Broken Star

Chapter 3: Tchilat ha Shanah, Tchilat ha Shigrah (Start of the Year, Start of the Routine)

The synagogue... Moshe... Father...Avada Kedavra... "PAPA!"

Esther sat bolt upright in bed, taking in quick, shallow breaths and looking around frantically. After a moment, she recalled where she was and lay back down to let her pulse return to its normal speed.

The hangings were still completely shut around her bed, so she knew that none of the other girls had seen her thrashing about in her nightmare or waking up from it. But had they heard her?

She wasn't comfortable sleeping in the same room as others, and tried to avoid the situation. When she had been at Beauxbatons, she had regularly requested Dreamless Sleep Potion, so she did not know if she talked or made noise in her sleep. The only person outside of her family who knew about her nightmares was Ruth Scherner, her best friend, who still lived in Germany.

Had she had woken anyone? Esther pulled her bed-hangings open a few inches and peered into the dormitory, wondering if it was morning yet. It was still completely dark and the hangings around all the other beds were closed. Esther thought she heard quiet snoring coming from Sarah's bed, which was immediately to the right of her own.

Sighing in relief, Esther retreated to her bed and attempted to go back to sleep--unsuccessfully, though, because as soon as she closed her eyes, the images from the nightmare came flying back. It also didn't help that she was now wide-awake. Resigned to the fact that she would not, in all likelihood, be getting back to sleep very soon, Esther retrieved her wand and her book from atop the dresser next to her bed and began to read.

She read for about a half-hour before her eyelids became heavy again and she felt tired enough to go back to sleep. After whispering "Nox" to extinguish the light of her wand, she placed her wand and the book back on the bedside dresser.

Esther woke the next morning feeling rested (having experienced no more nightmares after going back to sleep). She pulled open the hangings around her bed and yawned. Her dorm-mates, who were already mostly dressed, greeted her and bid her good morning.

"We were going to wake you up soon if you didn't wake up on your own," Sarah informed her. "It's time for breakfast."

"What time is it? I didn't sleep too late, did I?" Esther asked.

"No, you didn't," Nicole assured her. "Classes don't start for about an hour."

"But if we don't hurry," added Brenna, "we might not get as much food, and I'm really hungry this morning." Her stomach rumbled, as if to back up her statement, and she grinned apologetically.

"When are you not hungry, Bren?" laughed Sarah.

Brenna laughed as well. "Well, usually it's because of Quidditch practices!"

"Sure, sure..."

Brenna turned to Natalie, whom Esther would have thought was paying no attention to the dialogue around her, were it not for the half-smile that was on her face as she gathered her books.

"You need to let your hair down a little bit," stated Brenna abruptly. "Why are you always so serious?"

Natalie shrugged and looked at Brenna in amusement. "I just am. Why are you never serious?"

"Now, wait a second, that's not fair. I'm serious sometimes. It's just a very rare occasion, that's all."

"My point exactly."

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Esther dressed and got ready quickly, listening to the amusing exchange and then following the other girls down to breakfast in the Great Hall. The group sat down at the Ravenclaw table and found that there was still plenty of food to go around, despite Brenna's fears. Esther poured herself a goblet of pumpkin juice and put some eggs, toast, and hash browns on her plate.

"Do you want any?" Nicole asked, offering Esther a plate of sausages and bacon.

"No, thank you."

She began to eat and a few minutes later, a prefect came by to give them their schedules. Looking over her schedule, Esther saw that her first class was History of Magic. After that, she had Transfiguration, shared with Slytherin, followed by Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, and finally Charms with the Gryffindors.

"We don't have Potions until Thursday," sighed Sarah.

Esther remembered what Nicole and Gwen had told her about Professor Bellmont and was glad that she didn't have to start her term at Hogwarts with his class.

"What extra courses are you taking?" Brenna asked Esther.

She glanced back down at her schedule. "Muggle Studies and Arithmancy."

A new voice spoke from behind them. "Arithmancy? Ugh. Too many numbers."

Esther turned around and found that Gwen was standing behind her. "Hello, Gwen."

"Hello, Esther," said Gwen brightly. "So, you ended up in Ravenclaw after all? It's a shame, being in Gryffindor is much more fun."

