Regulus looked up and found Lily across from him.
She had a few books hugged to her chest, her hair pulled into a ponytail, and that bright, lively smile she always seemed to carry with her.
Regulus gave her a small nod as greeting, then dropped his gaze back to his reading.
Lily didn't seem bothered. If anything, she'd gotten used to him by now. She sat down quietly, pulled out a quill and parchment from her bag, and started writing.
They didn't talk. There was only the soft flip of pages, and the scratch of a quill moving over parchment.
The silence held until lunch was close.
Regulus closed his book and began to stand, ready to head to the Great Hall. Lily packed up at the same time.
She hesitated, then reached into the small shoulder bag Regulus had given her, the one with the Extension Charm, and pulled out a parcel.
It was wrapped in plain brown paper, tied with a dark green ribbon.
"For you." Lily pushed it toward him. Her voice was light, a little shy. "A late Christmas present. Don't make fun of it."
Regulus took it, and the moment it touched his hands, he could tell it was knitted, soft and thick. Probably a scarf or gloves.
The wrapping was simple, nothing like the fancy displays in shops, but the ribbon was tied neatly, and every corner had been folded with careful precision.
He could picture her back in Cokeworth, sitting near the fireplace, knitting it stitch by stitch.
She'd probably had to dodge Petunia's curious, maybe jealous looks. Dodge her parents' questions too. Finish her homework first, then work under lamplight at night until it was done.
It wasn't expensive. The wool was ordinary, the pattern basic, and any shop could sell something prettier.
But it carried something that couldn't be bought.
Time and care.
A girl's honest wish for a friend.
Regulus accepted the parcel as if it mattered, then looked her in the eyes. "Thank you."
Lily's face immediately lit up. The tension and awkwardness vanished, replaced by pure happiness.
"I'm glad you like it," she said, suddenly cheerful. "I didn't have much to do at home, and I couldn't practice magic, so I thought I'd make something…"
They left the library together and started toward the Great Hall, chatting about the holiday as they walked.
Regulus obviously wasn't about to tell Lily what his break had really been. The Malfoy dinner. The patrol through Knockturn Alley. Fighting dark wizards. None of that belonged in casual conversation.
So he kept it safe. Practicing magic at home, attending the occasional social event.
Lily listened with open envy. "You can practice at home. I don't even dare keep my wand near me. I'm terrified I'll do magic by accident.
One time I was helping my mom wash dishes and there was this stubborn stain. My brain just went straight to Scourgify, and I panicked so bad I locked my wand in the deepest drawer."
"The Trace only flags underage magic when there aren't adult wizards nearby," Regulus said, following her line of thought.
"If you really need practice over the holidays, find a close friend who has adult witches or wizards at home. Stay with them for a few days. If there are adults around, the Trace won't trigger."
"Really?" Lily's eyes brightened. "That works?"
"The Ministry of Magic's system isn't that precise," Regulus explained. "It's mainly aimed at children from Muggle families, to keep them from exposing magic in front of Muggles.
If there are adult wizards nearby, the system assumes the adults are the ones casting. It won't pin it on the kid."
Lily nodded and clearly filed the information away. Then she hesitated, and asked anyway, "Why did you give me something so expensive?
That bag… I saw similar ones in Diagon Alley. The price was terrifying."
Regulus went quiet for a moment. He couldn't exactly tell her, it only feels expensive to you, I thought it was cheap.
"Value is relative," he said at last. "To me, it's just a convenient tool.
The undetectable Extension Charm used to make it isn't that advanced. The Ministry of Magic bans private use, but as long as you're not showing off and you're not using it for anything illegal, you can do it quietly without trouble."
Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he added, "If you're interested, the library has a book called Foundations and Applications of Spatial Magic. It explains the undetectable Extension Charm in detail, with practice methods.
In theory, if your control is precise enough and you understand how space expansion works, you can make one yourself."
Lily stared. "I can make one?"
"Of course." Regulus nodded without hesitation. "Magic is learned. If you're willing to spend the time, and you practice seriously, a lot of things that look impossible are actually not that hard."
He'd seen it in another life, in another story. Hermione Granger had managed to create a beaded bag with an Extension Charm in seventh year, packed with everything they needed to survive.
If Hermione could do it, there was no reason Lily couldn't. Being younger didn't matter either. If Lily wanted, Regulus could guide her through the key points.
