Lauren and Maria stand side by side in the flying field. They both are amazed. This must be the Quidditch Field that Agnes was talking about back on the train. There are three poles on each end of the field with a circle opening, which makes them look like giant bubble wands. The grass is very short and green. The ground looks so soft that Maria just wants to lie in it and go back to sleep.

"First years!" The instructor, Madam Hooch stomps across the field with her broomstick in hand. Maria looks down at her side, seeing the broom she's destined to ride today. "Let's get right into it because flying broomsticks is something you need to actively do in order to learn."

Lauren catches sight of something in the corner of her eye and turns her head a bit toward the stands. Her heart leaps and she smiles when she sees Julia, Hannah, and Agnes sitting there giving her a thumbs up. Lauren nudges Maria and tilts her head toward their friends, and Maria is shocked. She can't believe they came to watch her and Lauren fly!

"Stand next to your broomstick, hold your hand above it and say 'up'!" Madam Hooch orders. With a new stroke of confidence, Maria and Lauren do as she says.

Their broomsticks come right up to them as they command. Maria looks around and sees some people struggling. The broomsticks must respond to its rider based on confidence. Like a horse, it can tell if you're scared.

After a couple of minutes, everyone gets their broomsticks up. Madam Hooch grabs her whistle and mounts her broomstick. "Very good class, now mount your broom. When I blow my whistle, I want everyone to lift up the handle gently, hover above the ground for a bit, and then land softly."

Maria starts to get really nervous. Sure, yesterday she was excited to learn how to fly, but now she's actually here. Lauren feels even less confident than Maria does. She also has a huge fear of heights. There was one time where her brother Ian took her to an amusement park, and she went on a rollercoaster that got stuck at the top. She had to wait a whole twenty-six minutes to get down from there.

Suddenly, Lauren and Maria hear the whistle blow. Lauren unintentionally grabs one of Maria's hands as they both lift up on their broomsticks. The girls feel their feet leave the ground for a few seconds before they land on the grass again.

"S-sorry..." Lauren takes her hand back and looks at Maria apologetically.

"No, it's okay." Maria smiles and quickly tightens her ponytail. "I was scared too."

"Good form, class, good form." Madam Hooch gives her students a round of applause. "Later in your Charms class you will learn the summoning charm. This will be important for trying to get your broomstick from far away. But, that is further on in your studies. For now, I'll- hey!"

Maria and Lauren turn their heads to where Madam Hooch is looking. Lauren's eyes widen when she sees that guy, Alex, over by a locked shed trying to break in. He has his two friends there with him.

Lauren quickly steps behind Maria and hides her face so Alex doesn't see her. Maria understands who she's hiding from and holds her broom in a defensive stance just in case.

Madam Hooch flies over to the three Slytherins on her broomstick and starts talking to them. Maria and Lauren can't hear what they're talking about, but she seems to be scolding them for trying to break into the shed. The two girls wonder what's in there.

The students' flying instructor amplifies her voice with her wand and yells, "Class dismissed!" She grabs Alex's arm and leads the three boys into the building, probably to give detention.

Maria and Lauren run up to the stands where their three friends are sitting. Once there, Lauren puts an arm around Julia's shoulders. "See, you're not the only one getting a detention on the first week of school."

The five girls laugh, which makes Julia feel a bit better. The blue eyed brunette crosses her legs and smiles. "You guys did great! I've never flown before, so I'm really nervous."

"It's not that bad. I doubt you guys will do anything more than we did." Maria tries to reassure Julia.

"Regardless, it'll be a good experience. Flying is an important thing to know when you're a witch." Hannah closes the book she was reading.

"And it's essential for Quidditch!" Agnes jumps up and punches the air above her. Maria and Julia find themselves shaking their heads playfully.

The five girls decide to do homework on the stands while they wait for Agnes, Julia, and Hannah's class to start. Julia gladly helps everyone with their Astronomy, and that gets done in no time. Hannah and Maria help everyone with their Potions which takes up some time, but they get it done. Surprisingly, it's Agnes that helps with Defense Against the Dark Arts which only takes about twenty minutes to complete. And lastly, Lauren helps with Transfiguration and Charms while Maria helps with History of Magic. The girls don't know how, but they managed to get all their weekend homework done before the Gryffindors' class started.

