"I have everything." I said with a smirk, cutting off her worried babbling. "I double checked, ma. It's fine. I doubt anyone will be able to cause me any trouble anyway." She'd warned me to watch out for Narcissa's son Draco, but I wasn't scared of some punk ass rich kid.
Although, I guess I was a punk ass rich kid now. I was also an unholy abomination against nature, and she'd spent the whole last month training me up. I'd officially mastered the shield charm, and was actually still improving, even past the strongest shield my mom had ever seen, not to mention she'd taught me the disarming charm and the stunning spell too.
It wasn't exactly an expansive catalogue of magical might, but I could cast them all wandless, which was bound to be a surprise to anyone messing with me, plus I was REALLY strong now. Like…stronger than most people.
Now we were at platform nine and three quarters and I was about to board the Hogwarts Express. The crimson steamer was a pretty interesting train, and I was fascinated to see what kind of magical shit might be on board. All the cute girls getting onboard didn't hurt either, but mostly I was just excited to start my journey.
My wand was equally psyched, apparently, because I could feel it nearly humming with excitement as I spun it between my fingers. My mom closed her blue eyes, took a deep breath, then breathed out with a smile. "Right. Sorry. I'm just worried. Just…be careful when you're there."
I pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tight before I let go and stepped back. I grabbed my trunk (still weightless) and swung it up over my shoulder, careful not to hit anyone. "I'm always careful. Except when I'm drunk. Or there are women involved. Or when I forget." I paused. "I may have some issues with being careful."
She glared at me and brandished her wand threateningly, but didn't cast. "Don't sass me, boy. Just because you're almost a half a foot taller than me doesn't mean I can't turn you into a houseplant."
"We're in England now, mother." I said innocently. "We're supposed to use meters."
Rolling her eyes, she turned her back to me. "I'm heading back to the house. Pick up an owl in Hogsmeade when you can, I don't like the school owls, they shed." I saw her shoulders tense, and ignored how her voice was suspiciously thick. My mother didn't like people to see her crying. "Love you, have fun."
She vanished into the crowd and I smiled after her. I'd told her it might be better not to come, she hated goodbyes, but she insisted on seeing me off. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of the nearby train, then climbed aboard, shifting slightly so my trunk would fit.
Following the corridor down, I looked around for a room to go into, and was taken by surprise when I heard a familiar voice. "Oi! Black! Ryan, over here." I stopped, scanning the corridor until I found an open compartment.
The dark skinned guy from Twilfit and Tattings, the one with the smokeshow cougar for a mom, waved from a nearby door. Since I knew literally no one else I made my way down to the door, nodding to him as I slipped in. "Hey, Blaise right? Zabini?" I didn't know if people here used last names, no one back home did, but that was how he addressed me.
Sliding my trunk up onto one of the racks, I looked around the room, noting more faces than I had expected. A cute blonde with big blue eyes and her hair in pigtails sitting next to an adorable redhead, and another blonde I'd have to describe as regal, whose eyes were more of an icy color than the first.
Blaise grinned at me. "Right you are mate. Take a seat." He seemed much less…stoic and smarmy. He seemed to notice my surprise because he grinned sheepishly at me. "Sorry about the attitude before, mum likes me to play the lordling in public, but she isn't here so I don't have to act like a git."
I shrugged. "It's cool. Not like it hurt me any. Introduce your friends?" I gestured to the three girls. The pigtailed blonde looked on challengingly, while the redhead averted her eyes. The regal looking blonde, who looked like a fucking supermodel, was studying me with cold, detached eyes.
"Friends." He snorted. "This is Susan, Bones. We've been seeing each other around at galas and dinner parties for years. The one with the tails is Abbott, didn't catch a first name, and the reptile with the cheekbones is Daphne Greengrass."
Pigtails rolled her eyes. "Hannah. My name is Hannah. Nice to meet you. Ryan was it? I love your accent, where are you from?"
Grinning at her, I raised an eyebrow. "I think you'll find I have no accent. This is how everyone sounds in the US, you guys are the ones who talk funny. It's kind of cute on you though." The blonde rolled her eyes, clearly not charmed, while her friend smothered a soft giggle and tried her hardest to blend into the seat when we looked at her.
Daphne scoffed. "Lovely, another flirtatious braggart. I suppose I could hardly luck into a proper conversational partner."
I winked at her. "Oh you don't want a conversation partner. Think of how all that talking would interrupt your sneering time."
Blaise grinned at me. "I knew I was going to like you. Regardless, you owe me for dragging you in here. We've got a compartment with the three fittest girls in the express, not counting the blonde with the enormous knockers. I think that was the Brown girl, but she's grown up a fair bit since I last saw so who knows. Shame. Browns always end up in Gryffindor. "
"I assume Gryffindor is one of those houses you mentioned?" I asked, figuring embarrassment was a better look than showing up at school know fuck all about what was going on.
