The next morning I hesitated as I entered the common room. Ominis had ripped into me the night before, and I was anxious he'd do it again.
When I realised there was no sign of him, I could finally breathe. As I strode over to sit by the fire and do some light reading, I caught sight of Sebastian.
"I'm sorry. He was there when I left the Undercroft," I said.
"It's not your fault. Honestly, I should've respected Ominis's wishes and not mentioned it," he said.
"Why did you tell me?"
"I don't know. I guess I wanted to help you learn better magic...." He paused. "And I enjoy spending time with you. It reminds me of my times with Anne."
'I reminded him on his sister?' I thought. I didn't want him to see me in that way.
Sebastian must've read the look on my face.
"Not that you're like Anne. I just mean we get along. Like we click," he said stumbling over his words.
I laughed. It was kind of cute seeing him so flustered.
"Ominis threatened me with expulsion last night," I said.
"Did he? He was just angry, he wouldn't actually do it."
"I guess but now he hates me," I frowned. I didn't exactly want bad blood with Sebastian's best friend.
"No he doesn't, trust me. I told him it was all my fault. If he were to hate anyone right now, it would be me," Sebastian reassured me.
"Okay," I smiled.
"Hey, do you have beasts class today?" Sebastian asked.
I nodded.
"I'll see you then," he said.

The first period of the day was flying class. Professor Kogawa ran the class. We stood there in two lines, Professor Kogawa lecturing as she walked between them. My mind wandered as I gazed eyes wide at the castle. It was beautiful, and the sight of it never got old.
"Now make sure you show your broom respect and it will respect you. Hold your hand out and say 'up'," she said.
I held my hand out, "up."
My broom rose up, hovering above the ground.
"You'll be flying this course, making sure you go through each ring. To control going up and down, simply tilt your broom in the direction. The same goes for left and right. If you want to go faster, push forward on your broom," Professor Kogawa said.
The class mounted their brooms. I lifted off the ground. It felt strange. Humans were not mean't to fly, and the higher I got, the more I realised it.
I saw the first ring, and slowly proceeded through it, attempting to get a feel for the broom.
"Hey! Over here," someone said from my right. I turned my head to see a messy haired Ravenclaw student with glasses.
"You're the new fifth year. I'm Everett Clopton. You seem to know your way around a broom. Do you want to take an extended flying tour of the castle?"
"I guess," I said.
"Follow me!"
Everett commenced to wind me through the practice rings, then he drifted off, taking me under a rickety bridge. I couldn't understand how it was still standing. Walking on it, the bridge felt sturdy, but looking at it, it seemed as if it could collapse any minute. The view of the castle was amazing. It took my breath away. We flew around the outside of the castle, then winded through its towers. After a few minutes we finally landed when we heard Professor Kogawa's whistle blow. We landed and class was dismissed. Everette and I began to walk to lunch.
"Where do you think you two are going?" Professor Kogawa said from behind me.
I turned. She stood there arms cross.
"Oh hello Professor, we were trying to get a little extra practice in," Everette said.

"Hefty points will be taken from each of your houses for not following my instructions," Professor Kogawa said, arms still crossed.
I turned to Everette, he didn't say a word.
Professor Kogawa continued, "Mr Clopton, I'm disappointed in you. You're in this class because your not showing yourself or your broom the proper respect."
"But Professor," he tried so speak.
"Enough, class is dismissed."
He left, and I attempted to follow suit.
"As for you," she said.
I focused my attention back on the Professor, hanging my head to show her I felt guilty.
"You'll do well to show better judgment in the future."
I hung my head even lower. I hated being scolded.
"Chin up! That was some rather good flying," she added smiling.
I nodded in gratitude and left.

I entered the great hall, ready to eat a horse. As I walked to the Slytherin table, I caught sight of Sebastian, Ominis sat right next to him.
'I can't go over there, what if he's still mad?' I thought.
I was about to find somewhere else to sit when Sebastian waved me over. Feeling I couldn't brush him off, I signed and sat next to them.
"Aura, how was class?" He asked.
"Good," I said, as I sat there with every muscle in my body tensing.
Sebastian could sense my anxiety, he leaned in and whispered, "don't worry about Ominis. He's cooled down a lot today."
I nodded, but how could I not? I stuffed my plate with food, and ate my roast in silence. Eventually, it was Ominis who broke the silence.
"Aura, my apologies for threatening you last night. I was angry, which I'm sure you could tell," he said.
"It's okay.... I probably would've been angry too."
"So we can both agree that Sebastian is to blame," Ominis said.
"Hey! I said I was sorry," Sebastian said.
I laughed, "it's still your fault."
After that, the air had lifted and the anxiety drifted from my body - just in time for beasts class.

———————

Sebastian showed me to beasts class. It was outdoors under a canopy, beside a cute little hut. Beyond the tables and chairs were pens of magical beasts.
"They're so cute!" I perked up.
"Wait until you see the puffskeins up close, their tongues are nasty," Sebastian said.
I chose a table near the front, and Sebastian complained, but still sat to my right. A Hufflepuff student waltz over and sat down to my left.
She turned to me and smiled. "I'm Poppy Sweeting."
"Aura De Luca," I said.
"Are you excited for the first beasts class of the year?" She asked.
I nodded, "very, I love animals."
"You can tell a lot about a person based on whether they like beasts or not," she said.