They entered the Great Hall and split off toward their house tables.
When Regulus sat down, Cuthbert leaned in and asked in a low voice, "You and that Evans girl close or something?"
"Academic discussion," Regulus answered simply.
Cuthbert made a face and dropped it.
From the perspective of a boy raised in a Pure-blood family, getting too friendly with someone Muggle-born was a bad idea. But he didn't dare interfere too much in anything Regulus did. A warning was the most he would risk, and even that was just duty as a housemate.
Regulus didn't care. Most Pure-blood children weren't even half as capable as Lily was.
---
Wednesday afternoon brought Transfiguration.
Professor McGonagall stood at the front of the classroom, as severe as ever.
She wore a dark green robe, a Gryffindor badge and the Hogwarts crest pinned at the collar. Her silver hair was pulled back so tightly it looked like it had never once dared to move out of place.
"Today's lesson is handkerchief to rabbit," she said, voice crisp and firm.
"This is a key topic for the term, and it will appear on your final exam. The requirement is simple. Your rabbit must hold its form for ten minutes without reverting."
She picked up a white handkerchief and tapped it lightly with her wand.
The fabric twisted, swelled, and stretched. A faint texture like fur rippled across the surface, and the edges began to lengthen into the shape of ears.
A few seconds later, a living white rabbit sat on the desk. Its pink nose twitched, long ears upright, back feet giving a soft little kick against the tabletop.
"Transfiguration relies on more than magic," Professor McGonagall said. "It relies on focus.
You must clearly imagine every detail of the target form. The texture of the fur. The distribution of muscle. The structure of the skeleton. Even the color of the eyes, and the way they reflect light.
The clearer your image, the more stable your transformation, and the longer it will hold."
She tapped again. The rabbit became a handkerchief once more.
"Now, begin."
Regulus picked up the handkerchief in front of him. It was cotton, with the Hogwarts crest embroidered at the edge.
He closed his eyes and built the rabbit in his mind.
Not a vague outline, but something complete, precise, and layered, from the inside out.
The skeletal system which include skull, spine, ribs, the shape of the limb bones, how each joint connected.
The muscle system like which muscles powered a jump, which controlled chewing, which turned the ears.
The internal organs like heart placement, lung size, intestine length.
External traits like Fur length and density, the clarity of the eyes and their sheen, the fine pattern of blood vessels in the ears, the sensitivity of the whiskers.
It came easily to him, effortless, but he knew it wasn't like that for everyone else. Some of the other first-years probably didn't even know whether rabbits had tails.
When the image was done, Regulus lifted his wand and tapped lightly.
The handkerchief began to change.
But unlike Professor McGonagall's smooth, natural transition, Regulus's was more precise, more layered, almost surgical.
The transformation started from within. The cotton fibers rearranged, forming the beginnings of a skeleton. Then muscle tissue formed, wrapping around bone. Then organs appeared, settling into the correct places in chest and abdomen.
Only after that did the fur grow in, white fluff spreading across the surface until the body was fully covered.
It took about five seconds.
A white rabbit stood on the desk, almost identical to the one Professor McGonagall had produced.
If you looked closely, though, the difference was obvious. This rabbit's eyes were brighter, more alert. Its breathing looked more natural, the rise and fall of its chest steady and real. When its ears turned, you could almost hear the faint rub of cartilage.
Regulus paused, considering.
Then he tapped his wand again, aiming at the rabbit, and continued the transformation.
The skin along the rabbit's back began to rise.
Tissue reorganized beneath it.
Bone extended.
Muscle attached.
A pair of wings pushed out from the shoulder blades, batlike membrane wings.
The wing bones were long and fine, joints flexible. The membrane was thin but tough, webbed with delicate veins.
At the same time, the chest structure shifted. Ribs expanded outward to make room for new flight muscles. The heart adjusted slightly, pumping more efficiently. The lungs grew larger, built for stronger exchange of air. The hind leg muscles changed too, better suited for launch and landing.
It still looked like a rabbit.
But inside, it was something else entirely.
Students around him gasped.
"Black made a magical creature!" a Hufflepuff boy shouted.
"Is that even a rabbit? Rabbits don't have wings!"
"It's definitely a magical creature, only magical creatures look like that!"
---
Stone plzzz