After attending the Herbology class, which was the last class of their day, Harry along with most of the other first years arrived at the dining hall for lunch. Some of the first years decided to take a shower before eating as they had to handle plants and dirt in the Herbology class.
Even though Harry didn't have to do much in class and he was completely fine with his given task, he wasn't a fan of the class as a whole… Maybe, it had something to do with the fact that he was forced by Petunia to manage the garden and he hated every moment of it. He also hated the fact that Petunia would show off the garden to everyone and revel in the praises while he was the one who had to manage the garden.
"Heya, Harry!" Harry heard a cheerful voice from behind and he turned around only to find Jacklyn standing behind him with a food tray in her hands.
"Hi, Jacklyn" Harry greeted her back with a smile and gestured her to take a seat beside him. "So, you are the Head Girl, not surprising, I guess…" Harry added with a smile as he pointed at her Head Girl badge.
"Yeah, that is why I wasn't able to greet you yesterday, I had a lot of duties" Jacklyn sighed as she sat down and placed the food tray on the table.
"It's alright, Jacklyn. I didn't have any problems. Everyone is quite nice and helpful" Harry assured her with a smile on his face and after hearing his words, a mischievous grin appeared on her face.
"I see… Then you must be having a lot of fun. I mean, you are already a celebrity" Jacklyn said mischievously, her eyes shining with a mischievous glint only to receive a dirty look from Harry after he groaned in frustration.
Jacklyn was quite well-known around the school too, so she could easily guess how Harry was probably feeling. Sometimes, she felt like an exotic animal while walking around the school with everyone whispering about her as she walked by, and Harry was someone who made even Quidditch stars look like peasants, so she could sympathize with him even though her popularity wasn't anywhere close to Harry's.
"So, who is your friend?" Jacklyn asked, changing the topic. Only now did she notice the wide-eyed girl, staring at her.
Harry turned around to look at Brittany, who was still staring at Jacklyn wide-eyed. He didn't know Jacklyn was someone famous, but from his classmate's reaction, Jacklyn seemed to be quite famous… He looked around the table only to notice a lot of girls along with boys staring at them. He internally groaned… Now, his curiosity was piqued and he wanted to know why Jacklyn was so well-known.
He poked Brittany at the side to bring her out of her stupefied state… The girl blinked in confusion as she turned toward Harry and soon as she realized her blunder, she started to blush furiously… Harry would have to admit that right now, Brittany was looking kind of cute.
"Um… Sorry, I was so excited to finally meet you. I am Brittany Lawrance, by the way, it's an honor to finally meet you" Brittany fumbled with her words as she introduced herself and she ended up becoming even more embarrassed by the time she finished speaking.
"Wow… I don't know what to say. It's nice to meet you too, Miss Lawrence" Jacklyn said, looking amused. "Though I don't think I have anything impressive to be hailed as such" Jacklyn added and Brittany immediately shook her head.
"Don't say that! You have done enough! You have won the Under Thirteen Dueling Championship, then you also won the Under Fifteen Dueling Championship, and you have also qualified to represent our country in the Under Seventeen Dueling Championship. You are the idol of a lot of girls who want to make a name for themselves" Brittany gushed out excitedly.
Jacklyn stared at the younger girl and whistled with an impressed look on her face. "You know your stuff, I have to admit that, but as I said, I haven't done anything impressive with my life yet" Jacklyn said with a smile and when she noticed that the younger girl was going to protest again, Jacklyn raised her hand to stop her.
"I am not someone special for winning the Under Thirteen Dueling Championship, nor do I feel proud for winning the Under Fifteen Championship, but if I do win the Under Seventeen Championship, then I will consider that I have finally achieved something" Jacklyn revealed with a far-off look on her face.
"But why? I mean you still won the Under Thirteen and the under Fifteen Championships, right?" Harry was listening to the duo from the sidelines asked with a confused look on his face.
"Yes, but the Under Thirteen and the Under Fifteen are National level Tournaments… I want to win the Under Seventeen Tournament, which is an International level Tournament and the competition is going to be a lot tougher. I barely qualified as the representative of our country" Jacklyn explained and Harry nodded his head in understanding.
