Spells of Fire
Lessons started on the next Thursday. Barty was agitated, upset that they didn’t get the rest of the week off. “Like, New Years’ was on Monday. We came back to school yesterday! Why can’t we get the rest of the week off?” Regulus looked up from his notes, where he was cross-checking his Charms homework against the textbook.
“What’s the point? We’re gonna learn the same things, regardless of if we do them now or next week. Might as well get it over and done with,” Regulus shrugged. Barty frowned. What kind of reasoning was that?
Evan grinned, taking pity. “Oh, come on, Bee. Wanna sneak around and draw mustaches on the portraits?” Evan took out a quill that was charmed to stick onto paintings, raising an eyebrow. Barty smiled. Evan always knew how to make him feel better.
“Hell yes!” Barty jumped up from where he was lying on Evan’s bed and grabbed his cloak, Evan copying his movements.
“Curfew is in forty minutes. Don’t be late,” Regulus warned, not looking up from his papers. Barty rolled his eyes. “Ok, mum.” Barty could’ve sworn he saw Regulus’ jaw twitch into a grin before he suppressed his emotions, schooling his face. Barty tried not to smile. He was finally getting the hang of being Regulus’s friend.
Evan stood on his tip-toes, trying not to get his fingerprints on the painting while scratching a mustache on a portrait of a young knight, who actually seemed quite pleased to finally have some facial hair. “Why thank you, kind sirs, for this!” The knight exclaimed when Evan stepped back to admire his drawing. Barty giggled, leaning into Evans’ shoulder. Evan bit his lip, trying not to laugh, and wrapped an arm around Barty to keep him stable.
“Alright, we better get back soon, yeah?” He asked, pushing Barty away so he could look into his eyes. Barty tutted.
“Fine, I guess. I’ll race ya!” Barty shoved Evan aside, knocking him back to give him a disadvantage, and threw a grin over his shoulder. “Whoever loses has to do the others’ history homework!”
“Oh, you asshole!” Evan yelled in return, shoving the quill inside his pocket and leaving the grateful knight behind.
***
Barty still didn’t fully understand what happened over the winter break. It was clear as day that something had gone down, however. The rift between Slytherins and Gryffindors had grown even more prominent, especially amongst the older students. More than once, Barty had seen Snape in a hexing match with two other second-years, a boy with brown skin, black hair and glasses, and a boy that Barty assumed was Regulus’ brother, given the fact that they looked almost identical. Barty was shocked when he first saw Sirius - and was surprised that he had not met him earlier. But, he supposed, Regulus had never introduced them, and had made it clear that he didn’t have a good relationship with his brother.
Still, it was unnerving to see those steel grey eyes bore into his, and to watch Sirius curl his upper lip into a snarl, eyes flicking down to the green tie that rested untied around his neck. The bruises around his eyes from winter break were still there. Barty could almost smell the disgust coming from him, and he involuntarily shrank back, passing by to his class quickly. Sirius scoffed, and turned back to his Gryffindor friends. Barty entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom right behind Evan, taking his seat beside Regulus, who had rushed ahead to save seats while they lagged behind.
“Did you see that, Ev?” Barty asked, out of breath. The hexes that the second-years were using managed to ricochet off suits of armour and blasted into portraits, sending the painted figures running. Barty kind of felt sorry for them, even though he knew that they weren't technically alive. “I think we need to learn more spells.” Evan hummed in agreement, nodding absentmindedly. Regulus stared straight ahead at the blackboard, not acknowledging the other two. Barty looked at Evan, who shrugged. “I think he’s upset because he saw his brother. Y’know, after the stuff that happened at Christmas,” Evan whispered, as McGonagall rushed into stood in front of the class and called for silence.
“My apologies for being late everyone, there were some older students who were demonstrating an extremely improper use of magic, as I’m sure you saw. Now, please open your textbooks to chapter 7, and we’ll get on with the lesson…” Barty dutifully copied his classmates, trying to stay focussed on the lesson, but his mind kept wondering to the spells the older students used, and how much he wanted to learn them.
