The common room was empty, and the only light came from the embers in the fireplace, left behind by the fire burning in it previously. Glancing at the clock above it, I finally realized it just passed midnight.

“Conrad.” A voice called me, and turning towards it, I noticed that Quincy was sitting at one of the tables in the back, stretching. It was evident she was woken up by my arrival as she was sleeping in a chair which looked highly uncomfortable to do.

“Evening…” I whispered, coming up to her. “What are you doing here this late?”

“I should be the one asking that….” She moaned, rubbing her eyes, sitting up, and stifling another yawn. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, smiling a little to hide the fact that the mere thought of how it felt made me wince. “That spell does not injure or kill.”

“I know… but-” She looked at me, trying to see if I was telling the truth or not.

“I’m fine. Honest. Hungry, but otherwise, all good.”

“I guessed so!” She stood up, rummaging a little in the bag, sitting next to her, and picking out wrapped-up sandwiches. “I sneaked out some food from dinner and made some sandwiches out of them.”

“Awesome! Thanks!” I grinned, sitting down and wolfing them down. After the first bite, I finally realized how starved I felt, and I couldn’t say anything until both of them were gone. “Haaaah… you are a lifesaver! I was about to sneak out to get some food!”

“No!” She said, almost yelling, before grabbing at her mouth and looking around worriedly, “Don’t even think about that!” She whispered, leaning close.

“Huh? What? Why?”

“After you fainted, Professor Umbridge told us that all those who are caught breaking the rules will receive the same punishment! Depending on the severity, we are going to be put through multiple rounds of that horrible curse! She said you are lucky that we are new here! An older student would have been tortured much longer!”

“Psycho bitch…! And the others let her do it?”

“She is responsible for maintaining order on school grounds…” Quincy added, looking around once more as if someone would spy on us this late. “She only teaches charms for first-year students! From next year onward, she is going to be our Dark Arts teacher!”

“Really?” I asked, my face getting pretty gloomy pretty fast. “What about our current one?” I asked, refusing to say that idiot’s name… Every time I read it on the spine of his books, I am reminded of seeing him with my Mother…

“Professor Lockhart?” She asked, sounding a bit excited and then quickly turning disappointed, “Sadly, his expertise is only being utilized in the first year. To teach us proper self-defense and prepare us for what awaits us starting next year! After that, they switch subjects….”

“Wait… He has expertise? Besides gloating?”

“Huh?” She looked at me weirdly, and she furrowed her brows in a way; I felt as if I had just insulted her Mother or something. “He is a well-known duelist! He captured many members of that Phoenix terrorist group! Before that, he was a famed monster hunter!”

“Yeah, sure he was!” I scoffed, further elevating Quincy’s dissatisfaction. “Father read his books and told me that he was present more than 70% of those events… And he was not.”

“Then why would he write about it?” She asked back, crossing her arms before her chest and puffing out her cheeks. Her reaction greatly surprised me, but I guess… she was a fan? Well… Too bad I wasn’t going to hold back on that jackass!

“Father says he is a ‘promotional piece,’ a propaganda piece… or something like that.”

“Father this, Father that, you are always on about him!” She harrumphed, standing up and fixing her wrinkly clothes. “I’m going to sleep!” And with that… she was gone.

“Haaahh… Oh well. We will see that tomorrow!” I moaned, also standing up, feeling tired now that my stomach was full, heading to bed so I could be fresh for our first Dark Arts lesson tomorrow morning.

…

….

……

Waking up the next morning was more challenging than I expected. If I could, I would stay in bed, but I bet that would warrant some kind of punishment again… and I am not in the mood to have seconds right after yesterday. After dressing up and pulling my curtains sideways, I came face to face with Draco, who was just about to leave too.

“Hey,” He said after I nodded at him. “About yesterday, you better watch out.”

“Hm?” I tilted my head, furrowing my brows. Was he warning or threatening me?

“What you did was good; nobody is angry at you. But that girlfriend of yours means trouble. The Blacks are already marked as Bad Blood.”

Bad Blood… even though they were part of the most ancient of bloodlines, in just a century, many of their direct descendants turned into terrorists. One more mistake and they would be done in, just like the Weasleys. I remember Father telling me about it as it was he who was sent to deal with them, right around the time I was born and when Dumbledore was turned into a fugitive.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I warn you because I don’t want to owe you for yesterday.” He continued coolly, “I don’t care if you want to fool around with her, but the others will start looking at you funny soon enough.”

“And you won’t?” I asked, smiling.

“I may, but that depends if you show yourself useful or not.”

“Yeah, yeah…” I rolled my eyes, “Don’t forget that I am also from an equally good bloodline.”

“Only half right.” Draco shot back quickly, “Your mother is not wholly clear, unlike mine.”

“That is true.” I nodded, tilting my head, and I saw the surprise on his face. He was not expecting me to agree but to shoot back or start an argument over it. “But yours have some Black in yours, no? I think you may be closer to them than I am.”

“Hmph!” He snorted decisively, “Watch your mouth!”

“Can’t; I’m not that crosseyed,” I answered with a simple shrug, leaving our dorm, cutting it short before it would genuinely escalate into something. Not that I said anything wrong. I think no Pure Blood family is unrelated in some way, shape, or form.

