18) The Study Plan

Keith walked out of the classroom with Susan and Hannah but his mind was elsewhere. He stared at the wand in his hands as he recalled the memories from when he visited Ollivanders.

‘There’s something in the wand that Ollivander didn’t think should be removed…’ he thought, recalling the times when his wand gave out a soft silvery glow at random times.

As he followed the other students for History lessons, he heard a voice from behind him.

“Professor Flitwick said that we’ll be learning the light spell in our next class didn’t he? You reckon we can do it on our own before that?”

Keith turned around to look at Justin and then his gaze landed on the others near him. Ernie shrugged and pulled out his wand before waving it slightly.

“Lumos!”

A soft glow began to emit from the tip and a few students nearby gave Ernie admiring looks.

“Well, even I can do it.” Zacharias join in as he pulled out his wand and did the same. Hannah and Susan also did the same before they turned to look at Keith.

He let out a soft sigh and cast the Lumos charm. The rest of the Hufflepuff first years simply stood and watched as the two girls and three boys effortlessly cast the spell.

“My father taught this to me.” Ernie said as he looked at the others.

Justin gave an understanding nod, “Well, I’m a muggleborn.”

Lyra, Emma and Megan nodded in response. “Me too” Megan said softly but when Keith looked at Wayne, the guy hesitated for a second.

“My mother is a squib and my father is a muggle. So I’m technically a muggleborn too.”

“Well, you’ll learn soon enough.” Keith said before putting off the light from his wand, “Nox. After all, that’s what you’re here in Hogwarts for. To learn.”

Justin grinned at this, “Of course! We’ll catch up in no time hehe.”

They then headed off to history of magic class. Keith, who had found history to be fascinating, ended up to be the first one to fall asleep in class.

Neville took notes for both of them but he too, found himself constantly sleepy, waking up with a sudden jerk whenever his head drooped too low.

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Once the class was over, he woke up his friend before stretching.

“It’s so hard to stay awake…” Neville said as Keith woke up, yawning as he tossed the textbook in his bag.

“Next lesson is Herbology isn’t it?” Keith asked as he watched the others leave.

He wasn’t in a hurry since they now had ninety minutes to spare. He looked at Neville and grinned, “Tell me, how’s griffindor?”

At this question, Neville looked a little down.

“Well, it’s going okay but I don’t think I’m suited for Gryffindor. I mean… I’m not brave at all am I? I also can’t do magic right. Hermione can do all sorts of things. She’s so talented and then, there’s me…” he said, his voice soft.

Keith silently stared at Neville and this wasn’t new to him in any way. Neville had always been the same, putting himself down for the smallest of things.

“Why are you comparing yourself with Hermione? I mean, she memorised the text books by heart. She might be a muggleborn without any magical background but she’s managed to catch up and surpass most of us in terms of basics through sheer hard work didn’t she? It’s not just about talents.

“Let’s compare you with Harry instead. Is he better than you? No. Who knows more about the magical world? You do. But he can always catch up and even surpass you if you just keep sitting here and call yourself useless. We have quite some free time every week don’t we?

We can always study and practice together. It’ll be fun, don’t you think? Like the time when we tried to brew the boils cure potion back at my house.”

Neville nodded, smiling slightly at the words, “You were the one who did most of the work though. You guided me through every step and also made sure I didn’t make any mistakes.”

“Well, I can keep doing it. I might be better than others when it comes to potions but the rest? I’m at the same starting point so let’s help each other. Actually, I have an idea!” Keith said as he excitedly pulled out a parchment from his bag and wrote down the names of a few subjects.

Then, he covered it from Neville and wrote something else before placing it bottom side up. He then extended four fingers.

“Pick one, quick.”

Neville hurriedly grabbed the ring finger. Keith responded by flipping the parchment again, letting Neville see the contents written in there.

“The ring finger is charms.” Keith said, grinning as he looked at the words Transfiguration, Dada, Charms and Herbology on the parchment.

“I’ll make a plan for us the way my mom makes mine. It’s gonna be so much fun hehe.”

Neville nodded, grinning ear to ear as he tossed his own parchment of history notes in his bag.

“Let’s go get some lunch first and then we can go to Herbology.” Neville said as he stood up from his seat and Keith followed.

The two of them ate together and no one really seemed to mind Keith sitting at the Gryffindor table. The only exception to this, was Susan who kept giving him short glances.

Herbology’s first lesson went smoothly as it was just theory. Professor Sprout gave Keith a lot of expectant looks but one specific person stole all the limelight in the class, raising up her hand at every single question.

Keith silently listened, but he already knew most of the theory thanks to having to learn about it early on. Herbology was a very important complementary subject for potions and growing plants on his own always helped him save money.

The rest of the classes went similarly, all of them focusing on the theoretical aspects as the professors introduced the subjects to the students, explaining the basics and what they could expect in the long run. All of them except two.