Light branched in through the windows of Jason's new dormitory as he stretched and got out of bed. Richard had already gotten up but everyone else was still fast asleep. Excited with the prospect that he'd finally start to learn things with real teachers, Jason rushed to dress, putting on his school robes and heading to the Great Hall for breakfast.
It was still fairly early so there weren't many people eating and the only person he knew that was sitting was Richard who had his large head shoved into a book, his hair combed to perfection.
Jason sat down opposite of him and took a plate with eggs, beans and bacon.
"So, what you reading?" Jason asked curiously.
Richard closed the textbook fully and showed him the cover, Magical Plants Found in Asia.
"I've a lot to study this year if I'm to get perfect O.W.L. scores. Herbology's been my weakest class for years now, and I dread my father's reaction if I get an E in such a valuable subject. Everyone says that Hufflepuff's are supposed to be good at Herbology but my plants are just never perfect." Richard looked around worryingly as if he'd said this too loudly.
Jason poked at his eggs," Tests aren't everything though, right? You're still a wizard either way, which is incredible in it of itself," Jason still glorified magic in comparison to his dull life before, where he could do no such magical things.
An annoyed look crossed Richard's face," O.W.L exams are the most important tests we'll have to take up to date! You realize that all the classes we take next year hinge on these scores? Not to mention they'll help indicate what jobs we can get in the future after we leave Hogwarts! I do plan on getting a job in the Ministry of Magic after school so I must do well! You should be more worried, you know. You've just started magic a month ago and you have less than a year to prepare for the most important tests of your life." Richard spoke so fast that he nearly spit on Jason's face," Can you even do basic summoning spells?"
"I can do the levitation spell," Jason said hopefully.
Richard snorted loudly," Yeah and that's something you do as a first-year. You better start learning fast."
Truthfully Jason had no idea what he was going to do after school. He'd always wanted to do something adventurous and he knew that after all those years of living inside of his apartment and barely being able to leave the city that he'd never be contempt with a desk job.
But then the worrying sickness flooded back into his stomach. Would he really be so much worst than all his classmates? Jason hated being bad at something, but he feared he'd be the worst at EVERYTHING, which was possible.
Richard dove back into his book as Jason continued to munch on his breakfast when more people started to enter the Great Hall. Lucy sat next to him, looking very tired.
She yawned loudly," Why do we need morning classes? I wish I could sleep in everyday like I did over the summer."
Jason agreed with her when Richard took his nose out of his book. "Lucy we've got quidditch trials this weekend, I need you to be there."
Lucy was almost too busy scarfing down beans to notice," Oh. Sure."
Professor Sprout came around passing out slips of parchment paper to everybody. She stopped when she reached Jason," Hello Jason, good to see you! We've asked each of your professors to give you additional assignments so that you can catch up with the common curriculum— and not fall behind," She handed him a parchment sheet.
Jason looked at it," Okay, thanks Professor!"
"I'll see you all later!" She gave a bright smile to Jason, Richard and Lucy as she went on.
Lucy took a look at Jason's schedule," Lets see: Herbology, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, double Potions, Charms, History of Magic eugh, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies! Wow! It looks like we've all the same classes together!"
Jason was confused," Why'd they put me in muggle studies? I think I'd already be an expert in that."
Richard rolled his eyes," Isn't is obvious? They don't want to give you another class that you'll have to learn multiple years of content worth. I hope you've studied enough before you got here because you'll easily be overwhelmed if you don't stay on top of things."
Lucy snapped at him," He's fine! Mind your own business, he doesn't need someone worrying him all day," Lucy turned to Jason," I mean, you'll probably have to study a little more than everyone else just to keep up but it's really not so bad, plus I can help you with the things I know." Lucy offered eagerly," And you can help me with muggle studies when I need it."
Jason was ecstatic," You'd really help me study? Thanks!"
A few months ago Jason would have never imagined anyone offering him help with schoolwork but he knew he'd need it and was grateful.
Their first class that day was herbology. Yesterday, Jason hadn't really gotten to see much of the castle since he had went straight to the Hufflepuff common room after the feast. But today, as he gazed upon the gigantic central staircase he realized that the castle was even bigger than it looked from the outside. The grand staircase was not one, but many different staircases sprawled around a central column that extended down to the dungeons and up to the peak of the tower. The rectangular space was dotted in thousands of different moving paintings, like the one Jason had seen earlier of King James. Luckily, most inhabitants seemed a lot more calm than the former monarch and many happily waved to students as they walked on by. Lucy started walking onto one of the staircases and Jason nearly missed it as it began to swing away from him and up to another door. It took about ten minutes to find their class and Jason was thankful to have Lucy lead the way because he surely would have been lost otherwise. Jason was used to navigating a city grid but everything about the castle seemed unordinary and foreign to him.
