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OOOOO

Avifors

OOOOO

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"Good morning children." McGonagall smiled. It was a small smile, but it warmed the class a little— especially since winter was now in full force and I would take warmth wherever I could get it. "I hope that you have written the essay that I set last week. Please put them on the table and I'll pick them up later on in the lesson."

I reached over into my bag and pulled out a roll of parchment. McGonagall paused and waited for the class to do the same.

"Today I will be starting you off on the Avifors spell. It turns small objects and creatures into birds." McGonagall slowly waved her wand and a stick of chalk floated over towards her. It hovered in the air, bobbing up and down. "I shall demonstrate once and then go through the wand movement and incantation for you all. Avifors."

The bobbing stick of chalk began to spin, so fast that its shape quickly became indiscernible to my eyes. It whirled around, growing larger and darker. Wings sprouted outwards in a haze of blurred flapping and a shiny, gleaming beak poked out. In what seemed to be an instant, the chalk was gone and a crow had taken its place. Its beady eyes glimmered intelligently and it let out a squawk, perching on McGonagall's shoulder.

"The bird in question does not matter." she ran a slender finger over the crow's head. "As with all Transfiguration, it is paramount that you keep your focus clear, and your intention even more so. Visualise the change from one thing to the next— I've found that it helps greatly. Don't worry, everything I have taught you thus far was in preparation for harder spells. Notice how, slowly, I've moved away from having you transfigure similar looking objects?"

I froze. She was absolutely right. But I was still a little apprehensive. Mice to Snuffboxes was one thing, but doing the same thing reverse? I had a feeling this was the hardest thing we'd done yet.

McGonagall turned the crow back into chalk and placed it on her desk. "Yes Stebbins?"

"Professor, how small does an object have to be for the spell to work?"

McGonagall blinked. "Generally, if it can fit into the palm of your hand, then the spell will work."

Stebbins nodded, his messy curls bouncing as he did.

"Now, if you would all take out your wands…" McGonagall made us repeat the incantation after her and took us through the motions before setting us off. "Open your drawers and remove from it whatever trinket I've placed in there. Once more, this spell is quite difficult and you should not be disheartened if you don't succeed during this lesson. We will have multiple lessons on this spell. The fact that you inspired any sort of change in your objects alone should be cause for celebration."

I knew what softening a blow sounded like and if that wasn't it, then Merlin knew what was. I pulled back my drawer and found several pebbles. My gaze drifted over to Remus who was sat next to me, staring down at a couple of knuts and a few faded badges.

"That's one intense stare." I joked.

He looked up. "This is going to be hard, isn't it?"

"I've no doubt of that, mate." I picked up a pebble and played it between my fingers, feeling its smooth yet coarse surface on the tips of my fingers. "How are we supposed to turn this into a bird?"

Remus picked up one of the badges, flipping it over so that the needle side was facing up. "Like we've always done, I guess. Start by visualising the change—small ones at first—and letting your imagination and magic flow from there."

I nodded and raised my wand. "Sound advice."

Doing my best to blot out the classroom's noise, I pictured the pebble in my mind. Its size, its feel, the slate grey of it, even the dark smudges where the grey turned to black. I imagined the pebble growing bigger, darker. Soft feathers rose out of the pebble's smoothness until it morphed into a crow in my mind's eye.

My grip over my wand was firm, yet gentle as its tip cut through the air. "Avifors." I cracked my eyes open, expecting to see a live crow sitting in front of me— I was sorely mistaken.

"Woah!" I gasped, scooting back from the table.

My supposed crow was slumped across my desk. Its wings were frayed slightly and I wondered where I went wrong. I intended for the crow to be alive, not a fucking corpse.

Remus looked over from his side of the desk. "What is it?" he blanched. "... I don't think that's quite how the spell's supposed to work."

"You think?" I snarked, passing my wand over the failed transfiguration. "Reparifarge."

It shimmered, the limp bird slowly blurring, its shape no longer as defined. It grew brighter in colour and folded into itself until the crow was gone, back to the pebble it once was.

I leaned back, the chair teetering slightly. "Well that didn't go how I thought it would."

"And can you tell me why?" McGonagall's voice cut in from beside me.

