...We hope you've settled in nicely. We expect so much from you this year! We're so happy you've managed to get your grades up and are working so hard! Do keep us posted on how your classes are working out! Have you thought about joining any clubs yet?

Willow sighed, tucking a piece of her black hair behind an ear. It's only the first day of classes and already she's being peppered with questions. She folded the letter up and drank some of her orange juice. She needed to focus this year...the O.W.L.'s were very important to her future. If she failed to get an owl in any of the required classes for Auror training...she can kiss her dreams goodbye!

Speaking of Aurors, Willow's eyes flicked up to the man sitting up front, taking what looked like notes... Why did he seem so familiar..?

Noticing a majority of people leaving the great hall, Willow grabbed her bag and headed off to her first class of the day: History of Magic. It wasn't fair that they had to have it so early...it's going to take all of her willpower to stay awake!

Isaak looked in the direction of the Auror that Verlin was talking, and he remembered the man from last night at the feast. Isaak was curious to know why an Auror was at Hogwarts, their business was usually to capture dark witches and wizards. did this mean that there was something sinister going on in the school? he couldn't really figure anything out.

"Maybe, but he is an Auror and they are tasked with capturing dangerous wizards and witches, so i don't think that he is a threat. but i will say this, I find it strange that headmaster Blevins didn't explain why he was sent here" he told her. Isaak then gave his schedule a look to see which classes were today. he read the list of classes for Monday and he smiled, charms were today. he was so excited to be getting a chance to learn new spells in his favorite class, and could almost hardly. when he heard about Verlin talk about wanting to start Defense Against The Dark Arts class and transfiguration, he looked at the schedule for those classes.

"Well today we have Charms, along with History of Magic and Astronomy. Transfiguration is on Tuesday after Potions, and Defense Against The Dark Arts is on Friday. I can't believe we're getting two Potions classes a week, I don't about you but I don't like Potions. Good news is, we will also be getting another transfiguration class on Wednesday after the second Potions class" he told Verlin. he was annoyed to not be getting two Charms classes and having to deal with taking two Potions classes instead. he was okay at the subject, but out of all of the classes, it and Muggle Studies were his least favorite classes so far at Hogwarts. but he was glad to have two transfiguration classes, both it and Defense Against The Dark Arts were his second favorite class.

Grace sees off the first years an then her History of Magic class

Grace finished her meal quickly then waited by the door stopping each Puff first year an making sure they knew the way to their classes. Once they'd all passed an several Griff an Ravens had even asked directions she hurried off to her first class.

History of Magic was a lovely class for it supplied the base of all magic, I mean how were you to truly understand a spell if you didn't know about the period it was developed in and by whom? Grace loved every class in school and worked incredibly hard at each one. She truly didn't have a favorite merely classes she excelled in over others. Potions came easy to her probably because of her family business of making almost 40% of all bottled beverages consumed by the Wizarding world. Also from her family came some of the greatest chefs of the wizarding world as well an potions was an extension or they were extension of it.

Her siblings had teased her a bit when she'd sorted Puff instead of Black feathers as they called those family members who'd sorted Ravensclaw which claimed at least two Goodspeed a generation. Oh there had been the odd Griff and one Snake in the family history but they were anomaly. Goodspeed were Puff an Feathers as they loved saying. Grace's Mother had said it was Grace's will to be Puff that had decided her choosing

Grace entered her History of Magic class with the required book and two others that supplied her with more concise references than the simplified text book.. She took a seat beside her friend an sister Puff Candy who rolled her eyes saying
"You know you'll burn down quick if you keep up this pace?"
Grace stuck her tongue out at Candy as she opened her book and arranged the others.

Elina laid the fox on her lap as more people were coming into the hall to eat breakfast, as it became less crowded Elina saw Finch looking at some of the students with a serious look and write in his note book after that. It was pretty obvious that he was writing about them but what? She ate her breakfast and gave a finall look at finch but he was nowhere to be found. As she left She gave a look at her schedule for classes and her face turned a bit depressed. "Herbology great" How fun to start of the year with her least favorite subject and that for 2 houres long. She had some time left so she wandered a bit through the hallways to see if anything had changed at all but there was not that much difrent, she walked to the dorm to get her stuff and left the fox behind heading of to class. There were many portraits hanging around on the walls Elina greeted a few persons that were in them and walked further down the hallways. When she finally arrived at her class room she saw a few people of her new class and knew not one of them. She putted on her gloves, coat and earmuffs and stood at the big table in the middle of the table next to a boy with black hair which was a bit taller then her. A few more of her new class mates walked in as the lesson began.

