Hana exits her chambers at half past eight, ready to go about her day with the autumn wind tousling in her cascading hair; legs about to give in from last night’s game of thigh-wrestling with the Gryffindor beater. It’s a matter of minutes before the students disperse from the main hall, leading themselves to their respective classes.

Charms happens to be Hana’s first lesson; to be frank, she’s never been quite fond of it.

Nearly-headless Nick waves at her from a distance.

She tries to shove her nose in her books.

It’s not until she finds a proper seat just as the other sixth years (she chooses the third row reluctantly in fear of being labelled as miss goodie two shoes if she sat in the first two rows) that she lets out a breath she didn’t know she held in. Professor Flitwick arrives with his usual cheery smile, taking out his wand in the process before making a verbal approach.

“Greetings, sixth years!” his voice booms in the classroom. A few students flinch. (some even whisper, “he’s still a professor here?”) “I’d like to welcome all of you to this year’s Charms class. Let’s give ourselves a round of applause for making it this far, yes?”

The class press their palms together reluctantly in an attempt to reduce the awkward tension lingering in the air.

“Today’s first lesson will consist of one fantastic charm that I bet all you sixth years have been anticipating to learn,” his lips are pressed firm in a straight line. The class lets out stifled laughter after he says. “We’ll be turning vinegar into wine today.”

Chatter fills the air and the sixth year boys have smirks etched on the corners of their lips. Professor Flitwick gives the class a demonstration. Something that went along the lines of “flick your wrist a little”, and the rest of the class imitated his action.

Kim Junmyeon, the boy Jongin had mentioned the previous day, is the first to turn the vinegar into a deep crimson liquid, creating a lovely aroma to linger in the classroom; ten minutes into the lesson. The rest are astounded as they witness his flawless performance.

“Spectacular, Mr. Kim!” complimented the professor.

Junmyeon sends the rest of a class a smile that makes Hana’s stomach twist. There’s something so wondrously immaculate about him that Hana envies; other than his quaffed hair and perfectly aligned rows of white teeth.

She tries again, the incantation at the tip of her tongue; the vinegar remains the same and Hana’s dawning upon realization that her attempted progress is stagnating. At least twenty students have already successfully turned their liquid substance into alcohol whilst others have succeeded in turning their substance into ice.

Unfortunate enough for Hana, not being able to turn her vinegar into wine just yet and being a student who needed to keep up with the standards, Flitwick remembers that he was and still is supposed to introduce a new student in his class today

“Class, before all of you proceed, I’d like to introduce you to your new classmate who gained astounding results and received compliments from the Headmaster. She’s a fifth year but skipped a grade due to her extraordinary talents.”

The other students give her a smile of both graciousness and empathy because they know it isn’t going to be easy for her. Hana doesn’t really worry about the attention as she’s busying herself with perfecting the incantation.

The professor proceeds. “I’d like you all to meet Jung-“

The substance explodes.

The students are in awe.

Face covered in black ash and hair sticking up at its ends, she gulps.

“-Hana,” Professor Flitwick mutters in horror.

Jongin drums his fingers on the wooden table as he gnaws his fingernails; making an attempt to further kill time as Hana’s thirty minutes late into their private tutoring lessons. Personally, Jongin doesn’t know why he’s stalling because he might as well just take a leave to have a nap in the dormitory.

“Kai!” he hears a familiar resonating voice.

Jongin’s appalled, to say the least with Hana’s tangling knots of hair and dusty robes.

“What are you