Chapter Text
Miyuki walked into the enchanted expanse of the Great Hall, its ceiling a darkening summer twilight, speckled with the first pinpricks of distant stars.
It felt good to be back.
Coming to Hogwarts this September felt very different. This time, Miyuki had friends. He had travelled on the Hogwarts Express with Kuramochi and Nabe, and instead of crossing the lake by boat as they had in first year, they rode up to the castle in one of the large, horseless carriages.
Reluctantly, Miyuki said a quick goodbye to Nabe, who smiled at him before heading over to join the Ravenclaws. Chris was already sitting there, and his expression brightened at once when he spotted Miyuki over Nabe’s shoulder.
‘I got a broom,’ Miyuki mouthed.
Chris raised his eyebrows, looking faintly amused.
Even though they were all in different houses, Miyuki and Kuramochi usually sat with Nabe at the Ravenclaw table. But this was the Opening Feast, and even Kuramochi wouldn’t risk sitting with another house tonight.
“See ya later!” Kuramochi called cheerfully, before taking a seat beside Asou with the Gryffindors.
Miyuki looked toward the Slytherin table, where silver and green glimmered in the candlelight, and began searching for an acceptable seat. He noticed, with narrowed eyes, that Wakabayashi had already taken his place, and resolved to find a seat as far away from him as possible. Wakabayashi was a sour-faced boy with a bad bowler haircut, who took pleasure in finding out other people's secrets, and trying to humiliate them.
Miyuki hated Wakabayashi.
Fortunately he spotted a space far away from Wakabayashi at the end of the table, and he was just making his way over there, when he heard the voice of another student he disliked.
"Miyuki!"
He groaned, before reluctantly turning his head.
"Miyuki, over here!"
It was Mei.
Miyuki always pictured Mei as a smug, short-haired Barbie; the kind of boy who consistently tried his patience. At the moment, he was sandwiched between his two friends, Shirakawa and Carlos. To Miyuki’s surprise, he had discovered last year that he actually found Carlos rather bearable. Miyuki's dislike for Shirakawa, however, was deep-seated, almost on par with his feelings for Wakabayashi, which was a significant statement in itself.
“What do you want, Mei?” Miyuki asked tiredly, as he approached Mei's chair.
“I want you to sit next to me,” Mei said, batting his powder-blue eyes.
Miyuki almost laughed in incredulity. “No.”
“But you still owe me a favour…”
Miyuki inwardly groaned. ‘Right, Mei’s favour.’ Last year, Mei had revealed a secret to him, a hidden passageway nestled beneath the floor of one of the Slytherin bathrooms. It had been a trade-off, and now Miyuki was in Mei's debt, a favour he had yet to return.
“You want me to sit next to you? That’s what you want for your favour?” Miyuki was incredulous.
“Well not just that.” A sly smile began to form on Mei’s lips. “I want you to serve me. Pour my drink. Cut my food. Play house-elf.”
At the mention of ‘house-elf’ Shirakawa flinched, just slightly. Miyuki frowned. He still wasn’t sure what a house-elf actually was. To him, elves were either cheerful Christmas workers, or the ethereal, God-like figures, portrayed by Orlando Bloom.
He had heard people talk about house-elves before, and he knew his grandmother had one named 'Jumble’. She had instructed him to call upon the elf whenever he required assistance. However, Miyuki had never found himself wanting for anything during his visit, and the idea of issuing commands to another being made him feel… uneasy.
To Mei, Miyuki merely shrugged, and said, “whatever. If you want to waste your favour, then that’s fine by me.”
“Waste? I don’t think this is a waste,” Mei said, stretching out his arms like a cat, and examining his nails. “What do you think I was doing all summer?”
“Talking?” Miyuki said, already bored of Mei's meandering explanation.
“I was reading my book.” Mei clarified.
“I was reading the book.” Shirakawa corrected, with a sigh.
“The point is, we think we’ve found the password to a new passageway. And if you want it…”
“Another favour.” Miyuki sighed, “yeah, yeah.”
“So I feel like I can throw away this one. Treat myself to a little bit of… luxury. Now, come sit next to me, and pour my drink.”
Miyuki sighed, but he did as he was told, slumping in the seat next to Mei. He supposed that in the scheme of things this wasn’t so bad. Still…
Miyuki looked furtively over at the Gryffindor table, he didn’t like the idea of Kuramochi seeing him. He hadn’t told Kuramochi and Nabe about the passageways yet, too concerned over what they might say if they found out he was trading favours with Mei.
Miyuki’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doors opening. The Great Hall fell silent as Professor Rei entered, followed by a nervous huddle of first year students. Miyuki immediately spotted the kid he had met that summer in Quality Quidditch Supplies. Sawamura Eijun, that was his name.
‘Sawamura Eijun…’
Far from nervous, Sawamura had a look of undisguised wonder on his face, and he whispered excitedly to the slight, pink-haired student next to him. Rei lined them up along the front, summoned the hat onto the stool, and stood ready to call their names.
The Sorting Hat's song was much the same as last year's, with the Sorting Hat rhythmically trash-talking the sorting abilities of various other hats (apparently, a beanie's ability to sort students was teeny) before outlining the qualities valued by the founders of each house. The rest of the hall applauded, and then Rei began to call out the names of the first-year students.
The first three students to be sorted were all girls, a Ravenclaw and two Hufflepuffs, respectively, and these were followed by a Gryffindor boy. Then, the first Slytherin was chosen - Furuya Satoru.
Tall with dark hair, cold eyes and an impassive expression, he would have been an imposing figure, Miyuki thought, had he not taken so long to find a seat. Furuya's journey around the Slytherin table was awkward, as he hovered behind several different chairs, before eventually taking a seat at the far end.
"Really?" Mei's voice dripped with disbelief, as he watched Furuya settle down, far removed from the rest of his house. "He's a Slytherin?”
“What do you mean?” Asked Carlos.
“I think Mei's implying that he's slow,” was Shirakawa’s blunt response.
“Did you see how long he took to choose a seat? I’ve seen trolls think faster.” Mei said derisively.
“Yea well…” Miyuki interjected, a sly grin forming on his face, “Slytherin’s not that picky. Just look at Mei.” Carlos burst into laughter and even Shirakawa nearly relinquished a smirk, the corners of his mouth tilting slightly upwards. Mei, however, jabbed Miyuki hard in the ribs.
They watched the next two sortings in silence, a Gryffindor girl, followed by a Hufflepuff boy. But as the next student, Tadahiro Kaneda's name echoed through the Great Hall, Mei finally spoke. "Merlin, this is dull," he grumbled, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially, "Let's play a game."
Intrigued, Shirakawa asked, “What do you have in mind?"
"Let's try and guess the house placement before the Sorting Hat. Winner pockets ten galleons. Five from each of the losers.” Mei proposed with a grin.
Carlos, his enthusiasm barely contained to a whisper, agreed instantly. "Alright! Are you in, Miyuki?"
Miyuki, maintaining his air of aloof disdain, raised an eyebrow. A part of him knew that had Kuramochi or Nabe suggested the game, he would have enjoyed it, but Miyuki stubbornly refused to admit that he could derive any pleasure from a game invented by Mei.
“He wasn’t invited anyway,” Mei said snippily. “And I need a refill.” He held out his cup. Miyuki rolled his eyes, but did as Mei asked. Over at the Gryffindor table, Kuramochi saw him pour, and mimed sticking a finger down his throat.
"So, Kaneda Tadahiro. Any predictions?" Shirakawa queried, extracting a quill and parchment from his pocket.
“Ravenclaw!" Carlos confidently declared, only to be immediately interrupted by the Sorting Hat shouting, “Gryffindor!"
