First Class of the Year: Defence Against the Dark Arts

Molly's eye twitched ever so slightly. "Yeah, well, Zuko and I don't have secrets," Molly told her in a matter-of-fact tone; thought, it did pain her to say that she had been keeping one secret from Zuko and that was her animagus form, but she had been keep that a secret from everyone but her cousin, Peter. She resolved to tell him soon, when the time arose. But back to the matter at hand; if this girl didn't want to be pitied then she wouldn't be, not by Molly. She was just trying to be nice, but that's okay, she didn't have to be.

"You know people might start putting two and two together on their own, though, right? I mean, just saying," Molly shrugged. She wouldn't tell though, it wasn't her secret to tell - she wouldn't have told before the girl mentioned it and she won't tell now, for Zuko's sake. "I don't know, but I never said I was gonna tell. Wouldn't be a point in it, really." Molly shrugged.

Molly then looked up at Evie and smiled. "Hey Evie," Molly greeted her warmly.

Jessica ran panting into the room, her bag slung over one shoulder and almost falling off. She stopped abruptly upon seeing how many people were in the room and froze slightly.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, addressing the Proffessor. She felt herself blushing violently as she looked around for a spare seat- any seat really. She cursed herself for forgetting the first lesson of the year, forcing her to run down several flights of stairs, a trip which almost led her to falling down the disappearing step

[[OOC- Seriously, how have I missed this many pages? Silly me ]]

" Hi Molly " She spoke whilst tucking herself into the slot next to her , feeling much more welcome at the presence of her best friend by her.

Fionn sat up and grinned at Jessica. "hey! how are you? we've got boggart studies today, Jess"

"Wow, you can do a Patronus?" Jim asked, looking at Evaine with wonder. "I can't even do that. No matter how hard I try, it just comes out as a little whisp or something. It never turns into full-blown image of...something." He shook his head. "Nah, I don't think it's weird. We all have dreams and stuff we want to do. Who knows, maybe you and Hiccup can change how us wizards view things." He gave Evaine an encouraging smile.

Some other students walked into the room, some wondering if they were late. Jessica was one of them. There was another girl that Jim hadn't seen before. He blinked, thinking it odd that she had white hair, despite being a student. Maybe it was some weird curse she had gotten? He didn't know. But he soon saw Don and he gulped nervously. While Fionn tended to use physical ways of bullying Jim, Don leaned more towards spells. He was pretty good at them, and Jim had started to resent him for that. He quickly looked away, hoping the bully hadn't spotted him. But it looked like things were getting heated up when Brieanne started speaking sharply to some guy Molly was sitting next to. Jim thought he heard the word "fiance" and he had to do a double-take to realize that this was the guy she was engaged to. He didn't say anything, but he did keep an eye on the three in case things went too far and he had to help Brieanne in some way.

Evaine smiled at Jim "thanks Jim your so sweet, I'm glad that we're friends." she said, she put her hand on his shoulder before looking back up at brie "Hey should we try cheering her up later?' she whispered in Jim's ear. Evaine saw some new faces and one of them was from Slytherin, out of the corner of her eye seeing Jim getting Nervous. Eva lightly grab his hand "Hey I'm here and so is Molly no one's going to mess with you." she winked trying to confront him

Jessica shuddered when Fionn finished his delighted sentence.

"Eugh, boggarts. Just what I need. You seem weirdly chirpy for someone who may very well face a ghost this lesson. Or an albino."

Slightly regretting the snappish teasing, she moved forward and took the spare seat behind Fionn, wanting to sit alone but wanting to make up for the tired mood she was in. She looked about the room and noticed Jim, the boy that had shared their cabin on the train journey over. Already he looked petrified of something, and after looking around she saw the Slytherin Donald sitting across the room. Great, she thought to herself, Jim seemed to just be getting comfortable with company on the train and now it looked like that was ready to go to waste.

the reaction to her words was electric. he tensed, shuddered, and withdrew into himself, staring at the wardrobe. "thanks for reminding me what's waiting in there" he muttered, and looked over, inwardly groaning at the sight of Donald. he hoped the other would keep his peace till after class. "Jess, I don't bring up your fears, and not so nastily either. what's wrong?"

