Chapter 50: The First Day

Waking up at six in the morning is no easy feat, especially when you do it every day. I used to wake at five to get more reading time, since I am on a very tight schedule, with a war coming and all that. Now I don't need to do much reading, just more practice with my magic. The most important now is to get my control over magic back. It might not sound like a big deal, but it is. In a fight, throwing overpowered spells can be deadly, since the opponent can just throw them back at me, then I'd overpower the shield too, which means I tire easily. Not to mention I won't be able to use Dark Magic, whose main requirement is control. I am not looking forward to trying Fiendfyre in this state.

I got up, dressed in my work out clothes and darted out of the Ravenclaw tower towards the black lake. Even though the Room of Requirement can provide better scenery, the feeling that none of it was real remains, and it reduces the quality of the experience in my opinion.

It was cold in this part of the country, especially this early in the morning but it didn't really matter. As long as you were proficient with magic, you can be naked and be perfectly warm, provided you had your wand, or were proficient with a wandless warming charm, which was the case for me. Normally, it would be a problem given my lack of control, as I could burn myself in the process, but I am no longer a beginner when it comes to magic. I can just modify the spell to add a limiting parameter to it, so no matter how much mana I feed it, it would do its job the way I intend it to.

I ran around the lake, looking for a good spot to practice my magic without being interrupted, and soon enough, I found a nice spot, I set up a few basic warning wards in case of an ambush or unwanted visitor. Better safe than sorry. And I began my routine.

First the stunning spell: "Stupefy". In the movies, the spell would knock back anyone who came in contact with it, however it wasn't the purpose of the spell. Once it hits you, you just lose consciousness. There is a variant that's a mix between the banishing charm "Depulso" that also pushes you back, but it's not necessary. I pointed my wand, and focused on making the spell flow out, trying my best to limit the output. I just send them towards the lake where they'd just dissipate when they run out of energy. Once I felt it reached a decent level of control, I moved to the next spell. That didn't mean I mastered the spell yet; for that, I'll need a lot more practice.

The next spell would be the Shielding Charm: "Protego". This spell as its name implies can stop physical and magical attacks. It can deflect anything it makes contact with like a mirror, unless it can't be repelled for various reasons. Unfortunately, there are spells it can't repel, so it's not fool proof.

Fun fact: do you know why Wizards don't just use machine guns instead of complicated and energy consuming spells? It's this particular charm. The moment the bullets make contact with the Shield, the caster can just send them back at your face, especially since he'll be ready for it. So, you would have the opportunity to send one shot at him, maybe, before it hits his shield since he's expecting you to do just that. (Guns aren't exactly invisible, unless you make them so, which is just not very possible.)

Most believe that Grindelwald lost the war, that his ideals died with his loss. The truth couldn't be farther from the truth. Grindelwald actually won the war when it comes to ideals, because say whatever you want, the man was right. All non-magical government are controlled by their magical counter parts nowadays. They have finally admitted the danger muggles represent, so they needed to keep a tight leash on them, in case a madman decided to test nuclear weapons on neighboring countries. That also includes keeping track of all their inventions, especially their weaponry, and trying to find a way to counter it.

For guns' case, it's fairly simple. A modified shielding charm that activates whenever a small metallic object flying at deadly speed is near the target. Enchant a trinket with that effect, and you are bullet proof. It can be a bracelet or a necklace you wear. That's the reason no one even bothers with guns.

I followed it by the Shield Breaking charm, another reason why the Protego spell isn't foolproof, then the Levitation charm, Banishing Charm Depulso, Disarming Charm Expeliarmus, and concluded my session. I saved the more lethal spells for another session, when I am not in the open where anyone can see me; I wouldn't want to give people the idea that I'm dangerous.

It was seven thirty by the time I was finished. I felt a bit tired, but it's nothing breakfast won't fix. I ran back towards the dorm. I passed by several students on the way who gave me weird looks, probably because of my outfit, and the fact that I'm jogging, but I didn't mind. I expect there will be all kind of rumors flying around, however I have Tracey on my side, so long as I tell her the real reason (at least, my version of it), they would disappear quickly enough.

