It was nice to have company when he was climbing, Dominic reflected, someone to share a portion of the millions of thoughts that there flowing through his head and to just hang out with. It started to make Dom feel anxious that this boy didn’t like him and was just hanging out with him to be nice. Hufflepuffs were all meant to be nice right? He supposed that, even this was a one time thing, he could try and make the most of it. At least he would not be lonely for today.

The youngster also still worried about the flying carrots, and flying books, the ninja chipmunks, the squirrels who steal tomatoes, the fish that could travel in time and appear right behind you to give you a push, or the spiders that would shake trees for food. Or bullies. His cousins have told him about some of the things older children do the younger children at the school and he didn’t fancy being lived and hung by his underpants from one of the quidditch hoops or fed to the giant squid for food. Indeed, he was taking a risk sitting in a tree. If the teachers caught them they could lock them up in a torture chamber.

Dominic nodded when Henry said really ”Huh-uh” told her him excitedly, ”My cousin said that flying books can chase you out of the library if you stay in their after curfew, try to vandalise a book or o or stuff like that in the the library.” he informed Henry matter of factly. ”And sometimes they escape and form little colonies in the trees around Hogwarts. Especillay in the forbidden forest…” he nodded solemnly.

The little boy was relieved when Henry said they were friends. He felt like giving him a hug but, probably for the better, decided that hugging on a tree branch would be a bad idea and they might end up both falling off together. That would be the last thing he wanted. Especially with his new-found friend. It was just a shame that they were in different houses. Still Henry seemed like a nice enough chap and he was pleased to have met him and was equally pleased that the boy had decided to be friends with him. Dominic was bad at handling rejection so it was a relief that he was yes. Otherwise their might be a crying Gryffindor up on the tree right now. ”They sure do connect” he said in confirmation and a massive grin.

”Well, apart from the book colonies. They can take you away fooooorever and and make you into a a pumpkin.” he was being weird again, probably. ”I do agree though that there are more thungs then being cool. Like like having friends and and a cool house and and family. To be honest my my cousin Donald is is in Ravenclaw and and that is how I I know they are are booring” he carried on. Although, if truth be told, he did care about both his cousins.

”Well…” he started as he pulled a face as he tried to remember. ”….talking about my my cousin it was him. Don. He was being so boring and was reading so so so I tried to keep him entertained and he told me to to to go outside because there was a flock of flying carrots about. I I I couldn’t find them though. I I I don’t think I was squinting my eyes enough though” he explained a bit further.

The 11 year old lad nodded when his friend said his aunt was not happy with his climbing. ”oooh ooh ooh my first use of magic, was when I…I urmm” he said excitedly, bouncing on the branch slightly ”I I I fell down a a a disused mine shaft while exploring some old minefields, and and stead of of of hitting the bottom I I stuck into the wall until I I I was saved.” he told Henry and was getting rather animated as he was doing so. ”Jumping from from from trees can be cool.” he said with a slow nod

Dominic frowned when Henry said that it was forbidden to go into the forbidden forest. It seemed obviously to him, ”Yes, that is is is half the fun” he informed Henry as if he was being silly. The Welsh Gryffindor rolled his eyes when Henry fretted they could be expelled ”Only if if if they catch us, besides it it could be funnn.” he tried to convince him before sighing. He supposed that it was no use trying to convince him. He seemed so…. sensible he supposed. ”No matter though….we we can have fun exploring the the school if you rather” 

Tickling Gunther behind the ears, Henry watched Dominic and doubted more and more who was the one in the right. He certainly knew a lot of things, having spent many rainy afternoons on the couch and reading one book after the other to Gunther or even sometimes to his aunt. But he was also very much aware that there were still countless things he was completely oblivious to. And it was not only valid in his case but in general that only because he had never heard of something, he could not deduce from this the non-existence of said thing.

Still, listening to Dominic’s explanation about the flying book, he was more inclined to think that the other boy had misconstructed the evidence. ”Well, the books in the library might fight you if you’d behave like a vandal,” said Henry. ”But this is because the librarians charm them, and they do it because they need to protect what they have been destined to guard. It’s very unsettling to think that there might be people who’d destroy books. Books are knowledge, and knowledge is a great treasure.” At a Muggle library in a box full of old volumes, he had once found a book full of sentences (that had for some weird reason been called aphorisms) that were full of similar verdicts. ”And that’s why,” continued Henry, now that he thought of it very sure that he had to be in the right, ”the librarians would never allow the books to escape. They’ve bewitched them so that they would defend themselves but not that they’d leave. Because they are meant to educate us. That’s why we are here at school, to become good wizards and help others.”

Judging from Dominic’s expression, he had indeed been able to help him by saying they were friends. Relief flooded through Henry. Had he let himself been ruled by a passing mood, he would have hurt him. That seemed now very apparent. Henry silently chided himself for considering hurting the other boy’s feeling for even a second. That would have been so horribly wrong of him. Probably the Hat had not looked that deep into his head, there seemed to still be a very bad part in him if he could consider causing pain to someone. He felt so ashamed of himself. ”Yes,” he mumbled, trying to hide his dejection at the discovery that his character was still not completely safe of causing pains to others.

”I’ve told you, there can’t be any book colonies,” said Henry, though with a small voice as he started to seriously doubt his judgement. ”And if there were, it would be wonderful to live there, I’m sure. There’s no reason why we should be changed into a pumpkin. Unless they’re Transfiguration books. But if any books got away, it’d certainly be Charms books, don’t you think so?” He listened to Dominic’s comments about Ravenclaw, but it was still not good enough for him to stop defending his aunt’s house. ”Do you mean that your cousin is boring, or has he told you that everyone is boring?” he tried to make clear. ”Because if the first, you’d judge a whole house from one member which would be unfair. If the second, you’d be repeating someone else’s opinion which is not really fair.”

Very curious, he listened to the explanation of the flying carrots and pondered it for some time until he had arranged his thoughts in a to him satisfying way. ”How reliable is your cousin then?” he said as analytically as possible. ”Does he always say the truth? Or wasn’t he just trying to read his book in peace and wanted you to go away? And why should you squint to see them? Has your cousin explained this?” Though the cousin was apparently Ravenclaw, and Henry was inclined to trust a Ravenclaw. Probably he should seek out that cousin on his own and question him about the carrots.

”That sounds creepy,” said Henry at the story. ”Was it dark down there? Did you have to wait long? How could you be stuck in the wall?” He had never been near to any mines, but he imagined that they would be very dark, and not at all a place where he would go to voluntarily. ”It’s part of why I climb trees,” he explained. ”The moment of falling is so much fun.”