"Wait! Oh, come on... that one doesn't count!" Carlos hurriedly tried to amend his guess.
"Carlos begins with an unfortunate deduction of one point,” Shirakawa announced, scribbling this result under a small 'C' on the score table he had drawn on the parchment.
Carlos’ guessing didn’t improve with the next student. Kanemaru Shinji, a stern-faced blond boy, who was sorted into Hufflepuff instead of the predicted Gryffindor. Mei, having guessed Ravenclaw, also found himself with a point deducted. Shirakawa, however, guessed right, and enjoyed smugly noting down his point onto the parchment.
Rei's voice rang out, calling, "Kominato Haruichi." From the waiting line there emerged a delicate, slender figure, with soft pink hair flowing over their eyes, and even pinker cheeks. Although standing tall with arms unfolded, the student nonetheless looked tense, like a tightly wound spring yearning to return to its natural state.
“She’s cute." Carlos noted, a hint of approval in his voice.
“She’s a boy.” Mei said pointedly, though Carlos just shrugged.
“You know him?” Asked Shirakawa.
"No, but Mr. Kominato, his father, works with my father -" Mei hesitated for a moment, his tone faltering, "at the Ministry."
Miyuki was intrigued. Mei’s tone had changed slightly as soon as he mentioned his father. He waited for him to say more, but unfortunately Carlos began to speak again.
“Kominato? I recognise that name. His brother is on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, right?”
“Yes.” Said Shirakawa.
Carlos crossed his arms confidently, “then I’m guessing he’ll be a Ravenclaw.”
Finally Carlos was proven correct, and he pumped both his fists in celebration. “Write that down.” He directed emphatically to Shirakawa.
Shirakawa gave a slight nod, saying as he amended Carlos’ score, “Well done Carlos. You’re now back on negative-one points.”
After Haruichi, came an actual girl, who was under the hat for nearly two minutes before she was also placed into Ravenclaw. Then came Mishima Yuuta, a boy with thick lips and unusually long eyelashes.
“Hufflepuff.” Shirakawa and Mei said at almost the same time, and the hat barely touched his head, before immediately proving them correct.
Carlos, who had been so carefully deliberating he hadn’t yet taken a guess, swore quietly under his breath.
The next student Rei called upon was a striking looking boy named Mukai Taiyo. He had jet-black hair which was meticulously combed, and a sharply pointed nose, which he angled upwards, almost defiantly, as he approached the hat. His skin was shockingly pale, like frost under moonlight, and his body was thin and angular. Miyuki thought Mukai looked sharp and brittle, like a shard of glass.
Upon closer inspection, Miyuki noticed something else peculiar. Beneath his school clothes, there was a third layer of clothing, thick and black, visible beneath his white shirt. It struck Miyuki as odd, especially considering the Great Hall wasn't cold, at least, not during this time of year. But then again, he reasoned, maybe this kid felt the cold more than others, being as thin as he was.
“Definitely a Slytherin,” said Carlos, interrupting Miyuki from his thoughts.
“Unfortunately.” Added Mei, pursing his lips as if he had been sucking on a lemon.
“You know him?” Miyuki asked, looking curiously up at the boy.
“Everybody knows the Mukai family.” At Miyuki’s blank look, he continued with a sigh, “they’re an old family. Used to be very wealthy. They own the land that Azkaban is built upon.”
At Miyuki’s look of confusion, Carlos clarified, “That’s the wizard prison.”
Mei continued, "Of course, it’s become more controversial to send people to Azkaban in recent years. Only the really bad criminals are sent there now, so the family’s fortunes, well…”
Miyuki wondered what made Azkaban prison so controversial, and he resolved to ask Nabe about it later.
Contrary to Carlos’ confident guess, Mukai was under that hat for a very long period of time. Almost five minutes must have passed, and still the hat did not call out the name of a house.
“Unbelievable. He’s a hat stall.” Mei said, in disbelief.
“You know,” Carlos said suddenly, turning to look at Shirakawa, “you were under there for quite a long time.”
“The hat wanted to congratulate me on actually having something worthwhile in my head.” Shirakawa replied, mildly, “and it wasn’t that long. Nowhere near as long as this.” Miyuki remembered. Shirakawa had taken the longest to be sorted out of their year-group, but he was right, it hadn’t been anywhere near as long as this.
In total, Mukai was under the hat for nearly six minutes, before it finally called out, and Miyuki almost thought the hat sounded a little defeated, “Slytherin.” The Slytherin table cheered, and Carlos leant over Shirakawa to make sure he added his correct guess to the total points. As Mukai walked over to the Slytherin table, he looked their way, but Mei deliberately avoided eye contact. A few seats up, Wakabayashi pulled out a seat for him, and Mukai looked relieved in response.
If they were going to be friends, Miyuki thought, then he could understand Mei’s dislike.
His scrutiny of Mukai was interrupted by the announcement of the next pupil.
“Nishino Risa.”
A pretty dark-haired girl, whose clothes looked almost as finely-made as Mei’s always did, moved confidently forward to seat herself on the stool.
“Slytherin.” The three placed their bets in unison.
They each gained a point, and Risa strolled to the Slytherin table, casting a cool glance along its length before taking a seat.
"Her family's been in Slytherin for generations," Mei said with a self-satisfied grin.
Beside him, Carlos nodded absently as he watched her sit down, and Miyuki smirked, noticing he’d forgotten to check his points total this time.
“Sawamura Eijun.”
This name brought Miyuki’s attention immediately back to the sorting. How could he forget the name of that loud kid from the shop who mistook him for a first year? Miyuki grinned at the memory and he looked up.
Sawamura's face bore the gentle marks of a summer spent in the sun, a soft tan sprinkled lightly with freckles, all framed by unruly, tousled dark brown hair. In the luminous glow of the Great Hall, Sawamura's eyes were amber in hue, and shone like molten gold.
Then Miyuki noticed something else, and had to stifle a laugh. Sawamura’s cloak was inside out.
In fact, for a boy whose clothes were clearly brand-new and carefully ironed, he looked distinctly dishevelled. Miyuki guessed that Sawamura’s mother had readied him impeccably for the train, all set to start at his new school, only for the excitement of changing into his brand-new uniform to undo all her efforts.
“Gryffindor.” Miyuki said, absentmindedly.
“Oh? I thought you weren’t playing.” Mei said with a smirk.
“I’m not. But it’s obvious. Just look at him.” He gestured to Sawamura, whose eyebrows were knitted together in a look of deep concentration. “He’s an idiot.”
Mei laughed.
Sawamura sat bolt upright on the stool and had a look of intense determination on his face as the hat was lowered onto his head. Too big for him, it dropped down to rest on the bridge of his nose. Although his eyes were covered, his mouth was still visible, and to Miyuki’s surprise it began to move, as Sawamura greeted the hat with a cheery, "Hello!"
Sawamura was talking to the hat. He was talking to the hat…out loud.
For a moment, the entire hall froze, as if they were all taking a deep breath. Up at the front, Rei closed her eyes with a pained expression. Unaware of all this however, Sawamura continued talking.
"Really?" Followed by, "but they can't hear me, right?” And then, “no...because of the magic.” A pause before, finally, “what!?”
Then, with a sudden realisation, Sawamura covered his mouth with his hands, causing the Great Hall to explode into laughter.
The burst of sound almost drowned out the hat, but as the laughter died down, the hat’s decision could be clearly heard, “Gryffindor!”
The Gryffindors cheered extra loudly, whistling and stamping their feet, a few even standing up to applaud. Miyuki watched as Sawamura walked brazenly towards the cheering table, looking with amusement over at Kuramochi, who put his head in his hands, as his new housemate sat down beside him. Miyuki laughed.
