When Arya and Albus entered the common room, Scorpius was already waiting for them. He looked slightly worried.
"Where were you two?! When I went to the North Tower, no one was there."
Arya said, "Actually, something happened. Sit down, we'll tell you everything."
After Arya and Albus recounted what had happened, Scorpius stared at them, mouth agape.
"Did you really have to duel there?!" Then he smiled, "Congrats, not everyone can beat Albus."
Before they all headed to their dormitories, Arya pointed at a scratch on Albus's arm.
"Wait, I have something for that," she said and disappeared up the dorm stairs.
A few minutes later, Arya came back down holding a silver leaf. She gently took Albus's hand and rubbed the leaf over the scratch. Albus felt a mild sting, then the pain vanished. Arya smiled.
"This is a marshmallow tree leaf. I picked it last time I went to Ilvermorny. It's a strong healing plant."
Albus whispered a thank you, and the three wished each other goodnight.
Arya tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Her thoughts kept returning to that chest—why did it look so much like her father's? She remembered seeing it once in the attic, but it hadn't seemed special. Maybe they were two different chests. Maybe London had lots of chests like that. But none of the explanations made sense. After going through every possibility in her mind, exhaustion finally pulled her into sleep.
The morning of the big day was more bustling than usual. Quidditch training had started, and everywhere there were brooms and Quidditch uniforms in four different colors. Arya pushed aside her bowl of soup and looked over at a group of Slytherin students dressed in green.
Albus arrived. "Did you ever play Quidditch, Arya?"
"Yeah, I was a Chaser," she said with a smile, remembering her team. "I always wanted to be a Seeker, but ours was so good he couldn't be replaced!" She added, "How's your team?"
Scorpius grumbled, "I hate to admit it, but Gryffindor's stronger than us." He gestured to the nearby Gryffindor table.
Arya said, "I asked Epidorus if there were any open spots on the team, but he said it was full."
"Yeah, full of idiots!" Albus said with clear frustration.
Scorpius added, "You should ask him again. I'm sure he'd think about what's best for the team. Some of our players are terrible, especially our Seeker—last time, James Potter caught the Golden Snitch in under three minutes!"
Albus nodded. "James is super determined this year! Says it's his last at Hogwarts, and he wants to win one last Cup before graduating." He smirked. "It's the only thing he's actually good at."
All three laughed.
Suddenly, a commotion caught their attention. Apparently, a fight had broken out between Epidorus and James near the Gryffindor table. They turned to see James angrily saying:
"But we booked the field for the first day!"
"I told you, Professor Spencer said she checked the list and it was us!"
"I don't care about that list! I went to Madam Hooch myself and told her to book us for the first day! Maybe she forgot to write it down."
"You have no proof—our name is on the schedule!"
Just then, one of the professors approached. Arya immediately recognized her: Cecilia Spencer, the Ancient Charms professor. She was tall and thin, with short, bobbed black hair and a voice so soft and melodic it sounded like a Muggle radio.
"Kids, I'm truly sorry about the confusion. It was my fault, really. When I told Madam Hooch to put our name down, I guess she forgot I'm the head of Slytherin House and mistakenly scheduled us for today. I didn't double-check the list. It's my first year teaching and I'm still getting the hang of everything.
Madam Hooch and I spoke, and we agreed—Mr. Potter, you can practice today. We'll take the third day."
She looked toward Epidorus.
Epidorus was visibly angry but said nothing. Professor Spencer waved her gloved hands.
"Alright, children, argument's over. Off to class!"
As she walked past, Arya noticed her smiling at a Gryffindor boy—James—who was ruffling his own hair. Arya rolled her eyes.
"Someone should tell your brother he looks less attractive than an African salamander when he makes that face," she mocked. Albus and Scorpius burst out laughing.
"Seriously, we used to raise them. Their venom's valuable, though they're kind of ugly!"
Still chuckling, the three of them headed to Charms class.
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