55. Egg on

“That’s the whole point, you have to balance it on your head. Keep everything straight and aligned,” said Ava.
“It’s just a waste,” Teddy said, looking at the mess on the floor.
Ava rolled her eyes, putting an egg on her head and showing him, again. It rolled off, again. And made another mess.
As wasteful as he thought it was, Teddy still found it pretty funny.

Until.

“WHAT IN MERLIN’S BEARS ARE YOU DOING?”
Uhhohh…

“Mama look, we can explain,” Ava was saying, trying not to giggle.

“LOOK AT THE EGG ON THE FLOOR! Clean it up. This INSTANT.”

29. Pensieve

“You’ve got too many worries, Teddy. Just… stop thinking about them,” Archer said.
Everyone was worried about him. Everyone had spoken to him. Nobody had been able to make him feel any less anxious.
“I CAN’T just stop worrying. Can you just STOP breathing? NO you can’t.”
“Whoa, sorry. Sorry… But we’re… Teddy we’re worried about you. You haven’t been happy in months.”
“How am I supposed to just stop thinking? Why are people so ignorant?”
“Maybe we can get you a pensieve, Ted. You can put your non-essential anxieties in storage and then just focus on the essential ones.”

81. Depression

His blank staring, and disinterest in things was worrying everyone. But what was he supposed to do? He swallowed, hard. He cleared his throat.
“Um… but… what if… if once those thoughts are gone, there’s nothing left?”
Archer was stumped. He let out a sigh and put his arm around his nephew, pulling him in for a hug.
“Ohhhh Ted… I don’t know mate. I don’t know. We… we figure things out together. We take things one step at a time.”
Teddy nodded.
After a few moments of shared silence, Archer flipped one of Teddy’s favourite Sherlock Holmes DVDs on.

69. Slap

Mid summer, and their parents had decided to take the twins on a holiday from the winter of England, to the summer of Australia. They were melting, and Lisabel was trying to force the liquids into them so that they didn’t dehydrate. But even so, Teddy felt like a dehydrated sultana.

“Mama I’m burning! Look! I’m a beetroot! My skin is just peeling off! See? I want to go home,” Teddy whined. He didn’t like the heat. And his skin hurt. Every inch of the raw, red skin.
“Just slip, slop, slap,” she reminded him for the millionth bloody time.

66. Pace

“That’s really silly advice, mama,” Teddy said. The most stupid advice he had ever heard, actually, but he didn’t want to offend his beloved mother. She was used to dealing with little kids, small tests, not fifteen-year-olds who were about to take their Ordinary Wizarding Levels.
She gave him the look.
“Well it is. We don’t have that much time.”
“All I’m saying is to pace yourself. You’ll make errors if you rush through it.”
“But if I don’t rush through it I might run out of time!” Did she not understand the sort of stress they would be under?

5. Astronomy

“Teddy I need you to put your- what is that?”
“What’s what?” he said, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
“What did you just put under your pillow? Out with it, now, Theodore.”

Oh Merlin, she was getting cross now.

Teddy pulled it out and handed it to his mother, who took a few seconds to respond. “Why on earth did you feel as though you needed to hide this?” she asked, waving the Astronomy magazine around.
“Because Ava laughs at me and calls me a geek,” he said, snatching it back. “My washing is already in the laundry.”

44. Ford Anglia

“… and apparently when you’re sixteen you can apply for a license,” Teddy was explaining.
“Why are you talking about licenses? Like, an apparition license?” Ava asked, joining in half way through the conversation.
“I want to learn to drive a car one day.” He spooned more cereal into his mouth.
“Why? Flying is much more fun,”
Flying certainly was not fun. “I want a Ford Anglia, like this one.” He pulled the cut out picture of the car out of the pocket of his pajamas.
“Um… why are you carrying around a picture of a car in your pajamas?”

67. Quell

No, it was too much.

Teddy didn’t want his name to be called. No other time in his life had he wanted to hear the words ‘Theodore Alexander Burton’! He felt his hands get sweaty, and a droplet fall down his back, tracing his spine. It made him shiver. What would he do if they did call his name? It would be the worst thing to happen to him, and very likely the last thing to happen.

“Theodore Alexander Burton,” called Effie Trinket.

“NO! NOT FOR THE QUARTER QUELL!” he yelled, before waking up in a sweat, his chest heaving.

