The Last Heir of Merlin

The next morning, Jake was rubbing his eyes as he sat up in his bed at Six Thirty in the morning. He looked around at the other five boys, all soundly asleep in their beds. He wanted to strangle all of them. They had kept him awake until well after midnight talking about how Harry and Ron had arrived at Hogwarts in a Flying Car, rather loudly. Ron explained that they had apparently been seen by a few Muggles that the Ministry had to Obliviate.

He didn't know how much sleep he'd actually gotten, but he felt tired. He went into the bathroom their dorm room had and saw just how tired he was. Dark circles plagued his eyes. He sighed and got dressed, going down to the Common Room, finding no one down there. He was surprised he didn't see Hermione, she was usually up bright and early on the first day, he remembered her saying that for every year in Primary School, she was always up extra early on the First Day, and last year on September 2nd, she was also up pretty early. It was almost Seven when she made it down, "Late morning?" He asked her.

"A little bit, my hair was being unruly, even with Magic, so I had to painstakingly brush it for the past twenty minutes, I've been up since Six Thirty," she said to him, sitting down beside him, "You look tired, did you not sleep well?"

"It wasn't until sometime after midnight when I fell asleep..." he said and recounted last night and this morning when he woke up at Six Thirty himself.

"Those idiots..." she said with a sigh.

"Next time they are up at Eleven still talking, I'm coming down here to the Common Room to sleep. It can't be worse than with those five loud mouthed morons," he said, closing his eyes as he leaned back into the couch. It was so soft, he could almost fall back asleep.

"Well, the Great Hall will be open now for Breakfast, let's go and eat, maybe that will wake you up?" She said, standing up and holding her hand out.

He grabbed it and stood up, doing most of the work because he knew Hermione wasn't that physically capable of pulling him up, "I think the only thing that will wake me up is cold water splashed onto my face. You go on ahead, I'll meet you down in a little bit," he said and walked up the staircase back to his dorm and glared at all of his dorm-mates before walking into the bathroom again and splashing cold water onto his face. Sure enough, the shock from the cold got his senses going, but he still felt drowsy. He'd just have to suffer for now.

He walked out of there and back down to the Common Room to leave Gryffindor Tower. He made his way down to the Great Hall and saw only a few people in there aside from Hermione. He sat down next to her and saw that she was busy reading Voyages with Vampires . Out of all of Lockhart's books, that was probably one of only two good ones. He just wished Lockhart hadn't gone into so much detail about himself. It really ruined the read. He gathered up some food and slowly ate as he became lost in thought.

With all of the excitement that happened after the Outing in Diagon Alley with his friends, he hadn't read any of the Books on Merlin yet, despite being excited to read them. He wasn't sure how much Homework he was going to have this year, so he decided he'd wait until Christmas Break to read them, but knowing him, he'd try and read them sooner. The one that interested him most was the smallest book. He didn't know why it was that small, if it contained information on Merlin, so he should start with that one, he figured.

About a half hour later, Harry and Ron showed up to Breakfast, with the other three Gryffindor Second Year Boys trickling in, and Jake glared at every single one of them, "Morning," he said to them as they sat down across from him and Hermione, not sparing them a second glance.

"What's his problem?" Ron asked Hermione.

"You five kept him awake past midnight, causing him to not be well-rested. I'm rather miffed with you two as well at the moment," she said, looking back down at her book that she had resting against a Milk jug.

Neville from a few feet away tried to lighten the mood, "Mail's due any minute - I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot."

That was a true statement. Neville was horribly forgetful, and also quite accident prone. The late arrivals had all just started eating when the mail Owl's did indeed arrive, circling the Great Hall and dropping off letters and packages into the chattering crowd. Jake caught sight of something small and gray falling out of the air. It bounced off of Neville's head, and because of his quick reflexes, caught it out of the air before it hit Hermione's milk jug, "It's an Owl with a red envelope."

" Errol !?" Ron said loudly as Jake gently laid the owl on the table. He seemed to be exhausted, his little chest was rising and receding at a rapid pace. "Oh no..."

"What is it?" Harry asked him.

"My mum..." Ron seemed hesitant to speak, "Sh-She sent me a Howler..."