I met Quincy in the Great Hall, but she was not in a better mood throughout the breakfast. Oh well, if she doesn’t want to speak, so be it; I focused on the food before me instead, sometimes replying to some of the other Slytherins coming over and saying some friendly words, introducing themselves, or just nodding at me. It seemed what I did yesterday spread, and I made myself stand out a little… which was bad. That was the last thing that I wanted. Ahhh… well, not that I can change the past anymore. Plus, it is better than being hated because I just lost 50 points for the House right on the first day. I don’t think I could’ve survived that, especially if the older students visited me with their wands ready.

Heading to the classroom, Quincy didn’t say a word to me, although she did keep up with me, which was surprising. Now I was interested as to how long she would keep ignoring me. A day? Two days? A week? Sitting down in the classroom, she only looked at me, telling me with her eyes, ‘I will see how wrong I was; just wait’… well, I did not have to wait for long.

The room itself was like any other classroom, with the only difference being that the walls were decorated with images of magical beasts, all belonging to dangerous and deadly creatures. I was just about to examine them one by one when Professor Lockhart arrived. He was wearing an expensive blue robe, smiling from ear to ear while fixing his blonde hair, looking at us expectantly. I tried to remain calm and indifferent, watching him walk before us, clapping happily.

“Welcome! Welcome! It is such a great event every year when I see new, eager young faces come to my class!”

“The only time he can parade himself as a professional…” I heard a voice whisper, and Quincy and I looked back simultaneously at Draco sitting behind us. While Quincy was frowning, saying nothing, and turning forward, I just formed a small smile, nodding at him. It seemed it wasn’t just me who saw through that fake flare he was putting on.

“In your first year, I am tasked to prepare you guys and gals for the real deal!” Professor Lockhart continued, “It is the most important task of any teacher in Hogwarts because if not for me, you may have some unfortunate… accidents later on! We don’t want that, do we? Ahahaha~!”

While he spoke in his smug, self-important voice, I couldn’t help but retch a little. Sadly, I seemed to be alone in my disgust as watching the others, especially the girls, were already head over heels before him. I had to give it to him; he knew how to work his tongue.

“This year, we are going to learn many practical skills, mostly centering around dueling!” He blabbered on, finally catching my attention. “My classes will be most practical to prepare you all for…. Professor Umbridge’s Dark Arts lessons.” He finished his speech, but his smile was not truly honest after mentioning her name. Just then, I realized that many were looking at me, and my hand was shaking a little, and I had to hold my wrist from showing it. Damn it! I need to get it together; this can’t affect me like this! “Now!” Professor Lockhart clapped, watching us, back in his jovial mood, “As our first lesson, we are going to practice the Expelliarmus charm on each other! You should have learned it yesterday in your charms class, yes?”

“...” Now I was sure everyone was looking at me as I was out cold… did we learn that? Well… great, I missed it… this is getting better and better.

“Did something happen?” He asked, sounding a bit unsure, also looking at me, following the others’ gazes.

“I missed yesterday’s charms class.” I answered with a sigh, “I was… punished.”

“Oh…” He said, and it looked as if he flinched a little, hearing the word punished, “Well, no worries! Class, pair up while I quickly teach our little rascal here how to do the charm, and we will start exercising!” He laughed loudly, waving me over.

Woah… was I mistaken? Was he truly a good guy? Maybe it was my Mother who started it all and not Professor Lockhart. That wouldn’t surprise me, to be honest. Hurrying forward, I looked at him expectantly; the fact that I missed learning my first spell was a big blow; I was eager to catch up.

“Worry not, kiddo!” He laughed, slapping my back, “The Expelliarmus charm is so easy; even I can do it! I mean, I can even do it without a wand, aha!” He added quickly, tilting his head left and right like some kind of weird pigeon. “You got into your trouble, huh? I think I heard about it!” He leaned forward, switching to whispers, elbowing me gently, “Little casanova! If you want, I can give you tips later on! I have not just great experience in catching and killing wanted terrorists but also abundant experience in catching the eyes of girls! Married or not, aha!”

“Thanks…” I answered, my voice sounding flustered, but I was just trying to hold back my anger. Nope. It was not only my Mother who was in the wrong! This jackass for sure tried wooing her; she just let it happen easily. Curse them. Both of them. Hmph!

“Now, let me show you!” He straightened his back, teaching me the spell and showing me the wand movement it required, but even if I copied his moves down to the last-minute details, it just… wouldn’t come out correctly.

Was I… talentless? For a moment, I was scared, especially after hearing the others had already started casting it at each other. Glancing over, catching a glimpse of Draco’s spell, disarming both of his followers in quick succession, made my jaw drop. But not because of his proficiency… but because this idiot of a professor of mine reversed the movement of his wrist while showing it to me! I was doing it wrong; of course, it wouldn’t come off as it should!

“Expelliarmus!” I performed it, aiming at him, and because he was so distracted by monologuing something I was not paying attention to, his wand flew out of his loose grip and out of the open window.

“Ah…” He fell silent, and many others too, seeing what happened.

“I think I get the gist of it, Professor,” I answered with a stupid smile, looking at him innocently, hoping this wouldn’t land me in detention.

“Ahaha, very good young lad, very good! Now, now, don’t get yourself fired up just yet; I was letting you practice it on me to get a good feeling for it! This wouldn’t have happened in a real, life-and-death situation! I’ll go, get my wand back; you guys continue as you were!” He beamed at us, hurrying out of the classroom, leaving us there unsupervised.

“Well…” I said, looking at Draco first before glancing at Quincy, who was standing there without a pair to train with. “I just disarmed a professional terrorist hunter… When he gets back, I hope he gives our House at least ten points for that.”