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AFTER A particularly confusing lesson, I left the Transfiguration classroom and, before I could spot him, an older Ravenclaw crashed into my side. He reached out to steady me before releasing his hold quickly, tucking his hands into his pockets, "Sorry 'bout that."

"He's so graceful," another replied, who had followed him, his eyes shining with a hint of mischief.

"Says the one who dropped off his broom yesterday trying to execute a roll instead of practicing," he shot back, glancing back to me as he did so. His hair was black with dyed silver streaks, which he kept reaching up to brush as if he needed assurance that they were still there, "Jay just needs some help."

Before the other one, Jay, could respond, he was quickly shoved away by his friend. I watched the two of them disappear down the hall, bickering with each other as they rounded the corner. I started off after them since I had to find Amara in the Great Hall before our afternoon Potions class.

She was much more knowledgeable than I was when it came to that class and, thankfully, she was more than happy to help explain things before lessons. If I was able to find her, that is.

I entered the Great Hall and quickly spotted her sitting on the end of a bench, shoveling food into her mouth as if her entire life depended on it while simultaneously reading a magazine article that I could tell was one of our dormmate's, whose though I wasn't quite sure.

She glanced over as I slid onto the seat next to her, "Hey."

"Do you need to be anywhere?" I asked, nodding at her fast-paced eating and her constant glances around.

She shook her head sheepishly and set down her fork, "No."

"Okay," I raised a questioning eyebrow but didn't pry farther, "Can you help me with Potions right now?"

"Like, right now right now?"

I sighed with an amused smile, "No, I mean later right now."

She rolled her eyes and pushed aside her plate, making room for her textbook and a piece of parchment paper. She had a pencil stashed in the bottom of her bag, courtesy of her muggle mother who insisted a good pencil was superior than any quill, and she jotted down the basics that the chapter was covering, going into further detail for anything I had trouble understanding.

I watched her write, sketching out pictures of a couple of the ingredients with short descriptions of their purpose, and looked around the table for the two boys I'd run into. They had to have been at least two or three years older than I was so it was a little harder to find them, due to the fact that older years tended to branch out amongst the many halls to hang out during lunch, away from the chatter of the Great Hall.

After a few sweeps, I spotted them with one of our prefects, Daniela, and realized that they were members of the quidditch team. I wasn't sure how I hadn't noticed beforehand, especially based off of the comment one of them had made about practice, but now it was quite obvious. Jay and another boy, perhaps a year younger, were laughing loudly and looked out of breathe over something the girl next to them had said, though she looked far from amused at their reaction.

I found myself smiling as they laughed and prodded at each other, pushing for a smile from her, until Amara elbowed me firmly in the ribs and waved her parchment in my face, "Less ogling our quidditch team, more paying attention. I've drawn another four ingredients while you were staring and the least you could do is pay attention."

"I'm not ogling," I tried to protest, only a few words getting out before she cut me off by slapping her palm over my mouth.

"Less dying," she scolded, "And more work. Try out next year just stop being weird. You look like you're inspecting their souls with your eyes."

I huffed and pushed her hand away, "I'm not being weird."

She hummed thoughtfully, not agreeing or denying it as she sent me a look. I sighed and tapped her textbook, reminding her of her goal. She copied my sigh with another look then continued to explain the uses of each ingredient in specific combinations, drawing as she went.

I felt more confident by the end of it, taking the parchment when she insisted, and let her leave while I folded it up. She had a class in one of the towers and it took a quite a while for her to make her way up there, what with her slow walking pace and all, so I found myself watching the team again as soon as she'd left.

Daniela had turned to chat with the youngest looking member of the team, a reserved looking boy who hardly spoke as he slowly sipped from his mug of what looked like coffee. Whatever she was saying to him didn't seem to interest him in the slightest but he still nodded along and looked fully invested in each word she said.

She smiled and patted him on the head, earning a swat on the shoulder.

She returned to the main conversation of the others and, as they bantered with each other, I turned my attention to the members themselves instead of their words. The boy who had been with Jay seemed to be in the center of it all, living in the attention, though he wasn't the oldest.

He sat in the middle with Jay across from him, listening to everyone all at once from what I could see. He easily kept up at least two different conversations with his companions while still seeming to include the quieter ones.

He wasn't dominating the conversation by any means but the others kept glancing at him, clearly holding his opinion in high regard as they sought a bit of his attention, which he had plenty to give around.

I didn't realize I'd been openly staring them all down until he glanced away momentarily and his eyes met mine. He flashed a quick smile and gave me a salute before looking away.

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"Hey, wait up!" someone behind me called and I could hear their hurried footsteps approaching me.

I turned around and spotted his silver-dyed hair before I saw his face. He was jogged towards me as I started up the grand staircase. The quidditch team was noticeably absent as he slowed his pace.

I stared at him, confused, and blinked a few times before I asked, "Yes?"

