8. First week

I woke the next morning to the feeling of fur against my face, shocked I sputtered and jumped out of my bed, my yelling woke Eddie and Marcus who got up as well.

Even Marcus started to yell in fright.

I looked at my bed, and right on my pillow, something that looked very much like a kitten was laying there looking at me with big blue eyes.

And next to the pillow were the remnants of the egg.

Marcus gaped at the cat, "Is that an Amembi!.. yes it must be ! Look at the blue lines in its fur! How in Merlin's name did you get an Amembi ? They are incredibly rare!"

I was shocked and sputtered some more, "Amembi ? I have no idea what an Amembi is!?! I just bought a random egg from the pet store!"

Marcus was shocked now, " That should be impossible! These kinda creatures go for 100's of thousands of galleons easily! They are incredibly sought after and only a lucky few are able to get one. Most of the Amembi live in Asia, so that is where most of them are owned!"

Eddie looked confused, but got huge eyes and a shocked look when he heard of the amount, he too had gone to Gringotts to exchange money so he had somewhat of an idea of the value.

Crouching down to my bed I gently tried petting the Amembi, it was gorgeous! A deep black kitten that could sit in my hand, with the bluest eyes that almost shined out to me, it had blue streaks that matched its eyes, only dimmer, going throughout its fur randomly.

The kitten sniffed my hand, and bumped its head into my hand, while purring. I guess I got a pet.

Me and Eddie quickly got ready, shower and toilet, followed by clothes and preparing our books. I had everything ready in my pouch, so I didn't need to bring a school bag. As we were leaving our room the kitten did a tiny meow and followed after me. I tried to get it to stay in my room but it kept following me.

Marcus laughed at me and pointed to the kitten, "typical!, don't you know anything? It's your familiar, an Amembi bonds with the first one it sees. And for the next couple of years it will NEVER leave you out of its sight! so you better get used to it! I can't believe a muggleborn actually got an Amembi!".

I sighed and picked it up, "Hmm what to name you... Amembi…., so Felix?" Felix meowed at me and climbed up my arm and onto my shoulder.

"Guess I have another friend now, huh Felix?" I chuckled, and walked down the corridor out of the door of the common room and finally out onto the stairs.

We quickly got down to breakfast at the Ravenclaw table. Quite a few looked funnily at me, and a lot of girls awww'ed. He did look cute.

I tried feeding Felix a couple of different things, and he seemed to like the bacon and sausages.

Guess I should try and talk to Hagrid about him, and what he eats, and how to take proper care of him. I wonder if the library has a book on Amembi care. Or maybe the catalog had something from the pet store.

The current prefect walked along our table and handed out our class schedules.

Seemed we were starting with Charms with Huffelpuff, then transfiguration, but that was only with our class, and not a double class.

Me and Eddie finished eating and were led by the prefect to our class room. Flitwick was already standing on his books, looking happy and pleased to see new students he could teach.

We took our seats, I looked at Eddie as he took out his wand and book from his bag, with some difficulty, I grinned and laughed, and nudged him with my elbow.

"Eddie, watch this", like a magician I showed him my hands, turned them and lifted my sleeves, I snapped with my left hand and my book appeared, and snapped with my right hand and my wand appeared. Eddie gaped at me with shock written on his face. I just laughed out loud, and said "You gotta love magic right?".

Flitwick called attention to the class and started going through wand motions and pronunciation.

The first magic we were going to learn was Winguardium leviosa.

He drifted a feather out to each of us, and had us start practicing.

I was already able to do this wandlessly, and I didn't really feel like I had to hide my abilities. I did not believe Dumbledore to be evil, so I saw no real reason to hide it.

I waved my wand and felt my magic flow, and lifted the feather up in the air. I had it race around the room and around Professor Flicwick who laughed and clapped his hands, "Well done, Mr. Lamorak, you really got it, and did you do it without an incantation?" I nodded and smiled, "Well 25 points to Ravenclaw for outstanding display of magic, but remember to try with an incantation as well, it's just as important to learn how to properly pronounce the incantation as it is to use it without".

I nodded and made the feather go back to my desk, and started using the incantation. It was a bit more difficult, but a couple of tries and the feather was flying again.

I spent the rest of the class talking with Eddie and helping him master the spell, I told him about intent, and how it was important to have the right intention when casting magic. I told him I read it in a book before school started, but nothing more. Before the class ended Eddie had his feather flying as well, not nearly to what I could do, but he could move it around as he pointed his wand.

Felix was playing on the table, jumping around after mine and Eddie's feathers, he was definitely cute.

