Salem Academy of Sorcery (Harry Potter)

Chapter Five

"Where are you off to next?" Charlie asked me as we left Herbology.

"Medical Approaches," I said and his eyes widened.

"Wow that's a tough one," he said shaking his head. "I can't believe you gave up your break. Well, actually, I can believe it." I smiled and shrugged. "See you later."  He, Idella, Collin, and a few others walked off towards the common room for their break while I headed to the second floor. I wondered who else would be in Medical Approaches. It wasn't necessarily a very popular class, as it covered both muggle and wizard approaches to healing. I wanted to be a mediwizard so I wanted to learn as much as I could on the subject.

Unsurprisingly the class was in a much smaller room with only eight tables, it mustn't have been a very popular elective. The first row was already taken by seventh year Irdrea students. There were two Eztroprea students seated in the middle. I took a seat in the middle row against the wall as the room began to fill. Deciding to glance through my textbook, I flipped through a few of the pages I had already gone over. "Bradley," a voice said from behind me. I turned over my shoulder and was surprised to see Kent standing there. "Mind if I sit here?" Every table had at least one person already.

"Not at all," I said smiling. Kent took a seat. I never spoke with him alone before. Frankly, I didn't know much about him. I knew from Grant that he had a sad family history but didn't know much of it. If Grant saw us sitting together he would be pissed at Kent and even more cold to me.

"What got you to pick Medical Approaches?" he asked me.

"I want to be a Mediwizard," I answered. His face brightened.

"Me too," he replied pushing a hand through his dark hair. "Most people usually want to become healers to avoid the extra years of training."

"I know," I responded with a laugh. "What is it, seven extra years now?" I asked with an amused look. In order to become a Mediwizard you had to first become a certified Healer and then train amongst other Mediwizards for seven years. There were several different exams you had to take as well that I didn't want to even think about right now.

"Eight by the time you graduate," he joked with a laugh. We had Professor Sheringham who was a tiny, gray haired, and a retired Mediwizard. She had a stern face and was strict, but was excellent at her subject. My hand was in pain at the end of class from all the notes we had to take. She was starting off with muggle approaches and it was extremely complicated considering I didn't know much about muggle technology. Kent was a pureblood and seemed just as confused as I was. A few muggleborn Irdrea students were in the class and it was likely I would be asking them to explain later on tonight.

Class was dismissed and we got up to leave. "Well this is going to be a tough seventh year," Kent said to me. I nodded in agreement. "I'll see you around." Before I could say goodbye he said, "And ignore Grant." He shook his head. "Don't let him get to you." I was surprised he even bought Grant up, but I smiled in response.

"I won't," I replied. "I'll see you around." My stomach was growling but at least I only had one more class, Advanced History of Magic, before lunch. With the amount of work I was going to have to in Medical Approaches, I really wish I had my free period now. At least we got O.W.L.'s over with last year. Unfortunately, some of us had N.E.W.T's. to look forward too. I was taking four of them.

After lunch we had Potions with Professor Cadwallader and once again were assigned a difficult potion, Draught of Living Death. Idella was my partner and the two of us worked well together, creating a successful potion in the end. Another elective class was next. For the first half of the year I was taking Advanced Care of Magical Creatures and after winter break I would switch to Ancient Archaeology. Idella convinced me to take Advanced Care of Magical Creatures with her considering she was obsessed with being outdoors. I did love the creatures, but wasn't a fan of Professor Roberts. When we arrived she put us into pairs and with my luck I was paired up with Selina. Selina was probably going to expect me to do all of the work. Our assignment was to identify three magical creatures that were commonly found in Salem. Selina didn't do much, but she did locate a small water creature for us. It was a common creature that muggle's didn't even realize existed, called a Chimerelle. Muggles often mistake it for coral when it washed up onto shore.

Finally I had my last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Eztoprea House Head, Professor Halliwell. He was a tall dark haired man with tan skin and pale eyes. I knew everyone was interested in why the class was changed to 'defense against', but everyone had similar assumptions. Once again Idella wanted to sit with Colin so I told her to go on and took a seat next to Charlie. His head was rested on his hand as he stared across the room. I didn't even have to look to know who he was staring at. "Could you be any more obvious?" I whispered taking a seat.

"I can't help it," he replied sitting up straight and turning towards me. He most definitely was looking over at Selina.

"I will never understand what you see in her," I laughed shaking my head. Professor Halliwell was already in the class and pacing back and forth in his dark emerald robes as the students gathered in. Finally when the bell rang he stopped in the middle and turned to face us.

"Another year," he began. "You all managed to pass your Dark Arts O.W.L., but this year we will be focusing on defensive spells. Why? Because I'm sure you are familiar with the current war going on and the Academy wants you all to be well-prepared." He was the first teacher to actually talk about the war all day. No student wanted to ask on the first day. "By the end of this year, you will all be well enough prepared if anything comes your way." I hoped he was right.