Out of time, out of place, many times through life, we’ll feel absolutely out of synch, feeling so isolated even in company. Loneliness isn’t found in isolation, true loneliness presents itself when you must want to feel a connection, when you’re trying to fit in.

  On the darkest of nights, when you’re scared of what’s out there, you should feel more afraid of what’s inside. The monsters out there will be vanished at dawn, the monsters inside will remain for a long as you let them, for as long as you don’t face your true feeling, if you aren’t really willing to confide in others, to put down your guard, the beasts within will continue tormenting you, they feed of true loneliness.

  There’s no shame in being afraid, there’s no shame in feeling weak. The shameful part comes when you try to hurt others to mask out your pain, to hide your weakness. True strength doesn’t lie in the might of your gun, or the sharpness of your sword, it lies in your willingness to expose your weakness and seek help, it lies in your willingness to stand for what is correct.

  “La la la la, la la la la, la la lah la la la la… do do do do”

  The voice of an angel brought me back to reality, what received me on my way down from heaven was an almost ethereal sight. The sun seeped into our dormitory, the earthy tones in the decor, gave the whole Hufflepuff basement. At night was a cozy safe haven for the weary traveler, by day it brought endless vitality to everyone that entered it.

  The second thing that attracted my attention was located atop my bedside cabinet was a piece of parchment. It was my timetable, I had two courses in the morning, and one in the afternoon. The only outliers in this reasonable arrangement where the two Astronomy courses on Tuesday and Thursday, apparently I had to climb to the astronomy tower every time we had that class, I would have had preferred to receive double the amount of courses on a daily basis, if I just didn’t have to climb those dreadful stairs. At the end of the day Garland was truly just the tutorial boss, my years of grinding those stairs at home hadn’t really prepared me for what was coming my way.

  I began my morning routine, took a shower, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair, it was already a little long, but maybe I could rock it long this time around, there wasn’t really a dress code, outside the required work robes in school hours, as for hair, accessories and whatnot, I sussed it was free game. Well I don’t think it is truly that free, I reckon you had to have at least a modicum of decency so you could do whatever you wanted.

  From my timetable, I saw that my first course would be Potions, it was in the Dungeon. So, I could take my time at breakfast, maybe open the book Magical Drafts and Potions, I knew that some professors liked opening the first day of class with a surprise test. Besides that, it didn’t hurt to at least read the book’s introduction.

  I donned some comfy clothes, put on my work robes and woke up my roommates. We had a busy day ahead of us, but a hearty breakfast could at least comfort our bodies. I woke them up, and my made way up to the great hall.

  The great hall at this time of day was almost empty, there only were some scattered seniors here and there, the bags under their eyes could almost drag to their chins, not really, but they looked really tired. One of them ate a book while reading a pancake.

  I beelined to the Hufflepuff long table, there were empty saucers all along, but I didn’t really know how to order breakfast, there wasn’t any visible place where to line up for breakfast. I was thinking about the things that I should have asked Charlize before coming to Hogwarts, now that I think about it, almost didn’t hear any meaningful information, it was mostly her bragging. She had taken the mickey on me, our whole conversations could be boiled down to “when I was your age, I (insert exaggerated feats)”

  I was deep in thought when a sunny “Everything alright buddy?” interrupted my thoughts.

  “Eh, yes, well no… how do you get breakfast here?

  He looked at me with a bright and cheerful smile “That’s easy buddy, you just gotta tap your utensils in the table, and breakfast will automatically appear at your plate. Easy in ‘nit?”

  I tried what he had told me, and my plate was filled with a bowl of porridge, grilled tomatoes, some bangers, poached eggs and a little bit of fruit. A complete and balanced meal to start the day with the right foot.

  “Thank you hmmm? Sorry I didn’t hear your name?”

  He chuckled, and extended his hand “Cedric, Cedric Diggory, and don’t worry I hadn’t introduced myself.”

  “A pleasure meeting you Mr. Diggory.”

  The light in his eyes dimmed, just for a nanosecond, but he still replied, “C’mon buddy, Mr. Diggory is my father, just call me Cedric.”

  “Sorry Cedric”

  “Don’t fret over it, why are you so early at the great hall, you skipped the morning briefing”

  “Ah, I didn’t know about it, what was it about?”

  “Nothing special, just a rundown of a few things you first-years need to know.”

  “Like what?” As we began chumping down our breakfast I continued talking to him.

  “Well, we Hufflepuff’s don’t typically get our breakfast at the great hall, we tend to have a good relationship with the house elves running the kitchen so we can order breakfast to the common room or your room.”

  “And?” I seriously should have stayed a little longer.

