Pierce worked diligently in Arithmancy, and it seemed Hermione had settled down enough to work on the assignment as well. Under Professor Vector's instructions, they were given several names and were set to decipher the "Character Number," the "Heart Number," and the "Social Number" and then come up with an reasonable trend that would take place for that person in the future. Pierce enjoyed Arithmancy because he did in fact enjoy working with numbers. He was able to calculate numbers in his head, without having to use paper to double check his answers.

"How do you do that?" he heard.

He glanced up from his work and glanced over in Hermione's direction to find her looking at him.

"I'm sorry, what?" he said.

"How are you figuring it out...you haven't written a single number down. How could you possibly remember all the numbers of a name and then add them up?" Hermione questioned him. She seemed slightly upset by the lack of work he had to do.

"Well..I..um.." He sat up in his seat before turning to face her. "Have you heard of the Method of loci?" he asked her.

"I remember it being mentioned briefly in a book I read once." Hermione nodded.

"Well, I suppose the way I see the number layout that we use in this class is my own form of the method. Rather than seeing a layout of a building or anything of that since, I can recall the sequence of number quite vividly in my head. It's just a matter of storing and pulling retained memories is all."

"Where did you learn to do it? The method? Or is it something you can't learn?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I'm convinced that I probably picked it up from my father at some point when I was much younger. He spoke about it a great deal. Called it his mind palace on the occasion where the subject arose."  Pierce said. "But I suppose you could learn it..after all it's a form of a mnemonic device."

"Can...can you show me sometime?" she asked him.

Pierce smiled. "I'd be delighted to. I'm sure you would probably pick it up quite easily."

"Aww my little Pierce is growing up!" Julius said making wicked sobbing noises as they climbed the steps to the Ravenclaw tower after classes were over.

"Shut up. I only spoke to her."

"Yes, but she wants to see your methods." Julius winked at him.

"All this teasing about me for talking to the girl, but how did it go in Divination with Parvati?" Pierce asked with a grin.

Julius fell silent. The two stopped on the stairs. 

"Oh Julius, you didn't? Did you drool on your tea leaves again?"

"No!" Julius said quickly. "But she was really upset when I drooled on her sleeve."

"For Merlin's sake, Julius. What is wrong with you?"

"The problem was I wasn't thinking about her when I was drooling. I was daydreaming about the bacon from this morning and well..I couldn't help it! It was really good."

"You drooled on a girl's sleeve."

"You know, if someone drooled over me, I would see it as a compliment!"

"Well if you're looking for a companion to drool over you, perhaps we can think about getting you a nice crup pup for Christmas." Pierce teased him as they reached the eagle knocker.

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"Maybe not to you..but I found it quite funny. Perhaps you and your pillow could raise the pup together. How sweet would that be!" Pierce squealed in a mocking manner of some of the girls who became overexcited easily. "Waking up eventually on Sunday mornings and spending the day eating bacon and drooling."

"The sad thing is, it doesn't sound like a bad life to me." Julius said. "Would you babysit occasionally?"

"Of course."

"Alright I'm in. I swear if you don't get me a pup for Christmas, I'm going to be very upset with you, Pierce."

The boys lounged around the Common Room and dorms until it was time for dinner in the Great Hall. Julius was discussing something about overhearing the Weasley twins trying to come up with a way to enter themselves in the tournament, since they did not reach the age requirements.

"As smart as they are, I would think they would come to realize that there is no way they could enter themselves especially with the Ministry regulating it...not to mention Professor Dumbledore." Pierce said.

"Well, I don't know if they will succeed, but I definitely want to see the fun that will unfold there." Julius mused.

The two were nearing the Entrance Hall when they caught sight of Draco Malfoy standing before the three Gryffindors that included Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley! Listen to this!" Draco said loud enough for all the vicinity to hear. Pierce listened as Draco read Rita's article from the Daily Prophet, the same one he had received that morning.

Pierce peered down at the floor as Draco laughed at the fact that the article didn't even care enough to get Ron's father's name right. But then the boy took it a step further, commenting on the chosen photo that Mrs. Weasley needed to lose some weight.

It didn't take long for Harry to retort something nasty about Draco's mother, which nearly led to Draco attacking the boy with his back turned. Pierce opened his mouth to say something in warning, but it seemed Mad-Eye Moody had witnessed the scene.

Before any of the students could react, the new professor transfigured Draco into a white ferret. Pierce wasn't sure whether he should laugh or just continue staring. Julius on the other hand did not hesitate to laugh loudly as the professor bounced Draco about in the hall.

"Oh I can tell I'm going to like him." Julius said to Pierce." He's incredible."

Pierce eyed the strange looking professor. "Er..yeah...incredible."