"A Howler?" Jake looked up at Ron, "Now I'm curious what it is," he said with a smirk, resting an elbow on the table and his chin in the palm of his hand, "open it."

Ron was violently shaking his head, "You'd better open it, Ron," Neville said in a timid whisper, "It'll be much, much worse if you don't. My gran sent me a Howler once, and I chose to ignore it and-" Neville visibly gulped, "-it was horrible," he said with a shudder as he remembered the bad memory.

The red letter began to smoke, "Hurry up, Weasley, I want to see what it does," Jake was still smirking.

Ron outstretched a hand and took it from Errol's beak. He opened it and Neville quickly plugged his ears. Jake immediately knew why, " RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY HAD EXPELLED YOU! YOU WAIT UNTIL I GET A HOLD OF YOU! I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE!? "

Ron was visibly shrinking in his seat, trying to make himself as small as possible; other House students were looking this way to see who received the Howler. " THE LETTER I RECEIVED FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME! WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS! YOU AND HARRY BOTH COULD'VE DIED! "

Jake looked over and saw that Harry was trying to ignore the obnoxiously loud voice of Mrs. Weasley that was right beside him, " I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER IS FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT! "

Mrs. Weasley's voice suddenly went calm and gentle like Jake was used to hearing, " And Ginny, congratulations on making Gryffindor, your Father and I are so proud of you. " Ginny looked up and went a little red before going back to writing in what looked like a Diary. The letter then suddenly burst into flames and curled into ashes. A raucous laughter was heard for a minute afterwards, Jake being among them, before dissipating into the usual babble of talk.

Hermione promptly closed Lockhart's book and looked down at Ron from across the table, "Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you-"

"Don't tell me I deserved it!" Ron snapped at her, sitting back up.

"Well guess what, you deserved it, you damn moron," Jake said, challenging Ron to continue with that tone of voice towards Hermione.

Ron looked away as McGonagall came along the table, handing out schedules for each respective Year. Jake thanked her when she handed his schedule to him and he saw that they had Double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first thing. The four of them walked out of the Castle together, crossed the vegetable patch, and made for the Greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. He noticed that Hermione was back to being friendly again towards them, he figured she felt the Howler was deserved punishment for them and no longer held any ill will towards them.

"I swear, if that Tentacula tries anything this year, I'm scorching it. It has it out for me badly, and I don't know why," Jake said as they neared the Greenhouses. The rest of the class was already there waiting on Professor Sprout, Jake wondered why she was late. They had just gotten with the rest of their classmates when they saw her striding into view from across the lawn. She looked annoyed, and that was probably because she was being accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart. Jake didn't take that as a good sign. He noticed that she was carrying an arm full of bandages. He looked to the direction she was coming from and saw a tree with branches in slings, "The Whomping Willow... I can't believe you two crashed into it," he whispered to them.

Professor Sprout was a squat little Witch who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair; there was usually a large amount of earth on her clothes and under her fingernails. Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming.

"Oh, hello there!" He called towards them, beaming around at the assembled students, "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels."

"I'm pretty sure she's the Herbology teacher for a reason..." Jake muttered to himself.

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" Professor Sprout said, who was looking more disgruntled and not at all her usual cheerful self when she got closer. Jake was happy because the Tentacula was in Greenhouse One, meaning he didn't have to deal with it this year. He would swear to it that the thing hated him specifically for some reason.

There was a murmur of interest; they had only ever worked in greenhouse one before - greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Jake could feel his sense of smell being assaulted by the damp earth and fertilizer mingling with the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling. He steeled his senses and followed them inside, but Lockhart spoke up just before he got out of earshot, "Harry! I've been wanting a word - you don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?"

Jake looked at Professor Sprout and saw a scowl of deep loathing. She did mind, but Lockhart didn't seem to care as he closed the Greenhouse door in her face, "That was horribly rude of him."

Professor Sprout seemed to be patiently awaiting Harry's return to class as she stood behind a trestle bench in the center of the greenhouse, which had about twenty pairs of different colored earmuffs lying on the bench, and she wasn't saying a word. It was a good four minutes before he did finally open the door. When Harry slowed to a halt in between Ron and Hermione, she began her class, "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

Jake and Hermione both raised their hands, telling them both to answer, Hermione did first, "Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative. It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"And the Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is, however, an incredibly dangerous plant, because the cry of an adult Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," Jake answered after her.

