A Raven and a Lion

New Classmates

At breakfast the next morning, the Great Hall was fuller than usual. The guest students also needed seats. Y/n and her friends found it a nice change to talk to young people from other schools.

Before they left for class, y/n thought of something else. She walked a few steps along the Ravenclaw table where Cho Chang was sitting with her friends.

"Y/n, nice to see them. I hope you had a good vacation," the dark-haired girl smiled at her. Y/n returned the smile. "Thank you too. Speaking of vacation, I met Cedric, he sends his regards."

"Oh thank you," Cho's friends now giggled and the girls cheeks turned a little pink. So y/n said goodbye with a grin and went back to Maggy and Olivia.

"So... Cedric," Maggy commented somewhat grumpily. Olivia stroked her friend's reddish curls encouragingly. "Oh come on, maybe you'll find some good-looking Durmstrang."

"Probably", Maggy admitted. When they arrived at their first classroom for the day, the chance arose. However, y/n intervened.

"He's sitting in my seat," Olivia said and pointed to the table where she usually sat with one of her friends. One of the Durmstrang students was sitting there. They guests should probably take part in the lessons here too.

"I'll sit next to him and you can sit at the free table in front of us," y/n suggested. Olivia and Maggy wanted to ask what that meant, but y/n had already moved to the free seat next to the dark-haired boy. She reached the chair just in time. Shortly after she sat down, the Gryffindors came into the classroom.

"I see," Olivia murmured as she spotted the twins with Lee and the girls. Maggy looked at y/n mock-accusingly as she took a seat with Olivia at the table in front of her. "So what Fred said on the train hurt you. Do you want to annoy him?"

"Nonsense," y/n shook her head. "I'm making friends with our partner school."

With a beaming smile, she turned to her new seat next to her. "I'm y/n. And what is your name?"

"Nikola," the boy smiled back. Y/n was about to ask him the next question to get to know him better, when someone leaned on her table. "Who is that?"

Surprised, y/n looked up and saw Fred. "Oh that? This is Nikola."

"But Olivia always sits there," Fred now turned to y/n's friend. "Come on, sit in your seat."

But Olivia didn't even think about it, she stuck with y/n. "No, today I want to sit with Maggy. Besides, I think y/n can take care of Nikola much better than me."

"Take care?", Fred repeated. Now Maggy also nodded. "She can be very sensitive."

Fred seemed to be trying not to get upset. But y/n clearly saw how he clenched his jaw. She waited for him to say something else. But he didn't do that. He turned away and sat down next to George, who was sitting further back in the classroom with the other Gryffindors.

"Is he your boyfriend?", Nikola now wanted to know. Y/n looked at the boy in shock. "What? Oh no, just a friend. A boy and my friend, but not a boyfriend."

"Ah," Nikola nodded, but then he shook his head. "Then why is he jealous?"

"Yes, good question", Maggy also chimed in. But y/n resisted. "He's not, at least not like that. He just can't stand it when the world doesn't revolve around him."

Y/n was very grateful that Moody was now limping into the classroom. Even if she still thought of him as more bizarre than likeable. Once he introduced himself and started talking about dark magic and the three unforgivable curses, it became too much for y/n.

She raised her arm. Moody's fake eye jumped to her. "Miss y/l/n?"

"Yes," she nodded, lowering her arm again. "With all due respect, I'm sure that's not in the curriculum."

"And how does this curriculum help you in an emergency? Some of you might want to become Aurors, don't you think, so it makes sense..."

"I didn't say that", y/n interrupted him. "I just don't think it's advisable to hold a lesson on this topic without prior notice. You can't just talk about dark magic without making the students aware of what it really means what you are talking about!"

"But you know", Moody contradicted her, sounding challenging. Y/n shook her head. "No, I do not."

"Yes, you do", Moody came limping towards her. "I know your name, I know your parents. How come you ended up in Ravenclaw?"

"Easy", y/n replied. "I know what is right and wrong. That is also why I allow myself to judge your teaching."

Maggy and Olivia had turned to her and were looking at her with wide eyes. But y/n didn't mind, apart from the fact that the whole class was staring at her anyway, she stood behind her opinion. Even if she didn't know what had gotten into her, she had never gotten into a fight with a teacher. She even always accepted Snap's unfair preference for the Slytherins. But hearing those curses had triggered something in her.

Moody didn't seem to be looking for an argument, though, because he nodded. "All right. Then I'll make it clear, make it clear what these curses really mean. The use of dark magic doesn't go unnoticed by anyone. It hurts those who are hit as well as those who use it. Anyone who turns to darkness manifests a rot within themselves , which attacks the soul and the spirit..."

As Moody explained, her thoughts rambled. She thought of her parents again, of her childhood. The classroom blurred in front of her eyes.

So she barely noticed when the lesson was over. Only when Olivia shook her y/n did look up. "Come on, let's go, we have to go to Herbology."

But then Moody came limping along again. "I would like to talk to you for a moment y/l/n."

"Go ahead", y/n said to her friends. They nodded and took Nikola into their midst instead of y/n.

"I didn't mean to offend you", Moody said then when the classroom was empty. Y/n sighed. "You've already made it known that you know my last name. So you didn't offend me, you just reminded me where I came from and that it wasn't a very nice place."

"Family", Moody muttered. Y/n nodded. „It's a struggle."

When he let her go, her thoughts went in circles. So she didn't immediately notice Fred when he stood in her way.

"Oh dear," she said when she recognized him. "Get out of my way."

"No," he shook his head. Y/n sighed. "Stop annoying me and leave."

"What's going on?", he wanted to know. "Are we not friends anymore?"

"Friends? I thought you wouldn't want to be friends with a party pooper like me," she replied snippy. "You'd better find yourself one of the sweet French girls, maybe they know how to have fun."

Fred looked irritated. "That's what this is about? But you didn't want me to say anything."

"But you didn't say nothing, you were mean," she explained her point of view. But then she had an idea as to why he might have said that in the first place. "I didn't want you to say anything because it made me uncomfortable that we spent more time together. I'm not uncomfortable with you. I didn't want everyone picking on the fact that we slept in the same bed. Because then I constantly would be reminded that I needed you to be okay."

She paused to take a breath. But he took the opportunity to say something. "What's so bad about needing someone?"

Y/n couldn't give him an answer to that. Nevertheless, her opinion was clear. So she shook her head. Fred rolled his eyes. "You're still very proud and I still don't mean it as a compliment."

"Tss," she said contemptuously, whereupon he grinned. Then he grabbed her by her school cloak and started moving. "Come on, you don't want to miss class."

"But we're not done yet", she protested, but let him pull her along. Fred laughed. "Y/n, you've been arguing with me since first grade, give yourself a break."

"But I'm a killjoy", she hissed meaningfully.

"I'm sorry I said that, but after all, you're not always nice either. Happy?" She shrugged her shoulders. "For now."