They met Professor Sprout in one of the greenhouses and she started off with a 5-minute lecture on the importance of their exams," O.W.L. exams, or Ordinary Wizarding Levels are taken by every 5th year student and are extremely important in determining what classes you can take in the future and what jobs you can qualify for after you leave Hogwarts. There are six possible scores: Outstanding (O), Exceeds Expectations (E), Acceptable (A), Poor (P), Dreadful (D), and Troll (T). The first three will earn you an O.W.L. and is a passing grade, but if you are to take Herbology again next year you'll need to score an E," Jason started feeling sick to his stomach, he barely knew anything at this point and now they were saying he wouldn't be able to proceed in his classes next year if he didn't do well. Maybe if he failed he could go back to high school, he thought. Jason immediately removed that thought from his mind.
"Now if you've struggled in any of your classes before this, I can guarantee you that with hard work and dedication, you'll be able to learn enough to do well on your examinations," Professor Sprout did not inspire to much confidence into Jason.
Jason partnered with Lucy, and Edgar spotted them and joined in as they attempted to extract the teeth from a fanged geranium, a nasty little plant that tried to bite you when handling it. It was a good thing Edgar joined because the pair was getting nowhere.
Lucy kept putting her hands into the pot to try and sever it's head from the roots and came up with bloody fingers each time.
Then, Edgar simply began to stroke the geranium's head and it immediately nudged up to him. While it was distracted and calm Jason wearily extracted the fangs from it's mouth. He had to tug a lot harder than he thought he'd have to, and considering Jason had never tended to a garden in his life he was pleasantly surprised when he successfully extracted all its teeth.
Of course, despite him saying he was incompetent in herbology, Richard Worsley had successfully removed all of his fanged geranium's teeth before Jason, even while working alone.
Their next class was transfiguration with Professor Arnold and the Slytherins. Jason sat at a desk with Lucy. Professor Arnold strutted into the classroom, emerald green robes flowing behind him in full confidence swinging his arms backward and forward. Immediately he held the entire class's gaze.
He spoke with a loud, strong and confident voice," Now I'm sure you're all wondering who I am, my name is James Arnold," He gave a dashing smile and Jason swore he could see Lucy lean forward in her seat," I'm a former employee at the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, and I specialized in magical objects. Although I'd love to tell you more about my former line of work I'm afraid I'd end up in Azkaban for spilling government secrets," he gave a haughty laugh and there was a comfortable response around the room.
There lesson was simple enough; They were all given gerbils and were instructed to turn them into a hamster. Arnold gave no instructions at first and simply watched the entire class have few successes with their transfigurations. Jason watched in amusement as Claudius Flint's smug friend from the train, Jack Avery, accidentally hit his gerbil with his wand. It retaliated by latching on as Avery swung it around in the air attempting to shake it off with a frightful look on his face.
Once Lucy had given up on their gerbil Jason took a crack at it. He tried to remember what he had read in his textbook. He pictured a hamster, not so different looking from the gerbil in front of him, blocking out every other thought in his head. He thought of its nature, a lot more calm and friendly than a gerbil, and then flicked his wand.
Before his eyes, the gerbil grew into a fat hamster with an adorable set of eyes.
Lucy suddenly became attentive," How'd you do that?"
He stared at the hamster, amazed," I just concentrated and thought about the hamster; I pictured it in my head." Jason grinned as Arnold walked over.
"Well done Mr. Thomas! It seems you haven't forgotten all that was supposed to be learned in the 4th year!" His white teeth lined up side-by-side in a big smile as he shook his hand, with an iron-tight grip," Ten points to Hufflepuff."
Jason looked over at Flint who was looking back at him with a horrible look of disgust on his face.
Maybe, he wouldn't be so far behind after all.
As they sat and ate lunch Lucy validated those thoughts," See what I told you? You'd be fine. Bloody hell you were better than me in transfiguration and by the looks of it you're a natural. Only you and Richard Worsley were able to switch those gerbils into hamsters without instructions."
Despite his initial victories Jason's day took a turn for the worst once they arrived at their Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Upon walking in, there was a giant dragon skeleton hanging from the high ceiling of the room. They were with Ravenclaw again so Edgar and Richard both sat with them at their long desk of seven along with Davie Macmillan, and to Jason's dismay, Ablah Shafiq and one of her friends sat with her towards the opposite end. Richard, who was sitting next to him gave a small groan that only Jason could hear.
They waited five minutes after the bell for their Professor but he had not shown up.
