The Good Wizard

Part One

Tom walked slowly down the hallway, his footsteps echoing on the stone floor as he made his way to his first class of the day, Charms.  He was buffeted around in the swarm of students packing the corridor like a fish struggling to swim upstream.  The older students towered over him, sparing not a glance for the first-year as they passed.

He reached the door of the classroom at last and slipped through the doorway, heading for a seat near the middle of the room.  Not too far back, but not too close to the front, either.  He didn't want to make a fool of himself on day one.  Around him, the room slowly filled and a buzz of comfortable chatter filled the air.  He winced: he had loathed the scheduled sessions in the orphanage where Mrs. Cole made them play with each other, at cards in the den or football in the yard out back; she said it encouraged good social bonding, but he had found it torture, being forced to pantomime friendly interactions with his peers when he wanted nothing more than to read alone in his room.

Their new teacher walked into the room at that moment, interrupting his unhappy thoughts.  Professor Flitwick was a very tiny wizard, barely three feet tall, the tip of his pointed, black hat adding only about six inches  more.  Talking gradually ceased as he climbed onto a stack of books on his chair in order to see over his desk at his students.  He stood up before them, which would have been impressive if he wasn't so small.  Tom smirked but didn't say anything.  No reason to get on their new teacher's bad side... not yet, anyway.

Little Professor Flitwick read slowly down his list of names written on a long roll of parchment, which was revealed to be twice as tall as he was as it unfurled over his desk and onto the floor.  When he reached Tom's name, he looked around for the boy in question.  Hesitantly, Tom raised his hand and the wizard smiled and nodded at him before returning to his list.

After the roll call was completed, Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.  "Welcome to your first class at Hogwarts!  Here, we will learn how to change the properties of an object, perhaps giving the ability for a kettle to fly or perhaps to make a teacup tap-dance!  With charms, your ability to influence the world around you through the exercising of your natural powers is very great.  Magic is a wondrous thing, a formidable force that allows us to alter the very reality of our world to our own whims."

In spite of himself, Tom sat up straighter, giving Flitwick his full attention.

Flitwick continued: "Of course, this great and awesome power comes with great responsibilities, yes, indeed.  It would be foolish to use your powers in a way they were not intended to be used."  He stared around at them very seriously, his eyes resting on Tom for the briefest of moments before passing on.  Then his somber expression relaxed into a wide grin.  "However, with that warning out of the way, I must say that Charms may well become your favorite class.  Subjects like Transfiguration and Potions often forget that magic ought to be fun, it ought to be enjoyable when practiced!

"Today, we begin our journey with a simple task: The levitation of a feather.  Levitation, or the ability to make objects fly, is an essential tool in a wizard's arsenal; it allows you to make what would have been potentially back-breaking work of physically lifting a heavy object into the mundane task of simply directing your wand in the desired direction.  That heavy wardrobe cannot accidentally crush you when hovering three feet off the ground, after all... unless you let your concentration slip."

A few students laughed and he smiled.  "Now, take out your wands, all of you."

Tom removed his wand from his pocket.  He curiously considered that act: he supposed the pockets of his robes had been magically enhanced because his thirteen and a quarter-inch wand was patently too large to fit otherwise.  He returned his attention to their teacher, who was now walking up and down the aisle and setting a single, large, white feather before each student.