"See you after class!" Agnes grins and walks with her friends over to the field. Their class is the same as Maria and Lauren's, except this one doesn't get interrupted by Alex. Apparently what Madam Hooch wanted to teach after flying was the rules of Quidditch, which is Agnes' strong suit. She answered just about every question.

Class only takes about an hour, and Madam Hooch lets the students go about five minutes early. She orders everyone to put their brooms by the shed so they can be inspected and put away later.

"Waste of time." Julia recognizes that voice instantly and turns around to see that girl, Olivia, smirking at her friends. "I taught myself when I was three years old how to fly a broomstick."

Julia ignores the bragging girl and starts to walk away before Olivia's friend says, "Hey it's that girl that got detention from Professor Snape!"

"Hey!" Julia faces Olivia, displaying a big fake smile. "How's your face?"

"Oh a lot better, thanks for asking." Julia can tell that Olivia is having a hard time not growling at her. "Professor Snape made a healing potion just for me and he taught me the counter for your little attack."

"Just because he taught you the counter doesn't mean you have the skill to use it." Julia says just as her four friends come up to her.

Olivia sees the girls coming and knows she's outnumbered. "You all better watch your back. Especially you two." Olivia points at Julia and Maria before turning around and walking back inside, her friends following behind her.

"What was that all about?" Lauren turns to Julia with a concerned expression. She's worried about what Olivia might have said, as it might have hurt the ten year old.

"Nothing that important." Julia waves off the conversation, but then crosses her arms and turns to the other four girls. "But, I think I know who Snape's new favorite student is."

Since they got their homework done, the five girls decide to head over to Hagrid's straight away without going back inside. There is nothing they need there anyway, and Lauren still has the book to give to Hagrid in her bag.

The walk there is really fun, especially since the girls now have a huge amount of energy for the upcoming weekend. Hannah and Maria talk about History of Magic, and how the essay was easier than expected. Lauren and Julia walk side by side and talk about what the group should do over the weekend while the whole school is doing homework. Agnes runs ahead of the gang and falls down in the grass every once in awhile, waiting for her friends to catch up. It seems to take them no time to reach Hagrid's hut.

The outside of the house is small, but it looks very cozy. The land around the hut is covered in giant plants that seem way too big to be real. There's giant corn and some pumpkins starting to grow.

Hannah approaches the door first and politely knocks on it. The girls hear some stomping on the other side before the door opens, revealing the man who ushered the first years to the boats when they first arrived.

"Oh, it's yeh firs' years. What can I do for yeh?" Hagrid seems to smile under his messy, curly beard, but the girls can't tell that well.

"Uh, well, we decided to come by and introduce ourselves." Hannah steps aside so Hagrid can see the other four first years more clearly. "And we were looking for a bit of advice."

"All can come in now, I'll make some tea. Not a lot of people come by here and ask me for advice." Hagrid opens the door wider, letting the girls all enter and take a seat. "And don't mind ol' Fang there. He's a softy."

A huge dark coated dog leaps up excitedly and pounces on Maria. The poor girl falls backward from the weight and the dog starts licking her face mercilessly. Hagrid yells at Fang and drags him off the girl. Maria shakily stands up with the help of Agnes and says, "It's fine... I have eight dogs at home..."

Hagrid makes his tea and the girls all introduce themselves. Once the tea is made, Lauren takes out the book she borrowed from the library and hands it to Hagrid. "We thought you would find this interesting."

"Yeh I read that one a couple of times. The most fascinating thing in that is the eggshell. Yep, got a couple of those myself at one point in time." Hagrid sips his tea and rereads the cover of the book.

"Eggshell? What's that?" Hannah asks, genuinely curious about it. She has always been fascinated by magical items because her two older siblings would bring back home on occasion.

"Occamy eggshells, of course!" Hagrid awaits the awed gasp of the girls, but instead is met with more confused faces. "Yeh don't know? Well, occamy eggshells are put in the most advanced potions, but that ain't important. What yeh got tuh know is this: they're extremely rare and valuable."

