So take my hand
Mia was only too happy to oblige. Her and Amy got to their feet with Neville and started following the other Gryffindor first years who were trailing after Percy, who was leading them to the common room. Sticking by Amy's side, Mia made her way through the bustling crowds with everyone else as they left the Great Hall. In the midst of all the commotion, Mia saw Harry, Ace and the other Slytherins being led down a different corridor to the left of the Hall, and she gave him a soft wave, bidding her goodnight. Harry returned the gesture before scurrying off after his housemates; it seemed like Ace was already teasing him. With that, Mia turned and followed everyone as they began ascending the marble steps of the staircase. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, but that didn't stop her from staring in amazement at the moving people and creatures in all the portraits that hung on the walls. A smile came across her face as some of the people waved and offered their greetings. As Mia looked over to point the portraits out to Neville, she saw that he was just as tired as she was, and seemed to be shuffling along as they walked up the stairs. Just as they were all wondering how much farther they had to go, Percy suddenly stopped in his tracks, along with everyone else. Mia looked past Ron to see there were floating walking sticks just ahead of them, and when Percy moved towards them, they started throwing themselves at him, causing the Prefect to frown.
"Peeves," Percy muttered. "Peeves — show yourself right now!"
All of a sudden, a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks. He looked past Percy and as soon as he eyed the first years standing there, he let out a whoop of glee.
"Oooooooh!" he said in delight. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"
Peeves leaned forward and swooped towards them all, making everyone duck in cover. Percy's frown deepened and he glared at the little man, placing his hands on his hips.
"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron will hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy. Peeves' response was blowing out a rather loud raspberry and dropping the walking sticks on poor Neville's head, zooming away down the corridor.
"You okay Neville?" Mia asked the small boy, who looked tearful.
"Yeah, I'm all right," said Neville, rubbing his head.
"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "He's the school Poltergeist. The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."
Percy had led them all down a long corridor until they came upon another portrait, this one showing a friendly looking fat lady in a pink silk dress, quietly sipping tea. She looked up when she heard them all approach.
"Password?" she said.
"Caput Draconis," answered Percy. The Fat Lady smiled and Mia gasped as the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled in after Percy, while Amy gave Mia a hoist up. What they saw inside was truly a sight to behold. They were standing in a circular room, indicating that they were in one of the towers, and it was decorated all in brilliant red and gold drapes and carpets. Sleek wooden tables were set up here and there, along with comfortable looking armchairs and sofas, with a roaring fireplace as the finishing touch.
"All right now," Percy addressed them, pointing to a door to his left. "Girls, your dormitories are through this door and up the stairs, just look for the door reading 'First Years,' and boys, the same thing through the other door. All your things have already been brought up for you. I suggest you all get a good night's sleep, you all have a busy day of classes tomorrow."
With that being said, Percy turned and walked back across the common room and out of the portrait hole. The group of first years started to split up and head toward their staircase.
"You coming Mia?" Hermione asked.
"Just a sec," Mia said before turning to give Neville her newest friend a quick hug.
"Goodnight Neville, I'll see you tomorrow," she said.
"Night Mia," he said, giving her a sleepy smile. Mia went back over to Hermione and Amy and the three of them walked up the spiral stone staircase until they reached the right door, opening it and walking into their dormitory.
The rest of the girls were already there, chatting away excitedly, and swapping beds. Amy walked over to the bed that was closest to the window, where her stuff was sitting on the mattress, along with Ruby's (the puppy her parents got her for her birthday) carrier whom was already trained to not need a lead and use a litter box
"Awww, she's so cute," Hermione gushed as she leaned over to pet the small puppy. "What's her name?"
"Ruby," said Amy. "For her eyes."
Hermione nodded her head just as the other girls came over.
"Hi there," said a cheery girl with light brown hair and a giddy smile. "I'm Lavender Brown, and this is Parvati Patil."
Parvati had dark skin and black hair, along with deep brown eyes.
