3 March 1992

Another week brought another lunch club meeting. This time, Professor Sprout decided that she would release the reigns slightly. The members of her little group now actually seemed to like each other a little bit. She would present the subject and the person who was going to talk about it, and then she would get on with some marking.

"Alright everybody," she said, clapping her hands together to get their attention. Neville who was talking animatedly to Addie about his grandmother's new owl and Cho who was talking to Adrian about a Tutshill Tornados game that they both hoped to be able to go to see in the summer, stopped talking in mid-sentence and they got down to business. The subject of the week was music, and the floor was Adrian's.

"I don't really like much music. My parents like mainly magical composers like Mozart and Ermengarde de la Fields, but I didn't ever really get into any of that. I had a half blood nanny when I was a child, and she took me to an exhibition on muggle music. It was about the development of music from the Baroque period and I liked Bach and Louis Armstrong."

"Those are not the two people I would have put together," Cho admitted. "I do like Louis Armstrong though. My mum really likes James Bond, so All the Time in the World was playing pretty much on repeat throughout my childhood."

"I've only really heard a few of his songs. I have been able to sneak a couple of records of his into my house and my parents believe me when I tell them that he was an American and that's why they haven't heard of him."

"Your parents really don't…" started Addie.

"Yep," he responded to her unfinished question. They really did hate muggles.

It was a testament to how well they had started to get to know one another that they none of them dwelled on this uncomfortable truth, clearly knowing that talking about it would not help this time.

Neville got the conversation going again before it tanked, "My gran likes Bach. For her last birthday the National Wizarding Youth Orchestra of Great Britain came to perform. She says it's important to support the old and the new."

"There's a wizarding version of that?" Addie asked incredulously. "I wouldn't have thought there were enough interested people."

"Magical double tracking does wonders," Adrian explained. "There aren't enough people to make up a full orchestra, but the sound still manages to be there."

"My gran says that it's an unfortunate side effect of 'young people these days' not being interested in the classics. She tried to get me interested in playing the clarinet, but I didn't manage to take it up."

"I used to have piano lessons, but I wasn't really interested," Adrian said.

"My cousin gets music lessons, but he convinced my aunt and uncle to let him switch from piano to drums so he would have more things to hit people with. Apparently, he had heard that the piano is run by hammers, but he had assumed that they were the bludgeoning type, not the little delicate variety."

"Is this a general muggle thing, or is this a your cousin thing?"

"Oh, it's definitely a my cousin thing. He goes to a school where instead of wands or like, required sporting apparatus they have to buy a special stick to hit people with."

"You don't talk about your family much, and when you do, I honestly fear for their sanity," Cho said, faintly. "I am so sorry that you were raised by the worst muggles."

"Oh, it's fine. Anywhere else and I would have felt sorry for them having had to have raised me. I only have to spend summers there until I'm seventeen, and then I'm going to get my own place."

"Hmph," Adrian said, angrily. "If I ever came across any of them, I would make them feel sorry."

Professor Sprout looked at him disappointedly, "Adrian Pucey. Don't let me hear you talking about threatening muggles."

"Yes Professor Sprout," he said, sheepishly.

"Has anyone here ever been to a live music concert?" Neville, ever the subject changer, said quickly.

"The Weird Sisters," said Adrian.

"Oh, have I?" said Cho, enthusiastically.

"No," Adelaide said, rather less enthusiastically.

"Mahler," said Neville. "Other than the obvious of course."

Suddenly Adrian gasped, "I need to go," he said urgently. "I just remembered that I need to go and study potions."

"You don't usually study," said Cho in a concerned tone. "What's changed?"

"I'm failing. I am failing really badly, and Professor Snape says that I have until the end of this year to get my act together, otherwise I won't be allowed to start OWL preparation next year."

"Surely there's something we could do to help?" reasoned Cho. "None of the rest of us are at that point just yet, but surely four heads are better than one?"

"I have a test tomorrow, I need to study."

"Professor Sprout? May we all be excused? I have an idea as to how we could help Adrian."

Professor Sprout gave her ascent, and they all followed Cho to where she was going.

Adrian wasn't quite sure as to how Cho thought that two first years and a second year could help a third year with potions, but he was pretty certain that it couldn't make things worse, so he decided to follow Cho. Addie and Neville were behind and they all thundered up the stairs.

"What does everyone have next period?" she called behind her as they all made their way along the hall.

"Potions," said Addie.

"Charms," said Adrian.

"Nothing," Neville finished.

"Where are we going?" Adrian asked, noticing that they weren't going in the direction of the library. There weren't even any secret passageways that could take them in the right direction. Cho led then up three flights of stairs, and then along a corridor that none of them had ever been along. Except for Cho of course.