"Valuable how?" Lauren asks, now getting more and more intrigued.

Hagrid raises his hand to stop the flow of questions he knows the girls want to ask. He stands up and goes to the back of the room, trying to find something. Finally, he pulls out a chipped silver sphere. "It's pure silver, and is the housing unit of a very rare magical creature that is known to be endangered."

"Wow." Hannah's eyes widen and seem to sparkle at the sight of the silver eggshell. It's pretty big as well, only a bit smaller than the size of Hagrid's huge hand. "My brother once told me he found a silver eggshell, but he was only pranking me. I bet this is where he got his inspiration."

Hagrid seems to get an idea. "Well, yeh seem like a nice responsible girl. Why don't yeh keep it and show yer brother?"

"U-uh are you sure? You said so yourself that it's very rare and valuable. I don't think I should..." Hannah waves her hands in front of her torso, indicating that she doesn't want the eggshell.

"Nonsense! I don't need it anyway. I would just throw it away now that the occamy has hatched. Yeh should keep it." Hagrid holds out the eggshell to Hannah who reluctantly takes it.

"Thanks! I'll take really good care of it." Hannah holds the shell close to her chest. It's a lot lighter than she thought it was going to be.

"Uh guys, didn't we come here for another reason too?" Agnes points out, gaining everyone's attention.

"Oh, yeah." Maria, who is sitting next to Julia, puts a hand on the brunette's shoulder. "Julia here got an unfair detention that's set for tonight."

The girls tell Hagrid the story about how Maria was going to be cursed and Julia swooped in with the stunning spell. Hagrid's eyes widen when he hears the spell Julia had performed. Lastly, they tell him about the letter Julia's parents sent her, and how they were told to come to him.

"That's awfully nice of them. Yep, I remember the Coppers. David and Helen, right? A Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." Hagrid recalls seeing Julia's parents roaming around the grounds when they were students. "Yer mum came down to see me a lot because of her fascination with magical creatures."

"Ugh." Julia lets her face fall into her hands. "I just can't believe I got detention for that. Another detention and I'm done for."

"Oh pish posh. None of us can expel you 'xept your head of house and Professor Dumbledore himself." Hagrid gives Julia a loving smile as she looks through her fingers at him. "You'll be fine. It's just Professor Snape, what can he do?"

"Probably burn her with some sort of potion I bet." Maria mumbles, but everyone hears her comment.

Hagrid points a finger at Maria, startling her. "Now you, missy. If that girl tries to curse yeh again, I want yeh to come straight to me. Got it?"

Maria's blue eyes widen and her cheeks turn a bit pink as she nods her head. "Okay. I don't think stunning Olivia again would be the best thing to do anyway."

The girls all laugh with Hagrid at Maria's comment. Suddenly, the huge clock strikes 4:45, indicating that Julia only has fifteen minutes until her detention. Julia groans, "How did it get to be so late?"

"We should go." Agnes stands up first. As much as she wants to stay, she doesn't want Julia to get in trouble with Snape either.

"I wish we had more time." Maria's face falls as she stands up with the rest of the girls.

Hagrid thinks for a second and then turns to Maria. "Well, if yer ever in the neighborhood, yeh can visit me anytime!"

"We have the whole weekend. Maybe we can come down sometime." Lauren suggests. "But for now, we really should go."

Everyone bids Hagrid farewell before starting to head up to the castle. Surprisingly, Julia feels a lot better about going to detention. By the time they all make it down to the dungeons, Julia just feels numb about the anxiety.

"If you don't make it out, I'll make your funeral next week Saturday." Agnes puts a hand on Julia's shoulder.

"Seriously, Agnes?" Hannah scolds the curly haired girl and turns to her cousin, still clutching her silver eggshell. "You'll be fine. We will wait for you in the Great Hall for dinner."

"Thanks, guys." Julia hugs the four girls and heads into the classroom.

There is something more creepy about the classroom atmosphere when no one is in it. All the desk chairs are disorganized and the potions ingredients closet is cracked open. One of the windows is open, letting in one stream of light to show Julia the setting sun. "Ms. Copper."