Not many pupils remained to be sorted. The next pupil again gained a point each for Mei, Carlos and Shirakawa, as Shiraishi Aya, a redheaded girl with a scowling face, was sorted into Slytherin. The other new Slytherin girl, Risa, gave a little cheer, beckoning her to the seat next to her own.
As the next few pupils were sorted, Shirakawa gained three points, while both Mei and Carlos earned two each. With limited opportunities left to catch up, Mei and Carlos groaned in frustration. Even though they had correctly predicted that Tadano Itsuki, a shy boy with mousy hair, would join Hufflepuff, so had Shirakawa, keeping him in the lead.
“Todoroki Raichi.” Professor Todoroki had mentioned he had a son, so Miyuki watched this boy with interest.
“Slytherin? I know Professor Todoroki was on the Slytherin Quidditch team.” Mei speculated.
“Oh?” Miyuki asked, interested. The scruffy Professor had never mentioned anything like that to him, and he was hardly shy.
“Haven’t you been to the trophy room? His name is engraved on several of the old Quidditch cups.”
Miyuki hadn’t known Hogwarts even had a trophy room.
Mei must have guessed this by his confused expression, because he added, “maybe you should take a look. After all, we need to visualise where we're going to put all the trophies we'll be winning.”
Mei grinned, and Miyuki struggled not to grin back at him. Mei might be annoying, but they both wanted to be on the Slytherin team this year, and they were going to win.
Their conversation was punctured by a deep bellow from the teachers' table, where Professor Todoroki was seated. "Raichi! What are you doing? Get up there!" he commanded, his voice echoing through the hall.
A nervous shuffling followed amongst the few remaining first years, their eyes darting from side to side, yet no one walked forward to answer Professor Todoroki’s call.
"Raichi," Rei offered more gently, her eyes finding a tiny figure nestled at the rear of the group. The boy's dark, spiky hair was the only thing visible, as he kept his gaze stubbornly pinned to the cold stone floor.
At last, he commenced a tentative journey towards the Sorting Hat, refusing to lift his head even an inch from its downward angle. Miyuki watched in disbelief, wondering how this timid boy could be Professor Todoroki’s son.
“Not Slytherin, then.” Shirakawa snorted, his narrowed eyes following Raichi's slow approach with clear disdain.
“Oh I don’t know, considering the quality of the newbies this year, he might fit right in.” Mei drawled, shooting a nasty glance up the table towards Mukai and Furuya.
“I think he’ll be Hufflepuff.” Carlos announced, either ignoring, or choosing to ignore, the mean-spirited conversation happening next to him.
The hat rested on Raichi's head for a mere half-minute, before it made its declaration in a clear, decisive voice: “Hufflepuff!"
Raichi made his way to the table with his cheeks still flushed, the embarrassment not waning. Miyuki watched, as Sanada kindly gestured to an empty seat next to him, situating the new boy between himself and Mishima, another Hufflepuff first-year.
As Miyuki looked at the Hufflepuff table, he noticed Umemiya sitting beside Nao a few seats up from Sanada. Umemiya had seemed much happier over the second half of the previous year, but he was frowning now, the old scowl back on his face, and Nao looked tense. Miyuki wondered what was happening there, but looked away when Umemiya caught his eye and his scowl deepened. Back at the front of the hall, a sandy-haired boy named Toujou Hideaki was quickly sorted into Ravenclaw, followed by another Hufflepuff girl, and then a Gryffindor boy. Then finally, the last student was called. Yoshikawa Haruno was a short red-haired girl, who nearly tripped on her way up to the hat, Mei quickly guessed Hufflepuff, but after a minute she was sorted into Gryffindor.
While Professor Rei removed the hat and stool, Shirakawa quickly added up the points and then pocketed five galleons each from Mei and Carlos with a satisfied smirk, having demolished them both with his total score.
Now that everyone was seated, Headmaster Sakaki started his speech. It echoed the same sentiments as last year: 'friendship is great’, 'learning is key’, and 'each one of you is special,’ Miyuki mentally translated with a wry smile. He then warned the school once again about the Forbidden Forest. During this part of the speech, Kuramochi twisted around to throw him a grinning, eyebrow-raised look, and Miyuki had to bite back a laugh.
Finally, the headmaster spoke about Quidditch. He outlined the unique training schedule for the first years, and gave them a ‘heads up’ about the looming graduation of their current commentator. He then went on to detail the upcoming games. A shiver of anticipation surged through Miyuki. At last, the opportunity to be more than a spectator might be on the horizon. He could barely contain his excitement.
The feast was as delicious as ever, though Miyuki hardly had a chance to savour it. Mei, playing his role of the privileged master perfectly, seized every opportunity to make use of his ‘favour’.
"Miyuki, segment my bread roll," Mei instructed, evidently relishing his temporary control. Miyuki, grumbling under his breath, complied, meticulously cutting the roll into segments. Mei, inspecting his newly dissected roll, nodded approvingly. "Now, butter it," he ordered without missing a beat.
"Miyuki, dice my potatoes,” Mei commanded next, leaning back with a smug grin. Miyuki bit back a retort, choosing instead to focus his frustration on the potatoes, and slicing them into cubes with an almost violent force.
"My hands are tired, Miyuki, spoon-feed me dessert." Mei demanded next. With a gritted smile, Miyuki gathered a generous spoonful of trifle, thrusting it at Mei with more force than necessary.
"Hey! Not so fast!" Mei spluttered. When Miyuki conveniently 'failed to hear' his directive and misaimed, landing a glob of clotted cream in his hair instead of his mouth, Mei snatched back his spoon.
Miyuki bit back a laugh, his features a picture of pure innocence, as if the entire spectacle had been a simple blunder. "Any other requests?" He asked, a sly grin spreading across his face.
Recognizing Miyuki's rapidly dwindling tolerance, Mei finally backed down. "No, I think that's sufficient," he responded loftily, “you are dismissed.”
Miyuki pushed his chair out, and got up from the table immediately, intending to go straight to the common room. He was hoping Nabe hadn’t seen anything, and maybe if he was quick enough, Kuramochi wouldn’t have time to ask him about Mei, and might have forgotten about it by tomorrow.
He was not so lucky.
Just as he was sneaking out the door, Kuramochi grabbed him, “what the hell? Why were you feeding Mei.”
Miyuki grimaced, “I owed him a favour. This is what he wanted.”
“Why the fuck do you owe Mei a favour?”
“Not here.” Miyuki said quickly, looking around. “But I will tell you. As soon as I can, I promise.”
Kuramochi grumbled that Miyuki’d had all of summer to tell him, but thankfully, he let it drop.
They looked around for Nabe, and were surprised to see him talking earnestly to Professor Rei near the teacher’s table. Nabe was not speaking long, and a few minutes later, he caught sight of his friends watching, and hurried over to join them.
“What was that all about?” Kuramochi asked with his usual bluntness.
Nabe went scarlet, “I wanted to ask about options for next year. We have electives to choose from and it’s never too early to start thinking about them."
Miyuki didn’t believe him, and was about to say so, but Kuramochi spoke first, scoffing, “honestly, Nabe what’s wrong with you? It’s the first day back!”
Nabe laughed nervously, before quickly changing the subject. “By the way Miyuki, why were you feeding Mei pudding?”
Kuramochi barked a laugh and Miyuki groaned.
The first few weeks back at school passed fairly uneventfully.
History of Magic remained as boring as ever, and the opening weeks of Defence Against the Dark Arts were spent revisiting the lessons from the previous year. Professor Kunitomo explained it was important to ‘consolidate the fundamentals’ before delving into more advanced spells.
Potions was pretty much the same as last year, and Miyuki got a kick out of Nabe using his new potato-masher to crush leaping toadstools for their laughing potions.