"Most impressive, both of you take Ten Points each for Gryffindor! Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young, so they won't be killing with their screams, you will, however, be rendered out-of-commission for a few hours," she pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in color, were growing there in rows. Jake quickly grabbed a pair of (F/C) earmuffs, "I suggest you all follow his example and take a pair for yourselves. Make sure that when you put them on, they are completely and properly over your entire ear. I will give a thumbs up when it is safe to take them off. Right, earmuffs on !" Professor Sprout put on the pink, fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up her sleeves, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard.

Jake smiled amusingly at the infant looking Mandrake as it screamed bloody murder at just having been yanked out of it's earthy soil. It had pail green, mottled skin, Jake noted.

Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying it in dark, damp compost until only the green tufts of leaves were sticking out. She dusted off her hands and gave them all the thumbs up. They removed their earmuffs to hear her speak, "As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet, but as I said earlier, you will be out for a few hours if you do hear it, and I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, so I suggest you keep your earmuffs tightly in place the rest of class. I will direct your attention when it is time to pack up.

"Four or five to a tray, there is a large supply of pots here, so no need to worry about not having enough for every group. Compost is in the sacks over there, oh - and I had to move the Tentacula into Greenhouse three because it was becoming unruly with the other plants."

"What!?" Jake said in a distressed voice.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fernandes, I know how much trouble it gave you last year," Professor Sprout apologized to him, but it was of little comfort as he put his earmuffs on.

They were joined at their table by a Hufflepuff, but Jake didn't bother taking his earmuffs off until he saw him shaking the hands of the other three, "And you're Jake Fernandes, the best magically inclined student to ever attend Hogwarts, according to Dumbledore. But, your ability with a wand is well-known among the others in our year," the Hufflepuff said, extending his hand towards him.

Jake accepted it, "And who are you?"

"Ah, must not have heard me, I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley," Justin said as they released their hands.

Jake nodded and put his earmuffs back on and missed the rest of the conversation. He almost began working when Hermione grabbed his arm. One look towards them told him they had yet to get ready as well. Professor Sprout eventually did tell them to put them back on so they could work, and what a task it was for everyone.

The first Mandrake Jake pulled out was unruly, and he realized just how easy Professor Sprout made it seem, but it was nowhere near easy. He had to apply more force than usual to pull the plant out, and when he did, it began kicking and screaming. So he tried to put it into another, bigger pot, but it didn't want to go in either. He was yelling, "I'm trying to help you here!" But no one heard him and he was sure the Mandrake didn't care. With more force, he got it repotted and found himself already sweating and dirty with earthy soil. He didn't have as much trouble with the other Mandrakes he managed to get repotted himself, but his arms were aching after his fifth Mandrake.

He was always thankful that Professor Sprout let them leave several minutes early so they could get cleaned up for their next class. The Gryffindor's all traipsed back up to the Castle to quickly get clean before heading towards Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall's classes were more fun than Jake had initially thought. They were more difficult than other classes because of how complex the work could be, but he still did well in the class. Today for their first day back, they were tasked with turning Beetles into Buttons.

As expected, he and Hermione did well, turning several beetles each and having a nice collection of buttons afterwards. This was the first time Jake had caught a glimpse of Ron's wand and he saw that it was taped up where it had broken in the crash with the Whomping Willow. He'd heard Ron complaining about it, but this was his first time actually seeing it.

Ron ended up squashing a beetle because his wand emitted a horrible smelling smoke every time he tried to use it. He couldn't see because of the smoke and then killed the beetle, having to regrettably ask a displeased Professor McGonagall for another one.

*******

When the lunch bell finally rang, they all stood up and left the Transfiguration classroom, making their way to the Great Hall.

"So, what have we got this afternoon?" Harry asked as they walked.

Hermione said at once without pulling her schedule out from in-between her books she was carrying, "Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Ron had seen something on her schedule, because he seized it immediately, " Why do you have little hearts outlining each of Lockhart's lessons?" He then squinted, "And whose name is this that you have scrawled up in the corner with a heart next to it?"

Hermione quickly snatched back her schedule, "That is none of your concern!" She yelled with a blush on her face and stomped ahead of them to the Great Hall. Jake sighed and speed walked after her.

