Chapter 8 - A Decision?
For the sixth years, the extra elective from the year before started on Wednesday. While they had seen the Alfheim students and teacher around the castle, they did not appear in classes like they had the last school year.
To the shock of none, all of the Alfheim students were present by the time the first Hogwarts students made their way into the classroom, and the teacher was, of course, late as per usual. The thing that shocked Hermione, was that the class was significantly smaller than the previous year. There were no Ravenclaws or Slytherins, and only two Hufflepuffs, and three Gryffindors, totaling five students, barely a quarter of the amount they had last school year.
When the teacher, Tsuboi-Sensei, finally entered the classroom, the class was discussing why there were so few of them compared to the previous year as they didn't have an O.W.L. in this class. Surveying the students, Tsuboi-Sensei started the lesson.
"Okay class, as you've probably noticed, there are only a quarter of you compared to last year. This is because the rest of what used to be this class has decided to drop this class in favor of using the time to study for their N.E.W.T.s. To those of you who have decided to keep this class, congratulations! You now have a choice to make. Do you want to stay a class? Do you want to have individual tutoring during this time? Or, do you want some sort of combination? You have the next ten minutes to discuss with each other. If you make up your minds before then, just let me know. This is an important decision as the rest of this course depends on your choice. Time starts now."
The five students gathered together to talk about what they wanted. Hermione's first instinct was to have one on one tutoring, but then she realized she would feel like she was abandoning her friends to try and figure it out almost completely by themselves. Hermione liked helping others, so she resigned herself to to be a class.
While Hermione was thinking, around her, a heated discussion was taking place. Harry and Susan were in support of one on one sessions while Neville and Hannah supported staying together as a class. As Hermione mentally rejoined the conversation, she suddenly recalled the third option. Seems like she wasn't the only one to forget. "We could do both," Hermione cut into the conversation. "We have the option to do a mix of both individual and class, remember?" The other four nodded after a moment's thought, agreeing to her point.
Agreed on what to do, they turned towards Tsuboi-Sensei who raised an enquiring eyebrow. Harry, acting as the spokesperson, said, "We'll do a combo."
Nodding, Tsuboi-Sensei responded, "Then here is what will happen, we will come together as a class for the first, and sometimes last, ten minutes of every class. The rest of the period will be spent on one on one tuition. At this level, we will review what was learned last year, cover a bit of math, and more advanced techniques for weapons and magic.
"I guess all that's left today is to assign your tutors. Hannah will be with Shino, Harry with Asuna, Hermione with Ayame, Neville with Kazuto, and Susan with Rika." As he spoke, the assigned tutors rose from their seats and made their way to the one who would be under their tutelage.
Once Tsuboi-Sensei had finished talking, the tutors and their students scattered around the room to introduce themselves to each other and answer questions.