After breakfast, Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah made their way to the Charms classroom for the first scheduled class of their Hogwarts careers.
Harry and Amy both looked a little nervous as they entered the classroom and sat down together at a desk for two. This fore into magic was completely new to them after all.
As Susan and Hannah sat down at the desk across from Harry and Amy, Flitwick stood up and opened the class.
"Welcome to Charms, first year Hufflepuffs, "said Flitwick cheerfully, "You will find that Charms is a subject that requires strong willpower and concentration to succeed at. As such, I feel it best to start you off with s simple spell; The Color Change Charm. Color Change Charms are mainly used for fun and entertainment, but they make an excellent introduction to the concepts used in Charms. So, you'll need the objects that you'll be practicing on."
Flitwick opened a drawer on his desk and retrieved four scarlet colored cubes. He then passed out one each to Harry, Amy, Susan, and finally Hannah before resuming his instruction.
"To change one object of a single color to another single color, point your wand at the object whose color you wish to change and say the name of the color you wish the object to take, plus the suffix -ify. I want you four to turn these cubes yellow. The catch is that, in order for the spell to work, you must a mental image in your head of the object in the desired color. Have a go!"
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah all pointed their wands at their cubes and cried "Yellowify!"
Hannah's cube instantly turned completely yellow, but hers was the only one to do so. Susan and Amy now had cubes that were half scarlet and half yellow.
Harry's cube, however, was still stubbornly 100% scarlet.
"Well done, Miss Abbott, "said Flitwick approvingly, "Ten points to Hufflepuff. Miss Bones and Miss Alworth, you two had the right idea but weren't locked in enough. Mr. Potter, you clearly only said the incantation without the creating the proper mental image in your head."
Harry hung his head.
"Oh, keep your head up, Harry, " said Amy encouragingly, "With a bit of practice I'm sure you'll be able to get it."
Flitwick took the half scarlet half yellow cubes from Susan and Amy and retrieved two more scarlet cubes from his desk, passing the new scarlet cubes on to Amy and Susan while putting the half scarlet half yellow cubes away in his desk.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Bones, and Miss Alworth, try again, "said Flitwick simply.
Harry, Susan, and Amy pointed their wands at their cubes again and said, "Yellowify!"
This time, Susan and Amy mastered the spell, but Harry still hadn't put a dent in it.
"Come on, Harry, "said Hannah encouragingly, "We know you can do it."
"Third time's the Charm, "said Susan confidently.
'Harry, you WILL do it, "said Amy fiercely.
Feeling a bit bolstered by his friends encouragement and confidence in him, Harry pointed his wand at his cube a third time and said, "Yellowify!"
This time, Harry's cube turned 100% yellow, leading to a round of applause from Amy, Susan, and Hannah.
"There's no reason that first years can't get Os in Charms if they put in the work," said Flitwick matter of factly, "And as you've all mastered today's spell, you may talk amongst yourselves for the rest of the class."
"What does Flitwick mean by Os in Charms?" asked Harry in a voice that oozed confusion.
"In the Hogwarts grading system, "explained Amy, "Os are the equivalent of As in the muggle world. Es are the equivalent of Bs. As are the equivalent of Cs. Ps are the equivalent of Ds. Ds are the equivalent of Fs. And in the Hogwarts grading system, there's an even lower grade of T. O stands for Outstanding. E stands for Exceeds Expectations. A stands for Acceptable. P stands for Poor. D stands for Dreadful. T stands for Troll."
"How do you know all this?" Harry asked Amy skeptically, "I thought you were muggleborn?"
"McGonagall told me all about the Hogwarts grading system when she explained to me that I am a witch, " replied Amy, "Were you not informed of this when McGonagall told you that you are a wizard?"
"First of all, it was Hagrid who told me I am a wizard, " answered Harry, "But maybe I wasn't told because it was assumed I would know because my mom and dad were a witch and wizard."
"NO!" said Susan sharply, "Regardless of heritage, all students who are raised in muggle households are supposed to be given certain information when they are informed of the magical status."
"It is supposed be a teacher who gives this information, " added Hannah in a crystal clear voice.
"Oh no!" piped up Harry suddenly.
"What is it Harry?" asked Hannah.
"I am being manipulated, "said Harry fretfully, "Someone has obviously arranged for information to be withheld from me so he or she can have more dictation over my life. I don't who or why, but it seems clear that someone wants to use me."
Susan and Hannah exchanged looks.
As classtime neared its end, Flitwick spoke up.
"Your first homework assignment, due by next Charms class, is to write s short essay on the Color Change Charm. Whichever one of you four gives me the best short essay on Color Change Charms will win a bottle of Jack Daniels as a prize," announced Flitwick as the bell to end class rang.