Crystal Balls Can Fly
Theme 6: Divination


Professor Kapoor was, no doubt, a brilliant teacher, but Divination still managed to elude Fyo at times. Still, he was pretty good at it. And he liked it. In fact, he had been liking it all the more since he had bought the latest edition of Hogwarts, A History, and read its chapter on the Battle of Hogwarts.

Because it mentioned how Sybill Trelawney, then co-professor of Divination, had knocked out a death eater aiming for a Gryffindor, and that too with one of the crystal balls she had - with the help of magic - been smashing into bad guy head!

VERY Awesome!
Theme 14: Hogwarts, A History


Speaking of Hogwarts, A History, it was currently Fyo's favourite reference [or non-reference] book – or rather tome, given its voluminous size. In fact, it had actually beaten that awesome book Lacey had given him to read – Hamlet, was not that it is name? – to grab that honourable spot.

The reason was extremely simple: He had sent home a few copies of it earlier, and his mother had replied with a letter stating that his cousins [they were pesky, little, spoiled things, let me tell you that] had found it too long, too boring, too dry, and too annoying. Awesome!

Canary Creams
Theme 11: History of Magic


History of Magic, first lesson of the term. And the professor was now happily handing out things to the people who had volunteered [for God knows what]. Headless Hat for Anna, ton-tongue toffee for someone else…

– And a canary cream for him.

Waitt. Didn’t this thing turn one into a temporary canary? Fyo inspected it, wondering whether something could possibly go wrong and force him into yellow-canary-appearance for life, but it looked like any average canary cream, and it was hard to think such a thing might happen.

With a shrug, he popped it into his mouth.

And More
Theme 96: Socks


It was all his fault.

Fyo knew that, of course, but it was still hard accepting it. After a whole summer of not looking into his trunk, school was starting again, and the thing’s interiors were a mess. He pushed back its lid, coughing as little mists of dust rose in the air, and then peeked inside.

A frame photograph of Butterfly. Besides that, a pretty box [which had, incidentally, contained a hand-made lion – which lion was now standing on his bedside table]. And beneath that?

Apart from several broken quills – Dirty robes, creased pajamas, smelly socks and more.

Love Potions
Theme 8: Potions


Oooh. Six year old Fyodor Balouch’s eyes were huge as – holding his mother’s finger – he walked into a joke shop for the first time in his life.

“Mum, what’s this?” he asked, pointing.

“Screaming yoyo,” Xyntheshia replied carelessly, picking out a shield jacket for herself.

“And this?”

“Portable swamp.”

“And this?”

Xyntheshia turned. Fyo had picked up a pink bottle, off a shelf lined with potions, and her face suddenly curved into a mirthful smile.

“That’s not for you, Fyo,” she said, taking the bottle from him and placing it back. “It’s a love potion.”

A Galleon and Two Charms
Theme 12: Charms


The niffler was digging into the earth, now. Having partnered with a Ravenclaw he did not really know, Fyo was now another eager participant of their first Care of Magical Creatures class of the term, and he was just as excited as everyone else in the vicinity.

A galleon! He gave his niffler a pat of sorts as the furry, two-eyed creature – as he liked to call it – dug one out, and followed this feat by revealing two sparkling silver charms, both buried under a shaft of mud. Picking up the shiny things, Fyo gave his niffler a pat.

Do NOT Disturb
Theme 29: Pensieve


“Feeyoh!”

It was the summer before Fyo would start wizarding school – having, you see, turned eleven earlier that year – and curly-haired, four year old Nova was tugging at his sleeve. Fyo put down The Jungle Tales, and gave her an exasperated look.

“What now, Nov?”

“What is a pinseeev?”

Fyo blinked. “You mean Pensieve?”

Nova nodded eagerly.

“It’s something you store memories in,” he told her, wanting to get back to his book, but also not wanting to hurt her.

Nova pulled at a tuft of curly, white-blonde hair. “How do you store lemolies, Feeyoh?”

“Go away,” Fyo replied.

A Feast for the Eye
Theme 30: Feast


The Halloween feast was starting and there was excitement in the air. Excitement – and pretty, floating candles and huge pumpkins lit with orange gold lights. One could just smell the aroma in the Great Hall, the aroma of steaming dishes and deserts eagerly waiting to be served.

It was not this, none of this, that concerned Fyo, though. Having scanned the Hufflepuff table and found no signs of her, his gaze swept over the entrance, inspecting each person that entered. Because Fyodor Balouch’s feast was one for the eyes, and all his eyes needed was a glimpse of Lissy.

No More Cakie
Theme 24: House elf


“More cake, master?”

