Jason woke up late on Sunday morning, for he was not looking forward to his detention with Grodo. He walked to the the Great Hall and looked around for Lucy. She walked in only a few steps behind him," Good to finally sleep in late," he said.
"I was actually down by the lake this morning," she coldly walked to the table and sat down, piling her plate with breakfast foods and focusing intently on her toast.
As he sat down, Richard steered away from him and Lucy, shooting hard glares anytime they made eye contact.
"He's such a bloody git, that Worsley," said Lucy in between sips of orange juice," He thinks just because he's captain he's a King and we're all these peasants he can bark at whenever he wants."
Jason stiffened up," I mean it's a bit annoying, but maybe we need a strong leader like him, you know, if we want to win the Quidditch cup this year? Hufflepuff hasn't won for how long now?"
"Not since before we were born."
Jason looked up approvingly," Well at least there's no expectations."
"With Richard there's always expectations," She said grudgingly.
Mitch and Michael Campbell sat down next to Jason, laughing mindlessly about something. Then, Jason and Lucy both spotted something that made them lurch. Claudius Flint was strutting into the dining hall, like he was a hot runway model, hand-in-hand with Julia Jenkins.
Mitch Campbell groaned disappointedly," Aww man. I don't want to see this."
Mike punched him in the arm," She blinded you with a conjunctivitis potion! Why should you care if she's dating some ugly-faced twat?"
Mitch folded his arms and slumped his head into them," She's the hottest girl in our grade! I was going to ask her out... eventually. Why would she care to date some broken-faced jerk like Flint anyways?"
Lucy piped up," What can you expect? Idiots are perfect for each other, they can happily harass some first-years on their first date together."
They all tried to awkwardly look away as they both sat down at the Gryffindor table and started snogging.
Mitch mumbled," That should've been me snogging Julia..."
Just then the owls soared into the Great Hall. Every morning, owls would sweep in and give students any mail they'd received. Jason didn't have his own owl, but in the wizarding world every family had at least one, because that was there way of keeping up with the world.
Lucy's owl, Rufus, dropped the Sunday edition of The Daily Prophet before landing on her shoulder and nipping at her ear.
"Hey — HEY!" Lucy swatted the beak away.
"Have this you beggar!" She forced a piece of toast into her beak and Rufus happily began to peck it apart before flying away to the owlery.
Out of nowhere, a letter and a box dropped from the sky and landed right besides Jason's plate. Jason looked up and saw one of the black school owls circling above his head, then flying off.
Jason picked up the white envelope, with the return address of 17 Shadow Drive, it was from his Nan and Mom!
Jason opened up the letter and recognized his mother's handwriting:
Dear Jason,
I hope your first week of school went well! When you write back you need to tell me everything that happened! Freya asked me to ask about your 'house,' though I'm not too sure what that means. She also asked me to ask you to write about a pretty girl that you met in Diagon Alley and whether you've asked her out yet.
You don't have to, your Nan's a little silly sometimes but she and I both miss you so much! I've found a job at a new restaurant downtown and they've appointed me as the Head Chef! I also went back to the city this week and cleaned out our apartment. Your friend Alexander stopped by and asked how you were doing. I didn't want to tell him you were going to Hogwarts but he was acting suspicious and he may have figured out what's going on... You didn't tell him about it, did you?
Make sure to study hard, make some new friends and don't get into too much trouble! I sent you some peanut butter cookies; Make sure to share some with your friends! Nothings a better olive branch than home-baked goodies!
I love you lots Jason, make sure to write back!
Love,
Mom.
Jason's heart filled his chest as he unwrapped the box of freshly baked goods and whiffed the holy ambrosial smell of the soul-made cookies. He sat delighted, embracing the love from his mother.
Lucy eyed his cookies desperately," So — uh."
Jason offered her the box and she joyfully grabbed two. They sat in silence as they indulged the heart-wrenching dessert.
Finally Lucy merrily exclaimed," Your mother—," She took another bite and spoke through a half-full mouth," Is the best woman I've never met."
"What'd she say in that letter?" She asked curiously.
Jason's cheeks turned pink," Oh uh nothing much really." Jason stashed the letter back into the envelope, too embarrassed to see Lucy read what his Mom wrote about her. How did Freya even know about Lucy? And why do grandparents always want there grandchildren to marry every person of the opposite gender they meet?
"Anything neat in the paper?" Jason asked Lucy.
She put it down neatly on the table," Just the same old stuff. Some old crazy journalist named Elizabeth Brown died of some unknown disease. I read some of her articles when they came in, she was barking all the time about how anyone with muggle lineage should be thrown into Azkaban, but even pureblooded wizards with superiority complexes thought she was radical. They'd have to arrest three fourths of the wizards in Britain if she had her way. Looks like Shacklebolt's appointed a deputy, Morgan Bishop, she's a bit old but tough as nails, wouldn't want to cross her that's for sure. She fought in both wizarding wars. In other news, bunch of goblins trying to get wand rights," she laughed mockingly," What a terrible idea."
