Chapter Four

The First Day

Later that morning, after a gruelling Transfiguration lesson with Professor Duncan, Lily persuaded Mia to sneak a look into the Great Hall at break time and see if Mr Carter had been able to remove Lily's textbook.

"It's still there," Lily announced, peeking into the Great Hall.

"Thanks to you!" came Mr Carter's voice from inside the Great Hall. "Go on, go away and let me get on with my job."
Lily giggled as the door slammed shut in her face. She and Mia headed down to the dungeons for Potions and took their usual seats opposite Zoë Davies and Cassie Andrews.

"Hey guys, good summer?" Zoë asked. Then, without waiting for an answer, she launched into a description of her summer, particularly the older, Italian boy she'd met on holiday.

"Zoë's in lurve," Lily teased.

"We're going to write to each other this year," Zoë continued, ignoring Lily. "And I'm trying to convince my parents to go back to Italy next summer."

"How was your summer, Cassie?" Mia asked.

"Alright," Cassie shrugged. "You?"

"Yeah, it was good," Mia replied. "Did you get up to much?"

"Not really," Cassie said. "You?"

"I went on holiday with my cousins," Mia said, pulling a face. "They're still as annoying as ever and I had to spend an entire week with them."

"Alright, fourth years," Professor Cooke said, shutting the door with a flick of her wand. "I think we're all here, so let's begin."

By the end of the double period, Mia was aware that even Potions - a subject she normally found easy - was, like Transfiguration, going to be rather more difficult than last year since they were starting their OWL syllabus.

"It feels like it should be dinnertime already, not just lunch," Lily moaned as the four of them walked back up to the Great Hall.

"I think you just like to have something to moan about," Zoë grinned.

Mia saw Albus walking toward them. "Hey, beautiful," he said as he reached them.

"Hey," Lily replied cheerily.

"I was actually talking to Cassie," Al said.

"I know you were… but I'm beautiful too, right?"

Al looked his sister up and down. "Yeah, something like that," he grinned.

"Meany," Lily scowled, playfully punching him on the arm and then turning away and making retching noises as Al kissed Cassie. "You guys are gross! I'm going to lunch - come on, Mia!"

Mia followed Lily, and Zoë hesitated momentarily before going after them.

Lily and Mia said goodbye to Zoë in the doorway of the Great Hall and headed over to the Gryffindor table. The portion of the table where they'd sat at breakfast had been roped off and Lily's Standard Book of Spells was still stuck there.

"What's up with Matilda?" Lily asked, looking over to where her 'little sister' was sitting with Emma and JJ. Instead of waving and calling to Lily and Mia like she usually did, Matilda didn't even seem to have noticed them. Instead, she had her head down, picking at her lunch.

"I dunno – let's go see," Mia said.

She and Lily went and sat down opposite the three second years.

"What's up with you?" Lily demanded.

"We had Care of Magical Creatures this morning," Matilda told her deconstructed sandwich.

"And that's a bad thing because…?" Lily asked.

"Because we don't get to study Thestrals, and some of the creatures are kept in captivity, and everyone was gathered round the Krup poking it, and I don't know about you, but if I was a Krup, I wouldn't like being poked!" Matilda exploded.

"And there's the Matilda I know and love," Lily grinned.

"We weren't exactly poking the Krup," JJ protested. "More like petting it – like you pet a dog."
"Well I wouldn't like to be petted either," Matilda said, which prompted JJ to start patting her on the head.

"But you're not a Krup," Mia told her. "How can you know what krups do or don't like or want? You can't treat every living thing as if it was a human being, or you specifically."
"But humans aren't the only ones with rights!" Matilda said indignantly.

"No, but maybe they're different rights," Mia said.

"Hmm," Matilda said.

After lunch, Lily and Mia headed up to History of Magic. "Sleepy-time," Lily grinned as they got up from the table.

"Ready to die of boredom?" Louis asked as they waited outside the classroom. "Hey, d'you reckon that's what Binns did – died of boredom because he listened to himself for too long? Maybe that's why everyone drops History of Magic after OWL – because they'd die of boredom if they took it any longer."

"I might make a start on my Transfiguration essay," Lily yawned. "It'd be a better use of my time, I'm sure."

The corridors quietened around the fourth years as other classes went into their classrooms.

