Charms was a bit different than what Harry expected. Being on the second floor, the classroom was far more ventilated and brightly-lit than the Potions lab in the basement; yet there was a certain eerie vibe that made him feel a bit uneasy. The shelves were lined with strangely-bound tomes (Tallulah suspected they were made from human skin), human skulls, and what must have been jars of shrunken heads with their eyes and lips sewn shut. There was a distinct aroma of incense, and perhaps most alarming of all was a perfectly preserved seven-foot long crocodile that hung from the ceiling.

Their teacher, Professor Seymour Rudiger, was of West Indian extraction, but his speech pattern more closely resembled a standard Received Pronunciation British accent than a Caribbean creole. He was fairly tall at perhaps six foot one inch, and was of a thin frame. He favored a tan buckskin outfit rather reminiscent of the frontiersmen of early 19th century North America, but he also wore a shark tooth necklace which fell in line more with his native culture. His long dark dreadlocks dangled well past his shoulder blades, and his eyes could be described as mesmerizing – a light brownish-hazel, with a hint of green to them.

"Good afternoon," greeted the professor. "My name is Seymour Rudiger, and I am your Charms instructor. I'm also the head of Pukwudgie house…" The Pukwudgie students in the classroom stood up and cheered in approval, before Rudiger politely waved them back down. "And I also teach Obeah, which is an elective course."

Othniel raised his hand. "Erm, Professor? Is Obeah like Voodoo?"

Professor Rudiger smiled. "Ahh, that's a good question, young man. There are similarities between Obeah, and other Afro-Caribbean spellcasting traditions such as Voodoo and Santeria, but a prime difference is that Obeah is not inherently spiritual – there are no central deities that we worship, for example… at any rate, this is Charms, which is changing the properties of a particular object. This is often confused with Transfiguration, which is a distantly-related discipline of magic – that is making an object something different altogether."

The actual class was rather mundane, as they didn't actually practice any spells, but they did go over wand grips and movements and other such fundamentals as Rudiger wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page first. He assured them that it would not be long before they would attempt their first spells, but not before assigning them nearly fifty pages to read along with a three-page essay that would be due in exactly one week's time.

"Do you have a favorite class so far?" Tallulah asked Harry and Othniel as they left Charms. "We've had all of our core classes so far – except for flying – and right now Charms and Transfiguration stand out."

"I'unno," replied Othniel. 'They both seem awful hard… we got a mountain of homework for just those two classes alone… at least Professor Esposito gives us tasty snacks for History, so that gets my vote."

"It's too soon to tell," added Harry, "but so far, I think Defense seems promising… but maybe that's only because Professor Lupin is pretty interested in me. He wants to see me later this week."

Tallulah nodded. "He sure seems to know you, Harry. He's British, and you were born there, so if I put two and two together, he probably knew your family back in the day."

"Yeah, he was friends with my parents, my uncle, and my godfather," Harry confirmed. "I don't recall either Sirius or Uncle Roger talking much about him – shoot, they didn't really talk about my parents either."

"How does that make you feel, Harry?" asked Othniel. "Do you feel like they, I'unno, owe you an explanation or something?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know how I feel about that. I've already talked to Ana about this a little bit last night after dinner, and it sounds like Professor Lupin may tell me a bit more about my past because it's likely that Uncle Roger and Sirius know a lot more than they've ever told me… I'm eleven years old, and I think I deserve to know some things, like the name of the dark wizard that killed my parents, for example."

"I don't know your family, Harry," cooed Tallulah, "but from what you're implying, your uncle and godfather both care about you deeply, and only want to protect you." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Look, I'm not even going to pretend that I'm an expert on British wizarding history, but I have heard of stories of a British mage so dark and feared that even speaking his name is taboo."

Harry cocked his head. "What else do you know about him? And how did you find out about him?"

"Just stories I've heard while getting a butterbeer with my parents as the Cracked Phial when shopping at Nessel Road," Tallulah said, her voice getting ever-softer. "I've never heard his real name, but they called him something along the lines of 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' or some-such. He was dark, but charismatic – he attracted a loyal following of witches and wizards called Death Eaters that were fearsome in their own right."

"And apparently I'm called the Boy-Who-Lived because he cast a deadly spell on me that backfired and destroyed him instead," whispered Harry as he quickly swept a hand over his lightning bolt-shaped scar. "If he was defeated, why are people still afraid to speak his name?"

"Because that's exactly it – he was defeated, and not truly destroyed," answered Tallulah with a slight shudder in her voice. "His incorporeal presence still persists… there are very dark, very powerful means to bring him back to life, that are way beyond our level of understanding." Her face went pallid. "I really, really hope he never comes back in physical form… that may very well spell the end of the world as we know it… magical, no-maj – it doesn't matter!"

Harry swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "Elder Gomer – the really old, creepy wizard that gave us our wands – said that there's this incredibly powerful wand… he called it an orb… if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or one of his Death Eaters get their hands on it, he could return to power and annihilate our world."

"Yes, something like that could bring him back to physical form," agreed Tallulah. "I've never heard of such an object, but if Elder Gomer told you about it, then I have no doubt that it exists somewhere… and the dark side covets it."

"I'm going to find that Orb one day, and I'll destroy it," Harry promised. "I can't risk it falling in the wrong hands. If it's as powerful as I'm told, then I don't think it's meant to be used by either the Light or the Dark…"

"Now don't get ahead of yourself, Harry," admonished Tallulah. "I admire your ambition, but don't let it become your obsession… after all, someone wiser than me once said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." She let out a small sigh. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do… I just want you to be careful, is all."