"Hi," Amy said. "I'm Amelia Pines, and these are my friends Hermione Granger, and Mia Slytherin
"Hermione looked over at Mia when she said 'friend' and her eyes lit up instantly, a beaming smile on her face, as if no one had ever called her that before.
"This is great, we're all going to be roommates!" said Lavender in a high voice, practically bouncing on her feet in her excitement. "Oh, I can't wait for tomorrow! This castle is so big, I bet there's so much we're going to see! And the guys in our year are sooooo cute, especially Harry Potter! And Alexander Acheron! I can't believe they're in our year!"
Mia and Amy resisted the urge to roll Their eyes as Lavender started rambling on about Harry and Ace. If this is what he had to face in the coming days, they felt awfully sorry for him. After a brief talk with the other girls, they all decided it was time to head to bed. Amy slipped out of her clothes and into her pyjamas, deciding to unpack the rest of her things tomorrow morning before breakfast. Drawing the covers back, Amy climbed into the soft, cosy bed, picked up Ruby, and held the puppy close as she laid down on her side, facing the window. Ruby easily made herself comfortable against her mistress' chest, curling into a ball of fluff as she drifted to sleep. amy smiled down at her pet before gazing out the window. The light from the moon was shining through the glass panes, its illuminating glow falling upon the floor made her uneasy, before she managed to get some sleep whilst seeing one of the brightest stars in the sky 'Sirius'.
As the rest of the girls got settled in their own beds, Mia finally pulled out one of her new books called Problematic Potions of The Past and flipped to where she had bookmarked it and read, "One of the most powerful antivenoms for dark venom a cure for most dark potions and most dark rituals including all rituals of possession Purgatorial Purification Panacea," and read through the instructions and recipes before reading through two other very powerful antidotes.
she flipped the page onto another chapter on stealth potions she looked at the first one, polyjuice and decided to check mark the page, and then get some rest she checked the page put the book in her dresser and layed back down with Ruby laying on her feet then Mia's eyes slowly fluttered closed and a contented sigh passed her lips as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
The first week at Hogwarts had definitely been an interesting and challenging one to say the least. Every morning Ace and Harry would wake up to get ready, and they would climb the staircases to the great hall to see Mia and Amy waiting for them, ready to go with eager expressions on their faces. Harry couldn't help but smile every time he thought of it. Amy and Mia had always been ones for learning, they always loved to hear and read about new things. Most times it was just them, and other times they would have Hermione Granger with them as well. Ace was curious about that, but she, Amy and Mia would usually have their own little conversations, always giggly and smiling. At first Harry felt a small pang of jealousy at this. Mia and Amy had always been his friend, they always had just each other, and no one else aside from Ace. Thoughts of Them leaving him entered his mind and it made him uneasy the first couple of days.
However, seeing Them getting along so well with Hermione made him change his mind. While They would hang out with Hermione, they still made sure to have time for Harry and Ace too. Harry felt bad about his selfish need to monopolise their friends' attention and he was happy that they finally made another friend. Besides, he was glad to have also made a new friend of his own. He, Ace and Theo stuck together since the first night at the Welcoming Feast, and they quickly became friends. Theo and Mia got along very well, and Harry was thankful for that. During their classes they would always sit together, or relatively close to one another, and would sit down together at every meal in the Great Hall. Whispers and hushed voices followed Harry everywhere he went, and everyone seemed to be looking at his scar constantly. He found himself easily getting annoyed by it by the end of the first morning, and he could tell His friends were too. Mia would roll her eyes and scoff every time they passed a group of gossiping girls, and she would sometimes mock them, making Harry and Ace laugh, Ace and Theo hexed them whenever no one was looking and always got away with it Amy always glared at them and sometimes joined Ace and Theo in hexing them (especially near the full moon).
Apparently Theo didn't care about blood purity in the slightest, he despised Draco Malfoy and the bigots that followed him And actually liked hanging out with The Chimera Quartet as the school had dubbed them, whomst had added Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom whom he got along with rather well.