”Detention isn’t funny,” said Henry. ”I don’t want to make the teachers angry at me. Because then they’d write my aunt, and she’d be sad.” Whatever he did, he had to avoid hurting his aunt. His father had done so many mean things, she deserved to hear only good things of him. ”But the weather is fine,” he said, craning his neck to look at the sky. He had come down to the lake to practice tree-climbing, and he couldn’t abandon this midway. ”We can just climb the trees here at the lake,” he suggested. ”We can check how much higher we can get without danger.”

((OOC: Sorry about the long post! And that it is not very good.))

Dominic looked again at Gunther feeling that he was neglecting the cat slightly. He was certain that the cat was very intelligent, possibly more intelligent than the average cat, maybe even more intelligent than a human. A slight worry came across to him that the cat might actually be a human in disguise, dressed up in a cat costume and spying them on. But the cat was with his friend, Henry, and Henry had told him they were not spies or assassins, Then again maybe Henry was a cat in disguise? He dismissed that idea. Henry had gone too long without licking himself, purring or attempt to knock things from high surfaces. Of which Dominic was extremely grateful for.

He returned his wondering attention back to Henry who was talking about vandalising books and how the librarian charmed them. Well, he was aware it was to do with charms but he still was pretty sure that they could escape. Still there was one that his Hufflepuff companion said that caused him to think, about books being knowledge and knowledge being a great treasure ”You sound like a a a Ravenclaw.” he told the boy truthfully, he was sure that Ravencalws believed that. ”However, I I I know that people in different houses can can have traits of of other houses as well….I I guess it is to do with with what personality thingy is is is stronger” he continued struggling to find the words to explain what he meant.

He supposed that Henry’s logic made sense as to why books wouldn’t be allowed to escape ”I guess you are right” he told him sounding slightly disappointed ”But but but I am also sure we we are at school to have adventures and and and I am not sure if everyone here agrees about helping others either…..” he said shift uneasily. He considered telling Henry that some of the boys in his dorm picked on him for being too loud and annoying but decided against it. He was worried that Henry would end up thinking less of him.

Dom frowned slightly when Henry mumbled yes. That was usually the tone people talk when they found Dominic was being annoying and where ignoring him. That certainly didn’t seem to be the case in this instance. He wondered if he had said something wrong or was missing something. After considering on if he should ask his new friend about what the matter was he decided against it, if Henry was regretting saying yes to them being friends it would crush him and Dominic was not ready to face that. However, some tears did well up in his eyes at the thought that the Hufflepuff didn’t really want to be his friend. He quickly wiped them away and hoped that Henry had not noticed.

Dominic nodded when Henry repeated that books cant have colonies, he wasn’t entirely convinced if he was honest but he didn’t want to risk an argument. ”They could be be be transfiguration books that have been transfigured to have wings, or or be birds.” he said to this friend. It made sense to Dom anyway. ”I mean my cousin is is is boring. He always reads…” he said to Henry. A small look of concern came on his face when Henry lectured him on not judging a house based on one person. Had he been rude? Dommie could never tell.

”Welll…Don, my cousin, he would never ever criticse Ravenclaw, he he he loves being a Ravenclaw and and I guess I I am being a a a bit unfair about Ravenclaw and my cousin. I I do like him really. He is the the the seeker in the Ravenclaw quidditch team” he said sounding a bit more enthusiasm about about both his cousin and Ravenclaw. As the Welsh Gryffindor was unsure which Henry was offended by.

Another frown came on the blond boy’s face was Henry asked how reliable his cousin was ”They are usually pretty reliable….” he said to him. When it was pointed out that Donald might have been trying to get rid of him to read his book Dominic couldn’t really comprehend when he meant. ”I am not sure that my cousin would do that to to mee. “ he said with a shake of his head. The fair-haired boy was pretty convinced that their was flying carrots. He was now more determined than ever to find proof.

Dom nodded seriously when Henry said that falling down the mineshaft must have been creepy. ”Uh-huh” he confirmed ”It was very dark and and I am not sure it it must have been an hour or or two. I stuck onto the the wall I meant , like a a spider.” it was certainly a bit of an unpleasant memory for the boy. He wasn’t exactly sure how sticking onto the wall worked it probably saved him from a serious injury. ”I  love falling off trees, just as long as as as its not too far and and and the ground is safe.” there had been a few occasions where Dominic had injured himself from jumping and falling from places that were not safe.

Yet again Dominic frowned by Henry said detention wasn’t funny, Dom couldn’t really recall saying it was funny, but sometimes he couldn’t really remember half of what he said so he decided to let it go. ”I  don’t want to to make your aunt sad….” he looked considerate for a while ”…If I I am honest I I am surprised I I not have a a a howler yet” Dom was certain he would have had a howler in his first month. He must have been getting away with more than he thought.

When Henry didn’t answer him on exploring the castle Dom looked slightly dejected but it then occurred to him that perhaps Dominic did not make himself clear ”I I I did not meant noooow” he said pointedly, ”I meant at some future point. But but but the weather is create and and we can still climb” he continued with another small enthusiastic bounce. ”But but the dangerous is the fun” he added with a glint in his eye.

There was nothing wrong with Ravenclaw. That was all Henry cared for, and he certainly wasn’t offended when Dominic said he sounded like one. ”My aunt was in Ravenclaw,” he explained with a shrug. ”And I've always lived with her so I guess I’ve been brought up in some sort of Ravenclaw-ish way. But she always said that I would be Hufflepuff. I’m glad she was right.” He had feared to be not good enough for Hufflepuff because he suspected that his aunt tended to view things a little bit too positive where he was concerned. But the Hat had agreed, and he was forever thankful for that. He didn’t want to be like his father.

”In Hufflepuff, there are a lot of people who offer you help,” said Henry. ”I don’t know about Gryffindor. They can be a bit direct I guess? They’re calling Carin bean stalk because they’re tall. And thin.” Henry hesitated for a moment but then, to avoid any confusion, added, ”But they aren’t green.”

With concentration, Henry listened to Dominic’s attempts to explain the flying books, and he made a mental footnote to ask the librarian whether any books had ever escaped since Hogwarts existed. ”But if they would be bewitched to have wings, that would be Charms,” he said. There was a passage about applying wings to objects in The Standard Book of Spells. ”And if they were transfigured into birds, we couldn’t recognize them as books anymore, right?” And then, they could no longer count as books too, so Dominic's argument was invalid as far as Henry could see.

