Dear Arthur,
I am glad to know you are doing well.
You father and I are both doing well and miss having you around the house.
How is the holiday situation in the school?
Can you come home for the holidays?
Do wizards even celebrate Christmas?
Please find out and inform us as soon as possible.
Also about the broom, I am not sending you any money.
We already have two brooms at home.
If you really need one, send me the address and I can parcel it to you.
Yours lovingly,
Helen Smith.
P.S.
You dad says he loves you, even though he couldn’t be bothered to write a letter.
…
“Ladies and gentleman, we are gathered here today to discuss matters of the utmost importance . It has been brought to my attention, mostly by me, that none of you know anything about combat…”
“Pass the butter.” said Cedric rudely interrupting his historic address.
If only people knew that they were becoming a part of history itself, then maybe they wouldn’t INTERRUPT.
“Here you go Cedric.” said Flora passing the butter, “Pass it around after you are done.”
Looking around the breakfast table, Arthur knew when he was fighting a loosing battle.
Thank God?
Merlin?
Thank Helga Hufflepuff he had his chicken nuggets and orange juice to comfort him.
Next time they would meet somewhere far away from foods.
Looking around the breakfast table, he could kind of get why cults had masks.
No leader wanted to everyone else eat while they kept talking.
…
If you were walking around Hogwarts and heard some kids discussing loudly about which quidditch team was their favorite, you could bet good money on them being Gryffindor.
Ravenclaws liked to discuss the sport calmly.
If you asked them about getting involved in the discussion then those bunch of nerds would lecture you about proper debate structures before they let you join them.
Since nobody in their right mind would go through that, they always won the argument.
None of the other houses agreed but what were they going to do?
Argue?
Slytherins were just plain snobbish.
They didn’t speak about quidditch out in the open, something about proper decorum.
But try saying something bad about their favorite teams and you could watch them get all red in the face.
It was a fun way to pass the time.
Arthur thought Hufflepuffs were the most normal.
Since he didn’t have any conflicts of interest there, the opinion was obviously unbiased.
Arthur personally supported the Puddlemere United.
End of discussion.
Cedric punched him in the arms every time he tried and it really hurt.
Back to the matter at hand, they walked into the Defense of the Dark Arts classroom to find that the Gryffindor students already there.
Any other time it wouldn’t have made sense but Defense Against the Dark Arts or DADA was THE class every student had been looking forward to since the beginning.
Who wouldn’t with such a cool name?
…
As they finished taking their seats the professor walked in.
The professor this year was named Edgar Duke, a recent graduate of Hogwarts who was available on short notice.
Those were the exact words Cedric used to describe him, like most things with him they were probably his dad’s words.
Edgar Duke was fair skinned and had dark eyes with dark hair.
He had no facial hair, which might be the reason he lacked any authority.
“Alright everyone turn to the first chapter of your copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Professor Duke said , “This book written by Newt Scamander will be your greatest friend in the upcoming years. It’s content has been frequently mentioned in the OWL’s and the NEWT’s.”
“But professor why would the owl’s need to ask..”
Whatever Lee Jordan was going to say was interrupted by the Weasley twins muffling him and saying in unison, “Don’t mind him professor. He just just hit with with a confusing charm.”
The way they both said it at the same time made it seem rehearsed.
Clearly it wasn’t the first time they had to control their friend, who for his credit stayed quiet with the rest of the class.
“Continuing with our point, the first chapter of the book details… Yes Ms. Johnson?”
“Professor we haven’t brought the book.” Angelina Johnson said.
“Why not?”
“No one told us.” said Lucian speaking for all the Hufflepuffs.
By the sounds of agreement from the Gryffindors he was speaking for them too.
“Well, What do you have?”
“We have The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection written by Quentin Trimble.” Patricia chimed in.
“Then we’ll be learning the wand lighting charm Lumos today.”
“Professor Flitwick already taught that.” George Weasley said.
“He taught that on the first day.” Fred Weasley said.
“He always has, says our brother Bill.”
“And Charlie.”
“And Percy.”
“How many brothers do you have?” Arthur couldn’t help but ask since the class was clearly heading in that direction.
“Not Including us two, four brothers and a little sister.” Fred said fully facing him.
“Are you guys rich?”
“Gods, no.” George said, “If we were, we wouldn’t be living next Cedric would we.”
“You guys are neighbors?” Arthur asked turning to look at Cedric.
“Yes, we live in…” “AHEM!”
“Focus here!” said the professor desperately trying to keep a handle on the class, “Did anyone teach the spells for making sparks?”
“No.” came the answer from the whole class.
Edgar Duke breathed a sigh of relief and started again, “Today we will be learning about the spark spells Verdimillious. Don’t confuse it with another spell Periculum which also casts the spell but is not the proper wording…Yes Mr. Smith?”
“Does it matter what we say, if they all cast the same spell ?”
“…Yes. You pronounce Verdimillious …”
“Sir, Can you elaborate?”
“…No. Now everyone say it with me vur-duh-MILL-ee-us.” The Professor caught on pretty quick.
…. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“What do you mean the astronomy class is at night?” Arthur asked Cedric as they entered the History of Magic classroom.
“It says so right on the schedule.” Cedric said pointing at his flier.
Upon a closer look Arthur found the time for the Astronomy class was at ten in the evening.
“When am I going to sleep?” asked Arthur still confused with the whole thing.
“You can just wake up late.” said Cedric hopefully.
Arthur considered it.
Waking up late would certainly be helpful to catch up on his sleep.
One life of irregular sleep schedule was frankly enough.
But looking at the hopeful eyes of his roommate he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He would persevere even if it was just for the sake of his friend because he was a true Hufflepuff, loyal to the bone.
As it turned out Professor Binns didn’t care about what the students did in class.
History of Magic was easily the most boring class to ever be taught.
It was said that Professor Binns had been very old when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up the next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him.
Maybe it was this type of can do attitude that let the man continue to teach despite any obstacles, whether the students were shouting or sleeping.
To prevent any confusion Arthur chose the latter.
If COVID had taught him anything it was that you didn’t need to focus in class to pass it.
It was a decent sleep.
Who knew a ghost talking would be so very boring?
…
Dear Mom,
I am glad to know you guys are doing well.
I have made lots of friends.
Everyone is really nice and kind here.
The professors are great teachers.
I even got to see the stars today, though I didn’t account for the cold.
I asked Professor Sprout, the head of my house which is Hufflepuff by the way, about the holidays.
There is a holiday for Christmas and also one for Easter.
Apparently they take religion very seriously.
Or maybe they just wanted a break.
Felt like a touchy subject, didn’t ask.
I will be coming home for the holidays.
About the broom, I don’t mean the ones we have at home.
I mean the flying ones.
We saw them at the Diagon Alley and wondered why brooms needed a showcase, remember?
Apparently they can fly.
I miss you guys too.
Yours lovingly,
Arthur Smith.
P.S.
Tell dad I love him and his name sucks.