Fionn was so rarely affected by taunts that his reaction shocked Jessica momentarily. She looked at him carefully, processing his words before bowing her head and feeling her eyes water slightly. God dammit.

"Sorry," she said quietly, fiddling her fingers. "I guess I'm a little scared too. I don't know what's gonna come out of there. But I know, I shouldn't bring up yours. I'm just... just a bit snippier than usual nowadays."

For a rare instant, Moses was quiet. He simply watched the others interact with each other, his dark chocolate eyes occasionally looking over to the moving wardrobe. His hands still rubbed together, as was his nervous habit, but luckily it seemed that Casuer was distracted by someone else to notice. Moses didn't want his hands slapped again. A small sigh left his lips, as the Italian began to grow bored and thirsted for entertainment. Fiddling with his wand, his eyes searched around the room again, this time for a target.

he reached over and put a hand on her arm, but still looking away. "it's alright, I guess. you're not sure what's going to come out for you? a couple others are in your position too, but that one" he nodded at Pippa "seems pretty excited to learn what her worst fear is. I think she's off her rocker" he chuckled a little and sighed. "it's because of...what happened last year, isn't it? you know I'll make them regret the words Jess. I did it last year" he looked at her then. "they've got no right to judge, I mean, one of them accidentally gave himself a donkey tail first year, right? he got it off, of course, but it did take a few months..." he reached over and hit Moses' hand "what did I tell you about rubbing them together like that?"

"I'd say that's a definite yes," Jim replied, answering Evaine's question. "I just hope that things don't get too violent or anything, especially with the teacher nearby." He jerked his head toward Professor Rivera. She could be pretty stern when she wanted to, and God forbid Brieanne end up getting detention because she and Zuko got into a fight of some sort.

Jim jumped at Evaine putting her hand on his and he looked up at her. He actually felt a little comforted by her words, although he was bushing a little bit at their hands touching. "Thanks, Evaine," he said. "That makes me feel a little better."

Emily got bored listening to the other's conversation, and didn't understanding a word they were talking about. She realized they were talking about advanced spells, and she let herself lost looking around. She saw the wardrobe moving again, and she pouted, not knowing what to do in the next moment...

She looked around again, and smiled as she saw her mentor holding his wand, and a smirk showed into her lips as she sneaked next to him.... ''I'm ready for my fisrt lesson...'' She whispered playful, looking up to the boy.

Moses snapped out of his quest upon hearing a voice. His hands once again slapped by Fionn. He glared at the other before snorting. "Try to make me stop?" he asked with a challenging grin before his attention was taken away by another voice, that was quiet. He looked to the side and saw his little apprentice smiling playfully up at him. A grin formed on his own face as he ruffled her hair. "I'm sure you are." he whispered back with a wink. Looking around once more, he began to give his instructions. "Look for someone who is really tense and uptight right now." he told her. "And then I'll show you the tickling charm." he added with a mischievous smile. Before going back to rubbing his hands, just to annoy Causer.

Jessica snatched her arm back but nevertheless laughed, looking towards Fionn who still seemed distant despite the fact he looked at her now.

"She definitely looks mad, she hasn't stopped smiling since the train. I saw her on the platform as well. She has to be the cheeriest child I've ever seen." She was quiet again, casting her eyes downwards. "You don't have to tell anyone off for me. I mean, thank you- really, I am grateful- but... I guess I'd rather fight them off myself." She laughed randomly again, looking back towards Fionn. "My temper and all that, you know."

