Chapter Text
I am still learning.
Morgana walked up the final set of steps to reach the classroom and stood in front of the door. Taking a breath in she felt the excitement bubble down to nervousness. Releasing the breath she reached for the door and pushed it open. The classroom was buzzing with two students stood across from each other. It seems they are in a duel. The boy nearest to her shouted a spell, “ Stupefy!” and it was blocked by the other boy's protection charm. He quickly shot back the same spell and it was blocked by the closest boy. A red light, the basic cast, came shooting out of the boys wand and another followed immediately, both blocked and the other boy, with notably red hair, fired off a series of basic casts after dropping his shield. The boy, his hair brown, blocked once again.
“Is that all you’ve got?” He used a taunting voice, Morgana took notice of his accent. It wasn’t posh like she was used to hearing but more confident, playful, and rhythmic. “Bombarda!”
The blue spell whizzed out of his wand and was deflected toward the ceiling. She followed the light with her eyes and was horrified to find a skeleton of the exact thing that had plagued her dreams the night before. She watched helplessly as the skull wobbled and the tethers suspending it snapped. It began to plummet down, directly on course toward the red haired boy.
The boy dropped to the ground as the skull came down grazing the top of his head, “Levioso!” The skull became suspended mid-air surrounded by a blue magic glow. A girl cried out “Professor Hecat!” and Morgana saw a kind looking woman. She was hunched over slightly at her back, her hair was grey and she was dressed in blue robes. With years of expertise Professor Hecat lifted the skull back to place and secured it once again.
“Perhaps you’d be good enough to blast each other to pieces on your own time. I get new students every year but I only have one hebridean black skull.” The woman made her way down the stairs daintily. “It was a token from the Great Poacher Raid in 1878.No doubt you’ve heard of it. Now you may be asking how an old woman like me single-handedly took out the largest poacher ring in Wales and lived to boast about it.” She paused and grinned. “Knowledge.”
“To the wise age matters very little. Today we will review a spell that saved me from death at the hands of dark wizards more times than I care to remember: Levioso.”
The red haired boy that had been duelling dropped his shoulders as he complained, “Levioso? A levitation charm?” A slight groan in his voice made Morgana frown at him. Before she even realized Professor Hecat turned and cast the charm on the boy, he was sent into the air about three feet off the ground. The brown haired boy turned his head away and began to snicker, Morgana glanced to him and smiled lightly. The boy turned back and crossed his arms looking up at the boy still floating in the air.
“A surprised opponent is a weak opponent. Care to defend yourself master Prewett? No?” She released the spell and he dropped back onto the ground. “One thing I’ve learned as an unspeakable is the value of simplicity, especially in the heat of battle. Now, let’s practice what we’ve just learned- starting with something small.”
Morgana took a seat at the table nearest to her, next to a boy in yellow robes who gave her a small smile and nod. Feathers were placed in front of the students and she looked at hers. With a flick of her wrist she said the incantation and the feather rose above the table.
“Now let’s try something a little larger.” She brings out what looks like a statue made of wood, it's draped in leather and holding a shield with a cape billowing behind it. The professor waved her wand and all of the desks moved to the sides of the classrooms. A boy leaning against the desks almost fell and Morgana reached out to his arm and steadied him. He gave her a small smile and thanked her with a nod. Professor Hecat looked at Morgana and swiped her hand in the direction of the dummy. “We’ll have you go first.”
Morgana walked across from the dummy and prepared to cast her spell. “Levioso!” The dummy shot into the air. “Well done! Alright, who’s up next?”
~
“Very good everyone, but the best way to practice is with duelling.” The brunette boy walked to stand next to Morgana, “we’ll start with you two.” Professor Hecat pointed to the boy and girl standing next to each other. She looked over to him nervously. “Duellists take your marks.”
“Time for a proper Hogwarts welcome.” The boy breezed by her with confidence leaking from his words. She huffed a bit at his words and turned to pace away. The earth below them grew tall as a podium rose from underneath her feet.
“Now I want a fair duel. Using only Levioso, protego, and your basic cast. You may begin.”
Morgana looked across to the boy who wore a cocky smirk. He leaned his weight onto one leg and looked at her with a tilted head. He was waiting for her to make the first move. So, she did.
“Levioso!”
“Protego!”
