Freaks: Year Two

You've Got A Muggle In The Cupboard, Just Thought You Should Know

Jasper was in the middle of History Of Magic, barely listening to Professor Binns boring voice as he lectured about the Goblin Wars. Jasper felt like they were always talking about the Goblin Wars.

He sighed, looking at the attempt of the bracelet he was making. Alabaster Jackson had been right there, it was a better habit to do when he was stressed out than picking at his skin. He wasn't perfect at it yet, but it made him feel some sense of relief. He realised that his hands were always moving, they didn't like to stay still, and he guessed he just resorted to picking at the scabs inflicted there rather than doing something else just like the Slythein had suggested.

He looked over to Harry who was not taking notes. This came as a surprise to him as Harry was always the notetaker of the group. Instead, he was just staring at seemingly nothing. "You alright?" Jasper asked.

Harry snapped out of his trance and looked over to his friend. "Yeah...sorry."

Jasper didn't believe him. "Have you been taking your potion?"

"I did take it this morning."

"You're supposed to take it at lunch too."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do, now take it," Jasper ordered him, afraid that Harry might have been seeing things again. He wasn't sure what exactly his friend was experiencing besides the basics of hallucinations or extreme panic. Jasper wondered if things would start to get better for his best friend. Maybe one day in the future he would not even need the potion, but the only way to get to that point was if Harry took it to begin with. "It will help, History is your favourite."

"I have to tutor tonight."

"Has that been going well?"

"Well...yes in the way that he is learning, but no in the way that he just...well, I am a little out of focus sometimes," Harry admitted. "And sometimes he just...is really strange and I don't want to judge someone for being strange, but why does he like bugs so much? I hate bugs..."

Jasper barely knew what Harry was talking about. Why there would be bugs at a tutoring session was beyond him, and he said, "Well, maybe tell him? I think Alabaster would understand."

"Maybe."

Jasper looked back down at his textbook, ignoring Professor Binns entirely. He was not sure how he was going to do on the upcoming exams this year with all the drama that had been going on with him. He still was new to the Wizarding World and with the amount of classes he had missed, he had no idea how he was going to catch up.

To his luck, Harry had spent twenty minutes explaining a part of History Of Magic that had been confusing him, and he thought he had at least started to grasp a part of it.

"Do you think the exam will just be an essay?" Jasper asked.

Harry shrugged. "I would think so, but the mystery is what the topic would be. There is a lot covered in History...well the book," Harry corrected because the ghostly professor loved to go on and on about the Goblin Wars and not much else. "I will help you Jaz, don't worry."

I need to study myself, Harry thought, feeling his nerves slowly start to overtake him. With the attack, and the therapy, and the St. Mungo's visit, and the medication and the side effects, he realised he had not studied as much as he would have liked this year. Last year he had studied since the first day, doing his muggle education on top of it all, and a part of him still wanted to do muggle school, but he had barely gotten the chance to focus on his magical studies, and how as he supposed to pass his exams when he could not even focus for more than five minutes straight?