The Other Castellan

Cerebus's Twin

Chapter 6: Cerebus's Twin

  When Fred and George told Lucas that their brother, Ron, became friends with Harry, Lucas didn't anticipate how hard Ron would make his quest.

  He could cope with the insults and name-calling. Sure, it hurt, but he always laughed it off and made a joke out of it. To make matters worse, Ron had successfully convinced Harry to hate him. But as Hecate said, if he decides he hates you, go out of your way to follow him. The fact that Lucas always had a retort available probably didn't help either.

  Then a notice was pinned up in the Slytherin Common Room stating that Slytherins and Gryffindors would have Flying Lessons together, which would start on Thursday. Most of the Slytherins groaned, but Lucas kept his expression neutral.

  "What do you think?" Blaise asked him.

  "Dunno," Lucas replied truthfully. True, he was excited to learn to fly, and the lesson would allow him to keep an eye on Harry, but he really wasn't in the mood for their insults. And name-calling.

  Blaise raised an eyebrow. 

  "I don't have an opinion," Lucas clarified. "I honestly don't care."

  Blaise snorted. "That's rich, considering you're the one that gets yelled at the most."

  "Since when do I care?" Lucas asked him. "They're terrible at insults. And their glares? It's like a puppy eating a marshmallow."

  Lucas and Blaise both burst into laughter.

  "I don't know how you do it," Blaise said.

  "Do what?" Lucas asked innocently, knowing the answer.

  "Make people laugh without trying."

  Lucas grinned. "It's inherited."

  Blaise rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "I can't wait for the lesson," he told him. "Just you wait. When it comes to our second year, I'll be the best Chaser the Slytherin Quidditch team has ever seen."

  Lucas chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I don't think you'd meet the criteria. Have you seen the team members?" He shook his head. "And, for the record, you talk about flying and Quidditch way too much."

  Blaise scoffed, which Lucas gladly ignored. Contrary to what Blaise believed, he did talk about Quidditch a lot. Lucas would often be forced to endure long talks of the different types of broomsticks and teams. More often than not, Lucas would zone out, than be brought out of his thoughts by Blaise scolding him for not listening.

  Blaise wasn't the only one. In fact, most of the Slytherins talked about flying. Possibly more than blood purity. Scratch that, they talked about flying all the time. Especially the Quidditch Captain, Marcus Flint. He would tell anyone who would listen about the Quidditch techniques and whether Slytherin would win the Inter-House Quidditch Cup again this year. Everyone in the school that came from wizarding families would talk about Quidditch. Even some of the insults directed to muggle-borns had Quidditch in them. 

  As he was eating breakfast in the Great Hall, he managed to hear Hermione's lecture about flying tips that she had gotten from a library book, Quidditch Through the Ages. Lucas almost felt sorry for the Gryffindors. Almost. But then, Blaise was talking his ear off with Quidditch, so he couldn't talk. Luckily Blaise's monologue was interrupted by the morning post.