The classes, once they actually found them after spending what felt like hours getting lost, were amazing. Every Wednesday night they would head up to one of the tallest towers of the school for Astronomy and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Ace could tell Amy really enjoyed the class (he knew this for a fact as she had brought an advanced astronomy book from Flourish and Blotts and brought it to their astronomy study session). She practically had her eye glued to the telescope and had a look of awe on her face whenever she gazed at the stars. She would often help Neville, who kept mixing up Mars' and Uranus' moons. Another one of their classes was Herbology, taught by a tiny plump witch called Professor Sprout. Professor Sprout was the head of Hufflepuff House, and quite a jolly, good natured woman. She taught them all how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and find out what they were used for. Their new friend Neville appeared to take quite an interest in this class and was fairly good at it.
Another class they had was History of Magic, which was easily the most boring out of all of them. The Professor was an elderly ghost who had a drawling and monotone voice that could put everyone to sleep in a matter of minutes. Even Mia found it a little hard to concentrate as Professor Binns droned on and on about different names, places and events while they all copied down notes. Later on in the day when they had Charms, Professor Flitwick gave an excited squeal when he read Harry's name while doing roll call, and he toppled off his pile of books and landed on the ground. Theo had stayed after for a few minutes to exchange a hello with the Professor. he informed Harry later that she had run into the tiny little man during his trip to Diagon Ally a couple months ago. When they reached Transfiguration, Harry immediately confirmed his earlier suspicions that Professor McGonagall was not someone to cross. She made it perfectly clear to them that she would allow no foolishness in her classroom and then changed her desk into a pig before their very eyes. The class period was spent taking notes and trying to turn their matchsticks into needles, Harry and Ace where the only people who managed it on their first tries which they were rewarded with five points each as they were the only ones who managed it the entire day apparently.
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. He was always one of the first to leave the room to get away from the putrid smell and in the fresh air. Whenever they weren't in class, The Chimeras, which the student populous at large dubbed them, would take advantage of the sunlit grounds, and take some time walking by the lake. At night he, Theo and Ace would joke around by the fire in the common room reading whilst Mia, Amy and Hermione would sit together in the armchairs in the Gryffindor Tower to do their homework.
On Friday morning, Harry and Theo woke to find Ace waiting at the entrance of the common room, as usual, with her bag slung on her shoulder and her books clutched to his chest. He smiled at them and then they made their way through the common room and out into the corridor together.
"Hi guys!" he said in greeting when they reached her. "Come on, I told Hermione and she said she'd tell the others we'd be done for breakfast soon."
"What do we have today?" he asked.
"Double Potions with the Gryffs," answered Ace as they went through the snake archway. "Right after breakfast."
"Potions, huh?" said Theo. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours us — we'll be able to see if it's true."
"I wonder if McGonagall favoures Them," said Harry. Professor McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor House, but that didn't stop her from giving the Gryffs a lot of homework the day before.
Harry laughed quietly to himself at a joke Theo made earlier as they all made their way down to the Great Hall. For the first time, they didn't get lost, and they all sat down together near the middle of the Gryffindor table. Mia took a seat across from Hermione, who smiled at the sight of her. Harry set his things down and poured himself a bowl of porridge. While he was pouring sugar over it, he heard the flapping of wings overhead and looked up to see that the mail had arrived. The mail was delivered into the Great hall every morning by many owls, dropping letters and packages into their owners lap. So far Hedwig hadn't come with anything for him yet, and he honestly wasn't expecting anything. So it came as a shock to him when she came soaring down gracefully towards him with not one, but two notes clutched in her beak and a small package tied to her leg. Harry quickly relieved Hedwig of her burden, his mind going over who could have possibly sent him the package and notes. Once that was done, Hedwig nibbled his ear and then took a few bits of his toast. He tore open the first note and read the untidy scrawl.
Dear Harry,
I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.
Hagrid
Harry borrowed Ace's quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again. When she was gone, Harry turned back to the second note that was written in unfamiliar handwriting.
