A Web Of Magic

Magnus woke up the next morning at his usual time which was 6.30. It took a moment for him to get his bearings. It took longer for him to fall asleep the previous night as he was in a new place and in a new bed. The snores of Roger from nearby annoyed him. He was used to sleeping alone and still wasn't comfortable with sharing a room. 'I should look into some privacy charms in the library,' he reminded himself as he got down the bed. While he was used to going on a walk every morning, he didn't want to take a chance unless he was sure he wouldn't get lost.

He checked out the bathrooms and they looked nice enough. By the time he finished getting ready, it was barely 7. The breakfast started at 7.30, so he decided to spend some time in the common room. The common room was mostly deserted at this time except for two senior students who were studying by the fireplace. They didn't pay any attention to him, so he just sat by a window and looked out. The scenery was beautiful to say the least. He could see the Great Lake, the Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch pitch and the Herbology greenhouses. The mountains in the background only added to the fantastic view. They weren't wrong when they said that the Ravenclaw tower had the best view. He spent some time just taking in the view and enjoying the cool morning breeze.

"I see you are enjoying the view Mr. Webb," a jovial yet squeaky voice woke him up from his thoughts.

Magnus turned around to look at the short yet well-dressed Professor Flitwick looking at him with a smile.

"Good morning to you too, Professor. It is a marvelous view," Magnus greeted him.

"Good morning Mr. Webb, you seem to be up very early. I hope you didn't have any difficulties?" Prof. Flitwick asked in enquiry.

"Oh, it's all good professor, it's my usual time. It just takes some getting used to sleeping in a new place," Magnus assured him.

Prof. Flitwick looked at him in understanding and said," I've heard of your circ.u.mstances Mr. Webb. It's a tragedy that happened, you have my condolences. If you need someone to talk to, you can come to me at any time."

"Thank you, professor. I'll keep that in mind," Magnus replied. He appreciated the gesture of his Head of the house.

"On a brighter note, here is your schedule for the term Mr. Webb. You can tell your classmates to come and collect them from me when they are ready. There's just four of you this year. It's the least number of students Ravenclaw has ever had in recent history. It shouldn't be a surprise I suppose. Your generation was the worst affected by the war. Such terrible things wars are. Well, enough of that. I expect good things from you Mr. Webb. With so few of you, all of you must perform well to uphold the name of Ravenclaw," Prof. Flitwick encouraged him with a smile as he moved away to talk to some of the older students.

Magnus nodded his head at his professor. He read about the war and also heard some details from his aunt during their teaching sessions. His parents too faced some problems during the war as people weren't willing to employ any they found suspicious or of less repute. That meant anyone outside the well-known families or Hogwarts graduates. But reading was one thing and seeing the effect was another. He had been paying more attention to his friends during the sorting and didn't notice much of the other sortings. Even when Gritt showed them around, he thought that the small crowd gathered was from his year. Maybe some of the second years were mixed in and gave him the wrong impression. 'Now that I think about it, it does make sense to have few students. People probably avoided having children during the war to avoid complications,' he grimly realized.

He went back to his room to pick the necessary books for the day's classes. It was Defense against the Dark Arts in the morning and double potions in the afternoon. His moving about woke up the other two boys.

"You might want to get ready. Prof. Flitwick came by just now to hand out our class schedule. He asked you to pick yours from him," Magnus reminded them. His words set up a flurry as they both got up and rushed to get ready. Magnus decided to wait for them as he had nothing else to do.

It took some time to find the Great Hall, but they made it in time for breakfast. Roger and Noah sat beside Magnus. To the other side of Noah sat the only girl in Ravenclaw for their year, Eva Scott. She apparently had to bunk in with the second-year girls. Both Eva and Noah were chatting away with one another. Apparently, they knew each other from before. Magnus made polite talk with all of them as well as some of the seniors who were telling him what to expect in the classes. The talk around the table mostly involved academics of one sort of the other. He thought it was fitting for a house that values intelligence and thirst for knowledge. The owls made their deliveries and he spotted the twins making in barely before breakfast ended. They waved at him and smiled mischievously but had to stop when their Head of the house Prof. McGonagall went to give them their schedules.

