#7 Breakfast

Toby had barey sat down at the Ravenclaw table than he felt something hit him on the head, it didn't hurt but he instinctively turned to look for whoever had thrown it at him- he didn't even care what it was, it was the action itself that made him mad. However, he didn't see anybody nearby who looked guilty of the crime, so he just turned back to Ryan, grumbling incoherently about the incident.

"I slept okay" he answered his friend, still a little annoyed but more concerned with Joe's absence. He was sure that the other boy had probably just decided to skip breakfast, if he was in real trouble, Ryan would've probably heard something about it by now.

The arrival of the morning post disrupted his train of thought and he looked up expectantly before lowering his gaze once again. He'd only recently received a letter from his parents and he hadn't yet written back- so it was unlikely that they would send him another letter. He reached for another slice of toast, just as a clumsy owl dropped a rather large suspiciously broom shaped parcel in front of him and proceeded to try and drown itself in a jug of pumpkin juice.

"Stupid bird!" Toby hissed as he looked down at his robes that were now covered in juice and a variety of cereals that had been disturbed by the package. That owl was always crash landing, it was bloody useless and so distracted by the birds landing, Toby didn't recogise immediately that the parcel it had delivered must be for him.

The thing that drew his attention to the fact was Ryan telling him to open it, looking down at the package, the boy let out a strange strangled sound as he realised this and he barely even looked up upon hearing Amelia's voice so close to him. There was really only one thing that it could be and it somehow caused his brain to short-circuit momentarily, he knew that his parents couldn't afford to get him a fancy broom, but he hadn't exepected even a cheap or secondhand one to be delivered so quickly.

Grabbing the note the fell from the package, he read it quickly before stuffing it into his pocket. The moment he had done so, his hands flew to the paper wrapping his gift and he frantically tore it open with urgency unrivalled by any other. When he finally saw his new broom, the air got caught in his throat and it seemed as though he lost the ability to talk temporarily.

"Oh my god..." he eventually choked out the words, just staring at the broom as if afraid to touch it- was he dreaming? No... If he was dreaming then Amy wouldn't be there. "This is bloody brilliant!" he suddenly exclaimed, snapping out of his daze as he picked up the broom finally, feeling the weight of it in his hands and finding it impossible to wipe the smile from his face.

He had the best parents in the world, if he hadn't got that stupid homework session first thing then he would immediately write back to them, thanking them for the gift. He hadn't expected to get a swiftstar from his parents, he thought maybe they'd get him something secondhand- and maybe another student with more money might've laughed at his excitement at receiving a swiftstar over something more fancy- but for Toby, it was the best gift he'd ever received.

"I've gotta go! I'll um... See you... At homework" he quickly muttered a goodbye to Ryan, hoping he'd get the point that he'd see them at their first and only planned 'class'. For now, he was off running towards Gryffindor tower, determined to store his new broom in his dormitory while he was in class.