New Friends

Lying on her back in the open grassy courtyard, Aurora twirled her wand between her fingers, randomly shooting out multicolored sparks. Her first day of lessons had gone great, but now she was bored. Her homework had been completed, supper wasn't for another hour, and there seemed to be no one to talk to. The Ravenclaw common room and the Great Hall were almost devoid of life, so there was nowhere to go other than outside.

Aurora stood up and shook the grass from her long black hair. Maybe she should go inside. The sky was darkening to a deep magenta; dusk was almost upon Hogwarts. Aurora would have stopped to admire the beauty, but her mind was rambling somwhere between languid and depressed. She stooped and began piling books back into her bookbag, but it was overstuffed. A ripping sound rent the peaceful calm of the courtyard, and Aurora stared in astonishment at the gaping hole in her bag. Remembering a charm James had used during potions, she muttered, "Reparo," and the hole stitched itself back up, good as new. Furtively, Aurora glanced around to make sure nobody had noticed her fumble. But it seemed like someone had.