Herbology was disappointing. Miyuki had hoped they'd get to grow some really dangerous plants now they were second years, but instead, they were to spend the first few weeks planting and tending Asphodel plants.
Despite its reputation as the "plant of the dead," Professor Oota explained that Asphodel was actually an important ingredient in many antidotes and healing potions. Also, when chewed, it worked as an immediate antidote to snake venom. Each student had their own plant to take care of, and if this was done correctly, the Asphodel plants would be ready to harvest at Halloween.
Transfiguration, which was always hard, just got harder. Professor Rei was now teaching them to transfigure living creatures. This task was much more difficult than working with inanimate objects; as now they had to consider movement, bones and organs. They began with the straightforward assignment of changing snails into yo-yos, and had more recently advanced to turning ladybirds into dominos.
At the end of the lesson, Miyuki’s dominos could still fly, and out of the entire class only Wakabayashi had succeeded. He gained ten house points, and sat smugly before an entire row of dominos, which he tapped, dramatically collapsing the chain, as the lesson ended.
Umemiya's remedial Transfiguration lessons, which were supposed to prepare him for the second year, did not appear to be having much impact. He didn't even attempt to participate, and lost five points for Hufflepuff by burying his head in his arms. The ladybird was perched happily on top of his head, but next to him, Nao wore a look of quiet concern.
The class Miyuki was enjoying the most at present was Astronomy. As Headmaster Sakaki taught the entire year group together for this lesson, he was able to chat companionably with Nabe and Kuramochi. They were currently plotting the positions of Jupiter’s many moons on their star charts, and Kuramochi was again complaining about the new Gryffindor first year, Sawamura.
This had been a regular conversation topic recently, as Sawamura seemed to have inexplicably taken a shine to Kuramochi. In what was becoming a familiar pattern, Kuramochi grumbled about not being able to get rid of Sawamura, and Miyuki relished teasing him about it.
“Are you going to stop sitting with us at dinner, now you’ve got a new best friend?”
Kuramochi responded by jabbing Miyuki hard, and then groaning, “He won’t leave me alone.”
“Well he is a first year, and a Muggle-born. He’s probably really shy.” Nabe offered kindly.
Kuramochi snorted in disbelief, “Sawamura is anything but shy. The other day he saw Jun and Tetsu practising with their bats, and challenged them to a game of baseball.”
“Maybe he thinks you're a first year too, Kuramochi, after all, your intellectual ability is - ow!” Kuramochi had jabbed Miyuki again.
Nabe laughed, as Kuramochi took it upon himself to remind Miyuki just who had been mistaken for a first year, that summer, in Diagon Alley.
The next morning, they had Charms.
Professor Tahara had informed the second years that the Charms curriculum would now become more structured, as their knowledge and understanding moved beyond the basics. Lessons would no longer be ‘one-offs’ where they were learning individual spells. Instead, they would now be covering 'units' or ‘topics’ of related work, and to begin with, the focus would be on memory charms.
The first few lessons had involved learning how to cast a couple of simple recall spells. 'Specnosia Recallum' was a spell to help you remember where you’d left your glasses. The charm was highly popular amongst older witches and wizards, and Miyuki had personally found it quite useful. Then there was 'Memoria Pecuniae,' a spell for locating lost money, and 'Socculus Pairificus,' a spell that cleverly found the missing sock of a pair.
In addition to memory charms, they were also studying associated magical objects. The first one they learnt about was called a Remembrall. This was a clear ball that turned scarlet if the holder had forgotten something. It was a useless item in Miyuki’s opinion - what was the point of knowing you’d forgotten something, if you didn’t even know what that something was?
Today, they were learning about a magical artefact known as a Pensieve, and the Professor had one on his desk for the class to examine. It looked like an old stone basin, and was roughly the size of a shallow common cauldron. Yet, it was immediately obvious that this was a powerful magical object, as it was set with precious stones about the base, and was heavily engraved with runes around the rim.
Inside the Pensieve, was a substance which appeared to be swirls of cloud made liquid, silvery and shimmering like moonlight captured in a clear pond. The surface of this liquidised vapour emanated a bright, cold, phosphorescent glow, and Professor Tahara told them to avoid touching it for the moment. Instead, he first drew the pupils’ attention to the precisely carved runes.
The bowl, he told them, was merely a receptacle, it was the magically empowered runes which gave it function. The precious stones stored ambient magic, and used that magic to power the runes, activating the Pensieve.
‘So the stones act like batteries,’ Miyuki thought to himself.
As Miyuki looked at the Pensieve, he recalled the runes and stones on the box which contained his cards, and he wondered if the box worked in a similar way.
“This item has the most dangerous potential of any that we have studied so far.”
Miyuki frowned at this statement. Ancient runes aside, the Pensieve didn’t look particularly dangerous. It looked like a big stone fruit bowl.
“The Pensieve is a tool used for storing memories.”
Demonstrating, Professor Tahara brought his wand up to his temple, and slowly drew it away, extracting what looked like a long, wispy silver thread. He then deposited the pearly strand into the waiting stone basin, before continuing to speak.
“Once a memory has been stored inside the Pensieve, it takes physical form.” He gestured to the silvery substance. “It can then be viewed by the person it belongs to or by somebody else, usually by lowering their face directly into it.”
Professor Tahara slipped his fingers through the surface, stirring the contents.
“The user can then experience the memory, though of course they cannot interact with, or change it. The Pensieve is useful because it allows witches and wizards to store, revisit, and review significant moments or essential information. Every detail of the memory is faithfully recorded and reproduced, even details which are later forgotten.”
This information caught Miyuki’s interest immediately. Wizards and witches could re-live memories? The thought lodged itself in his consciousness as abruptly as a knife in the chest. Could he use the Pensieve to see his mother? If he put his memories inside, would he be able to be with her again?
Oblivious to Miyuki’s inward turmoil, Professor Tahara continued. “Due to the intensely personal and private nature of these enchanted devices, they are usually buried with their owners in the same manner as wands, unless the deceased requests otherwise. However, this is the Hogwarts Pensieve, which Headmaster Sakaki has kindly lent to me for your lesson. It belongs to the school rather than to any one individual, and holds memories passed down by generations of headmasters and headmistresses. A living record of their time at Hogwarts.” The professor went on to give examples of such memories and their usefulness, and explained that this particular Pensieve was an artefact of immense antiquity and power, which pre-dated the creation of the school. He then gave them more general information, about less prestigious, individually-owned versions.
“Pensieves in Britain are subject to strict regulation by the Ministry, as they require careful monitoring and registration to prevent misuse or misappropriation. The Ministry maintains a comprehensive list of all known Pensieves. However, it is believed that some old families possess undocumented devices.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Miyuki saw Mei smirk at Carlos and Shirakawa.
Professor Tahara continued, “Now it may surprise you to know that memories cannot be used in court. Does anyone know why?”
Shunshin raised his hand, “Memories can contain bias - they are subjective, so we often see or re-interpret events how we wish to have seen them. There are also those who are gifted at modifying the memories of others, as well as their own. “
Professor Tahara smiled, “very good. Five points to Ravenclaw.” He then added, “memories must be given up freely. It is not possible to forcibly take a memory from someone else's head. In the past, when Pensieve use was legal within court, rather -” at this moment Professor Tahara looked distinctly uncomfortable, “extreme methods were sometimes used to enable ‘voluntary’ extraction, even on people whose guilt was in doubt. A terrible invasion.”
“That’s all well and good.” Mei spoke up, without raising his hand. “But why are Pensieves so heavily regulated when they’re only for personal use? I don’t think it’s any of the Ministry's business what people do with their own memories.”
