(Author's Note: Schedule introduction)
(Notice: Long chapter warning! More changes might be made. Enjoy, I would need some time to work on the next chapter.)
Chapter 4 – Classes and Friends
The next morning, Jade was woken early by an excited Hermione.
"Wake up Jade! It's the first day of class!" She said while shaking Jade by the shoulder, "I'm sooo excited!"
Jade groaned, "I'm getting up." She sat up blurry-eyed and turned to look at the clock, "Seriously?! It's only five!" And she thumped back down into bed.
"No, you have to get up! We have to preview for all the classes!" Hermione commanded, pulling her to sit up again.
"If there's one thing I can't do in the entire course of my life," Jade muttered, "it's getting up early." But, somewhat annoyed, she still got up and changed into her school robes.
Hermione read their transfiguration book aloud as Jade stared off into blank space, her eyes drooping once in a while. "Transfiguration – the branch of magic that transforms the form of one thing to something else beyond their original form. The study of transfiguration is to be carefully used as a minor mistake can be hard to solve. Beginner students start by transforming small objects like teaspoons and pins, in later books, more advanced magic will be taught. When you cast a spell of transfiguration, it's essential to keep in mind of the goal of transformation…"
Bored, Jade got up and decided to send a letter to Grandma. Piper, who had been left in the cage all night, was not too happy when she was finally let out. Jade opened the window to let her fly out, "Fly back home, you know. Sorry you had to stay in the cage for so long."
"Jade!" Hermione's voice raised threateningly, noticing her absence.
To Hermione's insistence, they previewed the first lesson of all the subjects for the first years. And Jade was somewhat surprised to hear that the first lesson of most of the subjects were merely what she considers as common knowledge.
"What class are you looking forward to? I'm really excited for Charms, but I mean, I would learn anything that they are willing to teach!" Hermione exclaimed as she closed the Astronomy textbook.
"I personally prefer Potions," answered Jade, "but I'm also excited to learn other branches of magic! Especially Defense Against the Dark Arts." She added at the end.
"Yeah, I bet everybody's looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts. But Potions? I thought that nobody would fancy that class after Professor Snape." Hermione said.
"What about him?" Jade asked.
"For one, he's the head of the Slytherin house! That means he basically hates everybody who's not Slytherin. Be careful to stay on the right side with him." Hermione warned.
"Honestly!" Jade said suddenly rather loudly, flopping back on her bed, and Hermione almost flinched, "Why does everybody think that Slytherins are all no good!? The sorting hat had obviously considered putting me in Slytherin. Yeah it's not the best of choices and might have a bad reputation, but I thought about it, and there really shouldn't be all this hate."
"I mean they're not all bad, I guess." Hermione said hesitantly, relieved to see that Jade's not mad, "It's just Draco and Pansy…" She said with a disgusted look. "When do you think they'll pass out the timetables?"
"I guess probably with the mails and stuffs, if I'm not wrong. Also, speaking of timetables, we'd better learn our way around the school! No good getting lost on the way to classes! Do we have a map or something?"
"Hang on," Hermione said, suddenly remembering something. She got out a large leather-bound book that looked ancient and heavy, "It's Hogwarts – A History." She said, catching Jade staring, "I bought it in a second-hand bookshop at Diagon Alley, it has the maps of Hogwarts at the very back of the book, I think." Flipping all the way to the back, Jade saw pages with drawings of Hogwarts, the dungeon, the first floor, the staircases, the second floor…
The staircases at Hogwarts are truly stunning, if you don't know every one by heart, be careful they trick you into somewhere you did not intend to be. The staircases come in every style you can think of, wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some changes once a week, some you have to be careful to jump, because they might trap you in one of the steps.
"Okay," said Hermione, "so Potions is obviously in the dungeons, Defense Against the Dark Arts also near the dungeons, History of Magic is third corridor on the first floor, Transfiguration on the second floor, Charms on the third floor, Astronomy in the Astronomy Tower, and by the way it's also the tallest tower! Herbology out in the greenhouse, and Flying on the Quidditch pitch."
They read the maps until they memorized all the main staircases and passageways, and it's almost quarter till eight when they finished, Hermione jumped, "Oh dear Jade! We'd better get down to breakfast in the Great Hall or we won't have any at all!"
They rushed down to the Great Hall, practicing memorizing the staircases as they went down.
"So our common room's on the second floor in the west wing," Jade said, as they reached the Great Hall, "I wonder…" But she was interrupted.
"Oh, I see you're sorted into Gryffindor! Suits your love for mudbloods!" Malfoy stepped in front of them as they passed the Slytherin table. And Jade saw, unsurprised, that he's wearing green and silver, Slytherin's colors. "So how's bravery working for you?" He smirked.
