Katsuki's first class of the day would begin soon. His feet carried him to Professor Aizawa's classroom. He knocked in a specific pattern, so his presence would be known.

The door opened on its own, and he strode into the classroom. It was a familiar, welcoming sight. Any tension he possibly had vanished.

Professor Aizawa was seated at his desk. He was a tall, slender, pale-skinned man. Messy black hair fell to his shoulders, bangs covering a good bit of his face. His incredibly dark eyes seemed rather dull, a deep scar underneath his right one that he got three years ago. Unkempt facial hair matched his demeanor. He wore all black from head to toe. Pants tucked into his boots. A dark gray scarf wound around his neck.

Dark eyes met crimson. "Another year of teaching you."

Katsuki didn't miss a beat. "Another year of being your student."

Professor Aizawa stood and came around the desk. The two used one arm to hug the other briefly.

"Have you gotten settled?" Professor Aizawa asked.

"Yeah, no problems."

Dark eyes glanced at his Captain's badge. "How are you coping with no Quidditch?"

He grinned. "I can still use the field for flying."

Professor Aizawa's lips twitched like he was going to smile. "Will you enter the tournament?"

"Of course."

"I had wondered if you would focus on your studies."

"I can compete and study."

"You say that as if you've already been chosen as a champion."

A smirk curved Katsuki's lips. "Give it time." Ochako flashed in his mind. "Oh, one thing. Have Ochako Uraraka pair with me if we have anything to do with partners. I already told her to sit by me."

Professor Aizawa raised an eyebrow in the form of a silent question.

"Tch, I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so."

When the bell rang, Professor Aizawa used a nonverbal spell to open the door. Students entered and claimed the two-person desks.

Ochako spotted Katsuki and approached him. "I didn't see you come in."

Eijiro waltzed up to Katsuki and threw an arm over his shoulder. "Mate, it was like you vanished this morning."

Katsuki shrugged him off. "I had things to do."

This class was mixed with different Houses. Professor Aizawa spoke once everybody was seated. "Welcome back. Your N.E.W.T. work will be more advanced compared to last year. So let's get started."

On Katsuki's left side, he heard Ochako gulp, but her expression held determination.

Dark eyes scanned the class. "Who can tell me the advantage of a nonverbal spell?" Professor Aizawa asked.

Katsuki didn't bother to raise his hand. Izuku was called on.

"There's no warning, so it gives you a split-second advantage. It's the element of surprise!"

Professor Aizawa nodded. "Nonverbal spells require concentration and mind power. I don't expect you all to achieve nonverbal spell-casting right off the bat, but I want to see progress.

"You will pair up. One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other, in the same amount of silence, will attempt to repel the jinx."

Desks and chairs were moved aside to make room. Katsuki and Ochako faced each other. "You attack me first," he told her.

"Okay," she said, grabbing her wand.

His right hand reached for his wand holster. It was thirteen inches long, made from blackthorn wood. Ever since he got it the summer before his third year, he always kept it on his person. If he couldn't, like for sleeping, it was nearby.

No matter what she cast, he'd use a Shield Charm to block. And no matter what, Katsuki didn't look away from Ochako.

She wasn't the only one to struggle. Many students whispered the incantation under their breath. Five minutes. Finally, at fifteen minutes, Momo Yaoyorozu from Ravenclaw didn't use a single word, and her partner, Shoto, repelled the jinx without speaking.

"Well done, you two," Professor Aizawa in a monotone voice. "As a reminder, everyone, nonverbal."

Excitement spread across Ochako's face when she didn't utter a single word for her wand to produce a Jelly Legs Jinx. Her jaw dropped the second Katsuki silently repelled it with ease.

"Atta boy, Katsuki!" Eijiro praised. His distraction led to Mina silently jinxing him.

Mina jumped in place at her success.

Katsuki rolled his eyes, not looking away from Ochako, though. "That's what you get, Shitty Hair."

xXx

Katsuki spent his after-lunch free period on his Firebolt. The wind whipped his hair and clothes back. Nobody else was in the stadium to watch him pull off moves as though he was playing in a match. He'd speed forward, dip, make hairpin turns. Everything was like a breath of fresh air.

There came a time he hovered in the middle of the stadium. Crimson eyes looked all around. He had taken steps for Quidditch to have been his future. When a fork emerged in his path, he changed course without blinking. He had the resolve to be the best damn Auror ever known. He would help others. He would save them.

xXx

A/N 1: Now that all stats about Katsuki's wand have been revealed, here's what an official HP site says about the wood type: Blackthorn, which is a very unusual wand wood, has the reputation, in my view well-merited, of being best suited to a warrior. This does not necessarily mean that its owner practices the Dark Arts (although it is undeniable that those who do so will enjoy the blackthorn wand's prodigious power); one finds blackthorn wands among the Aurors as well as among the denizens of Azkaban. It is a curious feature of the blackthorn bush, which sports wicked thorns, that it produces its sweetest berries after the hardest frosts, and the wands made from this wood appear to need to pass through danger or hardship with their owners to become truly bonded. Given this condition, the blackthorn wand will become as loyal and faithful a servant as one could wish.

A/N 2: I had fun researching what his wand would be like! I made it be thirteen inches long since that's my lucky number!