Expecto Patronum {Harry Potter FF}

4: Defence Against the Dark Arts

The Hogwarts Express stalled to a halt as the students quickly fled from their compartments in attempt to be one of the first to enter the Great Hall. 

Isaac, Parvati, Padma and Violet stepped into one of the first carriages, being joined by Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. The three boys were still arguing about Quidditch and whether it has links to muggle football as they sat down. The twins and Violet ignored this argument, however, and watched as the horseless carriage pulled them up towards the castle. 

As the grand gates to Hogwarts came into sight, Violet felt the familiar twinge in her chest that caused her to flood with excitement. She may have been attending Hogwarts for five years now, but still, Violet found herself just as excited to go to school as the first time. 

The carriages stopped, and the six friends hopped out, walking in through the grand doors and immediately into the Great Hall, where they parted ways to sit with their houses. 

Parvati joined Lavender Brown at the Gryffindor table as Dean, Seamus and Isaac took a seat next to the Weasley twins. Padma and Violet both sat down at the very edge of the Ravenclaw table, seeing as Padma had been elected Ravenclaw prefect and was going to help the new first years find their way back to the Ravenclaw common room. 

Terry Boot sat down beside them and Violet smiled as she seen the shiny prefect badge on his chest. 

"Congratulations Terry, your parents must've been delighted to hear you got chosen to be a prefect!" Violet smiled as she said this, even though Padma had feared she would be envious of her new position. 

Although, Padma couldn't quite think on why she had been chosen for this job, and not Violet. Violet was one of the smartest in her year, second best maybe only to Hermione Granger. But even then, in the few classes Gryffindors and Ravenclaws shared, Violet was always a challenge for Hermione herself. On top of being very smart, Violet also had a very charming personality. Why, Professor Flitwick, their head of house, thought Violet was one of the best things to ever walk in through the Hogwarts doors. 

Not that Padma minded much, after all, she couldn't blame her best friend for being very likeable and easy going. Still, as Padma looked down at the prefect badge, pinned neatly beside the Ravenclaw crest on her robes, she couldn't help but let herself swell up with pride that Dumbledore had thought her more worthy of the title than Violet. 

"Oh, they were! Mum even brought me to Diagon Alley and bought me a brand new broomstick to congratulate me on it!" Terry told them excitedly. 

"That's great, Terry! Will you be trying out for the Quidditch team this year with it?" Violet asked him, knowing that four members of the team had done their N.E.W.T's the year before and that Roger Davies would be looking for some new members. 

"Well, that's the plan, yeah. Myself and Michael are trying out to be beaters and Anthony's trying out for one of the chaser positions," Terry informed them, pointing to his two friends who were seated next to him. Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein were two other boys in Padma and Violet's year from Ravenclaw house. They were all quite nice to Padma and Violet, so the girls easily spent time with them in the Ravenclaw common room and at meal times. 

"Well, I know Roger's going to be tough to try out for, but I really hope you guys manage to get the positions. It would be nice to have a reason to cheer for my own house, for once," Violet laughed, and the boys and Padma followed. Sure, when Gryffindor wasn't playing, Violet supported her own house team but whenever she seen Isaac flying around with the quaffle in his hand, she couldn't help but cheer him on. 

"Definitely, and we'll make sure to win it this year, just for you girls," Anthony said smugly, throwing a wink across the table to them. Padma immediately let out a giggle and Violet turned to her with a smirk.