That evening, Harry sat across from Ana at the Horned Serpent table at dinner. He hadn't really talked to her much that day, as they didn't have any shared free periods that day, and she spent time with her other friends during breakfast and lunch.

"Oh, hiya Harry! How are you today?" she asked, her face aglow.

"Can't complain, I s'pose," replied Harry. "You seem to be in a particularly good mood today. What's going on?"

Ana couldn't help but giggle. "Nothing special… I just signed up for the pen pal program earlier today. There's quite a few wizarding schools around the world, so I can't help but wonder who I'll be writing to…"

Harry scrunched his face in confusion. "Pen pal program?"

"Oh goodness, Harry, haven't you read the daily bulletin yet?" Ana said, shaking her head.

Harry's cheeks glowed pink with embarrassment. "I did, but I must have missed that part."

Ana put a hand over her mouth, not fully able to stifle her giggles. "I don't know how in Merlin's name you could have missed that, you goofball. It was in big, bold letters too!" She gave him a small, playful shove.

"I don't know," sighed Harry. "I guess I really skimmed through it more than actually read through it." He cracked a grin. "So, d'you have a preference? Like what school? A boy or a girl?"

"A witch from Hogwarts," Ana replied without a moment's hesitation. "I mean, I'd be happy no matter whom I get paired with, but there's just something about Hogwarts that stands out to me." She had a small, wistful smile. "Part of me wishes I was a Hogwarts witch. Don't get me wrong, I love Ilvermorny, but Hogwarts is just so steeped in tradition, it has this… mystique, if you will, that Ilvermorny or any other wizarding school just doesn't have."

Harry beamed. "I'm a Hogwarts legacy, as my parents, my godfather, and my uncle all went there. I could have gone there as well, but my family wanted me to stay here in North America." He cocked his head. "So, when are you going to find out?"

Ana hummed a little ditty. "Hopefully by the end of the week. Now, from what I gather, Hogwarts is a much more cliquish place than Ilvermorny… they don't have nearly the same degree of interhouse harmony that we do here, so I'm sure that there will be things about our school that are going to be a foreign concept to our British friends. There's a house that sort of marches to the beat of its own drum… Slytherin, if memory serves. They do have a bit of a reputation for being the house that grooms some of the darker witches and wizards, but I'd imagine there's plenty of good ones too."

"I'll bet He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was a… Slytherin," Harry surmised.

Ana's face contorted in confusion. "Huh?"

Harry grimaced. "Oh, erm, I talked with Tallulah earlier in the common room, and she told me that she's heard stories about the dark sorcerer that killed my parents. They're so afraid of him that they call him things like 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' or some-such."

Ana shrugged. "I couldn't tell you, Harry. I haven't had read any books on British wizarding history, though I wouldn't pass up the opportunity." She flashed a warm smile. "Even if I end up having a Slytherin pen pal, I'm sure they'd still be a lot of fun to write to. After all, it's strictly voluntary – they wouldn't bother signing up if they didn't want to get to know someone of a different background than themselves!"

Harry arched an eyebrow. "So how do you know about the Hogwarts houses then?"

Ana again struggled to stifle a giggle. "Let's just say that there's a certain English witch in our house with connections." She smiled sweetly at her friend. "How are your classes treating you so far?"

"I'unno," replied Harry. "Monday's classes were fine, but Potions, Transfiguration and Charms seem a bit tougher."

"I'm inclined to agree," Ana said. "Madam L is a grumpy old cuss, but a lot can go wrong in Potions if you're not careful. She's been lobbying to have Potions start at second or even third year because a lot of younger students just don't have the focus or maturity to handle even the simplest of elixirs. And frankly, I think she has a point. Without fail, inattentive firsties have to take a trip to the infirmary every term… yes, she may berate students for not doing as they're told, but she also takes their mistakes very personally as she's responsible for everything that happens in her laboratory."

Harry's eyes widened. "Wait, so she doesn't actually hate us?"

Ana shook her head and smiled again. "Not at all. She doesn't show it outwardly often, but she does actually care about her students."

"If she really cared about us, she wouldn't give us an ungodly amount of homework on the first day of class," scoffed Harry. "Maybe tonight… in the library, we can go over Potions together? I probably could use the help."

Ana's smile broadened. "All you have to do is ask. I have some schoolwork to do myself after dinner, but I should be able to lend a hand this evening. How does eight o'clock sound?"

Harry returned the smile. "That works for me."

"Great," replied Ana. "You might want to invite your firstie friends. By the looks of it, Tallulah can handle herself in the classroom, but I don't think she'd turn down the chance to study with some friends – especially one that's already gotten through first year. And bless it, poor Othniel needs all the help he can get… you and Tallulah are going to have to get on to him when I'm not around because he's going to fall behind otherwise, I'm afraid."

"I think if he applies himself, he could actually be a pretty good student," noted Harry. "He's not an idiot… just a little unmotivated. Good gravy, it's a chore just getting him out of bed in the morning!"

"You're a good friend, Harry," Ana said. "And you're right, he's not unintelligent at all. He just doesn't have the spark to get things done, and he needs someone like you to give him a little kick every now and then to get going. It's not right or wrong… drive and discipline just aren't in his DNA. He'll prove his worth in other ways, though."