"That may be the case, Gwen, but at least in Ravenclaw, Esther is safe from you corrupting her into disregarding all school rules," stated a grinning Nicole.

"Nah, I'll manage to corrupt her anyway."

"And what's wrong with Arithmancy?" asked Natalie, who was laughing. "I happen to like that class."

Gwen adopted an air of mock solemnity. "My dear Natalie, I am aware that Arithmancy is the most interesting, sophisticated, wonderful class that Hogwarts offers, but tragically, I am prevented from taking it due to circumstances beyond my control. You see, some years ago I learned I suffer from a terrible affliction. Yes," Gwen said, gasping melodramatically, "I am allergic to numbers! I have only to see a group of numbers to feel nauseous, and if I am exposed to them for too long, my brain stops working altogether!"

"It must be a new medical phenomenon," laughed Esther.

"Hmm," said Sarah, "you get nauseous and your brain stops working. That sounds familiar. Don't those symptoms also occur around a certain Gryffindor prefect?"

"I do believe that's correct," agreed Brenna. "You wouldn't happen to be allergic to Davis Potter as well, would you, Gwen? Because it seems your brain ceases to function quite frequently when he's around."

Gwen laughed good-naturedly. "Oh, be quiet, I'm allowed to be an idiot once in a while. After all, I'm in Gryffindor, not Ravenclaw." She grinned at Nicole. "Said it before you could!"

All the girls laughed, but Nicole rolled her eyes at her sister.

"Well," said Gwen, "it's been nice chatting with you lot, but I have to get to Potions now. Can you believe I have to start out the year with Bellmont?" She pulled a face. "Anyway, I'll see you all later in Charms."

"We should probably be getting to Binns' class as well," said Natalie as Gwen walked out of the Great Hall.

Now it was Brenna's turn to roll her eyes. "Oh, yes. We don't want to miss any of the excitement, now do we?"

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The group made its way to the History of Magic classroom and took their seats. Esther sat between Brenna and Sarah in the second row, while Natalie and Nicole sat in front of them.

"You won't be needing that," mentioned Brenna as Esther took her copy of A History of Magic out of her bag. "The classes are always lectures. All you ever need is parchment, a quill, and a way to keep yourself awake. Everyone has their own method."

Esther took out her quill and parchment and wondered vaguely if staying awake in this class would be as hard as Brenna was making it sound. When Professor Binns entered the classroom as the bell rang, Esther got her answer.

Professor Binns was a very old and deeply boring man whose voice, it seemed to Esther, had the power to lull unsuspecting students into unconsciousness. After entering, he immediately began to give notes on the International Warlock's Conference of 1437. Esther started taking notes with the rest of her classmates, fairly confident that she would be able to stay awake. Only a few minutes later, she found herself having to fight to concentrate on Binns's lecture. Looking around, she noticed that the majority of the class also looked as though they were about to fall into a stupor. And, as Brenna had said, it looked like everyone had his or her own way of staying awake and aware during the lecture.

Brenna, along with taking notes, was keeping a tally on the side of her parchment, for three categories: "shuffling parchment," "clearing throat," and "goblins." At the moment, it looked like the "goblin" count was in the lead. On Esther's other side, Sarah was doodling in the margin of her notes, apparently illustrating certain parts of Binns's lecture. Among Sarah's illustrations, Esther saw a rather irritated-looking Goblin and a wizard carrying a dragon egg. The rest of the class generally seemed to rely on more conventional techniques. The most conspicuous included one boy who had charmed his quill to take notes for him, and another who had resorted to using Spellotape to keep his eyes open.

Esther managed to stay awake and take a fair amount of notes through the rest of the period, but she was not disappointed to hear the bell signaling the end of class.

"Sorry about that," said Brenna, stifling a yawn. "We should have warned you about Professor Binns earlier."

"If you need to, you can borrow today's notes from me," volunteered Nicole.

"Thanks, but I think I got most of them."

"I'm so glad we're not forced to take another class like History," said Brenna. "A person can only resist falling asleep for so long."

"And you'd rather have a class like Potions, with Bellmont instead of Binns?" asked Natalie with a quirked eyebrow.

"Bellmont may be a terror, but at least he doesn't bore all of his students to death."

