Chapter 30 - You'll answer to me

Thomas and his friends settled into their routine at Hogwarts over the next month, attending classes, studying, and spending some of their free time with Hermione. While his friends were glad that nothing bad happened in the first defense against dark arts class, Thomas was relieved to have made it through the cursed orb incident and grateful to Irina for her gift. Otherwise, he might have not been here today.

Every other week, Thomas made sure to write letters to his parents, Irina, and Latia because he promises them that, but also because he was missing them. He knew they were all worried about him and curious about his life at Hogwarts, and while he was sad that his letter would not reach Irina any time soon, he knew that she would be happy when she would get all of his letters that would undoubtedly pile over the year.

In his letters to his parents, Thomas tried to sound upbeat and enthusiastic about his studies. He told them about his favorite classes, like Potions and Charms, and how he was doing well in most of his courses. He also mentioned his new friends in Ravenclaw and how he was starting to feel more comfortable at Hogwarts.

To Irina, Thomas was more honest about his struggles. He told her about the cursed orb incident and how grateful he was for her gift. He also told her how he got the attention of one of the teachers, though not going further into details, and how he was trying to make the most of his time at Hogwarts despite their indifference.

With Latia, Thomas shared his thoughts on the magical world and his hopes for the future. He told her about the fascinating things he was learning in class, like how to brew potions and cast spells. He also asked her how she was doing without him bothering her every day.

No matter who he was writing to, Thomas always made sure to include a few anecdotes about his daily life at Hogwarts. He told them about the delicious food in the Hogwarts kitchen, the cozy common room in Ravenclaw Tower, and the quirky professors he encountered in his classes.

Thomas looked forward to receiving their responses to his letters, which usually came a few days later by owl post. He loved hearing about their own lives and how they were doing. It made him feel connected to them even though they were miles apart.

Writing letters was a small but important way for Thomas to stay in touch with his loved ones and keep them updated on his Hogwarts adventure. It also helped him process his own thoughts and feelings about his new life as a wizard, especially since he felt as if he would soon be dragged into something too troublesome for an eleven years old.

Anyways, other than writing letters back home, Thomas tried to talk with Harry and Ron, but the Gryffindor boys continued to ignore him and his friends. While Thomas and his roommates were not bothered by that, whoever their Gryffindor friend, Hermione felt different, mostly because Ron keep calling her names and trying to do anything in his power to disturb her in class. All that led to Hermione spending more time with the Ravenclaws than with her own house.

One day, after finishing their Herbology class, Thomas decided to spend some time in the Hogwarts greenhouse, trying to learn more about the plants and how to properly take care of them.

After he left the greenhouse, he bumped into Hermione, who was carrying a large stack of books. She greeted him warmly and asked if he wanted to study together in the library. Thomas eagerly agreed, and they spent the rest of the afternoon poring over their textbooks and notes.

While he read a lot of books related to the magical side of the world, he was nowhere near Hermione and her love for knowing everything and because of that, Thomas was grateful for Hermione's help. He also enjoyed talking to her about their interests outside of school, like their favorite books and movies. It was refreshing to have someone to talk to who wasn't solely focused on their magical abilities, not to mention when that someone wasn't teasing you or competing with you for the best meal of the night.

The same routine continued until Halloween came and everything changed. The morning of Halloween was a chilly one, with the leaves outside the Ravenclaw tower rustling in the wind. Thomas woke up, feeling a mixture of excitement and nerves for the day ahead, not to mention the fact that over the past week or so, he begged Hagrid to let him use the area around his hut to try his spells and because of that he woke up later than his friends. From what he and his friends had heard, Halloween at Hogwarts was always a special occasion, with a grand feast in the evening and all sorts of surprises and scares throughout the day.

Thomas got dressed in his Ravenclaw robes and headed to the common room, where he found his roommates already awake and waiting for him.

"Morning, late boy Tommy," James said teasingly, though Thomas could sense a hint of jealousy in his voice. James had been talking non-stop about the Quidditch tryouts that had taken place a few weeks earlier, where Harry Potter had been chosen as the youngest player on the Gryffindor team in decades, just because he was the boy who lived, while everyone else was rejected because they were too young.