“Wizards and witches have wasted their lives rewatching old memories, Mei.” Mei looked doubtful, but Miyuki understood. If he could live in a time where his mother was still alive…he’d do anything for that.
To the left of him, Mei continued, to argue, “As far as I’m concerned, most people already waste their lives. A Pensieve would simply expedite the process.”
"Do not be foolish, Mei," Professor Tahara warned, his voice soft but firm, “In the past, there have been rumours about disappearances, and many other tragedies associated with the misuse of powerful artefacts such as this. Memories are powerful. One could lose the future by attempting to live in the past.”
This finally shut Mei up, and the professor was able to move on with the lesson, asking the students to line up ready to experience firsthand the power of the Pensieve.
The second years had been waiting for the first Quidditch practice all week. This year they were allowed to bring their own brooms, and as they gathered after dinner outside the supply cabin, waiting for Professor Kataoka, nobody talked about much else.
Miyuki drew immediate attention with his Crooked Arrow. It was famous for its incredibly tight turns and manoeuvres, but even more famous for being an extremely dangerous ride.
Kuramochi clutched his own broom, asking, "Are you sure you can even stay on that thing?"
"Yes, Kuramochi," Miyuki retorted with a smirk, "I’m not you."
Kuramochi’s face darkened into a scowl. In a huff, he struck Miyuki across the ankles with his broom handle. His broom, the Blitz Drache—also known as the Flash Dragon—was made in Germany from Black Forest timber. The handle was a rich inky black, and the twigs were honed to a fine point at the end. Kuramochi often boasted about its lightning speed, and smooth turning capability, which Miyuki frequently reminded him he desperately needed to make use of.
"Not bad," Carlos remarked, appraising Kuramochi’s broom. "I considered the Blitz Drache... but I sacrificed some control for maximum speed." Proudly, he held out his Firebolt X. "This is the fastest broom in the world." Its handle glinted with a deep mahogany sheen.
Miyuki's gaze travelled through the lineup of potential players.
Next to Carlos, Shirakawa's broom caught his eye. The Tempest, with its sleet-grey handle shaped like a lightning bolt, was a thing of beauty. As was Sanada's Meteor, which had the allure of a sleek Italian sports car. But Miyuki nearly burst into laughter when he reached Mei’s broom.
"Mei, is that a broom or a makeup brush?" Miyuki teased, pointing at Mei’s white broom, which had a shiny handle with a slight curve and pale grey, almost silver, twigs.
"Both create works of art," Mei retorted, caressing his broom's handle with the kind of exaggerated affection usually reserved for supervillains and their cats. "‘La Foudre en Bouteille’—it means ‘Bottled Lightning'."
"Are you really comparing broom sizes?" Umemoto, the only girl in the group, asked with an eye roll.
"Jealous you can’t join in?" Mei teased, sticking out his tongue. Umemoto rolled her eyes again.
"I don't know, Mei, hers looks bigger than yours," Kuramochi remarked, gesturing to Umemoto’s honey-coloured broom.
Miyuki glanced at the emblem on Umemoto’s handle. An old Comet series. A solid choice, though not especially interesting. His attention moved on to Wakabayashi, leaning against the supply cabin with one hand on the Widowmaker.
Now that was a broom. Crafted from trees inhabited by Australia’s wrap-around spiders, its bristles were still threaded with the pale remnants of old web. Miyuki had almost ordered one over the summer, and of all his classmates’ brooms, it was easily his favourite.
A year ago, Wakabayashi would have been showing it off to Mei by now. But since Mukai, the new Slytherin first year, had arrived, he was no longer quite so desperate for Mei’s approval. Miyuki couldn’t imagine what sort of person chose Wakabayashi for a friend, and did not much like the thought of finding out.
At that moment, Professor Kataoka arrived, interrupting the second years’ broomstick discussions, which were happening right across the pack of them gathered there.
“Hmmm...” Kataoka surveyed them. “Is this everyone?”
When there was no answer, he scanned the group again, before turning directly to the Hufflepuffs, and asking Sanada, “Where is Umemiya?”
Miyuki hadn’t actually noticed until now, so caught up in the excitement of being at their first proper Quidditch practice, but Umemiya wasn’t here. He had been maybe the most dedicated to practise last year, even running outside of their scheduled sessions, so for him not to be here now was...well...strange.
Sanada looked deeply awkward, “He’s not… he didn’t want to come.”
Kataoka’s mouth thinned, and Sanada shrank back a little, but all he said was, “Very well then. The rest of us will begin.”
The professor was clearly displeased by Umemiya’s absence, and murmured comments ran through the group. Miyuki wondered what the problem was, but had no time to speculate with Kuramochi, as Kataoka cut off the muttering, raising a hand for silence.
"Before we launch into our Quidditch practice," he began, "there are a few crucial details I need to share with you. You may have heard rumours, but I will clarify. For the present, I am the one selecting the teams. As at this moment, none of the teams have an official captain.”
Miyuki had been curious about this for some time. He knew that Kataoka had selected the Slytherin team for all of the previous year, and had never heard of them having a captain.
Holding up a white armband, Professor Kataoka explained, “If you see someone wearing this, they are the temporary captain of your house, and will lead the team during training sessions and matches. While I shall consult with them about team selection, the final say remains mine.”
Mei's hand shot up. “What about official captains?”
Miyuki smirked at the determined look on Mei’s face. 'Captain Mei... in your dreams,' he thought.
In response, Professor Kataoka drew a golden armband from his pocket. Emblazoned across it in scarlet was the maned head of a lion. “When I finalise a captain, they will wear an armband in their house colours. This one was worn by last year's Gryffindor captain, Harada Masatoshi. An official captain will remain permanently in their role, unless they graduate or resign.”
‘Who would actually resign?’ Miyuki wondered disdainfully.
“The official captain, in contrast to the temporary one, has the final say in team selections,” Kataoka added. “They meet with me weekly, and with the other house captains, monthly.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Miyuki glanced at his fellow Slytherin second years. He tried to imagine which would be harder, leading someone like Mei or Wakabayashi, or being led by them.
“All prospective players train with me twice a week,” Kataoka continued. “However, managing house practices falls to the current house captain, and there must be at least one full house practice weekly. This will include those who haven't yet made the current team.”
Inwardly Miyuki groaned. Who would want to practise with players that couldn’t even make the team?
Kataoka went on. “Additional practices with only the active team, should be arranged outside of this. I will occasionally drop by to see how things are progressing.”
Kataoka then paused, surveying each player. “Understood?”
They all nodded in agreement.
“Good. Today, I will introduce you to the true Quidditch practices. These are for all houses and year-groups, except the first years, who attend special practices.” He grinned, and the second years all chuckled nastily. The first years' training consisted of mainly one thing. Running. “Today however, for just this first session, only you, the second years, are present. This is to introduce you to my Gameboard, and answer any questions you might have.”
No one had any questions, as it all seemed pretty straightforward, and what they really wanted was to get on with actual training. Nodding in satisfaction, Kataoka gestured to a number of bags which were laid out along the outside wall of the supply cabin.
“Can everyone please grab the numbered bags, and follow me.”
Kuramochi reached for a sack beside him, which lacked a number and was labelled ‘first years.’
“I said the numbered bags, Kuramochi. That bag is not for this session, as those Quaffles are reserved for the first years' flying lesson.”
“Quaffles!” Kuramochi exclaimed, “We didn’t use actual balls in flying lessons until spring! And even then, it was just tennis balls...”
He fell silent under Kataoka's stern gaze.
“After some of you struggled to obey instructions last year,” Kataoka said firmly, casting a pointed look at Kuramochi. Miyuki tried to subtly edge out of his sightline. “I decided to have some of the current first years play a game of catch on their brooms. This should make them less likely to endanger each other by racing.”
