classes, with the notable exception of Herbology, where he's by far the most talented student in our class.

"Do you think we should try duelling?" Daphne asks me and Tracey during one of our study sessions. "I mean we may not have learned and of the shield charms, but surely it's at least worth learning to dodge and cast at moving targets, so long as we stick to harmless spells that we know the counter to, nothing dangerous of course."

"I'll pass on getting hit with spells thank you very much. I'm on the receiving end of enough prank spells as it is what with my prank war with the Weasley twins." Tracy deadpans, while me and Daphne laugh at her. In her defence she has had to find a member of staff to reverse the effects of the latest prank played on her more than a few times since we've been here.

"I'm up for it." I tell Daphne. "Just don't expect me to go easy on you because you're a girl though."

With that me and Daphne leave the library to go to our usual practice spot, a classroom tucked away on the fifth floor, on a corridor nobody has any real reason to go down. This means that we don't tend to be disturbed while practising.

"Okay I'm going to throw a coin up in the air." Daphne tells me. "And when it hits the ground, we start." With that she quickly tosses a coin from as low as she can reach, hoping to catch me off guard with her speed.

"Rictumsempra!" we both cry, clearly having the same idea for a harmless prank spell. Both dodging out of the way as we close in on one another. I fire a disarming spell which Daphne ducks before firing a leg locking jinx back at me. I'm forced to step to the side, levitating a couple of books back in her direction. This causes her to stumble, nearly falling as she half steps, half jumps out of the way. This gives me a window to cast again before she can retaliate. "Incarcerous!" I shout, ropes flying from my wand, tightly binding Daphne, effectively taking her out of the fight.

With her clothes now pulled tight to her skin, I feel my cheeks flush slightly, noticing that my eyes are lingering on her hourglass figure a little while longer than they should be. She clearly notices this as well, beginning to blush as we make eye contact. Her blush only deepens as she feels my hands on her body, having to physically help her out of the rope since I don't feel confident enough with the cutting curse to cut the ropes without hurting her. Once she's out of the ropes, I help her up, supporting her when she almost falls back over. "Sorry, dead leg" Daphne apologises.

"No worries" I reply, gently helping her over to a chair. "Let's get you sat down."

"What's going on in here!" I hear Tracey's voice cry out. "You two are barely gone ten minutes and I find you in each other's arms, bright red faces."

Daphne somehow manages to redden further. "Dante was just helping me up, he caught me with an incarcerous which gave me a dead leg before he helped me out of the ropes." She snaps at Tracey.

Tracy turns to me "And don't think you're getting out of this either Dante. Some choice of spell to be casting at my best friend. Did you think you'd try to see what she'd look like wearing tighter clothes?"

"You think I'd do that to Daph?" I reply. "That wasn't my intention when I cast the spell, I was simply trying to take her out of the fight." Did I really just call her Daph? Tracey is going to have a field day with this one.

"Likely story" Tracey snorts. "And what's with the nickname huh?" She turns to Daphne. "I thought only I was allowed to call you that."

"The nickname is new to me too Tracey." Daphne replies after a few seconds, clearly taken aback by my casual use of the nickname only her family and Tracey use for her.

While writing this chapter I realised that I've not been writing any of the characters as 11-year-olds, and I don't particularly want to start, so I've decided to change the starting age of Hogwarts to 14. Also sorry to all the Americans reading this, I'm British and will be using the versions of words I'm familiar with. EG colour rather than color