Daphne snorted delicately. "Obviously. And the worst of the lot. Headstrong morons with no sense of decorum. Always charging around and sticking their noses where they don't belong. Not a Gryffindor alive doesn't think they're better than everyone else by virtue of being in the 'house of the brave'."
"But no hard feelings or anything." I said dryly. "I take it you have a preference going in?"
Ice blue eyes rolled artfully. Man, she must practice that shit in the mirror. "Of course. Slytherin. Anyone with any ambition ends up in Slytherin. Doesn't hurt most people of proper stock are sorted there as well."
Hannah cleared her throat. "Excuse me. I'm half blood you know? Do I count as proper stock to you, princess?"
Daphne just shrugged. "Not especially. It's not like I'm going out attacking muggles or anything. But good breeding isn't a matter of opinion. You've got the blood or you don't. My parents are pure six plus generations on each side. That's just a fact."
"My mom is muggle born." I said calmly. I knew that was a big deal, people didn't know about it, or my former squib status, though mom said they would soon. It would have shown on the family tapestry, which meant Narcissa and Bellatrix knew, and Draco through them. My second cousin was bound to be pissed about the money I took from his dad, I didn't expect it to be secret long.
That got a lot of stares, from Daphne, Susan, and Hannah. Blaise didn't react, which made sense since his mom presumably knew from her time in school with mine. "Really?" Asked the ice eyed blonde incredulously. "That's…shocking. The Black Family is notorious for purity. I imagine your relatives weren't pleased."
"Well, they thought I was a squib at the time." I said casually. "Apparently my magic came in late, and pretty damned strong. By the time it did, everyone who would have given a shit was dead or in prison."
I expected some kind of recoiling at that declaration, disgust or something. Squibs were…not looked upon fondly. Daphne looked impressed though. "A late bloomer? I've heard they can be strong. I have a third cousin who didn't get his until he was fifteen. International dueling champion."
Susan nodded animatedly, finally feeling up to joining the conversation. "My Auntie said my dad was one. Got his magic at sixteen. The later it comes in the stronger apparently. When did you get yours?"
"A few months ago." I hadn't known about this bit of urban legend, but it explained why my mom thought me being a former squib would hide any of the strangeness of my demonic nature. Though chances were some people wouldn't be so sanguine about it. "I don't know much about magic honestly. I'm a bit worried I won't be able to keep up." Which was a lie, I was well past any muggleborn at this point, but it didn't hurt to sound humble.
The pretty redhead shook her head quickly. "Oh no, I'm sure you'll be fine. I'd be happy to help you out with studying if you like." She blushed heavily, her porcelain cheeks staining light red. "I mean. If that's ok. I liked helping." I heard Daphne mutter something that sounded like 'cocoa puffs' which made no godsdamned sense, but I ignored it.
"I'd love that Susan, thank you." I shot her a dazzling smile, and internally gloated a bit as she seemed to melt. Look. I'm not vain. Ok that's a lie, I'm very vain. But I'm also, to borrow a phrase, 'really really ridiculously good looking' and that was BEFORE I became a devil. The devilization process put me through the physical equivalent of an airbrush makeover, and I was even hotter now.
Of course, based on what I'd seen magical people seemed to be hotter in general, but they were like…hollywood hot. I was next level hot, and I knew it. Hannah rolled her eyes, clearly having none of it, and Daphne just looked annoyed, but I started talking to Susan a bit about details she could give me on living in the magical world.
Blaise jumped in, not seemingly trying to pick up any of the girls in the compartment, just happy to have someone to talk to without having to sound like a pretentious dick. They were both actually lots of fun, and once Suzie (her face almost turned into a tomato when I called her that, but I think she liked it) came out of her shell a bit, she was actually a blast.
Hannah joined in once her friend started becoming social, and even stuck up Daphne would fire a quick verbal barb relevant to the conversation now and then. When the trolley came by, I bought one of everything for us all to split, and no one batted an eye at my casual wasting of money.
Apparently it was common for children of purebloods to blow lots of cash, and everyone in here qualified. Even half-blood Hannah had a rich pureblood daddy. It felt kind of nice not to be a huge deal for a while, just chatting with new friends and learning about my new world.
Sadly, all good things must end, and the train started to slow down. Daphne kicked Blaise and I out so the three girls could change, being almost protective of the other two in her female solidarity. Not that I tried to stay behind and peek or anything, but I was a little offended by the insinuation.
Finally we disembarked, everyone carrying their stuff, and we met up with an absolutely massive man standing at the shore of a colossal lake. I was distracted by the gigantic castle looming in the distance, light by hundreds of tiny flickering lights. Hogwarts University. I'd arrived. And I was pretty sure nothing would ever be the same for me again.