Magnus made his way towards the DADA classroom on the first floor. The staircases were confusing as expected. He had to stop Noah going away the wrong direction. The four of them sat at the front of the classroom, the only place where any true Ravenclaw sits apparently. The class filled up and they were sharing it with the Hufflepuffs. There were eleven of them this year and the classroom didn't look so lonely anymore with them.

The professor who taught them was a lady called Rakepick, a no-nonsense lady who worked as a curse-breaker before coming here. She even had the scars on her face to prove it. She mostly taught them about imps and kept it to theory for the first class. Magnus read all of that before and while she did teach well, it wasn't anything extraordinary like he was hoping. 'Just where are the Dark Arts?' he wondered. The class ended with a homework of 7-inch essay on imps.

They were having lunch in the Great Hall when Roger asked nervously, "Hey Magnus, did you read up on potions before?" Noah and Eva too looked at him interested.

"Yes, I did," Magnus answered wondering where this was going. 'I also finished brewing all the first-year potions,' he sniggered in his head. It looks like Roger heard about Prof Snape, the potions master.

"Oh man, I only read the book once before. I already forgot most of it. I heard Prof. Snape is scary and hates everyone. Hope he doesn't pick on me," Roger exclaimed as he ate. Noah and Eva too started eating nervously once they heard Roger. It's clear that his words affected them.

"Relax, as long as you know your stuff, he shouldn't do anything. Besides, how can he hate everyone?" Magnus assured him. They left for potions after being reassured.

The potions class was in the dungeons of the castle. The classroom was large and had long tables and windows, but there was a gloomy atmosphere in the room. They shared their class with the Hufflepuffs again. Prof. Snape entered the class in a dramatic manner with a billowy cloak. He spoke slowly but everyone could hear him clearly.

"I am your potions master. As there is little wand waving here, you might think this is not magic. I don't expect you to understand the beauty of potion making. I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory and stopper death- if you are not the dunderheads I usually have to teach," Prof. Snape looked around the class slowly," Why aren't you writing it down?" he barked.

The class went in this manner as he gave some introduction and asked a few questions. He never picked a Ravenclaw to answer the questions despite them raising their hands. He only picked the Hufflepuffs. They quickly moved onto the practical portion of the class, brewing the potions. Prof. Snape clearly didn't pull any punches unlike the other professors who only taught theory in the beginning.

While Magnus would like to learn how to bottle fame, he had to settle to brew the Cure for Boils potion. He did it many times before so he didn't feel any pressure. The same couldn't be said for the other students though. Prof. Snape apparently doesn't only check their potion progress but also their ability to hold their nerves as he peered over their shoulders with scrutinizing looks. He gave special attention to the Ravenclaws as there were only four of them. The Hufflepuffs got the brunt of his wrath as they kept losing points for silly mistakes after the first few minutes. Magnus didn't notice any of this as once he started brewing the potion, he was in his own world.

By the time Magnus finished collecting his potion in a vial, there were still over 45 minutes left. He looked around and saw that most students were still in the middle of brewing their potion. He gave a mental shrug and went to where the professor was seated at. Prof. Snape's face had a fleeting look of surprise before it returned to the normal. He held out his hand and Magnus placed his vial in it. Prof. Snape observed the color of the potion before giving it a sniff. He gave Magnus a nod and waved him away. "You can get started on your homework now Mr. Webb. Nine inches on today's potion to be handed in by this week," he slowly said.

Magnus gave a nod. It was better to get the homework done now and save some time for himself later in the evening. He went back to his table while noticing the slack-jawed looks the other students were giving him. He gave them a shrug in response and carried on to his homework. Some student messed up in the back and caused the potion to spill earning the ire of the professor. In the end only few managed to complete the potion satisfactorily. While the other Ravenclaws did manage to brew their potions, they were all off color. They left the class dejected. The Hufflepuffs lost their house 15 points and this was the first day.

[Impact Points +5]

Magnus looked at the display with a smile. He usually gets 1 impact point at the beginning of every day. While he sometimes got points for doing certain things like helping Ginny with her toy, it wasn't very consistent. He helped Ron by fixing his torn Chudley Cannons poster once but he didn't get any points. He didn't know if the problem was on his side or on Ron's. He has 74 points by now and he's itching to spend them on something.

As they were going back to their tower Roger could no longer hold it in and asked, "How did you do it Magnus? I did the same as you did but I didn't get it right."

"I read textbooks."