Professor Malfoy had prepared partner exercises for the third day of DADA. Jaemi had hoped they could choose their own partners.

The day was not going so well for Jaemi. Alas, Professor Malfoy had decided to go with assigned partners.

Hyejeong squeezed Jaemi's hand as the former went off to find her partner, and Jaemi stepped forward to receive her supplies. Professor Malfoy smiled and handed her a wand and a slip of paper. "Remember, you recite the word gemino, then the number, and tap your forehead. You'll be led to your partner."

Jaemi left the line, gingerly unfolding the paper. 18, it said in large bold letters. "Gemino eighteen," she said, tapping her forehead with the wand.

Please, please let it be a Hufflepuff, she thought. At least she knew other Hufflepuffs in her year. The Gryffindors, whom the Hufflepuffs shared the class with, were often too flamboyant and outgoing; they made Jaemi feel even more introverted than she really was.

A warm feeling overcame Jaemi as she recited the spell. It felt as if there were a tug of rope around her waist, guiding her where she needed to be. Her eyes met with his, and he grinned that grin. Jaemi glanced away quickly and looked for Hyejeong.

Jongup Moon made his way to her, carrying two wooden stools. "Hi there," he greeted, setting down the stools. Jongup dusted them off, patting the seat of one as a gesture for her to sit down. "Professor Malfoy told the boys to grab chairs, so we could all sit and wait for instructions."

"Okay," Jaemi said dumbly. Merlin, is that all you can manage? A measly 'okay'? "It's Jongup, right?"

Jongup nodded. "And you're Jaemi."

"I suppose my brother told you an embarrassing story about me or something." Jaemi had begged Jaekwon not to tell his housemates about her, especially not of summers at home, but he still hadn't given her a clear promise. How can hide my awesome baby sister from my friends? Jaekwon had retorted.

Jongup gave her yet another kind smile. "Nope. It's just that we've been in the same classes for five years now."

"Oh… Oh, yeah."

/

The first week of term was always the worst for Hera Moon, not that her summer was much better. She had to get used to waking up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. She had to get used to waiting forty minutes for the other girls in her dorm to take a shower and conduct their daily beauty regimen. She had to get used to changing quickly and dashing out of the Slytherin dungeons so she wouldn't be late to breakfast.

That afternoon after classes were finished, Hera strolled through campus.

Hogwarts Castle was huge. It had been built in the thirteenth century, when witches were hunted down by muggles and burned at the stake, yet it was magnificent. There were still rooms and passageways that were still undiscovered, just waiting to be discovered.

Hera wandered through the hallways. She kept her head straight and made sure her body language was closed. Socializing, Hera believed, was unnecessary.

She found the library first. Usually the public area of the library held informative works, but Hera wasn't interested in those. It's what was in the restricted section that intrigued her.

Hera took out her invisibility cloak—a temporary one from the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes—and draped it over her body. Making sure to walk in the unpopulated areas, Hera headed towards the restricted section. Security in the library needed some reinforcements.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Hera froze and fear filled her for a moment. Slowly she turned her head, waiting to see the librarian glaring at her. Instead the haggard librarian's gaze was on a third year who had brought a plate of treacle tarts into the library. "Go eat outside. No food allowed."

Hera sighed in relief and continued to head towards the back of the library. The back was remarkably quieter than the public area, as well as darker. The smell of old books and dusty pages filled the air, and Hera fought the urge to sneeze. Finally she reached the restricted section, where all the juicy books were.

Hera scoffed when she came across a thin red rope barricading the aisles, and simply stepped over the rope. She strolled through the bookshelves, fingers dancing across the spines of the books. Her eyes scanned the titles, and thinking a certain book was interesting, picked it up and flipped through the pages.

The restricted section was remarkably unexciting. Most of the "restricted" information was simply too graphic for young children's eyes. Hera shut each book disappointedly and placed it back into its slot, and continued to browse.

A certain book caught Hera's eye—"Dark Potions and Corresponding Antidotes." The book as a whole was black, with gold lettering to distinguish its title. Unfortunately it was located in one of the tall shelves, too high for her to reach. She shrugged off the cloak, letting it fall to the ground. Hera stood on her tiptoes and stretched her arm in an attempt to reach it, to no avail. The green book next to it slipped out of its slot and toppled onto her head.