  “Well, we just need to remind you that you shouldn’t go wandering the castle alone. We Hufflepuff’s need to stand together. We don’t really have problems with the other colleges, but you never know. Specially if you encounter a pair of redheads wandering around. You can’t imagine how many times a little badger has been caught in the crossfire of their daily disputes with Slytherin.”

  “Thanks for the heads up”

  “Don’t worry mate, that rarely happens, but if you ever need a late-night snack, or just need something to pad your Tum, just go directly to the large painting of a fruit bowl and tickle the pear. The house elves are always happy to help, just don’t go around telling this to the other colleges or bother them with trivialities we can get their help, but we can abuse them.

  “Thank you.” He’s right, just because someone is willing to help you, it doesn’t mean you should abuse their help.

  We continued talking about the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of school life, he talked about quidditch practice and shortness of time, he gulped down his last pancake, and sprinted out of the great hall. It seems that the relaxed allocation of courses ends in the second grade.

  Radio G. brought my mail, I got a reply from Bill, my copies of the Quibbler and Daily Prophet. Today’s prophet didn’t have anything particularly important, just the same gossip, I’m reconsidering my subscription, I’m spending 2 sickles and 6 knuts monthly, and there’s nothing particularly interesting, maybe Skeeter’s articles, but you cant truly believe 70 to 80 percent of what she writes in her articles.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  But the Quibbler, that’s a good investment, you never know what they’re going to talk about, and sometimes you get some cutting-edge research information.

  At the end I read Bill’s letter. More than a letter, it was a postcard, he was in south America, apart from that, the only reply I got from him, was “See you on Christmas”

  I continued eating, I’ve never felt so chuffed, I growing boy like me needed to eat, but bill always said that I shouldn’t eat too much, that I’ll get fat. But he isn’t here, so I can eat till my tummy bursts. When I saw the Gryffindor’s running to their table like a wild horse pack. I sussed it was getting late and made my way to the dungeon, better be early than late.

  I didn’t see either Hermione or Neville at the great hall, but I didn’t really search for them either. Maybe at lunch we can catch up, or at supper. Everything should go with the flow. I went to the dungeon, but there was no one at the Potions classroom. Maybe the Gryffindors weren’t late, they were just hungry, now that I think about it, there weren’t many Ravenclaws at the great hall, I should get a clock or something.

  I entered the classroom and started skimming over the book, I shouldn’t be totally unprepared for class.

  About an hour later my roommates entered the classroom and sat beside me, a little after that all the seats were taken, we took this class with Ravenclaw, there wasn’t any bad blood between us and the eagles, so everyone started chin-waging around.

  It wasn’t till a cold breeze went past us that everyone went silent; Prof. Snape entered swiftly the classroom, he looked coldly at us. His eyes clearly said, “Don’t waste my time, or else?” and started going on a spiel about glory.

  "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

  He really has a thing for dramatics, but I doubt I’ll be any better if I was in his place. If what Charlize told me is true then, he’s clearly overqualified for the job, a teacher like him should focus on the superior grades, not on teaching the basics for a bunch of kids.

  If there was a special teacher for the lower grades, that could patiently teach the basics of potion making, while looking for talented wizards to send for special tutoring with Prof. Snape, I think there would be more potion masters in the United Kingdom.

  Maybe I was a little to distracted, but he pointed at me and asked “Mr. Solé, if I can have the pleasure of having you in my class, could you answer some questions for the rest of the class.”

  Wait… me? No, it shouldn’t be. Darn it, I shouldn’t be distracted in class.

  “I’m sorry Prof. Snape”

  “Don’t be sorry Mr. Solé, a genius like you requires, ‘Special’ treatment, don’t you think so?.”

  “I’m sorry Prof. Snape”

  “Don’t be sorry Mr. Solé, just answer, what would you someone that ate Alihotsy leaves need to counteract the side effects of said leaves.”

  “I don′t know Professor”

  A sardonic smile began forming at his lips, or that’s what it seemed to me, but he wasn’t satisfied with just one question.

  “Well, maybe that was a little out of the first-years range, let’s go with something simpler. Tell me the most common use of Dittany, I think someone with your abilities and genius intellect, will ace this simple test.”

  “I don’t know Professor”

  He looked satisfied, “Well, Mr. Solé, if you don’t know that to cure the hysteria produced by Alohotsy you need Glumbumble treacles, or that dittany and it’s essence are commonly used to treat injuries. What gave you the illusion that you can be distracted in my class.”

  “I’m sorry Prof. Snape.”

  “I hope you remember this, talent doesn’t amount to anything, if you don’t even pay the minimum respect to what’s being taught to you, don’t you think so?” the last part was for the whole class, I could see their heads rattled up and down.

