Monday, September 25, 1971.
Early in the morning, Toby opened his eyes. He quickly got up and began to change. Today was a very important day for him. He had to perform the spell [Ignitum Mutatio] in front of the strict Professor McGonagall and the whole class, something that only increased his nerves.
What worried him most was that if he did it wrong, James would be punished and the effort Lily Evans and James made would be wasted, as he was changing he noticed that his roommates had woken up.
James and Sirius as usual were hitting each other with pillows, while nimbly dodging and throwing snide remarks at each other. Lupin, the quietest and most level-headed boy in the group, was tidying up his bed and a few things. Peter was watching Sirius and James with admiration for some reason even though they were just playing brutally.
Toby looked at James and felt many mixed emotions. James was the first person who treated him well in this world of scary magic, and included him in his group, even though he was a below-average person or so he thought.
At first, he was happy to have such an amazing and kind friend, but as the days went by he felt like he was out of place, like he didn't fit in well with the group.
Sirius was the heir to one of the oldest and noblest wizarding houses, he exuded great confidence and like James had amazing abilities. Lupin, despite being a half-blood, was quiet and unintimidating, he also showed talent in several subjects, especially Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Lastly, Peter. Although he looked similar to him, still had a higher status, as he belonged to a pureblood family. These days many students made him understand the discrimination about this subject, and subconsciously he began to think of it as a reality.
He, on the other hand, was an orphan with little talent, even he could not believe how he was put in Gryffindor, the house of the brave, when he was a coward.
James was the opposite of him, confident and talented in numerous subjects, despite his family being considered blood traitors (a term Toby learned these days), James looked like an heir to the oldest families.
Toby didn't know how to describe it, but James had an aura that even Sirius Black or Rabastan Lestrange couldn't match. Everything was under his control, and despite him losing points or being punished, it was something that was under his plans.
"Hey, Toby. Do you want to come to breakfast with us?" asked James, who had no idea what Toby was thinking.
"I can't... I'm going to practice the transfiguration spell for a while longer, sorry," said Toby, scratching his head. After breakfast, they had their first transfiguration class, so he wanted to practice a bit.
"No need to apologize. Just relax, you'll be fine," said James when suddenly Sirius appeared behind him and placed his hand amicably on his shoulder.
"Come on, I'm starving," said Sirius with his trademark haughty smile.
James said goodbye to Toby with a slight nod of his head and together with Sirius, Lupin, and Peter left in the direction of the dining hall. Toby looked at the group of friends chatting noisily with a sad expression.
James had invited him several times before, but he always turned him down. Not because of James or any other member of the group. The reason was that he felt he didn't belong there, he had heard the jokes about him being James and Sirius's pet. And that he was just using them as a shield so that the Slytherins wouldn't bother him.
Another reason was that because of him James got in trouble and lost 20 points for defending him from Slytherin taunts, something that made him feel guilty.
Toby practiced the spell for 20 minutes in the room alone and gained confidence as he managed to convert all the matches to needles without missing a single one, 'If my grades improve, I'll have the right to join the group,' he thought encouraging himself as he walked out of the dormitory.
"Hi, Toby! Are you going to breakfast?" asked a female voice. Toby turned his head and noticed it was Lily Evans along with her two friends, Jasmine and Khanna.
"Y-yes..." replied Toby shyly at being watched by three girls.
He admired Lily Evans a lot. They were both muggle-born wizards, but Lily was completely different from him. She did well in all subjects and showed a tough character and didn't let them bully her.
"Are you going alone?" asked Lily with some concern. Everyone in Gryffindor had noticed that Toby wandered away from his initial group of friends.
"Yes, the others already left," Toby replied, scratching his head.
"I heard them while I was waiting for them, noisy as usual," commented Khanna grumpily, as James' group was shouting too much for it to be so early in the morning.
"Do you want to come with us?" asked Lily.
Both Khanna and Jasmine gave surprised looks, not quite agreeing with this, but seeing the look Lily gave them they kept their silence.
