Harry was rather excited for Charms.

No really, he was. Ever since Professor Flitwick had helped him out by explaining a few things about Hogwarts, he had really looked up to the short man. And Charms? The act of changing, adding, or altering objects?

Oh yes, Harry couldn't wait for Charms.

Neville was beside him, shuffling through his books with his brows furrowed. His bag was a light brown and was of high quality. Harry kind of wanted one.

His books were stuffed under one arm, wand in his pocket. His pocket that didn't have an Abrin in it.

He had never gone long without his adder. The snake was always wrapped around his neck, lazily hissing sarcastic comments in his ear. Or else he was tucked into a pocket, dozing off until Harry found him a scrap of meat. But he was always there.

And now he wasn't.

And Harry wasn't quite sure what to do.

He didn't even have Fox, who had been a second constant presence. And while he still knew where she was, she wasn't there with him.

"Harry?" Padma bumped his shoulder, shaking him free from his thoughts.

"Oh! Sorry. Just zoned out, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck, warmth blossoming on his neck. The Charms classroom door was three feet behind him.

Padma just grinned, her dark skin making her teeth shine like the sun.

They backtracked and pushed the door open.

The Charms classroom was a lot like the professor that taught it. A rather short ceiling that felt taller with the light colors of the room. The floor to ceiling window took up the entirety of the wall, held back by neat purple curtains.

There was light blue carpet, one squished by many feet. It looked fluffy enough to sleep on. Books were stacked everywhere, only some actually in the bookshelves lining the room. There were several large stacks by the desk, which was rather small.

The desks were in five rows, four across. Harry claimed one in the middle of the second row, shuffling his books into one corner. Neville sat down in the chair next to him, grinning. His wand was tight in his palm.

But there was a flurry of movement and a redhead dropped into the other seat.

"Hey, Harry!" Ron Weasley's grin could have split his face in half. His books were scattered across his desk, wand lying on top. His fingers tapped along the wood.

"Er-" Harry was a bit confused. Their first meeting hadn't gone well. Maybe he was trying over?

He cleared his throat. "Hey?"

Padma gave a glare to Ron and sat next to Neville, black braid swinging. They both started whispering.

Ron's voice was bright and chipper, though his eyes were a bit desperate. "How do you like school so far? Do you have a favorite class?"

"Um. Yeah, I like it a lot. Magic is awesome. But I've only been to two classes. I really like the defense class, though." Harry played idly with his wand. Ron's enthusiasm was something he was definitely not used to.

"Yeah!" Crowed Ron. "Of course the Boy-Who-Lived would like the class. Knew you would!"

Harry coughed.

"So." A grin spread in Ron's face. "How boring are the 'claws? Ready to switch over yet?"

Harry's brows furrowed. "I really like being in Ravenclaw. The common is full of bookshelves on everything!"

"Meh." Ron waved a hand. "That's what the library is for. But you haven't seen when the twins start to party over here in Gryffindor. They're my older brothers."

"I know." Harry was not enjoying this conversation.

Ron brightened. "So! What classes do you have after this?"

Harry stuttered. He couldn't do anything but answer this boy's questions!

"Um. Transfiguration and Potions."

Ron smiled. "I can't wait till Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall teaches the class, and she's Head of Gryffindor! I bet we'll get all sorts of perks!"

He paused.

"You won't like Potions, I bet," Ron said with the most serious expression Harry had ever seen on him. "Professor Snape is the worst git to ever come here."

Harry cocked his head to one side. "I'm actually really excited for Potions, though."

Ron shuddered. "Not after the first class, you won't. He treats us Gryffindors like something in the bottom of his shoe."

"How does he treat Ravenclaws?"

Ron shrugged. "No idea. But he probably will treat them terrible. He hates everything except for his Slytherins. We have class with them nearly every class, and he adores them. It's not fair."

Just then, Professor Flitwick walked into the class, and Harry had never been happier for a distraction.

The man looked chipper and bright, light grey robes swirling around him. His black wand was held in his hand.

Although he did look a bit comical climbing a stack of books to stand on his desk.

"Attendance!" His voice was a bit squeaky, though not too much. His gaze flicked over the students. "Please say something when your name is called."

There he went, reading from a long list written in a scroll of parchment. Every student said something similar to 'here'.

"Lakeson-Potter, Harry!"

"Present!" Harry chirped back at him, earning a smile before the professor moved on.

He finished the list quickly. With a flick of his wand, the scroll floated out of his grasp and rolled itself up before landing softly on his desk.