"Oh hi Malfoy. Thought you won't fancy speaking to a non-pureblood supremist." She took a deep breath, trying not to cause any fights, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to get to breakfast." Jade scowled as she stepped around.
But Malfoy blocked her again and continued, "By your sassiness they might as well put you in Slytherin, too bad…"
"Let her pass Malfoy." A voice suddenly came from behind Jade, and she turned to see Harry and Ron, striding toward them.
"Didn't you say it yourself," Harry spoke as he walked up to Malfoy, "that some wizarding families are better than others?"
Malfoy, his face dropping to a cold sneer, opened his mouth to speak, but Professor McGonagall was right on top of them: "Not causing trouble, boys, are we?"
"No, Professor," Ron said, "Malfoy was just…"
"That's enough." Professor McGonagall interrupted him, "Off to breakfast, all of you! I hope you're not trying to cause trouble on the first day of school!"
Malfoy gave Harry and Ron a look of disgust and walked away.
"Come on Hermione," Jade called out as they walked towards the Gryffindor table.
Halfway through breakfast, a crowd of owls suddenly streamed into the great hall, carrying envelopes and parcels of different shapes and sizes. The owls spread all around the hall, finding their owners and delivering the mail of the day.
A large barn owl swooped down where Hermione's sitting, carrying a roll of what looks like newspaper. Although she had not seen one at her own house in years, Jade immediately recognized it as the Daily Prophet, Britain's most popular newspaper among the wizards.
"What's on the news today?" She asked Hermione.
"Umm, let see…" Hermione spreads the newspaper out on the table, moving her plate out of the way, "Oh look at this!" She said rather loudly, "Gringotts High Security Vault Break-In!" Jade leaned closer to read the news, Harry and Ron were also listening intently:
"Investigation continues into the Gringotts break-in on July 31, widely believed to be works of unknown Dark wizards or witches. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault had apparently been emptied earlier on the same day. A spokes-goblin had declared that no information will be given about what's inside the vault, as it is a top secret."
"That's curious." Said Harry, wondering aloud after Jade had finished the first paragraph, several people turned to look at him, and Jade shushed him in a small voice, "Shh! Everybody's listening now!"
"Oh, come on, this is nothing to be secretive about," said Ron, "it's in the Prophet!" But Harry interrupted, "The break-in was on my birthday! July 31!"
"Had Hagrid done anything in Gringotts that day other than taking you to your vault?" Jade asked, "I mean I assume he went with you."
"Yeah!" Harry said, "Yeah he did! He asked to be taken to another vault, said it was Dumbledore's orders… It was a really small package though," he lowered his voice, "I don't know what top secret can be that small. It was like, barely seven inches…"
"Hmm," Jade had put on her thinking cap, but she couldn't think of anything that small but really precious right out the top of her head, "I don't know. That might be something to ponder on when we're bored."
Their timetables had arrived along with the morning post, like Jade had predicted.
"What do you have first period?" Hermione asked, peering over her shoulder.
"Let's see," Jade scanned through the parchment, on the very top was her name, written in the same emerald green ink as on Hogwarts letters, then, below that, is the timetable. The days are labeled on the left side, and on the right side, time of the different classes written in different colors according to what house they have it with. They only have three classes each day, and for today, it's Transfiguration, History of Magic, and Potions. "There!" She pointed, "I have Transfiguration first, with the Ravenclaws."
"Oh great! I have it with you!" Hermione said excitedly.
"Me too." Harry and Ron said simultaneously.
It took them a while to find the Transfiguration classroom, which is occupied with rows of desks. They were just two minutes late to class.
"Good thing McGonagall's not here yet!" Ron said, looking around the room. A grey tabby cat was sitting on the front desk, and Jade had a strange feeling that's not a cat. But it must be! I'm watching it, it's a cat! She thought. Just then, the cat jumped off the desk, and as it hits the ground, it turned into Professor McGonagall. She's an Animagus! Jade recognized it at once. The almost rectangular markings around the cat's eyes looked like Professor McGonagall. An Animagus refers to somebody with the ability to change into animals.
The other kids looked shocked, Ron stared. Professor McGonagall walked toward them.
"Take a seat." She said, "We'll be starting soon."
Jade took a seat beside Hermione, while Harry and Ron sat at the other set of desks right next to them.
Professor McGonagall was the kind of teacher you know not to cross, she knows how to keep the class under control. She's strict and clever, and can seemingly tell your intentions whenever you do something a bit distracting.
"Transfiguration is some of the most dangerous and complex magic you will learn here at Hogwarts." She started, and Jade highly questioned this statement: Transfiguration is about one of the most basic of magics, can't be that hard! Professor McGonagall continued, "But it is also an essential part of magic that everyone needs to know the basis of. I will not tolerate anyone messing around in my class, if you cross the line, you will be sent outside. You have been warned." Then, to demonstrate, she turned her desk into pig, and back again, making everyone excited.
