Through the Pages of Time: Joey’s Hogwarts Tale

"Fred is a liar!"

Joey woke up, glaring at her back in the mirror and letting out a frustrated roar. She had spent the entire night worrying about when she would turn into a cocoon, eventually falling asleep in a daze. In her dreams, she was flying on her broomstick while a group of Slytherins mocked her relentlessly.

"Isn't it great that you didn't turn into a butterfly? Your Nimbus 1700 is saved!" Angelina teased, rubbing her eyes. She, too, had stayed up late, though she didn't admit it was because she was curious about how Joey planned to form a cocoon. 

Joey threw off her blanket, grabbed her broomstick, and hugged it tightly. "Even if I become a butterfly, I won't give my baby to Fred!"

Angelina raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Merlin, are you actually sleeping with it?"

Joey nuzzled her face against the broomstick, her expression dreamy. "I'm cultivating a relationship with it."

Angelina rolled her eyes. This girl was hopeless.

As they headed downstairs, Joey kept emphasizing to Angelina that she wouldn't forgive Fred easily. "I will never forgive him! I'll ignore him today—no, tomorrow too! I won't say a word to him!" she declared. When they entered the Great Hall, Joey spotted the twins waving at them. She deliberately chose a seat two spaces away from Fred.

Fred, however, had other plans. He pulled away a second-year boy who was about to sit next to Joey and said with a grin, "Hey, mate, this is my spot."

"But you weren't—" the boy mumbled, still half-asleep, before George gently guided him to another seat.

Joey turned her face away, refusing to look at Fred, who was smirking. "Hmph! I won't talk to him! Never!"

Angelina mouthed to Fred, "She's mad."

Fred nodded, then nudged Joey with his shoulder. "Hey, Joey, Charlie said the Quidditch tryouts are coming soon."

"When?" Joey immediately turned her head, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

Fred grinned mischievously. "Aren't you still angry?"

Joey quickly wiped the smile off her face and pulled out her wand. "The Tickling Charm I've been practicing lately hasn't been tested on anyone yet."

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" Fred surrendered, carefully pushing her wand down. "Charlie said after school on the 20th."

"Yes! That's amazing!" Joey jumped up, her excitement palpable. She didn't even notice Fred had taken her wand. She could already see it: a legendary Quidditch player was about to be born, and her name would echo through the wizarding world—Joey Forest! 

If only she could bring her broomstick to class. She could hardly bear to be apart from it for even an hour.

---

The Nimbus 1700 might have earned Joey a lot of attention at the start of the year, but it couldn't save her from Professor Snape's venom in Potions class.

"Perhaps some people are holding a broomstick instead of a knife, and their brains are no larger than a bird's," Snape sneered as Joey once again botched cutting hellebore roots.

Joey wanted to hurl her knife at Snape's face, but she didn't dare. Instead, she took out her frustration on the remaining hellebore, determined to cut it into perfect two-millimeter pieces.

The twins and Angelina wanted to help, but past experience had taught them that it would only make things worse. Snape never showed mercy to Gryffindors.

"Professor, perhaps I could assist Miss Forest. Maybe she'll learn something useful," a cold voice interrupted Joey's struggle. She looked up, surprised to see Flami, a Slytherin, raising her hand.

Snape raised an eyebrow, clearly taken aback. "If you believe you can salvage Miss Forest's hopeless brain, be my guest."

"Yes, Professor," Flami replied calmly. She gathered her things and moved to sit next to Joey, arranging her materials neatly in stark contrast to Joey's chaotic workspace.

"Hey, what's going on? Since when do you want to be friends with me?" Joey asked, half-suspicious, half-terrified. She wasn't sure she could handle being friends with someone so poised and proper.

Flami shot her a disdainful look. "You're not qualified to be my friend."

"Good! I'm just trash, after all. I don't deserve to be friends with a lady like you!" Joey said cheerfully, relieved.

Flami snorted and picked up her delicate silver knife, expertly slicing the hellebore into perfect pieces. Joey watched in awe. "Merlin, does she have a ruler in her hand?" Her own attempts looked like a disaster in comparison.

Determined not to embarrass Gryffindor, Joey focused intently on her task. But the hellebore slipped again. Just as she was about to give up, Flami silently placed a pile of perfectly cut roots on Joey's table.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I just don't want to be embarrassed by your incompetence," Flami said stiffly.

Joey grinned. "Awkward Slytherin." But she couldn't help feeling grateful.

"Stop smiling. You look ridiculous," Flami muttered, her voice tight.

"Okay, Your Highness!" Joey replied, still grinning. She hadn't expected her nemesis to help her, but she wasn't about to complain.

To everyone's surprise, Professor Snape didn't comment on their interaction. When class ended, Joey wanted to thank Flami, but the Slytherin girl had already left with her chin held high.

"What a character," Joey muttered as she packed her things.

---

If Professor Snape was the most eccentric Slytherin teacher at Hogwarts, then Professor Black was undoubtedly the most eccentric Gryffindor teacher. The Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, which Gryffindor and Slytherin shared, were a battleground for their mutual disdain.

"Raise your wands! Holding your chin up won't make your spells more precise! And you—enunciate clearly! Is your diamond collar choking you?" Sirius Black barked during a Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

He was teaching the Shield Charm, using small attack spells to test their proficiency. He was harsh but fair with Gryffindors and downright cruel to Slytherins.

"What are you staring at? Your dean does the same to my house," Sirius said, tapping a glaring Slytherin boy with his wand.

"You're a professor. You shouldn't take out your personal grudges on us. If you have a problem with Professor Snape, take it up with him," Green Fanny snapped, standing up.

Sirius smirked. "I have no issue with your dean. This is just my teaching style—much like his. And since you didn't raise your hand, Slytherin loses 10 points for speaking out of turn."

Joey thought Sirius was brilliant. After all the times Gryffindors had suffered in Snape's class, it felt good to see Slytherins get a taste of their own medicine.

Despite his bias, Sirius was an excellent teacher. He taught practical defensive spells, and Charlie mentioned he was even teaching the Patronus Charm to the older students—a spell that could earn extra points on the O.W.L exams.

No Slytherin wanted to leave his class, no matter how harsh he was. Slowly, even they began to respect him, much to Snape's annoyance.

But none of that mattered to Joey. All she cared about was the upcoming Quidditch tryouts. And that day was almost here.

---

"Today is a historic day!" Joey declared, standing on the edge of the Quidditch pitch with the twins and Angelina, her broomstick in hand.

"How so?" Angelina asked, amused.

"Four legendary Quidditch players are about to emerge, and the entire wizarding world will know our names!" Joey said proudly, puffing out her chest.

The twins and Angelina laughed. "That's right!"

All four of them had signed up for the tryouts. Joey and Angelina were aiming for Chaser, while the twins wanted to be Beaters.

A second-year boy was currently being assessed by Charlie, who was in his final year and desperate to rebuild the team.

"Are you an idiot? You're supposed to throw the Quaffle into the "opponent's" hoop, not your own!" Charlie roared from above, his red hair practically glowing with frustration.

"Charlie's really stressed this year," Fred remarked, watching the scene.

"Two Beaters, two Chasers, and the Seeker are all graduating. Of course he's stressed," George said, casually reaching out to put an arm around Joey.

Fred subtly stepped between them, blocking George's hand. George, oblivious, ended up resting his arm on Fred's shoulder instead.

Joey, meanwhile, was too excited to notice. The tryouts were about to begin, and she was ready to make history.