Professor Flitwick clapped his hands together. "Welcome! My name is Professor Flitwick, and I am your Charms teacher. Charms is an interesting subject, simply because of how many things it can do! While it may not be the most difficult to accomplish, rest assured that most of your memory will be devoted to my class. Every spell has different words and a different movement, and there are thousands to chose from. Though we will not be starting on anything like that today."

He cleared his throat. "Now, can anyone tell me the definition of Charms?"

Harry groaned.

Okay. So he had really been looking forward to Charms, but now he was just annoyed.

Apparently, it would be an entire week before they got to do a spell!

First was the defense class, where they only got to use stinging charm at the end of the year! Then History of Magic, where they didn't even have to be there, just read it in their textbooks. And now Charms!

At least there wasn't any homework. He had the History of Magic essay in the back of his mind, trying to come up with a good starter.

He really loved magic, but it would have been nice to actually get to use it.

Well, he still had Transfiguration and Potions to look forward for. Though he didn't have very high hopes for Potions. But at least they might get to do something!

Sighing again, he slid all of his books into one arm. He had brought his Transfiguration books as well, because they only had ten minutes to find the classroom. They had no break in between.

He would have loved to check on Fox, maybe give her a few pieces of meat he had saved from breakfast.

And he would have really, really loved the chance to try and find Abrin. The lazy snake was probably back already, done with exploring. He hoped so.

Padma had her map spread out over her desk, bent double over it. He walked over to her.

Or, at least, tried to.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he turned around to face Ron.

"Hey! What class do you have next?" He grinned even as Harry tried to inch himself back toward Padma.

"Transfiguration, which is in like ten minutes…"

"Oh!" Ron chirped. "Well, you'll have to tell me how it is! You have it with the 'puffs, right? Make sure to tell me whether she talks about us Gryffindors, okay?"

Harry hurriedly nodded and pulled the boy's hand off his shoulder. Ron walked out of the classroom, chatting with another Gryffindor.

"Excited to become friends with him?" Padma said dryly.

Harry shuddered. "No. I don't understand why he keeps hounding me like that!"

Neville shrugged and stepped forward. "We may never know. But we have to hurry either way, so why don't we talk and walk at the same time?"

Harry nodded, and they all stepped out of the classroom.

The corridors were full now, seemingly thousands of students milling around. Conversations were impossible with the noise found everywhere. So their little group scurried off toward Transfiguration.

Thankfully, the classrooms were grouped pretty close together. Professor McGonagall's class was only five minutes away, and they filed in with another group of Ravenclaws.

Quickly they claimed three desks next to each other, Padma in the middle and Neville and Harry on either side. They spread their books out and stared at the front of the class.

There was a cat.

A rather large one, with brown fur and silver markings. It licked one paw as its eyes flicked over the class. But other than that, it stayed perfectly still in the middle of the desk.

The last student - a Hufflepuff - marched into the classroom just as the bell rang. As soon as they had taken their seat, the cat leapt off its desk.

And transformed.

Into Professor McGonagall.

Everyone was stunned, to say the least.

Students jumped back and there were a dozen "Wickeds!" Professor McGonagall stood for it all, a smile on her face.

Then she snapped to attention.

"Welcome, everyone, to Transfiguration." She marched in front of the desks, brown wand tight in her grip.

"Here I will teach you the art of transforming one object into another. Though this class may seem complicated, I assure you that it most definitely is."

She fixed them all with a steely glare. "My class is one of the most difficult in this school, and I will not accept any tomfoolery in here. My rule is that if you create a distraction, you will be allowed to create that distraction in the hall."

Harry gulped. Yes, it was definitely a good thing that Fox wasn't in this class.

"Today, I will be teaching one of four Transfiguration incantations. In here, there are only four main spells. I will be teaching you the inanimate to inanimate incantation."

Harry glared at the match on his desk. It didn't move.

So, all he had was an incantation and a wand gesture. This didn't seem as easy as it was to turn the flower blue.

He raised his wand, steeling himself. He could do this. It was just a match. How hard could it be to make it completely transform into something else?

He sighed and dropped his head into his hands.

Merlin, he wasn't quite ready for this.

"Ahem! Class, please look forward!" Professor McGonagall announced. Harry looked up.

She was holding something thin in her fingers, twirling it lightly around to catch everyone's attention. Focusing, Harry could make out it was a needle!

A perfect one, sharp and silver. But it had only been five minutes!

"This is what you want your match to turn into. Five points to Hufflepuff, Miss Bones."

The girl - Susan, he thought he remembered - blushed and squirmed in her seat. Her face glowed with pride, and a girl sitting next to her face her a thumbs-up.