Parvati Patil, who sat in front of them, let out a squeal of excitement. Jade however, knew that they won't be turning furniture into living things anytime near their first class. And she was soon proven to be right.
"Now don't get too excited, Miss Patil." Professor McGonagall said sternly, "Today we're starting by taking notes." And with a swish of her wand, the chalk began to move, and words formed on the blackboard.
After about half an hour later, with their notebooks fuller than when they started, Professor McGonagall assigned them the classwork. Everybody was given matches and they were to turn them into needles.
Transfiguration was one of those main branches of magic that Grandma taught her the basics of. But she hadn't really tried it, because Grandma, like Professor McGonagall told them, said that it's very hard. The trick is to keep in mind what you want to change the object into, and the process of it changing.
On her third try, she managed to successfully turn her match into what looks similar to a needle, but it's still not sharp. Just a bit more! She thought, focusing hard on the needle.
"Done it!" She muttered out loud when the match had turned into a sharp silver needle. Hermione stared with a look that simply says: How did you manage it that fast?
Professor McGonagall strode toward their desk to investigate.
"Very good, Miss Argento." She said, examining the needle with a rather surprised tone and a rare smile, "You are very gifted."
"Thank you, Professor." Jade said, smiling back, half of the class had turned to look, and Hermione seemed more determined to turn her match into a needle than ever.
At the end of class, at least ten people, with some help and instruction from Professor McGonagall, had successfully turned their matches to needles. As they walked out, Jade checked her timetables to see what the next class is going to be – History of Magic, taught by Professor Binns.
The one and only significant thing about this class is Professor Binn's entrance, he floats through the blackboard every single day to teach. Professor Binns, unlike any other teachers at Hogwarts, was a ghost. People say that he had been teaching at Hogwarts for a long time, and one day he woke up, not realizing that he's dead, when right back to teaching classes, and he's been the teacher for History of Magic till this day. In the beginning of every class, he floats through the blackboard, and that's about the most exciting thing to have ever happened in that class. Professor Binns gives long, boring lectures about Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball.
Potions class was with the Slytherins. After lunch, they rushed down to the dungeons, not wanting to be late on the first day, and walked right into the Slytherins students.
"Ohh look!" Said a Slytherin girl in a high-pitched voice, a group of Slytherins behind her snickered. Jade recognized the girl's voice, it's the same one she heard on the train, talking to Malfoy. The Gryffindors scowled, but the Parkinson continued, "It's the Griffins! Oh I'm sorry, is it – the Gryffindors? What a funny name, it's quite…" But she was interrupted by another voice.
"Shut up Parkinson! The Professor's coming." Jade looked to see who's speaking, and saw, somewhat surprisingly, that it's another Slytherin. Jade never really noticed a lot of the Slytherins, but now she took a good look at him: Taller than Ron, dark hair and charismatic blue eyes with a hint of mischief but now watching Pansy with disgust, his dark eyebrows twitched as his expressions dropped to a scowl. As Jade watched him, those deep-set eyes suddenly turned to meet hers, giving her a wink. Interesting…living proof that not all Slytherins are bad.
Ron had obviously taken Parkinson's mocking too seriously, as opened his mouth to retort, but Hermione gave him a kick, seeing that Professor Snape strode toward them. They all filed inside, the Slytherins off to one side while the Gryffindors took the other.
Professor Snape, wearing long black robes and a serious face, also has the natural ability to keep everybody quiet when he speaks. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, and the students hung on to every word. Professor Snape starts the class by role calling, stopping to examine Jade when he called her name. She felt a sudden chill ran down her spine when her eyes met Professor Snape's. The second time he paused on Harry's name, "Ah, yes. Harry Potter." He turned to look at Harry, "Our new – " He paused again, as if waiting for an effect, "celebrity." A snigger came from the Slytherin side, it's Malfoy, Parkinson and another boy.
"There is to be no foolish wand-waving in this classroom." He began, "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. I don't expect many of you to really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with shimmering fumes. The delicate power of potions that creeps through your veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…here in this class, I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, or even…stop death, if you aren't like the usual big bunch of dunderheads I have to teach."
Silence followed this little speech, Hermione was now sitting on the edge of her seat, as if dying to prove that she's not part of the "big bunch of dunderheads." Harry and Ron exchanged a nervous look while Jade, as quietly as possible, got out her notebook and quill.
"Ahh," Snape said suddenly, interrupting the quietness, "Here's one who's actually got some brains." He had evidently saw Jade took out her notebook, "What are you all waiting for? Get your quills out!"