September 1st, 2010, Hogwarts, Scotland 8:00 PM BST
I headed up to the castle with Susan, Daphne, Hannah, and Blaise, all of whom had decided to stick with me out of some sense of solidarity after our train ride, except Suzie who I was pretty sure just had a huge crush on me. Which I didn't mind, she was gorgeous, and she really filled out that uniform.
We took a series of creaky wooden boats across a huge lake, which apparently contained an actual giant squid, the dark waves licked up around the edges of the boats, splashing up onto our robes as the clear dark sky opened up above us like an endless abyss of stars, as the castle got closer, I was in awe of the sheer size of the sprawling stone building, and I felt the others staring at it right along with me.
When we reached the other side of the lake we all walked silently up the path to the front of the castle, where the massive wooden doors stood open and inviting. They led us inside to another huge door, where the big man passed us off to a stern looking woman in glasses with a tightly pulled back bun. "Greetings." She said primly. "I am Professor Minerva McGonnagall, Deputy Headmistress, Transfigurations Teacher, and head of Gryffindor house."
Her accent wasn't British like everyone else I'd met, but Scottish, with a thick brogue I associated with Shawn Connery and people in kilts. She gave us a stern but relatively reassuring smile. "Now, I'm sure you're all anxious to enter and join the feast, but as first years, your first day will begin with a school tradition. You will be sorted into houses."
A bushy haired girl shoved a hand in the air and the Professor pointed to her. "Apologies, Professor. My name is Hermione Granger. But I think some of the Muggleborn students may be confused about the houses. I read about them in Hogwarts: A History, but if we're going to be sorted…"
The Professor looked more amused than annoyed. "Quite, Miss. Granger. Very well. There are four houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Gryffindor is the house of the brave, Slytherin the ambitious and the cunning, Hufflepuff the house of the loyal, and Ravenclaw the house of the learned and intelligent."
It was nice to know which houses were which now at least. "Now. Announced the scotswoman. "You will remain here while I take my seat, and then we will call you in one at a time. You will sit on a stool at the front of the great hall and place the Sorting Hat upon your head, and it will peer into your mind to find the place you best belong." A bunch of people started muttering, but she held up a hand. "Fear not, the hat reveals none of what it sees. Your private thoughts will remain private. It seeks only to weigh your inner self to find where you are meant to be."
Nodding, she turned and strode calmly into the 'great hall' (which was, from what I could see, a big ass stone room lined with tables full of people), leaving us behind to wait. I could hear a short speech from the insanely old guy up at the top of the high table at the front of the room, though I got the impression no one else could. Devil hearing. Then a voice bellowed loudly "Abbot, Hannah!" Hannah, who had been waiting nervously, jumped and gave us a nod before hurrying in.
I turned to Blaise. "Damn you. You're going to be last." My tentative friend just grinned at me, but I saw Suzie looking a bit worried and patted her shoulder with a smile. "Hey, don't sweat it. I'm up first, I'll feel things out so you know it's all good." I gave her a dazzling smile, and she flushed, smiling at me shyly.
"Thanks Ryan." She said softly. "I'm not usually so…I don't know…nervous? But this is all really overwhelming." Hannah was sorted into Hufflepuff, hopping off the stool and heading over to a heartily cheering table that welcomed her with open arms. In one case literally, though the girl sitting next to that guy smacked him upside the head and made him sit down.
When she was done, there was a shout of 'Black, Orion!' And I gave my two companions a wink. "Seems like it's my time to shine. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone, Suzie." She smiled back at me, clearly happy to be distracted from her troubles and I sauntered out into the great hall cheerfully.
It was surprisingly quiet when I came out, which made sense, since the Black name was kind of infamous. That happens when your last two notable relatives were in wizard prison for torture and treason. I sat down on the stool and plopped the hat on my head, wondering if having my mind read would feel weird.
Which didn't end up being a problem as I felt the peculiar sensation of claws scrabbling at stone. I closed my eyes, and saw a shape in my mind's eye. Myself, inside of a giant red crystal King. A storm of dust roared outside it, and I had to actively focus on letting some of it through before it could penetrate. I wondered if I had to worry about the thing outing me as a devil out of spite.
'You don't.' Said a low, rasping voice in my head. 'Though I have to admit, you're certainly…interesting. I have a clear enough idea where to put you, unless you have other plans?No? Very well. You'd do well enough in Gryffindor, but I think we both know you belong in….SLYTHERIN!'
To my surprise, I actually got a decent level of enthusiasm from the table in the green and silver ties. I walked over and sat down, getting a pat on the back from a big rough featured guy. "Good to have ya, Black." He said, baring a set of relatively poorly cared for teeth.
I nodded back, focusing on the sorting again. Next up was Suzie, who went Hufflepuff with Hannah, and some kid named Terry Boot, who ended up in Ravenclaw. Corner, Dunbar, Finnegan,Malfoy, one name after another came and went. Daphne ended up with me, and deigned to sit next to me and grace me with her presence as we waited for things to shake out.