70. Spook

“Why do you keep waking me up from your nightmares,” Ava groaned, rubbing her eyes. The good sister she was, she had come to Teddy’s room, again, to investigate what had woken him up this time. He might not have realized it, but he always screamed before he woke up.
“I don’t mean to. I just keep having nightmares.” He walked to the bathroom to run a cold, wet cloth over his face.
“What was the spook this time? The boogey man?”
“No, just some barbaric game of some sort. They called my name. I had to represent my... district?”

68. Roar

“Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar-ohohohohohhhhohhhhh,” the twins sang.

It was their birthday, which meant they got to do whatever activities they wanted for the entire day! Karaoke was something they enjoyed, but their mother hated. Which was partly why they decided to spend three hours bellowing the lyrics to songs that had been popular amongst the muggles once upon a time.

The singing was partly sang, partly yelled, and partly mixed with fits of giggles. Later, they would pull down the biggest storybook for their mother to read to them.

Being seven was great!

57. Goblin

They stared at him with shock.

Nobody spoke.

“Well? What do you think?” Teddy asked, waving his hands about to snap them out of it.
“You’re a goblin.”
They all frowned.
“Yes. Thank you for that obvious announcement.”
“But… those bullies used to say you looked like a goblin. They called you Goblin boy. Why are you dressing as a goblin?” Ava asked, having punched the leader of that bully group a few years ago.
“I’ve had enough of letting their taunts get to me. So… I’m going to shove it in their faces. Show them they can’t offend me.”

8. Potions

“Are you going to be a healer too, Lux?” Teddy asked his beautiful new friend. He was very glad they were chatting about potions rather than boys. Unless that boy was himself.
“No, Lux and I are going to start our own Potion making business,” Zhenya explained to Teddy, who had come along to one of their catch-ups in Hogsmeade. “Once Lux finishes her studies at University, of course.”
Teddy had known Zhenya loved Potions since he was born, or at least shortly after. He hadn’t realized Lux was the same. “Wow so you really like to make potions too?”

65. Ooze

“EWW the ooze is everywhere,” he screeched, jumping back instinctively.
“CATCH IT! CATCH IT! IT’S BLOODY VALUABLE, TEDDY,” Zhenya was yelling, throwing jars at him until he finally caught one.
“But it’s so gross and sticky,” he said, dabbing his fingers together. He shuddered. He could not handle this. He threw the jar back at Zhenya, accidentally hitting her on the forehead, and walked off to clean his hands.
It took three thorough scrubs with heavy duty soap and a nail brush to remove the residue from his hands. What on earth was it that she was trying to harvest?

73. Warn

“Oops,” Ava said.
“You don’t sound oops-ful!” Teddy hissed, a warn in his tone.

“MY WEDDING DRESS!” Lisabel was screeching at the top of her lungs.

“I think she’s trying to let Russia know what you did,” he hissed again.
“Shush Teddy. Maybe she will think it was an accident?”
Teddy looked at her. “Yes, Ava, mother’s first conclusion will be that the ink accidentally spilled all over her wedding dress.”
Ava shrugged. “Well she shouldn’t have left it out there! She was asking for trouble.”
Teddy narrowed his eyes.
“WHAT? She did! She grounded me for nothing last week!”

48. Leprechaun

“It’s a four leaf clover! Look at it, right there!” Teddy said, pointing.
“Where? I don’t see it,” his father said.
Teddy bent down and picked it from the ground.
“What makes a four leaf clover so special?”
Was he joking? Teddy stared at him in disbelief. “You.. what? Dad you KNOW that a four leaf clover is rare.”
Alexander nodded at his son. “Right, but so are squibs. You don’t see me collecting them.”
“But they’re lucky! The fourth leaf represents luck.”
“What do the other three represent?”
“Hope, faith, love,” Teddy recited, pointing to each of the leaves.

77. Cheerful

It was quite weird. This girl had put Teddy in such a scary situation. Potential disaster. But for some reason, he wasn’t having a panic. He was quite calm. Probably because nobody was paying any attention, and partly because he knew by now not to make a commotion. He cheerfully took the napkin from Esme and started wiping the ice cream from his hair and his hands. He could see the funny side, actually. Yes, her ice cream scoop had fallen off her cone and onto Teddy’s lap, but it was not a situation to get angry or upset about.

14. Hogwarts, A History

“It’s just a history book,” Teddy said, trying to snatch it back off the big bully. Only if Teddy told him that much, he would probably find his face in the dirt.
“But what’s Hogwarts? That sounds stupid. A history about a hog with warts? Stupid book.” The big bully threw the book half way across the soccer field, and it broke Teddy’s heart a little. But he couldn’t show too much care. He was just thankful the big bully hadn’t opened the book.
Alas, it made no difference. The boy shoved Teddy, who fell face first into the dirt.

