A Different Kind of Magic

With Millie

"Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge!!!"

Luke shot past me, and the group I was with, on a broom and slammed into a couple snogging against the wall. They were both sent sprawling as Luke zipped away. The disgruntled couple both got to their feet and ran off, presumedly to tell a teacher.

We couldn't hold back the laughter that followed the event for when they were out of earshot.

"I can't believe Dell did that!" Ariel Bane snorted, waving her hand in the direction Luke had flown off in.

"The look-," Kat Gilbert wiped a tear from her eye as she attempted to stop laughing. "The look on their faces!"

Sydney pinches his nose and closed his mouth tightly in an attempt to quiet his hiccupy laugh.

"Especially for a Ravenclaw." Ariel took a breath to calm herself down but then looked at me and I started to giggle sending her into another bout of laughter.

I had made new friends now that it was two months into the semester. It didn't seem to matter to them that I had been a person running from the law for about a year. In fact, I think that's why a few of them wanted to get to know me.

I was finally... normal. Well, as normal as a wizard can be. On top of it all, the girl in my head had been silent for a few weeks.

"Hey, Z!" Millie and a group of Hufflepuffs raced by us. They must be late to class.

"Hi, Mil!" I called after her.

Quinn and Matt walked up behind me. I could hear his brace making his steps uneven. "I wonder if they realized they just passed the hall that leads to their next class."

Matt didn't blame me for his hurt leg and, to my surprise, still wanted to be my friend.

I looked back and smirked.

"Who knows."

"Do they know that class isn't for another ten minutes?" Sydney inquired.

"I think so," Kat said. "They're headed towards the kitchen. Their cookie supply must be low."

Quinn nodded. "Understandable."

"Should we get to class?" Ariel asked, nodding towards the closest door.

We followed her to the door and into the room. We took our seats and talked until our bouncy teacher with coke bottle glasses Professor Corry skipped to the front and without a pause launched into a lecture about dragons.

I half listened and doodled on the paper that was supposed to have my notes with my good hand. I'd learned all this from a book I'd read before I left Hogwarts.

Towards the end Professor Corry danced excitedly on the balls of her feet (everyone already knew she was a crackpot so it didn't surprise us) and said something that caught my attention.

"Tomorrow, after school, for all those who want extra credit we are going to go into the forbidden forest and observe the magical creatures!" She beamed at us and waited for a reaction from her students.

The room was silent for a second and then an excited buzz snaked through the room. I turned around in my seat to look at Matt who was sitting behind me. He looked at me and kept his facial expression even as he shrugged.

I turned myself forward as Professor Corry dismissed us. I quickly packed my bag and caught up with Matt, who was leaving the room.

"Thoughts?" I asked, not looking at him.

He shrugged again. "I'm gonna do it. I mean, extra credit, why not?"

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.