Chapter 30: Settling In Part 1
"Hurry up, Ron!" Ginny yelled as she ran up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Ginny, it's fine!" Ron called back, annoyedly walking up the stairs.
Harry yawned groggily as he followed behind Ron. "What's wrong with her today?" He asked.
"It's her first day. She's just nervous. I think." Ron replied.
"You know, we wouldn't be so sleepy if your daft cousin didn't ask us so many questions last night." Ron said to his best mate.
"It's his first year too. And he's in a worse spot than me." Harry replied.
"Yeah, it would be hard coming from one of the most hated families Gryffindor has heard of. Luckily, he is in Ravenclaw and not here. He would probably be in a world of pain if he were here." Ron responded.
"I really need to explain to people he was the good one." Harry groaned.
As the two arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, they gazed upon her in all her chubby glory. Looking at the students, she cleared her throat.
"Password?" The Fat Lady asked.
"Chocolate Frog!" Ron called out in tired irritation, rubbing his eyes.
"Incorrect!" She replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"What the bloody hell, woman?! That was the password last night!" Ron snapped.
"That was the old password, second years. Try again." The Fat Lady sternly said, before fanning herself a bit.
"I will handle this. The password was changed this morning after the Sorting." Percy sighed, stepping forward, and clearing his throat. "Hairy Hooligan."
"Correct!" The Fat Lady replied, and the painting moved to the side to let them through.
"Hairy Hooligan indeed." Harry grumbled as they walked into the Gryffindor Common Room.
The two stepped inside; they saw the Common Room in a state of absolute chaos. First years and transfers were scrambling to assemble their supplies and figure out where they were supposed to go. Percy, being the prefect, was trying to restore order.
"First Years and Transfers! Please calm down! You will be escorted to your class!" Percy roared.
"Need a hand, Percy?" Fred asked, coming down the stairs from the dorms with a stack of wizard hats.
"Looks like you got a handful over here." George replied, also carrying a stack of wizard hats.
"I have everything under control!" Percy snapped.
"Do you? Do you really?" Fred asked, motioning towards the chaos.
"Then why is Gin-Gin setting the drapes on fire?" George asked with a chuckle.
"Come now, she is not doing that. She is much more responsib-Oh my GOD!" Percy replied before looking over to one of the drapes and crying out in horror. The ancient fabrics had indeed caught alight.
"Does anyone know the Water Charm!?" Ginny frantically asked.
"For Merlin's sake, Ginevra!" Percy snapped, whipping out his wand and dowsing the flaming curtains with a jet of water.
"Don't call me that in front of everyone!!" Ginny snapped fiercely.
"And why is Al's brother Eddy climbing the bookcase?" Fred asked with a chuckle.
Percy wheeled himself around to see the small half-Hispanic boy climbing up a tall bookshelf. Yet as he turned to face him, the Prefect had not ended the water-making charm. Resulting in Eddy's back being blasted with water.
"Ay dios mío! Cold!" Eddy cried out, losing his grip on the bookshelf.
Harry, seeing this, dropped a black book, whipped out his wand, and sprang into action. "Wingardium Leviosa!" He shouted as he made the proper wand movement.
Everyone watched as Eddy's fall slowed to a crawl and soon landed on the floor as gently as a feather. Percy stood there stunned as he was just about to cast the spell himself. Only to be outdone.
"Nice catch, mate…!" Ron said in impressed awe as Harry knelt to pick up his dropped book with a proud smile.
"All right. Does anyone else want to do something inept!?" Percy yelled.
Fred and George raised their hands, which shot off and exploded into confetti before Percy snapped at them. "I WAS BLOODY JOKING!" He roared furiously.
"That's our job." Fred sternly replied.
"You're lucky we didn't sue." George chipped in.
"UGH! Just… everyone just get ready to head to class!" Percy yelled, clearly at the end of his rope.
As Percy formed everyone up to get to class, they all heard an ethereal giggle come from outside the Common Room. Standing out in the staircase was Luna Lovegood, watching the chaos unfold with an impish smile.