23. Telescope

Teddy loved the plasma spheres held together by their own gravity. Stars. He gazed at planets, thinking about life on Mars. Laying on his back with his telescope held over his eye, looking up at the solar system, and the galaxy. He liked to think of himself as an insignificant person in the universe, one dot in space and time. Things almost didn’t seem too scary to him, thinking of things like that. Because he was only a speck in the universe. The weight of the world was not on his shoulders, but merely the weight of his immediate world.

6. Divination

“When I grow up I want to be a professional Quidditch player,” Ava said, resting backwards on the grass. “I’m going to be a top player. Everyone will know who I am.”
“When I grow up I’m going to own my own bookshop,” Teddy said, with all of the confidence in the world.
“You didn’t say you WANT to own it.”
“I don’t have to. I KNOW I’m going to own one.”
“How do you know that? You’re not a seer. Or are you? How many OWLs am I going to get?”
Teddy laughed, “Not as many as I’ll get.”

37. Animagus

“I would like to learn about animagi, Professor York.”
He could see her thinking about it. “Teddy, dear, I think you’re a wee bit young to learn how to become an animagus.”
“Oh, no, noooo, I don’t want to BE an animagus. Merlin, no. I just want to learn about it. I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t really find anything more than a dictionary meaning of the word. I wondered if you might have a book I could borrow.”
“Oh. Well… I suppose so. I’ll start with the basics, though.”
YES! Teddy was getting a book, AND having hot chocolate.

56. Fight

“Ava come on, let’s just go,” Teddy urged her.
But she refused to leave.
“No, Teddy,” she said, before turning back to the bully. “You leave my brother alone. He’s a million times smarter than you. You’re just an ugly person inside and out.”
The group of bullies started to laugh.
“SHUT UP!” Ava yelled, storming towards them.
They stopped laughing.
“What are you going to do about it?” the asked her.
“I’ll fight you.”
“NO AVA, you can’t, let’s just go,” Teddy said in a panic, trying to pull her away.
“But I just want one punch,” she said.

9. Defense Against the Dark Arts

“No, leave me alone. Shoo. SHOO! Go away! MUUMMMAAAA! LEAVE ME ALOOONE! EXPECTO… EXPECTO PATRONUM! HELLLPPP-” and suddenly he was sitting bolt upright in bed, sweat dripping down his face. The light flicked on and his mum stood in the doorway.
“Was it a nightmare?” she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping his sweaty forehead.
Teddy caught his breath after a while and nodded, trying not to cry from the memory. “The Dementors wanted to sing me a lullaby and I couldn’t… I couldn’t defend myself. I don’t have a wand yet. They kept coming at me.”

41. Thestrals

“HI ZHENYA!” The twins bellowed, running towards her.
Zhenya laughed, hugging them. “Watch out, you’re knocking the lollies off the shelf.”
After walking to The Three Broomsticks and ordering everyone lunch, Zhenya got busy asking about their year so far. “Second year, how was it?”
“Well it started off weird. You know those carts that move themselves?”
“They don’t move themselves.”
“Yes they do. There was nothing pulling them, and yet we moved.”
“No, you just can’t see them.”
“See what?”
“The Thestrals,” Teddy piped in.
“You know what they are?” Zhenya looked worried.
“Only because I read about them!”

32. Common room

“I don’t think I would spend much time there.”
“What? Why not? It’s your common room, where your house mates hang out. You can get to know them more. Become friends with them.”
“But… it’s a common room. It’s common. I’ll just hang out in the library. Or my dorm room. There will be people in there won’t there? Or do I get my own room?” He was excited at the thought of that. Yes, he could just see it, his own room.
“Er… no. You’ll be with four others, probably.”
“FOUR? I have to share with that many people?”

40. Spell

“Oh just PICK one and be done with it!” Ava whinged, as she tried for the umpteenth time to get him outside to practice her Quidditch skills.
“It’s not that simple,” he said. Again.
“What’s not simple? You pick an easy spell and you cast it. Simple. Easy peasy!”
“Well maybe for you, but not me.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically before giving up and flopping down next to him.
“Maybe one of the older kids will have suggestions? You can ask them on the train.”
Ask them? Teddy? He laughed at the thought of talking to a complete stranger.