Verlin groaned. "Chaaaarms I suck at charms." She got all pouty, and actually looked like a dog for a second. Ester scratched her as if to tell her to stop complaining. She picked the cat up from under the table by her underarms, and looked her straight in the eye "And you I didn't ask for your opinion." Her and the cat entered a staring match, and the cat nuzzled her face as if to apologize. "Dang straight." She pet the cat, and then set her back down, and she went back under the table. She pushed her breakfast away, and took a look around the hall. She noticed a girl walk out with a fox, and wagged her tail.

"Have you seen that girl Isaak. I didn't know foxes were allowed at hogwarts!" She paused for a moment admiring the fox. "Had I known that I would have brought my das wolf Kenny." She smiled a sad smile. Kenny was a good friend to her father. He tried to protect him during the last moments of his life. She had nearly forgotten that Kenny had been 3 years dead. She got up from the table, and realized it was probably time for them to head to class. She ticked off her items in her head making sure she had everything.

Isaak almost chuckled at her complaints about sucking at Charms, and replied, "If you're good at Transfiguration and Defense Against The Dark Arts, then Charms shouldn't be that hard, at least that's how it is for me."

He couldn't really how she would be terrible at charms, it was one of the more popular forms of magic. the great Slytherin Merlin was renown throughout the wizarding world for being an expert at charms. He gave Perun a few bits of his cereal, and then heard Verlin talk about the Hufflepuff girl who had brought a fox to school. he looked at the table and saw Elina hirasawa with her fox whose name he couldn't remember. he recognized that she was the girl who fainted least night at the feast, and it made him wonder if Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were getting weaker willed students as the years went by. at least it would mean that Slytherin would become the stronger house and win more house cups.

"I guess she must have been a special case. foxes aren't really the type of animal that are domesticated often, and I am pretty sure they would have never allowed a wolf into Hogwarts. Foxes are small, wolves are the size of dogs and they don't allow dogs at Hogwarts" he told her. Isaak was amused at the idea of Verlin bringing a wolf into Hogwarts, he could almost see it attacking students that got on the girl's nerves, in his mind and it almost made him laugh. when he was finished eating, he picked up Perun and got up from his seat.

"We should head back to the common room to drop off our pets since they're not allowed in the class rooms" he told her. he started to walk in the direction of the exit to the Great Hall, and his mind was full of the excitement of taking his first charms class this year. it felt to have his first class at Hogwarts this be Charms, and he was ready to show how great he was at learning the type of magic.

Gus careened into the Great Hall, carelessly grabbing a bit of everything for breakfast. He knew it was almost time for everyone to head to class, but it wasn't his fault. Well, technically it was, but his friends were a bunch of dicks for not waking him up anyway. Taking a huge bite out of the ham sandwich in his hands, he scoured the tables for something to wash it down. At the speed he was eating, it was a miracle he hadn't actually choked yet. Soon enough, Gus managed to get his hands on a glass of orange juice. It was ice-cold, too. That was one of the best things about going to a magical school like Hogwarts; the drinks were always refrigerated.

Within seconds, Gus managed to finish all of his food and drink. It was pretty impressive, if he did say so himself. In another life, he might've made a fine competitive eater. Plus, he was still hungry. Deciding that he probably had just a bit more time to eat, he helped himself to a second serving, finishing it as quickly as he did the first one. It was only after a few moments that he noticed the mess he had made. Thankfully though, almost everyone had already made their way to class, and there weren't many people left to stare disapprovingly at him. Gus gave his mouth a good wipe with a napkin before standing up, dusting the residual crumbs off his robes. Now, he better get to class quick. He knew how Professor Babbling was, and the last thing he wanted was for her to throw a fit just because he was a couple minutes late. Books and wand in arm, he hurried over to join his friends waiting by the doorway.

"Took you long enough, Gus."

"Hey! You guys were the ones who left without me." Gus retorted and rolled his eyes. Recalling the schedule, he let out a dejected sigh. Whoever thought putting Study Of Ancient Runes as the first class of the day was clearly wrong in the head. "Anyway, Ancient Runes is first period. Hope you guys are ready."