Jason silently agreed, "Too bad Grodo's allowed a wand, seems like if you're half-wizard that's good enough to allow you one. Why don't they talk about changing that?"
Lucy shrugged," Half-humans usually aren't too harmful. Take Professor Hagrid, for instance, Will told me he's a half-giant, but he wouldn't hurt a fly. Grodo's a rotten egg, though. I've never really met another goblin besides him but if he's only half, then a full goblin can't be any better."
Speak of the devil, it was just about time for their detention. They slowly trotted up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, and labored inside. Grodo was sitting behind his desk, playing with his suspenders holding up his maroon-colored trousers.
He didn't talk much as he read the newspaper, only speaking to them to order them around," You!," He pointed towards Lucy," Lines! 'I shall not disrespect my teachers,' three hundred times." Then he turned towards Jason," Boy! Lines! 'I shall not skip class,' three hundred times!" Then he went back to flipping through his newspaper, grumbling about "Progressivists," and "Freeloaders." This went on for a while and Jason would occasionally look up to see Grodo reaching into his nostril with his cracked fingernails. He uncomfortably rushed to finish as quickly as possible.
It took almost an hour for them to finish their lines, and when they were done Grodo looked up disappointedly. "Hrmph," his nose was congested," I'm feeling very generous since it's only the first week. I want you two to go into the village and buy me a few groceries. Once you're back you'll be free to go, return within two hours, or it'll be another three hundred lines." He handed Lucy a list with a signed permission note on it.
As they left the classroom Lucy relished in excitement," Wow that was nothing! And look at that, a trip to Hogsmeade on our first weekend? We can go shopping and get butterbeers if we're quick enough!"
Together they strolled out of the castle and began on a path that treaded towards the village of Hogsmeade, a magical village that was situated adjacent to Hogwarts. Lucy looked longingly towards the lake and Jason remembered that she had been there already this morning," What were you doing by the lake?"
She stared straight ahead," I was enjoying the sun, since it's such a nice day and it'll be cold soon you know?"
Unsatisfied, Jason didn't pursue this question further. It only took a few minutes for them to reach the village.
Upon entering through the gate Jason was overcome by its personality. Much like Diagon Alley, the main street they were on was lined with shops, with wizards and witches milling about on their Sunday shopping sprees. There were arrays of backstreets as well, with hundreds of Gothic styled townhouses and old wooden homes stretching around the town, either up into the hills far beyond the town's center or right around the central square. There were many mainstream shops on the central avenue: Honey Dukes, a wizarding candy shop, was filled with young children packed inside with their uncooperative mothers, and The Three Broomsticks Inn was the largest building on the main street, which Lucy pointed out to him enthusiastically.
"Lets look at what we need to get for Grodo, then we can fetch a butterbeer afterwards at The Three Broomsticks," declared Lucy, looking at the list provided by Grodo.
There were a bunch of scribbles that Jason couldn't make out as he peered at the note from the side," He wants us to go to Barnav's Animal Emporium, and buy forty frogs! Is he mad?" Lucy cried out.
Jason didn't have a clue what Grodo would need forty frogs for besides saving them for a snack. They searched around all the different backroads of Hogsmeade before they finally stumbled upon the store through sheer luck.
They had to go through one of the backroads into a dark cobblestone alleyway. There weren't many people back there, and only two desolate shops stood amongst a few others with boarded windows. The alleyway was lined with barrels and Jason couldn't make out what was inside, some black tar-like substance spilled out of them. There was a pungent smell exhuming from the shop that they approached and a small wooden sign that stood outside of it, splitting with a large crack running down the center, Barnav's Animal Emporium, it read. There were no windows to the shop, just a heavy oak door with a rusty iron handle flanked by cobblestone walls that hadn't been cleaned for centuries.
Jason twisted the handle, and it groaned against his application of force, while the door hung so close to the floor that it didn't budge until Jason threw his weight against the door to push it open.
A store bell rang and the visitors were greeted by a chorus of animal noises. Frogs croaked, birds screeched and mice clambered against the side of their cages as light spilled into the dismal shop for the first time in days.
"I think this is where the smell came from," Lucy pinched her nose to reduce the musty smell while Jason tried to keep his breakfast down from the barrage of uncleaned feces.
The pathway from the door to the front desk was clear, while each side of the shop was composed of animal cages, filled with both magical and non-magical creatures. Jason tried to look straight ahead and walk towards the counter to avoid the depressing sight of the desperate and unloved creatures. A shiny glimmer did catch his eye however, and Jason was amazed to see a tortoise-like creature with six legs, but instead of a normal shell it was covered in jewels. The red rubies rose off its back, though Jason wasn't certain if they were rubies or something more valuable.