They ate lunch in mostly silence, with Hermione reading another one of Lockhart's books, but Jake didn't catch the name of it; it was the one that started with a 'B'.

After finishing up their lunch, they spent the rest of the period outside in the courtyard with the gray overcast. Harry and Ron were talking Quidditch and Hermione's nose was buried in the book. Jake decided to continue his reading into their Grade 3 Spellbook. It had a lot of interesting spells listed in it. The Banishing Charm, Depulso , was by far the most interesting, but the Freezing Charm and Boggart-Banishing spell were intriguing too. That meant they would be dealing with Boggarts next year. He hadn't read up on them yet, but if they had a spell only meant for them, he couldn't imagine how bad they were.

Jake was brought out of his reading when someone spoke, "All right, Harry? I'm - I-I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a step closer to Harry, "I'm in Gryffindor too, d'you think - would it be all right if - can I have a picture?" He asked, raising his camera. Jake was having a hard time following what Colin was saying because he kept stopping himself to try another way of asking his question.

"A picture?" Harry repeated blankly.

"So I can prove I've met you!" He said excitedly, edging further forward, "I know all about you, everyone's told me! About how you survived You-Know-Who when he tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've got a lightning scar on your forehead," Colin was in overdrive, "and a boy in my dormitory said that if I get this film developed in the right Potion the picture'll move!" Colin drew a great, shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic until I got my Hogwarts letter. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either! So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him, and it'd be really good if I had one of you-" he looked at Harry imploringly, "-maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then maybe you could sign it?"

" Signed photos ?" Came the second most annoying voice Jake had ever heard, right after Lucius Malfoy, "You're giving out signed photos , Potter?" Asked Draco Malfoy, quite loudly at that. He stood right behind Colin, flanked on either side by his two meat-head followers. They were large, thuggish looking cronies that Malfoy liked to use for intimidation tactics, but it didn't work on Jake and he knew that, "Everyone line up! Harry Potter is giving out signed photos!"

"No I'm not!" Harry yelled angrily, clenching his fists, "Shut up, Malfoy!"

"You're just jealous," piped Colin, whose whole body was about as thick as Crabbe's neck. Jake wished that he'd shut up.

" Jealous ?" Asked Malfoy, who had no reason to shout anymore as the whole courtyard was now watching them with great interest. "Of what? Having a foul scar on my forehead? No thanks, why would I want that? I don't think getting your head cut open makes you special myself."

Crabbe and Goyle snickered stupidly.

"No, it's the ridding of a Dark Wizard that does that. Not that you would know what that's like," Jake said, looking right at Malfoy.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy," Ron said angrily. Crabbe stopped laughing and started rubbing his knuckles in a menacing way, but Jake stepped forward, gathering his and Goyle's attention, causing them both to take a step back.

"Be careful, Weasley," Malfoy continued on as though nothing was happening, "You don't want to start any trouble, or your Mummy'll have to come and take you away from school." He then put on a shrill, piercing voice, " If you put one more toe out of line -"

A knot of Slytherin Fifth years nearby roared with laughter.

"Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter," smirked Malfoy, "It'd be worth more than his family's whole house-"

Jake was quick on the draw, like usual, and had his wand aimed threateningly at Malfoy. Hermione quickly shut her book with a snap and whispered to him, "Look out, Lockhart's coming this way." He stowed his wand just before it looked bad on him.

"What's all this? What's all this, huh?" Gilderoy Lockhart was indeed striding over towards them, his turquoise robes flowing behind him as he walked, "Who's giving out signed photos?" Harry started to speak but Lockhart was quick to fling an arm around his shoulders and he thundered jovially, "I shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry."

Harry was pinned to Lockhart's side and his cheeks were burning with humiliation. Jake saw Malfoy slide back into the crowd as he sneered at Harry.

"Come on then, Mr. Creevey," Lockhart said, beaming at Colin, "A double portrait, can't do better than that! And we'll both sign it for you!"

Colin fumbled for his camera and took the picture just as the bell rang, signaling the start of afternoon classes.