Eager to get to practice, the second years hurried to grab the bags he indicated, and Professor Kataoka led the way towards the Quidditch Stadium.
Arriving at the Stadium, and awkwardly lugging both their broomsticks and the bags, Miyuki and Kuramochi saw that the Gameboard was already in position. The hundred squares stretched across the pitch before them, a vivid patchwork blanket in the late afternoon sun. They looked eagerly at Kataoka’s prize possession, and saw that each brightly coloured square bore both a number and a moving image, just as they remembered from their detention in the first year.
The two boys shared an excited look.
They skirted the edge of the Gameboard to where Professor Kataoka was sorting the bags into numbered rows.
“Leave them here,” Kataoka instructed. “Then check the blackboard for your assigned task.”
He gestured to a large blackboard on an easel, with Assignments written across the top.
Kuramochi and Miyuki did as asked. As Miyuki set down the two bags he had carried, he noticed their numbers: sixty-four and seventy-nine. The rest were arranged lowest to highest, with gaps where some were missing.
After a moment, he realised that the bag numbers must match the ones on the Gameboard.
Kuramochi dumped his own bags into the pile and jerked his head towards the blackboard. “C’mon, let’s see what we’ve got.”
Miyuki followed. The second years were listed alphabetically, each with a number beside their name.
He found himself almost immediately.
Miyuki Kazuya — Square forty-three — Bag required
Okay, that was clear enough. He glanced at Kuramochi. “What’ve you got?”
“Forty-three, and I need a bag.”
“Me too, we’ve got the same one!”
They grinned at each other, before returning to the row of bags.
“Here it is,” Kuramochi called out, as he quickly picked up the bag with the same number as their square, and slung it over his shoulder, “I carried this one.”
“Hey, Kuramochi, are you in forty-three too?”
The question came from Umemoto, a loud Gryffindor girl who wore her hair in bunches. She was walking towards them with Carlos, broomstick in hand.
Sure enough, Kuramochi smiled at her. “Yeah.”
“Us too,” she said, smiling back. “Carlos and I already worked out that we were looking for the same bag.”
She flashed Carlos a grin. Carlos nodded and winked, making her blush.
“Miyuki, right?” Umemoto added, looking back towards him, “I’ve seen you in class, but I don’t think we’ve talked before.”
“Hi,” Miyuki answered briefly, nodding to her, “shall we get going, I want to see what this Gameboard’s all about.”
“Damn straight!” Kuramochi said eagerly, already turning to go, and the four walked towards square forty-three together, broomsticks in their hands.
Square forty-three was bright orange and the small image on it showed four tiny figures on brooms. Two of them were passing a ball, and heading towards a hoop, while the others tried to intercept. Miyuki watched for a moment, feeling a bit disappointed. That seemed less exciting than he’d expected. Then he looked closer, and noticed that something was happening to the ball. The others had evidently spotted the same thing, and all four trainees stared at it. It was starting to flash. As the seconds passed, the flashing increased, then the ball suddenly burst apart. The figure which had been holding it, was flung violently off its broom, and disappeared out of sight, past the edge of the square.
“Ok-aa-y,” Umemoto said slowly, her eyes wide, “did that ball just explode?”
“Looks like it,” Kuramochi laughed, grinning, “I guess you don’t want to be the one holding it when that happens.” He shot Miyuki a challenging look. “Luckily that won’t be me. Get ready for pain, Miyuki.”
Miyuki smirked at him, “You’re not that lucky, Kuramochi.” He turned to Carlos, “Slytherin versus Gryffindor?” He asked, raising his eyebrows inquiringly.
“Sure,” Carlos agreed, casting an appraising glance over the Gryffindors and smiling slightly.
“C’mon Umemoto, we’re gonna win this.” Kuramochi declared, walking onto the square.
Umemoto gave the two Slytherins an assessing glance, before following him.
“You’re fast and I can intercept and turn tightly, we can use those things,” Miyuki said to Carlos in a rapid undertone. “I’ll concentrate on intercepting and passing to you, and you can use your speed to avoid them and score.” He gave Carlos an evil grin. “We’re going to destroy them.”
Carlos nodded his agreement, his eyes gleaming. “Let’s do it.”
Miyuki and Carlos followed the other two, and once all four of the second years were standing on the square, it shimmered brightly. Then they were suddenly somewhere else.
Kuramochi let out an immediate appreciative whistle, and for a moment all four stood looking about themselves, amazed that this could be contained within just one square of the Gameboard. The space was a large rectangular room, about the size of a football pitch, and carpeted in deep, springy grass.
“It’s huge,” Umemoto said, looking around enthusiastically, “and this is only one training zone. Quidditch practice this year is going to be awesome.”
“Very cool,” Carlos agreed, as he too surveyed their surroundings, “and it seems to already know our teams,” he added, pointing.
Miyuki looked where he indicated and saw that there was a Quidditch hoop at each end of the pitch, one green and one red. He also noticed that there was a mysterious hole, a little bigger than a Quaffle in the centre of the ceiling.
At one side of the room, near where they were standing, was a short, curved metal chute which disappeared into the wall. It looked vaguely familiar, and Miyuki realised that it was similar to the ball return chutes at a bowling alley. Above the chute was a scoreboard, which currently showed 0 - 0. All four leant their brooms against the wall as they looked around.
Kuramochi slung the bag down next to the chute and unzipped it. “There’s four balls in here,” he observed, upending the bag and tipping out four red balls which looked like Quaffles, onto the cushioning, thick grass. “I guess they go in here,” he added, starting to load them into the chute. They fitted perfectly and as the first ball immediately disappeared into the wall, the next lined up ready to follow, so he seemed to be correct.
A piece of parchment had also fluttered out of the bag, and Umemoto lifted it as Kuramochi dealt with the balls, reading it aloud to the others. “The team with the most goals scored after twenty balls wins. Scoring and ball replacement will be automatic once you’re on your brooms. Say the words ‘Bombs away’ to activate the balls.” As she said this passphrase aloud, all the balls gave a sudden ‘click’.
The four pupils looked at them warily, “that sounded ominous,” Umemoto commented.
Kuramochi picked the last one up and inspected it. “Seems like a normal Quaffle to me,” he said, sounding disappointed and tossing it to Umemoto, who squawked but still caught it.
“Don’t just throw it at me!” She exclaimed, glaring at him. “We already know they explode!”
Kuramochi shrugged, and when nothing further happened, Umemoto looked at the ball in her hands tentatively. “But, you’re right, it doesn’t seem any different from normal.”
Squatting next to Kuramochi, Carlos and Miyuki scrutinised the other two in the chute, but no one could see anything out of the ordinary.
“I guess we’ll just have to try it out,” Miyuki said finally.
Carlos looked thoughtfully up at the hole in the ceiling. “Maybe they drop from up there?”
The other three looked up, realising this seemed likely. “Okay then,” Miyuki said. “It looks like a ball will drop from that hole, then both teams try to get it and score...before it explodes. Ready to get started?” Both other boys nodded and he turned towards Umemoto, “Ready Umemoto?”
“Umm, no?!”
In Umemoto’s hands, the ball had started to flash slowly, blinking between red and black.
Thinking quickly, Umemoto threw the ball to one side, but a second later, it reappeared, back in her hands and flashing a little faster. She tried again with the same result. “I can’t throw it away!” She stated, “it just comes back, and it’s speeding up. Passing it to someone else must have started it off, so one of you can have a go.”
She threw the ball at Carlos, who caught it reflexively, then quickly threw it to Kuramochi.
“Oi,” Kuramochi said, “I don’t want to be stuck with it when it goes off.” He eyed the ball which was now flashing very fast, “your turn, Miyuki,” he declared, throwing it at him with a vindictive grin.