"Potter!" He rounded on Harry while the others rummaged in their backpacks, "What would I get if I added powdered roots of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Everybody looked confused, and even Hermione, who had insisted on previewing everything, seems to have no clue what Snape is asking about. Jade was sure this was taught nowhere in their first-year textbook, Potions will be much harder than she thought if they are supposed to know that!
"Err, I don't know sir." Harry said, looking up at Snape, whose mouth curled into a sneer.
"Tut, tut, fame clearly isn't everything." He mocked, "How about a second chance, hmm?" Snape said, this is clearly an announcement, not a question. "Where would you look," he started, "if I tell you to find me a bezoar?"
Now were getting into first-year range, thought Jade, but she was getting a bit annoyed with Snape picking on Harry. I would look in the stomach of a goat, a black goat if you're looking for a particularly strong one. But how should Harry know? He's not raised like me!
"No idea, sir." Said Harry quietly, his face turning pink. Malfoy, Parkinson, and the other boy Jade saw on the train with Malfoy were almost shaking with laughter, and Jade gave them a disgusted look. Snape continued, "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" This had definitely been in the textbook, Jade remembered seeing it somewhere.
Harry, once again, looking confused and now feeling somewhat picked out, answered, "I don't know sir. But maybe somebody else does."
Snape was not pleased, however, he turned to ask the rest of the class, "Can any of you give me at least one answer? Or are you all really dunderheads?" He said in an annoyed tone.
Jade raised her hand just as Hermione also raised her hand.
Snape ignored Hermione and asked, "Yes, Miss Argento. Tell us, where can you find a bezoar?"
"In a goat's stomach. It's a stone-like substance that acts as an antidote for most poison. And for a stronger, faster effect, the best bezoar is found in black goats, or mountain goats." She said unhurriedly.
"Good…and for your information," He stared at Jade for a while, then turned once more toward the class, "asphodel and wormwood makes a sleeping draught so strong, that it's called the Draught of Living Death. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, also called aconite." He scammed around the room, "Well, why aren't you all copying this down!?"
Later, Snape paired them together to work on the cure-for-boils potion. Jade was paired with Pansy Parkinson, whom she loathed. Parkinson, however, was looking at her with more interest than when they were outside the classroom, as if she's some kind of a threat. Jade did most of the work, Pansy, who's not so smart with potions, almost threw the whole snake fang into the potion without crushing it. Luckily Jade had caught her before she threw it right into the perfect looking potion they have so far.
Snape walked around the room, investigating everybody's potions, and criticizing mostly everyone except for a few Slytherin students and Malfoy.
Suddenly, as Jade was finishing up their potion with a final stir, clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing sound filled the dungeon. Jade looked up to see that it was coming from two Gryffindor boys' table. They had apparently melted their cauldron into a big metal chunk, and the potion had spilled out. It was bubbling in an orangey brown color, not at all what the potion should look like.
"Get on the tables!" Jade yelled the moment she saw the potion burning holes on one of the boy's robes. People scrambled onto the desks as Snape, looking furious, wiped the potion clean with a swish of his wand, "Stupid boy!" the boy who had been splashed with the potion was now moaning in pain, Snape continued over his cries, "I suppose you had added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire!" Patches of big, red boils began to sprung up on the boy's skin, he's now whimpering and groaning loudly. Jade turned abruptly to check her potion, it's looking a perfect pale mossy green, still steaming slightly from the heat.
Without a second thought, she seized a clean flask and poured some of her newly brewed potion in. Then chugged it down the boy's throat, with everybody staring, Hermione looking stunned and scared. Snape, who didn't realize what had happened at first, whipped around to stop her, but it was too late, half the potion was already gone.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?!" His voice is now shaking with anger, but then something made him look down at the boy. The big patches of boils had slowly disappeared, and the boy's skin recovered. Snape stared with a look of undeniable surprise mingled with fury, Jade backed up.
"Two points from Gryffindor for brainless boldness, Miss Argento." Snape snapped, he's now back to his old self with the cold hard face, but his anger was certainly still lingering, "You're lucky that potion of yours worked like it's supposed to, or it would have been twenty points!"
Jade was gloomy as she made her way out of the dungeons, she had lost points for Gryffindor on the very first day of school! But thinking back to it, she shouldn't have acted that quickly, should have at least asked Snape first.
"Hey Argento! Wait up!"
She turned to see the boy who had shut Pansy up walking toward her. Ron narrowed his eyes, "Let's go Jade." He nudged, Harry and Hermione looked ready to go too.
"You three go on, I'll catch up." She answered, curious what the boy wanted with her.
"Hi." The boy greeted as reached Jade, "Didn't think you'd actually wait, you know, all the prejudice."