"Off you go, move along there," Lockhart said to the crowd. Jake, Hermione, and Ron all walked ahead of Harry and Lockhart, waiting for them to show up as they entered the classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Harry eventually showed up with Lockhart and proceeded to hide himself behind all of Lockhart's books, "You could've fried an egg on your face," Ron said with a smirk, "You better hope Colin doesn't meet Ginny, or they'll start a Harry Potter fan club."

"Shut up," Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Pretty sure Ginny might start a fan club for you too, Jake," he said cheekily.

"Why would she do that?" Hermione asked him, somehow able to tear her face away from Lockhart's book.

"Well, ever since she found out about... you-know-what, she's become a little... obsessed, not Harry Potter obsessed, but she wouldn't shut up about you either, for some reason," Ron replied.

Because Jake was looking at Ron, he missed the vexed look on Hermione's face.

When everyone had finally been seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence befell the whole class. He reached forward and grabbed Neville's copy of Travels with Trolls , and held it up to show his own winking portrait on the cover, "Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart. Order of Merlin, Third Class; Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League; and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award, but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her."

He waited for everyone to laugh, but all he received was dead-panned looks. Jake saw a few girls, including Hermione, smiling weakly at him so as to not make him feel bad.

He recovered pretty quickly, though, "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books - well done!"

"Not like we had a choice..." Jake muttered.

"I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about - just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in." He quickly handed out the test papers and returned to the front of the class, "You have Thirty minutes, starting... now!"

Jake grabbed his paper and got a good look at the questions:

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

On and on the paper went. Jake was beginning to see what kind of man Lockhart really was. He was a self-centered, self-absorbed, piece of garbage that only cared about himself and his image. That's why his books focus so much on him and not the title, because he loves the limelight.

Jake wasn't going to let this new-found loathing of the Professor fail him the quiz. He knew all the answers, and with Great Reluctance, he answered every question correctly. He did give Lockhart a surprise near the end of his paper, though.

After the half hour went by, Lockhart told them to stop and he collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class, "Tut, tut... hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac . I say so in Year with a Yeti . And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully. I clearly say in Chapter Twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples - though I wouldn't say no to a Bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey!"

He gave them all another roguish wink. Jake sighed when he saw Hermione paying Lockhart all of her attention, especially when he mentioned her name.

"But Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care products - good girl! In fact-" he flipped over the paper and then back again, "-full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised a trembling hand.

"Excellent! Quite excellent! Take Ten Points to..." he flipped the paper over again, but he then separated Hermione's from another. It must've been Jake's, because his face went from glee, to irked, "So, you have a problem with my books, Mr. Fernandes?"

"The only problem I have, Professor Lockhart," he says, getting the attention of the whole class, "is how useless that quiz was. This is a Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, shouldn't you be focusing on something other than yourself?"

"I think how I conduct my class is none of your concern," Lockhart said with a sneer.

"I think teaching us Defensive Spells over your whole life story is a more pressing concern," Jake argued back.

"I think Ten Points from Gryffindor will suffice," he turned and walked back towards his desk. Jake was about to stand up and draw his wand on the Professor, but Hermione gripped his arm forcefully when he was halfway out of his chair. It didn't hurt, but he could definitely feel her tightened hand on his forearm. He struggled against her, but in the end decided it wasn't worth jeopardizing his place at Hogwarts. "Now! Be warned!" He said, pulling up a cage from beneath his desk and setting it on the surface, acting as though the last minute never happened, "It's my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to Wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

Lockhart placed a hand on the cover of the cage, "I must ask you not to scream for it might... provoke them," and yanked it off to reveal Cornish Pixies. "Freshly caught Cornish Pixies."

Seamus Finnegan couldn't control himself and let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.

"Yes?" He asked, smiling at Seamus.

"Well they're not - they're not very dangerous, are they?" Seamus choked, trying to not laugh so hard.

"Don't be so sure!" Lockhart said, wagging a finger annoyingly at Seamus, "Devilish Tricky little Blighters they can be!"

The Pixies were an Electric Blue color and about eight inches in height, with pointed faces and voices so shrill, it was like listening to the Ewoks from Endor when Jake had watched Return of the Jedi for his Tenth Birthday. He always hated the noise they made. And these Pixies, the moment Lockhart had removed the cover, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them.

"Right then," Lockhart said loudly, "let's see what you make of them!" He yelled and then opened the cage.

