Back at it again with another chapter!

Just a heads up, there may or may not be a pause in posts next week, as I will be on a family vacation, while also looking at guillotine options. (If ykyk)

So, I think it's a good a time as any to start classes. This will be a split chapter, and will start with Merlot receiving her class schedule. This should give everyone pretty good idea of how her year will go.

I have some additional things included for her in her schedule, which you will find out about soon enough.

In addition to that, I'm also going to do classes a little differently. In the first book of this series, I split class chapters between two classes, tending to focus on one more than the other, or causing a clear divide between them.

From now on, I have decided that class chapters will have some character development and plot progression, while the central chunk of the chapter will be lessons taught by professors. For example, this chapter holds a transfiguration lesson for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw second years, which talks about the vanishing charm and explains its uses. The blocks of text used for Minerva McGonnagals teachings will be long and descriptive, with the best explanation of the magic being taught, which will be followed by visitations into other groups of transfiguration magic.

As we progress, most Professors will have their entire year go hand in hand with a specific topic, which could be seen as an advanced study. For example, in the canon world of Harry Potter, the patronus charm is seldom discussed in Flitwicks charms class. In this story, he will mix it into his classes for fifth years and above, starting in the third book. This allows me to do a few things.

1.) I have the excuse as to why so many younger students are accomplished with the patronus charm, especially as it is mentioned that Harry's first corporeal patronus is something that impresses the wizengamot, as well as the rest of those who hear about it, but when another student performs the charm it is just brushed off. (Yes, the charm might be more or less powerful, but a patronus is a patronus. Corporeal Patronus's are said to be rare.)

2.) It allows me to make the dementors a much more threatening presence in the next book. With what I have planned for the convicts of Azkaban, the focus on the dementors will be all the more powerful, and with so many traumatized characters, there will be a lot for them to be drawn towards.

3.) None of the death eaters ever learned the patronus charm, with the exception of Severus Snape. I believe that in having the students who will one day become death eaters learn the charm, it will make them uniquely qualified to dealing with the guardians of Azkaban, and play a large role in Voldemort taking control of the colonies of dementors themselves.

As I said, many of the classes will have these focuses. Some may change over the years, some may remain the same. As we go on, keep in mind that these focuses on advanced magics will each play their roles in plot progression, and will open up discussion for the explanations of magical functions in their entirety.

Also, please keep in mind that some of these magical explanations are my own. I have read the additional material such as the beginners guide to transfiguration. I believe that giving my own personal touch to some of this magic makes it blend into the story all the better, though some of the explanations can be rather scientific…

With that tangent done, let's continue

—0—

Merlot shook the haze of sleep away as she sat groggily at the Hufflepuff table. The start of the year celebration had gone off with a bang, the usual wild Hufflepuffs. Despite his attempt as a new prefect, to keep things minimal, Cedric could only do so much, and the party was actually a bit more brilliant because of it.

There weren't as many things cluttering up the commonroom. A lot of the chairs had been moved around, creating a large ring that faced the middle of the room. With the vanishing of the tables, there were no places for any of the older Hufflepuff girls to dance for their partners. Of course Cedric was led to believe this was a good thing. It also prevented a lot of bumping into said tables, and that led to more rowdy dancing.

Of course, there was still the food and drinks. The other prefects had hidden that, before setting up a table last minute, which was a little overkill, especially because they had overestimated how much they would need.

So, Merlot got her first taste of firewhiskey, though nobody else would know that, except Hannah, and maybe a few of the upper year girls.

It was only a sip, sue her.

Of course, a little body was more effected by Alchohol. So even if it was what amounted to half a shot, it was still enough to have its way with her come morning. That coupled with the fact that she stayed up a bit longer than normal, well. It made for the wonderful morning that she was having.

"One for you. And one for you."

Merlot looked up to see Cedric walking down the table during second breakfast, handing out parchment along with small bags of what looked like candy.

' Oh god no…'

The other prefects were doing the same, popping a candy every so often themselves. Finally, Cedric made it to her and Hannah.

"Here you are Merlot. Schedule aaaand a bit of candied ginger."

Merlot looked at the sweet with a bit of a twisted frown. "Why ginger?"

"Well, it's good for the morning after some of Ogdens. Don't think I didn't see you and your classmates."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Merlot grumbled, snatching the ginger from the boy.

"Yeah, and neither does Hannah." Cedric nodded, pulling the girl from the table.

"Snrk!* Oh, did I fall 'sleep?" The girl managed to get out.

Merlot sighed. "Yeah… yeah you did."

"Mmm… How long we got?"

"Second breakfast just started."

"A'right. Gimme five minutes mum." Her head flopped back down with a thunk, yet she stayed asleep on the table.

