Chapter Five

It's surprising how quickly I settle into a routine at Hogwarts. I enjoy all my classes, with the possible exception of History of Magic, which isn't any more exciting than it apparently was in my parents' time. My parents are thrilled to hear that I'm in Gryffindor, and after receiving a very enthusiastic letter of congratulations from his parents, Al finally starts to come to terms with the fact that he's in Ravenclaw. We've discovered that it's not actually compulsory to sit with your own house at meals, so Al and I work out a system that allows us to see each other at least a couple of times a day. At breakfast I sit with him at the Ravenclaw table, and then at lunch he comes and sits with Gryffindor. In the evening we both sit on our own tables, which gives us a chance to socialise with our own friends too.

I get on pretty well with all the other Gryffindor first years, but I don't immediately find a best friend among them. Annette and Jessica are practically inseparable from the very first night, and they adopt Beth, who begins to come out of her shell a little as she settles in.

I make a point of sitting next to Scorpius in Potions and Transfiguration – the two subjects we share with the Slytherins. He looks surprised the first time I do it, but also very grateful, and although he never says it, I know he's been struggling to find friends in his own house. I even invite him to sit at the Gryffindor table sometimes if he wants to, but he declines, indicating the rather hostile looks that my housemates often give him.

I give them all a lecture that evening, telling them off for being so judgemental that they won't even give him a chance, simply because he's a Slytherin and a Malfoy. Andy backs me up, pointing out that it would be just like everyone judging him just for being a Black, and they all look suitably abashed.

Scorpius still prefers not to join me when I'm with my friends, so we take to meeting in the library a couple of times a week to do homework together. When he stops being so nervous all the time, he turns out to be a very sweet, funny guy, and we get along very well.

It's not until I've been there a few weeks, however, that I meet the person who becomes my best friend. I'm sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Al, eating breakfast, and we're discussing the Transfiguration homework. I suppose I get a little enthusiastic and start talking about the theory of Switching Spells, which I read up on as an extra. I'm trying to explain it to Al, who looks increasingly perplexed, and I'm about to give up when a first year Ravenclaw girl leans over the table and joins the conversation. She clearly understands it as well as I do, and we're soon debating one of the finer points of the importance of pronunciation when speaking the incantation. She argues that the incantation is really just a means of focusing intention, and that it is only psychologically that it matters. I strongly disagree, and one of the most enjoyable arguments I've ever had ensues.

When Al announces that we need to hurry up if we want to get to class on time, we're both very disappointed. It's been a long time since I've met someone with whom I can converse at my own level. That sounds really arrogant, doesn't it? It's not supposed to. It's just that understanding things has always come naturally to me, and sometimes it's a little frustrating when others can't follow my train of thought. But this girl can clearly keep up with me, and more than that, actually challenges me to keep up with her.

She comes with Al to sit at the Gryffindor table at lunchtime, and introduces herself. Her name is Adele Philippe, and her dad went to Beauxbatons. She was born in France, and speaks both French and English fluently, but has lived in England since she was seven.

You know those people you just get on with? You can only have known them for five minutes, but something just clicks and it feels like you've been friends forever? It's like that with Adele and me. Al looks a little bemused as the two of us talk non-stop throughout lunch, and ends up giving up on keeping up with our conversation and talking to Steve and Tyler instead.

From that moment on, Adele and I are best friends. Of course, we don't have all our classes together, and we can't hang out in the Common Room because of being in different houses, but we spend every possible moment together that we can. My study sessions with Scorpius in the library expand to include both Adele and Albus, and a kind of rivalry develops between Adele and me. She might get a slightly higher grade than me on a Charms essay, but the next day I'll beat her by a couple of marks in a Potions test. We don't get anything for our achievement; just bragging rights for the rest of the day.

I guess that sounds like an unhealthy way to start a friendship, but it's one of the best things to happen to me. It pushes me in a way nothing else ever has. There's no real satisfaction in beating the rest of my class; it's too easy. But to beat Adele I have to put some effort in.

Of course, for Adele there's another motivation. Her parents are both very intelligent, and they have high expectations of her. They often write to her, asking about her grades, and she has a lot of pressure on her to get the top grades all the time.

I don't have that problem with my parents. Mum is pretty smart, but she always says she doesn't mind what my grades are like so long as I try my best. And Dad is always proud of me when I do well, but he says there are more important things in life than good grades (though that might just be because Mum beat him in their OWLs).

With Adele around, schoolwork suddenly becomes a little more fun. We both have a motivation to do well other than people's expectations of us, and we have a kind of respect for one another that we struggle to feel for many of our classmates.

Saying that, I sound like a real bitch. I'm not trying to say that my classmates are inferior, or even less intelligent; just that it's nice to meet someone similar to me.

I try not to neglect Scorpius too much; even now I'm friends with Adele. We still sit together in Potions and Transfiguration, and I try and chat to him as often as possible. I do wish he'd try and make friends in his own house, though. I know there's still a bit of prejudice towards him because of his surname, but that's mainly from other houses. The Slytherins would be perfectly happy to be friends with him, if he wasn't so shy all the time.

On my request, Al tries to chat to him a bit more in the hope that they might form some sort of friendship, but it doesn't really work. Scorpius gives very short answers to all Al's questions, but doesn't make any effort to contribute to the conversation. The only person he'll talk openly to is me, and it frustrates me. He becomes so animated when he talks, like a completely different person, and his whole face lights up. If everyone else could see the Scorpius that I can see then he'd have millions of friends.

The weeks fly past and before I know it, it's coming up for the Christmas holidays. Which means snowball fights in the grounds, watching the school fill up with Christmas decorations and making plans for the holiday. Al and I both decide to go home for Christmas, though some of our cousins are staying at school. I'm sure Christmas at Hogwarts must be pretty awesome, but I miss my parents and Hugo too much. I can't wait to see them again, and tell them all about everything. Sending letters just isn't the same.

All my fellow Gryffindor first-years are heading home for Christmas too, and Adele's going off with her parents to France to visit family. Scorpius is staying, though, and so is Louis.

As the holidays draw closer, I grow more and more impatient to be home. I realise just how much I miss Hugo, though I do really love Hogwarts.

Then, finally, the day arrives for us to get the train home, and I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. I can't wait to get home!