A chorus of groans erupted from the group as the members each began complaining about how boring the class was. Not that any of it mattered, they still had to attend it. But complaining sure as hell made them feel better about staring at symbols on a page for hours on end.

Raymond walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room with his friends, discussing their classes. History of Magic will probably be rather boring. Ray loved history, and found the events they learned fascinating... but not when their ghost professor, Professor Binns, started giving "lectures" which was mostly him reading from the textbook, then going off about a rant on how the book stated everything wrong. The class was fun the first two years, when all of them asked about the Battle of Hogwarts that happened here. Although reluctant at first, he talked about how all teachers and the Order of the Phoenix, and students of all ages fought against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. when he wasn't gloating how terrific a job he did, the whole class listened eagerly as he talked of Harry Potter, and how he survived the Dark Lord not only once, but three times! The people who seemed the most interested in the story of the legendary Boy Who Lived were the Gryffindors. They never heard a better story of honor and bravery in their lives.

but after the years, he was tired of giving that story... So everyone went back to being silent and day dream in his class. Raymond seemed to like learning about the history on his own, laughing at Edgar's commentary, and hearing Samantha's counter joke to it. Helps him remember it more. Raymond collected his books from his trunk, gave Olly a treat then opened the window and his cage. Olly took off immediately, his flying towards the mountains off in the distance.

Minutes later Raymond entered the History of Magic classroom, taking his usual spot in the back, saving spots for Sam, her friends, and his friends. Students started to pile in, Raymond gave nods and smiles, or short conversations to those he knew.

Willow moved through the crowds of students, invisible. Occasionally, due to her clumsy self, she'd bump into a few people earning her some annoyed glances. But otherwise, nobody gave her the light of day. Thank god, too, she had no idea what her hair looked like since she still hadn't had time to wrap it into a bun. She couldn't do it now for fear of accidentally elbowing one of the students in the hallway! Hopefully, she'd be able to quickly fix it during class...

As she entered the classroom, she was dismayed to see that her favorite spot by the window was already taken by a student she didn't know. She only had herself to blame, she should've eaten her breakfast faster... Her classmates pushed by her, hurrying to fill in the remaining seats, leaving Willow to bite her lip and assess the situation before her. Did this really have to happen on the first day of classes?

Verlin followed Isaak out of the Great Hall with Ester trotting behind her. She would put the cat in the common room, but she knew the cat would leave the rooms, and do whatever it was cats dad at Hogwarts. She voiced this particular thought out loud "What do you think the pets do when students are in class?" This thought was one of her more puff traits showing. After she dropped Ester off she waited for Isaak so they could make their way to class.

Finch finished eating breakfast, closed his notebook placed it in his inside breast pocket and rose from the chair.
He slowly left the great hall and mentally went over what classes he could sit in on.

History of Magic might be good, he could actually provide insight in that class. Or perhaps DATDA or perhaps charms. Finch thought carefully for a few minutes.

Finch set off towards the History of Magic classroom having decided that was as good a place as any to start.

"I don't know, probably socialize with the other pets in the common room" he replied to Verlin, as he left the common room and went in the direction of the exit to the dungeons. he was very excited to be headed off to Charms and thought of the new spell they would be learning this year. he was glad to have a friend to go to classes with, and he was glad to have someone he could trust since there a couple of students who could possibly be dangerous. also it made the school year more fun to have a friend to hang out with.

"what do you think of Hermione Granger-Weasely teaching Charms? I mean she is a muggleborn and i wonder if they could have gotten a pureblood witch or at least a halfblood witch. I at least hope she teaches us the right type of spells. in my opinion, a Slytherin should be teaching Charms, Merlin was an expert with that type of magic and it would fit our house since snakes do have a charm like personality" he said to his friend as they walked down the corridors to towards the moving staircase. while he may not have been as prejudice as some other Slytherins, he still did not like the idea of his favorite subject being taught by a muggleborn.

Elina grabbed a pencil and papper and sat on the chair behind her. She started to draw the plant that was in front of her since she got nothing else to do. Not even half an hour has past and she was already bored by the lesson. She sees a shadow behind her appear it was the herbology teacher neville longbottom ''No drawing in the lesson miss Hirasawa'' he said with a loud voice as he gave her a light tap on the head with his ruler that he held. She knew that neville was an auror once he might know more about mister Finch but how would she get it out of him. She was a bit shoked by the sudden voice and tap as she turned around to face the teacher. ''yes professor it wont happen again'' she began to turn a bit red of embarrassment as the whole class looked at her. still a long way to go till the next lesson and she gave out a small sigh as she joined the rest of the class.