Finally, the last of the sortings came, Blaise. Lucky bastard. I'd always been jealous of people whose names ended in Z. By the time he came along everyone had mostly stopped caring, their interest having peaked when some anemic looking guy named Harry Potter got sorted. I tried asking Daphne why anyone gave a shit, but she just kind of sneered at me.
Blaise ended up coming over to us, and I made space for him between Daphne and I. He grinned at me. "Thank Merlin." He groaned as he plopped down. "My mother would have strangled me in my sleep if I ended up anywhere else."
I grinned at him. "That would be terrible. I've seen your mother. I'd want to be wide awake if she strangled me."
He shot me a two fingered gesture that looked like a peace sign, one I'd learned from Seras was like the middle finger for Brits. I stuck with my American gesture, just as an extra layer of fuck you, and he laughed. "Ok, you get one. Please don't make it a habit. It gets old mate, you have no idea." He paused. "Actually, I saw your mum. You probably do."
I put both hands up placatingly. "Shit. Truce. I won't do it again. You're right. It DOES get old." A LOT of the guys who grew up near me hit on my mom. Maybe I should have sympathized with Blaise more to begin with.
Daphne snorted. "Animals, the lot of you. I swear, I must have done something horrible in a past life to wind up stuck with slavering dogs for housemates."
Grinning, I pointed down the row. "You could always go sit with my cousin down there. He looks like he's having a grand old time." He didn't. The platinum blond twit was pointing furiously at me, hissing to everyone he could engage in conversation what I could just barely hear was every negative thing he knew about me and a dozen or so he made up.
She looked horrified. "Pass. Look at his hair. I don't spend that much time on my hair in the mornings and I'm a witch. I bet you a galleon he never talks about anything but himself." She glanced at me. "Do you even comb yours?"
I ran a hand through my black locks. "Styled by pillow. And you'd lose that bet, he's talking about me right now. He's understandably pissed because I made his daddy cough up a hundred thousand galleons for misuse of funds while I was…indisposed."
If my voice carried a little more than was necessary, it was hardly my fault in such a loud hall, but Malfoy definitely heard, flashing me an enraged snarl as several other people at the table smirked or snickered.
Even Daphne grinned sedately. "Merlin, that's no small fee. I'm ever so glad that you've received proper remuneration for your hardships, Lord Black." She ALSO made sure her voice carried, and batted her eyelashes fetchingly at me as she said it, though her sickly sweet tone made it clear she was just playing it up for the drama.
Blaise chuckled, shaking his head. "Bloody hell, you two are vicious. Remind me not to get on your bad side. A hundred thousand?" I just shrugged, digging into the Prime Rib on my plate. A lot of this stuff was weird British Food I didn't recognize, puddings and shit that didn't seem like it should be called pudding even though it was.
Prime Rib seemed safe, so that's what I asked for, since the magic plates could hear us. The drinks were pumpkin juice apparently, which I'd never had, but didn't HATE. It was pretty sweet, which was nice, but it still tasted weird. I kind of wished I could just ask for a root beer or something, but the glass didn't register the request.
Finally we finished eating, and the old man wizard with the kickass beard (Headmaster Dumbledore apparently) gave another speech, this one less brief, to cover our welcome and warn us about a forest that was forbidden and a corridor on the third floor (why didn't they just say hallway?) that would kill us if we went in.
Once that was done we all got up, and followed our 'prefects' to our house common rooms. Ours was in the dungeons, which was kind of neat, and when we got there Daphne followed the female prefect to her side of the dormitories, while we followed the male, some guy named Felix Rosier to ours.
The dormitories were pretty nice, honestly. A long stone hallway of doors to single rooms. Blaise took the one next to mine, and as we put our hands on the doors our names engraved themselves on the wooden plaques above them, burning themselves into the light colored wood with a rolling wave of green flame.
Rosier gave us a brief speech on the enchantments protecting the doors, warning us that anyone trying to breach them would suffer for it, and passed us our class schedules. Once that was done he turned and walked off, clearly not caring what we did now that we weren't his problem.
I said goodnight to Blaise and headed into my room, finding my trunk has already made it in here, and slumped onto my bed. My mind was racing and I was way too wired to sleep. I couldn't stop grinning. I was at a fucking magic school. This was going to be a total blast, and I couldn't wait to learn everything I could.
September 2nd, 2010, Slytherin Dorm, Hogwarts, Scotland 7:00 AM BST
The pounding on my door woke me up. I groaned, shoving my head under my pillow, and tried to ignore it. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. "Oi!" Came my only guy friend in the UK's voice through the door. "Ryan! Get your arse up. Breakfast is at seven thirty, and I want time to eat!" I looked around for a clock and saw nothing, so I just moaned and rolled out of bed.