Hera groaned in pain. "Ugh, how is that even possible?" she cursed. A hand shot out from behind and grabbed the book for her.

Hera gasped and whipped around to see who had caught her. There stood a tall, brown-haired boy with big eyes. She glanced at his tie, colored blue and bronze. Hera snatched the book from his hands and clutched it to her chest.

"Hi," the boy chirped, grinning. "I remember you! You're Hera."

Hera's eyes narrowed, realizing that this boy appeared a bit familiar. "How do you know me?" she asked quietly.

The boy blinked. "I'm the guy from the train! It was just a few days ago."

Hera ransacked her mind for a memory of him, specifically on the Hogwarts Express. Then she realized he was the boy who woke her up. Hera ignored his question, and resorted to defending herself. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm Chanyeol Park, sixth year Ravenclaw—" (to which Hera thought, I didn't ask.) "—and I think the real question is, what are you doing here?"

Hera looked away and grit her teeth. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"Maybe not, but we might get in trouble," he replied, than straightened at the sound of footsteps. "Hurry!" Chanyeol grabbed Hera's wrist, and scampered out of the aisle and into the one behind it.

Hera attempted to tear her wrist away from him as they ran. "Don't touch me," she protested. Chanyeol was unfazed and shrugged, continuing to run. Hera grit her teeth once again, but followed him calmly into the dark.

Once the sound of footsteps faded, Chanyeol and Hera stopped running. "You know you could've levitated the book off the shelf. Or maybe accio'd it," he whispered.

"Shut up," she hissed, annoyed.

"You're really something, Hera Moon."

/

Saturday brought big commotion to Hogwarts. It was always one of the most anticipated parts of the first semester.

Quidditch tryouts.

The Quidditch field was, to put it simply, loud. There was a combination of both the excited conversations of the Quidditch hopefuls, and the shouts of encouragement from their friends who had come as spectators. All of it was almost too overwhelming for Sehun.

A faint sound of clapping drew Sehun’s attention to the center of the field, and he noticed the Quidditch instructor. Sehun had never seen him around campus before.

"Sehun. You’re trying out for Chaser, right?"

Sehun directed his attention from the man to Luhan, the source of the question, leaning against his Firebolt 6000. His angelic features were graced with a grin. Having been on the Quidditch team before, Luhan was already dressed in his robes. A small but noticeable brooch was pinned to the front of his robes, labeled "Captain, LUHAN XI." The brooch was simplistic and clean, embellished with bronze and sapphire, an eagle, and a broom.

Sehun nodded, smiling in reply. Luhan opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud screech.

"HEY! SHUT UP!"

Finally the students turned to the instructor. "Now you look at me," he muttered under his breath, and scoffed. "For those of you who don't know, I'm your new flying instructor, Professor Underwood, though I'd prefer you call me Alexander."

Light applause came from a few girls, and Alexander paused until the short claps subsided. "Unfortunately," he continued, "the previous instructor died in a freak transfiguration accident. So I’m here instead. All of you, stand around the edges of the pitch. Gryffindors, over there; Ravenclaws, there; Hufflepuffs right here; and Slytherins go there." Alexander pointed to each corner of the field as he named the houses.

The students scrambled to join their housemates, tripping over uniforms and brooms. "Captains, when I call your name, state your position, then your house. Joshua Huxley?"

A stocky Englishman with sandy blonde hair raised his hand, shouting, "Beater of Gryffindor!" Up in the stands, some of Joshua’s friends cheered him on.

"JOSH! JOSH! JOSH! JOSH! JOSH! JOSH! JOSH!"

Alexander rolled his eyes. "Ugh."

Their cheers subsided.

"Kris Wu?"

The tall Head Boy stepped forward, earning a few cheers of his own, though most of them were from the female population. Kris looked sheepish.

"Seeker, Slytherin," he calmly stated.

"Richard Fairborn?"

A skinny boy stepped forward. He had curly dark hair, warm hazel eyes, and a button nose. Most of his support came from his housemates. "Keeper, Hufflepuff!"

"Luhan Xi?" Alexander finally called, and girls squealed from the stands. Kris rolled his eyes and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Luhan’s face filled with a crimson color, and Sehun had to stifle a laugh. "Seeker! Ravenclaw!" Luhan stuttered over the cheers.