"You Gryffindors are always so loud." She said before scampering off.
She skipped down the staircase to where it connected to the main staircase. Her eyes darted as the ancient halls were filled with swirlies she loved. It was as if the place was made of them. However, one line of them stood out that led down into the basement. With a small smile she rushed off, blazing down the stairs like a jackrabbit. Staircases shifted and swayed mystically as she went. She just got past the kitchens when she heard someone yell at her.
"Hey! What are you doing running through the halls like that?!" A girl's voice called out.
Luna turned to face the person calling to her. She was met by one of the older students of Hufflepuff, standing in the doorway to their common room. Luna blinked once, then twice.
"I was following a trail of swirlies. That way, I was hoping they'd lead me to a nest of Wrackspurts." Luna replied confidently.
"A nest of wha… just get out of here and head to your Common Room!" The girl groaned in exasperation.
"I wouldn't worry about me if I were you." Luna replied cryptically.
"Oh? And why's that?" The Prefect asked, annoyed.
"Because it looks like you're missing someone." Luna replied.
"No, we're not." The Prefect said before turning around to do a headcount. "15, 17, 21… where's Garrett? Alejandro, you were supposed to help keep track of the first years!"
"I did. But you never told me to tell you if one was missing or where they went." Alejandro replied simply.
"Wait… there's supposed to be 23. Where's Susan?" The Prefect asked.
"With Garrett." Alejandro replied with a shrug.
"And where is Garrett?!" The prefect asked in disbelief.
"Back in the Common Room." Alejandro replied with a smile.
"And why didn't you tell me sooner?!" The prefect snapped out.
"Because you still didn't tell me to let you know if any of them were missing or where they went." Alejandro replied with a grin.
The prefect sighed in frustration. Alejandro simply chuckled in response. "All according to plan…" He muttered.
"What was that?" The prefect asked.
"I was just saying 'I'll go get them,' that's all." Alejandro replied before heading back into the Common Room.
Hufflepuff Common Room
As the chaos happened near the doorway, Garrett sat happily in a plushily upholstered chair in the back of the common room. His walking stick leaned against it as he crossed his legs, blissfully flipping through a book titled "Owlmanac." However, just as he flipped the page, he felt a presence near him. His eyes looked up from the page he was on to see a girl with blonde hair in a single braid.
"Hi." The girl awkwardly said.
"Guten Tag," Garrett said with a small, shy smile.
"Gluten what?" She asked.
"Nein, sorry, I mean to say, 'good morning'," he said, a blush forming on his cheek, raising the book so it hid his face.
"Oh. Good morning." The girl replied. "What are you doing all the way back here? Classes are about to start."
"Are they?" He asked, not really catching what was said as he continued to read his book.
The girl raised an eyebrow at that and gently grabbed hold of the book. "Yes. They are." She replied and tried to gently tug the book away from him.
Blinking at the motion and feeling the book slip from his grasp, he gripped it tightly and tugged back, frowning at the girl. The girl's eyebrows furrowed at that, and she dug her heels into the carpet to pull harder. Swiftly the situation devolved into a tug of war with the book threatening to be torn apart. However, the two instantly froze when a loud voice yelled at them.
"And just what in the name of Merlin's pants is going on here?! Susan, let go of that book! Garrett, it's time for class, so vamos, hombrecito!" Alejandro bellowed out at them, running up.
"That's what I was trying to tell him!" The girl named Susan yelled as she let go of the book, before tending to her frazzled hair.
"Class?! Mein Gott!" Garrett cried standing up from his chair and quickly grabbing his walking stick, making his way to the Common Room entrance.
"I'll check out the Owlmanac for you from the Common Room bookcase, Garrett! Susan, make sure you two get to class on time!" Alejandro called out as he grabbed a quill and headed over to a desk near the bookcase.
"Follow me!" Susan yelled as she motioned to Garrett. "By the way, I'm Susan. Susan Bones."
"Es ist mir ein Vergnügen, mein name ist Garrett Becker." He said happily, smiling friendly at her
Susan blinked rapidly. "So, I got the last part." She replied.