It was complete anarchy. The Pixies shot out and in every direction imaginable like bottle rockets. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and hoisted him into the air. Several shot straight through the window, showering the back row of students with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreak havoc upon the classroom, with the grace of a rampaging rhino that had stepped on a thumbtack. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed windows; within literal minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks, most of the other half had ran out of the classroom, Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier, and Jake was still seated with his arms crossed as a Pixie pulled on his hair. He was trying very hard to not lose his temper.

"Come on now - round them up, round them up, they're only Pixies!" Shouted Lockhart. He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed, " Peskipiksi Persternomi !"

It did nothing. One of the Pixies seized Lockhart's wand and tossed it out of the window, laughing with a mixture of jovial and maniacal pitches. Lockhart gulped and dove under his own desk , narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who had fallen seconds later from the chandelier.

Hermione was watching Jake just sit there with a sense of calm that even Gandhi couldn't rival, but unlike Gandhi, she was sure he was losing his temper quickly. She looked at Lockhart who bolted from under his desk and also ran out of the room. She didn't believe what she just saw. She looked back to Jake, looking at his face twitch as he struggled to not lose it.

Suddenly his eyes opened, showing a bright red, and all of the Pixies still in the classroom suddenly fainted. She knew he hadn't killed them because they were still breathing. All of the Pixies suddenly flew into the cage, which shut forcefully and locked with soldered bars. She looked back to him and saw his red eyes fade back to Blue as he stood up calmly, slinging his bag over his shoulder as the bell rang. Every other student ran for it, leaving before he did. She walked out of the classroom behind him, giving it a last look of confusion, mixed with regret.

Harry and Ron followed immediately after, "Can you believe him?" Roared Ron as they walked away from the destroyed classroom.

"He's a fraud. All of those books he's written and he couldn't even handle Cornish Pixies? I don't buy it," Jake said, eyes straight ahead of him.

Hermione was unusually quiet, "Anything you'd like to add?" Ron asked her, almost in a taunting voice.

"Huh? Oh uh... no... no, that was a disaster..." she said and Jake stopped dead in his tracks. He looked back at her with wide-eyes, "What? It was a disaster. He abandoned us..." Hermione said and looked like she was swallowing her pride and infatuation she had with Lockhart, "And the way he took points off of Gryffindor, even though you aced his stupid quiz too... I shouldn't have stopped you," she said, shocking all three of the boys.

Jake was speechless. He looked at Hermione carefully, "You agree as well that he's a fraud?"

"I do," she didn't even hesitate, "no man that claims to have metaphorically wrestled all of those Magical Creatures would be bested by Cornish Pixies... he's a fraud."

"I didn't think it was possible, Hermione," Jake said, causing her to look at him again, "but you've just earned even more respect from me, and it was already max respect."

She smiled at him, showing him her enlarged front teeth.

"I guess we are all in agreement, then?" Harry asked and they all nodded.

"Harry," Jake brought Harry's attention to him.

"Yeah?"

"When are Quidditch Tryouts?" He asked.

"I dunno, you could ask Wood, why?" Harry asked uneasily.

"I'd like to try for Reserve Seeker, if that's okay?" He offered.

"I don't mind, but yeah, I would definitely ask Wood. I'm sure he'd be thrilled at having a Reserve Seeker in the event I can't play," Harry smiled at him.

"Alright, now I need a Broom... good thing I ordered one just before I left the Leaky Cauldron," he said with a smirk, "I wanted it to be a surprise to everyone, so I chose to have it shipped to Hogwarts sometime during the first week, could be here tomorrow."

"You're that confident in getting Reserve Seeker?" Hermione asked him.

"I am. I was able to keep up with the Snitch at every game last year. I think I've got a great shot," he smiled at her.

"What broom did you get?" Was all Ron cared about.

"What do you think I got?"

"Did you get the latest broom? A Nimbus Two-Thousand and One?" Ron asked excitedly.

"No, they may be faster, but the handling is not that great. I got a Two-Thousand," he said as they made it to their next class, which happened to be History of Magic.

"Nice choice," Harry said with a cheeky grin.

Jake smiled back as Professor Binns, the only Ghost Professor, floated through the wall and hovered in place before his sleep-inducing voice droned on for an hour.