There was noisy, obnoxious music – a regular feature of his cousin Marleen’s noisy, obnoxious parties – in the air and, looking down at the house elf addressing him, Fyo shook his head.

He wondered why he was even here. Perhaps because his mother believed that, if he mingled more with his cousins, he would be able to adjust to them better; perhaps because his father was too polite to have turned down the invitation to the party. But, whatever the reason, Fyo knew he could have done much better things at home.

- Daydreamed about Lissy, for one.

Canary Hat and Headless Creams
Theme 33: Classroom


Much to Fyo’s relief, the effects of the canary cream they had been provided by Professor Truebridge had, indeed, turned out to be temporary. The yellow feathers he had grown had moulted within seconds, dropping to the floor in a colourful heap.

Right now, he was still in the History of Magic classroom, the box in the middle of the its floor being the chief centre of his attention. It contained an assortment of things, including more canary creams and plenty of Headless Hats, and Fyo wondered what to try next.

Hmm, how about that pretty telescope, over there?

Curiosity Killed the Cat [And Punched the Lion]
Theme 23: Telescope


Fyo peered more closely into the Professor Truebridge-provided box, his eyes wandering over several, variously coloured toffees; a pretty bottle that bubbled with pink potion; and what seemed like a set of tongs, before finally coming to rest on the telescope.

He frowned slightly, wondering what it did, for he had not seen the likes of it before. Then, curiosity getting the better of him [and curiosity does always kill the cat – or lion], he reached out a hand and squeezed the thing.

Next instant a miniature arm had shot out of it, and punched him in the eye.

Twelve Galleons
Theme 19: Wand


Cherry.
Good wood. Nice, strong.

Thirteen and a half inches, nearly.
Not exactly. Thirteen, more like. And he liked that. Because thirteen had been his favourite number for ages.

Core of unicorn tail feather.
Unicorns were pretty. He wondered if it had been a silver one, or a baby that was pure gold.

And strand of holly.
The other part of the core. Reminded him of Christmas-time. And sharing.

Supple.
Lithe, flexible. Good for charms and spell-work; never easy to break.



“That will be twelve galleons,” the shop-keeper announced.

Fyo paid, accepted his new wand, and left the shop.

Laid Back Cookies
Theme 34: Parseltongue


When he has asked his father what the sorting would be like, Christian had called it “pretty laid-back.” When he had asked his mother, Xyntheshia had given him another cookie.

Did that mean sorting was a laid-back cookie?

Well, Fyo was not very sure of that, right now. Waiting to be sorted, he wondered which house he would be placed into. He did not belong to the house of the Parseltongue – Salazar Slytherin, that is. Neither was he exceptionally kind or brave or... Well, he might be a Ravenclaw, Fyo guessed.

– He could be pretty intelligent, you know.

Careful, Little Steps
Theme 82: Careful


“Fyodor Silverstone Balouch.”

His name had been called out! Fyo’s wide, rather dreamy eyes swept the four, house tables one last time, before he began to climb up the steps leading to the well lit Great Hall stage. He was not exactly scared, to tell the truth, but he did wish there had been no steps to climb – the last he had done so, he had tripped over his new robes [he had been parading them around the house, back at home, actually.]

Carefully reaching the seat where he was supposed to sit to be sorted, Fyo sat down.

“Gryffindor!”
Theme 25: Sorting Hat


Slytherin?
Nah. No cunning, no thirst for power.

It was the sorting hat, and it was talking to him – not out loud, not the way two people converse with each other, but talking nevertheless. Fyo’s both dreamy and already-wide eyes widened even further as he registered this, mildly surprised at the whole thing. Because talking hats were just… AWESOME!

Huffelpuff?
Kindness, generosity, hard work – But is it the house?

Ravenclaw?
Yes, I see it, intelligence. Plenty of it… Plenty of it... Very well then…


“GRYFFINDOR!”

What? Surprise written all over his face, Fyodor Balouch jumped off his seat.

Not Like Some
Theme 22: Kneazle


“You bought a kneazle?” Fyo asked Marleen, for the umpteenth time that day, stressing the last two syllables of his question as if they represented a phenomenon highly unnatural.

“Yes,” Marleen said, head held high as the orange creature curled up at her feet and did something that vaguely resembled purring.

“But why?” he asked, blinking as the thing stretched in unlikely ways, and pawed at the expensive rug it was now curled up on. “Why not, like, a normal cat?”

“Because kneazles are magical,” Marleen replied royally. “And because, unlike some, they know how to keep their mouths shut.”

Shakespearean Uses
Theme 35: Pureblood


His mother always told him it was useless, whining about the fact that he was a pureblood, and not a half-and-half who could have grown up knowing both the magical and muggle worlds. To her face, Fyo did not agree but, secretly, he could not help tending to.