"My name is Garrett Becker," he said.
"Nice to meet you. Now let's go." Susan replied, before motioning him to follow her.
"¡Muévanse, idiotas! Before you're late on your first official day!" Alejandro called out in frustration.
"Just speak English!!" Susan yelled in frustration.
As this was happening, a tall, brown-haired Hufflepuff prefect was currently trying to get one Alicia Granger to breathe after laughing herself off a chair in the Hufflepuff common room.
"You good with that one, Cedric?" A Hufflepuff girl with short blonde hair asked the boy.
"Yeah, she just needs to stop laughing so hard." Cedric commented, patting Alicias back. "Thanks for looking out though, Beatrice."
Meanwhile: Near the Slytherin Dungeon
Even as the halls began to twist and turn in unnatural ways, Luna still happily skipped along unfazed. Yet as she skipped, the swirlies and etchings that guided her began to change. They began to form together and twist into various serpentine shapes. Some of which even gained a particular shade of green.
"No wonder Hufflepuffs are always on edge. When you have snakes as next-door neighbors." Luna said, looking at the green shapes slither along the wall.
"Hey! Watch what you're saying, little birdie!" A voice yelled at her harshly.
"This really is a day on repeat." Luna said before turning around. "Oh, look. Another common room."
Before her was a stone wall that had been mystically shoved aside. Through the gaping stone maw in its wake was a large common room of fluted pillars, arching ceilings, and expensive furniture. Every wall and ceiling were either covered in a piece of priceless art or painted with an exquisite mural. Green flames came from finely wrought black iron, illuminating the great space in a greenish glow. Sat upon one of the expensively upholstered chairs was Mafalda Weasley, with her feet resting on a granite top table. Next to her sat a freckled girl with blonde wavy hair and blue eyes, trying her best to assemble her school supplies.
"Well, well, Daphne. Look what the cat dragged by." Mafalda said.
"It's best to ignore Ravenclaws. They're always weird." The girl named Daphne replied.
"And where's the fun in that?" Mafalda asked.
"Oh, the same fun as you being shown up by your cousins." Luna cryptically replied.
"Not much competition in that regard." Mafalda said with a flip of her hair.
"I don't know. They got Percy fairly well today. I doubt someone as lazy as you could do better." Luna said with a sly smile.
"I'm not lazy, I'm bored." Mafalda said.
"Being bored is a choice. You should always seek to broaden your horizons and have a little fun doing it." Luna replied flippantly.
Mafalda raised an eyebrow. "Are you challenging me to top my cousins?" She asked with a grin.
"Did you take it as one?" Luna asked before skipping off again.
"Mafalda. Don't do anything stupid, please." Daphne said with a sigh.
"Too late. I'm already thinking about it." Mafalda replied with a grin.
"This is going to be a fun year." A blonde seventh year girl known as Rhys Maybury chuckled to herself.
Later: Ravenclaw Tower
"Where did the swirlies go?" Luna muttered to herself, as she walked up a winding set of stairs.
"Luna?! Where have you been?!" A girl's voice squawked.
Luna turned her head sharply to see an older girl with long blonde curly hair standing in the doorway to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Her brows furrowed in deep disappointment.
"I got lost on the road of life." Luna simply replied.
"That doesn't explain anything." The older girl groaned in annoyance.
"Don't worry about it, Ms. Penelope." Luna replied, waving off the concern.
"Where the heck am I now?" The brown-haired boy Damien could be heard down towards the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh, good. You're back, Damien." The older girl said in relief.
"Back? Where did I go? One minute I was with the group, the next I touched a frog statue, and I was spat out into a random room. And I mean literally spat out." Damien responded. "Or maybe it was a toad statue. Anyway, when I opened the door to the room, I fell to the ground. Who puts a door near the ceiling?"
"Damien. Come inside and use the mirror to tidy yourself up. That passageway always messed up one's hair and uniform." Penelope said, ushering the boy inside. "Luna. You too. You're not wandering off again."