”Oh, he plays Quidditch?” asked Henry. ”My friend Lizzy - you know her, right, she’s in Gryffindor too, you know, the Singaporean one - she wants to be a Keeper, but first years never make the team which is stupid. But next year, she’ll certainly play because she’s really good. And she has brought her broom to Hogwarts as the school brooms are rubbish, or so she says. She’s told me about flying, how great it is.” Henry really liked being up in the air, and though he still preferred trees, brooms were great too in their way.

”Have you asked your cousin how he knows about the carrots?” Henry tried again. ”We could go and ask him. If he knows about them, he could also tell us where they grow, and other interesting things. We could also go to the library. Or we could go to the Herbology teacher and ask her. Though she doesn’t seem that patient…” Henry trailed off, trying to decide whether it was safe to go to the teacher with such a question.

”I think I’d have panicked,” said Henry truthfully. ”Being stuck against a wall in darkness for hours.” He shuddered at the mere thought. Darkness was already creepy in the dormitory, even when he had Gunther with him. But to be somewhere, at an abyss… Henry did love jumping, but he knew that he had to be able to see the ground before he did. Anything else would be reckless.

”Having a Howler must be horrible,” said Henry. ”But I don’t think Auntie would ever send me a Howler, no matter what I did. She’s the best aunt ever, and I could do whatever I want, and she would continue loving me,” he said truthfully. ”Yet, she would hurt because of me, and she’s been hurt enough.” He wanted to explain why it was important to him to do not too blatantly break any school rules. There was one thing worse than seeing Aunt Gigi cry, and that was making Aunt Gigi cry. He hoped Dominic would understand because, even though he wished to make himself clear, he didn’t want to tell the whole story. It was probably a bit dishonest towards his friend, but he couldn’t bear the idea to be known as the son of a murderer. He would not mention his father, he would just pretend to have none. Aunt Gigi was enough.

”Ye-e-e-s…” he said slowly. Exploring the castle was one of his great goals, but he felt like he shouldn’t get Dominic’s hope up. ”You know, I’ve got two best friends,” he tried to explain. ”The three of us want to explore the castle. And because we’re best friends, we’ve got to share everything with each other first.” Henry really hoped that this wouldn’t hurt Dominic, but he felt he had to be honest. Still, he didn’t want Dominic to get him wrong and think that he wouldn’t like him. ”We are still friends of course. Very, very good friends. But I think I can’t have a third best friend. That would be a little bit too much, don’t you think?” He so much wanted Dominic to understand. He wanted to be friends with him, he simply couldn’t be best friends. ”I’ll tell you about our discoveries of course,” he said to add more weight to his point. ”And we can certainly go and explore one or the other corridor at some time.”

He scrutinized the tree and its branches more closely. It should be safe for several more feet. From where he sat, he could make out at least ten branches above him that looked very stable. ”Do you know how to fall safely?” he asked to make sure. He was used to jumping down from such heights - at least he used to be. Just because he was learning magic properly now would hopefully not mean that he would lose the accidental magic that had protected him during all his tree leaps. It would be extremely stupid if he would fall and then find that he couldn’t find the protective atmosphere anymore that had always brought him securely to the ground.

Dominic nodded when Henry said that his aunt was a Ravenclaw and that she brought him up. He supposed that it made sense that his friend would have some Ravenclaw qualities if his aunt had been a Ravenclaw and brought him up in a Ravenclaw-ish way ”I I I seeee, both my parents were Gryffindors but but they didn’t bring me up in any way, I I I don’t think. Well…I I guess that they did encourage me to to be adventurous and and imaginative, and always said that that you should looked out for for your friends and and by loyal to them” he told the Hufflepuff in a slightly more breathlessness. He was glad that he finally had another friend that he could be loyal towards. ”Although it does look like your your aunt was a a good judge if character” he added with a bit of a nod.

The Gryffindor fidgeted uneasily when Henry said that there are a lot of people who help him I Hufflepuff and he didn’t know how Gryffindor’s where like ”Well…” he started with a small uncomfortable shift on the branch, indeed he had fidgeted about so much it was a miracle he not shifted himself off the branch. ”..most of the boys in in the Gryffindor dorm don’t like me….they think that I I I am annoying. They don’t want anything to to do with me…” A small, sad, sigh left his lips.

He wondered who Carin was? His fellow Gryffindors were calling her a bean stalk because she was tall and thin and green? Oooh ooh was an actual beanstalk attending the school that would be so cool. He was just about to ask when Henry pre-empted him. A look of disappointment came on the young Gryffindor’s face at that news.

”I seee” he said when Henry explained about the books being bewitched having wings would have to be charmed and that they would be transfigured into birds to be birds ”But if if they are transfigured into birds and escape they, they could form a a colony” he pointed out logically. The Gryffindor also made a note to try and do such a thing in the future, once he learnt about transfiguration.

Dom nodded when Henry asked if his cousin plays Quidditch. ”He is a a seeker” he repeated. ”I’ve not really talked to to Lizzy, yet.” Dom face slipped slightly when he was informed this girl wanted to be a keeper, Dom wanted to join the quidditch team as well and that was one of the position he was interested in. Well that and chaser. He would make a good chaser he felt. Dommie frowned when Henry said she had her own broom. ”but, but but, first years are not allowed brooms” he told the Huffflepuff. Dom was pretty sure that this was correct.

”I didn’t ask him about them. I was too interested to try and find them. I love finding out about animals. I I used to read about muggle animals and and and my cousin told me about some of the the magical ones, like the the flying carrots” he informed the lad. Although he was now started to doubt that he had been told the truth. If Donald had been lying to him, then Dominic pledged to prank him so hard.

”My my my cousin, Donnie, would probably be in in the library. He seems to to live in there. I I I think he might actually, maybe he he he has made a bed out of of of the books!” he got animated as he described the idea of his cousin living in the library ”But bit we could ask him if we wanted. I I am not sure the Herbology teacher would know though.” he liked Herbology, but the teacher kind of scared him.

The blond hair boy remembered grimly about being stuck in the mine. It was a pretty unpleasant experience for him and not one that he did enjoy ”I was veery scared….it it was very dark and and I I did panic…..and….” he wondered if he should confess this but he decided that he already probably committed to it ”…and I started to to cry. I I I know it not very boy like, but but I couldn’t help it. And and I was quiet young too” he looked off into the distance a bit, with a slightly haunted look ”but it it is not an experience that I want to repeat.