All of them knew that James had been hoping to join the Ravenclaw, but he hadn't been selected because he was in the first year. All three of them tried to offer words of encouragement, but Thomas could tell that James was still feeling down about it.

After they greeted each other, the four of them headed down to the great hall for breakfast, where they were greeted by the usual chaos and noise of hundreds of students talking and laughing over plates of eggs, toast, and pumpkin juice.

As they sat down at the Ravenclaw table, Thomas noticed that the hall was decorated in orange and black streamers and candles, with jack-o-lanterns placed on every surface.

"This is going to be a great day," Michael said, beaming with excitement.

Thomas nodded in agreement as he began to pile his plate with food. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous though, as Halloween was known to be a particularly eventful day at Hogwarts at least that's what his friends were saying. He wondered what kind of surprises the day had in store for them.

As they ate, the four of them discussed their plans for the day. Adam and Michael were eager to explore the castle and see all the Halloween decorations, while James was still sulking about not being able to join the Quidditch team. Thomas, on the other hand, was looking forward to their Charms class, which they would be sharing with the Gryffindors.

After they finished their breakfast, the boys made their way to the Charms classroom. As they entered, they saw that Professor Flitwick had already begun to talk with some of the students. The Gryffindors were on one side of the room, and the Ravenclaws on the other.

Thomas took his seat next to Hermione, who smiled at him warmly. To be fair, she was the only friend Thomas made other than his roommates that he could proudly call a true friend not like a certain red-haired boy.

Professor Flitwick began the class by reviewing the swish and flick movement they had learned in the previous lesson. He then announced that they would be learning the Wingardium Leviosa spell, which would enable them to make objects fly. The class erupted in excitement, and Thomas could see the Gryffindors, particularly Harry, and Ron, were eager to try the spell.

As Professor Flitwick paired up the students, Thomas found himself paired with Harry, while James was paired with Neville. Meanwhile, Adam and Michael were paired with two Ravenclaws who seemed just as excited as they were, while Hermione was unfortunately paired with Ron, to both of their dismay.

Thanks to Mars, Bahamut, and Latia, Thomas already knew how to use the chasm quickly earning himself praise from Professor Flitwick before he start helping Harry practice the spell since the poor boy was struggling a bit with the wrist movement. As he demonstrated the swish and flick movement for Harry, he noticed Ron and Hermione having a heated argument.

"You're saying it wrong, Ron."

"I am saying it right!" Ron retorted, his frustration clear.

Hermione rolled her eyes and demonstrated the correct pronunciation, making their feather rise off the desk and hover in the air.

Thomas couldn't help but shake his head seeing just how much Ron was trying to do the exact opposite of what Hermione was trying to explain to him. Now, as her friend, he knew that she was not talking like that because she was feeling superior, despite everything else. And while he knew how it felt to be struggling with a spell, Hermione's condescending attitude wasn't exactly helping the younger Weasley.

As the class continued, Thomas managed to help Harry get the spell right, making Harry able to successfully make their feather fly, and Professor Flitwick praised him for helping a fellow student then he praised Harry for his progress. Ron, on the other hand, was still struggling, and Hermione's constant correction was only making things worse.

Finally, after several failed attempts, Hermione tried to remind Ron again how to produce the charm, since he was butchering the spell every single time.

"You're saying it wrong," Thomas heard Hermione snap. "I said it before, it's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the "gar" nice and long.'

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it and with her, we have our third student who managed to make the feather fly.!"

Soon, both Adam and Michael managed to make their feathers fly earning them a round of applause from their teacher just as the class ended. James on the other hand, had a hard time trying to do anything with Neville constantly acting like a second coming of Quirrell making James unable to concentrate at all.

Once the class was done, Ron and Harry prepared to leave when Ron start complaining about Hermione.

"It's no wonder no one other than those Ravenclaws can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor.

"She's a nightmare, honestly." Suddenly someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Harry caught a glimpse of her face and was startled to see that she was in tears.