The two students quickly entered the large circular room. Knightly suits of armor clutching halberds dotted the walls as at the center of the room was a large fireplace. Fine, blue patterned rugs lined the cold stone floors as plush chairs ringed the room. As Luna sat down and started jotting things down in her notebook, Damien walked into a small nook with a large mirror to tidy up.
Staring back at him in the mirror was a pair of bright green eyes. As he worked on fixing up his uniform and shaggy brown hair, he made a concerted effort to look himself over fully. His cheeks were rosy like the rest of his family, with a decent amount of freckles on his face. Unlike his brother, however, he was a healthy weight. In fact, he was tall for a first year, and thin like a bean pole. He smiled as he looked himself over, until he noticed a lock of his hair being a reddish color. This caused an instant frown as he brushed at it with his hand until it turned into his normal brown color. After one final check, he fixed his scarf around his neck and rejoined the group.
"Alright, everyone! Stay close! And no wandering off!" Penelope sternly ordered, and everyone followed behind her.
"At least I was trying to get back." Damien muttered as he followed the group
A Bit Later: Near Gryffindor Tower
Percy strode down the hall at the head of the Gryffindor house to their first classes. His nose held aloft with pride as he held his chest out. His Prefect badge gleaming in the morning sun.
"Now then, first years. It is important for you all to maintain Gryffindor's unblemished image at Hogwarts." He explained.
"What about the stories from last year?" A young blonde boy with a camera asked.
"Young Mr. Creevey, those were made by rogue actors that have no good sense of keeping this House's reputation." Percy countered.
"What are you talking about, Prissy? The story is true. Ron played the greatest game of Wizard Chess Hogwarts has seen in years, like the rumors said." Fred and George said from within a crowd of Gryffindors.
"Was that the twins?" Percy asked harshly.
"You can't prove anything." They both said.
"Shut up!" Percy snapped.
"Now then. To ensure that Gryffindor house can climb out of its fifty-point deficit, again due to rogue actors of unknown origin…" He continued, before getting cut off by a loud noise.
Stopping and swiftly turning around on his heels, Percy scanned the mob for the neardowel. Swiftly he homed in on the culprit. Near the back of the crowd stood Potter, because of course it was, who had somehow fallen asleep standing up. Ginny and Ron were desperately trying to wake him up.
"Harry. Harry." Ron whispered, tugging at Harry's sleeve.
"WAKE UP!" Ginny bellowed into his ear, leaning against him, so the sound went directly into it.
"Wagh! I have a question!" Harry called out in shock, raising his hand and accidentally smacking Ron in the face when his hand was on its way up.
"OW! Why me?!" Ron cried out, clutching his face.
"And what is your question, Potter?" Percy asked, raising his eyebrow with suspicion.
Harry could feel heat creeping up his neck as he blushed in embarrassment. "Um… What sort of etiquette should we follow in the halls compared to in the classroom…?" He asked sheepishly.
"I was about to get to that, Potter. Before you so rudely interrupted me." Percy replied matter-of-factly.
"Get on with it, Prissy. You're going to make us late for class." Ginny groaned.
Percy glared at his sister. "Nonsense, Gine… Ginny. You have thirty minutes before your first classes begin." He pointedly told her.
"What was he going to say, Ginny?" one of the other first years asked.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Ginny growled.
Percy let out a deep sigh to compose himself. "Anyway. The proper way to compose oneself in classes, first and foremost, is to respect the professors. Regardless of one's personal and petty feelings on them. An example can be made of Professor Snape." He explained.
"Wasn't he a dark wizard or something?" one of the students asked.
"Reformed dark wizard." Percy corrected harshly.
"Could've fooled me…" Ron muttered.
"'Reformed' with a grudge against me…" Harry added quietly.
"Regardless of his past, he is our Potions Master and is deserving of the respect the title grants." Percy sternly said.
"Kiss arse…!" Ginny coughed into her hand.
"Who said that?!" Percy asked, frantically looking around, before out of nowhere being splashed in the face with a water balloon. "Who did that!?"