Getting into the topic of howlers cheered up Dominic a bout ”My mam certainly would send me one. I not yet done enough mischief to to warrant one.” he told his friend ”…and that I I want to to get one. It it be embarrassing” he continued. The Welsh youngster didn’t want his friend to think badly of him or think of him as some kind of trouble maker. He was getting the feeling that Henry was a bit of a goody-goody. He didn’t want to risk losing him.

Dominic did not like the way that Henry said Y-e-e-e-s. It sounded as if his year mate was about to deliver bad news. He didn’t understand what Henry meant about having two best friends already. Firstly, although Dominic would love to have a best friend, he had given up on having any best friends a long time ago. To be hones the was surprised when anyone decided to be friends with him. Secondly he did not see how that would stop him exploring the school with him. Surely Dommie thought to him he didn’t have to share everything with his two best friends first, that there was enough friendship and experiences to go around? Apparently not though

A nastier voice took over in his head He doesn’t want to be your friend, not really. He just feels sorry for you. He doesn’t want to be seen with you around the castle or for you to hang around his real firneds. some years started to well up in his eyes. However, he thought very hard not to start crying. A look of hurt and annoyance flashed on his face when Henry said that he would tell Dominic about the discoveries. That wasn’t the same, that wasn’t what it was about. What would be the point of that? The entire point was for them to be exploring and finding things out together. Not for other people to pass on tales about it. He could get those from his cousins. His look turned into a slight glare. Was Henry actually trying to be mean to him and make him jealous with such a statement. To make a point that he wasn’t good enough to be part of his gang and wanted to rub it in ?

The Hufflepuff raised his eyebrow slightly when Henry said that they could go exploring one or another corridors together at some time What happened to doing it first with your ‘real’ friends? he thought to himself rather bitterly. He didn’t really answer anything what Henry said at this point. Indeed the 11 year old Gryffindor was unusually quiet. He was still trying to fight back the tears.

”…yea” Dominic mumbled quietly when asked if he knew how to fall from a tree safely. Dom had been climbing things for much of his life. Of course he knew how to fall, before safely and dangerously Maybe he is hinting that he doesn’t want to hang around you anymore… he thought sadly to himself. If that was the case, Dominic wasn’t about to give the Hufflepuff that satisfaction. Dom thought that he was there first and he wasn’t about to leave his tree. Of course it did not occur to Dominic that Henry did actually want to be his friend and still hang out with him.

Dominic might be a little odd, but the longer Henry talked to him, the more likable he became. The things he said were strange, but in a sort of good way. ”Your parents sound nice,” he said. ”I don’t know any Gryffindors - well, apart from now at school, but not before.” For a second he wanted to mention that his father had been in Slytherin, but he didn’t have enough courage. He didn’t want their conversation to drift that way. Instead, he thought over the boy’s words once more and compared them with his own impressions. These parents seemed to have done a good job educating him, and it was nice to know that he was a friend who looked out for the other and was loyal. Though, probably they did a bit too good a job where the imagination was concerned. But Henry was not that certain of how much of Dominic’s stories were pure invention, and how much it was just due to his ignorance that he had never heard about such things. ”Yes, she’s very clever,” said Henry proudly. ”She makes babies at St Mungo’s.” That sounded somehow wrong, but Henry knew no better way to put it.

Dominic seemed nervous. And Henry didn’t really know why. But he was moving around so much that the branch was swaying, and Henry didn’t like the slightly sea-sick feeling that came with it. But he couldn’t think of a polite way to tell him to stay still. And then his thoughts were directed in a completely different direction. ”Are you… are you sure?” Henry asked softly. Dominic was nice, why shouldn’t the other boys not like him? ”Don’t you think it could be some sort of - I don’t know… misunderstanding?” He must have got something wrong. Maybe one of the boys had a carrot allergy and that’s why he had no patience with Dominic.

”But then they’d be a bird colony,” insisted Henry. ”They’d just be normal birds, and that wouldn’t be interesting, would it? And it would only work with birds that live in colonies.” Actually, that was a pretty complex theme Henry realized. He had so many questions, like if animals that were transfigured from something else could live with those of the same species without restrictions. And was it possible to transfigure something into a human? That was a bit of a frightening idea.

”Seeker is interesting,” Henry said. ”From what I’ve seen, I think I’d prefer Chaser. But I most likely won’t play Quidditch because good brooms are so expensive.” His aunt might even give in if he begged her to buy him one, but it would put a strain on their finances, and Henry didn’t want that. ”Lizzy’s got an older brother,” he explained. ”Nick. He’s great. Apart from his name.” The last part just slipped out. He hadn’t meant to say it, but whenever he said the name, he felt the tiniest bit uncomfortable. But Nicholas was a common name, and Nick was a great brother. And a Prefect.

”Yes, I’ve also read about - wait!” Henry frowned. ”The flying carrots are animals?” That was a weird bit of news. ”But then they can’t be carrots?” he asked, his confusion growing with every moment. He had read one or the other book about animals and his aunt’s old copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and animals existed that were very plant like, but the other way was rarer by far. Mandrakes could scream, but he had never heard of plants that could fly, let alone carrots. Carrots grew in the earth if he wasn’t very much mistaken

”I’ve never seen someone living in the library,” said Henry, fascinated. ”Can we visit him there? Does the librarian actually allow this. Can only one person live there…” He was so enthusiastic about this concept that he forgot for a second about the carrots. ”Probably we should ask the Care of Magical Creature teacher if the carrots are animals?” he suggested. ”I mean, if your cousin knows, a teacher has to know too. They know such things, that’s why they’re teachers. But asking your cousin sounds like a good first option.”

Henry shuddered. ”I think I’d have cried too,” he said. ”No, I certainly would have cried. You were probably five? Seven?” He had been almost seven when he had first displayed his accidental magic with that fall from the tree, and he guessed Dominic would have been around the same age. ”When I was that age,” he said, hoping that it would make Dominic feel better about crying, ”I very often slept in my aunt’s bed because I was so afraid of the dark. Even when my aunt would check under the bed before she put out the lights, I would expect a monster to jump up at any moment.”

It appeared strange to Henry that Dominic seemed to like talking about Howlers. But then, he might only be glad to think of something else than getting stuck in that mine shaft. Henry could understand that, it gave him goosebumps just to think of such an experience. ”It would be so painful to know that I’ve hurt Auntie,” he said. ”I could never forgive myself if I made her angry at me. She’s never been angry with me.” But Henry knew that there were parents who were far more strict with their children than his aunt was with him - Lizzy’s parents for example. So he had no problem in picturing parents who sent Howlers to their children.