I did notice on the way, a redhead who seemed to desperately want to go back to sleep, but was being dragged by her blonde friend, Hannah. Though upon noticing me, her eyes suddenly opened, no trace of sleep left in them. She grinned widely, and waved at me. "Good morning!"

"Hello!" I stopped for a moment to greet them, it wouldn't do just run past them, I'm sure they'd be offended.

"Where were you?" Hannah gave me a puzzled look. She knew I was weird, but this was apparently a new level of weird for me. "And why are you dressed like that?"

"Um, I was just practicing my spells. I need to go now; I'll see you guys later." I said before darting towards the Ravenclaw tower. I quickly took a shower and put on my school uniform. Coming down from the boys dormitory, I noticed Daphne sitting on the common room, eyes glued on a book.

"Hello Daph. Waiting for someone?"

"Yes, actually." Daphne closed her book and turned her attention to me. "I was waiting for you."

"O-Okay…"

"I already got us our time tables from professor Flitwick." Daphne presented me with said parchment. "We have potions with Snape first."

"Great. You want to partner again this year?" I grinned at her. We usually outperformed everyone in potions, the most difficult subject taught at Hogwarts.

"About that…" I frowned. Daphne wanted to say something but seemed hesitant. I can only guess I won't like what she would say.

"You can tell me. What is it?"

"Hannah and Susan usually pair together for potions…" I did not like where this was going. "And they didn't do that well last year. So, they had a little request for us."

"Where are you going with this, Daphne?"

"They asked, since we are both doing so well, we could pair with them instead. It would help them pick up their grades." Daphne did not sound very confident relaying this particular request to me, which was really unlike her. I guess she was uncomfortable with the suggestion too, or at least with the part where she would have to relay it to me.

"And what did you tell them?"

"I said I'd speak with you first." Great, now I'll sound like a d-word if I say no.

"Daph… You know how much focus is required when dealing with potions…"

"Yes, and I did mention it when they asked. But she promised this has nothing to do with her crush on you." Daphne answered truthfully. "Hannah was the one who came up with the idea." She added.

"And you think this is a good idea?"

"Yes." She said without hesitation. "I have no reason to doubt their sincerity. Besides, they wouldn't be stupid enough to mess with a Ravenclaw's school work." She does have a point. Ravenclaws are not forgiving for those who mess with their studies. I've seen hexes being thrown at Gryffindors in the library because they couldn't keep their mouths shut when the exams were close.

We walked together towards the Great Hall in silence, while I was pondering over this situation. On the bright side, we get to help two friends who really need it, but if she ends up being distracted most of the time, or worse, distract me in the process… I guess I'll have to try it first, worst case scenario, we'll just switch back.

"Alright, we can switch partners." Daphne nodded. We entered the Great Hall, and as expected, I was already receiving those looks, along with some hushed discussions. Regrettably, minding your own business was not a skillset they taught here.

Tracey and Michael were already at the table, breaking their fast. And by the sound of it, having discussions about potions with our house mates.

"… It's apparently different this year. We won't be only processing potions, but also casting spells on them- Oh hey guys!" Michael stopped his lengthy explanation when he noticed us approaching.

"Good morning, sorry for being late." They saved us seats apparently.

"It's alright don't mention it." Michael waved it off.

"What's this you were saying about potions being different?" Terry Boot asked him again, seemingly annoyed at my interruption.

"Right, well as I said, we'll be casting spells on potions to remove certain runic sequences. Most advanced potions use this technique to isolate the effects." Michael resumed.

"Don't tell me we have to cast spells only from a set of runes! Isn't that super difficult to do?" Anthony Goldstein paled hearing the level of difficulty. To be fair, out of all Hogwarts' subjects, potions were the most difficult. And because of professor Snape's high standards, accepting only Outstandings for his NEWT class, only a select few make it, generally around ten students.

