31 First class

They found themselves in the Gryffindor common room. A round, cozy room, filled with comfortable armchairs, a thick brown carpet in front of a blazing fire, and even more portraits adorning the walls.

The female prefect led the girls through one door into their dormitories, and the male prefect led the boys through another door. At the top of a spiral staircase (it was evident that they were in one of the towers). They finally found their beds.

There were five adjoining beds with dark red velvet curtains. Each student had a heavy mahogany trunk, a desk, a closet, and bookshelves next to their beds.

James shared a room with Sirius, Toby, Peter, and a somewhat shady boy, who if not mistaken was named Remus Lupin.

All the boys were too tired to unpack. They went to bed, without much dialogue. The next day, James got up earlier to unpack and get his part of the room in acceptable condition.

He neatly placed the first year books on the bookshelf, a poster of his quidditch team on the wall, and tidied up some small items on his bedside table, 'Good, all tidy,' thought James, as he looked around his new room, where he would be spending many months.

As he finished tidying up, he noticed some of the bed curtains open. It was Sirius and Toby, both with sleepy faces.

"Hey, are we going to breakfast?" asked James, enthusiastically looking at the two of them.

"Don't talk so loud..." said Sirius, holding his forehead. He had a night full of nightmares. A giant head just like his mother's was screaming at him and saying that he was a disgrace to the family for being left in Gryffindor.

"Come on, man... put more energy into life!" said James, grabbing a large pillow and throwing it straight at Sirius' sleepy face.

PAM

Sirius didn't have the reflexes to dodge it, and the pillow hit straight into his face, "Damn... Where do you get so much energy from!" cursed Sirius grabbing the pillow and throwing it back at James.

"Isn't it obvious? We started our student life. That's why I have energy," said James, dodging the pillow nimbly.

One of James' biggest dreams was to have an ordinary school life. And now he was fulfilling it. It was even better than he had dreamed. Hogwarts was giant, magical, and fantastic.

"If you want to make the quidditch team as a beater, you'll need to improve your strength and aim," said James, grabbing the cushion and throwing it at Sirius, who was dodging it this time and catching it in mid-air.

With great force, he threw it at James, who managed to dodge it, but Sirius had already grabbed another pillow from his bed and threw it predicting where James would dodge.

PAM

"You're good, Black," James said with a slight smile and his nose a little red from the blow. Even though they were pillows they were hard.

"Don't underestimate me, Potter," Sirius said with a haughty smile. James had achieved his goal. Now Sirius was on his feet and with an awake face.

All the commotion James and Sirius made woke up the other boys. Peter and Toby were looking at Sirius and James as if they were watching their idols. Lupin, on the other hand, faintly clicked his tongue in annoyance at being woken up and began to change.

Five minutes later, Sirius and Toby were ready to go to the dining room for breakfast, "C-can I come with you guys?" asked Peter as he fiddled with his hands nervously.

"Yeah sure, we're roommates after all," replied James, looking at Sirius, who nodded as if he didn't mind too much.

"Th-thank you!" squealed Peter and followed the group.

"Do you want to come with us?" asked James, looking at Lupin, who was rummaging through his trunk.

Lupin looked up watching the group, and replied dryly, "No."

"Well...see you later," James said awkwardly, walking out of the room with the others.

He didn't think he would be rejected. He wanted to be nice since they were in the same room, 'Not everyone will accept me...' thought James not giving it any more thought.

"How did he end up in Gryffindor...? H-he looks like a criminal," commented Peter, referring to Remus.

"Yeah. At first glance, he looks more like a Slytherin," said Sirius yawning.

"The hat must have seen something we didn't..." said Toby, perking up to be part of the conversation.

James was surprised by Toby's clever response, "You have a point," said Sirius nodding and looking in a new light at Toby.

"What's the problem, Potter? Are you really surprised at being rejected?" asked Sirius with a smirk as he saw that James wasn't speaking.