"Alright, we get it! He’s lush, we get it!" Alexander shouted, his patience running dangerously low. He placed his hands on his hips. "We’re doing this by house. Each house will play a mock game of Quidditch against another. The captains and I will pay attention to each of you. We will evaluate you and decide if you belong on the team. Results will be posted in the Great Hall on Monday.

"First off, it’s Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. Then it’ll be Ravenclaw versus Slytherin."

Sehun stole a glance at his opposing house. There were a lot of skilled players in Slytherin. His eyes rested on a brunette with her hair tied up in a ponytail. Sehun squinted. Sunhwa tried out for Slytherin Chaser every year, even though she had never made the team.

The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs got into position, Alexander blew his whistle, and the game began.

/

"You know that guy Huxley?"

On the other side of the field, watching the Quidditch game, Zelo and Sunhwa were locked in fierce conversation—about the game, of course. According to Sunhwa, L and Jonghyun were in the stands, cheering her on. It was obvious that Gryffindor was winning, though that may have been because of the extra members trying out. People were dodging left and right, and Quaffles flew through the hoops at a steady pace.

"Yeah?" Sunhwa glanced at the Gryffindor captain, eyeing him as he countered off Bludgers.

"His mom plays for the Hollyhead Harpies. She's a Chaser, though," Zelo said. Currently Josh was struggling with a particularly persistent Bludger, screaming orders at his teammates and swerving on his broom. Sunhwa’s eyes twinkled. "Wow, really? I bet he’s really good, then."

Since Sunhwa had only found out about the magical world after she received her Hogwarts letter—and when her mother revealed she, too, was a witch to her confused husband and daughter—Sunhwa was easily fascinated by things from the magical world. Her first trip to Diagon Alley made her cry from excitement, but it nearly gave her father a heart attack.

The Ravenclaws and Slytherins waited on the sidelines, eyeing the other two houses play their game. There were more players in the game than she was used to, and from the ground, they looked more like a bunch of people floating around and throwing balls. There was only so much to do in a game, and right now there were too many players to distribute the duties properly.

The game ended with a Gryffindor win, as one of the Seekers caught the Golden Snitch within thirty minutes. Sunhwa and Zelo clapped politely.

Alexander blew his whistle. "Gryffindor wins! Ravenclaw, Slytherin, onto the pitch. Your turn."

Zelo mounted his Nimbus 4500. Being a Pureblood wizard, his knowledge of Quidditch and broomsticks gave him better equipment than Sunhwa—who had a vintage, but fast Moontrimmer 25. "Good luck, Sunhwa," he said.

Once everyone was in the air, Alexander released the Quaffle, Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch. He blew his whistle, and the game began.

Zelo immediately dove for the Quaffle, as did Sunhwa. He stretched his arm out in front of him, reaching for the Quaffle. Unfortunately, a Ravenclaw had already grabbed it. He paused to smirk at Zelo, allowing Sunhwa to snatch it from his grip and fly towards the hoop, where three Keepers were waiting. Seeing her with the Quaffle, they of them hovered to the smaller hoop nearest to her. She glanced at Zelo, eyes darting to the open hoop.

"You want it?" she taunted, flying higher and higher. "Go get it!"

The Quaffle was a flash of maroon until it appeared in Zelo's hands and through the hoop.

Below, Alexander blew his whistle and stated, "Point, Slytherin!" The crowd shouted praise.

"Yeah!" Sunhwa cheered, floating over to Zelo and high-fiving him. She leaned closer and whispered, "For Ravenclaws, those Keepers aren't very bright."

He laughed. Glancing behind her, Zelo noticed that the Ravenclaws were in possession of the Quaffle, dangerously close to the hoops. "Let's go," he said, and they dashed off.

Sunhwa dipped low, and as one Chaser tossed the Quaffle to another, she zipped up between them and caught it. The two Ravenclaws glared at her, but she simply laughed and threw it to another Slytherin. Noticing a Bludger heading straight toward him, the Chaser tossed the Quaffle to Zelo.

Zelo fumbled and nearly dropped the ball. He regained his grip and hugged it close to his stomach. He was nearly there, three quarters along the pitch, turning to pass it to Sunhwa.

Instead of her smiling face, he saw a Bludger pummel into her chest. Her eyes fluttered closed. A hush fell over the crowd. Instincts kicking in, he tossed the Quaffle to a nearby third year. Sunhwa was plummeting to the ground, possibly to her death. Zelo swooped down to catch her.