"Okay, so we had a bit of something to drink." Merlot shook her head. "But it wasn't much."

"Not for you, but Hannah over here partook of alcohol on multiple occasions last night. A few shots at most, not many. But I am sure that you won't do it again."

"I won't, that's for sure. Not until I am older." Merlot popped a piece of ginger in her mouth. The taste was quite strong, but it settled wonderfully in her stomach.

"Good, you are still only second years. You should not have been anywhere near that table." Cedric shook his head. "Believe me, I will be making changes to the party come next year. Now, here's your time table."

Merlot took the parchment from the boy with an affirmative nod. "Oh… I start with History?"

"Binns always does second years first thing. The rest of your schedule should be to your liking." Cedric nodded. "Professor Sprout said so herself."

Merlot nodded. "Binns is first, then I have Potions. Oh, Snape will love me today… It's a double block though, which should be nice. After that is Charms with Flitwick. Then lunch. Transfiguration, followed by a free period. I know what that is there for, I will pen that in myself. Then I have Defense and I finish with herbology. That gives me quite a bit of the day to work with."

Cedric nodded. "That does sound good. I wish my schedule were so simple… You should finish your classes around four o'clock with that, and then we'll have dinner at the normal time."

Merlot nodded. "Right. Well I also have time to work with someone noted at the bottom. It says ' See professor Babbling in your free time.'"

"She teaches ancient runes. Probably impressed with your work in the field." Cedric nodded. "I read your book by the way. It's quite informative."

"I'm glad you liked it." Merlot nodded. "I may pay her a visit. I definitely have enough time."

"I'm surprised you didn't choose any electives this year. And you don't have muggle studies…"

"I grew up in the muggle world for the most part. My father requested that I am exempt from the class." Merlot nodded. "He said I might scar some of my classmates…"

Cedrics brow furrowed. "You… aren't pureblood?"

"No." Merlot sighed. "I am not. I lived with some rather evil people before Scortwit found me. Thanks to the goblins, I am his now."

Cedric nodded. "Blood adoptions have been quite restricted in recent years. But your case seems to pass all of the checks for them. I am happy that you found a nice family. If you ever need to talk-"

"I'm okay, thanks." Merlot spoke quickly. "Really… thank you. I'll give Hannah her schedule."

She watched as Cedric walked away, a frown on her face. In reality, she hadn't gone through a blood adoption. But if she denied it, questions would be asked. Merlot preferred to let the conversation reach its end.

' It's less awkward that way.'

Looking down at her schedule once again, Merlot made a mental note to prepare the proper books. She was excited about what she would learn in her second year, and even if Lockhart was a fraud, his classes would certainly be fun.

With a smile, she tapped her wand on Hannah's head and spoke a handy spell she had come across in one of her books, causing the girl to sit up with bright eyes.

"Whazzat!"

"Hey Hannah, schedules."

The girl blinked and picked her time table up, running her eyes over it before giving a nod. "Nice. Wow I feel great. What spell was that?"

Merlot stowed her wand with a smirk. "A little something I picked up. Don't worry, the energy I gave you will last until the end of classes. Should be good enough for the effects of ast night to wear off."

Hannah grimaced. "If I ever Stimson's buttocks flashed across the commonroom again, it'll be too soon."

"Give it a year, you'll see them again."

Hannah groaned and held her head. "No thank you. Well… Says we have history of magic first. Maybe I can get a bit of extra rest."

"History of magic is an incredibly interesting class if you were to pay attetion. When you ask Binns the proper questions, he can give some rather enlightening answers."

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."

—0—

"Now, with a swish. Repeat after me. Evanesco."

The entirety of the class repeated the spell back to Professor McGonnagal, gaining a smile for their efforts. "Marvelous, five points to each of your houses. Now, vanishing is one of the key components of transfiguration. Can anybody tell me why?"

Morag Macdougal raised her hand, and was called upon by the professor.

"Ma'am. Vanishing is the opposite of conjuration, which many consider to be the ultimate form of transfiguration."

The professor nodded. "Indeed. Conjurtion is in it's own right, one of the most difficult magics to learn. There are few who can wield the magic necessary, with the fine control needed, to conjure items- even when adults! If I were to give a rough estimate, roughly ten percent of wizards and witches worldwide can manage the feat. Yes mr. Finnegan?"

"I've seen a lot o' wizards conjure things before. Is that because a lot of wizards in Britain are talented enough to do it?

