"Jonathan, I am going to kill you!" Gifford exclaimed as all the first year Hufflepuffs were heading back to the common room.
"I'm sorry, can someone please explain what happened again?" Maryrose asked as she had been with her older sister Pandora on the train, and still needed to be caught up along with Dorothy, and Marty about the train situation.
"Jonathan asked out Quinn while pretending to be Gifford." Penelope filled the three other girls in, doing the password for the others to gain access to the common room.
Maryrose closed her eyes preparing herself for the brothers to argue for the rest of the night or more.
Jonathan was walking backwards so he was facing the rest of the Hufflepuffs. "It was just a joke."
Gifford raised an eyebrow at him. "And what if Quinn said yes?"
Jonathan shrugged. "Then I got you a girlfriend, you're welcome."
Gifford shook his head. "I don't like Quinn like that."
Jonathan scrunched his forehead. "Why?"
"Because I don't!" Gifford exclaimed. "I have told you this hundreds of times."
"But you hang out with Quinn a lot."
"So?"
"Well then you like her!"
Gifford shook his head. "Not like that!"
"Why?"
"Because he doesn't." Maryrose told Jonathan before Gifford could yell at him. "Not every girl, and boy friendship has to turn into relationships."
"Thank you Maryrose." Gifford said.
"Plus we are only eleven or twelve." Marty added.
"Well kids that age do date." Penelope put in.
"They do?" Marty asked.
Penelope nodded.
Jasper suddenly remembered something that Penelope had said. "Penelope in the letter you wrote to me you said you had a surprise?"
Penelope suddenly remembered, and nodded. "Yes!" She exclaimed excitedly. "I'm going to be a big sister!"
Jasper jumped up. "That's awesome!" He exclaimed.
"Do you know when your mum will be having the baby?" Dorothy asked.
Penelope shrugged. "We don't have a due date yet, but I'm excited!"
"Congrats Penelope." Maryrose smiled.
Penelope smiled back. "Thanks Maryrose."
After they all congratulated Penelope on her future sibling, all of the Hufflepuff first years gathered around the fire, and talked about their holidays. Marty showed them her new toad she got over the break, and after many different name ideas she got sent from her classmates, she decided to name the toad Sir Fredrick Pennington the 4th.
"Why the fourth?" Harry asked.
"Because the other three died." Marty stated.
Harry blinked. "Oh..."
"But don't worry." Marty reassured them. "They all lived long lives, but my brother always said Sir Fredrick Pennington the 3rd got blown up."
"Blown up?" Dorothy asked excitedly. They all looked over at her. "I - I mean how sad." Dorothy corrected.
"But how did your toad get blown up?" Gifford asked.
Marty sighed. "I'm not sure. My brother said it was because of my magic – he likes messing with me, but I think it was a potion he drank."
"Oh wizard kids have accidental magic too?" Jasper asked at the same time Harry said, "I blew up a frog once."
Jasper made a face, and turned to Harry, as did the others. "What?" Harry asked.
"You blew up a frog?" Jonathan asked.
"Um...yeah?"
"How did you manage to blow up a frog?" Jasper asked.
Harry replied, "Well as Marty said, accidental magic."
"Yeah, but I think Sir Fredrick Pennington the 3rd drank a potion he wasn't supposed to." Marty reminded him.
Harry looked around to all the Hufflepuff first years. "Didn't you blow things up?"
"Yeah." Maryrose said. "But not living things."
Was Harry really the only one who blew up an animal at one point? "None of you?"
"I once floated a sharp knife!" Dorothy exclaimed.
"Oh..." The rest of them said.
Jasper looked over at Harry, and patted his shoulder. "Well I guess you're the only one who has committed murder by magic, good job mate."
"Off to Azkaban he goes." Jonathan said, waving a hand.
Jasper shuddered, remembering what he had heard about the Wizarding prison, and how the wizard he had a nasty run-in with alongside his brothers', threatened him with it. "Oh, don't mention that place, it's terrifying."
"How would you know? Have you ever been?" Gifford joked.