Henry was really nervous about the friends topic. Exploring the castle was kind of the mission of the Three Musketeers. He thought that friends should have things in common that connected them in particular. And that meant that adventures were mainly reserved for having them with Lizzy and Carin. Of course he still wanted to make things with Dominic, but at the moment he couldn’t think of anything. He wanted to offer him some sort of similar project that could be exclusive to them. Not that he wanted to categorize his friends or anything, but as they were now friends, they should make things together that friends did. And these things could not be the same as those he did with his other friends. That would give the whole friendship some sort of superfluous feeling, and Henry wanted their friendship not to be superfluous.

Judging from Dominic’s expression, Henry increasingly dreaded that his attempts to explain himself were poor. He feared he was hurting Dominic, and that was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. They had just become friends, and he was so bad at it. He felt horribly guilty. He gave the heavy mass of fur on his lap a prod, and the cat looked up to him, and then got to his feet, balancing over to Dominic. ‘Please,’ Henry mentally thought, ‘let Gunther save our friendship.’ The cat made it securely over to the other boy while Henry started to feel additionaally guilty that he was not completely following the diet that Aunt Gigi had made him promise to adhere to when feeding Gunther. When the cat looked at him, he never could help himself and gave him some small snack. Very, very small. Just also very, very often. But it was mostly fur, Henry was sure of that, Gunther was a very healthy cat.

”You know what we could do?” he asked after some desperate thinking. ”We could try to breed a book colony. And we’ve got to search for the carrots. And the other things you mentioned, like the beaver…” There had been more, but Henry couldn’t think of anything at the moment. ”We could be like… Magizoologists. I mean, I know we can’t be real Magizoologists, but we could try. Have some little projects. First taking some old book no one needs anymore and try to transfigure it into a bird.” That was far too advanced magic, but if they started now, they might have all the more success later on.

”So…” said Henry hesitantly, afraid that Dominic didn’t want him around any longer. He felt so bad, he hadn’t meant to be insulting, on the opposite. ”Do we want Gunther to go first? He’s the best at climbing you know. And then you, then me? Or do we want to try different routes? Or do you want me to go?” He muttered the last words, guilt washing over him. He was a horrible friend.

Dominic beamed at Henry when he said his parents sound lovely ”Thanks, they are really really nice.” he loved his parents, obviously.”I I I bet your aunt is is great too” he told Henry, hoping he had interpreted it rightly, that Henry was brought up by his aunt. He wondered if it would be rude to ask him about that? Maybe they were not good enough friends yet? The 11 year old decided to sit on the question for now. He didn’t want to risk making his mate sad. Dominic did start giggling when Henry said that Henry makes babies at St Mungos. ”Does she she she build them up like like a a Frankenstein monster?” he teased the Hufflepuff playful.

The Gryffindor nodded sadly when Henry asked if he was sure. The blonde haired boy was pretty sure that his fellow first year boys in Gryffindor found him annoying and loud and irritating. If he was honest he hated himself for it. He pondered o the idea that it might have been some sort of misunderstanding, but if it was it was one that was going on almost every day with the boys telling Dominic to shut up or leaving the room when he came in, if they had a chance too. Obviously at night they couldn’t. ”I I am not sure, they keep trying to tell me to to to shut up and and leave the the room when I come in.” the youngster sounded deeply dejected with this idea. Still, he had a new friend now so he shouldn’t be sad.

He shook his head when Henry said they be birds, just like normal birds ”They would be be books, they would just be be disguised as as birds.” he told him matter of factly ”Well, it it it be a a bird book colony” he continued as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

” I I know, brooms are are a lot of of money. I think my cousin got a cheap old broom, but but they are not always good.” he said, he knew his cousin couldn’t afford a good broom. Come to that, nor could his family. ”It is a a a shame that that you can never play quidditch, come to to that nor could I” it was a bit of a sad realisation, but maybe he could get himself a cheap second hand broom. He nodded in realisation when he said Lizzie had an older brother ”Aha…”

A confused look came on his face when Henry said that Nick was great, apart from his name ”What is wrong with the name Nick?” he asked his friend puzzled. He always thought that Nick was a decent enough name, but then he supposed everyone had their own personal reasons to like or dislike a name. Dommie wondered the story behind Henry’s dislike for the name Nick, and if he shouldn’t have asked that question because it was too personal. It was too late now in any case.

”Yep, and they they can be carrots. They they look like carrots, and sound like like carrots and and smell like carrots, but but they have a a heart, lungs, brain and and and eyes and and wings.” he spoke as if what he just said as the most obvious thing in the world. ”What else would they they be?”

A tiny grin crept across Dom’s face when Henry said he never seen anyone living in the library before. On this, Dominic was not being entire serious, it was a figure of speech. Sometimes it could be hard to tell seeing he said so much weird stuff anyway. ”It was a a a figure of of speech” he admitted to his friend, hoping that he would not be too upset at this revelation. ”Although it it it might be cool to live in the library I I suppose” he told him with another grin. ”But we we could go there to annoy or talk to him. Asking the the Care for for Magic Creatures Professor would be cool. I I wish we could study Care for for magical creatures” he sounded disappointed that it was an elective and not a run of a mill class.

It did cheer up Dominic a bit to hear that Henry would have cried, maybe it wasn’t un-boy like after all. ”I I was about six, I I think, maybe seven. I I am scared of the dark now, and of closed spaces….although I wouldn’t say that I am for bicker of them.” he told his friend trying to sound brave again.

As the Hufflepuff talked about his auntie Dominic got curious again. He didn’t think it was possible for an 11 year old to never had upset or made their guardian angry at them. ”You must have misbehaved sometime, surely?” he asked him. Every child pushed boundaries and caused some mischief sometimes, right? Maybe it was just him? Dominic believed a bit of mischief could cause no harm. It was part of growing up, or so he thought.

The Gryffindor Welsh wizard was deeply hurt when Henry rejected him and he considered jumping from the tree and running off somewhere to have a cry. That was until Gunther made his way into his lap. He looked down at the cat on his lap and gave him a bit of a stroke. It was clear that the cat was trying to prevent the friendship that had just been established from being ruined. Probably on his…owner’s? did cats have owners? Dom wasn’t sure. Regardless, he decided to stay put for now.

Dom shot Henry a look when he said you know what they could do, he was still deeply upset and was sure that he was about to hear more bad news. However when his friend said they could ty and breed a book colony and search for those carrots and beavers. The small smile on his face fell slightly when he said they could not be real magizoologists. Dominic bet he thought of the friends he hung out with as real explorers.

