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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ " ― 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡,
𝐢 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The potions lecture was a bit of a challenge for a witch that spent eleven years of her in Muggle world. However, Ryan managed to survive through it – fortunately, no one asked her to use magic for that. Whenever it was needed, Sirius took the lead to wave his wand and utter the spells mentioned in their books. Throughout the lecture, two of them worked without much interaction, which actually left Ryan curious about why Sirius decided to sit beside her in the first place. Of course, thanks to him the whispers about her attitude died, but it did not mean people changed their minds. Ryan saw a few of them looking at her curiously after Remus told them she could not talk, yet some of them did not even mind that special condition of hers. For them, no matter what, she had to be kind and respectful to others.
As if she did anything rude so far.
Sirius and Ryan soon finished their potion and got a 'well done' from the professor before both of them parted their ways to head their next classroom. When Sirius went to find his roommates, Ryan decided to get some fresh air during her ten-minute long break. She sat by the huge window and let the soft breeze brush her face as she closed her eyes to ignore her surroundings even for a couple of minutes. She was not used to be part of the crowd, not when she spent most of her childhood locked in a room, so the latest events in her life tired her more than they were supposed to do.
"Ryan?"
Unfortunately, it was not easy to find peace in a crowded place. Ryan opened her eyes and tilted her head back towards the source of the voice, only to see Frank walking towards her with his usual kind smile on his lips.
"How was the first class?" he asked as he leaned his shoulder against the wall. He was carrying his own books, probably trying to catch up on his next class. "Good? Bad?"
Ryan raised her index finger to point one; to show him that his first guess was right. If she survived a class, that meant it was good. That was her philosophy.
"That is good but, I don't think you want to miss your second class, right?" he said and pointed the Clock Tower that was standing across them, in the centre of the main courtyard. Ryan followed his gaze and her eyes widened for a second before she waved her hand at him and ran to her next class, leaving a smiling Frank behind. He was glad to see she was getting used to Hogwarts or at least, she was trying.
"The question is what to do? Is there anyone, who could say what has to be done?" Professor Cuthbert Binns, a ghost, asked as he talked about Gargoyle Strike of 1911. He was an old ghost, who rumoured to not even accept his own death. Ryan soon observed that he also asked questions, which he did not wait for anyone to answer. So, it made the lecture easier for her to learn as she found the History of Magic fascinating and only needed to take notes.
"During the Wildcat Gargoyle Strike of 1911, the Wildcats were winning when..." professor continued to tell but instead of taking notes, Ryan tilted her head to the side when she sensed someone sitting beside her. This time it was James Potter, who surprisingly, unlike Sirius, flashed her a smile before he placed his Chocolate Frog Cards on the desk and began to organize them.
Ryan, unaware of what cards were, tilted her head to the side and wondered if it was a material she needed for the class. Taking a mental note to ask it to Frank later, as he seemed to be someone who would not mind helping her, Ryan returned her attention back on her task to add some more notes on her parchment. That gesture of her actually got James' attention and he peeked over her shoulder to see what she was doing. He expected to see her drawing something or writing some random stuff, like others as that was what whole class did if they were not already sleeping. But instead, he noticed the full parchment that was covered by neat handwriting, which made James gape at her.
"How did you write all these?" he whispered to her. Ryan, quite taken aback that someone attempted to talk to her at class, looked at him for a few seconds before she grabbed a piece of empty parchment and wrote an answer to his question.
I just write whatever the professor says.
"How do you catch up with all these?" James asked this time, which earned him a shrug from Ryan.
I like History.
"Merlin, you are a bizarre girl," James whispered, though he did not mean it in a bad way.
"Is that Chocolate Frog Cards?"
Suddenly, the pair heard someone asked and raised their heads up to see Professor Binn watching them. Instead of getting nervous that he was caught by his professor on the first day, James put a casual grin on his lips as he nodded his head.
"Yes, Sir. I think it is a good way to keep up with history."
James' reply made Sirius, who was sitting a row behind, snort. Remus also seemed to be amused how relaxed his roommate was as he had that tiny smile on his lips.
"A good approach, I must admit," Professor Binn replied before he turned to walk towards his desk to continue the lecture. But before he left, Ryan saw him search his pockets and place a card in front of James, which caused the boy to gape at the sight of it as he said:
"Merlin's ears, this is Circe."
Ryan did not need to use magic during the first two lectures of hers, so they passed easier than she expected. However, when it came to her next lecture, which was Charms, she had a bizarre feeling about it – and the reason was confirmed the moment Professor Flitwick asked them to pull out their wands as they were going to learn Levitation Charm.
"You all just have to focus on the feather," the professor said, "swish and flick and say very clearly, Wingardium Leviosa."
Ryan could repeat the spell as it was the last words professor said, but doing that would let others know that she indeed could talk. Then again, it was not the only thing that worried her. The moment Ryan held her wand, her hand began to shake as memories of her father pointing the wand at her filled her mind. She found her lips locked, not even uttering a word, but fortunately, it did not seem to get the attention of others as her peers were busy with practising the spell.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
She heard from all sides of the classroom, as her lips parted for her to repeat the incantation, but her voice refused to be heard.
"Miss Selwyn?" Professor Flitwick called as he approached her when he saw how Ryan's hand was shaking and her breathing was irregular. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked and his answer was a crack on the desk. All students turned their heads to see what happened and were taken aback to see the crack on the desk.
"Everyone, keep practising," Professor Flitwick said before he gently helped Ryan to stand up. He was worried but managed to keep his posture calm as he helped his student. "We better see Professor Dumbledore," and he whispered only for her to hear.