Harry growled and refocused on his match. He could do this.

Just then, the door to the classroom pulled open. A tall boy poked his way in, red lined robes shining.

"Professor McGonagall?" His voice was light.

She turned to him, still holding onto Susan's needle. "Yes?"

"Er, Professor Dumbledore needs Harry Potter in his office. He apologized for pulling him from your class, but he said it was important."

McGonagall sniffed, eyes flicking over to Harry. Her grip tightened on the needle. "Very well."

Harry glanced over at Padma and Neville. They seemed just as surprised as he did, eyebrows raised.

The Headmaster didn't normally call students on the first day, much less pull them from a class. There had been the short meeting about his magical guardian, though. Maybe something about that.

Harry sucked in a breath. Could there be something wrong with James? Could that be it?

Hurriedly, he reached for his books, but Padma put a hand over them. "I'll take them back," she whispered. Harry grinned at her brightly.

He stood up, his wand disappearing into his pocket. The match was still on his desk, and he let it be. Surely Professor McGonagall would pick it up later.

The room was silent except for the shuffling of his feet. He walked quickly to the door, Professor McGonagall's eyes on him. The boy pushed the door open wider for him, and he walked through.

The boy immediately started to walk, his infinitely longer legs grinding up the hallway. Harry blinked and had to jog to catch up.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked, fingers knitting themselves together.

The boy shrugged. "No idea. They don't tell me a lot of information."

After that, the walk was silent.

They went up two flights of stairs that the boy didn't freeze with his hand. Wasn't that common knowledge?

Harry was a bit too nervous to think about that in full detail.

The corridors were mostly empty except for a few Gryffindor students. The red lining on their robes were rather obvious. Maybe this was a free period for them?

The boy took him down two more corridors and then they arrived at the griffin statue. The password was still "Liquorice Wands" and then the stairs appeared.

The boy didn't walk up them, just gesturing forward. Harry sucked in a deep breath and marched forward onto the first step. The stairs immediately started to move upward. He didn't look at the runes engraved on the griffin, didn't look at the intricate carving along the walls. His hands shook.

But then he paused.

There was a sound he recognized.

A low hiss, something soft. It was light enough to be carried away if a wind, yet he could hear it.

And it grew louder the higher he rose.

There were words in the hisses.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

Harry froze.

That was adder-talk, and he knew of only one other being that could speak that.

He bolted up the last few stairs and threw open the wooden door at the top.

The office was still huge, the books were still overwhelming, and the desk was still the largest one he had ever seen.

Professor Dumbledore sat behind the desk in his brilliant red robes. He glanced up as Harry walked in, but his blue eyes weren't twinkling. His wand was out and pointing to something on his desk.

There was a cage made of metal bars twisting around each other. Harry had seen them in the owl shop, though he had also seen cats in them. Animal cages.

And there was an animal inside of it.

A light grey snake with a black zigzag down its back. Furious black eyes and bared fangs. Hisses exploded from its mouth.

Abrin!

Harry made one lurching step forward, eyes fixed on Abrin. But then Professor Dumbledore coughed lightly and he froze. His gaze slowly flicked up to meet the man's face.

"Now Harry, my boy." His voice was still light and grandfatherly, but there was something colder in its depths. "Would you like to explain why this snake was in your bed?"

Er-

*shuffles nervously for ten minutes*

*glances up at you*

*shuffles again*

Well. I kind of have an excuse. I'm really trying to write my book, I'm now in a play, and school has started!

But anyway. Stinging Nettles is now back online! I know that it was adopted by the lovely Trickster True, but they have discontinued it for the time being due to life. You know, that big thing that doesn't let us write fanfiction all the time?

Yeah. That.

So, my updates will be few and far between. I'm only allowing myself to write on this story or one of my others once I have written five pages for my story everyday. So yeah. It may take me a while.

But I swear, I'll get to this story eventually. It may not have the two chapters a day I used to do, but I promise I'll try to give you guys something every now and then. You deserve it for reading this!

But hey! Back to the good news. Harry has had his first Charms and sorta Transfiguration class! How did you enjoy them? I know I rushed a bit, but hopefully I can make it up later.

And how do you like the Ron interaction? I was pretty proud of it. They are only 11, after all.

But hey! Abrin has been found, but in Dumbledore's clutches? What could this mean?

Do you have any ideas of what Dumbledore would do to a venomous snake with his Boy-Who-Lived?

Tell me in the reviews!

Please read and review!

Frost OUT!