Ron's words had struck a nerve with Hermione, and she couldn't help but feel hurt by them. As she rushed out of the classroom, tears streaming down her face, she didn't even see Harry and Ron coming her way. The impact was hard, and she stumbled, almost falling over. Harry caught her by the arm and helped her regain her balance.

Hermione quickly wiped away her tears, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying. But Harry had seen it all. He felt a pang of guilt in his chest - he had been too caught up in his own struggles with the feather to pay attention to what was happening at the other table.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

Hermione nodded but didn't say anything. She just looked down at her shoes, trying to avoid eye contact with Ron. He was still muttering about her as they walked away, and it made her feel even worse.

"I think she heard you."

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable, almost as if he was fearing of something. "She must've noticed she's got no friends other than Thomas and his group, four bloody Ravenclaws out of all of the people she could have befriended in our house."

Harry shot Ron a disapproving look, but he didn't say anything. He knew that Hermione needed some space to collect herself. Instead, he quickly runs after her hoping to apologize in his friend's place. As someone who has been bullied his whole life, Harry knew exactly how Hermione was feeling and no one should feel alone in times like this.

When they turned a corner, they ran into Thomas, James, Adam, and Michael. The four boys were chatting and joking, when they saw Hermione's tear-streaked face, their expressions turned grim, glaring at Harry.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Thomas asked concern etched on his face.

Hermione shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. But Harry stepped in to explain.

"Tom…Ron said something really means to her in class, and before you ask, I came here to apologize for what he had said," he said, his voice heavy with disapproval and a tint of regret.

Thomas looked over at Ron, who was still fuming about Hermione, a few meters behind them. "What did he say?" he asked, his tone icy.

Harry blinked in surprise before he repeated Ron's words, and the four boys exchanged a look of disgust. They had never been big fans of Ron, but this was a new low even for him.

Thomas felt his blood boil at Ron's words. He could see the hurt in Hermione's eyes and knew that she didn't deserve to be treated that way.

"That's not right," James said, his voice firm, yet everyone could sense the anger that he was trying to hide. "No one deserves to be spoken to like that."

Hermione looked up at them, grateful for their support. "Thanks," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Thomas put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry about him," he said. "He's just being an idiot."

Just as they thought that the red-haired boy couldn't lower his rating in their hearts, he stopped for a second when he saw Harry standing there near Hermione.

"What are you doing Harry, let's go. Stop wasting your time with her or else she would start berating you too." Ron said with a smile on his face.

Without thinking, Thomas rushed over to Ron.

"Hey, watch your mouth," Thomas said, his voice low and threatening. "Hermione is a brilliant witch, and she doesn't deserve to be talked about like that."

Ron looked up at Thomas, surprised by the sudden confrontation. James, Adam, and Michael had all dropped their books and prepared themselves, just in case any other Gryffindor might try to interfere.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Ron sneered, standing up to face Thomas.

"Try me," Thomas replied, his fists clenched, ready to punch Ron if needs be.

The hallway fell silent as the two boys stared each other down. Every student was looking at the scene unable to understand what could make a Ravenclaw act like that. Meanwhile, Ron seemed to be considering his next move, but before he could say anything, Professor Flitwick walked out of the room with a smile on his face.

"Gentlemen, what seems to be the problem?"

Thomas took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He didn't want to get in trouble with the professor, but he also wasn't going to let Ron get away with insulting Hermione.

"We were just having a disagreement, Professor," Thomas said, his voice more level. "But it's been resolved now, right Ron?"

Ron quickly nodded, relieved that Flitwick came just in time to save him from being punched by a crazy Ravenclaw. Professor Flitwick seemed to accept Thomas's explanation, before leaving, letting the boys alone.

"Just remember, if you ever try to pull something like that again, you'll have to answer me," Thomas said, his voice low and menacing.

Ron looked a bit taken aback, but Thomas could see that he was also a bit intimidated. Once he was sure that Ron would no longer act without thinking he and his friends left towards their common room, but not before escorting Hermione to hers.

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