Back to School PV Andrew Vance

Andrew took his seat at the Slytherin table, waiting with the older years in anticipation for the new batch of first years to arrive. He could hardly believe that he had made it through his first year already. Now here he was, reunited with so many old faces, his fellow second years.

For the sake of others, since everyone at the table was all scrunched up together like sardines; and since it might be considered rude during a formal event like this one; and for the sanitation of the food, he chose not to smuggle Penelope in with him to the Great Hall. Instead, he left his pet rat in the cage beside his other belongings, expecting to find Penelope inside his dorm room by the time the Welcoming Feast was over. He knew there was nothing to worry about Penelope's safety; she was in good hands with the house-elves. But like a worried parent, he couldn't help but feel a ping of concern for her welfare.

He had been distracted -- half chatting with his Housemates around him, half staring into blank space, consumed in thought -- when a familiar voice popped up beside him.

"Hey, Andy. Been a while, huh?"

Andrew turned his head abruptly, only for a big smile to light up his face. "Hey Dan!" Out of all his roommates, Daniel Palmer had been the one he had talked to the most during his first year. They became fast buddies since their first time meeting. He wondered if they would still be roommates, since he had heard that the dorms were undergoing "renovations", whatever that meant. He hoped they would still be bunked together this year.

Eagerly, Andrew scooted to one side to make space for Dan to squeeze in, if he wanted to sit next to him.

A million questions came to mind; he didn't know which to ask first. He wanted to interview Dan about everything! After three months apart, there was so much he felt they had to catch up on.

"Hey, did you know the carriages are actually pulled by invisible creatures called Thestrals? My friend Emma told me. They're like black, skeletal horses with bat wings. Well, not like they're really invisible. They're just invisible to those that haven't seen death. Which I haven't. Emma has though. But I guess that's a good thing, right? For me?" 'Good' in the sense that he hadn't witnessed any deaths. 'Bad' in the sense that he couldn't see Thestrals himself. He wished he could though. "Can you see Thestrals?" He asked Dan.

Aaand immediately with the questions. Dan didn't mind though. He'd grown to like it after an entire school year of it.
Dan sat down, and slipped out of his shoes the moment he did. Blasted things. But, by tomorrow, the school year would have started, and he wouldn't be required to wear those things except for a select few classes, which he could understand. Even Dan knew that bare feet in a greenhouse was asking for trouble, especially with ACTUAL live plants.

"Hey, did you know the carriages are actually pulled by invisible creatures called Thestrals? My friend Emma told me.

Oh, so they were called Thestrals.
Wait.... they're sposta be invisible?
Dan wondered if maybe the spell was on the fritz, or maybe they didn't work on Irish boys, until Andy continued.

Well, not like they're really invisible. They're just invisible to those that haven't seen death. Which I haven't. Emma has though. But I guess that's a good thing, right? For me?

Oh. That would explain it. Dan had indeed seen someone die, but it was so long ago, he had almost no memory of it. When he was 2, he and his parents were with his grandmother on her death bed. Dan couldn't recall her face, or her voice. The only thing he COULD remember actually, was the feeling of confusion as to why everyone was sad all of a sudden. His father had picked him up, and they'd left.

"Can you see Thestrals?"

"Aye, I s'pose I can."
The horses had looked wicked cool. Still, they were no boat ride with the most incredible view Dan had ever witnessed. He would give any- well, ALMOST anything- to see Hogwarts for the first time again. Ah well. Whatever.
"What about you then? What'v you done all summer?"

"Aye, I s'pose I can."

"Wow, lucky." Can’t miss what you never had, but he couldn't help but just feel a little bit envious of Dan. And Emma. And everybody else that could see Thestrals. It's like they had some kind of superpower that was beyond his grasp.

"What about you then? What'v you done all summer?"

Whew. That was a big question to answer all at once. He had to pause for a moment to recollect everything. "Well… I did spend a few weeks over at my aunt's farm in Taunton." Over the past conversations he had throughout his first year with Dan, Andrew had expressed his fondness for his Aunt Cynthia's farm, how much he enjoyed the wholesomeness and freedom of the countryside versus the city. He liked the tranquility of nature. And being able to house lots of animals on a big piece of land. If only his parents were more like him though. They were more city folk. Andrew would sometimes complain (jokingly) that he was born into the wrong family. As well as his older sister, Stacy, who was obsessed with horses and wanted a big ranch full of them when she was older. If both of them were born on a farm, like their cousins (Aunt Cynthia's kids), they wouldn't have complained one bit! Andrew rather liked farm life. Even the mundane chores that came with it. Like mucking cow stalls, for example.