Instead of falling to the floor, I stopped midair, grinning as my wings manifested and lifted me up to a standing position. Weirdly they didn't need to flap or anything, they just kind of…acted to guide me. Flying was at least entertaining enough to get me going a bit, and I dismissed my wings and strode to yank open the door.
"What!" I snapped at Blaise's cheerful face. A morning person. I hated morning people. Let the rest of us suffer in peace.
He brushed past me, stepping inside my room casually. "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. You should be thanking me. You might have slept through our whole first class. Which would be bad, since unlike our head of house, our Charms professor doesn't blatantly favor Slytherin."
"There is no right side of the bed to wake up on." I grumbled as I walked to my trunk, slipped out a key and opened the compartment with my clothes on them. I had a package of color changing ties from Twilfit and Tattings and I switched them to green and silver before stuffing myself into my robes.
Blaise looked at the trunk with interest. "Damn. That's a pretty nice model. Must've set you back." I grunted again, but didn't respond until I finished changing, when I grabbed my wand from the bedside table.
Following him out, I noticed that the halls were MOSTLY empty, with only a few of the other Slytherin guys along with us. A pale guy with shaggy brown hair I was pretty sure was named Theo nodded apathetically to us as he passed, and we returned the gesture.
We made it down to the great hall just in time to start breakfast, and we sat down at the Slytherin table with Daphne. Hannah and Suzie weren't around yet, presumably still sleeping like sane human beings.
Daphne's perfectly made up lips twitched in what almost looked like a smile when we sat down. I grinned at her. "No complaints? Eating with us could be bad for your reputation. I'm sure Draco could give you a crash course on why we're a bad element."
She sniffed. "Well, you haven't tried to vanish my knickers from under my skirt, so you come out at least slightly ahead of those other knuckle draggers."
My eyes narrowed, and the table groaned as I gripped it. The other two stopped to look at me warily as I glared at her. "They tried to do…what?" That was super fucked up and not even a little ok. Flirting was one thing, but that was basically assault.
To my shock, they both seemed surprised that I was angry. Daphne gave me a small, unsure smile. "It's fine. It was Flint. I gave him a thorough demonstration of the benefits of having a mother who majored in DADA. I doubt he'll walk right for a week."
It was NOT fine, but since they seemed unnerved by how dramatic my reaction was, clearly the standard for unacceptable here was a little different. I made a mental note to share MY standard with Flint in private, just to make sure he understood where my line was.
"Well. I mean, I'll try not to bug you too much." I said hesitantly. "If you get that kind of shit all the time I doubt you appreciate it from me. You can just tell me if I bother you." I could be kind of flirty, but if she was getting that from all sides I didn't want to make it worse.
Her smile this time was still small, but it was more genuine. "You're a bit forward for me, but nothing objectionable. I appreciate the consideration…Ryan." I nodded, and she looked kind of uncomfortable at the display of actual emotion, changing the subject. "In any case, we have Charms coming up. Don't suppose either of you got a headstart there?"
I shrugged. "I can do a Shield Charm and a Disarming Charm. Mom said those were must haves here. Other than that not really. My mother was a Potions major. Who are we in class with?"
She groaned. "The Gryffs. Which means we have to spend the whole class listening to your cousin snipe at the Boy Who Lived."
"I was meaning to ask about that." I said slowly. "The fuck does that mean? I heard someone say it when that Potter kid got called up for sorting. Lived after what? People seem to either love or hate that guy, and he mostly just looks like a shaved chihuahua. I was expecting him to jump out of his damned skin."
They stared at me. "The Boy Who Lived?" Said Blaise slowly. "The one who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." I just looked at him blankly. "The Dark Lord." He emphasized. "The one who was only second to Grindelwald in power?" Nothing. "Grindelwald, who was defeated by our OWN Headmaster?"
"Right." I said slowly. "Grundlewalk. That guy. And his…successor. The dudes with the things. Evil guys. Who did evil. And Potter…what?"
Daphne huffed. "That's debatable, honestly. Whatever he DID do, The Dark Lord died on Halloween night when Potter was one year old. Potter's parents died alongside him. Potter, a literal crying infant, supposedly vanquished the most powerful Dark Lord in the last fifty years."
"Dude looks anemic." I commented as I murmured to my plate that I wanted biscuits and gravy, then had to return the abomination of cookies and like actual meat gravy, defaulting to some scrambled eggs. "So if that's the case shouldn't people be fans?" I paused. "Or wait, shit, I heard Draco's dad was in tight with some asshole in the last war. Same dude?"
Daphne physically winced. "Please stop using that word. It makes you sound so….American."
"I am American, princess." I said with a chuckle. "Doesn't mean much if I talk like it. But I can try to tone it down on using dude if it offends your delicate sensibilities. What do you prefer? Bro? Shithead? Maybe you like the themed shit, and I should call people cowpoke."
