Hogwarts Parent-Teacher Conferences

Ronald Weasley sighed and untied a letter from the large white owl's long leg. After shushing it out the window, he unfolded and read the words that were written in an unmistakable script.

"Dear Mr. R. Weasley,

We are delighted to ask you to invite your parents to meet with us at 11:30 a.m. on Friday in the Transfiguration Classroom. Please notify us immediately if this time is not convenient. Please also know that you are more than welcome to join us in discussing your progress here at Hogwarts.

You can let your parents know that they will be meeting with the following professors at this time:

Argus Filch- Caretaker

Professor Filius Flitwick- Charms

Professor Minerva McGonagall- Transfiguration

Professor Horace Slughorn- Potions

Professor Cuthbert Binns- History of Magic

Professor Severus Snape- Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Rubeus Hagrid- Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Pomona Sprout- Herbology

Professor Aurora Sinistra- Astronomy

Professor Sybill Trelawny- Divination

Madam Rolanda Hooch- Flying Instructor/ Quidditch Referee

Professor Albus Dumbledore- Headmaster

Thank you, The Hogwarts Staff"

Ron felt a ping of nervousness wash over him. First things first, though- he had to at least let his parents know about the conference. Maybe, just maybe, they would already have plans, and then Ron would be able to do some extra credit before conference time ended on Tuesday. He started writing.

"Mom & Dad,

Hogwarts is doing a parent-teacher conference week. I've been assigned to the time 11:30 a.m. on Friday. You'll probably be getting letters from Fred, George, and Ginny soon enough.

Ron."

It was a good two hours before any response was given.

"Ron,

Your father and I would be honored to come to your conference. We'll meet you in the entrance hall of the school around 11:15.

Mum."

Well, isn't this just wonderful, thought Ron miserably. His parents would see the worst of his grades at the worst of times.

He walked out of the boy's dormitories and entered the common room, only to see Hermione curled up on the sofa with a book. Surprise, surprise, he thought.

He plopped down beside her with such force that she bounced in the air before resettling back in her comfortable position.

Without looking away from the page, she sighed. "What, Ron?"

"Did you get your conference letter yet?"

"I had my conference on Tuesday, why?"

"I'm…I'm having mine Friday, and my grades are horrendous."

"Nice of you to take notice, Ronald," she replied sarcastically.

"What do I do, 'Mione?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed, Friday is tomorrow. So the only thing you have left to do is beg and plead with the professors to give you an extra credit assignment, or just let it go and suffer the consequences of late assignments and minimal effort."

"O-kay," he drew out the word.

"Right, so either get on it, or leave me to my book."

Ron, not liking her choices, took the latter option, and went on to solve his problem his own way.

He made his way back to his four-poster and slid onto his mattress, digging through his school bag for his textbooks. He pulled out the two textbooks relating to his worst subjects- Potions and Herbology.

All night he stayed up, committing chapters at a time to memory before taking a short catnap. By the end of the night, he had completed all of his textbooks and had learned advanced chapters in each by heart.

The next morning, dressed to impress, Ron made his way down to the entrance hall to greet his parents.

When they laid eyes on him, their eyes bugged out of their heads. He contained a smirk.

"Mum, Dad," he greeted them.

"Oh, Ron!" exclaimed his mother, "You've grown up so fast!"

Without a response, Ron led both of his parents up to the Transfiguration Classroom as instructed by his conference letter.

All of Ron's professors stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the sudden transformation of one of their least favorite students.

"Mister and Missus Weasley- pleased to see you again," said Dumbledore.

"It's great to see you too, Albus," replied Arthur.

Molly just nodded, still in too much shock to speak.

"Argus was not able to make it today," said Dumbledore, "He is busy preparing a new list of unacceptable behaviors and is altering curfews according to year."

Ron restrained an enthusiastic exclamation and instead smiled.

"Minerva, will you begin?"

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I am head of Gryffindor House and the Transfiguration teacher. Ronald, he puts for little effort in his work and often turns in assignments late. If for some odd reason they are not late, they are either entirely incorrect, correct but in handwriting that does not in any way resemble his, or not turned in at all. He is often tardy for class and I catch him cheating on tests regularly."

Molly's proud smile faded, and she turned to her son with an angry expression. Her face was rapidly turning to a color that was almost redder than her trademark hair.

"G-Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration states that love cannot be created, only imitated, and that it is impossible to bring the dead back to life, and that gold cannot be created, and that food cannot be conjured, and that-" Ron's rambling excuses were interrupted.

"I am Filius Flitwick, and I teach Charms. Ronald had consistently turned in poor work to me for major grades, and his carelessness is enough to drive anyone bonkers. He cheats on my exams time and time again, has others do his homework, and recurrently goofs off during lessons."

Molly's calm expression once again vanished.

Ron hurriedly scanned his mind for an impressive fact about charms that would get him out of this sticky situation again, and said, "Charms can be extremely powerful- for example, the Fidelius Charm can completely hide a person or place so that no one can find them unless the Secret Keeper gives them the location."

Ron's parents nodded, obviously impressed but suspicious too.

"I'm Horace Slughorn, and I am the Potions professor here at Hogwarts. Your son is not the best student ever to grace these halls, and I will just leave it at that."

Already ahead of the game, Ron blurted, "A tincture is a gentle medicine preserved in alcohol."

This time Arthur nodded while Molly tried to figure out what exactly was going on; you could see the gears turning in her head, and Ron was determined to make sure that she got no more leads than she already had on his odd behavior.

Another voice droned from his position in the circle. "My name is Cuthbert Binns, and I teach History of Magic. Ronald frequently arrives late to my class, falls asleep in lessons habitually, and seldom turns in an assignment that is worthy of grading."

Once more Ron searched his head for the right tidbit of information, and exclaimed, "Wendelin the Weird enjoyed the sensation of being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught in different disguises somewhere around forty-seven times."

Now both Arthur and Molly were working on the reason behind the weird actions their son was giving off, and Ron became a little more nervous.

"I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Ron 'ere is actually quite good at Care o' Magical Creatures, my class. He turns in the homework I give 'em and is rarely late."

Ron silently thanked Hagrid and made a mental note to thank him later, once his parents had left.

"My name is Pomona Sprout, and I'm the Herbology professor of Hogwarts. I'm sorry to let you know that Ronald is a pitiable student, in my class and in many others, and that could use improvement in all areas of his educational career."

"Bubotuber pus is a treatment for severe acne."

Molly and Arthur were both very apprehensive about why their son was spurting out random facts.

"I am Professor Aurora Sinistra, and I teach Astronomy. Ronald is a pitiful student; he turns in incomplete or incorrect work, and refuses to study or pay attention in my class."

"Europa is icy and Io has volcanoes."

"I'm Sybill Trelawny, the Divination professor. Although Ronald lacks the Sight, he also lacks effort."

"In tessomancy, the Grim means death."

"My name is Severus Snape, and I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Mister Weasley is an amazingly atrocious potioneer. His effort ranges from minimal to none, his assignments are repeatedly pathetic, his exam grades are just sorry, and if he has Ms. Granger do one more essay for him, I will personally jinx him into the next millennium."

"T-the," Ron stuttered.

"Oh, and Mister Weasley?" asked Snape.

"Stop it with all of those pathetic facts. You're just using them to distract your parents from your dreadfully awful grades."

This time, Molly and Arthur's faces turned red.