"Yes and no." With a wave of her wand, a bowl appeared in the professors open hand. "As you can see here. A porcelain bowl. Completely solid, and delicate." Students flinched as she let the dish fall, but it vanished before hitting the ground. "What I have just demonstrated is what many wizards and witches can do. It is incomplete, merely a solid illusion. When I stop putting magic into the bowl, it fades away. It is quite easy to do, though younger ones may struggle with it. I imagine you will all be able to perform these types of transfigurations regularly by the end of your schooling here at Hogwarts, however very few of you will properly be able to use whole conjuration magic. Now, do not worry, like I said, it is exceedingly rare for one to be able to use such magics. I only know of four students in the school currently who can do whole conjurations and seven tht can do partial conjurations. All of them are seventh years."

The class nodded as the Professor flicked her wand, conjuring a stool which she sat down upon. The stool, unlike the bowl, did not vanish. In fact, it seemed quite solid, quite real.

"True conjuration is difficult, because in order for a practitioner to use it, they must push magic into what they wish to create, before locking it in place. Yes mr. Thomas?"

"Wouldn't you have to keep supplying it with magic?"

McGonnagal nodded, her lips twitching upwards a bit. "Excellent question. Not exactly. When you freeze an item into its desired shape, you mould the magic into it, before holding it in place until it settles. Now, those with enough control and power can push the magic to settle more easily. The magic you use is enormous, which is where the vanishing charm comes in. Could anybody tell me why?"

"Yes, mr…"

"Mr is fine for now professor. I'm still working on that." Ron smiled. "Vanishing works by taking the magic out of something, reducing it to its base building blocks and causing them to dissipate harmlessly into the air. These building blocks are so small that we can't perceive them with our eyes alone, and so the object appears to vanish. Of course, this is more like deconstruction than pure vanishing. In fact it is why vanished objects don't just pop out of existence, but seem to ripple a bit and fade away. When we vanish an object, the magic inside it will trickle into the air, and is known as ambient magic. Many spells work off of ambient magic. It's why a wizard could cast the spell Arresto Momentum without tiring themselves easily. It doesn't exhaust us as much as other spells do, mainly because it works by channeling the ambient magic around a target, instead of through the caster."

"Excellent." The professor nodded. "Such a well worded answer deserves ten points to Gryffindor. Now, as it was said, yes. The magic within the object vanished will then leak into the air. Remember, magic is a kind of energy. It ebbs, it flows. But it can be directed. Vanishing takes concentration, and the spell itself is directed through the user, which can tire them out considerably. However, it does have a peculiar way of interacting with conjuration. You, who I called on before. Would you mind coming forward for a demonstration?"

Ron nodded, standing up and drawing his wand. Professor McGonnagal smiled at him and picked up a quill from her desk, placing it on the stool she had been sitting upon. "Wave your wand as I had explained, and repeat the incantation. Imagine the feather vanishing, all of its magic disappearing along with it."

Ron smiled and nodded. With a swish and flick of his wand, he spoke the incantation aloud, causing the feather to vanish.

"Well done. Now! Stay right where you are. Point your wand at the same place, swish and flick, and use this next incantation. Plumus."

Ron nodded and gavce his wand a swish and flick, repeating after the professor. There was no drain on his stamina as the feather returned to normal, which he demonstrated by simply remaining standing. The class gave a round of applause.

"Well done. Well, as you can see, the feather is back from whence it vanished, and this young student is still standing, and as awake as ever. Why do you think that is? Yes Miss Granger."

"Ma'am. He took the magic that had once been in the feather, and put it back into its base materials, recreating the feather as it was, without chaneling magic through himself."

"Excellent. Take ten points to Ravenclaw." The professor nodded. "Indeed. Anything that is vanished, can be reconjured without causing magical strain. Of course, that is as long as the magic isn't pulled into a new spell. This is the easiest way to perform conjuration, and is known amongst masters of the art as a fools summoning."

"Like fools gold!" One of the Gryffindors spoke up.

"Quite right you are! You see, the wayward shopowner may vanish a cabinet or trunk easily as they see customers moving towards their shop, before reconjuring it to the delight of those same customers. It is a trick used by conmen, however, it is still useful. For example, many years ago, as we all know, wizarding Britain was involved in a civil war. Some duelists used simple conuuration spells, such as sagitta to create arrows to launch at enemies. One could always avoid something like that, or they could vanish it, and reconstitute the magic into creations of their own. Arrows after arrows would be easy, but to a learned combatant, arrows can become knives, spikes of ice, boulders, roots from the ground. The possibilities are limitless. That is why this year we will be focusing especially on the vanishing charm, along with all of its iterations. For today, I want each of you to pick up a pebble from outside, or maybe a twig or some dry leaves, and use that as your focus for the spell. We will go over new variations of the charm every week to two weeks, while also learning some of our standard transfiguration spells. Now! If you do not get it on your first try, do not fret. This is advanced magic for your age, but I believe that each and every one of you have the capacity for it. Understood? Wonderful. That marks the end of todays class, so trot off to your next professor. You don't wish to be late."