"Yes, instead of nearly boring the class to death, Bellmont likes to issue death threats to students he believes are not up to par. I can see how that's better," stated Natalie ironically.

"But-but he's never actually poisoned a student, has he?" asked Esther.

"Actually, he has," said Sarah quietly. "Last year, Doris Crockford, a Hufflepuff fifth year."

"You didn't tell me that on the train," Esther said to Nicole.

"I didn't think you needed to be afraid of Potions classes before you even set foot in Hogwarts."

Esther couldn't think of anything to say.

The group soon arrived in Transfiguration, a somewhat more captivating offering than History of Magic. Demonstrating effortless control, Professor Dumbledore was able to keep them interested, and within a short time, the entire class, even the Slytherins, was focused on the task of turning tea leaves into tea-cups.

From distant observation in the corridors and the Great Hall, it seemed to Esther that the Slytherins held themselves above all other students (and some teachers). However, in class there appeared to be an unspoken agreement with the Ravenclaws: The two houses might be allowed to coexist in relative peace during Transfiguration, so long as they never initiated contact outside of class. This relaxed attitude of Slytherins toward Ravenclaws was very clearly an exception: Hufflepuffs were to be looked down upon and embarrassed as often as possible, and there was open antagonism with any and all Gryffindors. In the short time she'd been at Hogwarts, Esther had already seen clear evidence of this behavior.

After Transfiguration, she asked her new friends about this peculiar arrangement between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin houses.

"Well, you see, it's for their own convenience and pride," explained Natalie, "Slytherins may be sly and cunning and all that, but they know as well as we do that we have a propensity for wit and knowledge of obscure charms. Should they ever even attempt to cross us, they know they would be treated to a wide range of highly innovative and effective forms of embarrassment."

"Even they know it's not wise to enter a battle of the wits unarmed," remarked Brenna.

Esther couldn't help but laugh.

The rest of the day passed relatively quietly for the start of a new school term. After lunch, the group headed off to Herbology, where they were placed in groups of three to prune the fanged geraniums. Esther remained with Natalie and Sarah, while Brenna and Nicole worked together, along with a Hufflepuff boy who was introduced as Ira Hillman.

Ira had a head of curly brown hair and gave Esther a wide smile as they were introduced. However, Esther noted that his smile faded somewhat as Sarah rather determinedly avoided having anything other that minimal contact with him all through class. Esther was perplexed at Sarah's behavior, but put it out of her mind soon after the class ended.

After pruning the fanged geraniums, they finished off their day in Charms. A few minutes after Professor Flitwick began the class with a cheerful welcome, he started the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw class on Coloring Charms. By the time class was over, most of the Ravenclaws and some Gryffindors had mastered the charm, and there was a bizarre assortment of oddly colored canaries flying around the Charms classroom.

Just as a fluorescent pink canary flew past her head, the bell sounded, signaling the end of class. Esther was about to leave with the others when Professor Flitwick called her back.

"Yes, Professor?" asked Esther as she walked back up to the front of the classroom.

"I won't keep you long, Miss Rothberg. I just wanted to formally welcome you to Ravenclaw!" said Professor Flitwick cheerfully. "I didn't have a chance to speak with you after the Sorting Feast last night. Do you have any questions about Hogwarts?"

Esther shook her head.

"Ah well, if you need anything, know that you may always come to me. And I'm sure that if you have questions of any sort, your fellow Ravenclaws will be happy to answer them. In fact, they would probably give you better answers than I could! This is only my second year teaching here, and though I attended Hogwarts as a Ravenclaw, it was many years back, and I'm afraid I may be a bit out of touch." Professor Flitwick laughed a little and then composed himself. "And oh, look at me babbling on. I'm sure you'll be wanting to get to dinner, so I won't keep you any longer. Oh, and Miss Rothberg -- splendid job on the Coloring Charms today. I particularly enjoyed your electric blue canaries!"

"Thank you, Professor Flitwick," said Esther, smiling.

Outside of the classroom, Esther found her roommates waiting for her.

"You didn't have to wait for me," she told them.

"It's alright; you weren't long at all," Nicole said, waving aside Esther's protest.

"And besides," said Natalie, "it's only your second night here. Would you have been able to find your way to the Great Hall by yourself?"

Esther conceded that she probably wouldn't have, and then followed her friends to dinner.