  “Well, if you all think so. Why don’t you write what I just said.” Everyone started frantically scribbling what Professor Snape had said.

  “Today, we’ll start with something very simple, the Cure for Boils, a very simple potion, even a Troll will be capable of making it if he follows some simple instructions. I would like to believe that there isn’t a single troll among us. But I may be wrong and yet again I got another batch of dunderheads.”

  After that, he began giving us a step-by-step lesson on the Cure for Boils, what precautions to take into consideration and the consequences of our possible mishaps. It really was very simple, but he never took questions, and only explained once, so everyone had their heads buried in a pile of parchment, scribbling at full throttle everything that he said.

  I partnered with Justin and Wayne went with Ernie. The four of us successfully boiled the potion, it wasn’t perfect, it was barely passable, but it wasn’t the worst-case scenario for our first attempt. We were asked to work in pairs, but in reality the four of us helped each other. I owe one to Wayne, neither Justin, Ernie nor me paid too much attention to the fire, and our cauldrons almost exploded, he quickly put out the fire. He said that sometimes, he and his brother help their mother boiling potions.

  Anyway, the four of us were deducted two points each, it isn’t much, but we just started the school year.

  After that, we hurried up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Quirrell stuttered the whole class, but we didn’t lose any more points.

  At the end of class, he told me that his office will be always open, if I ever needed someone to talk to. He’s a good teacher; it’s a shame that his accident left him this way.

  At lunch I met Hermione and Neville, they weren’t looking that good, but they didn’t want to tell me anything, maybe I should approach them in a more private setting.

  I bid my farewells to them, I hope school doesn’t treat them badly. I would have liked being assigned to the same house as them, but that wasn’t meant to be.

  At noon we had our first charms class, Prof. Flitwick was an enthusiastic individual, he told us the basics of spellcasting. The importance of our wand movements, the development of good spellcasting habits, and to always pay attention to incantations.

  After class I briefly asked him about the creation of new spells. I explained what I wanted to achieve and my guesses of how I could accomplish them.

  “Good think there James, but to create new spells, we need a clear understanding of what is magic. Tell me James, what is magic?”

  “Magic is magic professor” I said smiling

  “A funny and accurate answer James. Yes, magic is magic, because if it has a clear set of rules, then it stops being magic, when we apply them to the creation of potions, to the creation of magic objects, the deformation of matter or spellcasting, then it stops being magic.”

  “Then why do we need those courses”

  “On point again James, the nature of magic makes it uncontrollable, unpredictable and dangerous, you may not remember, but almost every wizard gets some kind of awakening when they’re children, from floating around, to running around at the speed of sound, or even doing permanent deformation, the first expression of magic of children is one of the most incredible things magic has offered us.”

  “So the wand movement and incantations aren’t the core”

  “Ha ha ha ha, James you’re right once again, but we are out of class, so there wont be extra points for you kid.”

  “Thank you Professor Flitwick”

  “It’s nothing kid, you’ll get the same answers sooner or later, I just guided you. Remember James, if you want to create a new spell, first you need a clear intention, then you need the wand gestures that convey the clearest your intention, and an appropriate incantation.”

  “Thank you Professor”

  “Don’t worry James, just don’t go around practicing this, you need a clear enough understanding of many spells to create your own, and of course you’ll need the supervision of an adult wizard, there are many talented wizards and witches that lose their lives every year in the exploration of magic. You know, one of my proudest disciples almost died last year, so don’t waste your life James, first focus on the fundamentals.”

  “Thank you Professor, see you in next class”

  After ending my chat with the Professor, I went to the library, my appointment with Professor McGonagall was scheduled to be after supper. In the library I greeted Ms. Pince, she warned me not to do any funny business at the library.

  I read a little more about the Fire-Making Spell, and the Wand-Lighting Charm. They were easy, but like Professor Flitwick said, intent was the key point. Without a clear intent, even if your wand gestures and incantations are perfect, you still can fail the casting.

  Just like my Smoke-making spell. As time went on, I found out that not many students went to the library, I packed my things and went to the Great Hall, Supper was about to begin, and I needed to brace myself to my meeting with Professor McGonagall.

  Even if she isn′t angry at my comportment. I still need to apologize, but I had to make it clear to her even if I overreacted. The school had clearly ignored my demand, and it wasn’t a last-minute thing, I had informed them with a little more than a month in anticipation. Even Professor Snape respected my demand. I clearly wasn’t of his liking, but he never called me Mr. Black after our brief meeting.

  I finished supper absentmindedly and walked with lead shoes to Professor McGonagall’s office.

  C’est la vie