"Nope, and I never plan to be." Jasper replied.
Maryrose shuddered. "Imagine making plans to go to Azkaban."
"You'd be mental if you did." Jonathan said. "I don't know how the guards that aren't dementors do it."
"Yeah, who would want to be around those dementors?" Dorothy asked. "They're creepy."
"That's an understatement." Jasper murmured.
"Sounds like you've met them personally, Jaz." Marty said jokily.
Jasper shook his head. "I haven't." Well of course he hadn't. "But this wizard I met told me they are like demons."
Gifford shrugged. "Well yeah, they suck your soul out."
"That is only if they kiss you." Harry said.
"Okay, why are we talking about dementors?" Penelope asked. "It is such a depressing topic for the first day back."
"Yeah." Harry said. "It isn't like any of us are going to go there–"
"Wait, who do you think would most likely go to Azkaban in this group?" Jonathan asked, suddenly.
"How about no one." Maryrose interjected.
"I vote for Dorothy." Jonathan said.
Dorothy whipped her head toward Jonathan. "Excuse me?"
"Uhhhhhh..." Jonathan said, a bit frightened.
Dorothy sighed. "Well I mean, I guess you're right. I would probably kill someone by accident...or on purpose..." They all stared at her. "Kidding!" She held her hands up. "But I think we could all get sent to Azkaban."
Marty looked puzzled. "For what?"
"For me, killing someone." Dorothy started. "For Harry, blowing up a person."
"I only blew up a frog!" Harry exclaimed.
"We all start somewhere." Dorothy shrugged. Harry scoffed, as Dorothy continued, "Marty would probably push someone off a broom for a quidditch position–"
"I wouldn't!" Marty argued.
Dorothy ignored her, and continued. "Jonathan, and Maryrose for identity theft or impersonation–"
"Identity theft?" Jonathan asked, confused.
"For pretending to be Gifford." Gifford snorted, as Jonathan rolled his eyes.
"And how would I be sent to Azkaban for identity theft?" Maryrose asked, sceptical.
"Simple." Dorothy said. "You're a metamorphosis. You can be anything you want." She turned to Gifford. "And for you...making a dangerous potion."
Gifford scrunched his face up. "But–"
Dorothy continued, and went on to Penelope. "And for you..." She said slowly, studying Penelope. "You're really nice, but I bet you would poison someone if you really hated them."
Penelope looked appalled. "And how would I even do that?"
"Probably with all your herbology talent. You, and Gifford could easily make a poison." Dorothy stated. She looked to each of them in turn. "And that is how we would all be sent to Azkaban!" She exclaimed, clasping her hands together.
They all stared at her, not knowing what to say, but Jasper said, "What about me?"
Dorothy looked confused. "What about you?"
Jasper bit his lip. "Well how would I be sent to Azkaban?"
Dorothy stared at him for several moments, and then burst out laughing.
Jasper looked at her confused, and to the others, and then back to Dorothy as she continued to laugh. "What?" He asked. "What's so funny??"
Dorothy continued to giggle like she was losing her mind. "Please!" She exclaimed. "You? Go to Azkaban?" She stared at him giggling still. "Jasper, you would never be sent there!" She continued laughing like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard.
Jasper was frustrated for some reason. "Well, why not?"
Dorothy continued to laugh, so Maryrose said, "Well, out of all of us you would be least likely to go there."
Jasper stared at Penelope, and Maryrose, two of the sweetest people he had ever met on Earth. "Really?" He asked sceptically.
Maryrose nodded.
Jonathan chuckled. "Don't see it as a bad thing, Azkaban is torture. Everyone knows that."
"I know." Jasper said. "I am just wondering why you guys think I wouldn't be sent there."
Harry shrugged. "You're you." Jasper looked at Harry with a look that said elaborate? Harry laughed. "The possibility of you going to Azkaban is the same percentage of me dating a Slytherin."
"So zero?" Jasper asked.
Harry nodded.
Dorothy finally calmed down, and said, "Look Jasper, if you really want to know why you would be sent there, it would be because you took the blame for someone else."