”I I I thought you didn’t believe in in the book colonies and and flying carrots?” he asked Henry, however his tone was slightly more bemused then upset. A small smile came his face though and he said in a small and weak voice ”…thanks though”

Dominic didn’t want to lose his new friend and it seemed Henry wanted to keep the friendship going. ”I I I guess we we could hunt things like like Boggarts and Nimblerods and and and Wazzbleboc and the Wibblesmuddles” Dommie was getting more animated and excited again. He was also half planning that he could use such a hunt and turn it into exploration of the castle anyway. He would not tell the Hufflepuff that was his plan, if he did go that way, but while hunting animals they would have to find out where the animals would go and that would by its nature mean exploration right? Although maybe that would be unfair of him?

Then again another plan would be to help Henry cause some mischief. If he was such a goody-two-shoes as he claimed to be then perhaps Dommie could help the Hufflepuff come out of his shell a bit in that respect, show him that there could be some fun in pranking and having causing a bit of trouble. Of course Dominic’s pranks were never designed to hurt anyone. He decided to offer this option up to the other boy ”Or we we could pull some pranks on people together. I I I could train you to to to be a prankster if if you like?” he asked him, before adding quickly ”Althought the the the magizoologist idea is is good too” he would go for either if he was honest.

The offer of Gunther to go first confused Dominic ”What do you you mean?” he asked Henry. ”Go where? Ooh ooh oho do you mean climbing up the the tree?” it suddenly dawned on him ”Gunther can go up first if if if you want” he had seen the cat climb when they first joined them on the tree ”Then we can following him uppp” he gave Henry another smile. To show that everything was now cool. Dominic was not one to hold grudges, especially Henry had now offered alternative activities for the pair to do. Even if Dominic was still disappointed that they would not explore together. At least not officially.
 

”She is,” confirmed Henry, beaming at the comment about his aunt. It was really lucky that he had run into Dominic, he was great to talk to. Almost a pity they hadn’t met earlier. And he was also grateful that he wasn’t quizzed what the matter was with his parents. That had happened a few times in the past when he had been making friends and praised his aunt. Henry didn’t like questions about his parents, he didn’t like thinking about them at all even though he often couldn’t help himself. And though it was primarily his father who troubled him when he talked with someone, he could suppress thoughts of him rather well. He was afraid that people would mistrust him once they knew that his father was a murderer, but at least Henry knew a fair deal about him. Admittedly, mostly positive things that he couldn’t help but doubt, but he still knew who his father was. He might never know about his mother, or why she had not been able to take care of him. Not been willing to take care of him as he sometimes feared.

”No, no,” assured Henry. ”It’s not like that. It’s more like, the mothers come and have the baby, and Aunt helps… somehow…” Henry scratched his head. He had asked, and he had been given an explanation about the babies. They grew in their mother’s bellies, and then… It was stupid that he couldn’t remember his own birth. He had no idea what his aunt actually had to do to bring the babies out of the bellies. ”What is a Frankenstein monster?” he asked instead, resolving to procrastinate the baby problem and instead focusing on the new expression Dominic had used. ”It’s not in Fantastic Beasts, right?” It sounded outlandish to him, foreign. Probably Dominic had people from other countries in his family, like Lizzy. That would be fun to hear about.

He bit his lower lip as he watched his friend’s expression sadden when talking about the other boys in his dormitory. He still had trouble believing that anyone could dislike Dominic. ”But you’re not talking that much,” he said. ”I mean you talk a lot, but I get to say as much as I like too. So that’s not a problem.” If Dominic were monologuing or bragging, Henry thought he might understand the other boys’ behaviour, but Dominic was doing nothing like that. His room-mates must be really rude. Then, they were all Gryffindors, and Gryffindors… were brave. Okay, that didn’t explain anything. Maybe they preferred taking action to talking, and therefore thought Dominic didn’t truly belong to them. Though that didn’t excuse cutting him dead. All things considered, Henry had to conclude that it was a misunderstanding. But as Dominic didn’t seem to consider it a possibility, Henry decided to do not repeat his theory. Maybe he could get to talk to some of the Gryffindors. Or he could ask Lizzy what she knew about them. ”Do you have a pet?” he asked, a suggestion coming to his mind. ”Because cats, like Gunther, can be very silent and calm. And then you sit next to them and imitate them. That’s very relaxing.” If the other Gryffindors wanted someone more silent, behaving like a cat seemed a very good strategy.

”They wouldn’t be disguised,” he said, ”they’d be transfigured. That’s something completely different.” The more he thought about it, the more questions came to his mind. What would happen if a former book and a real bird had babies together? Would they have pages instead of wings? Or would stuff be written on their plumage? He somehow had to find out.

”Watching Quidditch is great too,” Henry answered cheerfully. ”We can still cheer Lizzy.” Though he didn’t know what he would do when the Gryffindors played Hufflepuff. House or friend? That was tricky. He didn’t want to take sides. Then, Carin would be in the same position, together they would come up with a solution. It couldn’t be that difficult, Quidditch was a sport played for fun and not there to strain loyalties.

”Nothing,” he muttered, regretting his mistake. ”Just bad people have been named Nick like…” Admittedly, apart from his father he knew of no criminals called Nick. He felt his face warming. ”Not bad people,” he tried to correct himself. ”Just people to who bad things happened. Like the Gryffindor ghost, right? He had his head half chopped off. Or the alchemist who merged the Philosopher’s Stone who lived for hundreds of years…” His voice trailed off. That last thing had not exactly been a bad one. Or had it?

These news about the carrots left Henry with his mouth hanging open. He had never heard anything like that before. ”Have you ever eaten one?” he asked, unsure whether he was fascinated or creeped out. ”Do you eat them alive? Or are they being slaughtered like other animals?”

Henry mentally walked through the library, trying to remember whether he had ever seen someone living there before. Or whether he had seen someone and not understood what they were doing. But then Dominic stopped his speculation. Slightly disappointed, he still nodded to the suggestion. ”After two years we can study it,” he tried to console his friend. ”Two years are over soon. And we’ve got so many subjects and so much work to do, we cannot start everything at once. But we should definitely go and ask your cousin about the carrots.”

Henry could empathize with fear of darkness perfectly well. He had nothing against closed spaces per se, but dark ones were making his skin crawl. ”I did run away to look at interesting stuff,” he said. ”Or I jumped down where I shouldn’t. But Auntie doesn’t get angry at me because either I take care that she doesn’t notice or she notices but doesn’t get angry. She’d only tell me that she was afraid, and then I’d feel bad for hurting her. Because that’s a very wrong thing to do.”