Grace enjoys History

Grace sits in Magical History listening to Professor Binns as he tells the story of three sisters who lived 673 years ago and were said to have developed the Felix Felicis, "Liquid Luck"
Grace found the story enlightening when told by Professor Binns who added bits of random information not found in the text book.
Glancing briefly around herself she took note of which students listened an which fought off sleep and which were Puffs in the latter.
Grace unlike many of the others in class had tried several times to get Professor Binns to chat after class.

Finch entered the classroom, giving a small nod to Professor Binns and then taking a seat in the rear corner of the room. Noticing some more faces he recognized he pulled out his leatherbound pocketbook and jotted down a few notes as more students arrived.

Verlin thought about his question "Well I suppose she will be okay for a muggle born." She shrugged, and added "I heard rumors that she's pretty much good at everything except divination, and flying. I guess she also did a lot to keep Harry Potter himself alive." She didn't really care one way or another. She wished they had found at least a half blood to teach, but she would give a muggle born a chance. If Mrs. Weasley could handle her terrible charms ability she couldn't complain too much. She went back to the subject of what the pets do while the students are in class "The pets probably actually complain about us a lot. They probably trade embarrassing stories or something." When they got to the charms door she took her seat, and sat down in the back where she hoped never to be called on.

Roy walked into the History of Magic classroom, pulling at a dark purple blob in his hair. He'd gotten lost in his painting that morning, his daily habit of art before breakfast had made him late for breakfast, nearly missing it entirely. Luckily a few of his roommates had saved him some eggs and a couple of sausages.

His daily morning habit meant that he'd occasionally show up to his classes with stray flecks of paint on his hands, face, or hair. On his walk to the classroom he'd discovered and exceptionally large blob blue paint in his hair. In his rush, he'd overestimated the difficulty of a charm, and instead of the paint sliding right out of his hair, it had gotten really hot and baked into his hair. The hair around it was slightly singed.

Looking around the classroom he saw most of his Ravenclaw friends sitting towards the front of course, but they hadn't saved a seat for him. He nodded, they knew he hated this class anyway, and noticed Raymond sitting towards the back. This was easily Roy's least favorite class. Although it made for great thinking time as well as drawing time. He had yet to make through a single lecture without getting lost in his own thoughts. He had arrived just in time right before the lecture began. He walked to the seat directly in front of Raymond. He could already hear the smart remark. "Say what you want, but burning purple blobs into your hair is the latest trend and its awesome." He sat down with a laugh pulling out his quill and notebook as well as sheet of paper and charcoal pencil.

"they probably would do that" Isaak said laughing when Verlin talked about the pets probably complaining about them while they were in their classes, and followed her into the Charms classroom. they were right on time and Isaak was about to sit near the front when he noticed Verlin walk to take a seat near the back of the back of the class. for a moment Isaak contemplated whether or not to sit next to Verlin behind most of the students. He always liked sitting near the front since this was his favorite subject and it was easier for him to raise his hand when the teacher asked a question and get called on to answer it. but Isaak decided to stick with his friend and took a seat next to Verlin. although he was a little disappointed with not getting to sit near the front, Isaak was glad to have a friend be with in Charms.

he took out his Charms books and waited for the class to start. he remembered the stories about Mrs Weasely being the top student in most of her classes, which did show that muggleborns could be skilled witches and wizards, but then there was still the fact that she was a Gryffindor and a member of his house's rival. maybe someday Hogwarts would hire a Slytherin to teach the class.

Raymond was opening up his book, and looked up to see Roy walking towards a seat, pain in hair as usual. Before he could say anything he had a reply to his comment. He gave a laugh. "don't think I'll get in to that trend. Maybe if orange comes in to season I'll try it." He said. "You think Binns would even notice if one of your pieces flew off the paper and started to dance?" Ray asked with a grin. "Learned this new charm while reading-- Before you say anything, yeah, i can read. Haven't been his too hard in the head with a bludger." He said with a smirk. "Makes paintings and drawings come to life." He then turned his attention to the Auror from the dining hall walk in, and start writing again... He looked at him for a bit, then slowly leaned back, not wanting to make the auror suspicious with his new little trick.