My heart rate soared and arms flailed as I tried my best to not fall backwards. It was only after I righted myself that I mumbled out an answer. "I don't know…"

McGonagall quirked an eyebrow before her tone became slightly softer. "Think. How did you go about performing the spell?"

"I pictured the pebble in my mind and imagined it turning into a crow. Dark feathers, shiny beak, beady eyes, all of it." I said. "... But that was it. I only imagined it looking like a crow."

"Mr. Azar," McGonagall sighed. "What did I say at the start of the lesson?"

What had she said? I racked my brains for a moment until understanding dawned on my face. "That I could use any bird I wanted."

She pressed on. "Why?"

I paused, trying to think of an answer. "Because familiarity with a type of bird means you'll be able to imagine how it would act."

"And so?"

"I should use a bird that I'm familiar with because it would make this easier for me."

"What bird are you thinking of using then?"

My answer was instantaneous. "A pigeon."

She smiled and inclined her head. "Try again. This time, as well as visualising the change, remember how pigeons behave."

I licked my lips and nodded, my wand tip placed against the top of the pebble. I let my thoughts simmer. The slate grey of the stone grew larger, a curved head. Bright orange eyes and an almost skeletal beak. "Avifors."

I opened my eyes to a pigeon waddling across my desk.

"... Damn it." I muttered.

"Why are you upset?" McGonagall asked.

I placed my wand on the table and looked up. "Because it's not exactly what I imagined. It's too bright for starters, and it's a little too…" I pressed my lips together, watching as the pigeon put too much weight on one of its legs and almost fell off the table. "... fat."

"The fact that you've been largely successful on your second go speaks of your talent, Mr. Azar. Ten points to Hufflepuff. Keep at it and you'll have the spell down in no time." McGonagall jutted her head to my desk where my wand was placed between the pigeon's beak.

I scrambled, eventually prying the wand out of its mouth and turning it back into a pebble. Collapsing back into my seat with a sigh, I blinked. "Yeah, I think I'm going to take a break."

McGonagall smiled once more, though a frown quickly fell over her face. "Stebbins!" she began to briskly walk away from me. "Stop levitating the duck before I remove points from Ravenclaw!"

I shook my head, too tired to care at that point. Instead, I looked out to the class to see what my friends were up to. Lily had managed to partially transfigure a robin, though it was somehow wearing a bowtie whilst Cadmus was engaged in a staring contest with a bangle wearing raven. Sat beside him, Ellie and Michael were trying to resurrect their own corpse ravens.

Yup, it seemed to be going swimmingly.

Exhaling, I sat up and picked up my pebble, staring at it intently. "I'm not giving up until you're eating bread off the floor."

Remus tapped my shoulder. "Where did I go wrong?" he pointed to what I could only describe as an abomination. Some kind of bird-badge thing. Where its head should have been was the front of the badge. It was blue, and a single coal-black eye blinked at me at the badge's centre.

"... I think you weren't focusing enough on the change between the badge and whatever bird you wanted to turn it into." I decided. "What bird is it supposed to be anyways?"

Remus turned it back into a badge. "A bluebird." he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Oh." I stared at the faded badge. "I think that I might have to get us all into a classroom after this. Just so we can get the spell down."

Remus scanned the room, his eyes falling on the frustrated faces of our friends. "Yeah, I think you're right."

OOOO

There were a lot of unused classrooms around Hogwarts, and I mean a lot. Maybe the number of students had dwindled, or perhaps there just weren't as many classes as there used to be. I reckoned that it was probably the latter since the NEWT level functioned similarly to A-levels in regular school. If there wasn't high enough demand for a subject, it wouldn't be taught for that year. The only Hogwarts class that came to mind for that, however, was the Alchemy class taught by Dumbledore himself. It was so obscure that I had absolutely no idea what it entailed.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I shuddered slightly, my breath fogging up in front of me. I sneaked a glance at my friends sitting around the table, seeming to be equally as cold as me. Then to the fireplace on my right before muttering a quick incantation underneath my breath and flicking a minute spark at the flame, watching it roar to life, pumping some much needed warmth outwards.