"What'd you want?" She asked impatiently.
"Pretty smart, aren't you?" He smiled, and Jade had to admit, he's even more attractive when that smile pops up, and that doesn't help her. "It was very brave, what you did, no wonder a Gryffindor."
"Thanks." She smiled too.
"So, would you mind having a Slytherin as a friend?" He asked, stretching out his hand.
"Of course not!" Jade shook his hand. Well, gotta keep an eye out still. I did not forget what happened last time!
"Theodore Nott."
"Jade, Argento."
When she reached the Gryffindor table, Harry was not in a good mood, Snape had deducted one point because of him too, saying that he didn't tell that boy – Longbottom, to not add the quill before stirring the potion a second time.
"Cheer up!" Said Ron as they waited at the table for dinner to appear on the golden plates, "Fred and George lose points all the time! And it's only the first day of school!"
"Exactly," Replied Harry, "no telling how much more points we are going to lose."
"I meant you still have plenty of time to redeem the points." Ron said somewhat frustratedly, he had been trying to cheer Harry up for a while now, and nothing seems to be doing any good.
Dinner began, and the foods magically appeared on the golden plates once again.
"Oh fantastic!" Jade exclaimed, "I'm starving." And she started piling food onto her plate.
The next day, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts, Flying, and Herbology.
"I'm so excited for today!" Jade said, sitting on her bed and reading her timetable, "It's good stuffs today!"
"Yeah, although I'm not too sure about flying." Hermione said hesitantly, she's been awake for more than an hour now. Failing to get Jade out of bed, she had started previewing by herself.
Flying was a two-year course, in their third year, they get to try-out for their house Quidditch team. Those who passed the try-out will play for their house against the three other houses. Quidditch, a favorite among wizarding sports, was of course well known even among the first years. Jade had seen only one Quidditch match before, and it was a very long time ago. When she was almost five, when Mom and Dad were still alive, and the Dark Lord hadn't overpowered the Ministry of Magic, they went to the Quidditch World Cup.
The Quidditch World Cup, hosted every three years, was a big event in the Wizarding world. People would come from all over the world to watch the last two surviving teams play their final match. As Jade remembered, they went all the way to Germany, that year it was Denmark verses Romania, and Romania won.
The sport was usually played on flying brooms, which is why students take flying lessons. There were four balls: The Quaffle, a large red ball the size of a dragon egg. The three chasers on each team scores with it by throwing the Quaffle through one of the three hoops on opposite ends of the Quidditch pitch. And the other team's keeper will try to prevent them from scoring, each score is ten points. The Bludgers, brown, metal balls that fly around trying to knock people off their brooms. It's the beaters' job to hit the Bludgers out of the way and towards the other team's players. And the Golden Snitch. A small golden ball with wings that flies around really fast. It's the seeker's job to try and catch the Snitch, and if he or she did, they will gain 150 points for their team.
Jade sat in bed imagining how wonderful this day would be, and when she finally looked at her watch, she called out, "Oh, it's almost seven!" And scrambled out of bed to get dressed.
Walking in the corridors to the classroom, they learned that mostly everybody was excited for Defense Against the Dark Arts. The actual lesson, however, turned out to be sort of a joke.
The whole classroom smelled strongly of garlic, people say it's because of Quirrel's past encounter with a vampire in Romania, said he's scared that it will come back and haunt him. His huge purple turban that wraps around his head all the time was said to be given by an African prince, a gift of thanks for getting rid of a troublesome zombie. It also smells strongly like garlic, and Jade wondered if he wore it in his sleep too. All the zombie and vampire stories were not too convincing, for one thing, when a student in class asked him how he got rid of the zombie, he changed the topic fairly quickly.
Herbology was with the Hufflepuffs. They all go down to the Green House One, for the first-years, where Professor Brown showed them magical plants and fungi, how to take care of them, and their uses. Professor Brown was a hard-faced professor with short stature, and he's always wearing worn-down brown work robes. His first impression to Jade was not the greatest, when they all walked into the greenhouse, he was busy angrily showing a student how bad she had failed a project.
This, along with how hard of a time Jade already have with Herbology, all contributed to her extreme dislike of Herbology.
However, the flying class was in the afternoon. A chance to take her mind off Professor Brown's brain-straining lectures with an overwhelming amount of new information they had never heard about. But as Harry and Ron disappointedly learned, they are having their very first class with the Slytherins.
"Great!" Harry said sarcastically, "Just like I had always wanted, to make a fool of myself on a broom in front of Malfoy, when this is supposed to be the best class!"
"Oh come on Harry! You'll do great!" Jade encouraged, "Just have confidence and believe in yourself, that's the key."
"How'd you know?" Ron questioned, "Have you ever even been on a broomstick once?"