"It's ten past," Andy Cattermole said eventually, checking his watch. "D'you think we ought to knock or something?"

"You mean, d'you think he'll just deliver his lesson to the empty classroom if we stay out here?" Kieran Finnigan grinned.

Andy knocked on the classroom door, and several people moaned at him.

"Nooo, Andy!"

"Don't do that!"

"We don't want to go in; we want to stay out here!"

A few seconds later, Professor Binns floated out of the classroom, through the wall. He looked around, seemingly bewildered. "What are you all doing out here?" he asked eventually.

"We're your class, Professor," Andy said, even as Kieran elbowed him.

"But what are you doing out here?" Professor Binns persisted. "Never mind – come in."

Andy opened the door and the class reluctantly filed inside. Lily and Mia found seats together as close to the back as possible. Louis and Alexander sat in front of them, since Hugo was sat with Rachel.

"Thanks, Andy," Lily hissed as Professor Binns floated back to the front of the classroom and started speaking, presumably continuing the lecture he'd been giving to an empty room.

True to her word, Lily got out a roll of parchment and started writing her Transfiguration essay. Mia made an attempt to pay attention to the lesson but since Professor Binns had already been part way through his lecture when the fourth years came in, and seemed disinclined to start again, she quickly gave up and followed Lily's example.

After History of Magic, Lily and Mia headed out to the grounds for Care of Magical Creatures with Alexander and Kieran.

"I wonder what we'll be studying this year…" Lily mused as they walked out into the bright September sunshine.

"Hope it's something dangerous," Kieran grinned. "My dad's told me about the Blast-Ended Screwts – and that was fourth year."

"I'm not sure we need that much danger…" Lily said. "I'd like to study unicorns again… or maybe Thestrals."
"How much can you study Thestrals, when they're invisible?" Alexander retorted, his face screwed up in thought.

They reached the patch of grass outside Hagrid's hut where the rest of the class were already assembled.

"Is that all of yeh?" Hagrid asked, looking around and counting the students before him. "Well, welcome back fourth years. This year yer gonna be studyin' the creatures in the Forest, an-"

"You mean we get to go in there?" Alexander interrupted. Everyone turned to look at the Forbidden Forest. Although Mia had heard plenty of stories about the Forest from older students – James, Fred and Chris particularly – she'd never been in there herself. Well, except in second year where the class had gone to visit a baby dragon, but even then they'd only skirted around the edge.

"O'course!" Hagrid said. "Wouldn't be much point studyin' the creatures in the Forest if I jus' brought them out teh meet yeh, would there?"

"But… aren't there… werewolves… in there?" Ilonka asked.

"No!" Lily scoffed. "Besides, werewolves are just people – they only transform at night when it's a full moon."

"Nope, no werewolves," Hagrid said cheerily. "Whole nest of Acromantula who'd 'appily take a bite outta yeh if yeh gave 'em half a chance, mind."

"I am not going in there!" Ilonka said insistently and Mia was half-inclined to agree with her. Whilst she trusted that her teachers wouldn't knowingly send her into harm's way, she also knew that Hagrid had a bit of a reputation for a lax sense of danger.

However, Ilonka was relieved, and most of the others disappointed, when they learnt that they weren't going to go into the Forest until next week. Instead, they'd be spending this week looking at maps of the Forest which showed the most usual habitats of the creatures who lived in the Forest and learning what to do if they did encounter some of the Forest's more dangerous inhabitants.

Later, after Charms, Mia and her friends headed to dinner, where they saw Lily's Standard Book of Spells still stuck to the table.

"I keep looking around for James, Fred and Chris," Lily sighed looking up and down the table. "It's weird not having them here."

Lily and Mia found seats opposite Louis – who often sat at the Gryffindor table – and Ailie, and then had to endure the two of them discussing Arithmancy, which Ailie had started that morning.

After dinner, Mia walked up to the Inter-House Common room with Louis and Ailie, Lily promising to follow soon. In fact, it was almost an hour before she showed up.

"Where've you been?" Hugo demanded, as Lily squashed onto the sofa beside him.

"Doing my Charms homework," Lily told him.

"Where?"

"In the Great Hall."

"Why?"

"Cuz my Standard Book of Spells is still stuck to the table!" Lily said. She then had to explain about the Stix to anyone who had managed to avoid hearing the story all day.