The students all chortled at the scene. "I mean it! Who hit me with a water balloon?! And why is it warm?! Wait…" Percy sternly called out before sniffing himself as his face twisted in disgust. "That… is not water… and my mouth was open…"
"Oh, you're right, Percy. That isn't water. But perhaps I've said too much." The voice of Mafalda cried out before letting out a laugh with a snort mixed in.
Percy turned to look down the hall with rage in his eyes. His cousin, clad in her Slytherin uniform, leaned confidently against a suit of armor. A notebook with the title "Prank Paybacks" in her left hand.
"MAFALDA ATHENA WEASLEY!" Percy roared out in fury.
"I thought I told you never to call me that!" Mafalda yelled.
"Run, cousin! Run!" The younger Weasley siblings yelled in unison.
Mafalda raised her eyebrow in confusion at that, until she saw Percy begin shaking a fist at her. Soon she turned and ran away with Percy hot on her heels. Ron and Ginny sighed in frustration as Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. Now they might actually be late for class…
35 minutes later: First Period with Professor Sprout
Harry and Ron were quite grateful that, despite being five minutes late, they only got a warning. The two sat down next to Hermione as Professor Sprout levitated a potted plant in front of each of the students. At first, it looked like a large cabbage with long, tall leaves. However, the lower bulb of the plant folded out to reveal a large, cavernous maw.
"Now then, class. Today, we will refresh your memories of last year's topics. Starting with the Chinese Chomping Cabbage." Professor Sprout said with a smile.
"This shouldn't be too hard." Neville said as he prepared his wand.
The cabbage before him slowly turned in its pot to face him. Then, before Neville could act, it burst from its potted soil and attacked his face. Biting and gnawing at him, the cabbage attacked as Neville clambered back into the table behind him where Garrett was observing his own cabbage. Despite the acts of violence before him, he calmly looked up to the rafters of the room to see a small crow.
"Garrett!! Help me!!" Neville yelled in horror as he tried to wrench the berserk vegetable off his face.
"Hallo, Vogel. Warum bist du hier?" Garrett asked, tilting his head.
"Caw!" The crow replied.
"Ja, ich würde mich in einem Raum nicht bewegen wollen, jemand könnte sich ernsthaft verletzen!" Garrett exclaimed.
"Someone get this thing off me!!" Neville yelled frantically.
"Get it off yourself!" Malfoy called out, getting snickers from several other Slytherins.
"Stand still Neville! I'm coming!" Hermione cried out as she rushed over.
Neville did his best to stand still as the rabid root vegetable mauled his face. Hermione grabbed hold of the cabbage's leaves and yanked on them as hard as she could. After what felt like an eternity, the vegetable's floral fangs finally lost their grip on Neville's face. However, Hermione soon lost her footing and fell on her butt, sending the cabbage flying across the room. As it soon landed on the back of Malfoy's seat. Sensing a new piece of warm flesh near it, the cruel cabbage lunged and bit down upon the boy's pompous posterior.
"AAHH!! My perfect arse!! Get it off!!" Malfoy squealed in stinging pain, leaping from his seat. As the rest of the class began to laugh at his misfortune.
Garrett blinked at the commotion and turned toward the downed Longbottom boy, blinking curiously, "Jung, Neville, you appear to have some scratches on your face," he said with a sympathetic smile.
"Thank you… for noticing." Neville replied, doing his best to hide his pain.
Second Period: Astronomy
"And if we follow the track of Saturn's moons in the pattern resembling that of a dog, then we can use the Aurora Borealis…" Professor Sinistra said with a soft, velvety voice with a calming tone.
As she explained endlessly about the tracking of constellations, she failed to notice the state of her class. Hermione scribbled down notes rapidly like a fiend, and Garrett stared at the professor with curiosity. But the rest had either fallen asleep or were on the verge of it. Ron pinched his own arm to make sure he was still alive. Susan laid her sleeping head on Garrett's shoulder, with the boy being none the wiser. Alejandro leaned back in his chair, only for him to fall back onto the floor and stay sleeping. Even Harry was asleep due to the boring nature of the lecture. Except, unlike the others, he twitched and trembled in his sleep dreadfully.