Miyuki stood with folded arms, making no attempt to catch the Quaffle. “If I don’t catch it, it will just go back to you.” He smirked, smugly stepping aside.
BANG!
The ball exploded just as it reached Miyuki, blowing him off his feet to roll across the deep grass. He wasn’t hurt, as there was no heat, and only enough concussive force to send him sprawling, but he was very shocked.
As Miyuki got shakily to his feet, Kuramochi exploded into loud, cackling laughter, and Carlos and Umemoto both chuckled at the stunned look on Miyuki’s face as he rose.
“You okay?” Carlos asked, between snorts of laughter.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Miyuki responded abruptly, straightening his glasses, “but it looks like you can’t just dodge a catch.”
“So, we can’t toss it away, and we can’t dodge a catch, even if it’s about to explode.” Carlos summarised.
This had a sobering effect, and all four turned to look warily at the chute where three balls now waited. So, the exploded ball had reappeared in the queue.
“Looks as though they reappear there,” Carlos noted, looking at the balls through narrowed eyes.
“Well, we may as well get started, unless anyone wants to back out?” Miyuki asked.
The others shook their heads, looking cautious but determined, and they all fetched their brooms and mounted up.
Taking to the air, Miyuki, Umemoto and Kuramochi hovered beneath the hole. Carlos hung back a little, though he was facing towards the green goal.
“Scared?” Kuramochi challenged mockingly, “you…”
He was interrupted by the sound of a klaxon, and a ball dropped from above. He immediately made a grab for it and tried to pass to Umemoto, but Miyuki was easily able to intercept. He pivoted sharply in place and lobbed the now slowly flashing ball over Kuramochi’s head to the waiting Carlos, who sped off towards the goal.
Kuramochi swore and turned to follow, but by this time he was hopelessly far behind and Carlos scored easily before he had crossed two thirds of the distance to the hoops. As it passed through the hoop, the ball exploded in a puff of green smoke - signalling a Slytherin goal. Over on the wall, the scoreboard changed to show 1 - 0.
“That’s called tactics, Kuramochi,” Miyuki called mockingly from beneath the hole.
The klaxon went again as another ball dropped, drowning out Kuramochi’s (rude) retort and this time Umemoto caught it. She deftly avoided Miyuki and surprised him with the strength of her throw to Kuramochi, which easily covered the wide distance between them.
Unfortunately, her aim was not so good and the shot headed wide of him. Kuramochi put on an incredible spurt of speed and managed to swerve, snagging it, and heading rapidly down the pitch in the direction of the red hoop. The inaccurate pass cost them though, as it had allowed Carlos to close the gap. As the pair sped towards the Gryffindor end at incredible speeds, the Slytherin steadily gained on him and Kuramochi was forced to throw the flashing ball from too far out, to avoid being intercepted.
The ball hit the edge of the hoop and rebounded to Carlos, flashing even faster. Carlos sped behind the hoop with the ball in hand, returning the other way far more readily than Kuramochi, whose change of direction was awkward.
Miyuki and Umemoto both took off towards the Slytherin end, with Umemoto getting there slightly ahead as Miyuki paused to catch the incoming pass from his teammate. The ball was now flashing very rapidly and Miyuki flung it towards the hoop, sure he would score and glad to get it out of his hands. At the last moment, Umemoto flung herself across the goal, managing to divert the ball with her body and clutching it awkwardly to her as she turned to pass.
‘BANG!’
She was flung violently off her broom, the sight very reminiscent of the stick figure they’d seen on the square, to the watching boys.
Miyuki swooped down to land on the grass next to her. “Are you okay?” He asked the dazed looking girl, as he bent to collect her broom.
“Yeah,” Umemoto answered, a bit shakily, “though now I get why the grass is so deep.”
The two re-mounted and the game resumed. It did not go well for Gryffindor.
Though Kuramochi and Carlos were closely matched in speed, Carlos soon showed that he was far better at changing direction rapidly, an area Kuramochi clearly needed to work on. Also, although Umemoto continued to show she had a powerful throw, her aim was just not good enough. In one play, while under pressure from Carlos, she actually threw so far off target, that the ball returned to her.
All the players were affected by the additional impact of the exploding balls, as everyone got blown from their broomsticks at least once. However, Slytherin had far superior teamwork, while the other side had several squabbles as the Gryffindors got frustrated.
Slytherin’s play was consistently dominant as the game progressed, and the match ended at 11 - 4, with five occasions where the ball exploded before a goal was scored.
“Well, I know what I need to practise, I guess,” Umemoto remarked in frustration, trying to be philosophical.
Miyuki and Kuramochi walked over to pack the balls back into the bag, and Kuramochi gave a loud snort of agreement.
Umemoto looked at him consideringly before turning to Carlos. “Have you practised a lot, to be able to turn so smoothly at that speed?” She asked him pointedly. Kuramochi flushed and busied himself with the balls.
“Yeah, a fair bit,” Carlos answered with a knowing grin, “had to, and I still need to work on it.” The two walked a short distance away, still chatting.
Miyuki snickered, elbowing his friend. “Well Kuramochi, have you figured out what you need to work on?” He asked.
“Eff off, Miyuki, I get enough commentary from bloody Sawamura.”
“Oh? How is your new bestie?”
“Still noisy.” Kuramochi paused, “and opinionated.”
“Really? You know, from what Kataoka said about the first years, they could use some humility….getting to use Quaffles right off the bat…”
Kuramochi grunted in agreement, “yeah, I’d love to take them down a few pegs, but how?”
“Well,” Miyuki mused, “we could misplace one of these balls before returning the bag, and use it as a present for them. I bet they’d enjoy that,” he raised his eyebrows suggestively.
“We could…”
They shared an evil grin.
The Gryffindor and Slytherin first years had their flying lessons on Wednesday afternoons.
This Wednesday, Miyuki, Nabe and Kuramochi grabbed sandwiches at lunchtime, and took them outside to eat beside the lake. Nabe was at first, a little mystified by his friends’ sudden desire for ‘fresh air’, but as they lounged on the grass, he soon noticed their surreptitious glances towards the flying area, and asked resignedly what was going on.
“But Kataoka is bound to know it was you,” he responded when they told him their plan. “You used those balls last practice.”
“He won’t have proof,” Kuramochi pointed out, with a grin.
“He doesn’t need proof,” Nabe argued in exasperation, “you’ll both get detention again.”
“Worth it!” The other two replied, almost in unison.
As if their words had summoned him, Miyuki noticed Professor Kataoka walking towards the flying ground with his bag in hand, ready to set up. He nudged Kuramochi and nodded towards him, “he’s there.”
Nabe watched his friends perk up like hounds on a scent, and groaned. He made one last valiant attempt, “you’re going to get in so much trouble.”
But neither was listening.
“You distract him, while I add the ball,” Miyuki said tensely to Kuramochi, as he slung a bag containing the stolen Quaffle over his shoulder. “I need him looking away for about a minute.”
“Eh? Why am I distracting him? How do I do that?”
“Stand so he turns towards you, and then ask him for training advice or something.” Miyuki answered impatiently, “There’s plenty to choose from. How to improve your turns for instance...”
“Oi!”
“Well, think of something else if you don’t like it.”
They walked towards Professor Kataoka, with Kuramochi still grumbling, while Nabe watched covertly, fearing they’d be caught. Surprisingly, things seemed to go like clockwork, as Miyuki swiftly added another Quaffle to the neat row Kataoka had already begun laying out.
Kataoka, who was gesturing to show what looked like a flight pattern in the air to Kuramochi, didn’t notice anything. It even seemed that his advice had been useful, if the thoughtful look on Kuramochi’s face as they returned was any indication.