The school bell rang and out of the large chalkboard came Professor Binns, the only ghost teacher at Hogwarts. It was a cool trick when they were first years, but now its kinda lost its magic.... no pun intended. "Alright class, please take out Hogwarts, A History volume II and turn to chapter 16... Last year when we left off we just ended the Goblin Wars..."

He began his extremely dull monologue. Many of the students started to daydream, or doodle, or stare blankly at their textbook. Raymond leaned back, tapping his wand lightly on the desk, trying to concentrate, his eyes wandering to Edgar trying to flick pieces of paper at a sleeping ravenclaw student, then to Samantha looking just as bored, giving her a smile, then looking at the Auror. He wasnt sure if he was bored or interested in this lecture. He wore a blank expression.

---

Hermione Granger

Hermione was already in the room as the bell rang. She was preparing over and over, and had to make sure her lesson plan would run smoothly. Her first class was with the second years. She enjoyed the second year of charms. The spells came very naturally to her. It was one of her favorite classes when she was attending the school. Although she wasn't a pure-blood, she was the best in her class. When the bell did ring, she closed the doors with a flick of her wand, and stood up. "Welcome, everyone, to your second year of charms." She said. "I am Professor Weasley, although many of you know that by now. This year we will be going deeper in complexity of certain charms. I promise only a very light read at the beginning of class, then you will all partner up, and practice the spell together." She said.

"Miss Henry, please open your book to chapter one of The Standard Books of Spells, and read aloud the first section." The small Slytherin girl nodded, opening her book, and started to read about the Freezing Charm. "Right. Now everyone please read the rest of the chapter."

As the class started to stop reading, Hermione cleared her throat. "So to produce the charm correctly, you must give a flick to your wand, and say immobulus[i]. Repeat after me." The whole class yelled immobulus, Hermione nodded with a smile. "Very good.. Now..."

Hermione walked up to her desk, and put on to it a cage holding a few small looking insects, but they had large wings and the head of a small rodent. they looked around the class quickly, clearly not wanting to be there. "Each of you will have one of these to try the charm out... If you have trouble, I'll be here to help." She swished and flicked her wand and small cages went to each student, landing in front of them on their desk.

She let hers out of the cage, and the creature immediately dashed out. It was going at lightning speed, but Hermione's eyes were focused. She flicked her wand, and yelled [i]"Immobulus! The creature suddenly came in to view, drifting slowly in the air, completely frozen, its beady eyes scanning the room. "Your turn." She said.

"Really now, come to life?" he responded with a grin. "My art has life all on its own, thank you very much," he said in mock indignance. "I'll come up with something..." The quill and notebook were quickly forgotten the moment Binns began his lecture. Twirling a drawing pencil in his hand he absentmindedly stared at the ceiling. The sound of Binns' droning just becoming indistinct. A couple of minutes later he didn't have any idea of what to draw but he had figured out where the charm went wrong, he'd have to fix that next time. His hand went back to the purple blob in his hair. He picked at it some more, hopefully he'd be able to get it out later without having to cut his hair.

He took a look around the room, noticing for the first time that one of the Hufflepuff girls from the train was in there. What was her name? Constance, right. He wondered where her friend was. Likely Roxane had been in a different year. He made a note to catch her on the way out of class. He noticed on the guy next to him, slumped across his desk, having already fallen asleep. Across the top of his notes the word GOBLINS was written, nothing else. Good as anything I guess, he thought. He carefully searched his memory for a good image of a goblin. He remembered a few from Gringott's, particularly Grunhok, his dad's preferred banker. He drew a quick sketch of the goblin, then repeated it a few times, the round head with pointed features pretty simple to reproduce. He then went through and fleshed them out. The one in front was clearly Grunhok. The rest all looked similar, yet they were clearly distinct. Most wizards tended to think all goblins looked the same, but a good eye and attention to detail would see they were as different as any humans.

He worked to finish the sixth and final goblin, smiling as the thought of these goblins dancing filled his mind. He suppressed a chuckle as he gave the drawing one more glance. He took a quick glance around, Binns' nose in his book like always, the students all otherwise distracted, and the auror... well it didn't look like he was looking this way. What was he even doing here? No matter. He turned around and quickly slipped the drawing to Raymond. "Knock yourself out."