The first two months of school passed quickly for Ari. It helped that he went home so often. Besides going home for Shabbos, he missed class for Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkos as except for Yom Kippur, which came out on a Wendesay, all the fall yamim tovim came out on Monday and Tuesday. Ari's parents were a little concerned about missed class work, but Ari wasn't. Herbology was easy; Ari always loved gardening. Potions wasn't that different from the science experiments he always did in primary school, although he discovered the hard way that Professor Snape doesn't like when things explode. It didn't really matter if Ari was in class for history and defense, since he never paid attention anyways. Transfigurations usually took Ari a few tries, but he was always able to master it eventually, so the missed classes didn't make much of a difference, and in Charms, they were still doing theory.
On the last day of October, Ari woke up to an unfamiliar smell. Something sweet was baking, but he didn't know what. At breakfast, everyone was talking about the Halloween feast. Ari realized he will be eating in his common room tonight.
In Charms, they finally got to try the levitating charm. Ari was excited, but it took him a few tries before he got it down pat.
When it was time for dinner, Ari stayed in the common room.
"Aren't you coming, Anthony?" Michael called.
"I'll eat here tonight," Ari said. "I don't celebrate Halloween."
"Come anyway," Terry said. "There's good food."
"If that's the only reason for going to meals," Ari retorted, "I would eat here every night."
"Do you want me to stay with you?" Michael offered.
"Not at all," Ari said. "Go enjoy the feast. I have some books to read."
"Anything good?" Stephen asked.
Ari held up his newest rugby book.
"I guess not," Stephen said with a smirk. He ran off before Ari could answer, followed by Michael, Terry, and Kevin.
Ari had just finished his potato knish when the whole house returned together.
"You missed it!" Terry said excitingly. "There's a troll in the castle!"
"I'm glad I missed it," Ari said.
"We didn't see it either," Michael said, "But Quirrell told everyone and then he fainted."
"Hopefully, we'll have a more competent teacher next year," Ari said.
He went back to his book as everyone finished the feast in the common room.
As the weather got colder, all anybody would talk about is quidditch. Ari's class has mastered flying around the pitch, and people were always talking about how Harry Potter is the youngest seeker in the century. Ari was surprised that everyone was rooting for Gryffindor in the Gryffindor-Slytherin match until one of the older players explained that Slytherin always wins and they play rough with lots of fouls.
"That should make the strategy easier," Ari said.
"Why is that?" asked Roger Davies, a third year chaser.
"If you know they will purposely block you, pretend they crashed into you," Ari told him. "Chances are the ref will believe you since they have a reputation. If a player gets too close, aim your broom towards his hand and pretend he grabbed your broom. If any player has his elbows out, pretend to crash into their elbow. Use their fouls to your advantage."
"I thought Jews value honesty," Terry retorted.
"We do," Ari said. "I'm probably not the best example of Jewish honesty, since I was taught to lie about magic when I was four-years-old. If you're raised with secrecy and lies, it becomes second nature."
"I prefer to win honestly," Roger said.
"Good for you," Ari said. "I also prefer winning honestly to winning dishonestly. If it's a choice between winning dishonestly and losing honestly, I would probably have a hard time doing the right thing."
The Shabbos of the first quidditch match, Ari commented that he's missing a quidditch game. His father wasn't very sympathetic.
"The quidditch games are usually on Shabbos," Tatti said. "That's just how it is. It's not like you're on the team anyway."
"It's Gryffindor against Slytherin," Ari said, "so either way my house isn't involved."
"Are you upset about missing quidditch?' Mommy asked.
"Not really," Ari said. "I'm sure I'll hear every sorry detail tonight. Besides, I still play with Dean and Kevin every Sunday. Sometimes Justin and Ernie come to watch."
While Ari did expect to hear about the game, what he did not expect to hear was that Potter's broom tried to throw him off and he caught the snitch in his mouth.
Ari continued to miss quidditch matches, but he didn't really care. Before he knew it, it was time for the winter holidays. Ari wasn't used to being home from school for two weeks in December, but he didn't mind the break. His mother made sure he followed a yeshiva schedule for every day he was off. He went to shacharis every day, learned gemara , chumash and mishnayos, and was madre seder. In the afternoon, his mother played math games with him, had him read for an hour and a half, and watched him do science experiments.
Ari was disappointed that with the cold and snow, not much was happening with sports amongst his friends. He did manage to get in two rugby games, but most days it was too windy, and the ball would blow away. Ari was surprised that at the end of the holiday, he didn't really mind going back to school.