The girl sighed as she slid into her seat. Charms, one of her better classes, would hopefully be the one to cheer her up today. It was Friday, one of the most anticipated days of the week. Friday meant the week was almost over, which meant that the weekend was drawing close. The weekend, which meant time for flying on one of the school's brooms, which meant sitting around and talking with no care for the time it took, and would soon mean Hogsmeade trips for the thirteen-year-old. But did this day, the day that ended the week for students and announced the freedom of the weekend, have to be so gloomy? The constant drizzle meant everything would be wet that night or tomorrow, which was typically a sign of more damp weather on the way for the Scottish land where the school was located. Well, the girl thought as she completed her sigh, prompted by a glance out the window, there goes my weekend.

She had followed the instructions on the board. Each seat had a chest with a name engraved on it, and students had been hard at work searching to find their's. Finally she had found the one that had the name Sarai Stafford in scrolling letters across the top. The girl dropped her bag as she sat down and sighed, leaning over after her minute's ponder to extract her quill, paper and wand from her bag. The board had given away the lesson's topic, and Sarai didn't expect any new material to be covered, the lesson hadn't changed in the past two years already. It was an exciting charm for first years, as she had found it exciting in her first year, relishing the thrill of reciting the incantation of "Alohomora" and watching or listening to the old fashioned locks on the school's doors click open and swing wide for her to pass through.

Taking some time to glance around the room, Sarai found the faces of some of her other yearmates and friends. She nodded at Conner, a third year Gryffindor like Michael, just a few seats away. She hadn't talked with him much, probably to her own fault, and so she didn't know him that well. Still, he was in Gryffindor and a third year, so sooner or later she was bound to get to know him. Maybe even that evening, as if there would be anything better to do. With the rain on, and unless Michael could think of something, she would most likely end up just practicing her dance, talking or doing homework, much as she didn't like to before the weekend.

Leaning back in her seat, Sarai smiled as a sharp first year raised his hand and blurted out a textbook answer to the professor's question. She occupied herself with resting her hand over her wand, anxious to get on to the actual application of the spell, once the professor had finished explaining the concept. It was difficult to wait, she loved Charms and excelled in the class, but the concepts behind magic often bored her. She didn't really care how or why the spell worked, rather she was more focused on that the spell worked, and what it could be used on. Showing off wasn't her aim at the moment, but her hand twitched, lightly gripping the handle of her White Poplar wand. She was anxious to use it, to feel the rush that she got from using any kind of magic.

The girl's attention was drawn, however, when a small boy rushed into the room. His robe bore the green snake design of Slytherin, and he panted breathlessly, apologizing for his tardiness. Sarai quickly lost interest again, not caring about his situation. It would be amusing if the Professor yelled at him, of course, it was always satisfying to see Slytherin's losing house points. Gryffindor was behind, so if Slytherin or any other house lost points, it was a gain for Gryffindor. It wasn't much of a problem for Gryffindor, however, they would pull ahead by the end of the year. Though, she mused, it wouldn't hurt if she gave some help of her own by gaining a few points for the house.

Finally, she thought, Some real magic. No more boring talk about how or why this or that worked. It was about time they started some real magic, rather than just lighting the tip of their wands. That was all fun when you were in the dark, though pointless in the classroom. Alohomora, though, was actually practical