First Day of School

The first day of school.

Skylar's first class was Herbology. After enjoying a hearty breakfast in the Great Hall that morning—and witnessing the Howler Mrs. Weasley had sent Ron—Skylar left the castle with Daphne and Meredith and headed for the Hogwarts greenhouses.

"Two naughty students damaged a very precious Whomping Willow, and I spent the entire morning treating it!" Professor Sprout's voice was gentle. "I hope none of you will ever do such a thing!"

"Now then, follow me to Greenhouse Three!" She led the way, with the second-year Slytherin and Ravenclaw students following behind. The plants in Greenhouse Three were more interesting than those in Greenhouse One, and naturally, more dangerous as well. Professor Sprout stood behind a bench in the middle of the greenhouse and clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention. "Today, we'll be repotting Mandrakes. Who can tell me about the properties of Mandrakes?"

Morag MacDougal of Ravenclaw pushed up her glasses and raised her hand. At Professor Sprout's nod, she answered, "It is a powerful restorative. It can return people who have been transformed by potions, spells, or Transfiguration to their original form."

"Very good, Miss MacDougal. Ten points to Ravenclaw." Professor Sprout nodded approvingly. "Now, who can tell me why we need these?" She pointed to a large pile of fluffy earmuffs in the corner.

This time, she selected Skylar from Slytherin to answer. Generally speaking, Slytherin students were not particularly skilled at Herbology. These high-born young ladies and gentlemen believed that the dirty, laborious work of turning soil, watering plants, and changing pots was the responsibility of servants.

But Skylar was an exception. His magical philosophy was to reject no tool that could be put to use—whether spells, Transfiguration, potions, herbs, magical creatures, or even Muggle tools.

He answered, "The cry of a mature Mandrake can kill. Former Minister for Magic Venusia Crickerly died on the spot after an accident while handling the Mandrakes in her own garden. The Ministry of Magic later established a series of regulations concerning this plant, and wizarding families need special permission to grow Mandrakes. Of course, young Mandrakes only render people unconscious for a few hours."

"Entirely correct. The mention of Mandrakes' lethal history was also very appropriate—an even more perfect answer than I expected. Fifteen points to Slytherin. As Mr. Malfoy said, Mandrakes are lethally dangerous, but these Mandrakes are still very young. Hearing their cries will only knock you unconscious for a few hours at most," Professor Sprout said calmly.

After demonstrating once, Professor Sprout had the young wizards repot the plants in groups of four. Draco had originally wanted to join Skylar's group—Skylar was clearly the most reliable teammate in Slytherin—but Pansy forcibly dragged him off to serve as labor for the Slytherin girls' group. Goyle, Crabbe, Nott, and Blaise Zabini formed another group.

Skylar already had Daphne and Meredith, leaving one member short. He walked over to the Ravenclaws and politely invited Morag MacDougal to join them. Morag was a little surprised by Skylar's sudden invitation, but she still nodded and agreed to join his group.

Pulling a Mandrake from the soil was hard physical work, nothing like how easily Professor Sprout had made it look. It was even harder than pulling up turnips in a field, and the Mandrakes themselves had no desire to be pulled out of the dirt.

Daphne exhausted herself without succeeding. In the end, Meredith had to lend a hand to pull it out. Worse still, once it was out, the little thing refused to go back in. It twisted its body, kicked wildly with both feet, waved its tiny fists, and braced its feet against the mouth of the pot, refusing to be stuffed inside no matter what. Daphne wrestled with the Mandrake for over half an hour before completing the task with Skylar's help.

Skylar usually paid close attention to physical training. During the summer, Lucius had given both him and Draco Strengthening Solution. This potion improved one's physique and increased physical strength—with Skylar's current strength, he could easily knock down an adult Muggle in close combat.

Skylar gripped the Mandrake firmly by its stalk with one hand and yanked it out in a single pull. He used so much force that he even shook the Mandrake dizzy, allowing him to finish the repotting without meeting any resistance at all.

After Meredith also completed her task smoothly with Skylar's help, only Morag remained. It was her first time being in a group with Skylar, and they had never spoken before. Though she had heard that Skylar was approachable, her feminine reserve made her too embarrassed to ask him for help. She was a typical Ravenclaw girl—quiet by nature and rather frail physically. Having seen the difficulties the others had faced, she truly had no confidence in completing that day's task on her own.

Skylar saw Morag's predicament and gallantly offered to help. With Skylar's assistance, Morag slowly pulled the Mandrake out of the soil. But she failed to hold on tightly to the wildly struggling plant, and it broke free from her hands, spraying both her and Skylar with mud.

As the Mandrake bounced rapidly across the ground and was about to get away, Morag stood frozen in place and let out a helpless cry. Skylar, however, suddenly darted past her like a cheetah, pouncing in the Mandrake's direction. He grabbed the little thing with flawless precision, then roughly stuffed it into the flowerpot.

By then, both Skylar and Morag were covered in mud. Seeing each other's disheveled state, they could not help but laugh, and the distance between them instantly vanished. Skylar took out his wand and cast a Scouring Charm on each of them. The mud disappeared at once, and even the faintest trace of sweat smell was gone.

Morag could not help exclaiming, "Your spellwork is incredible. Even in Ravenclaw, which excels in Charms, no one can control a Scouring Charm so thoroughly. Forget mud—I can't even see a speck of dust on myself now..."

Skylar smiled modestly. "You flatter me, Miss MacDougal. I've merely practiced harder than most. When it comes to magical theory, Ravenclaw is certainly far more knowledgeable."

Morag rolled her eyes at Skylar. "Hey, being overly modest just makes you seem insincere! And stop calling me Miss MacDougal. Just call me Morag!"

