The Week of Hogwarts
Wednesday
Leo woke far earlier than he meant to.
For a blissful few seconds, he lay still beneath his blankets, warm and half-dreaming until a sound like a Hungarian Horntail choking on a tuba rattled through the dormitory.
Rowan snored.
Leo stared at the ceiling, wide awake now.
"Merlin help me," he muttered, carefully climbing out of bed.
He padded to his shelf and pulled down a book he'd had bought before at diagon alley.
Still Frames, Living Stories: An Introduction to Enchanted Portraiture
Leo's eyes lit up.
Ever since he was young, he'd been obsessed with the moving paintings. Not just the way they moved—but how alive they felt, that is why he was insistently make his father take him to art and music class. He wanted to capture a moment of happiness and wanted to feel how the painting was feeling after years of finishing so he could relive it again.
One of the first memory he could think of is his first sight of Hogwarts from the boats. The Sorting Hat cermony and The brief, unbelievable instant when he'd become Helga Hufflepuff herself.
Those memories deserved preserving he muttered.
He flipped through the pages, reading eagerly.
According to the book, creating a moving painting required:
A magically treated canvasEnchanted pigments infused with memory threadsA focus charm to bind emotion into motionAnd, most importantly, a powerful and experienced magical core
Leo frowned.
Powerful mage, the book emphasized.
He leaned back against his bedpost, thoughtful.
He knew he was powerful being a Metamorphmagus wasn't nothing but he also wasn't delusional. Two days into Hogwarts did not make him a master enchanter. Realistically, it would take at least a year before he could manage even simple movements: blinking, turning, maybe a smile.
Not today.
But knowledge mattered.
Leo closed the book, satisfied. One day, he'd do it. And when he did, he'd do it properly.
After that, before waking up his friend, he flipped through his old Hogwarts preparation notes things his siblings had drilled into him before term began. Wand movements. Theory basics. Magical laws. It made studying easier now; he only had to polish what he already knew.
Thank Merlin for overprepared siblings, he thought fondly.
He was grinning like crazy while reading, he was hoping to impress his friends.
When he finally headed down to the common room, he ran into a few older Hufflepuffs lounging near the windows. One of them—a seventh-year prefect named Gareth Bloom gave him a friendly nod.
"Settling in alright?" Gareth asked.
Leo nodded. "Still getting lost."
"That never stops," Gareth laughed. "I'm hoping to work at the Ministry after graduation. Magical Transportation Office.."
After they have a few minute of conversation pertaining Gareth dreams and a few talk about Hogwarts, both of them went upstairs to wake up their own friend.
When he open the door,
Cedric had just woken up.
His hair stuck out in every direction, resembling a very offended bird's nest.
Leo bit his lip to keep from laughing.
"Morning," Cedric yawned.
"Good morning," Leo said solemnly, failing completely and snickering.
Together they woke Tobias who groaned dramatically and Rowan, who seemed offended anyone dared interrupt his snoring masterpiece. They met Elowen and Mira who is waiting at the common room.
At the great hall,
At the table, Mira sighed dreamily.
"Today's History of Magic, I cant wait."
Cedric winced.
"Professor Binns. I heard ….He's… boring."
Leo nodded,
Mira looked crestfallen. "now way, there is no way….history will ever be boring ." Mira still determine and enthusiastic.
Making Leo and Cedric feel guilty because they already judge the class when they not even experiencing it yet.
History of Magic
As they were settling in their seat they notice that they are the first group that arrrived, thankfully a senior give them a map of the castle, so they felt relieve that they could make it early this time.
Professor Binns drifted through the blackboard without noticing it, translucent and monotone.
"Today we will discuss the Goblin Rebellions of the fifteenth century…"
As the class continue, professor Binn voice keep on being boring, everyone start to feel sleepy
Leo tried. He really did.
He took notes. So did Cedric. Elowen admired the ancient classroom arches instead because if she paid attention she will fall sleep. Rowan doodled goblins with speech bubbles. Tobias fought sleep like it was a personal enemy.
But eventually all of them succumb to the entrées of history of magic professor.
Mira held on the longest—her quill moving steadily—but eventually even she slumped, defeated by the ghost's unchanging voice.
By the end, Leo's handwriting had devolved into vaguely historical squiggles.
After class, Mira complained the entire walk to the Great Hall.
"He skipped the best parts!," she groaned. "No passion!. No detail!."
"At least his classroom has nicer architecture than Professor McGonagall's, ironically she could have just transfigured some of that class design," Elowen offered.