"No, that's NEWT level. We will be required to cast simpler spells with incantations though, but it's not very easy either. And he usually assigns the spell as homework." Tracey was also paying close attention to what he was saying. She has apparently decided to pursue potions in the future, hopefully becoming a potion mistress. The reason for this is very simple: it's the highest paying job there is. Enchanter might sound cool, but they are very common. Potion masters, on the other hand, are very rare. The nature of their job is also very dangerous, since the smallest mistakes can cost your life.

I sat down, and began buttering my toast. I took a bite, then a sip from my chocolate milk, before I noticed the weird looks I was receiving, again. What now?

"Wow. The world must be ending, or I must have gone blind." Terry remarked, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing right.

"What?"

"You didn't cast your spells on your food." Anthony pointed out. Oh, so that's what this is about.

"Really? I must have forgot." I continued munching on my toast, enjoying the now suspicious glances.

"Who are you and what have you done to Kaiser!" Tracey and Michael asked simultaneously, but I just smirked. Should I tell them that I checked my food Wandlessly? Meh, let's see how long until they figure it out. Professor Flitwick soon started distributing our schedules.

"Great, we have potions first." Anthony groaned in annoyance; Potions was not his favorite subject. "Getting yelled at by Snape on the first day. What a great way to start the year."

I swear I saw Professor Snape's eye shift to our direction briefly, before he resumed his talks with Professor McGonagall. Was his hearing that good? I should be careful what I say in the Great Hall then. Who am I kidding? I never discuss anything important here anyway.

"Do your potions correctly, and you won't get yelled at." Terry shrugged.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Anthony just rolled his eyes at him. To be fair, professor Snape doesn't "yell". He speaks in the calmest way possible, so much that it chills you to the bones when you are the subject of his ire.

"We should get moving and clean our equipment first." Tracey said, after Daphne and I finished eating. There are two people professor Snape hates the most: those who are late, and those who do not take potions seriously. I understand why it would piss him off, the number of times he had to vanish a potion about to go kaboom was astronomical, and that's only for simple potions. It is an exceedingly dangerous and stressful for him, watching everyone closely for any signs of errors, while he can't afford to make any, because it would mean one of his students would lose his life.

Hannah and Susan noticed us getting up, and did the same with the other puffs. Daphne quickly whispered something to them, I guess she's informing them of our change of pairings. I took a station at the back of the class, and was shortly joined by Susan.

"Hello! Thank you for agreeing to this." She said to me with a smile, which I returned.

"Don't worry about it. That's what friends are for." She nodded, while her smile widened. "Let's clean the cauldron first."

"Allow me." She took her wand out, pointing it at the cauldron. "Aguamenti." A stream of water came out of it, and slowly filled half the cauldron. She then dumped a cleaning potion into the water. It was used to get rid of remnants of previous potions, and any other effects that could still be on the cauldron. Next, she waved her wand over the mixt, creating a vortex effect, covering every part of the cauldron.

"Evanesco." The water slowly disappeared leaving behind a silver interior with few taints. "Scourgify." The spell left behind shiny silver with no unwanted substances. It was a cleaning spell used to get rid of impurities, but it's not foolproof either. Unless you had an amazing control over the spell, it would leave behind some traces. After casting it a few times, she conjured water again, making it spin all over the cauldron, and vanishing it.

"Done." She pointed her wand, casting a few spells to verify the quality of her cleaning, while I did the same. The results were impressive enough. The cauldron was now ready for use.

"Impressive." I praised. Praises were free, and usually had a positive effect on people. I don't see why we shouldn't abuse this fact.

"Thank you." She beamed, as always.

"You did some reading about today's potion?" I asked. It's a good thing we already know the potion we would be making; professor Snape only gives surprises for evaluations.

"I did." She nodded. "We will be making a variant of the Calming Draught. I also researched the ingredients we will be using." She added. Good to know she's taking this seriously. She asked me a few questions about the ingredients, while I did the same. We discussed our findings, filling the blanks for each other, until we heard the professor's voice.

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"Take your stations everyone."

When I first came to Hogwarts, I expected Snape to be nothing but a bitter man who takes joy in torturing his non-Slytherin students. One that gives Harry the hardest time because of a grudge against his father since his teenage years. I am glad I was proven wrong.