“Did you remember to say ‘bombs away’?” Kuramochi asked as they both returned to Nabe, who was still looking at them disapprovingly.
“Of course,” Miyuki snorted, “just wait ‘till that ball gets passed.”
“After all that, I suppose it’s a pity you won’t get to see the results,” Nabe remarked as the three of them walked back to school for the afternoon’s lesson.
“Oh we will,” Miyuki smirked. “We've got History of Magic, so we can watch from the window.”
Nabe sighed, “Damn, I have Charms. I won’t see it from there.”
“I thought you were against this whole thing?” Kuramochi asked as they parted.
Nabe stuck out his tongue.
Most pupils arrived at History of Magic unenthusiastically. So, lingering as long as possible in the hall, and delaying the start of the lesson, was practically an art form for many. Firm members of this club, Kuramochi and Miyuki were usually among the last to enter, and had been told off more than once by their ghostly teacher for tardiness.
Not today though.
For this lesson, Kuramochi and Miyuki were the first through the door, as they wanted to be certain of getting seats by the window with the best possible view of the first-years' flying lesson.
When a grumbling Mei arrived several minutes later, earlier than he wanted as usual, and complaining to Carlos about Shirakawa’s baffling love of history; he paused at the unexpected sight of them already sitting in place. “Let’s sit over there,” he ordered, making a beeline for the seat behind Miyuki. Carlos shrugged and followed, sitting next to him, while Shirakawa sighed, looking wistfully at the front row, before deciding it wasn’t worth a battle.
“You’re early today.” Mei commented loudly, interrupting Kuramochi’s whispered conversation with Miyuki.
The pair had been smirking at each other, and Kuramochi jumped guiltily. Mei was obviously sure he had detected intrigue, but Miyuki merely raised an eyebrow at him and answered casually.
“Are we? Been watching us have you, Mei.”
“As if,” Mei sniffed.
“Well, you rushed right over here,” Miyuki pointed out, and Carlos laughed.
Mei turned away, snippily talking to Shirakawa, but Miyuki knew he wasn’t convinced, as he kept glancing over at them. Hopefully, the nosy bastard would forget about them once the lesson started.
As Professor Yoshimoto greeted the class, Miyuki glanced out of the window and could see the first years lining up, next to their brooms. They wouldn’t be using the balls yet then.
Ten minutes later, as the professor droned on about the International Warlock Convention of 1289, and most of the class slid deeper into their usual state of semi-consciousness, things finally moved in the right direction outside.
Miyuki could see that around half the class were flying in an undulating circle the same as last year, but Kataoka was waving the other half towards the balls. Miyuki caught his breath and nudged Kuramochi. This was it.
As both boys watched, they could see around ten pupils in pairs, flying to and fro while passing a Quaffle between them. The idea seemed to be to turn while throwing, making it harder for your partner to catch. Given Kataoka’s emphasis on control in those early days, Miyuki supposed he could see this might be a good way to demonstrate it.
“Can you see Sawamura?” Kuramochi asked in a whisper, “I haven’t seen him among the pairs yet, but I can see that really pale kid. I wonder if Sawamura was good enough, it’s his first time on a broom.”
Neither of them was making any pretence of paying attention now. The lesson was forgotten, and Miyuki stared at the distant flyers, trying to see…
“There he is, paired up with Furuya from our house,” he gestured furtively.
“Are you sure that’s him?”
“Yes.”
The distant figure of Sawamura was now waving his arms wildly at his partner.
“Oh yeah, that is him,” Kuramochi snorted quietly. “Has anyone got our ball yet?”
“How would I know?”
“I dunno, you spotted Sawamura. You know, I really want him to get it.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Both boys chuckled quietly as they thought about that, and out on the flying ground, a sudden change came over the first years. All order gradually disappeared, as most of the pairs scattered.
“Here we go,” Kuramochi muttered excitedly.
In the centre of the empty space that was left, they could see Sawamura, while Furuya hovered a short distance away. The watching boys could see Sawamura suddenly try to throw the ball aside, only for it to reappear in his hands. They knew the ball would now be flashing faster, and their laughter got harder to keep quiet.
“He actually got it! Sawamura’s got the ball!” Miyuki choked in delight. “I can’t believe our luck.”
Shoulders shaking, Miyuki heard Kuramochi give a smothered snort, as distant Sawamura made another two attempts to throw the ball away. Even at this distance, the increasingly panicky desperation was obvious. His broom was starting to lurch about, as he lost control and the throws grew wilder.
When he suddenly shot forward, hurling the ball behind him in an evident attempt to outrun it, Miyuki heard Kuramochi let out a bark of laughter, before trying unconvincingly to pass it off as a cough. That was the end of Miyuki, and he collapsed into his chair, helplessly laughing, and holding his stomach as he tried to keep quiet. The pair of them gasped and wheezed, and were fortunate that Professor Yoshimoto was busily writing notes on the board. However, from a couple of seats over, Shirakawa shot them a dirty look.
“What’s so funny?” Mei hissed behind them.
Neither could have answered, even if they’d wanted to, as they were too busy laughing, but Mei had seen them looking out the window. He and Carlos both looked out, and immediately spotted the disturbance.
“What on earth is that first year doing with the ball?” Mei wondered, the question directed to Carlos and his voice pitched low. “He’s all over the place.”
“Looks as though he’s going to fall off the broom in a minute, very poor control.” Carlos agreed disapprovingly. Then he added doubtfully, “you know, I don’t think he can pass.”
Ignoring the fresh burst of laughter that these comments produced, they both watched the flailing rider fixedly for a few more seconds.
“Look, he’s throwing it…no…he’s got it again. Wait! I know what that is!” Carlos exclaimed. He looked at Miyuki and Kuramochi, and also began to laugh. “You utter bastards, how did you do it?”
They were laughing too hard to answer him, so Carlos quickly explained to Mei about the exploding ball. When he also began to laugh, Shirakawa huffed in exasperation.
Out on the field, Sawamura was now flying frantically towards the other students, his broom lurching, as he tried to throw to one and then another. He was finally trying to pass the ball, but the others were too far away and he couldn’t make a throw of that distance. Only Furuya was still there, unnoticed behind him.
Kuramochi gave a suppressed wail, and Miyuki knew it must almost be time. That ball was going to blow any second now. He also saw that Kataoka had at last realised there was a problem. The professor was heading towards the desperate Sawamura, though he was still a long way away.
Suddenly, Furuya seemed to make up his mind to intervene. Swooping alongside the flustered Sawamura, he caught the ball as it was once again flung aside. Then with a graceful swerve, he turned on his broom, and threw it.
“Holy shit!” Mei gasped, and all four boys watched in amazement, as Furuya made an insanely long throw, actually reaching Kataoka!
The professor automatically caught the ball, and Miyuki and Kuramochi watched in open mouthed horror, as he was holding it when it exploded.
“We’re dead,” Miyuki said tonelessly to Kuramochi, as they watched Professor Kataoka rolling across the grass in the distance. “He’s definitely going to kill us.”
Kuramochi nodded, looking sick, but Carlos ignored them both, instead turning to Mei in astonishment. “Did you see that throw? I’ve never seen anyone make a pass like that! I don’t think even the seventh years could do it.”
“Well,” Mei answered, slowly, “perhaps he is a Slytherin after all.”
This conversation was cut short.
In the distance, Professor Kataoka had climbed to his feet. Anger almost visibly radiated off his tall figure, and the sunlight glinted on his sunglasses as he looked directly towards their window, adjusting them.
“He can’t see us, right?” Kuramochi asked, uneasily.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Miyuki answered flatly, still watching.
An arm was raised to point directly at the watching boys.
They had definitely been caught.