Out of nowhere, Cadmus groaned. His chest was against the back of the chair and his head slumped forward, hanging limply in front of the chair. It just so happened that his position gave him a bird's eye view of his raven. "This isn't working…"

Several pebbles and odd trinkets were strewn across the table. Sat around it, my friends had relentlessly tried to transfigure various objects around the room into birds for the last hour and a half. Each of us completed the task with varying degrees of success.

I don't know if it was my more mature mind or something else but I had an easier time performing spells that required more focus and visualisation— hence my apparent prowess in wandwork. About twenty minutes prior, I'd moved on to casting Avifors on two pebbles instead of one. It felt like I'd gone all the way back to square one. Any pigeons I brought into the world were either emaciated or straight up dead.

Remus had managed to conjure a perfect, albeit slightly faded, bluebird. An improvement from his earlier abomination. Lily still had yet to separate her bowtie from her robin, but eventually decided that she'd keep it like that for the novelty. She too had moved on onto two objects. Michael and Ellie had finally managed to transfigure a pair of live ravens, though their heads were a little too big and their plumage slightly grey.

Then we had Cadmus.

"It's working, no doubt about it." I laid a hand on his shoulder and tilted my head towards his bird. "You managed to separate the bangle from the raven, right?"

He nodded, his face haggard. "But look at its eyes."

I leaned lower and peered at the bird. The raven's eyes were gleaming blue and gold instead of black— the colours of the bangle it used to be. A mistake, sure, but a relatively small one. I still didn't get why he was so put out. He'd managed to almost perfectly cast the Avifors spell after two hours of constant practice— something I thought he should take pride in.

He slumped down even further, groaning.

Bemused, I scratched my head. What was his deal?

Ellie leaned over and spoke in hushed tones. "He's completely spent." she whispered. "He gets like this all the time when he's tired."

I was sure it hadn't been that long. I glanced at my watch and baulked a little. A split second later I stood up, my chair scratched against the stone floor and made me cringe.

"Alright guys!" I said. "I think that's it for today."

My declaration was met with some interesting responses— or one interesting response in particular.

Lily nodded, returning her suave birds into a bowtie. Yawning, she slipped it into her pocket and tapped a droopy-eyed Remus on the shoulder. He blinked, looking momentarily lost before he too returned his bird into a badge and pinned it onto the left side of his robes.

"Just one more minute…" Michael mumbled, not moving his eyes from his bird. He quickly returned it to a knut and closed his eyes, his wand held perfectly still for a moment. Then his brown eyes snapped open. "Avifors."

The knut blurred, its bronze sheen dulling, growing darker. Soon, I saw plumage, a beak, gleaming eyes and then, all evidence of the coin was gone. Instead, a perfectly ordinary raven stood on the table. It turned its coal eyes towards Michael and in one leap—and several more flaps of its wings—perched itself on his head. The bird nested inside his brown locks, seeming to find it a comfortable enough seat.

"Nice!" I smiled, bumping my fist against his shoulder.

Michael grinned, his cheeks flushing slightly at the praise. Lily and Remus grinned at him whilst Ellie quickly ran over to his side and gave him a hug. Even the exhausted Cadmus managed a smile. Slowly, we returned the chairs and tables back to where they were and I put out the crackling fireplace with a controlled water-making charm. It sputtered out of existence, hissing slightly as the jet of water gradually consumed the flame.

If you wanted a quiet house, you needed tired children. My mother told me that all the time back in my previous life. Trailing down the hall in relative silence, I couldn't agree more. The only noise until we made it to the Great Hall was a few stifled yawns and the occasional yells of the Quidditch teams outside.

The Great Hall was mostly devoid of students. There were a few here and there completing homework on the tables as well as the castle's caretaker: Mr. Pringle. He shot us a glare, and narrowed his eyes as we walked past him. I was the only one who really noticed though, the rest were too busy stumbling around.

"Not that way, Remus." I placed a guiding hand on his shoulder and turned him away from the Slytherin table and towards the Ravenclaw table.

He grunted, following Lily. "See you tomorrow, Cyrus..."

I hummed and caught up to my Hufflepuff friends. Swinging my legs over the bench, I leaned back and sighed.

"So, I'd say today was pretty good." I smiled.

Michael nodded, his smile a little tired.