Dear Harry, and Mia
How are you, dears? Amy told us how wonderful the castle is. We hope you Three are having a great time! Matthew misses the three of you so much; it's so odd having a quiet house without having you lot here. Are Hedwig and Ruby doing alright? We hope you enjoy this treat, and write to us soon!
From,
Emmaline, Daniel and Matthew.
Harry stared at the note for a moment, not quite knowing what to say. Mr. and Mrs. Pines were still thinking of him, even when he's not there anymore. Deep down he was always afraid that he was nothing but a burden to them, that he didn't deserve their time. For them to send him something meant more to him than anything, and it reminded him that there were others out there besides his friends who cared. He was cut out of his thoughts by Amy reaching over to slap his arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" said Harry.
"For being a git," she said, going back to her eggs and bacon. "You are not troubling them, they do this because they care about you, so stop brooding!"
Harry sighed but didn't argue with her. He was used to this, Amy could read him like an open book sometimes. He put the note away in a safe place while he untied the package that Hedwig had brought. A fond smile spread across his face as the brown paper tore away to reveal a small box of homemade brownies. Reminding himself to write to Mrs. Pines and thank her, he stowed away the box inside his bag to be saved for later. After breakfast was finished, they all left the Hall and started heading down towards the dungeons for their Potions class. Harry could tell Mia was eager to get there, this was the class she had been most interested in. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and the further down they went, the colder it became. It was extremely dark and dingy inside the classroom, with animal parts floating in glass jars, dusty potion volumes sitting on mouldy shelves, and rusty cauldrons sitting on tables. Theo shivered slightly as he went to grab a table with Hermione and Mia next to him sitting with Neville Harry was sitting next to Mia and Neville with Ace. They didn't have to wait very long for Snape to show up, and when he entered the room, everyone fell silent. He was a tall man, with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. He also has black eyes. Cold, dark black eyes that made Harry think of dark tunnels. Professor Snape started class by doing a roll call, like Professor Flitwick had done. When he called Harry's name, he paused for a moment.
"Ah yes," he said softly. "Harry Potter. Our new-celebrity."
Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands while Mia frowned. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
More silence followed this speech. Harry exchanged looks with Theo, and Mia was suddenly not looking so sure of herself at the moment. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly, making Harry jump. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry was confused? As he knew that was a O.W.L standard question but as he knew it "Adding powdered root of Asphodel to an infusion of wormwood is the first step in the creation of the most powerful sleeping in the world, the draught of death or sleeping death was it? Harry asked confusedly Professor Snape had a confused look on his face for a fraction of a second "he didn't think I would know that," he thought "better file that for later."
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Hermione stretched her hand even high in the air, but Harry immediately perked up slightly. He knew this one and it was actually a first year question "must have come out the gate swinging." he thought
"The stomach of a goat, sir," said Harry confidently, seeing Mia smile proudly at him out of the corner of his eye. Snape raised his eyebrow in surprise and his expression soured.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape asked with an even nastier sneer. Hermione reached her hand so high Harry was sure she was going to jump out of her seat any minute. He just barely remembered the answer to this question.
"I believe there isn't a difference" said Harry quietly
Snape finally looked him in the eyes then he looked thoughtful for a second smiled and said "fifteen points to Slytherin and yes Potter monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant you can find a bezoar in the stomach of a goat and for your information combining asphodel and wormwood is the first step in creating the drought of living death not sleeping death or dreaming death."
"Now why haven't you written that down, and put your hand down!" Snape snapped at Hermione. "
Everyone scrambled around in their bags for parchment and quills.
Things didn't change much as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around the classroom, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticising almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like, and Harry, Amy, Hermione, Ace and Mia whom he couldn't criticise as their work was perfect. He kept dotting on the blonde every time he walked past. Snape was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. their potion was bubbling madly emitting a loud hissing noise, until Mia added something and It stopped bubbling madly and turned to a perfect red and stopped hissing. Snape walked over saying. "good job Miss Slytherin 5 points to Gryffindor, and Mister Longbottom do remember not to add the porcupine quills if you had added it even a second earlier that cauldron would have melted and the liquid inside dissolve our shoe's 7 points from Gryffindor." Snape declared.