"I believe you mentioned not teasing me." She said stiffly, as she glared across the table.
I just shrugged. "I said I would try to flirt less. This isn't flirting. This is just being a dick. I can only change so much for you, princess."
Amusingly, her cheeks pinked a bit at the nickname, and she didn't complain. She sneered a bit. "Well at least you're pretty to look at. It would be too much of a curse for you to be stupid AND ugly."
"You're a cold, heartless girl." I said dryly. "I miss my Suzie. She's never this mean to me."
I heard an 'eep' from behind us, and turned with a grin to see Hannah and a now bright red Susan approaching. Which of course, I'd heard with my enhanced senses. I put on a forlorn look. "Oh no, my secret is out. My preference for adorable redheads will be the talk of the castle. How will I go on."
Hannah snorted as she sat down, ignoring a few glaring Slytherins nearby. "My mother always told me to watch out for pretty boys with silver tongues. I've given Susan the same advice, but she seems intent on talking to you anyway."
I gave the redhead my best beaming smile. "Did you miss me, Suzie? Sadly, we must be separated by house barriers. The only way I can see you at night is in my dreams."
Daphne gave the atomically blushing redhead a sympathetic look. "He'll stop if you ask. Apparently he's a gentleman like that." The last part was said dryly, which I could understand. I could maybe flirt less, but she seemed to at least enjoy it, even if she was super shy. Daphne was right though, I'd stop if she asked.
"Anyway." I said, changing the subject before Susan's head exploded. "What are the Puffs upto for your first class?"
"Potions to start, sadly." sighed Hannah. "I hear Snape is…unpleasant." She paused. "Well not to you I guess. But he doesn't really like anyone else. I just hope we don't lose too many house points." She pointed up at the giant ass hourglasses full of gems Dumbledore had explained in his speech before the end of the first night.
"That would suck." I nodded. "We have Charms with Gryffindor. Which means we'll have to listen to Draco bitch at Harry Potter instead of spending our time doing worthwhile and interesting things. Like trying to look down Brown's shirt."
"I feel sorry for her." Said Susan shyly. "I mean, mine aren't small, but Lavender…she's got to be an H cup. Her back must be constantly sore." I resisted a comment about blowing it out to make it feel better because Susan was…well, Susan. She might get sad about it.
Blaise didn't. "I'd be happy to hold them for her if they get too heavy." Drawled my friend. "Or any other time." The girls all gave him flat stares. "What?" He said in an offended tone and pointing at me. "He gets to say whatever he wants and I get the cold shoulder?"
"It's because I'm so good looking." I said modestly. "Pretty people get away with more. You're not bad, but you don't have all this going on." I waved at my face before winking at Susan. "You think I'm pretty, don't you Suzie?"
She turned tomato red again and started stuttering, and everyone chuckled a bit, even Blaise. In reality I just had a better grip on what would bother people. I'd always had a knack for reading others, but becoming a devil had made that intuition much stronger.
"Jokes aside though." I said to the two Hufflepuffs. "If neither of you have a parent who was a Potions major, Blaise or I can help you out." I shot a look at the cold faced blonde from my own house. "Same to you princess. Though an even exchange would work better for me, if you're up for teaching some of that voodoo that you do."
"I'm assuming that's an irreverent American way of asking to learn any advance DADA I happen to know?" She said primly. I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Very well. I think perhaps we could help each other." She looked at our visiting Puffs. "Either of you a Charms or Transfiguration legacy?"
Susan raised a hand. "My Auntie is a Transfiguration Mistress. Hannah's father is a Herbologist. We grew up together so we've taught each other a bit already. We'd be happy to share." Despite being polite, she didn't seem shy about that. Just determined. I remembered her offer to help tutor me. She clearly cared a lot about helping people.
Daphne nodded. "A study group then. With most of the major classes covered. I approve. Most students have a setup like this to try to learn a bit about other subjects, even after they major. I believe I know someone who could help us with Charms. My friend Tracey is a legacy. You'll meet her later, I'm afraid I still haven't broken her of the habit of sleeping in."
Despite her chilly tone, I could see her eyes warming up a bit as she looked at all of us. Daphne was a bit of hard ass, but she was a sweet girl deep down. I got the feeling she didn't have a lot of friends before us. One at least, obviously, and I wondered what Tracey might be like, but not many. This was turning out to be a decent first day. I just hoped my classes went as well.
September 2nd, 2010. Charms Classroom , Hogwarts, Scotland 9:00 AM BST
Breakfast wasn't bad once I got something edible, and we finished it up talking and planning, going over who could help who with what. It was pretty nice, honestly, having people to interact with like this after a month locked up training with my mom.
Sadly, it was over too soon, and we had to head up to charms while our puffs headed to Potions. Arriving relatively early, I scoped out who would be in the class. Much like the Slytherins in our year, there weren't a ton of Gryffindors. On a lark I took a seat at a table near the middle of the room that put me close to the Gryffindor side.