Tonight, though, he was feeling differently. His whining, Fyodor Balouch could now proudly say, had finally come to be of some use: It had led to a wonderful conversation with Lacey, and ended up with her lending him Hamlet, one of the best, muggle-written books he had ever read.

Errors of Another Kind
Theme 13: Quidditch


Whoosh. Fyo followed a superb dive by a perfect landing and, jumping off his broom in the backyard of his home, found his mother watching him from the kitchen window overlooking the place.

“You should try out for the team, next term,” she called out. “You’ve gotten great at it, Fyo.”

“That’s because you haven’t seen anyone else fly,” he shot back, rolling his eyes.

Xyntheshia raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms against her chest. “I used to be captain for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, while I was at Hogwarts, in case you don’t know.”

Oops.

Scarier than the Sand Monster
Theme 39: Duel


It looked like he had just returned from a fierce duel, and not a Hogsmeade weekend: Fyo’s hair was flying everywhere [it was a wonder some random bird had not mistaken it for its nest], there was a bruise running down his arm, and the book he was carrying was ripped down the middle.

As he stumbled into the Gryffindor Boys’ dormitory, Fyodor Balouch actually looked dirtier [and, err, scarier] than the time he had been pretending to be the Sand Monster – and ended up really looking like one after he had accidentally fallen into the sandbox with Lissy.

Really Angry Trees
Theme 18: Whomping Willow


And not only did he look dirtier than the Sand Monster, he also felt like an idiot. Because, for once, Fyodor Balouch was willing accept that the fault was entirely his.

Thankfully for him, the boys’ dormitory was empty – not counting, of course, the small, snow-white owl seated, head buried in milky wings, on the window-sill. Fyo ignored the pretty creature, unhappily grabbing one of his usual, white bath towels.

Great idea, Balouch, he told himself scathingly as he headed for the bathtub. Great idea to take out your anger by throwing a rock at the Whomping Willow.

Smart[er] Comebacks
Theme 21: Veela


“I’m a veela,” Nova Balouch announced, stepping into her elder brother’s bedroom.

Fyo looked up from the fat copy of The Standard Tome of Arithmancy that he had, until a second ago, been immersed in, only to see Nova’s curly, white-blonde hair hidden under a wig of flowing, silver, and her pretty eyes behind almond-shaped glasses.

“No you’re not,” he said, immediately readying himself for his usual sport of teasing her.

“You’re right,” Nova said, coolly cutting through. “I’m not a Veela. Because I’m me, and that’s a lot prettier.”

Two [Sorry] Bits of Quill
Theme 26: Quill


Another letter from home. Fyo bit his lip, realizing that this was Xyntheshia’s fourth letter he had not replied to. It was not that he did not want to: it was just hard to find the time and, whenever he did, something went wrong.

Now, he decided. No excuses: He would write a reply, right now.

He cleared one of the tables in the Gryffindor common room, pulled it nearer to the fireside, opened his schoolbag to take out inkwell and parchment – and found his only quill staring out at him from within a textbook, clearly snapped into two.

Two Bits of Quill
Theme 28: Timeturner


There are some things in life that are too good to lose. Things that are precious and sweet and warm – things better than chocolate and truffle and vanilla essence and candy – things whose memories you hold on to with a passion.

It had been such a thing.

Even now, weeks after it had happened, Fyo could not help daydreaming about it, could not help thinking of it all night, could not help wishing he had a timeturner that would let him go back and do it all over again.

– He could not forget the first time he had kissed Lissy.

Strangeness Supreme
Theme 36: Muggle


It was strange, the way muggles sometimes acted. A pile of books and several inkwells in his arms, Fyo somehow managed to open the door of the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory and slip inside without dropping anything, but his mind, for once, was more on Shakespeare than Arithmancy and its delicious calculations.

How could muggles be so – so – so odd, at times? If they were not - as Lacey had hinted – even sure that Edward de Vere and Shakespeare were friends, how could they possible excuse the latter of having had the former write his plays?

Muggles: Strangeness extreme, oddity supreme.

Sock-Eaters
Theme 78: Author's choice


He had thought cats were cute. Since “adopting” Furball, however, Fyo was feeling differently: She was awesome, but her kittens were driving him mad.

Xyntheshia had tolerated the litter for two days and then – finding that one of the six had scratched her robes – given off four without even giving Fyo and Nova a chance to name them. And do you know what the worst part about that was?

Not really knowing the kittens, she had given off the four that were relatively “nicer,” and kept Gold and Dust, the two that were now chewing up Fyo’s faovurite socks.