After asking his friends if they wanted to see Hagrid with him, all of whom agreed eagerly, they walked outside into the bright sunlight and across the grounds to Hagrid's wooden house that sat on the very edge of the Forbidden Forest. As soon as he walked up the few steps, Harry knocked on Hagrid's door, and heard booming barks coming from inside.
"Back, Fang-back," came Hagrid's voice. Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.
"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."
He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. There was only one room inside, which was big enough to fit a rather large group of people. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.
"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ace, and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked. Mia giggled at this, making the boarhound turn his attention to her. He made his way over to her and started slobbering all over her face, causing her to giggle even more. She got down on her knees so she was level with Fang and scratched behind his ears.
"This is Ace," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.
"An Archeron," eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ace's Eyes. " Met' yer granpa once he came here for a tournament in is sevanth year nice bloke shame he temporarily lost use of is magic fur fity years or he'd probably be the chief Mugwump great diplo-mat e was."
"And this is Mia," Harry said, gesturing over to her as she was rubbing Fang's belly and still giggling.
"Ah, so this is Mia, eh?" said Hagrid with a smile. "Harry here has told me a lot 'bout yeh. Wouldn't' stop talkin' 'bout what a great friend yeh are. Nice ter meet yeh."
"These are yeh otha friends Amy he mentioned ya a few times said ya your is closest friend" Amy blushed, Harry said "these are Theo and Nev" Neville smiled at the nickname Hagrid said looking at Neville "yer dad visited me here with yer mom and their friends quite often" Neville smiled at this.
"Nice to meet you too Hagrid," Mia replied as Harry blushed, pausing in her belly rubbing to take a seat at the table. The rock cakes Hagrid made for them were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry, Amy, Mia and the rest pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. They were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git."
"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her — Filch puts her up to it."
"Now How's yer Granpa Alex?" Hagrid asked Ace. "I heard he got his Transfiguration mastery recently.
Whilst Ace told Hagrid all about Mr Acheron's work with Uther Flowerpens, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cosy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this afternoon.
Harry remembered Ace telling him, Amy and Mia on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but hadn't mentioned the date it was just in passing so he hadn't thought about it until now.
"Hagrid!" said Harry. "That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"
There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes. He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Harry read the story again. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen when they went to Diagon Ally, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for? Harry continued to ponder over this until they sky outside started to get dark and it was time for the three young Gryffindors to leave. As they all walked back to the castle for dinner, Harry kept thinking about the package from Gringotts. Had Hagrid collected it just in time? Where was it now? Harry sighed heavily before jogging to catch up with Ace, Amy, Mia and the others…
.Harry awoke sometime in the night tangled up in his sheets, staring at the canopy above him. He was slightly sweaty, and he could hear his heart beating a little faster than normal. Moving slowly, he sat up in bed and felt around through the darkness for his glasses on the bedside table. Once he had them on, he wiped his forehead and tried to take a couple deep breaths to calm his heart while he tried to remember the dream he had been having. Or rather, the nightmare. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't put the pieces of the dream together. All he could remember was walking through a snow covered forest and seeing a dark cloaked figure ahead of him standing on a bridge next to a yew tree over a river. The figure came closer, laughing in a shrill, cold and cruel voice that made his hair stand on end yet it was so eerily familiar like he'd heard it before almost every day of his life. The darkness was closing in around his body, it was like ice, yet so soothing and he had nowhere to run. The next thing he knew, a creature with three heads golden brown fur and a scaly tail came out of nowhere, behind it he saw six more creatures, a Giant black dog with Emerald green eyes almost exactly like his own alongside a large hawk like bird the size of a relatively large eagle, with a yellow tinge to its feathers and a fiery look in its eyes, he recognized it as a Scottish Thunderbird like the charms Ace got Mia and Amy for their birthdays, he also saw a large white horse with a majestic, mane of blonde hair with a Lynx standing on its back it's brown fur stripes going down it's back it was truly astounding, even more astounding was the fact it had a giant, beautiful, butterfly standing on the top of its head with a beautiful green pattern going down both its wings perfectly symmetrical, as Ace would say it was a beautiful mix of chaos and order, and a werewolf, it's amber eyes glowing as it glared at the dark figure growling, snarling and spitting, his eyes focused back on the Amalgam flying across the snowy surface. Its piercing Sapphire eyes were so full of power and it gave a mighty roar as it protectively jumped in front of Harry just as the dark figure raised its wand and a blinding flash of black light blazed before his eyes.