"I saw you watching my team at lunch," he stated plainly, the words 'my team' rolling off his tongue easily, since he seemed to be theirs just as much as they were his. He tilted his head towards me to meet my eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I could feel myself flush, embarrassed by being caught, "I was just-"

He cut me off swiftly, stopping me, "No, it's fine. Don't worry about it. I was just wondering if you were interested in joining the team?"

"I'm a first year," I shook my head, shutting the idea down quickly. I didn't know much about playing quidditch though I loved watching it, traveling to games with my parents whenever we could. It wasn't something I'd truly considered doing myself, since there were surely better players than myself, "My dormmate's hoping to play keeper, though, next year."

He laughed as if I'd said something amusing and gestured for me to follow as he started up the stairs, "Our current keeper, Quinton, is leaving next year. He's unbeatable so I hope your friend has some skills. What about you?"

"I'm usually a chaser, though I have played seeker before."

He hummed and turned left when we reached the top of the stairs, looking deep in thought. I continued to follow after him despite the fact that my class was in the other direction. He asked, "Are you a good one?" his eyes seemed to say answer right when he glanced at me.

I wasn't sure what to say so I shrugged, "I think I'm okay."

"We'll need to work on that confidence," he laughed again and I noticed how he had a kind of full-body laugh. One that had his shoulders shaking and head thrown back, his eyes closed momentarily, "But you'll come to tryouts next year, won't you? Just to see?"

"I guess?" I wasn't sure what to say since I was positive he wouldn't remember this by next week but he seemed so earnest that I just had to agree. He smiled though and saluted again, slowing his pace as we neared a classroom.

"That's the spirit," he turned and pushed through the door, calling over his shoulder, "I'm Alex, by the way!"

He was gone before I could say anything else and, as other students brushed past me to head into the classroom, I remembered I was about to be late for my own lesson. I spun on my heel and rushed back down the hall, dodging others as I hurried towards the defense classroom.

Defense was another class shared with the first year Gryffindors so I headed straight for a seat next to Clay and Kyrie, waving to my dormmates at the table over as I did so.

The round tables that filled the classroom had been squished into half of the room, crowding us all in together, to clear out the other side closer to the board. It was most likely for another hands-on lesson, which our professor was fond of.

Kyrie was sketching something on some spare parchment with a pencil Amara had given him, despite the fact that they couldn't be used in any schoolwork. Next to him, Clay was focusing on a book so I let them be, turning away to pull out my textbook and setting my quill and ink down with some parchment.

The class was usually all over the place, due to our professor being pretty free and relaxed over things. She hardly assigned homework and yet most kids taking her class were excelling in the subject. Since the defense against the dark arts position used to be cursed, not many had jumped at the idea of teaching it but she had taken on the role happily.

So far she hadn't encountered any misfortune, to my knowledge.

"Textbooks to page twenty four and wands out! We're going to be learning the knockback jinx today," Professor Antin called as she swept into the room, heading straight for the blackboard. Her outfits were always neatly put together and she looked highly at ease as she waved her wand and a piece of chalk rose towards the board, "Flipendo is a spell used to push back a target and can be used in a duel or against a heavy object."

As she spoke, the chalk jotted down the words on the board. I copied everything she said onto my parchment.

"Now, to start off, we're going to be practicing on some crates I borrowed from the kitchens, since I'd rather not have to save another student from on-fire robes and the like. At the end of class, I'll allow you to test this on your peers in front of the class if you'd like. Stay in your table groups and pick a crate, please!" she flicked her wand towards the stacks of crates in the corner and they flew down into the cleared area, neatly lining up in rows.

She tended to let us be reckless at the end of class as long as we were willing to do it in front of everyone else to be an example to others. It was to showcase either our achievements or our mistakes, to show what happened to troublemakers and allow us to learn from them.

Clay, Kyrie, and I hurried over to a crate on the far end of the line, not wanting to be too close to a certain Gryffindor who was highly known for "accidental" explosions whenever she tried to cast spells. Kyrie perched onto the edge of the crate to watch as Professor Antin demonstrated the wand motion slowly, confirming we all saw it, before casting the spell.

A bang emitted from her wand and a crate skidded away from her, lifting off the ground before crashing back and knocking into one of the desks. It pulled to a halt and she summoned it back then, tucking her wand back into her pocket, she let us go, "You all try. I'll be supervising and walking around so feel free to just call me over if you need any help."

Kyrie got off the crate and Clay glanced between us, "Mind if I try it first?" We both shook our heads so he stepped forward and aimed, calling flipendo.

The crate slid back with a small bang but it by no means went very far, a meter at best. He smiled sheepishly and went to push it back into place for one of us. I exchanged a look with Kyrie and he smiled nervously, mouthing "I don't mind."

When the crate was back in place and Clay was no longer in the range of fire, I waved my own wand and uttered the spell. To my disappointment, I did even worse than Clay had. It didn't go half the distance of when he'd performed it and my wand sounded like it was dying when it emitted what was supposed to be a bang.

Clay went to retrieve the crate again while Kyrie glanced around, his anxiety clear in his eyes as he tried to see if anyone was watching him.