She looked towards the Hufflepuff boy that Fionn turned his attention to and saw that he seemed on edge. She smiled half heartedly towards him, offering what comfort she could. At least she wasn't the only one who seemed to dread the lesson

he grinned. "did you know Filch is her father? whatever else he fails at, apparently he's good at raising a kid. who knew?" he laughed and shook his head. "Jess, I'd..." he stopped sighed, and then gave a half hearted smile. "I'll keep the behind-the-back ones at bay, then. you can have the ones who go for you head on. and believe me, I know that temper of yours" he gave a theatrical shudder and grinned.

"Yeah I don't want Brie getting in trouble and as her friends we need to do everything we can to make her happy." she whispered again, still holding Jim's hand her cheeks turned a light rosy pink "No problem Jim your my friend I would do anything for you and I'm glad that um kinda useful for someone." she said feeling warm that she made Jim feel better. "So what do you think we should do?" she spoke about how to make Brie happy again.

Emily giggled quietly when Moses told her what he would teache her, and she looked around to find someone tensed....

''I don't know... there are so many nervous people in here...'' She said with a pout, ''I can't see the point, the boggart seems so boring...''

Jim nodded. "You're nice that way, you know? You always care about other people, want to make them happy. There aren't...many people like that left around here." His heart was still pitter-pattering at Evaine holding his hand, but he didn't want to pull away and hurt her feelings. It did feel kind of...nice, even though Jim knew that holding hands was more of a thing that couples did rather than friends.

"Um, I don't know, I'm...kinda lacking imagination at the moment," he said. "I'm not sure what she likes, besides Edgar Allen Poe and playing the piano. Do you know her well? You might have a better idea than me."

A small sigh left his lips as he patted the girl's head. "That's becomes the boggart because your worst fear. And everyone else gets to see your fear. No one likes being so vulnerable." he explained to her with a bit of a sad smile. "And some of them seem to be a bit lgihter, chatting with otehrs. Just find someone who could really need a laugh." he instructed.

Emily nodded as Moses explaned what was the boggart, and she frowned a bit, thinking hard about what she could fear the most...

''Alright...'' She said, as she turned her attention to her classmates again....
''I don't know, but that boy who looks tired really needs to laugh a bit...'' She said as she looked up to her mentor, with a innocent smile, ponting discretly to the boy who caught her curiosity early.

Evaine blushed some more "I guess I get it from my father, I never really liked seeing people upset or sad.. Not even my mother and she slaps me on my daily or hourly basics." she said rubbing her cheek remembering every slap she got and how each time it got very painful. Looking down seeing she was still holding his hand her face turned red 'Sorry if I made you feel.. Unconformable in any way Jim."

"Well ive never talked to her until yesterday but i guess all we need to do is let her know she's not alone."

Don was still anxious not to see his friend. He didn't feel like bothering talking to other students for now.
He distractedly listen to conversations and noticed some students were talking about a boggart. Was it going to be the subject of this lesson? He knew vaguely what a boggart was but he had no idea of what it was going to reveal about him. Somehow that could be interesting. After all, in fights, knowing your own fears and limits was important.

"Wait, what? Your mom does that? Seriously?" Jim knew that Evaine had it rough, but an abusive mother? He didn't know things were that bad. "Evaine, that's...that's not right. That could be grounds for child abuse or something. You should tell someone what's going on. You don't deserve to be treated like that."

He shook his head. "Forget about me for a second. I just don't want you to get hurt or something," he said, forgetting about Brieanne for a moment. "Is there anything I can do? I mean, I don't know if I can do much, but if I can help you in some way, just let me know. I don't...want you to be sad." He paused for a moment, taken aback at the passionate speech he had just given. He normally didn't say stuff like that. He was a little surprised with himself.

Her eyes widen at what Jim just said, her eyes started watering covering her hands over Jim's lips she begged him "Please Don't tell a soul Jim, I don't need the teachers finding out about her beating me and my mother be thrown in jail. I can handle taking a beating from her.. Sometimes but that's the only place I have left to go, my sisters left two years ago I don't know where they might be and I can't stay here.. I just don't know what to do." she uncovered her hands "Yes it's bad and I'm never happy but she's my family, so please don't tell."