Tickling the Giant Squid and other Grand Adventures

10. Avila

I sat at my table with barely ten minutes to eat. Hurriedly, I grabbed some bacon, three waffles and pulled some butter and blackberry jam over.

Suddenly, Montgomery was sitting next to me, and she pulled Farid down with her. I groaned. "What do you want?" I asked her.

"I wanna compare our schedules," Montgomery declared. "All of our schedules. Farid and I don't have first period together, which means you have it with one of us."

"Well, I don't have mine yet so-"

A man walked over to us hurriedly. "Joanna Winchester, right? I'm Professor Longbottom, your Head of House, and the Herbology teacher."

I sighed at my name. "I go by Avila, but yes."

"Good." Professor Longbottom nodded in relief. "You almost missed getting your schedule. Here you are. Don't be late." He set my schedule on the table next to me. "And shouldn't you two should be eating breakfast at your own tables?" he asked the two next to me. "Not that I mind of course, it's just uncommon to see first years at any table but their own."

"Oh, we've already eaten." Montgomery declared. "I wanna see my new friend's schedule."

"I only had a piece of toast. I'm still kinda hungry." Farid said quietly.

"Well, as long as you have your schedule, you can take something. It's not like there's only enough food for those in the house. Have a good day you three! Don't be late!"

Professor Longbottom hurried off, out of the room. I guessed he was headed to his classroom. Sylvia grabbed some pancakes.

"Dang. You two have Transfiguration together first period. And Potions together before dinner. We all have Flying together though, when that starts. It's a free period for the first two weeks or so I think. Farid and I have Charms together before lunch, and you have Care of Magical Creatures, so let's meet at the front doors okay?"

"Get to class you three!" Professor McGonagall called to us. "You're cutting it close!"

Montgomery pulled out a phone and checked the time. "Oh! 7:56! Come on!" She grabbed our schedules and our arms and pulled us up.

I stuffed the last of my waffles into my mouth as she pulled me away.

"Okay, you two have Transfiguration together. See you next period Winchester!" Montgomery hurried away, towards a set of stairs that led down.

"Do you know where Transfiguration is?" I asked Farid. "Everyone else seems to know, but this whole magic thing is new to me."

Farid glanced at me as if seeing me in a different light. "I think so. Come on."

I followed Farid up the stairs and down a hallway. "Here we are."

We stopped in front of a door. It looked innocent enough, and briefly I wondered what kind of spells you could put on doors, and if this one had any enchantments on it.

"Hey, real quick, back in the Great Hall, Montgomery called you a boy, and you looked uncomfortable. Is it because you're a girl?"

"Yeah, I am. A girl, I mean," Farid clarified with a nod.

I waited a second, to see if she would elaborate. When she didn't I said, "You tried to correct her, right? But she cut you off?" Farid nodded. "Okay. Good to know. Come on, I'm excited for my first ever magic class! Besides, I'm pretty sure if we don't go in now, we'll be marked late." Farid nodded again and I opened the door.

No one noticed us walk in. They were still too busy talking. There were only two seats left in the classroom - one at the front, and one in the corner. Farid made a beeline for the one in the corner, so I took the seat at the front.

There was no teacher around, but there was a St. Bernard sitting next to a very neat desk. Its dark eyes glittered with intelligence.

I smiled at the dog when it looked at me, and I swear, it smiled back. Then, it barked, grabbing the attention of every student in the room. Right in front of our eyes, the image if the dog began to twist and turn. It grew in size, until it was clearly not a St. Bernard anymore, and suddenly there was a young woman standing before us.

She had silvery blond hair that was pulled up, in a bun I guessed, but it was covered by her lavender hat. She wore a matching robe that settled on the floor around her. She had a warm smile on her face, and her dark eyes glittered at the prospect of teaching us.

She winked at me, and I felt my smile grow in response.

"My name is Professor Love and I will be your Transfiguration teacher. I look forward to getting to know you all." She started. Her voice was like honey, sweet and smooth. She continued on with the normal teacher introduction speech about respect and all, but she sounded sincere in her words.

She handed out a worksheet for us to do - a getting to know your classmates one, where you write down the name of someone with a pet, or someone who's been out of the country, but instead they were magic related things. Someone who's a muggleborn (which I guessed she was, if she knew about this) a half blood, and a pureblood. A muggleborn who'd been out of the country, someone who'd flown before, that sort of thing.

Then she wasted no time in getting us started on magic. She handed out pins and we spent the rest of the class period working on turning them to needles and matches.

After class, Professor Love held me back.

"Are you a muggleborn, my dear?" She asked me.

I nodded. "From that exercise at the start of class, I'd say you are too?" I asked her.

"Yes, I am. It's easy to spot muggleborns, you know," she said with a small sigh. "We always look so amazed when we get up close and personal with magic for the first time. From your accent though, it seems you're even more out of place. I just wanted to let you know that if there's ever anything you need help with, feel free to come to me, ok? I've been in your place before, and I know it can be difficult."

I smiled at her. "Thank you, Professor. It means a lot. Can you tell me how to get to Herbology?"

"Of course!" Professor Love exclaimed. "You're going to the Greenhouses. They're on the grounds, to the right when you go out the front doors. Here, let me write you a note."