He didn't mind speaking around Clay and he was able to greet me sometimes but casting spells around so many others caused him a lot of stress. He started to bite his nails until Clay gently pulled his hand away, pointing to the crate.

He nodded and steeled himself, opening and closing his mouth a few times before he whispered "flipendo" under his breathe in the softest way possible. His attempt was lack luster, the crate barely moving a few centimeters, but the two of us proudly congratulated him anyway.

Some of the other kids around us had noticed Kyrie's quiet attempt and started to laugh at him, teasing him for it relentlessly. He stepped away from us and Clay blocked him from view, his eyes angry enough that I had a feeling he would've jinxed them had Professor Antin not come over to scold them loudly enough for everyone to hear.

They hung their heads but, as soon as she'd walked away to help someone else with the proper wand motion, they continued to snicker under their breathe and mock Kyrie. Clay's hands curled into fists and, before I could snatch his wand away, he'd already raised it and shouted, "Flipendo!" with as much force as he could muster.

One of the kids went flying back, landing on the floor with a heavy thump, while the others quickly raised their wands, ready to retaliate if he were to attack them again. No one was able to make another move because Professor Antin came running back, her robes flying as she approached from the other side of the room. She slashed her wand in the air and a shimmering barrier erupted from it, forming between Clay and the other students.

"I'm disappointed," she stated simply, regarding them all under her firm stare, "Detention for a couple days after dinner, all of you."

The kid who'd been thrown back sat up, looking dazed but present enough to protest, "But miss, he was the one who cast a spell on us first."

"And you had been mocking his friend, if I recall correctly, just a few minutes ago. I want no arguing, do you understand?" she shot back firmly, leveling a small glare at him. She took a breathe and brought down the barrier a moment later, her expression cooling as her put her wand away.

"Yes, professor," they all responded quietly.

She sent the crates away, stacking them back up into the corner, and instructed us to write a few paragraphs about how the force behind words would affect the outcome of the spell, thanks to Clay's accidental demonstration, instead of practicing on peers like she'd originally planned on doing.

She took Clay and the others aside and I watched them talk quietly instead of writing.

When she dismissed us at the end of class, Kyrie and I waited by the door for Clay. He walked away from the professor and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder, "She's proud of the power in the spell but obviously disappointed that I'd used it against another student."

Kyrie nodded and I parted ways with them after a quick goodbye to head for the dungeons while they headed up for Charms.

The halls were packed with others students so I ended up ducking into a hidden corridor behind a suit of armor. Amara's brother had told us about it during our first day and I made good use of it. If the halls weren't so crowded, the passage would've taken longer but with the halls constantly filled, it ended up being faster.

I emerged near the staircase that led down into the dungeons and descended quickly, heading into the classroom where I took my seat at the table I shared with Amara. She arrived a few minutes later and looked a little winded as she dropped into her own seat.

"Had to sprint," she explained in between breathes.

I laughed, "You could've speed-walked. Or packed up faster and walked normally. There's still a few more minutes of passing period."

"Shut it," she sniped, making a face, "I know you would've run, too."

I hummed in response and watched as the blue-haired boy, whose name I had discovered to be Teddy, walked in and took a seat. I found myself watching him more than I should've, since I had a staring problem according to my mother, but it had started to be my "new hobby," as dubbed by Amara, and I couldn't really stop despite it making me look like a creep.

His hair acted like a beacon and was easy to spot almost anywhere and I seemed to seek him out wherever I went, despite how weird it was. We'd made eye contact a couple of times by accident but he was always the first one to look away, dropping his gaze, even though I'd been the one staring.

Professor Slughorn started to speak but I wasn't really paying attention, if I was being honest.

Amara was taking notes next to me and kept tapping my paper insistently with her quill when I continued to fail at writing stuff down.

Eventually, she gave up and my mind drifted off as I watched the back of Lupin's head. I'd never really talked to him but something about him was interesting. His hair was highly unique, especially for a first year, and the way he held himself was different, somehow.

My mind flicked back to our Charms class, where his hair had started to turn pink near the tips as he became more embarrassed, and I turned to Amara and nudged her with my elbow when I came to a conclusion, "Is Lupin a metamorphagus?"

"What?" she looked at me, slightly confused, "That's a little random but yes, I think so. Why?"

"I've seen his hair turn pink," I said as an explanation and followed her gaze to the back of his head.

Her expression turned thoughtful, "Really? As far as I know it's always been that turquoise."

"Oh," I hummed thoughtfully and brushed it off, finally reaching over to grab my quill and take notes as Slughorn continued his rambling lesson.

At the end of the class, Amara tapped me, "I think they can lose control of their appearance when emotions are stronger than normal."

I didn't think much of it as we returned our supplies to our bags, chatting with our dormmates while others started to file out of the room. I glanced over again and noticed Teddy standing next to the door, rocking a little on his heels.

My dormmates started off for the door and I trailed after them, locking eyes with Teddy. Neither of us looked away for once and, as we passed, I could swear he winked before turning and heading for the professor's desk, asking him if he could explain something.

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