TORMENT (Harry Potter Sequel)

Chapter Fifteen

The afternoon sun shone brightly through the large windows as the third-year students piled on into the classroom. The morning of the first day back at Hogwarts had been fun to most. They had been doing Flying Lessons in the grounds. As usual, Aubyn dominated; his proficiency in the air being unparalleled by the other regular third-years. For Tom, however, the morning was as monotonous as it had always been at Hogwarts. He wasn't allowed in the air considering the orphanage, or more specifically the matron, failed to sign any consent papers. This, of course, meant that he also wouldn't be allowed to leave the grounds to go to Hogsmeade but he didn't really care. So, unlike everyone else's, his spirits were especially low as he sat down in his isolated corner in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He had been dreading these lessons but now that he knew that Alistair Young would and could not be his teacher, he had begun feeling much better. After a small while of waiting, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (and the old Potions teacher) Professor Huntail arrived. The class's good spirits almost instantly vanished as the lesson began and was replaced by an unrelenting sense of utter boredom. Tom wasn't usually interested in lessons but even this was new to him. The Professor kept rambling on about histories of elves and orcs and werewolves and...

"Wake up!"

Even though he wasn't the one being yelled at, his eyes shot open. He hadn't even noticed he had been falling asleep. Nor had anyone else for that matter, the Professor was yelling at a Hufflepuff in the front row. Tom leant his head on his arm. Why did it feel like time was going so slowly? This lesson was just so boring...

"Hey wake up!"

Tom's brain woke up but his eyes barely opened at all. He looked up at the figure standing in front of his desk blearily.

"Wake up!" the voice repeated. Tom recognised it. It was Alannah Estevan, the Slytherin girl from yesterday.

"Wake up!" she repeated for the third time. Tom sighed.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," he said agitatedly, "What the hell are you doing?"

Alannah tilted her head to the side, "Weren't you listening? The professor said to get a partner for the activity."

"Activity?" Tom asked. He noticed everyone else was standing up so he did the same.

"Yeah and you didn't look like you had anyone near you so..."

"I can work on my own," Tom said tiredly.

"Yeah well I don't have a partner, alright? And I don't want to work on my own," she hissed.

"Ok, ok," Tom resigned himself to his fate, "What are we meant to be doing anyway?"

Alannah paused for a second and bit the tip of her finger, "Something, something, spells, something- I don't know," she said uncaringly, "I thought you would listen."
"Why would I listen?" Tom asked quietly, almost to himself.

"I don't know, you seem like the type," Tom looked at her even more blankly than normal, "The 'nerd' type," she elaborated.

Tom looked away from her, "No," he said simply.

Alannah sighed, "I'll go and ask the Professor again. Hope he doesn't yell at me," she turned around to go. Tom looked up at her as she went. He still didn't trust her.

Alannah came back a few moments later holding a small book in her hands.

"We're meant to revise this spell from the first year: Wingardium Leviosa," she enunciated the word carefully as she read it off the page.

"I don't remember," Alannah was beginning to realise that Tom liked to speak simply most of the time.

"It levitates objects. It's pretty easy, like this," she pointed her wand at the quill by Tom's desk, "Wingardium Leviosa."