"No thanks," said Toby, noticing the looks on the two girls' faces. Lily said goodbye, and when she was further away from Toby she complained to her friends about the attitude they showed.
Toby stayed in the common room waiting for the group of three girls to move away, as it would be awkward to walk together.
From one moment to the next, Toby felt someone collide with him forcefully. The collision caused Toby and the person who bumped into him to stumble, both momentarily losing their balance.
The person who collided with him was Mary Macdonald, who was carrying a book and notes in her hands that went flying when she hit the ground.
"Ouch..." said Mary, scratching her forehead slightly.
Toby managed to keep his balance thanks to his superior weight, "I'm sorry! Are you okay?" asked Toby as he reached out his hand, and Mary accepted it by standing up.
"It was my fault..." she said in a very low tone. She then bent down to grab the book and notes. Toby helped her.
He noticed the notes Mary was reading, they were from the class James and Lily gave them yesterday, "Were you studying for today?" asked Toby, passing her the notes which Mary quickly took out of his hands.
"Yes... I can't let Lily down," said Mary in a tone with much more feeling than usual. In these two days, the lanky girl set herself as a role model to Lily Evans, a girl with the same muggle background as her, but very different from her.
"It's true. We should do well after those two helped us," Toby said, nodding.
"Do you want to go to breakfast? We can work out the final details," Toby proposed, surprising himself, for inviting a girl.
Mary stood contemplating. In the end, she agreed as Toby was much better at the transfiguration spell and could give her some useful tips.
"Look, dumb Mary and the pet are together," whispered a boy to his friend as he watched Toby and Mary pass by together on their way to the dining hall.
Toby was slowly getting used to these comments by now, so he decided to ignore them and walk faster. Mary did the same and slouched a little.
After reviewing at breakfast with Mary they finally went to the long-awaited transfiguration class. When McGonagall finished taking roll call, she looked at James as if she was examining him to see if he did his homework right or not.
"Before we start with the class, first Toby Copper show me your transfiguration spell," said McGonagall as three matches flew to Toby's desk, "You have three attempts," added the professor.
Toby felt everyone's gaze on him. It was much harder to do in this situation than when he was quiet in his room, 'Calm down...' he said to himself as he took a deep breath.
"Ignitum Mutatio!" exclaimed Toby making the motion with his wand. The match began to transform into a needle, the process took a very few seconds.
"Well done," said McGonagall showing no emotion. She knew that Toby's situation was just a matter of practice and some fellow student helping him a little.
Toby smiled and nodded, feeling his heart start to beat normally and taking weight off his shoulders. Lily standing near him smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up.
"Your turn, Mary Macdonald," said McGonagall, sending three matches to the girl's desk.
The hand holding Mary's wand trembled, "I-ignitum Mutatio," she said with little confidence. Only half of the match managed to turn into a needle. James made an ugly expression at this.
"Second attempt," said McGonagall.
"Ignitum Mutatio," said Mary, again more nervous this time she even managed to only get 40% of the match to transfigure.
'That's it... a week cleaning up old trophies,' thought James ruefully, as Sirius beside him patted his back.
"Third try," said McGonagall, "Get some air," she added more gently.
Mary nodded and began to try to calm herself down, "Remember the picture James drew," whispered Toby, who stood behind her.
Mary, more calmly and remembering the oversized needle drawn by James, exclaimed, "Ignitum Mutatio!" Finally, the match turned completely into a needle, seeing this she sighed in relief.
"Well done," said McGonagall with a faint smile. Mary was way behind compared to Toby and yet she still managed to catch up with the course these two days.
James sighed in relief that he wouldn't have to scrub the huge trophy room for a week.
"I see your two 'professors' did their jobs very well. Tell me, Lily. Did student Potter do his assignment?" asked McGonagall, looking at Lily. She knew of the redhead's responsible attitude, so she had to make sure that James didn't leave all the work to her.
"Yes, professor. James helped on both days," replied Lily, looking with her green eyes at James.
"10 points for Gryffindor, earned by student Lily Evans," McGonagall said with emphasis on the last part, and a smile broke out on Lily's face.