Third Period: Potions
"Class. Today, we will be doing a review on Potions from last year. Turn to page twelve of your textbooks and use the ingredients laid out before you for a basic Drought of Camouflage." Snape droned on.
"I've made this potion before! Hopefully, it doesn't explode this time…" Garrett commented, looking over the ingredients.
As soon as everyone heard that from the pale boy, everyone, including Snape, took a step away from him. As everyone worked under the watchful eye of the pale-skinned professor, one student was swiftly making headway. Unfortunately, that student was Seamus. As soon as he added the final ingredient to the potion, Alejandro next to him heard it make a foul hissing noise. The boy's eyes widened as the reaction began to bubble faster than it should and pushed Seamus out of the way. Only for an explosion of blackened soot to come from the cauldron, covering Alejandro.
"Mr. Finnigan. That is the second year in a row you have caused an explosion." Snape growled.
"I'm sorry, Professor. Must have put a pinch too much snake oil in there." Seamus replied with a shrug.
"Professor… we're going to need more ingredients… and a new cauldron." Alejandro groaned.
"See yourself to the Hospital Wing, Garcia." Snape ordered.
"Thank you, Professor…" Alejandro sighed as he began walking to the Hospital Wing.
Fourth Period: History of Magic
"And so, during the Goblin Rebellion of 1702, the Ministry army was able to force a stalemate that eventually led to the signing of a peace treaty. A treaty that banned any attempts to enslave goblins in exchange for the Ministry agreeing to leave the affairs of Gringotts in the hands of goblins. Due to this…" Professor Binns droned on.
Much like in the Second Period, the Fourth Period had put most of the class into a coma. Hermione looked to her side to see Ron on the verge of falling asleep.
"Ron. Don't fall asleep. This review is important." Hermione quietly told him.
"I don't wanna degnome the garden, mum… Me and Harry have school…" Ron mumbled in his sleep before snoring.
Sighing, Hermione pulled out her wand and aimed at Ron underneath the desk. With a flick of her wand, she cast a spell. "Rictusempra…!" She uttered.
When the spell hit Ron, he began giggling madly as he fell over, holding his sides. "O-Okay, okay! I'm awake!" He called out hysterically.
Fifth Period: Defense Against the Dark Arts
"Good morning, class! Allow me to introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Me!" Professor Lockhart announced as every girl in the class began to clap. "Now, now. There's no need to applaud. After all, you're here to learn and I am here to teach."
"What kind of teacher is this pompous?" A sleepy Potter snapped quietly.
"Of course, no one expects you to be able to slay a dozen vampires by yourself right away like I did just three years ago. No, as students, you're expected to start out small and work your way up." Lockhart continued, as if he had not heard Harry's comment.
"No way this git slew a vampire." Ron quietly said to Garrett, elbowing him playfully in the side.
Garrett, however, looked uncomfortable at the topic. Alejandro, on the other hand, snorted in amusement. "This perra estúpida? No way." Alejandro replied a bit too loudly.
"Excuse me, Mr. Garcia. What did you just call me?" Lockhart asked, looking at Alejandro.
"I called you a 'handsome gentleman' in Spanish. Sir." Alejandro replied, clearly trying to keep an amused smile off his face.
"Oh. Well, thank you, Mr. Garcia." Lockhart replied with a large smile on his face. "As far as 'perra estúpida' go, I would say I am the greatest of them all."
"Okay, what did you actually call the loudmouth?" Harry whispered to his Spanish friend.
"It actually means 'stupid bitch' in Spanish." Alejandro whispered back as Harry gave an amused smile before offering Alejandro a low five that the Hispanic Englishman reciprocated.
Sixth Period: Charms
"Now then class. Today I have given you all a note of a charm from last year you will then demonstrate. Any questions?" Professor Flitwick explained before, with a flick of his wand, dealing out a note to each student.
Alejandro raised his hand. "Professor? Do we get to pick which one we get or is it at random?" He asked the half-Goblin teacher.
"We are simply reviewing what you recall from last year, so you are free to pick any spell you remember." Flitwick happily explained.