"Uhh…not really." Then she quickly added, "But I guess this is the kind of thing where if you think about it, you basically got the grasp."
"Umm, I'm not too sure about that…" Said Hermione worriedly. She had bored them all during lunch by reading Quidditch Through the Ages out loud, trying to find some useful tips.
It turns out, they're not the only ones nervous about flying. The Longbottom boy – Neville, had never been on a broomstick in his life. His grandma had kept him from flying, probably because Neville managed to have a significant amount of accidents even with both feet on the ground.
At nearly two that afternoon, they all went down to the Quidditch pitch for their first flying lesson. The Slytherins were already there, along with about twenty broomsticks lying on the ground. They were obviously school brooms, as most of them are worn with tail branches sticking out in all directions.
Theodore waved at her as the Gryffindors walked across the pitch. Malfoy and his gang shook their heads and scowled disapprovingly, and some Gryffindors frowned, including Ron.
"Excited?" He asked as Jade took her spot beside him.
"Yeah!" Jade said with a grin, "The last two classes were horrible!"
Theodore smirked, "Let me guess…Herbology and Defense – "
"Against the Dark Arts." Jade finished the sentence for him.
"Who's your friend?" Theodore asked, seeing Hermione standing beside Jade. But just then, their teacher, Madam Hooch, a tall figure with short grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk, seeing they were all chatting around when she arrived, barked, "Well what are you lot waiting for? Move your feet and go stand by a broom!"
Jade ended up with a rough-looking broom that looks like it's been in use for at least a hundred years. Pansy Parkinson had elbowed her out of the way so she can get a decent looking broom herself.
Madam Hooch's voice rang again from in front of the line, hollering her next order to the class, "Now stick your right hand over the broom, and say 'Up!'"
This was to summon their brooms, as everyone yelled "Up!" a few people's broom jumped right into their hands, including Jade's and Harry's. It seems that brooms, like dogs, can sense your emotions. Neville and Hermione, both really nervous, had their brooms on the ground after everybody else had successfully summoned up their brooms.
After Madam Hooch taught them how to mount the brooms and grip it properly, it's time for the real deal.
"When I count to three, I will blow my whistle." Madam Hooch instructed, "Then you are to gently kick off from the ground, not too hard, we don't want you shooting fifty feet high. Just a small kick, to lift yourself up from the ground, got it? Three, two…"
But Neville Longbottom, to nervous that he would be left on the ground, kicked off hard before Madam Hooch could say "one." He shot from the ground like a cork, he went up for twenty feet, thirty…
"Do something!" Jade yelled nervously at Madam Hooch, seeing that she's not doing anything to help, as the worried Gryffindors gazed up at Neville.
Madam Hooch watched worriedly, deciding what to do. "You lot stay on the ground!" She commanded, "I'm going up there to see if I can catch him. Parkinson, give me your broom."
She kicked off from the ground and sped off after Neville, by now he's about fifty feet high and zig-zagging his way even higher in the air. Madam Hooch swirled around Neville's broom, weighing the chances and trying to pull Neville onto her own broom. Neville's broom suddenly gave a horrible jolt, he lost the grip and were hanging onto the broomstick with one hand. Madam Hooch raced to catch Neville, but too late, his hand slipped and Neville started falling, falling…
There was nothing they could have done, it was all too fast. Neville fell to the ground with a loud thud and a crackle in seconds, and they knew something must have broken. Madam Hooch landed right after Neville's fall, and bent down to check where Neville had injured.
"Broken wrist…" they heard her mutter, "boy you're lucky, only a broken wrist! Come on! Let's get you to the Hospital Wing…" then she turned to settle the rest of the class, "All of you is to stay here, and do not move. Don't try to get in the air or you'll be expelled before you can say 'Quidditch!'"
As soon as Madam Hooch and Neville were gone, some Slytherins started sniggering.
"Did you see his face?!" Pansy Parkinson shouted toward the Gryffindors between fits of laughter, "That great lump!" And she continued laughing. Theodore frowned.
"Shut up, Parkinson!" Parvati spoke up.
"Oh Parvati, speaking up for that oaf?" Pansy continued to mock. Theodore looked ready to strike.
Jade rolled her eyes, "Save your breath Theodore, no reasoning's ever enough for brainless individuals." That did it, Pansy looked stumped, fuming with anger, she tried to think of a retort. But just then, Malfoy stepped up and picked something out of the grass, it's Neville's rememberall that his grandma had sent him.
"Look! It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." He said, a nasty grin on his face.
"It's not yours to keep Malfoy, how 'bout you give it here." She said. But Malfoy ignored her.
"Give it here Malfoy." Harry said quietly.
"Won't that be too boring! How about, I leave it somewhere for him to find?"