They waited by the desk, while the noises around them began to subside, and they heard movement coming from below the floorboards. Then, from behind the little desk a trapdoor swung open, and up came a young pale-skinned goblin girl.
Jason grunted. Just the thing he needed was another goblin to deal with. He looked at her large forehead revoltingly, she shared all the same features that most goblins had, a long nose and pointed ears, with a stocky build. Unlike all the goblins he'd seen before, this one had creamy black hair that nearly reached her shoulders in a bob cut. Her eyes were shockingly blue, like Lucy's, and she had a softened expression on her face, opposed to the greedy complexions he was usually accustomed to.
"Hello, how can I help you?" The goblin asked in a sweet yet nasally high-pitched voice. She wore a thin smile that pushed up her cheeks.
Jason sat there silent for a second until Lucy spoke up," We uh, need forty frogs, do you happen to have that?" She added on quickly," Not that we need it we're uh, getting it for someone else."
They were both visibly taken aback, they hadn't really cared to consider that there were a handful of goblin-owned shops in Hogsmeade.
The goblin rummaged around in a backroom for a while and emerged from the curtain with a small briefcase. "Would you like to purchase the briefcase as well? If not you can use it to bring your frogs to your friend as long as you return it back here."
Jason stumbled for words," Uh no that's fine, we'll bring it back. You can charge the school for the frogs."
Then, from beneath the trapdoor a second goblin emerged, this time an older man. His gray hair was long and ragged, like it hadn't been cut or maintained for years. He had a terrible look on his face because his jaw was unsymmetrical, as if someone had hit him with an uppercut, while half of the jagged teeth on that side were either holed or missing, and his face was in a permanent scowl.
Jason presumed this must be her father, Barnav, as he had the same blue eyes as her. He began to speak, but as words came out of his mouth in a raspy, harsh and incomprehensible tongue, Jason couldn't grasp anything that he said. He was speaking to the girl, with a rising voice. He shouted and barked towards her, and she flinched and nodded while her solemn blue eyes stared into the briefcase laying on the desk.
Barnav walked past Lucy and Jason without looking at them, he could barely fit through the tight backroom entrance with his large potbelly. "I'll be in the town, needa go get some ointment, can't just twirl a wand and fix our problems, can we?" He locked eyes with Jason harshly. He had a large rash on his forehead that was gushing red as he departed through the backdoor.
They thanked the girl as she began sweeping the floors of the dank room and they exited the shop.
Lucy burst into a rant as Jason stopped to look inside the briefcase," That damned Barnav thinks he's sly! Of course they don't have wands because whenever they do there's a war that breaks out between wizards and goblins! Would I love for there to be co-existence between wizards and goblins? Of course! But it can't happen, you see, it just never will. Goblins are just to sly and they won't stop until they've subjugated wizards the way we've subjugated them!"
Jason wasn't too sure how to respond," I'm not so sure. They're not human so I don't feel too bad about all that. And so far all the ones I've met have either wanted my money or stolen something from me and humiliated me in front of everyone. But then again, I've only met so many goblins in my life."
They walked away from the store as two serious-looking wizards passed into Barnav's shop. "Who are those?" Asked Jason.
"Aurors, probably going in to fine them for that illegal fire crab they had in there," Lucy was referring to the jeweled tortoise Jason noticed earlier.
They exited the alleyway when they were stopped by a young witch in a green robe. She had a phony smile on her face as she rushed over to Jason and Lucy. A piece of parchment paper and a quill floated next to her.
"Hi there! Would you be interested in signing a petition in support of a proposal to give goblins the right to carry wands? We already have two hundred signatures, and our goal is to reach one thousand and send it to the Wizengamot!"
Lucy and Jason gave each other a sideway glance and gave a syncopated response," No."
The girls phony smile shriveled up as she tried to lecture them," Well, I'll have you know that wand rights are of the utmost importance for a society in which goblins and witches and wizards are treated as equals! How would you feel if you had magic abilities, and you weren't allowed to use a wand?"
Jason stopped to consider this while Lucy grumbled, annoyed now," We're not interested in your petition. If your idea is to arm the beings that wouldn't hesitate to rob and overpower us, then you better keep your thoughts to yourself because they're rubbish!"
The witch stood back, unwilling to fight the lost cause before giving a "Hmph!" and walking away.
Jason and Lucy observed her robes flowing behind her when suddenly — BOOM
The ancient door to Barnav's crashed down into the alleyway, falling flat on its back while one of the Aurors they had passed before laid with his back on the door, groaning and rubbing his head. He slowly sat up on the door as Jason and Lucy ran towards him.
