Adrian Chen POV
I was always the quiet kid in the group, the one who'd stay silent most of the time and listen pleasantly to whatever everyone else was talking about, while interjecting every once in a while if I thought of something that could add to the conversation. This wasn't only because I was introverted but actually because I was a pretty anxious guy. I could admit that much.
And right now my anxiety was through the roof. I mean, could you blame me?
For Merlin's sakes, I was already a first-generation immigrant here in the UK, so bullying was bad enough. Then weird stuff started happening around me which led to me getting bullied even harder. Then it turns out it wasn't weird stuff—I was actually a wizard.
That was actually a saving grace, after all who would care if my eyes were a bit slanted when kids my age could throw out fireballs? But of course, I was expecting too much.
There was only one other Asian kid in my year named Cho Chang. Also, who names their kid Cho Chang? It's a bunch of gibberish. She was also a Ravenclaw, funnily enough. Well, it didn't really matter what her house or name was since she wasn't part of our—Merlin's beard, what did Felix call it?—clique. Yeah, that's it. She wasn't part of our clique.
Now that I'm on the topic of Felix, yes, he was basically my best friend if we didn't count Roger, but he literally gave me a mild panic attack the first day of school. I remember him burning that troll in Defense Against the Dark Arts—honestly, what kind of professor brings a troll to a first-year class? Then there was that time he caused all the lights to explode in Charms class because he "wanted to see what would happen." My heart nearly stopped.
Thank whatever gods actually existed, the school year was somewhat calm after that initial shock. Sure, there were a few things that most definitely raised my blood pressure, like the Weasley twins' and Felix's continuous prank war throughout the year. I still had nightmares about the day everyone's noses started whistling the Hogwarts school song whenever they tried to speak.
Then there was Jarvey, Felix's pet who cussed at anyone or anything. That ferret—sorry, "magical creature of distinguished lineage and remarkable wit" as he called himself—had a vocabulary that would make a sailor blush. I nearly fainted when he called Professor McGonagall an "old hag" right to her face. Somehow Felix didn't get expelled, which was a miracle in itself.
There was other stuff like Felix's radio station which had somewhat grown on me, though. Real Wizards FM was actually pretty good, especially during those early morning study sessions when I needed something to keep me awake. Felix had a surprisingly good singing voice, though I'd never tell him that to his face. His ego was big enough already.
All of this was a ton of stuff already, right? RIGHT!?
But no, of course things had to escalate.
The Sorting Hat got stolen, and I was 99.9% sure Felix had been the one who had done it.
I turned my head to the person in question. His golden somewhat spiky hair falling to his nape, his golden eyes staring at the pewter cauldron in content as the potion he was making seemed to have finished. He looked exactly the same as always, which was suspicious in itself. Shouldn't someone who had just committed grand theft magical artifact be at least a little nervous?
"Passable as usual, Mister Serendipity. For being the first in class, I'll award you two points," Professor Snape said, his voice as cold and unpleasant as ever.
Felix looked at Professor Snape, who also gave me the creeps, and nodded, the smile falling from his face.
"Hey, you need help?" a voice questioned behind me.
"AH!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, though my yell was quickly silenced by Snape's piercing gaze which settled on me.
"Sorry, Professor," I mumbled, feeling my face heat up. Great, now everyone was staring at me.
"Five points from Ravenclaw," Snape said with a curl of his lip, clearly enjoying my discomfort.
Snape then turned away his attention from me, inspecting all other students. I could still feel curious eyes on my back, making the hair on my neck stand up. I hated being the center of attention.
Dammit, I turned my head to see who had spoken, and my dread only grew. I could feel my anxiety building alongside it.
It was an Auror.
Brown hair, brown eyes, a twenty-something-year-old woman, but an Auror all the same. She wore the distinctive dark maroon robes that all Aurors wore on duty, with a small silver badge pinned to her chest. I'd read about them in "Magical Law Enforcement: A History." They were elite dark wizard catchers, essentially magical police, and they didn't mess around.
