Finding Father

Chapter 4- I Suck At Charms

At breakfast the next morning, Professor Flitwick hands out schedules to all of the Ravenclaw students. I run my eyes over my own.

Monday: Transfiguration, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Double Charms.

I glance around. A Prefect girl next to me is groaning.

"I have Trelawney, Snape, and Binns all in one day, kill me now," she says miserably, and then gets up and leaves before I can ask her about it.

I make my way out of the Great Hall, and head to the Ravenclaw dorms. Back in my room, I collect the necessary books for the day. A fourth year points me in the direction of the Transfiguration classroom, and I find it pretty easily.

Professor McGonagall is standing in the front of the room, waiting while students file in.

I sit down at an empty desk, and I'm soon joined by a Hufflepuff girl. She smiles at me, and then burrows her nose in her new book, the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.

I flip the first page of my copy, but Professor McGonagall calls us all to attention. She explains the basic theory behind Transfiguration, then hands out needles which we're supposed to turn into matches.

By the end of the lesson, all I have is a wooden needle. Halfway there. . .

The Hufflepuff girl next to me, who McGonagall addresses as Miss Fillinam, actually gets her needle to change.

My next class is History of Magic. The most interesting thing there is that our teacher is a ghost. Professor Binns drones on for ages, telling us about the first wizards and witches. For a while I'm interested and I valiantly try to copy it all down, but his monotonous voice gets to me and I end up just staring at him, daydreaming.

Defense Against the Dark Arts is soon my favorite class. Professor Lupin is amazing, and clearly knows what he's doing.

He dives right in, teaching us a simple shield charm. It's the first thing I succeed at today. I do the best in the class, easily fending off a (nearly harmless, mind you) jinx thrown at me by Lupin.

Charms is last, with my own head-of-house, Professor Flitwick. The first thing we begin to learn is Wingardium Leviosa, a spell to make things fly.

Flitwick distributes some feathers to each of us, and our job is to make them fly. Swish, and flick, I think.

"Wingardia Leviosa!" As soon as I say it, I realize I've gotten it wrong, but my feather has already begun to swell up, and without warning it does the only thing it could. It explodes.

"Stay calm, settle down, everyone!" I hear Flitwick saying, as the smoke clears away. He comes over from his desk, and uses Reparo multiple times, fixing the small mess in front of me.

"Wingardium Leviosa, Miss Carter," I says to me, before returning to his desk. I sigh, and grab a new feather. I never fully get it to hover.

After classes are over, all the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs head either to their respective common rooms, or to the library to tackle our first days worth of homework. In the library, I find a book on magical creatures to begin reading for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

I take a seat next to the girl from Transfiguration. She smiles at me again.

"Hi."

"Hey. I'm Avery," I say.

"Cool. Macy Fillinam. Nice to meet you," she replies.

I nod at the books in front of her.

"Lupin's assignment?" She nods. "I might join you, then."

I sit down next to her, and open my book to Chapter 1: Dangerous Insects. Gross. . .

**************

At dinner, I once again notice the terrifying teacher looking at me sometimes. I ask the girl next to me who he is, and she tells me that he is Professor Snape, Potions teacher.

According to my schedule, I have him tomorrow. Maybe I can find out why he is so interested in me.