"You, my dear, seem to have a knack at Potions."
Aria's eyes widened at her head of house's statement. Professor Snape stood next to the Herbology professor and Professor McGonagall stood on her other side. Why Aria needed an entire audience for ju...
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~*~
It came as no surprise to her, when Aria passed all of her exams with flying colors. Her potion's marks were so high that she went home with the highest score on any exam in the whole history of Hogwarts. There was no award, but it seemed as though everyone knew her name now. The same attractive boy before that she had run into near the beginning of the year (Aria couldn't remember his name), congratulated her. Her heart flipped in her chest, but she chose to ignore it.
Aria was sad to leave Hogwarts. Of course, she was excited to see her mother and father again, but she was going to miss Corryn and Thomas, the classes, the endless maze of halls, and the magic in general. This year had been crazy, and Aria was excited to see what excitement was going to come next.
"Promise me you're going to write," Corryn commanded as they sat in their compartment on the train.
"Of course," Thomas said with an eye roll. "I doubt we'll be able to even stop writing. Are you two going to try out for the Quidditch team, next year?"
"I think I might," Aria said, pushing her trunk onto the rack and plopping into one of the seats across from her friends. "There's a Chaser spot opening up, from what the twins told me. That'll be perfect. What about you, Thomas? Your brother was a Chaser. Maybe you'll challenge me for the spot?"
"Yeah, maybe," he said, though it was slightly doubtful. "What about you, Corryn?"
"Well ..." she hesitated, "er ... I think I might just stay in the stands. It's much more fun to watch that way. I'd rather be there ... then on a broom."
"Are you afraid of heights?" both Thomas and Aria said at once.
Corryn smiled sheepishly. "How could you tell?"
The three laughed. It was quite obvious, there was no doubt about that. Perhaps Corryn could cheer from the stands. She told them that, if they both made it, she'd make a huge sign and she'd be their cheerleader. That just seemed to make all three laugh harder. None of them knew if the wizarding world even had cheerleaders. None of them had been to a professional match before.
"So ..." Thomas started again. "Did you know that Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts next year? Everyone's been talking about it."
"Who's that?" Corryn wondered.
"He's the boy who lived, as they call him," Aria answered. "Apparently he defeated Voldemort when he was just a baby."
Thomas sucked in a deep breath.
"What?" she asked, looking at him. "What did I say?"
"Well ... I know it might be odd to say this there, but here, saying You-Know-Who's name is like a curse word. You just don't say it. It's like ... mad karma or something."