"Now," she said, as they walked up to an inconspicuous door, "This isn't a secret, but it is not known of by many people, and I'd like it to remain a nice quiet place to be. Please don't tell everyone you know about it."

"Whatever it is, I agree," Adelaide said. "I didn't even know there were rooms down here. I had assumed it was storage or something."

"Nope," Cho said, swinging open the door and leading them all inside, "just a secret library and former 1970s clandestine meeting spot."

"Who was meeting here clandestinely?" Adrian asked, hoping more than anything that this would not be a clandestine meeting spot of the usual variety, which usually meant a cupboard full of all sorts.

"My mum said that her friend's boyfriend's two friends were going out in the 70s and…well…a private boarding school isn't exactly the most accepting place."

As they all walked into the room, Adrian was relieved to see that it was a library with empty wooden shelves. There was no cleaning equipment in sight, and no Filch fetching cleaning supplies. In many ways it was similar to the library downstairs, but in others, namely the large stained-glass cupula on the ceiling that sent down light of all colours, it was more beautiful than he could ever have imagined. Perhaps most importantly, it was empty.

It was oddly shaped, and when Adrian counted the walls, he was delighted to find that room had seven sides, which explained a lot. Following that, everything came in sevens. There were seven tables, seven bookshelves, one on each wall (even the door was seemingly a bookshelf) and the carpet, that must have been custom made back in the day, had seven sides. It wasn't a room that one could possibly furnish or decorate out of a catalogue. Everything here had been intentional, and it showed.

"I had no idea this was here," Adelaide said, looking along the sparce shelves. "By comparison the library downstairs looks positively garish."

"That was my first reaction as well," Cho admitted. "What on earth does a school need with golden lanterns and mahogany bookshelves when they could have that?" she pointed up at the cupula.

"It isn't mentioned in Hogwarts a History, I am completely certain of that," Adelaide said. Adrian supposed that she would know. She had read Hogwarts a History several times cover to cover, before growing frustrated by the lack of pertinent information that had been excluded, and reading every book in the bibliography.

"The glass looks like the roof of green house Number 1," Neville observed, looking at it as closely as one could from the floor. "I wonder if Helga Hufflepuff had anything to do with it. She singlehandedly engineered a new type of greenhouse, and this matches that type."

"Before we get down to working," Adrian felt the need to ensure their presence was not unwanted, "are you completely certain that we are even allowed to be here?"

"I wondered the same," Cho admitted. "My mum told me about it, and after I found where it was, I asked Professor Flitwick about it, and he said it was fine. He did warn me about practicing magic in here, though. He wanted me to make sure I didn't do anything that could damage the glass. It's one of a kind."

"Well then," Adrian said, with that clarified, "what was your plan, Cho?"

As a group, they selected a table to sit at, and when they moved over to it. Cho put her hands out, gesturing for his notes. He gave them to her gladly. He had spent the previous night making flashcards and trying to go over them, but nothing seemed to go in.

"Now," started Cho, "I find that I learn best when I study with others. I suppose that's why I fail so often, because I have no friends. Therefore, we are going to split up into teams and work together to make sure that Adrian gets his work done. Next period Neville and I are going to go over flashcards with him. The one after, Addie is going to supervise Adrian while he does a past paper and keep him on track. When I am back and Neville goes on to Transfiguration, I will mark the paper while Addie goes over some more flashcards. Altogether, using the spaced repetition method that I've heard someone talking about in my dorm, we should be able to get you on track."

Adrian was slightly terrified by her efficiency, but was pleased to have someone to give him instructions, just for once. He hated potions. Information went in one ear and out the other, and his track record for passing tests was infamous within his house. Slytherin students didn't fail potions. They had benefits over other houses, and should achieve results accordingly.

In the next three hours, Adrian learned more about potions than he had learned in his entire school career. Cho's plan really worked. With a predetermined plan, and eager study buddies who gave it their all in the pursuit of him being able to pass his Friday potions test, part of the stress of the learning was taken away. He had thought it was a one-day thing, but the same happened the next day. They sat in the table in the library and did their other class work, before all getting into formation to help Adrian with his potions work.

"It's not ideal, really," Cho claimed on Thursday as she calculated Adrian's flashcard retention with a spell she had found, "but you should be able to retain enough of this in order to get at least an Exceeds Expectations in your exam. We're working strategically enough, I think. What do you need?"

"An Acceptable would probably be good enough," Adrian admitted.

"Well," said Addie, who had just finished tallying up his past paper question, "I think you're going to be just fine.

"We could maybe make this a regular thing," Neville suggested. "Meet up several days a week and just sit and study. I think I would maybe work better if I was held accountable. If I try to study, I always find myself wandering off to read about ferns. I know that I need to study, but the ferns call to me."

