Chapter 3
The next morning, Tom rose early, and was already dressed in his uniform by the time Irene came to wake them all and take them to the common room where Roger was waiting. The prefects grinned at the tired first years before leading them down to breakfast, where Tom eagerly got himself a large mug of coffee; despite waking early he was not in any way shape or form a morning person.
As they ate, students from other houses filing in all the while, they chatted. About family, of which Tom mentioned little, only saying that he had grown up with lots of other children, what subjects they were most looking forward to, of which Tom’s was potions, a fact he shared with Priya Patil. They chattered all throughout breakfast, only pausing to eat their food, or to thank Professor Binns when he came round with their class schedules.
The first year Ravenclaws had history of magic with the slytherins first, with their head of house, and Leonard especially was excited to see how the man compared to his mother’s stories of her old favourite professor. He was not disappointed, and left the lesson almost bouncing off the walls.
Binns was a tall man, old, though not as elderly as Professor Dippet, but he had a spring in his step that the other wizard did not and seemed energised by his subject. His area of specialism was goblin wars, but he taught all areas with such enthusiasm that it was hard not to enjoy his subject. He had quite literally brought the lesson to life, sparkling illusions of the events being discussed shimmering to life from his wand, and giving another layer of perspective for the eager students. If every class was like that, Tom knew that he would love Hogwarts even more than he had expected.
In his first potions lesson, a couple of days later, Tom narrowed his eyes at Professor Slughorn’s blatant favouritism of those with big surnames. What made him narrow his eyes more was how the man’s attitude towards him changed when he turned in a perfect boil-curing potion at the end of the lesson, applying the same favouritism he had to the others. However, Tom still liked the subject, even if the teacher seemed to be a bit of a twat.
Transfiguration was also enjoyable. Professor Dumbledore explained the theory to them in class, gave them time to practice, then if they completed it in class they were set an essay on the theory, but if not they had to show him the transfiguration at the start of the next lesson, as well as writing the essay. Tom thought it was a good teaching style, and because you were set the essay either way, all students - in his Ravenclaw/Gryffindor class at least - tried their hardest to complete the assigned task during the lesson.
Much of his school year was spent rushing through his homework after spending all night reading up about a far more interesting subject he had discovered over the course of the day, such as expansion charms, or a particular runic ward, or spell creation. He, Cadman, Priya and Isolde practically lived in the library, while Colleen and Leonard preferred to do their studying in the common room, where they could ask an older housemate for help if they needed to.
Binns appeared to become washed out as the year went on, but he still approached the majority of his lessons with the same vigour, and Tom figured he was just worn out from all the noisy children he had to deal with day in day out. He would surely be back to his usual self in September, recharged from the summer.
Slughorn continued to pay him attention in class as he continued to turn in perfect potions. He wasn’t quite sure where on the good-teacher-scale blatant favouritism ranked, but if it got him house points he guessed he wasn’t going to complain. What did make him grin once or twice was a scion of a House, like Orion Black or Abraxas Malfoy let their grades slide in more than one class, and lost Slughorn’s favouritism.
At the leaving feast, Hufflepuff won the house cup, and he clapped hard; after all, his friends Grace and Maggie, who he had met on the train and continued to hang out with when he wasn’t studying, were members of Hufflepuff, and he would be damned if he didn't support them. He wished with all his heart that this happy moment would last forever.
All too soon however, it was the morning after the feast, and Tom was running around his room, finding a spare sock, or a half filled scroll of parchment, and tossing them into his trunk. He shrunk his trunk and slipped it into the pocket of his robes before descending the stairs of Ravenclaw Tower for the last time that term, and making his way down to the carriages that took everyone to the Hogsmeade train station.
As he left, he turned and looked up at the castle. He already couldn’t wait to see it again.
Tom climbed into a carriage with Jacob, Priya, and Colleen, and the four chattered amicably on the short journey to the station. This time on the train, Tom wasn’t alone. He, Jacob, the Fortescue twins, and Leonard sat in a compartment together. The group chattered about mundane subjects, such as summer homework and books they had read recently.
About half way through the ride, after the trolley witch had come around and the twins bought some Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans to share with everyone. Tom was on a pretty good run with a caramel, a mint, then a chocolate. His streak was ruined - to everyone else’s amusement - when he mistook another caramel for an earwax. Tom resolved to not have another for a while, and pulled out a book on dragon breeding, which he read until the train pulled in at Platform 9¾.