She once again cast the levitating charm to him, breaking the shield and quickly fired three red spells in succession. He stumbled back and retaliated with his own levitation charm that she blocked. She once again began firing back at him, levitating him and then knocking him off the podium with five basic casts one after the other. He landed on the ground with a huff escaping his lungs. The podium lowered back to the matching height of the remainder of the classroom. The girl walked over to him and offered her hand to help him up. He smirked and grabbed ahold lifting himself up.
“Not bad for a beginner. You give as good as you get.” He chuckled.
“I put you on the spot and you rose to the challenge. Points to Slytherin for the both of you. Class is dismissed! Miss Morgana, a word please?” The brunette boy walked away and made his way to the blonde from earlier. She heard the blonde let out a sharp laugh, “I think the new fourth year may just be my new best friend, you’d do good having someone around to knock you down a peg.”
Professor began speaking, “If what I’ve seen today is any indication, we can expect great things from you. I demand excellence from my students. They are capable of achieving it- and must achieve it.” She gave an encouraging smile to the young girl and took a more serious tone. “A classroom duel is one thing, but battling dark wizards- or as ever more likely, goblins- is a different kettle of Grindylows entirely. I’d advise you to keep practicing whenever you can. Perhaps Mr. Sallow will have some ideas for you.” The professor ended with a small wink and a nod to the boy who was waiting by the door. “That's all for now. It seems someone is waiting to speak with you.”
Morgana turned and saw the boy, Sallow, standing by the small couch beside the exit door. She gave him a smile as she approached. “I enjoyed the duel!”
“That duel was quite something, everyone will be talking about it. You beat the best duellist in the school, you know?” Sebastian grinned at her.
“It was certainly good practice. Does that mean I get the crown of ‘best duellist’ now?”
“Practice? Felt more like I was against an expert. Sebastian Sallow by the way. I’m afraid if you want that crown you may have to join me in a certain exclusive, unsanctioned duelling organization.”
“I appreciate the praise, I’m Morgana Emery, it’s a pleasure. Exclusive and unsanctioned? I suppose I would be interested in that.” She gave him a cheeky grin and he felt heat on his cheeks.
He smiled at her and she took note of his freckles. “ Excellent! KNew I was right about you. If you want to get the most out of your time at Hogwarts, you’ll need to break the rules now and then. Whether it be joining a secret duelling club or sneaking into the restricted section of the library- you just have to be careful enough to not get caught.”
“Thank you Sebastian, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good! What class do you have next?”
Morgana pulled the leather bound book from her desk and checks her class schedule, “My next is charms, what’s yours?”
He grinned wide and exclaimed, “I have that as well! Let me walk with you?” Morgana nodded her head and grabbed her satchel. “Let's get going then!” They both made their way to the door walking in tandem.
“So if I may ask, why are you starting so late? It’s most unusual for a student to start fourth year.” Sebastian looked over to her as they made their way down the steps.
“Professor Fig said it was odd that it took my magic so long to manifest itself, I’m not too entirely sure why it waited but I am so glad that it did make an appearance. Life was much different before I arrived here. Everything is so new and exciting.” Her tone was light as she spoke, he noticed her accent was very posh. It was always how he imagined royalty would speak.
“Just wait until you have to go to History of Magic, it won’t be so exciting. What was it like before you came?” He knew they were approaching the Charms classroom so he slowed his pace. She fell into step with him matching his pace.
“Well it was very plain. I would do the same thing almost everyday. I felt sometimes like I was going to go mad. It was lonely and quiet. There was a woman that would visit me but she stopped at some point last year.” She paused as they came to the door. “Is this the classroom?”
Sebastian was looking at her, his smile was gone and instead his mouth was downturned. “That sounds upsetting. I’m sorry to hear it, here at Hogwarts you will make friends for life. You won’t have to feel alone here.” She looked to him shocked by his words, her eyes softened and her mouth agape, she exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and smiled at him brightly.
He could have sworn he was looking at an angel for a moment.
The door opened and the familiar blonde boy peered out, his wand blinking red ahead of him. His eyes narrowed in on Sebastian and he sneered slightly. “Hurry up and come in, Duncan Hobhouse is here and I’m trying my best to not hex him.” Sebastian let out a bark of a laugh and stepped into the door holding it open for Morgana.
She followed the boys inside but as they went to their seats she saw no open ones nearby them. She continued to look around for a moment, “Here! Behind you. There's an empty seat here.” She turned her head to see a beautiful girl smiling down at her. “Thank you,” she made way to the seat.
“Hello. I am Natty. So you are the new student? Have you met Professor Ronen yet-?”
A man cleared his throat from atop the short staircase in the room. “Shall we get started?"