Professor Snape was a very strict teacher. He expects the best of his students, but helps them all the way. Most are intimidated by his demeanor, however. Professor Snape never smiles, always wearing the same cold indifferent mask, his tone almost monotone. The very air around him changes when dealing with problematic children, however, chilling you to the bones, which is why he is the most feared professor at Hogwarts.

I honestly respect him very much as a professor, because of how efficient he is. The nature of his job is very demanding, and he deals with it his own way, but it gives sufficient results. There hasn't been a single student of his who passed his NEWT class that didn't get an O, and was accepted shortly afterwards as an apprentice under a potion master. In fact, he helped most of them get their apprenticeships, for those who wanted to pursue potions at least.

He slowly walked through every station, examining the cauldrons with his eyes, the first thing he does every time. I wondered how he could judge the quality without using any spells but now, I have my answer. The rituals have enhanced my sensitivity to magic significantly, and whenever looked at a cauldron, I could feel a tiny wave of magic hit me. He was using wandless magic!

"Today, you'll be brewing a more advanced version of the Calming Draught. I want you to apply everything you have learned in my class so far. Instructions are on the board. Begin."

And begin we did. The first step would be to choose the correct ingredients. There are several criteria one has to follow when choosing, mainly taking into account the previous ingredients' properties, since they aren't all the same. A professional would use a few spells and trinkets to make sure he has everything right, but since we are not at that level, we use physical properties like size, color or patterns to choose the correct ingredients. Professor Snape watches the choices of everyone, making remarks whenever he thinks them necessary. I have no idea how he can follow everything that's happening, remembering the choices of everyone at the same time.

For my part, I let Susan choose every ingredient. She did a good job, which means that Herbology at least wasn't a problem for her. So, it most likely had to do with the brewing process, or maybe she was just distracted talking with Hannah all the time.

The next step is preparing said ingredients. Some of them have to be processed separately, while others are added raw into the cauldron. Everything has to be done manually, however, since spells usually alter their magical components, so we avoid it as much as possible to achieve the highest quality. I took care of grinding what had to be, while Susan cut off and weighted the parts we'll need. That's when I noticed her first mistake. She was a perfectionist. She didn't want to waste any part of the ingredients, and cut dangerously next to what would be considered impurities within our potion. I pointed it out immediately, saying that humans cannot operate with such precision, and that it was a waste of time. Better play it safe. How much waste we left behind is also graded, so it is relatively important as well. But it's all for naught if the resulting potion is rubbish.

She nodded and did just what I told her. I noticed Snape look in our direction briefly, before nodding and moving on to another group.

We proceeded next to preheating the cauldron. It was easy business, we use spells to check the temperature, while the stove it was on could be controlled with our wands. You just had to point to a specific section, and pour some mana into it, then increase or decrease it slowly. Susan did most of the work, as she wanted me to observe her errors, which I gladly did. Her technique was alright, she followed the instructions to the letter. We didn't have to make calculations beforehand, as professor Snape prepared everything for us. All we had to do was follow simple instructions on our books and on the board.

One of the mistakes she made was during her stirring. At some point, there was an irregularity within her pace, probably because her arm felt sore, which I could understand. We were lucky I was paying attention enough to take over before she stopped midway. That's most likely the reason why she did not get good grades in the subject. The instructions also specified a speed at which we need to stir, along with direction. It isn't always clockwise or counter clockwise, sometimes we stirred alternatively in a straight line. It depends on several factors I won't bore you with.

We finished the potion on time, handing two vials to the professor. He examined them closely, taking out his wand and casting several spells silently, before he nodded. "Good. I think you can try it on yourselves." He divided the content into two vials, and handed them to us. "Drink." Professor Snape had no reason to poison us… right? Besides, if there was any harmful effect, I'm sure Susan's bracelet would detect it. She somehow understood that fact, and gulped it before I did, before smiling at my direction. I smiled back, appreciating her understanding of my paranoia. I drank the potion too.

"What can you tell me about the taste?" Professor Snape asked.

"It was sweet, but also… bitter at the same time? I'm not sure." Susan answered uncertainly.