Jasper made a face. "What?"
"If someone did something they weren't supposed to do." Dorothy started. "For example um...the killing curse, you would take the blame for them."
Jasper shook his head. "No I wouldn't."
"Yes, you would." The others said in unison.
Jasper shook his head.
Dorothy sighed. "Fineeee." She stretched, yawning. "You murdered someone then."
Jasper nodded. "Okay."
Harry laughed. "You would rather be a murderer than a person who is innocent?"
Jasper shrugged. To him, they were playing a game of some sort. Discussing how you might go to Azkaban was something that reminded Jasper of how some of the kids at his muggle school would discuss why they would think they would be put in jail. It was just a silly, stupid game. Some of the reasons were quite unrealistic, but that was the whole point. Jasper remembered how the kids in his class would always say he would accidentally murder someone with all the freaky things he caused. The problem was, that specific game was not fun for him as he really had horrible thoughts of what if that did actually happen. What if he killed one of his brothers' by accident? He had so many nightmares about it. Now that he knew he was magical, and had his magic under control, he knew that wouldn't actually happen. There was nothing wrong with him. So making up reasons (some that were quite silly) of why you would go to prison was a bit more fun to him now. It made him feel like a normal kid.
"You got cool crimes." Jasper said.
"Oh yes." Harry said. "Because blowing up frogs, and humans are so cool."
Jasper laughed. He indicated something blowing up with his hands. "Poof." A pause. "Were there frog guts everywhere?"
Harry made a face, remembering that fateful day of that poor innocent frog. It had been a horrible day already, and the frog murder had just made it a whole lot worse. "Yes...and a lot of screaming."
"Were you screaming at the frog?" Jasper asked, wondering if Harry had gotten mad at the frog for some weird reason. People talked to their pets, maybe they also talked to animals that they ran into as well. "Or were you just screaming in general?"
Harry pushed him away, off put. "Why do you want to know how I killed a frog?"
"I didn't know kids who already knew they were wizards could have accidental magic!" Jasper exclaimed. "I did some...freaky things with my magic, it is nice to know I am not alone."
Harry nodded, understanding what Jasper was getting at. Harry guessed Jasper had done some weird stuff with his magic. He had just said he had done freaky stuff. It must have been hard, not knowing you were magical – he thought something was wrong with him. It made Harry sad that so many muggleborns had that experience. Maybe him blowing up a frog made Jasper feel a bit better about whatever his magic had caused.
"Well..." Harry started, slowly. "Have you ever blown up a frog?"
Jasper laughed. "No! You're the only frog murderer I have ever known."
Harry put a hand over his heart. "Well, I am honoured then." He paused, and sighed. "I feel bad for the poor frog though, like what if it had a family? What if I killed a child, Jaz?!"
"Okay, okay, okay!" Jasper said, quickly, seeing that Harry was actually getting upset about the now long dead frog. "Maybe we can have a funeral if you're so upset."
Harry sighed. "But I don't have the frog with me. I screamed after I saw the guts. Frogs are slimy, and the guts were everywhere, and I didn't keep the guts, so I can't even bury the guts!"
"Okay, stop talking about frog murders!" Penelope exclaimed, getting this horrible image in her mind. "This whole thing was silly, and now I am getting disturbed. We will have some sort of memorial for Froggy–"
Froggy? Harry mouthed
"–so Harry can be at peace, and if we are talking about murders, I killed my favourite plant. I named it, and everything! Does that make you feel better?!"
"Er...well–" Harry tried, but Penelope kept talking.
"And would some of these crimes even get us into Azkaban?!"
Dorothy shrugged, seeming to be unphased by the conversation from the silly game to animal, and plant murders. "I don't know, but it was fun."
"Discussing what crimes we would each do to go to Azkaban was fun?" Gifford asked. He originally thought it was, but then they had moved on to the topic of frog murders, and plants being killed. Now they were planning a funeral for Froggy. Would Penelope's plant be included?
Dorothy nodded, and pulled out a piece of parchment to start planning for the memorial of the dead frog, and plant. "Yep."