His mom didn't know much about Dueling Tournaments, except for the fact that the Hogwarts' Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick is a Dueling Champion. Dueling Tournaments were never a hype back in Britain and they still weren't. The Wizards and Witches in Britain love to remain blissfully unaware of anything happening outside their country.
"But still you must be really good to become the representative of this country" Harry insisted as he knew that Jacklyn must be quite impressive or she would have failed to become representative for the Under Seventeen Dueling Championship. Not only that, but she was able to win the Under Thirteen and Under Fifteen Tournaments. Yes, those two were National level Tournaments, but she still won them, which meant Jacklyn turned out to be the best among her peers.
"She is really downplaying her achievements… There is a reason why she is quite famous" Brittany added from the side and Harry simply nodded his head in agreement.
Jacklyn huffed as her shoulders slumped down… "Fine! The two of you win! Can we eat now?" Jacklyn asked in an annoyed tone.
"Sure, I am feeling quite hungry" Harry agreed and Brittany simply nodded her head in agreement.
"So, how are the classes?" Jacklyn asked after a few minutes of silence. Students were still staring at their group, but she was used to getting stared at and while the stares were making Harry really uncomfortable, he was handling it quite nicely. Brittany was the one who was having it worse as she wasn't used to getting stared at.
"Um… Nice, but I find them a bit boring as I have been reading in advance" Harry answered after thinking for a bit. Jacklyn was the Head Girl, so he was wondering if he should tell her the truth or not… Jacklyn nodded her head as she hummed before turning toward Brittany.
"What about you, Miss Lawrance?" Jacklyn asked when she noticed that the younger girl was paying way too much attention to her food.
"Um… I liked them!" Brittany answered with a yelp, but before the girl could embarrass herself anymore, Harry decided to cut in.
"By the way, Jacklyn, do you know a place where I can practice casting?" Harry asked and Jacklyn fiddled with her knife and fork for a moment before turning toward Harry.
"I have my personal training room, you are free to use it. The room is pretty big and it is big enough for the two of us to practice casting. Miss Lawrance, you are also welcome, if you want" Jacklyn answered while intently staring at Harry and Brittany. "Though the room might be unavailable here and now" Jacklyn added thoughtfully.
Harry internally cheered… He would have preferred if he had his own personal room, but it was simply impossible for him to have a training room for himself, so this was the best he could have asked for. "Thank you. This means a lot to me" Harry thanked Jacklyn with a grateful look on his face.
"Thank you, Miss Harper and I promise I won't misuse the room or disrespect your generosity" Brittany thanked Jacklyn as she respectfully bowed her head. Even though she never voiced her concerns, she was also wondering where she was going to practice her casting.
Casting Spells in the hallways wasn't allowed, and you could practice Spells in the common room, but it wasn't an appropriate place to practice casting. Jacklyn looked at the two first years nervously… She wasn't expecting the two of them to be so thankful as she didn't think that it was a huge deal. Truth be told, she had three rooms to herself. Two training rooms and one Ritual room… One of the training rooms was left mostly unoccupied as it was impossible for her to be at two places at the same time.
She could use a Time Turner, but unfortunately, she had never seen a Time Turner with her own eyes… She could have allowed the two of them to use the room indefinitely, but she still decided to make it clear that there might be an instance when she would need to kick the two of them out of the room.
"Guys, it's no big deal" Jacklyn waved off dismissively. "The two of you don't have any classes in the afternoon, right?" Jacklyn asked and after getting a nod from the two first years, she decided to continue. "Then I will show you the room after lunch" Jacklyn finished as she resumed eating.
After the three of them finished eating, Jacklyn lead the duo to the seventh floor. The trio finally stopped in front of a metal door and after Jacklyn provided the password, the door opened with a loud clang. The three of them walked in and Jacklyn turned around to watch Harry's and Brittany's reactions and she wasn't disappointed in the slightest…
Harry's mouth was hanging open due to the sheer size of the room… The room was massive!! Brittany was also experiencing something similar as she was left gobsmacked too. "So, what do you guys think?" Jacklyn asked smugly.
I think… I will come to love this place| Harry mumbled inside his mind and Lily seemed to completely agree with him even though she didn't bother to voice her thoughts…