Ellie stifled a yawn. "M-Me too, but I can't wait for dinner so I can go to b-be-bed."

I was about to reply but Cadmus' soft snores entered my ears. It seemed I'd underestimated exactly how tired he was, but when I'd had them cast pretty much nonstop for an hour and a bit on top of an hour of spellwork in Transfiguration, their fatigue made sense. Cupping my chin in my hand, my cheek against my palm, I watched the hall slowly fill up with students.

Every once in a while, a professor or two would follow them in. Soon the hall was abuzz with conversation. My eyes grew heavy, and before I knew it, I too had drifted off to sleep.

"I guess the kids weren't the only ones who were spent after all…" I mumbled.

OOOO

I flexed my fingers, the tips tingling in anticipation. But it was too soon to act. Calming slightly, I watched the deck shuffle itself, taking mental notes of each card that slid onto the top of the deck. Elfrida Clagg, Bowtruckle, Manticore, Welsh Green, Cyclops. Then I saw the flash of the new card as it shuffled upwards.

Its jaw hung low, revealing a set of pointed teeth. With waxy skin and a large frame, it leered threateningly at me from within the card. But what grabbed my attention was its large, bloodshot blue eye. My wand was as fast as lightning, touching the top of the card just a bit faster than Cadmus could.

"Ha!" I laughed. "You snooze, you lose, mate. Next person!"

Cadmus shuffled off the chair, grumbling as he did. "I could've won that…"

Ellie slipped onto the chair, her usually shy eyes determined. "I'm not going to lose so easily this time, Cyrus."

"Bring it." I replied, lowering my gaze to the deck of cards.

It began to shuffle.

Mountain Troll, Hebridean Black, Giant Squid, Welsh Green… then I smelt the beginnings of a fire.

I caught the hint of spark in the dragon's maw and my eyes widened. I leant back and watched the fire stream out of the dragon's mouth, setting the card alight before exploding, scorching the edges of the rest of the deck.

"Aw…" Michael groaned. "I just bought that one too!"

"Isn't that the whole point, though?" Cadmus asked. "It's called 'Exploding Snap' for a reason, you know."

Ellie paid no mind to either of them and neither did I. The cards began to shuffle again, each card staying on top for the briefest of moments before the next. It didn't take long for a matching pair to come up, and though I tried my best to bring my wand to the top of the deck, Ellie was just a little faster at it this time around.

"Yes!" she grinned. "I've taken you off, at last!"

I bowed my head and smiled. "Well, it took you all a while. I've been sitting up here for the last half an hour."

"Yeah but it's still something." Michael piped up as he took the seat I'd just left.

I collapsed into the couch beside Cadmus with a sigh. "It was good while it lasted, but I think I'm going to get one last workout in before we leave to go home tomorrow."

"Really?" Cadmus raised his eyebrow. "It's ten-to-six."

"Yeah, I've got about two hours until dinner." I stood up and dusted off my robes. "Best time to get a workout in, I think."

He held my gaze but ultimately shrugged, more interested in the game of Exploding Snap than anything else. I said my goodbyes to Ellie and Michael, but they merely grunted, not looking up from the deck of cards. I tapped the exit out of the common room, watching the barrel slide sideways, revealing a stone passage leading to the main castle.

About halfway through the passage, I almost ran into my Head of House: Professor Sprout. She smiled at me, patting the top of my head. "Where are you off to, Mr. Azar?"

"I'm going to go exercise." I said.

"Is that so?" she smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Well I suppose that's five points to Hufflepuff for taking care of your health. After all, a healthy body is a healthy mind, wouldn't you agree?"

I grinned. "Indeed I would, Professor. Indeed I would."

"Oh, before you go," she placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me back into the common room. "I would like to make a small announcement for those of you who are inside the common room."

I stood just next to the entrance, watching the kind-faced woman plod over to the fireplace. She placed her wand to her throat, clearing it a little noisily. The students in the common room stopped what they were doing and looked at her expectantly.

"Sorry for the disturbance to your evenings, children," she smiled warmly. "But as this is the last night that most of you will be here until the new term begins, I would like to wish upon you a happy holiday. I am mostly here to express how proud I am of you all. In these last few months alone, we have racked up one hundred and seventy-five points—placing at the top of the table—and that still doesn't account for today's points."

