Dreams of Magic (Harry Potter)

Three: Lay of the Land

"First day of classes," Mei-Lin said, organizing her books in her arms. "Are you all ready?" Addy nodded, adjusting the straps of her bag over her shoulder. Their other roommates nodded too. Two of them were twins, friendly red-haired and grey-eyed girls named Lyra and Jasmine. The other girl had black hair with purple at the ends. She was quiet, like Mei-Lin, but they'd learned her name was Aurora.

"Then let's go!" The girls trooped downstairs, where all the other first year Ravenclaws seemed to have had the same idea. Addy and Mei-Lin quickly found Jay, and they stood together and watched everyone mill around. The prefects were weaving through the small crown and answering people's questions, and the noise level soon began to rise.

"All right," Called Petunia over the din, "Classes start in around ten minutes. You guys can head out; have a great first day of classes!" The Ravenclaws all bolted through the portrait, excited to begin their magical education. The trio of friends was right along with them, and it wasn't long before they were in their classroom- Charms, with Professor Flitwick. Petunia had mentioned earlier that two houses often joined together for classes, and Addy was delighted to see a trail of Slytherin students walk in right after them. She looked for Draco, and waved happily upon seeing him. Draco regarded her with the same odd look as yesterday, barely returning her greeting with a small nod before choosing a seat near some friends.

"Good morning first years!" The professor called once everyone was seated. He was a short, bubbly man, standing on his desk and bouncing lightly on his toes. "Welcome to Charms!" As Flitwick introduced the year's subject matter, Addy leaned forward and drank in every word. She was finally, finally getting to study magic, and she intended on learning every single thing her teachers had to teach. After all, she wanted to live up to the Ravenclaws' defining trait.

Charms passed rather uneventfully. Addy had done some magical research before in her father's library, so she had a head-start on what they were learning. Flitwick had started them on the levitation charm, and Addy seemed to take to it with great speed. Seated next to her were Jay and Mei-Lin, of course, and she helped them learn the wand movements for the charm as she did it herself. The other students quickly noticed that they had an overachiever in their bunch, and while some jeered behind her back and made fun of her, others meekly approached Addy's desk and asked for help when Flitwick was aiding others. Being a soft-hearted girl, Addy did her best to help those who requested it while still getting some practice in herself. At the end of the class, while most students were still aimlessly waving their wands to get them to do something, Addy had her pencil wavering slightly above her desk. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good start for which she received praise from Flitwick. Addy walked out of class simply overjoyed; she knew she was a witch from her childhood, but making an object do something that defied the laws of Muggle physics truly cemented it in her brain.

Their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, was half an hour after Charms. Even with so much time between, the trio of friends lingered in the hallways outside to talk about their impressions of school until it was time to head inside. Addy, Jay, and Mei-Lin seated themselves in the second row of desks (as they had done in Charms) and waited patiently for the rest of their classmates to arrive. They'd heard their other Slytherin classmates talking about this class, too, so it was no surprise when roughly the same group of students trooped into the room and found their places among the rows. Idle chatter flooded the room for a few minutes until the professor began the lesson. It seemed as though he had just appeared in front of his desk- he was so quiet and unassuming that no one had heard him.

"Good m-morning," The man said, so quietly that several students leaned forward in order to hear him at all. "My n-name is Professor Qu-Quirrell, a-and this year you'll b-be learning D-D-Defense against the D-D-Dark Arts." Immediately, a few snickers were heard throughout the room. The professor's stance at the front of the room commanded no one's attention, and he soon felt his control of the class slipping. His body shook as he tried to get through the next few minutes of explaining the class material, and his voice modulated between loud and soft in an attempt to be heard over the growing din of student voices.