Harry shuddered at the thought of the nightmare. He had absolutely no idea what it meant, and the terrified feeling he had when he saw the cloaked figure was still fresh in his mind. What does this mean? Except for one thing the creature was a Chimera and that the thing didn't truly kill her. Wait, how did he know the Chimera was a girl?
He thought about it for a moment then decided he didn't care and fainted from exhaustion.
Ace was sleeping and then he saw an image of Harry and Mia under a magic mistletoe he could feel the smirk on his face and the cold in the air. He recognized this as a dream of the future as he Smirked before getting up and dressed.
To say Mia was a nervous wreck would be the understatement of the year. Her insides kept twisting painfully and the feeling of absolute dread has been creeping up on her ever since yesterday, when she had found out that Gryffindor and Slytherin would be taking flying lessons after classes the following day. Mia was usually one for trying new things or taking on a challenge, but when it came to heights, she melted into a puddle every single time. The idea of flying a broom so high up in the air at impossible speeds made her extremely uncomfortable, as she always imagined herself slipping off the side and tumbling to her death. Ace was amused that someone as tough as her could be scared of flying, and Mia had taken to punching his arm whenever he brought it up. Harry and Amy were both eager to the flying lessons, despite them having to learn with the Slytherins like Malfoy. Ever since the notice had been placed up in the Gryffindor common room, all anyone ever talked about was the flying lesson, and it was doing nothing to help Mia's nerves. Seamus Finnigan told everyone, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick and Ron would talk about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom. It was all getting annoying, and Mia found herself dreading the afternoon more and more.
Thankfully, there were others besides her who weren't too keen on flying. Neville had never been on a broom before, and he didn't look like he wanted to anytime soon. Hermione also was nervous about flying, and the morning before lessons, she spoke to both Mia and Neville about flying tips she had gotten out of Quidditch Through the Ages. Mia hung onto her every word along with Neville, hoping these tips would help her out later on, or at least try to calm her down some. Harry could tell Mia was nervous about all of this, so he tried giving her words of comfort while they ate.
"Don't worry about it so much Mia," he said. "It's only our first lesson, I doubt we'll even go a foot from the ground."
"Harry's right Mia," Ace added after finishing a rasher of bacon. "Only an idiot would try to zoom around on their first try-they'd be a spot on the ground in less than a minute."
Neville made a small whimper and Mia's face turned pale as she pushed her plate away from her, suddenly losing her appetite. Harry nudged Ace in the ribs while Hermione gave him a stern look. Just then, the mail arrived and the Great Hall was once again filled with owls streaming down towards their owners. Mia could make out Hedwig easily, and the beautiful snowy owl soared down towards Harry and dropped a letter into his lap before coming over to her and doing the same then going over to Amy and dropping a letter on her lap, only her letter came with a small package. Mia smiled as she picked off the note that was attached to the parcel and read:
Dear Mia,
How are you Dear? We miss you three, the Christmas holidays are much too far away! We are so glad to hear you are enjoying your classes, they sound wonderful. Here's another treat from us, we hope you and your friends like it.
Love,
Emmaline, Daniel, and Matthew
Deciding to read her letter later on, Amy placed both that and the note inside her bag as she started opening the parcel sitting in her lap, which turned out to be another box of sweets. This one had Mia's favourite, oat and raisin cookies, Harry's favourite, treacle tart, and Her favourite Chocolate muffins
"Harry, Mia look my mum made us some more sweets," Amy said, holding out the box to him. "Our favourites."
