"Mortificus!" Adrian pointed his wand directly at Scabbers' sleeping head.
The effect was immediate and dramatic. The gray rat's eyes snapped open as he let out a series of panicked squeaks that sounded almost human. His tiny claws scratched frantically against the wooden nightstand before he launched himself off the edge like a furry cannonball.
Scabbers crashed into several cups and trinkets on his way down, sending them clattering to the floor as he raced around the dormitory in complete terror. He darted under beds, behind trunks, and over shoes, squeaking nonstop.
"Finally!" Adrian grinned, pleased that the spell had worked so well.
Mortificus worked opposite to the Patronus Charm, he realized. Instead of focusing on happy memories to create light, he had to imagine something terrifying and project that fear into his target's mind. When he'd cast the spell on Scabbers, he'd pictured a large black dog chasing the rat through a dark forest.
Maybe because Scabbers had been asleep, the nightmare had felt completely real to him. The spell had worked better than Adrian had expected.
His celebration was cut short when Ron and Harry burst through the dormitory door, having heard the commotion from the common room below.
Harry stopped in the doorway, staring at the chaos. "What happened in here? It looks like a tornado hit the place."
But Ron had spotted something much more alarming than the mess. "Oh no! Scabbers! What's wrong with you, boy?" He dropped to his knees and tried to catch the terrified rat as it streaked past him toward Neville's bed.
Scabbers, still convinced he was being chased by the dog from his magically-induced nightmare, saw Ron as another threat. He dove under the bed through a gap near the wall, completely out of reach.
"Adrian, what exactly happened here?" Harry turned to his friend, who was still standing by the nightstand looking slightly guilty.
"I was just practicing some spells," Adrian shrugged, trying to sound casual. "There might have been a small accident."
Harry watched Ron crawl under the bed on his hands and knees, muttering reassurances to his pet. "This doesn't look small," he said with a sigh. "We're going to be chasing that rat all night, aren't we?"
Fortunately, the situation wasn't as bad as Harry feared. After twenty minutes of chaos, with Ron crawling under furniture while Harry moved beds and Adrian pretended to help, Adrian finally remembered he was a wizard.
"Oh, right. Wingardium Leviosa!" He levitated both Scabbers and the book he was hiding under, ending the great rat chase of their second week at Hogwarts.
Ron stayed grumpy for several days after that. Adrian apologized and bought a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans as a peace offering for Scabbers. Eventually, with Harry's help as mediator, Ron forgave him.
When Hermione heard about the incident, she bluntly told Ron that caring more about a rat than his friends was ridiculous. This led to their biggest argument yet, with Ron getting so angry he could barely speak coherently.
The whole experience made Ron even more protective of Scabbers. He started carrying the rat to classes and seemed constantly worried that someone might hurt his pet.
Meanwhile, Adrian settled into a comfortable routine of classes, library time, and dormitory study. He read through several basic textbooks and managed to earn enough points for another Study Genius card. Over the following days, his spell abilities improved noticeably.
The professors began giving him better marks in class, especially once his Basic Transfiguration and Wingardium Leviosa reached Level 2. During one Transfiguration lesson, he transformed a piece of wood even faster than Hermione, leaving both Harry and Ron staring in amazement.
"Show-off," Hermione muttered, though she looked more impressed than annoyed.
Unfortunately, advancing further would be much harder. Each spell level required double the proficiency points of the previous one, making progress increasingly slow.
When he wasn't studying, Adrian spent time searching for the Room of Requirement. He needed somewhere private to practice more dangerous spells without destroying the Gryffindor dormitory. He knew it was somewhere near a tapestry, but despite years of reading the books, he couldn't remember the exact location.
Adrian's peaceful routine was disrupted on Friday of their second week when Harry received an invitation from Hagrid. But that wasn't the only thing on their minds.
"I wish we could skip this morning," Ron groaned as they walked toward the dungeons for their first Potions class with Slytherin. "Professor Snape is the head of Slytherin House. George and Fred told me we should watch out for him."
"That's ridiculous," Hermione said firmly. "Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor, and she doesn't play favorites."
"It's not just me saying it," Ron protested, stroking Scabbers as he perched on his shoulder. "Loads of older Gryffindor students have warned us. Professor Snape's always in a bad mood, and some people even say he used to be a Dark Wizard."
Ron lowered his voice for the last part, glancing around to make sure no one overheard.
"That's impossible," Harry shook his head. "Professor Dumbledore would never hire a Dark Wizard to teach at Hogwarts."
While Harry had noticed Professor Snape giving him cold looks during the Welcome Feast, he'd assumed the man was just naturally unfriendly. Most of their other professors had been pretty decent so far.
Hermione nodded in agreement with Harry, leaving Ron to look hopefully at Adrian for support.
Adrian was busy feeding Scabbers a yellow Bertie Bott's bean when he heard his name. Looking up at the group, his eyes settled on Harry with a knowing expression.
"I don't know if Professor Snape has it in for all Gryffindors," Adrian said thoughtfully, "but he definitely has it in for you, Harry."
Harry blinked in surprise. "What? Why would you think that?"
"Have you noticed the way he looks at you?" Hermione asked, catching on to Adrian's meaning with her usual quick thinking.
Adrian nodded at her insight, though he couldn't exactly explain that he already knew about Snape's history with Harry's parents. "Just... watch how he treats you compared to everyone else. I've got a feeling Potions is going to be interesting."