There was a moment of silence before the room burst into roaring applause. Just over the din, I could hear a small chant that slowly grew louder and louder until it was almost deafening.

"WE'RE GONNA WIN THE HOUSE CUP!"

Sprout covered her mouth with a hand, amusement dancing within her hazel eyes. She raised her other hand and silence fell once more. "For that, we have a few select individuals to thank. And though you have all played a part, they have gone above and beyond for our house."

Still leaning against the wall beside the exit, I shared a curious glance with my friends. They sat all the way across the room beside the Herbology Professor. It seemed that Michael's deck of cards had been packed away, though the case was still atop the coffee table.

"First off, one of our fifth-year prefects, Viola Moss! Viola here, alongside Eric, has been amazing with her duties. Making rounds of the castle, leading around the first years when needed, and being an asset to this house overall." Sprout beamed at the dark-haired girl, and began the thundering applause. She stood up and grinned.

I clapped along with the others. I didn't really care much for the House Cup, but I knew that it was a big thing for my house. As far as I knew, they'd won the damn thing once in the last six years.

"Next, we have Eva Harrison, another fifth-year!"

The blond girl stood up and took a shy, albeit well-executed, bow and sat back down.

"Amos Diggory!" Sprout cheered. "And though he has been working hard these past few months, Amos has made sure to gather as many points as he could— even whilst preparing for his N.E.W.T.s this year."

From the very moment that I heard his name, my interest was piqued. I stood up straight, craning my neck so I could get a better look at who would, perhaps, end up being Cedric Diggory's father. His warm brown eyes were framed by rectangular glasses. He was handsome in a sort of proper way. His robes were neat and tidy, his hair perfectly combed, and a smile on his face that was nothing less than impeccable. And from how many people he was with, it seemed that he was as much of a social butterfly as his future son.

I made to leave the common room before Sprout's voice drifted across the room one final time.

"And lastly," she said. "I would like to thank a newcomer to our den. And though he may not have been with us for very long, I've heard that this individual has made quite the splash in both his year group, our house, and Hogwarts in general. Thank you, Cyrus Azar, for gathering fifty points for the Hufflepuff house since the first of September."

I blinked. Then blinked again. And then one more time as I tried to make sense of what I'd just heard. I knew I'd been given a tonne of points over the last few months, but nothing that big. Several dozen eyes snapped towards me, and before I knew it, I'd been swarmed by practically everyone there was. I felt somebody lift me up and hoist me onto their shoulders and despite what I'd say afterwards, being paraded around the room was pretty fun.

Once the excited badgers put me down, I was once more swarmed by my own year group. It took me a while, but I managed to pry myself away from them under the excuse of exercising. I watched the barrel slide shut, hiding the common room entrance until it would be opened once again. I sighed, waiting for my heart to calm down before I began to leisurely stroll towards the Great Staircase.

Hours later, I stumbled into my room, my limbs sore, but satisfied. My hair was still dripping from the shower I'd taken up in the Room, tracking water onto the carpeted floor. I winced, shrugging my robe off and hanging it over the wardrobe door. As much as I wanted to do little else but collapse onto my bed—Lord knows it was beckoning me over—I knew that I had to pack up before I could do so.

Grudgingly, I dragged my suitcase from underneath my bed and began to fold up my school robes, placing them at the bottom of the bag. Then, I pushed them slightly to the side, making room for my books. I rummaged through the wardrobe, taking home anything that I thought I'd need. There wasn't much sense in packing everything since I'd be back in a few weeks. In the end, I decided to pack the essentials and little else.

Once I was finished, I placed Sadie's presents at the top of the stack. I hadn't got her anything fancy on account of forgetting her gift until the letter she'd sent me last week asking what I was bringing her. In my guilt, I'd asked Professor Sprout for some Hufflepuff winter gear: a woolly Hufflepuff hat, with matching gloves and a scarf. If Sadie ever came to the castle, she'd at least be representing the best house in the castle.

Crawling into bed, I switched off my bedside lamp and buried my head into the golden pillow, letting out a content sigh.