"Horseback riding, fishing, barbeque…" Andrew listed off the things he had done at the farm. He had had lots of fun with his two siblings and five cousins. Since his sister Stacy enjoyed horses so much, they had gone on plenty of rides around Taunton and the beach. "We had a get-together with some people at a church next to my aunt's house." Even though he and his relatives weren't devoutly religious, the people at the little country church were friendly and always entertained neighbors at potlucks. "We also went to a place called Madeline's Teahouse." He went on to explain about how the cozy little establishment was run by an old lady named Madeline, and that they served tea and tiny sandwiches without the crust. Which was a little weird to Andrew, considering that he had grown up (rather, his parents had raised him) eating his sandwiches with the crust. Wasn't crust the healthiest part?

Anywho, aside from the farm, the rest of Andrew's summer had been in London, visiting grandparents in Hayes and his uncle Baylor in Westminster. Embarking on a few picnics, camping trips, nature hikes, and mall outings with his family. Or chilling at his house in Romford, playing with a few Muggle friends that he was still fortunate to be in contact with, since his wizarding transition. Andrew had talked about his two closest Muggle friends with Dan before: One of them was a boy on his street that he had practically grown up with, Cody Garrett. The other was a classmate from his former school, Elmer Stadelman, who turned out to live just a few blocks away from Andrew's house. Since introducing Elmer to Cody, they had become a close-knit trio. But unfortunately, Andrew was forced to keep the wizarding secret from them as well. Voicing his concerns to Dan, he wondered about how long his friendship with Cody and Elmer would last. Sometimes it felt like Cody and Elmer were the closer pair, that Andrew was the third wheel, slowly but surely drifting apart from them. As much as he tried to frequently write home (there were only so many letters he could prioritize between sleeping, studying and hand cramps), distance and lack of communication had taken its toll on his relationship with his once-closest Muggle buddies. But least he could find some comfort that Cody and Elmer had each other for company, while he was away at Hogwarts. Ahem, anyways…

While he was with Cody and Elmer over the summer, they rode bikes, visited one another's houses, played video games, went swimming, ate popcorn at the movies… All the usual things the trio had done, prior to when Andrew lived a simple Muggle life. While Andrew wasn't all that into sports, he'd entertain Cody and Elmer by joining in their friendly games of basketball or cruising around with them at the skateboard rink. Sure, there had been questions from Cody and Elmer, trying to coax as many details out of Andrew about his life abroad at his new boarding school in Scotland. Minus all the magic and wizarding terms, Andrew could relate the same experiences he had at Hogwarts, comparing it to any ordinary school, just in a different setting.

Besides catching up with old friends, Andrew would accompany his sister Stacy to an equestrian facility just a short ten minutes' walk away from their house, whenever he didn't have anything else to do. While Stacy would be occupied with lessons at the riding ring, Andrew found simple pleasure in observing and taking care of the horses… Grooming, feeding, cleaning stalls… Practically a volunteer stablehand. Given the opportunity, he'd hop onto one of the horses for a leisurely stroll on the premises, but Andrew wasn't into rigorous, competitive riding like his sister was, such as showjumping and cross-country.

Of course by now, Dan would know about Emma Hill, whose family had been good friends with Andrew's, prior to any of them realizing that Andrew was a wizard. That was, until 'the letter' arrived. What once separated the Hills' and Vances' worlds from each other had been unveiled, inadvertently bringing both families closer together, now that both sides were in on the wizarding secret, with Andrew and Emma having the same school in common. Although the Hills had visited the Vances' house on many occasions, it wasn't the same vice versa; he realized, after learning that most of Emma's family were wizards, which explained why the Hills had dissuaded the Vances from coming over to their place before. However, thanks to 'the letter' that broke the news, there was no reason for the Hills to prevent the Vances from coming over to visit their homestead, especially since Andrew and Emma were attending Hogwarts together. It was to Andrew's great excitement that he and his family were finally able to visit the Hills' house in Cambridge over the summer, spending a few days with them.

Overall, it was everything yet nothing he had done over the summer. Nothing too extraordinary for him anyways.

"Aaand…that's about it. What did you do over the summer?" He'd ask Dan in return.

By now, Andrew could feel the growling emptiness in his stomach. After a long train ride with little else but sugar to divert his hunger, he yearned for something of more sustenance. Roast chicken and mashed potatoes... His mouth watered at the savory thought. He couldn't wait for the Sorting to be over so that the Feast could begin.

.......Shit.
Andy's summer seemed SO much more colorful than his. To hear him go on, he was gallivanting across the whole of England.
Dan had mostly stayed in Dingle. GOD his summer sounded dull now.

"Well...First thing I did was get back with my mates."