Professor McGonnagal tapped her wand on the stool she had conjured, causing it to vanish. The students all applauded before collecting their notes and books, stuffing them into bags as they made their way to their next lesson.

Ron himself chose to stay behind for a moment, walking down to speak to his professor. She had without a doubt, not recognized him, and he was dreading the conversation with her. Nevertheless, he knew it was what he had to do. He was signed on to be her apprentice this year, after all.

—0—

Ginny hunched down in her room. Her first class had been charms, and now she had a free period to use, so now she stayed in her lodgings, hiding from her classmates until she would be drawn back to classes.

They were terrible. Yes, magic was fun. But it was less fun when it was directed at you. She had been hit by so many tripping hexes on her way up the stairs, she believed every single one of the 'innocent' students behind her had taken part. Draco had to, and while it made her laugh when he turned the stairs into a ramp and forced the entire class to be late to Flitwicks room, it was still bittersweet. The girl had just barely made it to Flitwicks classroom before her legs had begun to bruise and swell.

Though she was somewhat safe in the classroom, that didn't mean she was completely safe. Her hair had been tangled by discreet spells and her skin had turned red and itchy, as if she had bathed in a patch of ivy. Professor Flitwick had seen her itching and had remedied the curse, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly who aimed it at the girl, and so he had only given his class a warning.

The walk back to her room had been painful. There were no tripping hexes, but at one point someone had hit her full force in the shoulder with a stinging charm, nd her arm had gone limp.

Fred and George had at least seen that one, as had Draco Malfoy. She had been shepherded away by the twins as the angry slytherin took care of one of his own housemates.

From the whimpers that came from the commonroom, he had not gotten off as easily as he proclaimed.

Ginny wiped tears from her eyes as feeling began to return to her arm. She rolled her shoulder a bit as she stood up, walking to her desk and sitting down.

Her diary sat open on her desk already, a quill sat beside it, freshly cut and primed to write. All of her thoughts, all of her misgivings.

She needed an outlet.

With a dip of the quill, she began to scratch out her words.

- Monday, September 2nd,

Dear Diary,

A lot has been building up to this. When Ron was cast out of the family, I began searching for a way to cope. He was the youngest of my brothers, and yet, he cares for me more then they do. Fred and George taught me spells, Charlie and Bill gave me gifts. Percy scolded me where mother wouldn't, but Ron protected me. He took the blame when I broe a vase. He snuck out with me to show me how to ride a broom. The only girl and yet my brother didn't care. We were friends as well as siblings.

Now he's different. He no longer has our red hair. His freckles are all fading away, one by one. He has embraced his gift and yet, it makes me so nervous. What if he doesn't come back?

I have lived with this fear now for many weeks, and now it has shifted to me. I have been sorted into Slytherin house, which is renowned for its graduates becoming dark wizards. My mother will be furious. Percy is already upset. The twins do their best to guard me and Ron… he's here, though without our family name. He does his best to protect me while he himself struggles to survive.

The other students send curses at my back, even the Slytherins. Ron's friend Draco has protected me when he can. He gets back at them too. But it's not enough. I have only been to one class now, and I'm afraid to leave my room again. I hope the professors will step in soon.

-Ginny

Venting through her writing calmed her nerves slightly, and she gave a nod before cleaning the nib of her quill and setting it down, pausing as she saw her writing disappear. Blinking, Ginny got closer to the small book, watching in awe as golden letters wrote themselves onto the page.

· Such a tragedy, to see Slytherins fall so low as to ostracize their own.

Quickly picking up her quill, Ginny wrote back.

· You write back?

· Indeed I do. Hello miss Ginny. It is miss and not mister, am I correct?

· Yes. Yes. Yes! You aren't a prank… are you?

· Far from it my dear. In fact, I am a memory from a time of Hogwarts past, and I can help you.

Ginny blinked at the diary. Would writing to it make her insane? Was she crazy for even believing there was writing there. It was most definitely there…

But oh, it listened to her story. It comforted her. Could it really be that bad?

· A memory. Do you have a name?

The writing vanished, and the page remained blank for a time. Ginny slumped in her seat. Maybe it was too good to be true.

She brightened again as she saw the golden lines appear once more, lengthening and twirling into their spiralling font.

· My name is Tom. Tom Riddle.

—0—

Like I said, some plot progression, some learning. I hope you enjoyed the beginning of classes. I had a lot of fun writing about Vanishing and Conjuration. Of course, there will be more explanation on the topic later in the story, probably around book 5 or 6.

Sorry about the wait. I'm currently on vacation with my family, so I wanted to make sure I'd have one chapter I could just quickly post halfway through our trip so that I wasn't gone for an entire two weeks.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed. Leave a review and until next time,

Adios.