"You are correct. The potion however is supposed to be a little sweet. The bitterness you tasted was due to the unwanted components in it." He nodded. "What about the effect? How long before you felt it?"

"It was almost instantaneous. I immediately felt the effect of the potion." I answered this time.

"Indeed." He confirmed. "And while that would seem like a good thing, it isn't in most cases. The human mind is a fragile thing, such abrupt change isn't very good for it, especially when used repeatedly. Which is the reason why this particular potion is never used outside of academic purposes." He paused for a bit before continuing. "Under normal circumstances, your potion would earn you an O (Outstanding) as fourth years. But I expect a lot more from you, I believe you can do even better than this. For next week, I want an essay on the various spells used in the selection process, along with their uses. Focus on those you will be using for the next potion. You are dismissed."

As we made our way out of the classroom, Susan couldn't stop herself from cheering. Apparently, she never got anything above "Acceptable" before.

"What do you have next?" Susan asked me.

"Transfiguration, you?"

"Charms."

"I guess I'll see you after classes then?"

"Definitely. We told Cedric about the meeting by the way, he said he'll be there. Should we ask someone else?" Susan was very interested in what I had in store for them.

"Do you have any suggestions?" I asked back. "It has to be someone trustworthy, to whom people would listen."

"There are some seventh years who meet those conditions, but I never spoke to them before. It's best if Cedric asks them after you speak to us."

"Alright." We talked for a while, before it was time for the next session. I bid her goodbye and went to the transfiguration classroom.

"Good morning, professor." Professor McGonagall was sitting on her desk, resting for the next class.

"Good morning to you, Mr. Lunar." Her lips curved into a smile that gave off a different picture to her usually stern face. "You had a productive summer, I hope?" She gave me a knowing smile. Hm? What's this about?

"Definitely, professor." I took a seat, and was shortly joined by Daphne. She also got out early from Potions it seems.

Soon the rest of the class entered, though one of them, a blonde boy with a punchable face that's hard to miss, gave me hateful glares for whatever reason. If he thought it would affect me, he clearly miscalculated the amount of fu- anyway.

Class started on time, as always. Professor McGonagall was unforgiving to those who came late, saying it was unbecoming of wizards and witches to show such disrespect for the others by being late. Everyone values their precious time. Thankfully, that was hardly a problem with Slytherins and Ravenclaws.

In today's lesson, we would be a piece of wood into an animal of our choice and animate it. It is more difficult than it sounds, especially in my case. My control was already horrible, so there was no way I will excel at Transfiguration who relied most on it. Every time I tried the spell, it would give inappropriate results. And even when it succeeded, it quickly reversed back.

"Your spell is unstable, Mr. Lunar. You need to work more on your control." Professor McGonagall instructed me.

"Yes, professor. I'll do my best." She nodded in understanding and moved on to the others. She definitely knew I performed rituals, it was glaringly obvious, especially to someone as observant as her.

A few of my classmates were looking at me suspiciously, especially one Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson, wondering how I couldn't get the spell right, even though I always did in the previous years. It wouldn't take long for them to figure it out though. Most descendants of noble families undergo rituals at this age to boost their magic, and some boost their sensitivity as well. They will notice my huge reserves sooner or later, it's only a matter of time.

I also noticed some shooting me looks of glee, namely Draco Malfoy, and even my house mates: Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot. I guess outperforming me once must be a huge accomplishment in their books. Even better, since Daphne wasn't faring any better than me. We did manage to get the spell right halfway through the session, then we did the same control exercise as the previous day but with this particular transfiguration spell in mind.

Once professor McGonagall was satisfied with everyone's progress, she told us to practice the spell some more as an assignment; we were now permitted to practice Transfiguration outside of class. She then began lecturing us on the more theoretical aspect of transfiguration, moving on to an elementary runic study of the field. I already knew this part by heart, since it was needed for my "Screen" project. I did however pay attention, answering questions and earning Ravenclaw a few points in the process. Class ended fairly quickly, we hardly noticed by the time it was over. It was an interesting subject after all.

"Mr. Lunar, Miss Greengrass, a word if you don't mind." Professor McGonagall asked us aside.