"He probably found a stash of gold on his way here," choked Mitch Campbell.
"I really hope he's not actually a goblin," Lucy said to him. And Jason, recalling his last interaction with a goblin, silently agreed, for that did not go so well.
After waiting for ages, the doors behind them burst open and Jason strained his neck to get a look at his professor.
Jason almost jumped straight out of his seat and he pushed off Richard's shoulder as he fixed his posture, stunned.
It was probably the last being on Earth that Jason expected to be in this classroom, but Jason's eyes did not lie to him. Professor Grodo's resemblance was too striking, the wicked paw scars across his face, the matted gray hair on top of his head, the bulging eyes, the long pointy ears and nose... Jason was certain; His professor was none other than the same thief who robbed him of his father's necklace no more than a month ago.
Jason's face contorted in horror as Grodo walked up towards the front of the classroom with a bad limp and a cane. He wore these tattered dark green robes that looked about a century old and unwashed for a century longer.
Richard whispered into his ear," For heavens sake Jason wipe that look off your face, who knows what he'll do if he sees you like that!" Jason, still stunned with this revelation tried to pull himself together but it was not so simple.
Rage began burning inside of him. He became red hot, like dynamite about to explode, and he resisted the urge to yell out, Would you care to share what you've stolen from me? Shaking, Jason could barely control himself.
He tried taking deep breaths, but he sounded more like a panting gazelle. He desperately wanted to confront him in front of the entire class, but he knew that wasn't so smart. The only person who knew about the theft was Sprout. He had to tell Sprout, right now.
He stood up as Grodo's back was to the board and he began writing something out in chalk. Lucy tugged at his robes," What are you doing?"
"I've got to see Sprout right now," he walked out of the classroom before Grodo could see him and as the doors closed behind him he broke out into a run.
He had no idea how, or why Grodo was a teacher! Jason began to visualize the attack again. He remembered the crazed look in his face when his hands were around his grandmother's throat... If he wasn't there she would've died, surely, Jason thought.
Faster he sprinted, praying that Sprout was alone in her office. As he arrived in the Herbology wing, he searched for the little office next to the greenhouses. Pomona Sprout read the name plate. He knocked aggressively on the door.
The door swung open from the inside and Jason stood face-to-face with the headmistress, Professor McGonagall. "Need something, Thomas?" She asked very plainly.
He tried to peer in to see behind her and he could see Professor Sprout sitting at her desk," Yes I really need to talk to Professor Sprout," He said worriedly.
"Very well then, we should be able to spare a few minutes."
McGonagall beckoned for him to come inside and Jason sat down at the chair opposite Sprout as the headmistress watched from the corner of the cramped office. There was a beautiful orange plant of some sort on Sprout's desk as she offered him a confident smile.
"So what could I help you with, Jason?"
Jason's heart beat against his chest but he figured he'd just spit everything out all at once. "So you remember the day that you came to my Nan's house and told me that I was a wizard?" Sprout nodded," And how the following night there was a goblin who broke into our house? Well the goblin who stole the necklace is Grodo." Jason looked desperately towards her as she exchanged a nervous glance with McGonagall.
Jason continued," The night of the attack there was a goblin, with scars across his face, a crazy look in his eyes, gray hair, I remember it all! I'm sure it was him!"
Sprout folded her hands across her desk and immediately Jason could see the doubt on her face. "This is very disturbing indeed. But, what you're saying is simply not possible."
"How come?" Jason asked angrily.
McGonagall spoke up," Professor Grodo was here at Hogwarts, for new teacher orientation and later, a meeting with the Ministry. He slept in the same room as the Minister of Magic himself on the night you describe."
Jason rebutted," But, you don't know that for sure! He could have snuck out." Even as Jason said it, he knew he was grasping at straws.
Sprout looked at him concernedly, her old tired face covered in wrinkles and her soft eyes full of compassion," Yes, that's possible. But when Freya described the attack to me, she said the assailant dived out of your sitting room window. Professor Grodo is an elderly wizard, he can hardly walk without his cane. It is entirely possible that you're mixing him up with a different goblin."
Jason was stupefied, how could he have pulled this off? Evading the teachers here at Hogwarts, just to come and steal from him? He risked it all just for some stupid necklace.
"I know what I saw, I'm sure it was him. You need to at least investigate him or something," Jason felt like he was being gaslighted into mis-believing his eyes.
Sprout grimly shook her head," There are many goblins that look similar to one another, and why would Professor Grodo risk his entire livelihood for a simple piece of jewelry?"