***
As the days slowly got warmer, the workload for the first-years increased. Barty longed for the summer holidays, where he and Evan could spend days just lounging around in the sun, not worrying about schoolwork and an impending war. Whenever he could, he would drag the other two out onto the grounds into the rare, late January sun, bringing their books to quiz each other and breathe in the fresh air. Unfortunately, Regulus’s brother and his mates had the same idea, so most of the time they would have to make do with studying in one of the numerous courtyards there were in the castle, or making their way to the library.
Barty also had one more thing to think about - Evans’ birthday. It was fast approaching, and with the beginning of February, it was all he could think about. He would whisper to Regulus about his plans for the day when they were alone in the dorm, going quiet when Evan entered the room. To indicate that Regulus and he weren't whispering bad things about him, Barty would grin, set Evan in a headlock and ruffle his hair.
Barty still struggled to complete his homework, getting dangerously close to detention multiple times, but managing to make up for his pitiful theory work with his outstanding wandwork. In Charms, after levitation, they worked on Lumos, the softening charm, the unlocking charm and the mending spell. In class, they were due to learn the fire-making spell that day, and Barty was beside himself with excitement. “Imagine what we can do with this!” Barty exclaimed, sparks flying from his wand as he waved it around. Regulus looked over, a smile playing on his lips.
“Make fire, I presume?” Barty rolled his eyes, sending sparks flying all over Regulus as he ducked for cover behind his Charms textbook. “Help! I’m being attacked by a maniac!” Regulus laughed, Evan laughing alongside him.
Barty rolled his eyes, eager to get on with the lesson. “Thank you, everyone,” Flitwick started, effectively quieting down the class. “Since we covered the theory last class, we will get on with the practical element today. Please follow me to the courtyard to avoid starting any fires inside.” The classroom burst into chatter as the students followed their teacher down the hall to the outside. Barty elbowed Evan, creating a bet that he could make fire first. Regulus rolled his eyes, twirling his wand in between his fingers. “You’re not making fire. You’re simply conjuring it and manipulating it. It’s fairly simple, if you understand the theory,” he said, giving Barty a pointed look.
Barty felt a lick of shame, covering it up with a sheepish smile. He had hurriedly copied Evan’s homework this morning before class, being too preoccupied with a chess game the night before with a second-year named Mulciber. Barty did not do the required reading nor the pre-wandwork of learning the exact pronunciation, as well as not heeding the warnings that came along with one of the most dangerous spells they would learn this year. He bumped Regulus with his shoulder as they were walking, giving him a grin. “It’ll be alright! Spells are easy.”
“Well, that’s a surprise, considering that you struggle to read,” Evan said snidely, smiling at a memory. Barty gasped in mock affrontment.
“Excuse you! That was one time I messed up a word!” Barty roared, causing students around them to rush ahead in an attempt to get away.
“Yeah, but it was literally just ‘apply’! You said ‘app-lee’!” Evan giggled, clutching his bookbag as he stumbled around from laughter. Barty poked his ribs, giving Evan an electric shock and causing him to drop his bag. With a SMASH, his inkwell exploded inside the bag, immediately drenching the bag in black ink. “Oh, fuck!” Evan exclaimed, dropping down to pick up his destroyed books. Barty was howling with laughter, and Regulus was grinning too, although he was trying to cover it with his hands.
“Boys! What is going on here?” Flitwick appeared in front of them, ushering the rest of the students outside before dealing with the three troublemakers. Regulus simply looked innocently at Flitwick, whereas Barty was still snickering at Evan where he sat on the floor, palms covered in ink. Flitwick smiled begrudgingly, repairing the books and bag easily, then telling the three boys to get a move on to class.
***
In the end, Barty was right. He was the first one to master the spell, curling the flame around his fingers, manipulating the charm perfectly in a display of bravado, showing off to his friends. Professor Flitwick praised him, awarding Slytherin with 5 house points. Barty grinned, boasting to his friends on the way to lunch. “See what I did there? I’m just too good for this.” He jumped onto a nearby bench, flexing his muscles.
“Shut up, Bee, you have nothing there.” Evan pulled him down before he embarrassed himself, Regulus chuckling at them.
Barty stuck his tongue out at Evan, his mind briefly returning back to the Gryffindor second-years he saw earlier, before shaking his head and asking the other two about dinner.