I turned to Sebastian, "do you like beasts?"
"Of course I do. Except maybe spiders. I'll happily kill those in a heartbeat," he said.
"Fair enough," I said.
The Professor walked into the classroom and introducers herself as Professor Howin. She gave us a short lecture, then placed a Puffskein on each of the tables. Poppy, Sebastian and I shared one. We were instructed on how to feed and brush them. With the wave of my wand, beast feed floated above its head. Out of its mouth came a long winding tongue.
"Dear lord, that is something," I said.
"Aren't they cute?" Poppy looked at it with big eyes.
"They are, the tongue is a little strange though," I laughed.
As I said that, the Puffskein flicked its tongue, licking my cheek.
I rubbed my cheek and laughed even more.
"I think he likes you!" Poppy said.
After a while, Professor Howin moved the class to the beast pens, where we fed and brushed some more of them. There were Sneasels, Diricrawls and Puffskeins. Poppy told me all about how Diricrawls were actually Dodo birds, an animal thought to be extinct. The lesson was so enjoyable that I had barely realised a whole hour had passed.
"Class is dismissed," Professor Howin said.
Sebastian and I packed up our books, and were ready to head to the common room to study.
That was until I caught Poppy in the corner of my eye. She appeared to be agitated.
"I'll meet you back at the common room," I said.
Sebastian shrugged, "okay."
I walked over to Poppy, and heard her speaking as I approached.
"Her name is Persephone!"
"Her name is Persephone," a Slytherin boy mocked her. Then a Ravenclaw behind him followed suit.
"That's really not funny," I said, straight faced.
He looked me up and down, ready to rip into me, until he caught sight of Professor Howin from afar and scurried off.

"Thank you for saying something. People are so cruel aren't they? These poor beasts can't defend themselves and wizards just take from them," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"I feel so bad for them. The poor things are harmless," I said.
Poppy remained silent. It seemed she was deep in thought.
"There's someone I'd like you to meet in the forest," Poppy perked up.
I hesitated for a moment. Why people kept taking me to obscure locations was beyond me.
"You've intrigued me. Very well, lead the way," I said.
She nodded and off we went. Poppy and I walked for around 5 minutes on a dirt path until we came across a clearing near Hogwarts. She walked into the centre and motioned for me to stand back. I heard the pounding of wings, then a large white eagle-like creature came into view. It landed and approached Poppy, towering over her. It was a Hippogriff.
"Please meet Highwing," Poppy said.
The Hippogriff stared at me, blinking.
I slowly walked forward.
"You must always show Hippogriffs the proper courtesy before approaching them. Bow slowly," she said.
I proceeded forward, and bowed. Highwing continued to stare, blinking at me. I bowed a little longer and finally she did too. I slowly approached and fed her some leftover beast feed I had.

"I knew it, I don't think I've ever seen a Hippogriff take to someone so quickly," Poppy said from behind me.
Once Highwing was satisfied with her snack, she flew off.
"Did you like her?" Poppy asked.
"I loved her! I can't believe you introduced me to her," I said.
"I thought you might," Poppy smiled.
"Are you the reason people have been seeing Hippogriffs flying in and out of the Forbidden Forest?" I asked.
She nodded. "I rescued her from poachers a few years back and we became friends. Speaking of poachers, they're increasing their activity a lot lately. I think I'm going to look into it, would you care to help if I find anything?"
"Of course!" I smiled.
For a second I thought I was taking on too much, but it was worth it to help the beasts. I knew what it was like to be treated poorly just for being small, and that wasn't fair on them.
We said our goodbyes and I went straight to the common room.

I found Sebastian reading by the fire and I collapsed on the couch next to him.
"That was really nice what you did. For Poppy. You're a good friend," he said.
I turned to him.
"Well, that Slytherin student was being a colossal asshole. It was nothing," I said.
I searched the common room to see if he was hanging around, and found him at the opposite end.
"Speak of the devil," I nodded in his direction.
He caught sight of me, and began walking over.
"Shit, he's coming over here," Sebastian said.
"You should mind your own business," he said as he approached.
"Maybe you shouldn't try stealing from beasts like a poacher," I said.
"Like a what now?" He said, attempting to tower over me.
"What else would you call it exactly? Poachers steal," I frowned.
I glanced at his hand, at some point he had withdrawn his wand. He posed, holding it under his chin, as if deep in thought.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you mate," Sebastian said.
"Or what?" He smirked.
Sebastian stood up, and put his book down. "What do you think?"
Luckily, Sebastian was taller than the boy. I had to admit he did look intimidating.
"Come on, think about it. If I recall correctly, Sebastian and I are two of the best duellist in fifth year. We know how this would end," I shrugged.
The smirk on his face withdrew in an instant. He mumbled something then walked off.
Sebastian and I exchanged glances and laughed.
"I really didn't want to say that and sound like a complete wanker," I said.
"Why? It's true. We won all those duelling matches your first and second week," he said.
"Still, I don't like bragging."
"You're too humble, even when people are being assholes," Sebastian said.
Was I too humble? I grew up believing I was never good enough, and the environment didn't exactly teach me my self worth. I had nothing. I barely knew I was a witch as well, instead thinking every strange thing that happened, was a mere coincidence. I needed to get used to the idea of being something more than nothing.