Their group of four was the first in the class to finish, and Professor Sprout happily awarded five points to each of their Houses. The other students—particularly the more scholarly and physically frail Ravenclaws—were still struggling bitterly with their Mandrakes. Slytherin performed somewhat better, but most of them were still disheveled, drenched in sweat, sore all over, and covered in mud.

After lunch came Defense Against the Dark Arts. For some unknown reason, Slytherin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class had been changed this year so that they would attend it together with Gryffindor.

(Note: For plot reasons, all Defense Against the Dark Arts classes from second year onward are held together with Gryffindor.)

As in Potions, the two Houses that could not stand each other sat clearly divided on opposite sides of the classroom. Everyone arrived early and waited with bated breath for class to begin, showing just how much they were looking forward to Professor Lockhart's lesson—perhaps Harry and Skylar were the only exceptions.

"Hello, children!" Lockhart entered in emerald-green robes, his bearing and manner impeccable. Nearly every girl instinctively straightened up and lifted her chin. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Third Class Order of Merlin, honorary member of the Dark Arts Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award—but I don't go on about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee with my smile!"

Lockhart took out a stack of parchment. "I see you've all bought my complete collection of books—excellent. Let's begin with a little quiz, to see how well you've read them and how much you've understood..." After distributing the papers, he returned to the podium. "You have thirty minutes. Begin!"

The test was a full three pages long, entirely filled with questions about his personal preferences. It posed no difficulty whatsoever for Skylar, who had a photographic memory. He swiftly filled his paper with answers. Hermione did the same, while the other students—Harry and Ron stared blankly at their papers, Draco and Nott wore looks of disgust, and Goyle and Crabbe sat there daydreaming and drooling...

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and began grading them in front of everyone. Most of the answers seemed not to please him, making him repeatedly click his tongue.

"Beautifully written, Mr. Skylar Malfoy! You actually remembered that my favorite color is lilac." Lockhart said excitedly, "This paper earns one hundred points... Ten points to Slytherin!" Then he turned to Hermione's paper. "Miss Hermione Granger knows that my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and to market my own line of hair-care products. This paper also earns one hundred points... Ten points to Gryffindor!"

He brought out a large cage covered with a cloth and placed it on the desk. "Now—be careful! My duty is to teach you how to defend yourselves against the darkest things in the wizarding world! In this classroom, you will face the most terrifying creatures. But as long as I'm here, none of you will come to harm. I only ask that you remain calm."

Harry poked his head out from behind a stack of books, trying to get a better look at the cage. Neville shrank back, while Pansy edged a few steps closer to Draco. Daphne and Meredith had fought their way through Devil's Snare and defeated a Troll under Skylar's leadership last year, and had already developed the courage to face real combat. They looked eager to give it a try.

"I must ask you not to scream," Lockhart said in a lowered voice. "It will only provoke them!" Then he whipped away the cover.

"Right," he said theatrically. "Freshly caught Cornish Pixies." Pixies were not creatures found solely in Cornwall. They were mainly spread throughout Cornwall and Devon in southwest England, and were known for their mischievousness. Cornish Pixies were bright electric blue, while Devon Pixies were a more subdued steel-blue. Skylar carefully observed the cage. These pixies were around eight inches tall, with pointed little faces and shrill, ear-piercing voices. They leaped and bounced about, rattling the bars and pulling all sorts of strange faces.

One boy could not help snickering, and Lockhart snapped, "Be serious! They're devilishly cunning little destroyers!" With that, he opened the cage door.

Chaos immediately broke out—pixies flew everywhere. Two of them grabbed Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air, while several others flew straight out the window, scattering shattered glass all over the back of the classroom. The rest wreaked havoc inside.

Harry displayed Gryffindor courage and tried to protect Ron and Hermione, but lacked the skill—his glasses were snatched away by a pixie, leaving him unable to see anything. He could only wave his hands around wildly, hoping to catch one by luck. Ron did not dare use his wand, which was spurting mysterious sparks, to cast any magic. Hermione performed the best. She cleverly used a Freezing Spell to immobilize two pixies and shoved them back into the cage.

A few minutes later, half the class had hidden beneath their desks, while poor Neville dangled from the chandelier, swinging back and forth. Seeing that it was about time, Skylar signaled Daphne and Meredith with a look and shouted, "This is Professor Lockhart's first lesson for us—never underestimate any enemy. Now, Slytherin—follow me!"

Skylar took the lead, firing a blazing burst of flame with a Fire-Making Spell and controlling it to drive all the pixies into a corner. Daphne and Meredith stood in perfect coordination to Skylar's left and right, using Full Body-Bind Curses to send one pixie after another crashing stiffly to the floor. The number of flying pixies rapidly dwindled at a visible rate.

At that point, Draco, Pansy, Nott, and Zabini also stepped forward to help. Spells flew everywhere, and within just a few minutes, all the pixies had been stuffed back into the cage.

Just then, the chandelier could no longer bear the strain and fell. Skylar caught the falling Neville with a Levitation Charm, then used a Mending Charm to repair the damaged windows, desks, chairs, and chandelier one by one. Finally, he respectfully reported to Lockhart, "Professor, we understand what you meant. What you wished to convey was that even seemingly insignificant pixies must be treated with caution, and that we should never underestimate any enemy, correct? You also gave us a valuable opportunity for practical experience. Of course, I have no doubt that if we had been unable to manage in the end, you would certainly have stepped in and shown us your true skill. I must say, this was truly an invaluable lesson."

Lockhart stepped forward radiantly. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy has completely grasped my meaning. What an outstanding young wizard! All of Slytherin did exceptionally well too! Now then, let me think... Sixty points to Slytherin!"