Dominic looked so upset that Henry was scared that their friendship was ruined before it had even properly begun. He felt so terribly sorry and knew no way to say it. But it did seem as if Gunther would have success. He really was the best cat in the world. At least he thought he could discern something like relaxation in the other boy’s face as he caressed the animal. Maybe not everything was already lost.

His next words were even met with a tentative smile, and Henry mentally exhaled with relief. Yet, he had to have made another mistake as the smile disappeared as soon as it had come. ”I was sceptical,” said Henry, scared to say something wrong, ”because it was nothing I had ever heard before. But that’s why we must study it, right? Scientists come up with a theory, and then they’ve got to prove it.”

His attempt at reconciliation appeared a success because his friend’s next words sounded much more like the former ones. ”Yes, of course,” he readily agreed, shoving any suspicions that at least half of these creatures didn’t exist to the most distant recesses of his mind. ”We shouldn’t hunt them though. That might scare them. We only watch. Like really responsible Magizoologists. They mostly observe too because wild animals are very easily scared, and if we find a place where they meet, we must remain unnoticed because otherwise they leave and are never seen again.” Henry nodded to put more emphasis in his words. He had once read a book about such things.

”Pranks?” asked Henry, confused at the sudden change of topic. ”Why should we do that? That’s not a nice thing to do. Is it?” He didn’t like the idea, but then he was unsure of what Dominic meant. And he had just hurt his feeling before, he really didn’t want to do so again. ”I… can’t we just…” He simply didn’t know what to say. Pranking was not really a bad thing, he knew that much. But it was not a good thing either, and Henry couldn’t imagine any situation in where pranking per se was worth risking losing points.

”Exactly,” confirmed Henry. ”I learnt climbing from Gunther. He was - is - my teacher. He knows what kind of branches are suitable for us, he’ll take good care.” Henry jumped to his feet, balancing some steps forwards and backwards. They were still friends. He hadn’t ruined everything. He felt exultant. ”Let’s go!” he exclaimed, waiting for Dominic to put Gunther down and get up too.

Dominic smiled when Henry confirmed that his aunt was nice to him. It was always good to know someone was being looked after well. Especially in unusual family situations. Dom again wondered what happened to the boy’s parents but thought it wasn’t his place to pry. He was just getting into a good friendship with the Hufflepuff lad and he didn’t want to upset the boy. Clearly something had happened with it and, despite his hyperactivity, his erratic behaviour and his weird little habits and quirks, he could be a bit perceptive about people and more importantly caring about people.

The Gryffindor first year was a bit disappointed to learn that Henry’s aunts did not create babies but helped mothers have their babies somehow. Dominic didn’t really want to concentrate on this topic though. For some reason it was making the little boy feel very uncomfortable so he was very relieved that Henry asked about a Frankenstein Monster was ”Well, it is a monster made up of lots of the parts of different monsters and people…” he sounded surprised that Henry not heard about it ”My my mamgu said that that if I didn’t go to to sleep a a a Frankenstein Minster would wold come to to eat me” why hadn’t Henry’s aunt warned him of that danger? He looked thoughtful, now he came to think about it, the creature wasn’t in ”Don’t think so…..but that that book excludes a a a lot of really cool creatures.” He was thinking about the flying carrots and the Nifflewinks again.

Dom gave Henry a weak smile when he said that he didn’t talk that much, before retracting the point slightly although still saying Henry could get when he wanted to say in. ”Thanks but but but that is because we we are having a a conversation. If if there is no-one to talk to I I can tend to carry on talking to to try and start a a convocation.” it made logical sense to him to do that anyway. The Gryffindor shook his head when he was asked if he had a pet ”Not yet, but but I do any a a pet cat, even before seeing this one. Because cats are are are cool.” he said sounding rather excited again. ”My mam and dad have a a cat. A white cat called called Eira. Which is is is Welsh for for for Snow” his parents would let the cat go with them to Hogwarts. They said they would miss him too much. He guessed his parents just wanted some company with them.

Dommie shook his head in disagreement with his butty ”You are wrong, they they would still be books in disguise as they would have been books for for all their lives before becoming birds, but but but they would still have their memories of when they were books and and and internal instincts that all books have.” he told Henry matter of factly.

Quidditch was great, Henry was right about that. He nodded early in agreement but stopped abruptly when he talked about cheering Lizzy. ”But but she is on in the the team at the moment. Though when she she gets on we can cheer her. But but What if Gryffindor plays Hufflepuff? Ooh ooh ooh I will cheer Hufflepuff when when they not playing Gryffindor, for for you.” he looked thoughtful for a moment ”Unless I make it onto the the the Gryffinfor team. In that case I I I be cheering for for whoever works best for for for Gryffindor” he added with a grin.

Dominic nodded when Henry said bad people, before correcting himself to unlucky people. He wasn’t sure that he entirely believed what Henry was saying or anything but he didn’t really want to upset the Hufflepuff either. He felt a bit guilty about making the boy feel upset about, albeit accidently, bringing up something sensitive. He might be a motormouth, he knew that he could be rude and insensitive at times, but on occasions he knew not to rock the boat, so to speak. So he left it be.

Dominic look horrified by the suggestion that he might have eaten a flying carrot, or that they even could be eaten ”No, that would be be be inhumane to to eat them. Especially alive. It it it be like eating a a a pet dog or a a a…” he considerately covered up Gunther’s ears ”..a cat” he uncovered them and stroked the cat once again. ”I would refuse to to to eat them” indeed a part of Dommie was thinking about becoming a vegetarian. If only he didn’t like hamburgers, and hot dogs and meat in general so much.

For the Gryffindor the two years until they could do their electives could not come soon enough. He wanted to study all the subjects. He already loved every single lesson. Apart from History of Magic, which was his least favourite lesson, but all the other lessons where joint number one favourite lesson of all time. How could anyone not love learning magic? It was awesome.

The 11 year old blond lad was still upset with the idea that Henry didn’t want him and was still sad that he couldn’t. officially, go exploring with the boy, but he was glad that they were still friends, and to put it in Henry’s own words, very, very good friends. Just not best friends. Dominic wondered what it would be like to have a best friend. Rather sadly he resigned himself to the fact that he would probably never really know.