"Give it here!" Harry shouted, and Jade can see he's really getting angry.
"Oh yeah?" Malfoy smirked and jumped onto his broom, "A tree, what do you say?" He slowly rose above the ground.
"Stupid Malfoy!" Theodore muttered under his breath.
"Come down here Malfoy!" Jade shouted.
Malfoy flew even higher, he was not lying when he said that he's a good flyer. Now he's hovering feet above them, looking down at Harry, "Come and get it Potter!"
Harry grabbed his broom.
"No!" Hermione shouted before anybody could make a sound, "You'll get us all in trouble! Madam Hooch said not to touch the brooms!"
"Harry…" Jade started, trying to keep him on the ground, "Just let him stay flying until Madam Hooch comes back, don't put yourself into trouble!" But Harry broke her grip and went after Malfoy, everybody on the ground watched nervously. His form is looking particularly good for a first-timer, maybe he can get that thing before anyone sees, Jade thought as she watched Harry soar after Malfoy.
High up in the air, Harry suddenly charged toward Malfoy, trying to knock him off his broom. Okay, he's a natural! Jade thought, surprised. They see Malfoy threw the ball high into the air, and the ball began to drop rapidly, Harry dove after it. No! if he doesn't pull out of it soon he can break his neck! So she did the only thing she can think of.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Jade muttered under her breath, the tip of her wand reaching out under her cloak pointing upwards at the Rememberall.
The Rememberall hovered just a few feet above the ground the moment Harry started clasping his fingers around it. Good, nobody saw that. She thought, tucking her wand away and hurrying to an astonished Harry.
The Gryffindors are cheering and whistling. It was, indeed, very impressive.
Just then, they heard a shrill voice coming behind, "Harry Potter!"
It was Professor McGonagall, and she's heading toward them full speed. Oh dear. Jade thought.
"What do you think you're doing?! Could have broken your neck! Now come with me. As for the rest of you, don't move!" And she strolled away, with Harry on her heels.
Malfoy, who landed right after Harry, smirked nastier than ever. And Pansy Parkinson was giggling. Jade gave them both a death stare, and gave up on the thought of roasting them, seeing that Madam Hooch had gotten back from the Hospital Wing.
"Where's Potter?" She said, noticing that he's gone.
"Got himself in some trouble again." Malfoy said, amused, "Called away by McGonagall."
"No that's not the truth!" Parvati Patil, another Gryffindor girl, tried to explain the situation to Madam Hooch. "Malfoy had gotten Neville's Rememberall, and flew into the air trying to hide it!" The other Gryffindors agreed.
"Well," Madam Hooch began, looking tired of all this, "I would say that you don't have any proof, Miss Patil. Uh, let's just drop the matter and call it a day, how 'bout that."
"But…" Ron began, but Madam Hooch was clearly done for the day, "Class dismissed!"
As Jade walked across the pitch, Theodore caught up with her.
"Hey! that was pretty impressive."
"Yeah it was, just a couple of inches before the ball touch the ground and he caught it." She said, still thinking back.
"No," He said, and Jade looked back to see that he's quite serious this time, "I meant what you did. I saw it. It was quite impressive."
Jade's eyes widened in shock, but only for a second, "Thanks. Don't tell anyone else, okay?" I sure hope nobody else saw it besides him!
He nodded, and they walked down to the Great Hall.
Harry didn't show up until dinner. Jade and Hermione sat at the table discussing what could happen to Harry and the upcoming Astronomy lesson, when Harry came and sat across from them.
"What happened?" Hermione asked worriedly the moment Harry sat down. But Harry was busy piling food onto his plate.
"How'd it went?" Jade pushed.
"Well," Harry began with a mouthful of food, "I didn't get into trouble. Didn't get expelled, detention, nothing."
"What?!" Ron exclaimed, as he sat down next to Harry.
"So," Harry said in a lower voice mysteriously, "McGonagall saw me chasing after the Rememberall from her window. And she thought I'd make a good seeker."
"You're joking…a seeker!" Ron raised his voice unbelievingly, "That's fantastic!"
"Shhhh, Ron! Keep it down!" Jade said, looking around excitedly. Malfoy's looking at them suspiciously, and Jade's not sure if he heard what Ron said. "Keep it down! I'm pretty sure McGonagall won't want this all around before the first match!"
"Why?" Harry and Ron asked together.
"Because," Jade began, "normally you can't join the school Quidditch team until the third year, they broke the rule for you. Of course they wouldn't want to break the rule for everyone!"
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Said Ron, "But Harry! You're the youngest seeker they've had in a thousand years!"
"Yeah! I know, Wood told me." Harry answered.
"Who's Wood?" Asked Hermione.