Yeah, remember the Sorting Hat? Yeah, turns out it not only sorted students but was also a relic hundreds of years old. Thirty Aurors had been dispatched across Hogwarts to see if they could find any trace of it, but as of the moment, it seemed they hadn't found anything. I'd overheard Professor Flitwick telling Professor Sprout that the Aurors had cast every tracking charm known to wizardkind, but the Hat remained stubbornly unfindable.
"I'm sorry for making you yell. It just looked like you were having some trouble with the potion. I'm pretty good at them, so if you need any tips, I can help," the Auror said, her smile seeming genuine, but I couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of interrogation technique. Did she suspect me? Did she think I knew something?
"No thanks, I'm fine," I replied, trying not to focus on anything that would give me a panic attack. It was just me and the potion. Tune out the noise, Adrian. Tune it out. Deep breaths. One, two, three...
My hands were shaking slightly as I added the next ingredient to my cauldron. A drop of salamander blood—not too much or it would—
"Miss Taylor, please stop speaking with my students or I'll have to throw you out, no matter your investigation," Snape was in front of me once more, thankfully staring daggers at the Auror and not at myself.
"Sorry, Professor. I'll stay quiet and just stay in the corner," the Auror said, stepping back. She didn't look particularly intimidated by Snape, which was impressive. Most people withered under his glare.
"Good," Snape said curtly before sweeping away in a billow of black robes.
Tune it out, Adrian. Just tune it out. I repeated the words in my head almost like a mantra as I continued to work on my potion. Add the powdered moonstone, stir three times clockwise, wait ten seconds, then stir once counterclockwise...
It wasn't long before class was over, and everyone began to gather their stuff. I felt an arm settle around my neck, making me jump slightly.
"Come on, we have to be quick, or we'll miss Herbology class," I stared at who had spoken. Of course, it was no one else but Felix.
"Yeah, Herbology. Right," I said, still distracted as I carefully bottled my potion. I stared at my potion, the yellowish liquid sloshing around in the glass vial. It looked good enough. I only hoped that it would be up to Snape's standards when he revised everyone's work.
"Yeah, let's go. Merlin knows we need to get out of here before Snape catches us breathing weirdly and takes away our points," Roger said. It seemed as he had gathered all his stuff already, his bag slung casually over one shoulder.
Rebecca also joined us soon after, and we made our way to Herbology, which we had along with the slytherins.
Each corridor we passed through had an Auror touching his or her wand across the Hogwarts walls, as if inspecting something. They muttered incantations under their breath, making the tip of their wands glow different colors. One Auror was actually tapping on the stones of the wall, listening intently as if expecting the wall to answer back.
And each time I saw one, I felt my anxiety rise, which made me look at Felix, who was just smiling widely like usual, as if nothing was wrong. If he was the thief, he was doing a remarkable job of acting normal. But then again, this was Felix. The word "normal" didn't really apply to him.
The Aurors had been here for two weeks now, and they seemed to be getting more frustrated by the day. I'd overheard one of them saying they'd searched every inch of the castle twice and still found nothing. The prevailing theory was that the thief had smuggled the Hat out of Hogwarts entirely, which seemed like the most logical explanation. But the Aurors weren't giving up yet.
"Merlin's sake, do I want the Aurors gone," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else. They made the whole castle feel tense, like we were all suspects in a criminal investigation. I just wanted things to go back to normal—or as normal as things ever got at Hogwarts.
Everyone in the group turned to me, since I was walking a bit behind.
"Did I say that aloud?" I asked, feeling heat rise to my cheeks again.
They all nodded, amused expressions on their faces.
"I'm sorry—" I started to apologize, feeling embarrassed.
"What are you apologizing for?" Roger interrupted. "I also want them gone as soon as possible."
That lessened my anxiety a bit, though it wouldn't help with the three months to come, where my anxiety seemed to only grow day by day, almost as if it were mimicking the Aurors' frustration each day nothing new was found.
I'm sure next year will be more uneventful
A/N: Welp the school chapters for the rest of the year are gonna be from other POVs, since I want to show that the Simulacrum doesn't have any thoughts of his own, even if he does act the same way the actual Felix does. Plus this is a good way for you guys to get some insight into some other characters in this world, not just Felix.