"I've got this." Neville said with confidence. "I've been practicing this one."
"Oh? And which one have you been practicing, young Mr. Longbottom?" Flitwick asked, raising his eyebrow.
Neville stood up and prepped his wand. "The Freezing Charm." He said.
Professor Flitwick clapped in a round of applause for Neville. "I commend the gumption to practice a third-year charm." He said with a smile.
"Glacious!" Neville yelled as he performed the wand motion, mimicking a frosty set of peaks.
As soon as the hand motion finished, a blast of cold came from the end of his wand. However, instead of freezing a cup of water in front of him, the frigid energy coalesced around his own head. In a matter of moments, his head was encased in a cube of ice. All around him, the other students breath became visible on the frigid aura around Neville's frozen head.
"Oh dear! Incendio!" Flitwick called out before casting the Fire spell to melt the cube of ice around his head.
Neville trembled and shuddered from the cold as he tried to rub his hands to warm himself up. "Th… thank you, Professor…" He said through chattering teeth.
"Well, Mr. Longbottom, you at least got the wand motion correctly and spoke clearly. Top marks in that regard. Would anyone like to explain to Mr. Longbottom what he did incorrectly?" Flitwick told Neville before asking the rest of the class.
"If I may?" Hermione asked, raising her hand. Her voice caused Neville to tense up like a steel rod.
"Of course, Miss Granger." Flitwick replied.
"Neville did everything else perfectly, but he mispronounced the incantation. It's actually 'Glacius,' not 'Glacious.'" Hermione explained before looking at Neville. "But that was still an impressive first attempt, Neville."
This caught everyone, especially Neville, off guard. Everyone stared at her like she had grown a third eye. All except for her best friends Harry and Ron, who smiled proudly at her. When Hermione noticed their looks, she shrugged.
"What? I learned my lesson last year. I know I behaved like a prat back then." Hermione replied simply as Ron and Harry each patted her on the shoulder, bringing a smile to her face.
Later: End of Transfiguration
As soon as Transfiguration ended, our trio of heroes began to make their way back to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione walked with a pep in her step, as Ron and Harry dragged their feet behind her. She turned around annoyedly, and her face contorted into a small snarl.
"Come on, you two. You're going slower than a snail." Hermione snapped.
"It's been a long day. Cut us some slack." Ron groaned.
"No one else is cutting us any." Harry chipped in.
"Look at it this way: The sooner we get back to the common room, the sooner you can go get some sleep." Hermione reminded them, trying to put some pep in their step.
"At this point, I'd be fine sleeping on a bench." Harry grumbled.
"And risk losing us more House points, Harry?" Hermione asked, knowing how much Harry hated to lose.
Before Harry could say anything, Fred and George walked up behind them. Seeing the three slowly moving along, they walked beside them.
"What's the matter?" Fred asked.
"Looks like Harry and Ronald are a wee bit tired, Fred." George replied.
"Shall we help them, George?" Fred asked with a grin.
"It'd only be proper." George answered.
With that, the twins each scooped up one of the younger boys, Fred grabbing Ron while George nabbed Harry, before throwing them over their shoulders like sacks of potatoes. "Come on, you two!" The two tornadoes told them.
"Put me down! I'm not that tired!" Ron yelled.
"I accept my fate…" Harry muttered as he began trying to sleep.
"Come along, Fred. Let's tuck the little ones in!" George chipperly said.
"Right behind you, George!" Fred chipperly replied.
"You two will rue this day!" Ron yelled.
"You're not Mafalda." The twins said in unison as they marched off with them, Hermione bringing up the rear and hoping her friends get a good night's rest.
The two made good time as they made it back to Gryffindor tower before most of the rest of the House. Soon George set Harry down in one of the common room's chairs and tucked him in with a blanket by the fireplace. As he settled in, Ron began to yell and give his older brothers a piece of his mind. Hermione chuckled and simply went to do her schoolwork. However, Potter snuggled into the chair. The chatter, the room, the glow of the fire. Everything just felt right. Maybe, just maybe, this year would be easier, safer, and better. At least, he hoped…