I didn't pay much attention to the rest of my classmates, but a few were with quite jealous looking faces, but nothing untoward so far, maybe except Marcus who looked slightly angry.

As the class ended we packed our things, letting my book go into my pouch and my wand to my arm.

We spent the walk talking about what we had learned, and whether we actually could learn to fly with it? But Eddie had read in our book that wizards had already tried this, and so far it seems you cannot float yourself, only others, it seems one of Eddie's dreams was to fly.

We sat at our table and waited for the food to come, Felix jumped down from my shoulder and sat and waited as well.

Dinner was a loud affair with so many students, but it was delicious, and Felix seemed to like it as well.

"Ahem.." I was startled and looked behind me to see McGonagal standing behind us, "And what is your pet doing on the table, AT DINNER? All pets are supposed to be kept in your common rooms or rooms!" Trying to think what to say, Eddie jumped up and exclaimed "Professor, it's an Amembi. It cracked through its egg last night! and as far as i know a Amembi will bond to the first person it sees, and keep close to that person for several months while it grows!".

McGonagal looked thoughtful at Felix and then at me, "Mr. Lamorak, I will need to confer with Professor Kettleburn, so until then you will be allowed to keep him near you, but please make sure he does not disturb any of the other students". With a final nod, she walked back to the professors table, and started talking with Dumbledore, and some of the others seemed to be listening in, and giving their views, as they looked towards me.

I could only sigh, and hope having Felix wouldn't lead to any issues for me or him.

We finished dinner, and walked down the corridors. I talked with Eddie about what we could do if Felix was not allowed with me, and even if they would reach that conclusion. Felix was on my shoulder looking around without a care in the world.

Arriving at the classroom we walked in with another cat sitting on the professors table, i pushed Eddie towards the front and we sat on the first table next to the professors table. I gave a slight nod towards the cat with a smile. I knew it was McGonagall's animagus form, but it didn't seem anyone else did, as the other students were talking, laughing and joking around.

As the chime sounded, alerting all to the beginning of class, The cat jumped up in the air and transformed into the professor. It was quite a sight, I couldn't wait to become an Animagus.

She gave the same speech as in the books about the dangers and how we were always to be vary.

She went through some theory for the first half of the class, and finally we got to the practicals. We were each handed a small wooden needle, which we were to turn into a silver needle.

Imagining the change and applying it to the needle was quite a bit harder than I imagined, but by the end I succeeded in changing it into a silver needle. A rather rough one I admit, but a needle nonetheless. I got 10 points for that, and I spent the rest of the class helping Eddie, and practicing as well.

When the bell rang, and the class was dismissed, McGonagall called me to her desk, "Mr. Lamorak, I have talked with Professor Kettleburn, and she told me that your familiar was indeed to be staying with you, as the separation of the bond over a larger distance will hurt him in his early life. She also told me to give you this book, about its habits and training". I took the book, "Care for your Amembi, a familiar guide". Thanking the Professor, I headed out of the class where Eddie was waiting for me. "So? What did she say? Can you keep him?" I simply nodded and showed him the book. We talked about it and went down to dinner.

The book explained the eating habits, the initial training needed, which consisted of deepening the bond between me and him, as well as exercising with him daily.

By the end of the week, we all got into the rhythm, and on friday I was having my first Potions class, and I was really looking forward to this!

I made sure to arrive early with Eddie, and we prepared our things to the best of our abilities. We were both nervous, since we had heard a lot of rumors about how he bullied the students, and failing would lead to severe punishments.

Snape stormed into the class with a bang, which even I startled at, and Felix hissed on my shoulder, and tried to bury himself in my neck and hide in my robes.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. For those who have the skill I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death." .

Snape turned to the board, and added the steps to the boils cure potion, and set us to work. No more explanation other than follow the steps carefully.

I sat with Eddie and we got our ingredients and got to work. The steps were very precise, and very difficult. I finally understood why it was so hard. Can you identify the exact shade of dawn, 10 degrees before the sun fully appears? No ? Didn't think so, so a couple of explosions, and a burned out cauldron later the class ended. I don't think anyone actually finished the potion, we were assigned an essay and three chapters in the book. Snape even pointed out the examples in the book describing the colors to watch out for in the potion.

It would seem that potions would be one of the harder classes, but both me and Eddie were determined to do well.

It was the weekend and as the first week had passed I penned a letter for Rufus or dad. It still felt weird saying that, but I wrote about my experience and how many points I had earned during the week. I went to the tower where the school owls were, tied it to the leg of a brown owl, and sent it off. Now I was ready to explore the school!