Harry's eyes went wide with excitement and Mia giggled as he quickly snatched some treacle tart out of the box. She offered some to Nev and Hermione, both of whom accepted gratefully (and because they were the closest) before they all got up to leave for their first class. The day went by way too quickly for Mia's liking, and before she knew it, all the Gryffindor first years were racing down the sloping green lawns of the castle, with Mia and Hermione still talking about flying tips. It was a beautiful breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they all walked across the grounds together toward a smooth, flat lawn. Mia saw that the Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Mia had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left. The mere thought made her stomach twist again, and she wanted nothing more than to go back up to the castle. When they finally got there, they saw Madame Hooch, their teacher, waiting for them
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Everyone did as they were told, and Mia glanced down at her broom, forcing herself to calm down. It's okay, it's just the first lesson, relax.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front. "And say 'Up!'"
"UP!" everyone shouted.
Mia saw Harry's broom jump right up into his hand immediately and she gaped at him. Hers started lifting itself off the ground a few inches, but then fell back down again. She felt a little discouraged, but kept trying. After the third time, her broom finally came up into her hand and she let out a tiny breath of relief. Neville's and Hermione's broom was still on the ground Amy had managed to get hers into her hand slightly before Mia had, and Mia could tell that Neville was still petrified and Amy was still nervous but excited. After a couple more minutes, everyone finally had their brooms in their hands, and Madame Hooch started going around and showing them the proper way to mount it. Mia went a little pink when Madame Hooch adjusted her hands so they were in the proper position and she saw that they were trembling. Harry saw this and tried to give her an encouraging smile. She smiled back at him weakly, trying to look braver than she felt. Once they all were mounted correctly, Madame Hooch went back up to the front row.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —"
Before Madame Hooch could even blow the whistle, Neville pushed off from the ground and rose high into the air. She yelled at him to come back down but from where Mia was standing, Neville had absolutely no control of his broom. He just kept going higher and higher into the air until he was well over twenty feet. Neville looked absolutely terrified and when he glanced down, Mia saw his eyes widen in fear. He started to slip off the side of his broom and Mia gasped as he started plummeting towards the ground. In the next second, but before Neville could hit the ground she heard a confident voice pronounce "Spongify!" Neville smacked into the grass and a soft squelching noise split through the air, making Theo snort. Madame Hooch quickly ran over to Neville's side and leaned over him.
"Bruised wrist come on now Mr Acheron I recall seeing you play at the Manchester under 17 quidditch tournament so I think you can miss this lesson," she muttered softly. "Come on, boy — it's all right, up you get."
She turned to the rest of the class as she helped a scarlet Neville to his feet, her yellow eyes sharp.
"Now Mister Acheron will you kindly take Mr Longbottom to the hospital wing and five points to Slytherin for an excellent example of the cushioning spell.
Mia thought Poor Neville, he must be so embarrassed and his wrist must be hurting him alot, she hoped the school nurse would be able to fix him up. Mia was broken out of her thoughts by the cackling of Draco Malfoy.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?" he laughed loudly but not loudly enough for Madame Hooch to discern what he said but loud enough for Madame Hooch to notice "Quiet Mister Malfoy, She said.
"Look" said Malfoy suddenly, running forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."
He was holding up Neville's Remembrall up for everyone to see. Mia narrowed her eyes and was about to go over and demand Malfoy hand it over, but to her surprise, Madame Hooch beat her to the punch.
"Give that here, Mister Malfoy," said Madame Hooch
"Fine" Malfoy muttered before handing it the the professor
After that they had zoomed on their brooms with Harry being the best in the class by a mile and after that he was only required to attend a test three days later but then would never have to attend a flying class if he didn't want to Ace earned that honour a week later, Malfoy,Dean, Ronald,Millicent Bulstrode and Amy earned it a month and a half later.
Five hours later in a private reading room it was A full moon so Amy wasn't there.