The former entrance to Barnav's was now just a cracked hole in the wall, and as Lucy helped the man up, Jason went through the hole to find Bartra, still behind the desk but now bounded by heavyset ropes that had come out of the other Auror's wand. She struggled to free herself but the ropes wouldn't budge," Untie me!" She demanded fervently.
The other Auror calmly reached down to the floor and grabbed a metal rod. Only, it wasn't just a normal metal bar like ones that were used for railings. It was thin, about as thin as Jason's wand, about a foot long, and it had engravings on it, along with a hilt!
"Good heavens!" The auror gasped in horror as he inspected the stick of metal," She's made herself an iron wand." He flicked the wand and a nearby cage with a rat in it floated up into the air.
The other auror had gotten to his feet by now and they were all gathered around him, intrigued by the magic metal," I've never seen anything like this... A metal wand, it's never been done!" Said the other auror, turning towards Bartra who had gone silent and defiantly returned his stare," You've got a lot of explaining to do, young girl."
"How'd you do it? Wands have only ever been made of wood for generations!" Lucy turned looked at Bartra who continued her plea of silence.
The auror holding the wand pocketed it and asserted," We'll have to take you back to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Headquarters. Not only are you illegally using a wand in violation of Clause Three of the Code of Wand Use, but you assaulted an auror," The auror's round face shook the way Jason's teachers would whenever they caught a student cheating on a test.
The more inquisitive auror repaired the broken door with a wave of his wand, putting it back into place like it had never fallen over. They wrote down Lucy and Jason's names for future witness statements, then grabbed hold of Bartra, who defiantly looked away from them all, and they disapparated from the shop.
Not too keen on sticking around and waiting for old Barnav to come back, Lucy and Jason hastily withdrew from the shop. They had spent so much time looking for the place that their two hours were almost up.
Walking back on the road to the castle, Jason couldn't help but notice that Lucy was constantly looking at the lake again. He didn't want to ask her what she was doing there, albeit he felt that she hadn't been entirely truthful about it. Lucy Gardener would not get up early in the morning to soak in the sun, Jason thought.
Another thing couldn't get off his mind: Bartra's wand. How would a relatively under-the-rug individual like Bartra come across such a wand? And how could she have made it? Jason supposed it was possible to make it in a forge, and goblins are said to be the finest metal smiths there are.
They dropped the briefcase off at Grodo's classroom who didn't even give them a 'Thank you.' But truth be told, Jason was glad to have the rest of the day off because the first week of school was perhaps the most hectic, yet thrilling week of his life.
The next few weeks went by more smoothly than the last as Jason developed a relative routine to his most adventurous stay at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was still behind in half of his classes, but he was making good progress. Jason found that he spent less time revisiting his textbooks, and more time studying with Lucy or with one of his teachers, who were having short 'check-ups' with him after classes.
In charms class, Professor Flitwick, a goblin-sized wizard spent only about ten minutes after every class teaching him new basic charms, and to Jason's rejoice, he was able to learn everyone and then master them later in practice. Though, Professor Flitwick would always mention that these were all spells that he should've known already, so it felt more like he was learning how to ride a bike while everyone else was driving a car.
He'd start off explaining the spell," The seize and pull charm, also known as the Carpe Retractum Spell, produces a retractable cord of light from the tip of your wand, and can pull an object towards you. If it's rooted in place, like a tree then you'll be pulled towards it!"
Jason would then attempt it in front of him," Carpe Retractum!" And this time, a great string of light shot out of his wand and latched onto a nearby textbook. Pausing for a second, Jason tugged back on his wand and the textbook came flying towards him, catching it in his hand.
"Very good Jason! You're a fast learner!" Professor Flitwick would exclaim as Jason performed the spell.
Jason looked forward to these small assignments after-class, especially since he was usually dismal during his actually classes. Though Professor Flitwick was always encouraging during his after-class sessions, Jason never saw much success during his pop-quizzes, which he continually flunked.
And if they learnt something new, it'd be a miracle if Jason got it on the first time. For instance, before his lesson of the seize and pull charm, they were learning a new spell, the Confundus Charm.
"I want you to try this spell on your partners and see if you can properly disorient them!" Flitwick said.
Then Lucy would try the spell on Jason, and Jason suddenly had no idea where he was," Are we in class right now?"
Lucy giggled," Yeah I just confunded you."
Once Jason recovered from his state of confusion he'd try the same spell on Lucy.
"Confundus!" He glossily looked at her," Uhm, are you confused?"
She shook her head. Then he'd try again and again but he simply could not work some of the more difficult charms. Discouraged after a while Jason would throw his wand on the table in frustration.
Lucy was usually not much help either for she'd always say the same thing," You'll get it eventually you just need to build up your skillset."