The Second School Year Begins

On September 1, Evita returned to King's Cross Station, entered Platform Nine and Three-Quarters the same way she had the previous school year, and boarded the Hogwarts Express.

There was one difference, however. No one had knocked on her door when she first started school, but today was different.

A red-haired boy poked his head in, looking pleasantly surprised. "Good afternoon, Evita. It's good to see you. Can I sit here? I got on a little late and couldn't find an empty seat."

"Of course." Evita lowered the hand she had been about to open her suitcase with.

Bill came in, sat down, and took out his second-year textbooks.

"Are you studying ahead?" Evita asked with interest.

"There are some things I'm really interested in, so I wanted to take a look beforehand," Bill replied, then asked, "I thought you'd have read ahead too."

"Oh, that," Evita said casually. "I practiced at home."

Bill stared at her in shock.

"Because..." The girl tilted her head, her smile almost smug, a sharp contrast to the Hufflepuff robes she wore. "I'm a little witch with someone covering for me."

Bill: "Huh?"

Then what was he supposed to make of his mum and dad watching him to stop him from secretly using magic?

Evita: Tough luck, hehe.

After arriving at the castle by carriage, Evita, now a second-year student, sat in the Great Hall, waiting for the first-years' Sorting Ceremony.

Professor Flitwick brought out the Sorting Hat this year. She also noticed that someone else had taken Professor Slughorn's place. Dressed in black robes, with greasy hair and a hooked nose, he looked like an enormous bat. It was Severus Snape, who had taken over as Potions teacher and head of Slytherin House.

Before the new students appeared, a few ghosts suddenly emerged from the wall behind them. Pearly white and translucent, they glided across the room, whispering among themselves.

"I still think... we ought to give him a chance."

"No one," Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor House, said angrily, "apart from you, wants to let Peeves join us!"

"Good evening, Fat Friar!" Evita broke into their conversation and greeted the ghost of Hufflepuff House.

The kindly Fat Friar nodded a greeting to them as well. Peeves, who was always eager to make mischief, was about to pull one of his usual tricks, intending to pick up a goblet from the long table and smash it at the students.

Professor McGonagall immediately stopped him in a most severe voice. "Peeves, leave this place! Right now!"

Peeves shook his head for a moment, then left reluctantly. The older students whispered and giggled, but soon fell quiet at a signal from Professor McGonagall. By then, the new students had entered the Great Hall and lined up for the Sorting Ceremony.

The Sorting Hat sang another new song and, feeling very pleased with itself, bowed to the students of the four houses.

Professor Flitwick held a long piece of parchment, almost as tall as he was, and began reading out the names one by one.

The Sorting Hat called out one after another:

"..."

"Gryffindor!"

"..."

"Hufflepuff!"

Evita joined her classmates in applauding the new students entering Hufflepuff House. After dinner, she sat up straight to listen to Dumbledore's speech.

"I am very pleased to inform you all that we have a new teacher this year. This is Severus Snape, who will be teaching Potions. He will also take over as head of Slytherin House. Professor Slughorn has happily embarked on his retirement!"

"Quidditch tryouts will be held in the second week... Students wishing to participate should contact Madam Hooch..."

Dumbledore said a great deal, but Evita heard only the word Quidditch. Once she had committed it firmly to memory, she lowered her head and began eating a Pumpkin Pasty and some other food.

Evita eagerly awaited the second week, and the Quidditch tryouts went very smoothly, at least in her view.

The tryouts were overseen by each house's Quidditch captain and Madam Hooch. The Hufflepuff captain, dressed in a pale yellow uniform, was a tall, short-haired fifth-year girl. She was friendly, but showed no mercy when chasing away first-years who came to cause trouble.

"It's not your turn yet! You need to learn from Madam Hooch first," she said. Then she turned to Evita with a bright smile. "I heard from our year's Prefect that your flying results are excellent. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do, Evita."

"Of course." Evita remained perfectly composed, catching the Golden Snitch again and again during the tryout. The overjoyed Hufflepuff captain rushed over and hugged her.

"That's wonderful, Evita!" The captain jumped up and down, all her earlier composure gone. "We're sure to win the Quidditch championship this year!"

Evita hugged her tightly, looking thoroughly satisfied.

"Good," the Hufflepuff captain said, her eyes seemingly ablaze. "We start training tomorrow! The first match is only four weeks away!"

Having made the school team, Evita added Quidditch practice three times a week to her timetable. This was already a fairly relaxed schedule: out of consideration for the three fifth-years on the team who were preparing for their O.W.L. Examinations, the number of sessions had been reduced as much as possible. In return, each session was extremely demanding and tedious.

Evita was currently using a Nimbus 1700, and she also had a Moontrimmer. Both were gifts from Sirius.

Those two were more than enough, since the Hufflepuff team was currently using earlier brooms from the Comet Series.

After giving it some thought, Evita simply waved her hand and paid for a Nimbus 1700 for every team member. Until the next Nimbus Series came out, this model would remain the undisputed leader in the flying broom industry.

The captain looked so excited that she seemed about to pounce on Evita and kiss her, but Evita bent backward and dodged.

"Captain," she said solemnly, "I don't accept bribes of beauty from teammates."

The captain's excitement cooled a little. She stroked the Nimbus 1700, gazing at it more tenderly than she would a lover, and said in a voice dripping with affection, "Now we've already got a head start..."

She suddenly turned around. "What are you waiting for? Get moving and train! Don't treat your brooms like decorations! With Nimbus 1700s, how could you have the nerve to lose?"

"We couldn't!" the team answered in unison.

"That's right." The captain nodded in satisfaction. "Remember to do fewer things you can't face doing. Now, training starts! Mount your brooms!"

"Yes!"