"Certainly professor." She waited until everyone left before speaking to us.

"I can't help but notice that your control over your magic degraded this year." She began, studying our reactions while doing so. We were practiced enough in Occlumency not to give anything away, not that it mattered anyway. Even though rituals were forbidden by the ministry, most ancient families practice them regardless. And rituals to boost one's magic aren't uncommon, though the one we have undergone are vastly superior of course. "I won't ask about how this happened, but I believe I have a way to help you get it back quickly." That definitely got our attention.

Seeing how our eyes widened for a second, she smiled before saying: "Wands' primary role, as you may know, is to focus our magic for us, since it doesn't come easy naturally. However, it has a lot of different features we hardly notice. One such feature has been invented to deal with this particular issue you're suffering from: It's called a limiter. It sets a maximum value of magical output that is permitted by the wand. Whenever your magic exceeds said limit, you'd start feeling a resistance. And the more you exceed it, the stronger the resistance." She took a pause to let the words sink in, before adding: "this would act as a warning, and therefore you'd try not to trigger it. Overtime, your magic is reconditioned to have that particular output as a default, and instead of struggling to decrease your output every time, it would have a smaller default value you can increase or decrease instead."

Now that certainly seemed like the magical solution to our problem, I guess I will have to speak with Mr. Olivanders as soon as possible.

"Thank you, professor."

"Thank you, professor. That was very helpful."

"You're very welcome, Mr. Lunar, Miss Greengrass." She smiled at our words.

"Um, professor? Can we head over to Ollivanders' during lunch break?" I noticed her frown, so I added. "I promise we'll be back before next session, and I'll call Mr. Greengrass to collect us." She thought it over for a minute, before nodding.

"That's alright, I suppose. You can floo call him from my office."

"That's not necessary professor, I have other means." I grinned, while she tilted her head in confusion. Haha, time to show off! I brought out my wizard phone (I'm calling it that for now, since we haven't decided on a name yet), and clicked on Karl's name on my contact.

"Hello, Mr. Greengrass, sorry to bother you at this hour…."

"Professor McGonagall suggested a solution for our control problem. We need to visit Ollivanders'…"

"Yes… can you collect us from Hogwarts'?"

"Great. Thank you."

Professor McGonagall was watching me with wide eyes, probably questioning the reality of what she just saw. She got herself together, and said: "Was that a phone, Mr. Lunar?"

Well, at least she knows what's going on in the muggle world, good to know not all wizards are idiots. "Yes. Something similar, professor."

"Did you find a way to make electronics work here at Hogwarts?" while her voice seemed perfectly collected, I noticed it was a bit louder than usual.

"No, professor. This is an alternative we came up with. It will be released to the market later in the year."

World POV:

Professor McGonagall was gobsmacked at the implications of what she just heard. Needless to say, she was aware of the difficulty the wizarding world had concerning communication. The most interesting invention the world witnessed in this area would be the Floo network a few hundred years back, which allowed people to communicate over long distances, but its installation was ridiculously expensive, not to mention it was stationary. What she just witnessed was a tiny device, which meant that the runic scheme must be small enough, and therefore cheap enough to market it at a low price. The materials could be expensive themselves, but with the help of alchemy, that could be fixed by modifying cheaper base materials.

She also felt pride for her student. She was certain he was the one to come up with it, as it was the only explanation for this. The Greengrass family were known businessmen, yes, but they didn't have the knowledge nor the skills to pull off something like this. Karl Greengrass, the current head of the family, was a potion master, and his daughters were still studying at Hogwarts. Kaiser was the only one qualified to make them, since he also made a Runic Watch the previous year.

Karl Floo-called to ask for permission to step through, which he did right after. After exchanging a few words with the deputy headmistress, he took his daughter and her fiancée to Diagon Alley. Kaiser himself didn't need permission, since he was an adult as far as the law was concerned. He only needed to inform the school. Daphne's case was different.

