The Charms classroom smelled faintly of old books and wand polish. First-year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws shuffled in with wide eyes and eager expressions, clutching their new wands like sacred artifacts. Some had the polished confidence of preparation. Others gripped their spellbooks like shields.
Hadrian slid into a desk beside Iris. Dora settled comfortably on his other side, her wand already out and twirling between her fingers like a baton.
Across from them sat a Ravenclaw boy with a mop of brown hair and an inquisitive glint in his eye.
"Terry Boot," he said by way of greeting, adjusting his spectacles. "Ravenclaw."
"Hadrian," Hadrian replied, offering a nod. "This is Iris, and that's Dora."
"Ah," Terry said, giving a small, polite smile. "I thought you looked familiar. You were at the front of the Sorting, right? Very decisive hat placement."
Dora grinned. "That's our Hadrian. Practically dragged the hat into Hufflepuff."
"I like Hufflepuffs," Terry said, surprising them. "Everyone says we're supposed to be rivals, but I think that's silly. Seems better to have friends in every house."
Hadrian liked this boy already.
"Agreed," he said.
Before any more could be said, a small voice called out:
"Welcome, welcome!"
Professor Flitwick had popped up onto a stack of cushions behind his lectern. His robes were pristine, his eyes twinkling, and he was barely taller than the podium itself.
"Today," he said, clapping his tiny hands, "we begin with a most fundamental and useful spell: The Wand-Lighting Charm!"
A low buzz of excitement passed through the classroom.
"Lumos," he said, demonstrating. A warm white light glowed at the tip of his wand. "It's used to light the way in dark places—or to check under your bed for nargles." He winked. "Let's begin!"
A Spark in the Dark
"Lumos," Iris whispered, her brow furrowed in concentration.
Nothing.
Terry across from them was practicing his wand movement in careful circles. "I read that intent matters more than force. You have to really want the light."
"Lumos," Dora said experimentally, her wand flicking up.
A faint glow sparked… then fizzled.
"Close," Hadrian said with a grin. "Lumos."
His wand tip flared to life with a clean white light.
"Show off," Dora muttered, elbowing him. "Try saying it backwards next time."
Iris, after a few more tries, produced a small but steady glow that made her eyes shine with quiet pride.
Hadrian watched her and felt the familiar warmth in his chest. His sister.
Everything they'd been through—everything she survived—and here she was, beaming at a simple spell like it was the sun itself.
He looked at Terry, who was now cheering softly as his wand lit up for the first time, and thought again about what it meant to have support early on. The right start. A safe one.
And his thoughts, like a leaf on the wind, drifted gently to a future Ravenclaw: Luna Lovegood.
Not yet here. A year away. Quiet, dreamy Luna—so different, so often alone. Her mother, dead in a magical accident… a moment that had shaped her into the girl he'd come to know and care about in another life.
She deserved better. They all did.
He closed his eyes for a second, just a second.
Pandora Lovegood survived the magical experiment in 1990. She continued her work with exceeding caution. The Lovegood family remains whole and Luna is marked down to enter Hogwarts in 1992.
The change settled like a whisper. A small change, an afterthought. But to a small girl far away it is the world.
He smiled faintly and turned back to Iris, whose wand now glowed like a little torch.
"You've got it," he said.
She looked at him, proud and bright. "So do you."