About half way through September, Ellie and Leah had acquired a third in their small study group. Hufflepuff, Ryan Fletcher, was in three of their classes and had found himself sharing a Divination table with the two Slytherins after being sick in the hospital wing for the first two weeks of the term. His unexpected appearance made him the center of many conversations. The girls were originally annoyed by the outsider encroaching on their previously private conversions, but were quickly won over by the boy’s absurd sense of humor and abundant kindness. 