A New Snake

Chapter 23

The next morning, Lily and Harry woke up early to get ready, get the Slytherin Schedules—Lily got years 1-3 and Harry got years 4-7—and make sure the First Years were awake on time and knew when they had to be awake in order to get themselves ready and not miss breakfast. Unlike Gryffindor—who passes their schedules out at breakfast—Slytherins gather in the common room by Year to get their schedules beginning with Seventh Years and going down so the prefects could lead First Years to the Great Hall until they got used to the castle and its halls and staircases.

When they reached the Great Hall, Harry was relieved to see the Fourth Years comfortably conversing with their housemates, even with those who had already been—and had stayed as—Slytherins. He hoped that his pep talk had a good influence on them. He was also happy to see Luna, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and the Twins. Now, instead of the First Years of Hogwarts only staring at Harry, the entire Year in the hall was staring at their group. Whispered questions of high-voiced Firsties led way to the answered whispers of "The Core" and "The Core 9" and similar sentiments. They simply ignored it. They had gotten the same thing from the Hogwarts students the last year, except this time they didn't have Cedric with them.

Harry and Lily were settling down to their breakfast after getting the First Years seated when a hand from someone behind them came to rest on either of their shoulders. Harry turned and jumped up in joy when he saw his former-Hufflepuff friend standing behind him. The girls ran forward, embracing the young man in bear-hugs to rival Mrs. Weasley's. The guys of the group chose simply to shake his hand or smack him warmly on the back. He greeted them all in turn and greeted his other friends from Hufflepuff and other houses.

Once that was over, Harry asked his question, "Not that it isn't amazing to see you again, Cedric, but... why are you here?"

Cedric smiled up at Harry—patting Luna gently on the head as she wrapped her arms around his neck and put a necklace with a charm like the ones on her earrings. "I've got an internship under Professor Flitwick. I'm hoping to be able to teach Charms when he retires. I intern this year and next. After that, I'm an apprentice or assistant of sorts. I teach some lessons and I'm the go-to substitute if he's sick or needs time off."

"That's amazing, Cedric. I can definitely see you as a teacher." Hermione piped in. She had sat back in her seat and was eating some eggs on toast while she read a book about the history of some magical creature or other.

Cedric, instead of standing and making a scene, decided to sit down and sat on the side of Harry Lily wasn't sitting on. "Who has charms today?" He asked.

They all looked at their schedules; Harry, Hermione, Lily, and Luna were the ones who had Charms that term.

"That's too bad, "Cedric replied in response to hearing that Neville, Ginny, Ron, and the Twins didn't have the class. "But, I'm here for some time yet. I may not be able to be a part of Fred and George's class, but what can you do?" They all shrugged.

"We don't—"

"—need someone—"

"—only a year older—"

"—teaching our class—"

"Anyway." The Weasley Twins commented with a playful grin. The table laughed at their antics; they always enjoy the Twins' habit of finishing each other's sentences.

They all sat together for the remainder of lunch. The students shared with Cedric how their summers had been. That is, the bits he hadn't been a part of. He enthused with Hermione about Australia and laughed with the Twins when they shared stories of the pranks they'd pulled on Ron. He sat enraptured when Harry relayed the tale of how he had almost fallen off his broom doing a trick and listened proudly when Lily told him how she had perfectly brewed the Fire-Protection Potion on the first try. He listened to Neville's research on the strange flora of north-eastern Russia and sat enraptured while Luna recounted her adventures with her father. They sat enjoying life, but before too long, it was time to get to class.

Cedric had to leave before them because he had to be with Flitwick when the students came into the classroom. He bid them goodbye, promising to sit with them at lunch and went on his way. Because Harry, Lily, and Hermione already had their school things, and their first class was Charms, they decided that they would save time and just walk with Cedric. They said goodbye—Harry quickly grabbed an apple from a bowl in the center of the table—and they followed the former-student.

Time to start a new school year. Hopefully, with Cedric there, it wouldn't be as bad as Harry felt it would be.

~ ~ ~ ~

The Core Ten reconvened at lunch, this time at the Hufflepuff table. Ron groaned on about how horrible Umbridge's class was. Even Hermione had something bad to say. She seethed as she told them how there would be no practical learning in Defense. How all they did was read from a children's book on the basics of Defense. Umbridge gave a weeks' worth of detention to anyone who spoke out against her, "She's a tyrant! Not to mention how obnoxious it is to have to listen to her squeaky voice for an all-class lecture! She's unbearable!"

"Bravo." Cedric clapped slowly, "I've never heard you speak against a professor before, well done."

She flushed a little in shame, "Well, it's the truth. I don't know how anyone could hire her. How anyone could even be able to put up with her."

Harry and Lily sighed together. He'd had a bad feeling about that woman. Unfortunately, it seems that he was right.

The group decided to move away from such a distressing topic and the conversation moved onto Quidditch tryouts and whether Harry would make the Slytherin team and who would be the new Gryffindor Seeker.

When they were talking about Harry's odds of being Slytherin Seeker, they heard Draco scoff from behind them. It seems he was leaving the Hall to study the potion they did in class when he heard their conversation. "Potter would get the spot no matter what house he was in. Everyone knows how well he flies. They would be too afraid of humiliating themselves to dare go against him. That is, everyone but me" With that, he turned and walked away in his typical façade of Malfoy Swagger™. The others watch him, mouths wide open. He willingly spoke to them, without insulting even a Weasley? Who was that and what had they done with Malfoy?

But they couldn't concentrate on the strange habits of the young Malfoy for long. It was time for Harry and Lily to get to Arithmancy, Hermione to get to Ancient Runes, Neville and Ron to get to Herbology, Luna to get to Defense, and Ginny to get to History of Magic.

Lily was glad for to engagement level required in Ancient Runes so he wouldn't have to think about Dark Lords, or Death Eaters, or strangely acting Malfoys, or the dreaded Professor of Defense. He could chat with Lily and concentrate on his work. He almost wished he'd prepared himself more for the next class.

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