Dan had mentioned 'the boys' before. One, his first friend ever, and a walking Irish Stereotype. His name was even Patrick, for Christs sake. Patrick O'Connell. Flaming red curly hair, skin even paler than Dan's, and the only person in all of creation to speak even less intelligibly than Dan. He had described Patrick's speech as, 'Comin' out as fast as the Guinness shites, and soundin' more Irish than a potato marinatin' in whiskey. Ye'd have better luck tryin' to understand a hallucinatin' goose.'
Further fitting the Irish stereotype, any time anyone made fun of anyone in the group, Patrick was the first one in breakin' faces. Interestingly, no one in the group ever seemed to have seen anything when questioned by adults. Huh.

Normally, that would be found suspect, except for Lucas Finch. Like Dan, Lucas had black hair, but his was straight, whereas Dan's was an adorable, wild, untamable mess. Lucas' most defining feature however, was his silver tongue. Dan had described it thusly: 'Boy's got a tongue with more bloody silver than our entire damned common room. Lucas could sell water to a drownin' man, and the man'd swear on his life that it was his own idea.'
No matter what the situation might be, Lucas ALWAYS had a way out in a few sentences. The way he spun bullshit out of nowhere was nothing short of amazing.

And rounding out the foursome was Cormac Olsen. A popular thing for the other boys to do was to exclaim 'Cor blimey!', as loudly as they could manage with the most over-the-top english accent possible when he did anything even slightly impressive. His hair, like the others, was black, but shoulder length. He was greatly athletic, but he was always up for video games and anime all day.

Dan felt really sad for Andy. He felt like he was drifting away from his friends, but Dan and his mates had just clicked right back in like they always did.
"I think the Slytherin cunning is rubbin' off on me. I answered all of their questions without TECHNICALLY lying."

"Oi,watwasyernewschoollike?!"
"Different than any school I've ever seen."
Wot was ye learnin'?"
"Whew. Stuff you don't learn here, fer sure, lads."
"Were the Scottish as smelly as we thought they'd be?"
"Ah, yes. Actually."
They'd had a good laugh at that. They weren't racist against Scots, of course. They just liked makin' jokes.

"I caught up on Youtube, Me 'n the Boys went out explorin' like always, makin' trouble at the docks, gamin' online, ragin' at games online-a lotta that, there was- an' watchin' anime. They got me onto one that started shortly before we left fer the summer, and wrapped up before summer ended, the WEIRDEST shite I have ever seen. Really nice though. Sarazanmai turned out a lot better than I thought it would."
It had still hurt to keep a secret from them, but it had gone away pretty fast.

Dan really wished he had some advice to give Andy, but he didn't know the first thing about losing friends...
"Well... Maybe try writin' more? I dunno, I'm no help with this kinda thing. Sorry."
Dan's face pinkened slightly. He could tell Andy was upset over this, but there was nothing he could do to help. He hated seeing Andy like this, he was supposed to be the happy, friendly boy. Not the worried, slightly saddened boy.
Dan was racking his mind trying to think of something to make Andy feel better, but coming up empty. He just couldn't think straight around him, and he didn't know why.

"UGH where'r the damn first years?!"

"Sarazanmai? Huh, never heard of it. What's it about?" He asked, even though anime wasn't what he'd call a "favorite" genre of his; he'd entertain it, especially back at home, through a close friend of his sister's - Cecilia - who had introduced the world of anime, manga, and cosplay to them in the first place. He had joined Cecilia and Stacy in watching a few anime shows -- Hetalia, Ouran Host Club, and Space Dandy being the main ones he could recall -- but other than that, he simply found most anime to be… weird. No offense.

"Well... Maybe try writin' more? I dunno, I'm no help with this kinda thing. Sorry."

"Ah, no worries," Andrew said, brushing it off with a meek wave of his hand. He appreciated Dan's sympathetic efforts, and didn't mean to concern him. No sense in dwelling on the past and worrying about things beyond his control anyways. This was supposed to be a thrilling occasion. He couldn't let old memories get him down. Now was the time for him to focus on school, put the Muggle world behind him, and prioritize the friends and studies he had here. "'Least I still got you to hang around with." He cracked a small smile at Dan.

"UGH where'r the damn first years?!"

'I dunno' Andrew hummed with a bewildered shrug, craning his neck to survey a glance around the Hall. "Maybe the Squid got em," he said casually. Joking, of course. 

"Can't believe last year I was sick with a cold," he commented, reminiscing over his Sorting Ceremony and the awful cold he had on his first day of magic school. Fortunately a quick trip to the Hospital Wing and a Pepperup Potion had taken care of his symptoms before the night was over. At least this year, he could enjoy the train ride and Welcoming festivities without respiratory difficulty.

