Elynn ran down the hall and slid into Transfiguration right before the tardy bell rang. She sighed and took a seat in the back of the classroom, next to a Ravenclaw boy that she didn't know. She put her Transfiguration book on the top of her pile of books and got a piece of parchment and a quill out of her robe. Professor McGonagall, the teacher of Transfiguration, obviously wasn't in yet. Her cat was sitting on her desk, waiting patiently.
'Wait a moment. McGonagall doesn't have a cat!' Not more than a millisecond after this thought flitted through Elynn's mind; the cat jumped from the desk and did the most extraordinary thing. It began to morph in midair! It grew and changed at an alarming rate until, there where the cat would have stood, was instead the professor!
"Good morning Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs." She said with as cheerful an air as could be expected of Professor McGonagall.
"Good morning, Professor." The class of first years replied.
"Welcome to Transfiguration. In this class you will be learning the basics of transforming something into something else. For those of you with short-term memories, I am Professor McGonagall and I will be your teacher in this class for the entirety of the year. Now if you will take out your quills and ink, we will begin with a few notes on the importance of transfiguration through the years.
Ink! Elynn reached into her pocket and rummaged around for her inkbottle. She got to the bottom of the pocket with no success in her endeavor and started to get anxious. Where was it? Suddenly, she remembered exactly where it was. In her trunk, on the bottom, wrapped in newspapers to prevent breakage. In her haste that morning, she had forgotten to unpack it. She looked around and saw that the boy beside her had a mammoth bottle of ink. Summoning her courage, she leaned over and whispered, "Excuse me?"
The boy looked up and realizing who was speaking narrowed his eyes, "Yes?"
Elynn's nervousness increased, but she continued, "Umm, well, I just noticed that you had an extra large bottle of ink and I have forgotten mine in my trunk back in the tower."
The boy turned back to his parchment on which he was writing a heading, "Sounds like a personal problem to me." He said, unconcerned.
"Well, I was wondering if you would let me use a little of your ink for this class." She said hopefully.
The boy glanced up at her again with eyes narrowed to slits and moved his inkbottle to the other side of his desk, "Don't you have enough things without using other peoples'" He asked viciously. Elynn finally admitted to herself that she wasn't going to get anywhere like this. She sat back up in her chair and decided the best thing to do would be to listen extra closely and hope that someone would allow her to copy the notes later. Maybe Avela would let her.
McGonagall began her lecture and was well into the roots of Transfiguration before she noticed that anything was amiss in her classroom. All the students were scratching busily at their parchment, but one Ravenclaw girl in the back. Who was that? She paused in her lecture and looked more directly at the idle girl, before she realized who it was.
"Miss Dumbledore." She said. Elynn jumped, but looked the professor straight in the face without fear, "Why aren't you taking notes? Do you think that all this knowledge is common?"
Elynn dropped her eyes to the desk, "No, Professor McGonagall."
"Well? Then what is the problem?" There were a few giggles across the room and Elynn blushed a light shade of pink.
"I… I don't have any ink." She stuttered. McGonagall raised an eyebrow.
"And why didn't you ask your desk mate, Mr. Bolinger, if you could borrow some of his?" Elynn was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. If she told the Professor the truth, she would be labeled a snitch and Grandfather might find out and try to get involved, which she really did not need right now. On the other hand, if she lied the boy would be free to treat her like dirt for the rest of her stay here and she would end up looking like a fool. She could feel the boy's eyes on her as she pondered her dilemma. Elynn paused then lifted her head and looked McGonagall in the eye.
"I suppose I forgot to ask him." She said. Once again McGonagall raised an eyebrow.
"Well, why don't you ask now?"
Elynn turned to the boy, who was now smiling at her with what was almost a smirk, but far enough away from one so that he didn't get in trouble for it. Elynn was suddenly filled with an urge to slap him. "May I borrow some ink for the remainder of the class, please?"
Bolinger's smile of complete satisfaction widened and he passed over the bottle, "Of course you may. If you had only asked before, I would have been glad to share earlier." He said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Elynn just smiled and dipped her quill into the well while McGonagall continued her lecture.
~~~~~~
"Now, for tomorrow, I want you to study the first chapter of your books and be ready for discussion tomorrow." Elynn rolled up her parchment of notes and stuck it in a pocket of her robe. As she was cleaning her quill, the boy next to her, gathered his books and rose to leave, but as he passed by Elynn he leaned down and whispered,
"Sucking up won't get you anywhere, girl. I don't fall for your sort."
"Well, that's good for both of us," Elynn replied calmly, "because you are not, nor will ever be anywhere close to what I would consider my type."
The boy grabbed her arm and squeezed until she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out, "Watch what you say to me, girl!"
"Or what?" She asked through clenched teeth, "You'll rip my arm off? Go ahead, but I won't lie to Madame Pomfrey when she asks who did it."
The boy quickly released her arm, "Just watch your back." He whispered before he left hurriedly. Elynn rubbed her arm and grabbed all her books, not wanting to be late to her next class.
"Elynn." She glanced up and saw Professor McGonagall beckoning to her from her desk. Elynn walked forward, timidly, wondering if she was going to get detention for interrupting class. But instead of handing her a detention slip, the professor pulled out a small bottle of ink and handed it to her.
"I think this should last you until, lunchtime." McGonagall said with a wink that told Elynn that she knew everything and her secret was safe, "Let's remember our inkwell tomorrow, hmm?"
Elynn nodded, "Yes, ma'am."
The professor smiled, "All right then, off with you now, before you're late. I want that ink back at lunch."
Elynn smiled and hurried out the door, to her next class, Herbology thinking,
'Right, if I can survive until then.'