Blaise sat next to me, though I suspect it was so he could leer at Lavender Brown, who was hands down the bustiest girl in the entire castle. She wasn't a small girl, maybe five five or six, but those tits, man. I was half surprised she didn't fall over.
"You know, it's terrible rude to stare like that." Remarked a snooty and extremely irritating voice. I glanced over to find one of the two that usually hang around that Potter guy, the frizzy haired girl with the relatively thick ass.
I shrugged. "You're not wrong. I'll try to stop, sorry." I held out a hand, figuring better to be polite than make enemies, even if I doubted I'd get along with the girl, who I was pretty sure was the one who had pushed McGonagall for more info the first night. "Ryan Black. Nice to meet you…"
She scowled disapprovingly for a second, then sighed and took my hand. "Hermione Granger. I suppose if you're sorry I can overlook it just this once." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "They are a tad ridiculous, aren't they? I feel bad for her honestly, her back must be killing her."
Apparently sympathy for large breasted women was a common trend, because Daphne had said something similar. "So." I said casually. "This is my first magic class. Mostly grew up in the muggle world. Any idea what to expect?"
I noted Blaise was talking to Theo, who sat across from us on the other side, and I saw Daphne glaring at me for some reason. Probably house pride. Hermione, for her part, seemed overjoyed, and I had the unfortunate feeling I'd just poked a bear.
Luckily, before she could academically vomit all over me, the redhead sitting next to her leaned over and snapped at me. "Oi! Snake. Leave her alone. I've heard about you. She doesn't need to talk to death eater spawn."
I shrugged. "I don't know what that means, but honestly, I kind of get the hostility. Apparently my cousin once removed is a sociopathic nutcase who went to prison for torture. Never met the bitch, but I'm pretty sure I'd hate her."
"So you admit it!" He crowed triumphantly. "Everyone knows the Black family breeds dark wizards."
"Probably." I said with a shrug. "But they didn't really breed me to begin with, since my mom is muggleborn. I grew up in the muggle world, in the US actually. Which makes this a double culture shock, because Brits are almost as weird to me as other wizards."
He seemed…put off. Like I hadn't done what he expected, and Hermione bulled her way back into the conversation. "That's enough Ronald! I don't need you telling me who to be friends with. You barely tolerate me as it is."
Flushing, he started to stammer. "I-I mean, I wasn't." He seemed lost for words. Another, more tired voice cut in.
"Enough, you two." Said Potter, who was sitting in front of them. "It's fine. No need to assume he's a git because he shares a house with Malfoy. Especially if he was muggle raised. I bet that makes things tough in Slytherin."
I shrugged. "I have friends, they don't seem to care. Draco has already started bitching about it, but then, I cost his dear old daddy a hundred thousand galleons in mismanagement fees for touching my gold before I got my inheritance, so he's hardly unbiased."
The redhead, Ronald, grinned. "You what?" He looked like christmas had come early. "That's brilliant! Lucius Malfoy is total scum. He used to work for you-know-who in the last war. Got out of punishment by claiming to have been controlled with magic. My dad reckons he paid his way out of it."
Laughing, I gave another shrug. "Well I doubt he'll be paying his way out of much for a while. I don't think that was all their gold, but from what the goblins said, it wasn't a small chunk either." Apparently helping to push the Malfoys into poverty made me ok in Ronald's book. Fair enough Draco seemed like an ass.
Speaking of, my second cousin had stormed into the classroom and up to me, doing his best to loom over me, his two hangers on tagging along. "You!" He spat. "Return my family's money, SQUIB." He looked ready to literally spit on me. Which would be…unfortunate for him. He didn't end up doing it though, just tried to look intimidating.
"Ah, Draco." I said calmly. "Lovely timing. I was just telling my new friends here how much gold I managed to rip out of your family vault for all the shady shit you did with my vault before I inherited."
"You shouldn't have inherited anything SQUIB." He hissed. "We saw you on the tapestry. Mother says Grand-Aunt Walburga tried to have you hunted down like a dog. You were the greatest shame the family has ever had. You're a freak, a disgusting, magicless, THING. You deserve NONE of what you have."
I slipped my wand from my robe, setting it on the table, then removed my hand setting it and my other in my lap. "Tell you what. Why don't we test that? My wand is there on the table. You can draw yours and try to curse me or whatever. I won't reach for mine until yours is out, and I bet I can beat you to the punch."
He hesitated. He could see I had ZERO fear of him or his goons. He knew I had to have a reason to be so confident, but he wasn't sure what it was. Blaise being behind me and having silently drawn his own wand probably didn't hurt. I caught his gaze out of the corner of my eye.