"I hope we're still roommates. I thought I heard about 'renovations' going on with the dorms?...Whatever that means," he'd muse, just for the sake of conversation. "Hey- Didn't you say you were gonna get a cat?" His eyes lit up expectantly. "Or are you sticking with the broom instead?" Personally, picking cat over broom was no-brainer. But then again, he wasn't involved in Quidditch, so the pressure of saving up for a higher quality broom wasn't on his shoulders. Still, it'd be interesting to see how a cat and his own rat Penelope would interact (if predator and prey species would even get along at all), if Dan ever acquired one.

"Sarazanmai? Huh, never heard of it. What's it about?"

"Uhhh... Well, see... umm... This is REALLY hard to explain... Uhh, there are these 3 kids, and theres this weird looking thing guy called Keppi. He's a Kappa Prince, and turns the boys into Kappas by-"
Dan stopped.
"Ya know what, never mind. This is hard to explain and gets kinda...well..."
Dan turned slightly pink. It involved a LOT of weird things, not least of which was arse related stuff.

Then, Andy asked the big question. No, not the one Dan had secretly wished he would ask, the other big one. About the cat/broom. Dan had agonized over that all summer. He was the captain of Slytherin's Quidditch Team now, so he needed to have a good broom. But, he'd wanted a kitty baby for so long. Eventually, he came to the decision that a better broom could wait. He wanted a kitten, and a furry friend. As in a friend with fur, not a friend who was a furry.

"Yeah. I got a kitty. And a properly cute little mister, he is. Right little heart melter. An' I can already tell he's gonna be as playful and enn'rgetic as I am! Can't wait to show him to yeh. Speakin' of, me Irish patience is runnin' out. New blood better hurry up, I'm feckin starvin."

Andrew gasped excitedly at the news. "You did?! What's its name? What does it look like? Oh wait, it's a boy, right. I hope he and Pin-pin will get along…" Pin-pin was Penelope's nickname. "That'd be so cute if they become best buddies!" He was imagining all sorts of cute and adorable scenarios, if Dan's cat actually took a liking to Penelope. He knew he shouldn't give his hopes up on making that interspecies friendship a reality, but being that Hogwarts pets were daily exposed to magic, maybe some of that magical aura-essence rubbed off and made them behave nicer to each other. After all, he hadn't lost Penelope yet, despite the number of owls and cats that inhabited the school. "Where'd you get him? Diagon Alley? I can't wait to see him." He fangirled again, thinking about his own two cats, Duchess and Princess, who lived back in London with his family. He couldn't exactly hug-squeeze Penelope the same way he could hug-squeeze a cat. Once he got ahold of Dan's, Andrew would give it a big ol' hug! A-a gentle one, of course. Not enough to kill it. Heh-heh…*grins sheepishly*

Regaining his composure, Andrew half-kidded, "Well, either way, cat or broom.. Either one'll get you the girls. They're gonna wanna snuggle all over yours!" It was kinda true. Not just girls, but most students tended to steer away from Andrew and give him/Penelope weird or disgusted looks: Penelope for being a rat and him for owning one. Not like girls and popularity were on Andrew's priority list, but between cats and rats, most girls flocked over cats. Most students in general wanted cats. Even Andrew wanted a cat, prior to meeting Penelope.

In many ways, he admired Dan greatly, almost like superstar status. Dan was a Quidditch player, and now he had a cat. Wow, to think that he was friends with Captain of the Quidditch team! But Andrew didn't feel any more special about being Dan's friend than he had been when they first met. He was happy for Dan's success and wished him the best, and looked forward to nurturing their friendship through the course of another school year.

"You did?! What's its name? What does it look like? Oh wait, it's a boy, right. I hope he and Pin-pin will get along…"

A cat get along with a rat? Well, maybe if he grew up with the rat, and didn't see her as an intruder, maybe it'd work?
Dan smirked.
"As if I'm gonna tell you everything right out the gate. Nah, you get to savor the mystery till we get to the dorm, lad."
Some might call it savoring the mystery, some might call it being a damn dirty tease.

He couldn't wait to introduce him, though. The kitten was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. Except maybe for Andy-
Why did he-

Dan blinked hard and shook his head. Why were his thoughts so confusing lately? Dan decided not to think about it, like usual. Maybe they would-

"Well, either way, cat or broom.. Either one'll get you the girls. They're gonna wanna snuggle all over yours!"

"Yeah, I...guess they would."
Dan thought a moment, and wondered why that didn't appeal to him. To hear his mates go on, that'd be amazing, but Dan didn't seem to see it that way. Maybe he'd need to have a think or a talk later. But those were not the things to think about, the things to think about now was that he was back with one of his best friends, in the best place he had ever been in.

And with that, the doors swung wide, and first years with wide eyes came walking in. Bloody finally.
After the ceremony was over, and the food appeared, oh good god at the feeding frenzy Dan was in. The fried chicken and both roasted and mashed potatoes were speeding into his mouth faster than he'd thought possible.
GODS it was good to be back.