Leo nodded enthusiastically. "The arches are older than some spells."
Mira sighed but smiled a little.
"Cheer up," Leo added brightly. "Next we have Flying Lessons with Gryffindor."
Cedric's eyes lit up. "Finally."
Both of them had grown up around broomsticks and mounted a broom before but carefully, secretly, in limited spaces because of the presence of Muggles but this? This was official.
"I hope we actually get off the ground," Rowan said.
"I hope I don't fall off," Tobias added.
Elowen smiled serenely. "I hope the sky is nice."
Leo grinned, excitement bubbling in his chest.
Flying Lesson
As they are on the way to the flying class one of the Gryffindor got pranked, his quill was shooting ink, Leo hear a laughter at the back , he glanced and it none other then the twin.
Their eye meet one another and after a casual greeting, one of the weseley said "we just finish potion this morning, did you know, he deduct our point just for sitting weird" "he wait until we prank him to get him back" the Hufflepuff who hear the interaction with the Weasley twin, began to get scared since tomorrow they have class with professor snape himself.
The sun was crisp and bright as the first-year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors gathered on the wide, flat lawn beside the castle. Twenty broomsticks lay in neat rows on the grass, their bristles slightly frayed, their handles nicked from years of use.
The moment they were released, the students surged forward in what could only be described as a polite but desperate power walk, everyone trying to secure a broom that looked even slightly less worn than the others.
Leo ended up with one that hummed faintly when he touched it. "Acceptable" he whispers.
A sharp whistle cut through the chatter.
Madam Hooch strode toward them.
She was tall and wiry, dressed in grey robes, her short grey hair cropped close to her head. But it was her eyes that held Leo's attention—bright, unnatural yellow, sharp as a hawk's.
Leo stared.
Those don't look natural, he thought.
Mine are light brown—sometimes yellowish—but hers look like enchanted glass. Contact lenses don't exist in here… right? Unless there's a spell. Or potion. Or—
Without thinking too hard about it, Leo subtly shifted his own eyes to match hers, he taught it look very mesmerizing how the yellow eyes gleaming faintly under the sunlight. He hoped—deeply—that she wouldn't notice.
Madam Hooch clapped her hands.
"Line up! Plenty of space between you and the person beside you."
She marched down the line, boots crunching on the grass.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand on the left side of your broomstick. Stick your right hand over it and say—Up!"
A chorus of voices rang out.
"Up!"
For most students, the brooms merely rolled, twitched, or stayed stubbornly still.
But for four boys, the reaction was instant.
"Up!"
Leo. Cedric. Fred. George.
Their brooms shot upward with a sharp thwack, slapping neatly into their palms.
Leo felt the familiar hum of wood and magic beneath his fingers. Back in London, Orion and Lyra had spent countless evenings dragging him to secluded parks to practice "manoeuvring in tight spaces." Fred and George and Cedric they have an older sibling who has a broom and both family play quidditch with each other.
"Well done," Madam Hooch said curtly though her sharp eyes lingered on them a moment longer than the rest. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you'll kick off from the ground, hover for a moment, and then lean forward to touch back down. On my whistle. Three—two—"
WHIIIISTLE.
The four of them did far more than hover.
Fred and George blasted upward like twin rockets, spiralling around each other in a chaotic double-helix of laughter and ginger hair. Cedric rose smoothly, balanced and effortless, his posture impeccable.
Leo, however, decided to add a little Lee flair.
He kicked off, leaned low over the handle, and instead of stopping pulled into a tight loop-de-loop. For a breathless second at the top of the arc, the world flipped upside down the castle, the lake, the tiny gasping students below.
Wind roared in his ears. His yellow eyes—borrowed from Madam Hooch herself—sparkled with pure adrenaline.
"MR. LEE! MR. DIGGORY! MR. WEASLEYS!" Madam Hooch shouted, though she was squinting at Leo with unmistakable professional interest. "DOWN. NOW."
They descended lightly, landing as softly as feathers.
"Show-offs," muttered a Gryffindor girl though she didn't sound annoyed.
"You've all clearly flown before," Madam Hooch said, stopping in front of them. Her gaze fixed on Leo. "Lee. That turn was exceptionally tight. Who taught you that?"
"My brother, ma'am," Leo said. His hair flickered briefly into a proud sunset-orange before snapping back to raven-black. "He says if you can't turn on a Sickle, you shouldn't be in the air."
She grunted. "He's right. Five points each to Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Now the rest of you—grip the broom! Don't tickle it!"