Dom nodded at Henry’s explanation for his change of mind away from skepicalness about Dominic’s mythical, and rather ludicrous, creatures. He guessed the Hufflepuff did have a point. The blonde lad frowned again at Henry ”No, I I I didn’t mean hunt them like that, but we need to to find where they were first before we we can watch them…so so so we need to try and seek them out.” Dom thought he was being perfectly reasonable ”but but I I do agree with you that that we need to to be unnoticed to to to not scare them” Dommie was determined to at least kind of make this into a pseudo-exploration. Even if he didn’t call it that and didn’t let Henry in on his plans.

Dominic shook his head when Henry said prankers were not a nice thing to do ”Are are you serious?” he exclaimed in a bit of surprise ”Pranks are all in good fun, but but you need to to to be careful of of your target. You need to to to find someone who who will get the the joke and and and find it funny” Dominic made a mental note not to prank Henry. He got a feeling that he would probably not get the joke. ”But if if you won’t want to then the the magizoologusts idea is is cool, infact it it is the best idea” he nodded eagerly as if to emphasis that point.

The little Gryffindor decided to put his trust into the cat. If Henry trusted the feline then so would he. Dommie put down Gunther and got up, balancing on the branch, reading to start climbing further up and get a better view. And carried on talking to his new found pal. 

The whole baby thing was confusing. He was missing some major points he was pretty sure. He had once been a baby, that much he knew for certain. But he couldn’t remember anything of it. It was kind of frightening how much he couldn’t remember of his past. If he had no memories of these things, how was he to be certain that they had really happened? For all he knew he could also have dropped from the sky into his aunt’s lap. He had never seen his father apart from in very old pictures. He knew nothing about his mother. All he had were his aunt’s words. But these were good enough for Henry, and he accepted his past despite not recalling the moment when his father had left him on Aunt Gigi’s doorstep at the age of a few days.

Before Henry could reflect all too long about the unreliability of the human memory, Dominic brought up that monster he had never heard of before. ”That sounds-” started Henry to say but stopped himself. Dominic had said many strange things, and though they sounded impossible, the more he heard, the more Henry was inclined to accept. But that explanation was gruesome, disgusting. Henry blinked hastily several times in a row to get the image of a spider-eyed human on the body of a manticore out of his head. Nobody could sew different human parts together and make a functioning being out of it, right? Henry dearly hoped that he wasn’t mistaken but was too afraid to ask for more information. He just stared at his friend in silence as he described what the monster would do. That was exactly the opposite of what his aunt had always told him. He was safe in bed. No monsters were lurking under it. And now Dominic claimed his mother used to warn him of such dangers. Henry trusted his aunt unconditionally, but why should Dominic’s mum lie to her son? It was very unnerving. He didn’t dare to say anything in defence of the Magizoology book, these stories were too unsettling. But he was at Hogwarts. Hogwarts was safe. The Hufflepuff common room was safe. At least that was what Henry needed to believe.

Cheering up Dominic felt definitely better than being scared. He was sorry for his friend’s sadness, but at least no monsters had any part in it. ”Hm,” he said thoughtfully. Dominic’s strategy seemed a bit weird to him. You started a conversation by saying something to the person you wanted to talk to. Then this person said something back. And so on and so on. That was how conversation worked, that was how they were currently talking to each other. ”Probably you should make longer pauses?” he suggested. ”Probably the other boys think slower than you. You know, like they need a while to formulate an answer, and you think they won’t answer and talk on. Then they need to formulate two answers at once, and then you talk again so that it’s three answers. And so on. That would be stressful for the others, and if you’re stressed, you’re sometimes not that nice. Maybe you just need to say one sentence, and then wait a bit longer for the other to come up with a response.” That sounded sensible to Henry. It was far more likely that the other boys were stressed by Dominic’s talking because they couldn’t follow him than because they didn’t like him.

Henry nodded in agreement about cats. Owls were super useful because of the post. But cats were real friends. He knew, he had been co-brought up by one. In silent gratitude, he gave Gunther an extra-hug. ”Oh, you speak another language?” said Henry, fascinated. It was so easy to forget how big Britain was, that there were people who spoke different languages. ”Is Welsh difficult? I’ve read a couple of words. Places and stuff, and it looked really complicated.” Henry guessed that many people named their pets after things. The cat was white, snow was white. It made sense, but it wasn’t that imaginative. Many white cats probably were named Snow. Having a cat with a real name like Gunther felt far more personal.

Henry strongly doubted that books had any instincts. Though the content might still be somehow hidden in the transfigured birds he guessed. But a Transfiguration was not a disguise. Yet, he decided that Professor Kirkpatrick would be better at explaining these things, and he didn’t comment on it. Quidditch seemed more like a topic on which they could agree. ”This year none of us will be accepted on the team anyway,” said Henry in an attempt to console Dominic and feeling sorry for Lizzy who he knew deserved to be on the team. His friend’s cheering reasons sounded very natural at first. But the conditionality went a little over Henry’s head. ”Sure…” he said, completely unsure about what Dominic now wanted to say.

Just as they had moved way from the uncomfortable topic of the name Nick, the carrots were there to confuse Henry further. What exactly made these carrots carrots when they were animals? He didn’t understand anything about this story anymore, and Dominic’s explanations were not helping, rather more puzzling. ”Is it possible to have these carrots as pets then?” he asked. ”Can they be domesticated? Because many wild animals are being shot periodically, right?” On a second thought, this might only happen to non-magical animals Henry considered. But he wasn't certain.

At least they were friends again, and completely agreeing on their Magizoological proceedings. ”Yes,” he said, ”we’ll have to be very patient. And very quiet because most animals have really good ears.” As he said it, it came to his mind that that might be a problem with Dominic, at least from what he had learnt from him so far. But maybe he would be far quieter once they needed to be. And that might even help him with his dorm mates. After all, humans were some sort of animals too, and the tricks that helped with beasts could also be used for humans.

Henry pondered Dominic’s explanation of pranking, and that way put, it didn’t sound bad. He supposed it really depended on the occasions. He couldn’t think of any pranks, and even less of people he’d like to prank. He’d need Dominic to make more concrete examples at some other time. That should clarify the case. As of now, he had no interest in pranking. The Magizoology idea on the other hand sounded even better when approved by Dominic. ”We’ve got to come up with a project,” he said eagerly. ”It must be something that lives here of course. There certainly are far more magical creatures around Hogwarts than anywhere else in the world. We only have to figure out where what is.” He had to look up the way professional Magizoologists proceeded when studying. He didn’t want to do things by halves.

”Ready?” asked Henry eagerly as soon as his friend was on his feet. He bent down and put Gunther on one of the branches above them. ”You want to go first?” he added, balancing a step away from the cat to enable Dominic to climb further up the tree.