Jason tried to make words come out of his mouth but the way Sprout described things made his theory seem unlikely and all he ended up doing was shutting it again as McGonagall made her point," I'm certain that Mr. Thomas would not lie to us, and though it seems very likely that he is mixing him up with another goblin, I've learned that it's quite foolhardy to dismiss a student's opinion."
Sprout nodded in agreeance," We'll investigate this matter and question the Professor but I think it's best if for now, Jason, you return to class. There's currently no proof of these serious accusations so he will remain innocent until proven guilty, and I'm afraid the word of a singular teenage wizard isn't enough verification to send Professor Grodo to Azkaban."
Jason's head rocked back, defeated. He knew that they'd ask Grodo a couple questions out of courtesy and come up with nothing, and there was no proof he had to give them besides his word, so he'd get away Scott free.
But Sprout's word was clear. Jason must have mixed him up with someone else, as she told him. As he left the office he felt like a little child, like his word meant nothing. He slowly walked back to his class. Maybe he imagined the thief at first? He walked up a staircase as Peeves the Poltergeist, a rebellious and chaos-inducing school ghoul, appeared from underneath him. He was dressed like a jester in bright blue and red clothing with a sadistic look on his face.
"Wandering the halls during class I see? Must have a lot of gusto to be as brave as you!" He rolled his head back and howled with laughter, then pulled out a dung bomb and launched it at the floor right at Jason's feet," How dare you throw such objects in the hallway? I'll have to fetch Filch!" Jason coughed and sputtered as the terrible smell of rotten eggs besieged his lungs. He now sprinted up the stairways and ran the rest of the way back to class with Peeves laughter echoing behind him.
As much as he didn't want to go back to class it would be far worst to be caught skipping by Filch. Mitch Campbell told him that he got caught being late to class after sleeping in too late once, and Filch had him scrub the steps of the grand staircase with a toothbrush during the day, as people walked by and he tried not to fall off as they moved and floated about.
Not to mention, Jason wanted to double-check and make sure his eyes were not fooling him.
But, as he re-entered the classroom his eyes confirmed his belief; Grodo was the necklace thief.
Unfortunately for Jason this wave of assurance stopped him dead in his tracks as he walked in through the door. And perhaps if he had went right back to his seat, Grodo wouldn't have even noticed him coming in. But Jason lingered for too long, for when he gathered his wits and tried to sit next down to Lucy, Grodo turned around and caught him red handed.
His eyes seemed to shoot out even further from their sockets as his mouth cringed wickedly and he pointed a fat finger at Jason with a set of long unclipped fingernails.
"You boy!" His voice gargled harshly; He sounded like he smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. "Playing hooky during my class?"
Grodo awaited his response and Jason gritted his teeth as he resisted the urge to yell out but instead looked towards the ground," No Sir."
Grodo sickly yelled out in rage, like someone with extra phlegm in their throat as he chucked the eraser in his hand at Jason's head. Jason ducked, the eraser hitting the wall behind him with a loud thump.
Grodo hobbled over to Jason's desk as the whole class stared between him and Grodo in shock, and something did register in Jason's mind, which was that Sprout had been correct about the usage of his cane; He'd hardly be able to walk without it.
The table shook as his fist came slamming down right in front of Jason and he came eye to eye with him, only about a foot away from his face. Jason felt intimidated by the goblin now but did not back away or sink down in fear. He could see now that he was missing several yellow teeth as they clenched together brutishly, and his ghastly breath nearly made his eyes tear up but Jason did not want people to think he'd cry.
He actually lowered his voice to a threatening hush, which was somehow a lot more intimidating than before," You dare lie to my face in my classroom," The lines on his face crossed in disgust," You must think you're smart, don't you? Why else would you not need to be in my class?"
Jason grimaced at the hypocrisy and was fighting back the urge to scream into his face and put his hands around his neck like he had done to Freya.
Lucy stood up," Professor, I told you he was in the bathroom! He didn't know he was supposed to ask!"
Jason was able to breath again as Grodo took his eyes off him for a split second as he yelled at Lucy now," Sit down Gardener, I'm tired of your lies and I've heard them already! I'm sure you know where he went! What, you think I wouldn't know? How stupid do you think I am?"
"Pretty stupid," Lucy blurted out, now red in the face. But even as the words left her mouth the shock on her face and the rest of the class told Jason that she crossed the line.
Grodo clenched his fists tightly and Jason thought he was about to throttle her by the neck but he instead resorted to his favorite way of interacting with students and started to scream his head off," HOW DARE YOU?! FROM THE MOMENT YOU'VE STEPPED FOOT INTO THIS CLASSROOM YOU'VE SHOWN NOTHING BUT DISRESPECT! TWENTY POINTS FROM HUFFLEPUFF, EACH! BOTH OF YOU, DETENTION!" Spit flew into his face like hail and he raised his hand to shield himself from the onslaught.