As the lesson continued, Fred and George drifted closer.
"Leo, you were amazing," Fred said.
"Thank you," Leo replied with mock solemnity. "I assume we're all thinking about joining our house Quidditch teams next year?"
"Obviously," George said.
"Clearly," Cedric added, grinning.
"What position?" Leo asked.
The twins answered at once.
"If you must know, Mr. Lee—"
"—we might possibly consider—"
"—becoming Beaters—"
"—smacking Bludgers at enemies—"
They finished each other's sentences so fast Leo and Cedric exchanged identical confused looks.
Cedric laughed. "I'll probably try for Seeker."
Leo exhaled in relief. "Thank Merlin. I want to be a Chaser."
Meanwhile, Rowan hovered about three feet off the ground, spinning slowly like an enchanted teacup. Tobias kept bouncing up and down, unable to maintain altitude. Elowen rose precisely—then drifted sideways into a bush. Mira shouted something about aerodynamics before tilting dangerously.
Leo and Cedric laughed and glided down to help.
That was when Leo got an idea.
When Madam Hooch turned her back, Leo shimmered—his body shifting, posture sharpening, eyes blazing yellow—
"MR. ROWAN! MR. TOBIAS! MISS MIRABEL! MISS ELOWEN! IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF FLYING?"
All four froze in terror, they stutter for a moment and right before they could muster the courage to speak
the real Madam Hooch descended behind Leo.
"MR. LEE."
Caught.
Leo winced, stuck his tongue out sheepishly, and said, "Sorry, ma'am."
He shifted back instantly.
His friends reacted by trying to smack him with their brooms.
Leo mounted his broom, shot upward, and laughed.
"If you want to hit me—come get me!"
And just like that, four very determined first-years kicked off the ground.
Madam Hooch sighed.
But there was a small smile on her face.
.....
Leo leaned casually against his broom, the wood still warm beneath his palm, his boots resting lightly against the grass. Fred, George, and Cedric were clustered nearby, already deep in an animated debate about the best way a Seeker could dodge a Bludger without losing sight of the Snitch.
"Sharp zigzag," Fred insisted, gesturing wildly.
"No, no—vertical drop," George countered. "Bludgers don't expect you to vanish downward."
Cedric tilted his head, thoughtful. "Wouldn't that make you lose the Snitch entirely?"
Leo listened them talk until Cedric suddenly turned to him, eyes lighting up.
"Wait," Cedric said slowly, "if you can change into… well, whoever you want—why do you even need a broom?"
The twins froze.
Then both of them turned toward Leo at the same time.
"Yeah," Fred said.
"Why not just turn into a bird" George added helpfully.
Leo laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly sheepish. "It doesn't quite work like that."
The three leaned in.
"Metamorphmagus abilities only apply to human forms," Leo explained. "Or creatures that are… close enough to humans. I can't turn into an animal, and definitely not an object."
"But you turned your nose into a pig's snout once," Fred protested.
"That was partial," Leo replied. "I can borrow features—ears, fur, claws, tails—but I can't change my entire body structure. No full transformations."
Cedric frowned, intrigued. "So… why not just sprout wings? Like a bird's. Then you could fly without a broom."
Leo start to pout.
"Technically," he said, "I could grow wings. My cousin Tonks can do it."
All three stared.
"But," Leo continued quickly, "that level of transformation is incredibly hard—especially on a living body. You're not just changing how you look, you're changing how your body works."
He gestured vaguely at his back.
"Bones, muscles, balance, weight distribution. Tonks once tried to turn into a rabbit. She managed the ears, the fur, even the face—but the rest of her body stayed human. Imagine having rabbit ears but still needing to walk like a person. You don't understand the animal's physiology, so your body can't move properly. And even if you do, it still impossible"
Cedric winced. "That sounds… uncomfortable."
George and fred nodded solemnly. "And possibly hilarious."
"It was both," Leo admitted. "She fell over. A lot."
Cedric hummed thoughtfully. "So flying with wings would mean relearning balance, muscle control, airflow…"
"And gravity," Leo added. "Lots of gravity."
The three nodded, clearly impressed even if part of them still thought it sounded like cheating but with effort.
Before they could delve further on another topic Madam Hooch's whistle shrieked again, signalling the end of the lesson. Gryffindor students were already calling out to Fred and George, waving them over.
"Duty calls," Fred said with a grin.
"Try not to impersonate any professors while we're gone we want in," George added.
"No promises," Leo shot back.