Harry decided the it was the right time to say something "So Amy's definitely a werewolf" he said
"Oh definitely" Ace agreed
"What are you talking about?" Neville said confused
"Amy is always sick on the full moon her eyes sometimes glow amber when close to the full moon," Harry said before continuing "her teeth are more fang like than Ace and he's a quarter vampire." Harry joked
Ace snorted "You don't have much room to talk with your horrific face." He snarked back making Harry laugh
Ace continued "she was attacked by Maria Stavros we didn't think she was infected just very grouchy around full moons' so what should we do should we tell her or…" Ace trailed of
"What?" Mia, Neville, Theo and Hermione said
Harry continued for him "The animagus potion we could become animagi but it's difficult, risky and would take awhile, but it would allow us to keep her company in her werewolf form…"
Theo said "but isn't that illegal?" he questioned
"No just not registering" Ace informed them
"But aren't there laws about animagi?" Neville asked
"Yes you have to register, give your markings and come in for a check up every five years and you can't attack someone as an animagus, but it's completely legal to become an animagus." Harry replied
"I don't know about this," Hermione said before continuing "We'd be breaking so many rules! Wait we would wouldn't we?"
Ace snorted before saying "No actually it's frowned upon, but neither illegal nor against school rules."
Harry decided to continue and said "Actually we might even receive points for it, and not everyone can do it, so we can just say Amy doesn't have an animagus form."
Neville looked sad and said "I don't know about this, Gran might be upset with me." Neville muttered
Ace looked confused and said "Why? becoming an animagus is a huge accomplishment, if anything she might be proud."
Neville's face lit up at this.
Theo looked completive and said "My Father died three years ago the ass that he was, my Mom would be upset but proud." Theo looked excited at the idea of becoming an animagus but worried about the scolding he'd receive.
Hermione still looked thoughtful
"Hermione we likely wouldn't be able to even attempt this till second year at the least." Ace reassured her
"And like accidental and general wandless magic the animagus transformation is untrackable, wandless and not illegal to do in the summer." Harry reassured her also
"But how would we do this?" Mia said whilst massaging her temples exasperated trust the two SlytherClaw's- (the name the student populous at large had dubbed Harry and Ace with Mia, Amy and Hermione being the Three Griffin's and Neville and Theo were dubbed wayward Hufflepuffs) -to come up with a highly morally ambiguous and seemingly equally effective plan to help Amy with her with her condition with seemingly one major flaw which they had most likely thought about.
Harry pulled a book out of his bag and placed it on the table the book was the one he got from Flourish and Blotts titled The Complete Guide to Transfiguration and The Theories Behind it by Antonin Fleamont Mia widened her eyes realising that a complete guide to transfiguration would definitely include the animagus transformation
Harry then announced "It even has the potion recipe, see here." Mia looked at the recipe and was slightly surprised to see a different recipe from the ones she had heard about, but it made sense that there had been some improvement at some point in the last hundred years as that was how old the recipe she knew of was, she was glad that it had instructions to use a sticking charm on the mandrake leaf alongside boiling it to remove impurities before placing on the roof of one's mouth, alongside replacing the dew with crystalline water (which was alchemical in nature) and instead of a lock of hair it required a single drop of blood, these changes meant that the mandrake leafs only needed to be stuck to the roof of the attempters mouth for two weeks instead of a month and it only required serious implement weather such as a electrical, snow or hail storm happening anywhere within 30 miles of the attemptor or potion and could be transported just not in direct sunlight or directly touched by a human, to say that Mia was surprised by just how much easier this method was to the one she read about.
Ace said "I personally think we should do this over either the Christmas break or the summer holidays in our second year, because Professor McGonagall would easily be able to tell.
After everyone agreed to the basic idea of the plan they decided to get some rest before talking about it tomorrow.
Whilst sleeping Ace had another vision.
A large troll in a girls bathroom he could smell the stench in his nose feel the tension in his whole body hear the screams of two girls one of whom he recognized as Hermione the other he recognized as Mia as the troll was covering black blood standing over the dead corpse of his best friend Harry Potter Neville looked to shell shocked to scream.