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Harry's POV:

I sat at the Gryffindor table with my two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron, for all his faults, is very loyal, not to mention he was my first friend. Don't judge him too hard, he certainly did mistakes along the way, but the blame for all of those doesn't rest entirely on him. Hermione was probably the smartest witch of our generation. (Note that I said witch, not wizard)

"What do you guys have this afternoon?" I asked them, as we sat down.

"Runes." "Divination." Replied both of them.

"But you already know that mate, we have it together." Ron added afterwards.

"About that…" I said uncertainly. I didn't know how Ron would take this.

"What?" Ron had a confused expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I won't be taking Divination this year."

"What?!" Ron cried out in shock, making almost everyone in the vicinity turn their heads to us.

"Shush!" I gestured. I didn't like the attention; I had more than enough being the Boy-Who-Breathed and what not. "Yeah, I'm not taking divination this year. I don't have any gifts for it, and it's honestly a waste of my time." Ron looked at me as I just grew two more heads.

"But it's free marks! Who cares about its usefulness!" He exclaimed. I would've agreed with you, had I still been the same Harry I was in first year.

"I need something to help me survive, Ron, not to waste my time listening to the rambling of some lunatic hag who can barely believe her own predictions." Seriously, the whole session was about her spouting some BS and predicting how gruesome our deaths would be. "You know what is to come, Ron. A certain bald bastard seems to have develop an unhealthy interest in me, almost killing me each year. What guarantee do I have he won't succeed next time?" I added after thinking for a moment.

"You do have a point." Ron said after thinking over it for a while, and is that pride I can see in Hermione's eyes. "So, what did you pick instead?"

"Arithmancy." He spilled his drink all over the table, which was met by smacks from everyone around. I just laughed my ass off at his misfortune. Even the twins came all the from the other end of the table just to smack him and go back to their place.

"Seriously mate, Arithmancy out of all the choices you had?! Have you gone nuts?!"

"Language!" he was smacked again on the shoulder by an angry Hermione. Hm, now that I think of it, she never said that to Kaiser whenever he said the f-word. Well, to be fair, he only ever used it when he was really angry, and I can't blame her for not saying anything when he is. He's usually very friendly, but when he snaps, he's one scary dude. Speaking of him, Daphne and him are unusually late for lunch, or maybe they won't come. Did something happen? I should check with them later.

"Arithmancy will help me learn and optimize different defensive and offensive spells."

"Wait, what?" Confused Ron was back in full force again. "Are you sure? Isn't that elective just for nerds who like to play with numbers?" He was smacked again in the shoulder. "Stop it, woman, you're killing me!" she glared at him.

"No Ron. Arithmancy is the art of analyzing magical phenomena through mathematical equations and properties." Hermione corrected him, but she was still glaring daggers at him.

"Sounds boring." Ron shrugged and resumed eating. Change is a gradual process, an even slower one when it comes to Ron. We'll need to work more on this laziness of his.

"By the way, where is Kai?" I asked them. "I didn't see him in the Great Hall." Hermione also turned and started looking with me, quite obviously too. She drew a few looks her way, which made me a bit embarrassed.

"You're right." She affirmed. "I don't see Daphne anywhere either."

"Maybe they're snogging somewhere. I wouldn't be surprised." Ron said with a grin.

"What?!" Hermione looked scandalized. "What are you even talking about! He's dating Susan! He'd never do that to her!"

"Isn't it common to have more than one wife?" Ron asked innocently. I'm sure he knew it wasn't THAT common, but he's just teasing Hermione.

"WHAT?!" She shrieked this time, and I had to cover my ears for protection.

"Keep it down Hermione, you're drawing a lot of attention there." I suggested, while she turned and noticed everyone looking at here.

"How can polygamy still be accepted?! That's barbaric!" she said in a lower tone this time.

"Only men of culture can appreciate the beauty of it, and you obviously cannot understand that." Ron said haughtily. I just burst into laughter that absurdity of it all. They spent few minutes bickering until Lavender decided to explain to her that it was a thing, but it wasn't very common.

It was still twenty minutes until the beginning of the next session, when we noticed Kaiser and Daphne entering the Great Hall together. It was hard not to when we heard Lavender the gossip queen squeal; all we had to do was follow where her eyes were looking.