"It's not a problem. Opportunities will come, and Remus will accept my invitation next time," James said confidently. He managed to befriend Gwen and Emily, two girls who were difficult to socialize with, and got off on the left foot.

When they got to the dining room they started breakfast and chatted happily. James and Sirius started telling Toby, who had no idea, how quidditch worked. Peter listened from the sidelines and now and then said a comment.

Sunday came, and it was only one day until Monday which would be the first day of school since they arrived on Friday night. James left Remus alone planning his next move to get him to join the group. If he continued to insist he would only succeed in generating rejection.

Monday, September 4, 1971.

The first week of classes passed at a leisurely pace. The first classes had been introductory, so James didn't find it complicated at all. He managed to earn 30 house points in Charms, Transfiguration, and History of Magic. In the latter, he did not expect it, but thanks to his great memory he managed to earn these points.

The first Charm class had been very easy for James. It was the Lumos charm. Something that James had mastered at the age of 8 with a wand that was not his own. Because he was at the top of his class he got the points.

Professor Filius Flitwick is the charm teacher. He is a diminutive wizard who had to climb a pile of books to see over his desk. When he saw James' ease and speed in achieving Lumos he complimented him highly.

The Transfiguration class was more interesting, as James had not studied books about these subjects. He didn't find it useful in combat, so he decided to start at Hogwarts like everyone else.

Professor McGonagall is strict and smart. She is also the head of Gryffindor house. In this class, they had to make a lot of notes, and then she gave them the task of turning a match into a needle. Only one individual achieved this in the first lesson: James Potter.

Sirius Black and Lily Evans had made a substantial improvement in their matches but failed to convert it completely. For this achievement, James got 10 points for Gryffindor.

Defense Against the Dark Arts class they had Antennae Fitzman as their teacher. A stern, cold, and very strict woman of about 40 years old. She is even more severe than Professor McGonagall. From what she told them about her life, she was a former Auror. So she had a great experience facing dark wizards.

James was one of the classes he looked forward to the most, as he was to face the most powerful dark wizard of recent times shortly and his entourage of followers. So he paid close attention. In this class, the teacher did not give points to anyone in the class.

The points are used to win the House Cup, an annual Hogwarts prize given at the end of the year to the house with the most points earned. Points are given by teachers and prefects throughout the year for correctly answering questions and for good deeds. Points are also subtracted for acting badly.

The older Gryffindor students were very attentive to the scoring. They didn't want to lose another year to the Slytherins, so they had to be very careful not to lose points because they were not at all amused. Many congratulated James for gaining 30 points in the first classes of the week.

"What classes are there today?" asked James as he put sugar in his tea.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," replied Sirius in a disgruntled tone.

"Professor Slughorn is the head of Slytherin house. I hope he doesn't favor them," commented Toby, who these days was already more familiar with James and the others, and wasn't so afraid to converse with them.

"It will be good to see their faces when we win points in front of their head of house," said James confidently. Potions was one of the subjects he mastered the most.

"You sound confident though I believe that. You won 30 points, and the week isn't even over yet," said Sirius with surprise in his tone. This achievement was something rarely seen. Peter standing next to him nodded and looked at James with fawning eyes.

"Well...it wasn't that hard. I had already studied the books at home," James said a little embarrassed.

"A lot of the older students say it's a record. The year sometimes ends with 250 0 300 points and you already got 30 in a week. You're great!" said Peter with his fists clenched in excitement.

"Uh yeah... thanks," James said uncomfortably. Sirius looked at him with a smile. Rarely could his friend be seen so uncomfortable.

James noticed out of the corner of his eye a person entering the dining room, going to the Slytherin table. It was Emily, "I'll be right back," he said getting up from his seat and heading towards her.

These past few days, he couldn't talk to Emily. Today was the time. Sirius and the others looked at him quizzically as they noticed he was heading towards the Slytherin table.

'Is he going to annoy someone?' thought Sirius as he got up from his seat to give James support.

Seeing him start to converse with a short, black-haired girl, he sat down and watched curiously, though he couldn't hear anything they were talking about because of the distance.

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