"What sort of ferns are those?" asked Addie.

"Oh, sorry, it's a figure of speech."

"Ah, of course."

"We should totally do that," decided Cho. "I think we could also all learn from each other. I'm struggling in transfiguration, and Adrian, you always say that you do well in it considering that you don't actually do any work…"

"I really don't do any work, so I have no idea how it happens. It just does," Adrian said sheepishly.

"I once got so sidetracked in transfiguration that I had to do work at 2am," Addie admitted. "I have no idea why it happens, but I really do need to get into a more regular routine."

"I once went out to the lake instead of practicing for charms. Did you know that they have two other types of gillyweed than the common variety? I didn't."

"Gillyweed?"

"Slimy and helps you to breathe under water."

"So, the thing we have all learned here is that we are all completely dysfunctional and work better in a group."

"Sounds like it."

On Friday, when Adrian went into his potions test, he felt more ready than he had expected that he would. He had done every possible past paper, and had gone over hundreds of flashcards. Adrian knew that if they had been seen together so often in the main library, they would have got strange looks, but having a space that nobody else seemed to want to spend time in was beneficial. Although he had no way to conceivably know how he was going to do in the test, he certainly knew that he knew more than he had ever known before a test. Presumably that was a good sign.

After his test, he found himself wandering around the castle – as he knew that they all did – and found himself wandering around near the old library. He wandered further, observing again the difference between the style of the area and the rest of the castle. After some time, he found himself in a room with musical instruments. As it was in the same state of cleanliness as the art room had been some weeks previously, it stood to reason that they were of the same period. Similarly to the school broomsticks, the instruments had presumably been beautiful (at least once upon a time), and Adrian could imagine that they had probably seen students through important parts of their musical development. Now, however, it looked as though the entire room had been trashed. The various stringed instruments were in pieces, the piano had been torn apart, and a tuba had been returned to a pool of metal, which must have taken some effort.

The real gem, however, was a saxophone, which seemed to have mostly escaped the fate of the others. Surprisingly, it looked like it was very much still intact. He gently brushed off the layer of grime with his handkerchief to reveal the shining body of the instrument. He found himself wondering at the chances of such an instrument surviving the carnage that the rest of the room was in. Here, in the middle of a graveyard of instruments, was a little glimmer of life.

Adrian didn't play the saxophone. He had never tried to play the saxophone, and he imagined that if he were to attempt to get his parents to get him lessons, he would be rejected. They were purists. They had paid for a very strict teacher from the London School of Magical Enchanting to visit their home twice a week to give him instruction on how to play their colossal Steinway piano (the only non-magical object in their entire house) and had encouraged him in this more than they had encouraged him in anything before. This had been after they had told him that he could play any instrument that he wanted, and he had looked through the books in the library to find one that he liked the sound of. He had made a list, starting with the drums, followed by the trumpet (he had been well into his Louis Armstrong interest by this point) and finishing with the saxophone. He had worked hard on the list and had given them one easy option that was fairly traditional (the trumpet was present in brass bands and orchestras all over) and two options that he was almost certain that they would object to (they still bemoaned the inclusion of the saxophone in some orchestras and thought that the drums were for muggle yobs). Upon seeing the list, his mother had appeared to consider them all very seriously before telling him that the piano was a far more respectable instrument for a young man like him. Especially as he was so delicate.

He had tried to play the piano. He had tried to get the phrasing right and to ensure that he used the correct fingers to play the correct notes. He had felt as though he was guessing almost all of the time. His parents had had the expectation that he would fly through his early lessons before being able to do the MABRSM exams at a young age. He had not flown through the exams. He had tried his best in two grade exams, and after barely scraping a pass in grade 2 – a mark of 101 with a pass mark of 100 was nothing to write home about – they had finally listened to his pleas and decided that he could stop. From the day that he had been denied the chance to take saxophone lessons, he had not thought about it again. It had been wishful thinking anyway. Even to have asked had been risky.

Now, however, looking at the most miraculous saxophone that had ever existed, he wondered whether he could learn now. At Hogwarts, there were no parents to stop him. There was no chance of being told to shut up and practice his scales on the piano. There was a minor hiccup though, and it meant that there was no chance of this dream ever being realised. He sighed deeply. He picked up the saxophone in his (previously clean) handkerchief and carried it as lightly as he could to a clear surface. Perhaps one day, when someone else found this room, they would see the pile of instruments and the miraculous saxophone and decide to give it a new lease on life.

He went out of the room, leaving it in very much the same state that he had found it. It had been wishful thinking anyway. Maybe when he had full control of his own life, he would have the chance to give it a proper go; to finally realise his dream, but today was not that day. He closed the door as softly as he could and left it behind.