 Feathery Thingywhatsit | BookSnake
Tobias was a medley of emotions. First, there was happiness – joy at returning to Hogwarts, excitement to eat great food, the need to learn. The happiness, although predominant, was tinged with worry, guilt, and annoyance.
Searching out a thinly settled area of the Slytherin table, Tobias sat down amid the other students. He looked around, absorbing the sounds and sights. Glancing down, he spotted the shining golden dishes of Hogwarts, and his thoughts floated to Melusine Grove. Mother and Mabel will be setting to eat about now, he thought. He could see the main room in his mind’s eye: the fireplace big enough cook in, the well-made dark wood table and it’s three chairs (one empty now, of course), the simple pewter dishes, the potions and plants covering every available surface. Mabel would sit, chatting about her gardening and brewing from that day, while Tobias’s mother ladled stew out of the cook pot hanging over the flames... Tobias clutched his arms across his chest, suddenly struck by a wave of homesickness. It was not fair, him having all these fine dishes and foods while his family lived more simply than they deserved.
A stray curl flopped into Tobias’s hazel eyes, breaking his fictitious memory. “Stupid…hair…” he muttered, tugging on the curl until it straightened – only to have it resolutely spring back into it’s corkscrew upon release. He would really have to do something about that detestable hair. He refused to admit to himself that he just might be getting used to it.
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