After breakfast they made their way to the common room where Perfect Levi was distributing fliers containing their class schedules.
Tonks left them there and went to find her friends.
Since they still had some time before class Arthur decided to go to the owlery.
He asked the Perfect about the location and took Cedric along with him.
Arthur didn’t think getting to the owlery would be hard.
He hadn’t even given a second thought about the trip.
Who would?
What could possibly go wrong?
The answer to that question as it turns out was stairs, more specifically magical stairs.
The stairs in appearance were beautiful and ornate.
They included a variety, from wide sweeping marble stairs, to rickety stone steps.
The problem was how uneven it was.
Someone probably designed the castle with intruders in mind.
They clearly didn’t take into account literal children roaming around.
Or they did and just didn’t care enough.
The last straw for Arthur was when a step even vanished right as he set foot on it.
He was certain he would have broken his legs if Cedric hadn’t dragged him back.
Arthur had never before considered that climbing the stairs would be a group activity.
Apparently, he was wrong.
…
The owlery was situated at the very top of the West Tower of Hogwarts Castle.
It was a large, circular stone room containing perches of all sizes that lined the walls, rising all the way to the top of the tower to accommodate hundreds of owls of every breed.
The room itself was cold and drafty because none of the windows had glass in them, probably because that allowed the birds to come and go freely.
Arthur would have loved to stay and look at the view if not for the fact that the floor was completely covered in a messy layer of straw, owl droppings, and the skeletons of dead mice and voles.
It was Sir Newton that found Arthur as he was looking around and dove into his arms.
He had gotten pretty good at catching the bird.
Cedric refused to step foot into the space.
Not even the prospect of petting a fluffy bird would budge him.
Arthur thought he was being dramatic, until he himself stepped into something squishy producing a loud wet noise.
“Did you step on it?” Cedric asked when he noticed Arthur go still.
Too afraid to look down he asked, “What is IT?”
“I don’t know.”
That was all the information he needed.
Arthur silently let his bird go and hurriedly got out of the room.
Still afraid to look down he started running down the stairs, not caring that it was probably a death trap.
“Why are we running down the stairs when we know they are dangerous?” Cedric asked from right behind him, as good Hufflepuff’s do.
“That my friend, is because my sock is starting to get wet.”
“…Run faster.”
The Charms classroom was on the third floor.
Arthur walked into the empty room with Cedric.
They both agreed that whatever happened was probably enough adventure for the day.
Exploring new and exciting places was clearly a job for braver men.
Men not scared of stepping into gooey stuff.
Men comfortable with the idea of wet socks.
Or women, if that was what they were into.
Or anyone else for that matter.
“Did you get a good look at what it was?”
“New Rule. We also don’t talk about it.”
The room featured three rows of student desks.
At the front sat the teacher’s table with a high-backed chair.
A pile of books sat on top of the chair.
The class was still empty as there was still some time left before class.
It may have been because they had a really early breakfast.
Cedric spread his parchment and books and prepared to sit at the front desk.
“What are you doing?” Arthur asked confusedly.
“Sitting?” Cedric replied with confusion in his voice.
“There?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“It’s at the front.”
“So…”
“So, I don’t sit at the front.”
“Why not?”
“I just don’t.”
“Alright then. Where would you like to sit?”
“At the back.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No!”
“Yes!”
….
They compromised and sat in the middle.
The students slowly started to roll in.
They were taking a joint class with Ravenclaw.
The Hufflepuffs claimed in the row where Cedric and Arthur were already sitting.
The Ravenclaws’ claimed the inferior one.
Cedric made some light conversation with the other students while Arthur polished his wand.
Apparently someone had ended up on the fifth floor and had to ask a passing senior for help.
Just when Arthur was ready to chime in with an absolutely made up story when the door swung open.
Everyone quieted down as Professor Flitwick made his way towards the table at the front.
They also stayed silent as the Professor climbed the pile of books atop the chair.
The entire class agreed that respect for the professor was a given.
The silence was only broken by the sound of Roll call.
After that, Professor Flitwick raised his head and addressed the young wizards, “Today we’ll learn the Illumination Charm, one of the most basic spells. The incantation is ‘Lumos.’ Watch carefully…”
Arthur wasn’t surprised that the first spell lesson was the Illumination Charm.
‘The Standard Book of Spells’ had mentioned that it the simplest and most direct spell in the magical world.
There was no need to worry about hand gestures; or proper casting posture.
All that was required was proper pronunciation and intent.
The Illumination Charm was also one of the most useful spells in the world.
Its basic nature and ease of learning meant there were almost no barriers to learning it.
The Defense of the Dark Arts textbook also mentioned that many timid creatures could be scared away by this small spell alone, making it almost the most crucial spell a wizard could learn.
Professor Flitwick simply demonstrated the casting process of the Illumination Charm once, and then let the young wizards try it on their own.
Soon, the classroom was filled with scattered lights, some large, some small, some bright, some dim…
Arthur succeeded on his first try.
His wand lit up with a warm creamy glow.
The steady light on his wand felt like proper magic to him.
It was his first proper spell, a mark that he was truly capable of magic.
The problem was he didn’t know how to turn it off.
He knew the word ‘Nox’ but caution was paramount.
It always was.
It was at this moment that Professor Flitwick addressed the young wizards again, “Now for the counter spell the spell in ‘Nox’. Watch carefully…”
To Arthur the professor’s actions demonstrated more to his experience than anything else.
His precise timing and accuracy of instructions relieved any worries Arthur had for the class.
What he was surprised about was the fact that Cedric also did not know the spell.
“Excellent casting everyone.
Now I want you to repeat the process.” the professor said, “After that we will learn the history behind the spell.
Now!
Begin.”
With that the professor started guiding the students individually, starting from the Ravenclaws.
Taking the opportunity Arthur whispered to Cedric, “I thought you already knew the spell.”
“I come from a magical family.” Cedric checked to see the professor still far away and whispered back, “You think my mom will let me keep a dangerous stick?”
“YOU bragged about knowing all these magical information.” Arthur whispered indignantly.
“That’s cause my dad likes to brag. And most of my information is about quidditch.” Cedric replied sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
They put a pause on their conversation as the professor passed by.
Professor Flitwick went to the front of the class and started his lecture on the spell, his chalk enchanted to write his words in the board behind him.
The class was filled with the sounds of parchments turning.