"That'll be quite enough of that." Said a high pitched voice, cutting the tension like a knife. "This is a classroom, gentlemen, not a dueling ring." A small man, old and relatively ugly if cheerful looking, hopped up onto the top of the teachers desk with a shocking amount of agility. "Mr. Malfoy. Claim a seat please. If I see such nonsense again you'll both be serving detentions. Is that clear?"
I nodded amiably. I HAD essentially just almost started a magic fight in his classroom. Draco snarled and whirled around, stalking dramatically across the room to claim an empty table. The small man nodded. "Excellent. Now. I." He waved his wand at the board behind him, and a name wrote itself seamlessly across the surface. "Am Professor Flitwick. I will be your Charms instructor. Who can tell me what Charms IS?"
A bunch of people raised a hand, Hermione basically yanking her arm out of her socket to be picked. Flitwick chuckled, pointing at her. "Ms. Granger."
"Thank you professor." Said the bushy haired girl primly. "Charms are a class of spells that add an attribute to a person or object. Enchantments are a frequently explored subset of this field, though find use often in everyday life."
He gave a pleased nod. "Excellently put Ms. Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor for an eloquent and well reasoned answer. She is, of course, exactly right." He said, turning to the rest of us. "Charms add an attribute to a person or thing. To start out, we'll be focusing on charming objects."
Flicking his wrist, his wand appeared in his hand so fast I could barely track it (meaning no one else could have seen it at all). He pointed at an ink pot on his desk and said casually. "Wingardium Leviosa."
With no delay. The inkpot lifted into the air and floated straight up, stopping on a dime right in front of Flitwick's face. "This." He said, hopping off the desk into his tall chair and taking his seat. "Is the levitation charm. The added attribute here is 'weightlessness'. It's an extremely useful and simple charm to master, and the first you'll be learning."
After explaining the wand movement and the incantation and showing us again how the spell was performed, Flitwick left us to self study. I turned to Blaise. "Bet you ten galleons I get it before you do."
My friend smirked. "In your dreams, yank. But if you're so desperate to waste your money I'll oblige you." He cracked his neck like he was preparing for a prize fight and raised his wand, brandishing it like a conductor's baton.
Picking up my own wand, I pointed it at the feather that had been deposited on my table in front of me. Before casting, I considered what Charms were. Adding an attribute. I knew two charms. Disarming and Shielding. One added a defensive attribute to…what? Air? Maybe. And one added, I assumed, the disarmed attribute to a person?
Looking past that, I considered the form my magic took when I cast them. When I used spells my magic had to shape itself specifically into the form of that magic. It made the spell compatible with my wand, sure, but it also made it repeatable and controllable.
Mentally running through the charms I knew, I settled on a specific type of…shape, for lack of a better term, that seemed to be common among both. Then I focused my intent like mom said, and pushed it INTO that shape as I shoved it through the wand, enunciating the spell.
"Wingardium Leviosa." I said serenely. The magic was perfectly primed by the shape, and the magic was perfectly infused with my intent. I'd gotten far past the pale, weak versions of spells that came out in the beginning. Unfortunately…my intent had been less…focused on the actual result than the spell itself.
The table in front of me smoothly lifted off the ground, floating a few feet in the air and stopping. Everyone turned to look and I winced. I…might have overdone that a bit. Flitwick came over, chuckling as he hopped down from the desk. "Very impressive Mr. Black. Not an uncommon mistake to make."
With a small smirk he flicked his wand, muttering 'finite incantatem' as he did. And then his smile wilted. Because the table didn't come down. He scowled, then repeated the spell. Nothing, the table just stayed floating there, didn't even wobble in the air from his spells.
"Continue working please." He called. "Mr. Black, Mr. Zabini. If you might swap to another table. You may take your chairs with you, I'll get this fixed right away." He conjured a pair of feathers, handing them to us, and Blaise and I took our chairs over to push them in on the other side of Daphne's table.
The black haired girl sitting with her, who I assumed was Tracey, the friend who had Charms experience, gave me an impressed look, and I just winked her. She rolled her eyes, though I could see a smirk on her lips as she did, and we all got to work again.
I managed to levitate my feather before Blaise, because he insisted the table didn't count because I targeted the wrong thing. Winning ten galleons was nice, but knowing I could actually do it was better. Even better than that was the furious and wary gaze Draco kept shooting me throughout the class. I got the feeling he was glad not to have gone for his wand earlier. Man, being a devil was an absolute blast.
To clarify, it's explained next chapter that this is an interaction between devil and human magic more than him just muscling Flitwick's spell. He IS strong as hell, but that's not at play here really, so don't expect him to be able to easily trounce all the professors or anything. However, it does give him a bit of a rep, which has some fun side effects. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys.
Edit: New pics added. Hermione and Lavender. Couldn't find any photos that fit what I wanted.
Edit Edit: I changed the Hermione pic because people didn't like the legs, sadly can't do it again soon so I hope people like that one.