Chapter 4

Jude stared at his schedule as he walked down the corridor with James and Emma. Emma was dragging both boys by their sleeves, wanting to be the first one there to get a good seat in the class. While Jude's and James' grades were average last year, Emma was one of the highest scoring student in the first year group. Many teachers were impressed by her.

James groaned, trying to fix his tie that he put on haphazardly before Emma started dragging them, "Come on, Ems. It's not like we're late or anything. Slow down a bit, will you?"

Emma ignored them and continued on down the corridor. Jude titled his head, regarding his schedule, "So we have the same classes? That seems a bit dull."

"After Easter holidays, we can choose two or more additional classes like Ancient Runes or Arithmancy," Emma supplied, still trying to keep up her pace.

James nodded, looking at his schedule as well, "Yeah. I heard we also got another Charms teacher since Flitwick is Headmaster and we got a new DADA professor since…well, you know."

Jude nodded solemnly in remembrance. Professor Gordon Lamb was a good teacher, but he supposed he wasn't a good man. After all, if Jude had stayed ignorant to what was happening between him and Lazarus, Professor Lamb would've taken and killed him whenever he had the chance.

They finally made it to Charms class. They did have a new teacher. Her name was Denise Lively. She was blonde, tall, and in the Hufflepuff house. She only taught a bit differently from Flitwick as she relied more on the book and demonstrating by herself. They only learned the movements of one charm.

The other professors were the same, teaching and personality wise. For Herbology, Neville took them all to the greenhouse so they could encounter more plants. For Transfiguration, Professor Walton showed them how to turn a beetle into a bug. Jude wished he knew how to do Transfiguration when he lived with Piers. There were too many insects he made friends with over the 11 years he was there.

Professor Young seemed like the only one who was a bit saddened by Professor Lamb's death. Jude assumed it was because they were from the same house and got along easily from what he had seen when he would see the interacting teachers during dinner. She taught them how to make a few potions though they were not able to make them until next week.

Professor Alexander was nice and cheerful as always, eagerly going through the whole layout for the rest of the year. While she was one of Jude's favorite teachers, he realized soon that History of Magic was not going to be his best subject even though it was one of his favorite classes.

After lunch, they finally had DADA and were face-to-face with the new Professor. He was tall with light brown hair and a scar going over his left eyebrow. He smiled at the students, pulling at his collar, "So. Hello, students. I'm Professor Joseph Miles. I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher since your last teacher was, unfortunately, KIA. Now…"

He began to go through the layout for class, gaining much attention from the students. Jude tilted his head, regarding the new professor. He was young. He looked about in his late 20s. That didn't necessarily concern him. What he was concerned about was that scar and they way he almost sneered when he mentioned Professor Lamb.

Jude shook his head, packing his belongings when class ended; he couldn't afford to think those thoughts. While he was preparing himself for anything Lazarus would throw at him, he really hoped, prayed even, that he would finally get an average school year like any other student.

At dinner, Emma was pouring over her work while eating. James would see how much she was paying attention by stealing some of her food. Not once did she even think about stabbing him with her fork.

"You think the DADA professor is alright?" Jude asked, taking a bite of his mash potatoes. "I don't think I can form an opinion yet."

James nodded in agreement, sticking a spoon to his nose, "I agree with you. He does seem a little young though. And that scar gives me the heebie-jeebies." He presented a spoon to the other boy.

Jude took the utensil and stuck it to his nose, "I don't know." He shrugged, looking down at the silver spoon. "The scar is something I hope we can look into."

Emma knocked the spoons off their noses, "Don't play with your utensils. That's unsanitary." She closed her book with a sigh, frowning. "I do think Professor Miles is suspicious, but we shouldn't jump to such drastic conclusions."

"Right," The boys nodded in agreement, going back to their food.

It was silent for a moment before Emma whacked James' arm with her book, glaring at him, "James, you ate almost all of my food."

James snickered, blocking her punches, "Hey, hey, everyone knows food is more important than school work. You would've noticed I was eating your food if you were paying attention to it."

"James," Emma hissed, pinching his cheek.

James kept himself nonchalant, ignoring the slight pain on his face. "Food is the greatest thing we have. Treasure it like you would someone you love."

Jude laughed, passing some of his food to the red head. Emma smiled gratefully while the boys high fived each other when she wasn't looking. The blue eyed boy blinked when he noticed Albus glaring at him from his seat which was far from his own. He rolled his eyes, smiling back at his friends.

"Porter!" Jude stiffened as Carlos glomped him. From the corner of his eye, he could see James glaring at him and Leon and Jared who came as well.

He laughed uneasily, disengaging himself from the other boy, "Hey, Curry. What are you doing over here?"

Carlos grinned widely, grabbing Jude's hand by his fingers, "Nothing much."

Jude swallowed, wanting to snatch his hand back. Carlos had the habit of staring at his scar almost every time they saw each other. He didn't settle down unless James told him something.

He turned, hoping James would say something. He watched in confusion as James glared harshly at Leon who was chatting with Emma. Emma was smiling at the other boy, happy someone was interested in school work unlike her best friends. Leon was leaning his head on his hand, smiling at the red head.

Jude laughed to himself, not noticing Carlos pulling his hand to show Jared. He knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later between the two. James made it a bit too obvious, and it was a mystery how much Emma was so oblivious.