Seemingly having ended his rant, Grodo hobbled back to the front of the classroom and banged his fist on the chalkboard, indicating the words he had written. Relieved that he was no longer the center of conflict, Jason looked around the room and everyone had serious looks on their faces as they tried not to draw the Professor's attention. Davie looked like he was about to throw up and Richard gave Jason a sympathetic smile as he turned again towards the board, but Grodo was not finished with him yet.
There were about twenty spells written on the board as Grodo returned to whatever he was saying before Jason had come in," As I was saying, before I was interrupted," he glared at Jason," These twenty spells are something you all should be familiar with, as they are non life endangering and are absolutely essential as you should have learned in previous years."
"Thomas! Gardener!" Since you two are so smart why don't you help me demonstrate them as a simple revision for the class." He motioned for them to stand up. Lucy rose next to him and Jason scanned the spells on the board. He recognized most of them, they were relatively basic spells: disarming, stunning, protection, knockback. The only problem was that although Jason had read about these spells in his spell books, he hadn't actually gotten the chance to practice them with anybody. This thought clouded his head as he walked to the front of the classroom and Lucy stood across from him.
"I'll be a bit nicer and allow you to pick whichever ones you want to do on the board, while Miss Gardener can help you test them out," Grodo said, and a thought crossed Jason's mind that Grodo may have been a bit embarrassed at his outburst, but he pushed the thought away as he kept scanning the board trying to find a spell to use.
He kept looking at the board over and over, trying to find something he knew but he didn't know how to do any of them. Grodo waited patiently as Jason nervously turned towards Lucy, still unsure as to what spell he'd use. The entire class was staring up at him, judging him, trying to decide if the transfer student was any good at magic or not. This was his moment, the moment he needed to show everyone he was someone to be reckoned with. He gulped and looked back at Lucy, her face contempt and unfaltering.
He looked behind her towards Ablah Shafiq, the haughty prefect from the train and as they made eye contact a slick grin erupted onto her face and he could tell then, that she knew that he didn't know anything.
Shaking now he pointed his wand at Lucy, and he flicked his it guessingly, for he could not remember any of the wand motions as he had read in the textbook, and he sputtered," Expelliarmus!"
To his amazement a trail of light flew out of his wand as he spoke his disarming charm, but his amazement immediately turned to embarrassment as the trail of light flew right back at him and hit him square in the chest.
The class fell into laughter as Jason's wand broke out of his clutch and flung across the classroom.
Jason had disarmed himself with his own spell.
His face turned into a tomato as he briskly crossed the classroom to retrieve his wand from Lucy, who had picked it up already and handed it back to him.
The class couldn't seem to stop as Mitch Campbell doubled over, nearly falling off his seat and Ablah Shafiq's eyes teared," I've seen monkeys do that spell better than you Thomas!"
Grodo was not laughing but waved towards Lucy and Jason to sit down," Enough! We're here to learn and I doubt many of you are much better."
Jason went back to his seat and gratefully noticed that neither Edgar nor Richard showed the slightest of smiles but nonetheless he attempted to bury his head in his arms for the rest of the class.
Once the long hour was up Jason didn't even attempt to ask Grodo for his additional assignments and left the class in a hurry.
Lucy ran to catch up with him and had to raise her voice for him to stop," Hey! What was that about?" She yelled angrily, grabbing his arm and squeezing it, forcing Jason to turn back around and face her. "I just got detention for sticking up for you so it better have been something important."
Jason decided to tell her everything. Students passed them in the hallway as he whispered the entire story to her, how Grodo was the thief from his house, what Sprout and McGonagall told him, and how he was the one who almost killed his Grandmother.
"That foul git! I knew he was nasty, but that's completely mental! God knows why they made him a teacher here." Lucy's nose flared fire as she checked over her shoulder, checking that Grodo wasn't behind them," He could still have your necklace you know? I just can't wrap my head around why he wanted it in the first place."
"I haven't got a clue,"
Lucy raised her eyebrows," Maybe he's got some sort of personal connection to it. He's half-goblin, so he certainly knows his way around a metal shop. Who's to say he wasn't the one who made the necklace originally, sold it to your grandfather's family, and now he wants it back since he passed away?"
Jason thought about this and nodded his head," That's still crazy to me but it's the only explanation we've got."
The day went quickly as Jason couldn't put his thoughts to rest. Lucy offered to teach him how to ride a broomstick but Jason was too distracted to enthusiastically accept this offer.
There was one thing he was sure of, though, that no matter what his professors said, Grodo was the thief.