"Oh," Ron replied smartly, "he's the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, but we haven't won the House Cup in years! The Slytherins won the cup for seven years in a row!"
That night they all went to bed with wide grins on their face, all happy that Harry gets to play on the team as their seeker. The grins were still there the next morning as Fred and George passed them, "Hey Harry, great job! We're on the team too, beaters." Harry smiled and gave them a thumbs up as they walked away, and then his face dropped.
Needless to wonder who it was, a long, drawling voice started speaking. Jade turned to see Malfoy flanked by two Slytherin boys all standing behind her, "Hey Potter! Enjoying your last breakfast? When's your ride back to the muggles?" How did he know Harry lived with the muggles?
"He's not expelled!" Hermione snapped.
"You have no say in this, Mudblood." Malfoy replied coldly with a disgusted look on his face. But before either Jade or Ron could speak, Harry spoke up.
"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground, with your little friends beside you." He said coolly, trying his best to sound brave and mock Malfoy. The two boys behind Malfoy were not little at all. Thankfully the Great Hall's packed with teachers, so nobody dared to make a move.
"You think I wouldn't take you on my own? I'll do it anytime to show you who's better! Today or Saturday, midnight behind the trophy room. Wizard's duel, and that means wands only, no contact, fair enough for you." Then seeing the confused look on Harry's face, he added, "Oh what's the matter? Never heard of wizard's duel before, I suppose?" He sneered.
"Course he has." said Jade quickly before anybody else can open their mouth, looking into Malfoy's bluish-grey eyes non-blinkingly, "We'll duel Saturday, under one condition."
"Oh yeah? Are you scared, Argento?" Malfoy smirked, but it faded away quickly, Jade can see he's getting worried. He too, did not break the eye contact. It's almost as if they're trying to stare the other down. "But considering you're the weaker side," he said coolly, "we'll hear it."
"I request a double duel."
"Yeah," Said Ron, "I'll be his second."
"And I'm the back up. Well, who's yours?"
"Blaise will be my second and Goyle the backup." He broke the eye contact and turned to leave, "See you on Saturday, Potter."
All this time they talked, Hermione had sat beside Jade, listening quietly, until Malfoy was out of earshot.
"I really don't think this is a good idea." She said to Jade worryingly.
Well yeah, maybe not, thought Jade, but I really want to know how thick Malfoy can be.
"Hermione, you're a Gryffindor. C'mon, be brave!" Jade replied, "And he called you a Mudblood! That does it for me! However, we're about to beat him up!"
"So how does the duel work anyways? And what are seconds and stuff?" Harry asked.
"Normal wizards duel means only wands, and one to one." Explained Ron, "But what Jade requested is a bit different."
"Is it a good different?" Hermione asked.
"Depends on who your second and backup are. In a double duel, the seconds duel each other while the master duelers, that'll be you and Malfoy," He motioned to Harry, "also duel, the backup aids the master dueler. But," Ron continued, "in our case, we all don't know much spells. Therefore the most we can do is send sparks at each other, 'cept for Jade of course. And that's why it's good to have her as the backup, so that when Harry's down Jade can wipe Malfoy out. Malfoy's way too thick, we're first years and had only been here a week! What does he think he could do?"
That night they had their first Astronomy lesson, the only class they have after dinner. As they made their way toward the Astronomy tower, they talked out plans for the duel. Hermione had left Jade to talk with a Ravenclaw girl. She obviously still disapproves of their decision. Jade talked Harry and Ron into going to the library tomorrow morning to borrow some books on basic hexes and jinxes. Then Harry suddenly said, "There's something funny though, you know when I was trying the catch the falling Rememberall, I felt like it stopped dropping the second I touched it…and that's how I caught it."
"Really?" Jade covered for herself, "I saw you caught it by yourself, you're probably just overthinking. I mean, how can the ball stop dropping, right?"
Soon they all gathered on the Astronomy Tower and gazed through large telescopes to observe the stars and constellations above. Professor Sinistra, their Astronomy teacher, told them all kinds of stories about the different stars and where they came from. Jade always gets a bit sleepy in those times, growing up with Grandma telling her all kinds of stories and knowledge about magic, she knew those stories by heart.
Their last lesson on Friday was Charms class, it's indeed a very fun lesson, like Hermione had expected. Tiny Professor Flitwick, who had to stand on a pile of books to teach, almost fainted when he came across Harry's name on roll call. In the first class, they learned about the light charm – Lumos. It's one of the easiest basic charms, and Jade already knew how to cast it, so the whole lesson was just reviewing for her.
Then after another Transfiguration class and Herbology, it's finally time for the weekend. A wonderful, enjoyable weekend with almost two days set aside all for herself to plan out, and a chance to quench Malfoy's arrogance! How wonderful…