Julia turns toward the open closet to see Professor Snape stepping out of it. He closes the door behind him and goes to sit at his desk. He's carrying a few ingredients, all of them Julia knows is for a potion too advanced for her to try and brew.

"What do you want me to do?" Julia is prepared for the worst. Cleaning the entire classroom without magic, running an errand, getting expelled.

"I was going to have you clean out every spare cauldron, but something came up that we must attend to." Professor Snape puts all the ingredients on the desk.

"We?" Julia becomes very curious, and she steps closer to the desk to see what Snape brought out of the closet more closely. "You need my help?"

"Unfortunately." Professor Snape sighs as if he is annoyed that he needs a ten year old's help. "This potion usually requires two people to prepare. And I assumed that since you have displayed a great deal of magic already, you would be able to aid me."

"I can try." Julia feels all the anxiety come rocketing back up her body. She's totally going to make a fool of herself in front of a professional potion brewer. She's only made two different potions in Snape's classes, and those were for beginners. What if she messes up? Will she be expelled then?

Despite all the questions, Julia puts her short hair up and also puts a headband in her hair to keep it away. "So, what potion are we making?"

"The Draught of Peace. We make it at the beginning of every year in case a student needs it for exams at the end of the Spring." Snape explains.

The name sure tugs at something in Julia's memory, but she can't quite put her finger on it. "All I can remember about it is that my mum tried to make it once."

Julia is so glad that Snape didn't expect her to know anything about the potion. He tells her exactly what to do so she doesn't mess anything up. It takes about an hour to make the potion, which would take a regular wizard around two and a half hours. Thank goodness Snape is a professional in the field, or Julia would have missed dinner by the time they were done.

"It's perfect!" Julia gladly says, staring at the potion in the vial.

"Of course it is." Snape takes the opportunity to verbally pat himself on the back, making Julia slightly roll her eyes in annoyance. "Grab your bag and you may leave."

"Okay." Julia remembers putting her bag in the ingredients room right before they started. She doesn't know why she did, but it seemed like the most convenient place at the time. She goes inside the closet and travels to the back to find her bag. Julia bumps into a bookshelf, but nothing seems to fall. Julia rubs her side, grunting in slight pain for running into the books. She shoulders her bag and exits the room.

Her four friends are waiting for her in the Great Hall just as they said. Julia immediately sits down and tells them all about her detention. When she says that she helped brew the Draught of Peace, Hannah basically loses her mind.

"That potion is incredibly difficult! Even healers have trouble with that one because of how precise you have to be!" Hannah explains, trying not to freak out more than she has already.

"Yeah, well, at least it's over." Julia opens her bag to get her Astronomy stuff out. She wants to add some extra stars to her chart for good measure, but instead she finds an odd book in her bag that shouldn't be there. "Huh?"

"What's that book?" Maria's eyes widen at the sight of the old book. It's cover is very worn and faded. The fabric lining the outside has almost been torn completely off. "Where'd you get it?"

"It must have fallen into my bag when I bumped into the bookshelf..." Julia's voice trails off. She seems mesmerized by the old book, mostly because she didn't notice it fall into her bag.

"Lets see what it is." Lauren takes the book and carefully opens it. Weird symbols fill the pages and only some pictures provide aid to the readers.

"Runes!" Hannah's brown eyes sparkle at the sight of the symbols. "I wonder what they say. I've never learned how to read runes, but that's definitely what they are."

"What are runes?" Maria asks before Agnes can.

"They're ancient writing by wizards and witches. They were normally used to write down spells, potions, and anything else magic related so that Muggles couldn't decipher it." Julia answers the question without taking her eyes off the paper. "Can anyone read it?"

"I'll ask my brother, Ian. If he can't, then maybe I could learn how." Lauren smiles and hands the book back to Julia. "For now, you should hold onto it. If any of us are found with it, no one would question you since you had detention with Snape."

"Yeah. You'll have an alibi." Agnes says.

Julia takes the book back and puts it in her bag. The rest of the evening is spent devouring the dinner set before them, and the girls can't wait for the weekend to start. Now that her detention is over, Julia can finally relax for the night.