The Charms classroom buzzed with restless energy as Professor Flitwick clapped his hands, announcing the day's lesson: mastering the Imperturbable Charm to shield objects from physical disruption. Slytherin and Gryffindor students paired up, their rivalries simmering beneath polite nods.
Draco Malfoy, still nursing a bruised jaw from Ron's punch, smirked at Ezzy's group. "Careful, Frost," he drawled, twirling his wand. "Wouldn't want your plants to wilt mid-charm. Though I hear you're already an expert at collapsing."
Jane stiffened beside Ezzy, his knuckles whitening around his wand. Suhi's water flask levitated ominously at her side.
"Focus on your own shield, Malfoy," Hermione snapped, her golden-light affinity flickering defensively.
The spat erupted when Draco "accidentally" lobbed a Gubraithian firework (courtesy of the Weasley twins' discarded stash) at Neville's workstation. The charm-shielded cauldron Neville had been protecting exploded into confetti, showering the Gryffindors in pink glitter.
"Whoops," Draco sneered. "Longbottom's shield's as sturdy as his confidence."
Ezzy's mandle flared green. Vines shot from his sleeve, snatching the firework mid-air and crushing it. "Try again, Malfoy," he said coolly, "and I'll redecorate the dungeons with you as fertilizer."
Flitwick, torn between reprimand and awe at Ezzy's control, awarded Gryffindor ten points for "innovative defensive application" while docking Slytherin five. The Slytherins left scowling, Draco muttering about "half-blooded weeds."
That evening, Jane flopped onto Ezzy's four-poster bed, sighing. "Malfoy's got the emotional range of a flobberworm. We need a proper distraction."
Ezzy grinned, tossing him a Chocolate Frog. "Dorm party? Poppy's been itching to 'brighten Master Ezzy's nest.'"
Poppy, eavesdropping from under a self-decorating lampshade, popped into view. "Poppy loves parties! Poppy will fetch fairy lights and floating cupcakes!"
By nightfall, the dorm was unrecognizable. Enchanted vines twined with twinkling fairy lights formed a canopy overhead, while Poppy's "cupcake clouds" drifted lazily, raining sprinkles. Serena batted at luminescent butterflies conjured from Rain's feathers, the owl hooting approvingly from a branch-shaped perch.
The Twisted Sisters arrived first, AstraLuna materializing through the wall in a swirl of silver mist. "Your aura needed rebalancing," they said in unison, depositing a crystal that pulsed with starlight.
Harry and Ron brought a wireless tuned to the Weird Sisters, while Hermione fretted over crumbs until Suhi charmed a self-cleaning rug. Neville arrived clutching a potted Moly plant—"For protection… and, er, décor!"—which Poppy promptly nestled into a floating planter.
"To surviving gits and glitter," Jane toasted, raising a butterbeer. The group cheered, Ron nearly spilling his drink as Rain dive-bombed his hair, mistaking it for a nest.
As the night deepened, the party split into affinity games. Hermione and Jane dueled light versus lightning, crafting shimmering fireworks that fizzled into harmless sparks. Suhi and Ezzy teamed up, merging water and plants to grow a dancing fountain of glowing lilies.
"You know," Ezzy murmured to Jane as they watched AstraLuna teach Neville a constellation-based tarot game, "I used to think Hogwarts was just about surviving. But this…"
"This is family," Jane finished, smiling. "Glitter fights and all."
Poppy, perched on a cupcake cloud, surveyed her handiwork with tearful pride. "Master Ezzy's heart is full! Poppy's mission is complete!"
As the clock chimed midnight, the group huddled by the window, the celestial map glowing faintly from Ezzy's trunk. Hermione traced a new constellation—a chalice overlapping a sword. "The relics… they're connected to Hogwarts' wards. If we find them…"
"One problem at a time," Harry said, though his eyes lingered on the map. "Tonight's for us."
Outside, the stars shimmered like Poppy's fairy lights, guardians of secrets yet unspoken. But in that moment, Ezzy's world was warm, bright, and unshakably whole.
The dorm room hummed with residual magic, fairy lights dimming to a soft glow as the group settled into a circle on transfigured floor cushions. AstraLuna produced a bottle of sparkling pumpkin juice that spun on its own, its cork pointed like a compass needle.
"Truth… or dare?" the Twisted Sisters intoned, their voices harmonizing eerily.
Ron went first. The cork landed on him, and he chose dare. AstraLuna's eyes gleamed. "Sing the Hogwarts anthem… in the voice of a mandrake."
The room erupted in laughter as Ron's face turned Weasley-red. He yanked a miniature mandrake from his pocket (a "prank prototype" from the twins) and held it to his throat. The resulting screech sent Rain flapping into the cupcake clouds and Neville diving under a pillow. Hermione charmed earmuffs mid-scream, while Suhi's water flask erupted in sympathetic splashes.
Hermione, predictably, chose truth. Luna asked softly, "What's your deepest fear? Not failure… but something quieter." Hermione hesitated, then whispered, "Being… irrelevant. Like my magic could vanish, and no one would notice." The room fell silent until Jane tossed a sprinkle at her. "Mate, you're Hermione Granger. You'd outwit irrelevance with a footnote."
Then the cork landed on Ezzy.
"Dare," he said, grinning.
AstraLuna floated a scroll from their robes. "Perform an original song… with Serena and Rain as backup."
Poppy squeaked, summoning a lute-shaped zucchini from the kitchens. Serena leapt onto Ezzy's shoulder, her twin tails flicking rhythmically, while Rain soared to the ceiling, shedding iridescent feathers that hovered like notes.
Ezzy plucked the zucchini strings, mandle flaring green. The Grindleflies— released earlier by Professor Bestimet—swarmed in through the window, their jellyfish bodies pulsing with rainbow light.
"Mana flows where magic grows,
Through roots and storms and midnight snows,
We're more than scars, more than names—"
Serena yowled a harmonic countermelody, her fox tails weaving illusions of dancing vines. Rain's feathers burst into harmless lightning strikes timed to the beat, while the Grindleflies swirled into a galaxy of color, syncing with Ezzy's chords.
Harry's ice affinity frosted the windows into kaleidoscopes. Suhi and Jane merged water and fire into steam dragons that coiled around the melody.
By the final verse, the room was alight with collective magic—Hermione's golden runes, Ron's fiery beats, Neville's earthy drumming on the floor. The song crescendoed as Ezzy's vines tangled with the Grindleflies, forming a glowing canopy:
"So light your wands, both friend and foe,
For every end is a seed to sow!"
The last note hung in the air, mana shimmering like stardust. Then Rain pooped elegantly on Draco's shoe.
Laughter erupted, wild and cathartic. Poppy sobbed into a cupcake. "Master Ezzy's song healed Poppy's soul!"
AstraLuna pressed a hand to Ezzy's chest, their touch cold yet comforting. "Your mana sings with Hogwarts' heartbeat. Remember this harmony… you'll need it."
As dawn approached, the group slumped in contented exhaustion, the celestial map now glowing beneath Ezzy's bed. Harry eyed it thoughtfully. "Tomorrow, we hunt relics."
But tonight, they slept—serenaded by Grindleflies humming Ezzy's tune, their dreams threaded with chords of courage.