I used my makeshift map (given to me by my fellow Ravenclaws) and sprinted as fast as my robes and heavy rucksack would let me. The bell had just finished ringing as I stepped into the room and slipped into a seat far in the back.
"Good morning class," Professor Lawrence exclaimed.
"Good morning Professor Lawrence," the class echoed.
"This is N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration," she continued, "Here we will be polishing your skills of transfiguring large animals and objects with little to no flaws."
"All of you have Exceeded Expectations on your Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, but N.E.W.T.s will be much more strenuous, much more difficult to do well."
"Towards the end of the year we will for the first time with the new exam format," Professor Lawrence began with a very cheery inflection, "And endeavor into basic human transfiguration." Cheers erupted around the room when the students internalized this exciting news.
"Suppose you'd like to turn me into an ass," my tablemate snickered. With all my luck I had chosen the seat next to James.
"Heard you told my friends you think I'm obnoxious, but of course you mean that in the most endearing of ways." Rats I thought to myself, LisahadtoldhimeverythingIsaidtoheratbreakfast.
"Well maybe it'd be advantageous for the two of us," I retort, pulling my books closer to me.
"I've heard American broads really have that saucy attitude," he whispered as Professor Lawrence started the lesson. Lisa looked back at me from the front of the room, I shrugged my shoulders and picked up my quill. The start of term lesson emphasized being specific and the importance of precise wandwork. James pulled leftover breakfast out of his robes and the pungent odor was extremely distracting. When the bell rang for next class I leapt out of my seat and had never been happier.
"Miss Hetter," Professor Lawrence called to me.
"Yes," I answered turning around and going to the front of the classroom.
"I've fixed your schedule and placed your proper Defense Against the Dark Arts class." My schedule now included DADA Mondays from 12:45 to 2 and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:45 to 4.
"Thank you Professor," I answered, and I made my way to the Ravenclaw common room.
I am weightless, but you can see me. Put me in a bucket, and I'll make it lighter. What am I?
"A hole," I answered, and the door swung open. Swarms of students crowded around a pillar in the far corner.
"What's that," I asked someone seated in a char.
"Quidditch sign ups," they answered, turning a page in their book. I sat down and waited for the crowd to dissipate and then made my way towards the hung piece of parchment. Eight students had signed up for the one chaser spot, four for a beater position and only two other students for keeper. I took out my quill and signed my name along with my year.
TryoutsareThursdayeveningafterdinneronthepitch.I smiled at the thought of starting Quidditch again, it always made the school year so much more exciting back home.
"I'm glad your trying out kiddo," Lisa said clapping me on the shoulder.
"Your friend James is such a pusher," I lamented as we walked up to our rooms to change books.
"Oh he doesn't rest till he gets what he wants," she replied, "Don't feel special though, he's like that all the time."
"I wonder if Ancient Runes is going to be as impossible as last year," she continued, "Vector was so unbelievably ridiculous." She threw her textbook onto the floor and a smaller dictionary on top of it.
"You get dictionaries," I inquired.
"Spellman's Syllabary," she answered.
"We only had those until fourth year," I explained, "If you couldn't get a high poor or acceptable on an O.W.L exam by the end of first term you were asked to leave the class."
"That's a bit brutal," Lisa concluded. We chatted for another hour and then made our way to the Great Hall for a quick lunch before Ancient Runes. We sat with the Gryffindors and shared the light lunch before heading our separate ways. I followed my companions to Ancient Runes and luckily got a seat next to Lisa and Morgan.
"If you're trying to avoid James, he sleeps through this class anyway," Lisa whispered as the professor began. I glanced over my shoulder and saw James passed out with his face pressed on his hand. Kieran was slightly more conscious, attempting to keep at least one eye on the Professor. I always thought that Ancient Runes was such an engaging subject. Translating was my strong point, and it continued to baffle me why I could not grasp the Muggle SAT.
"These charts are the same as ours," I told Lisa as we left class and made our way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"I've never taken Divination," I continued, "But I'm going to predict the future that one of your peers is going to be extremely shocked by the Professor of our next class."
"I knew it was a guest Professor," she exclaimed, "Who is it?"
"I'm going to leave it a hanging for everyone, but he's going to be especially surprised." I made sure to get a front seat in the classroom, making a new acquaintance with a Slytherin named Amanda.
"Why's there damage to the walls and that desk," I heard some boys in the back corner ask.
"Maybe we have a nut for a Professor," one of them concluded. I confessed to my tablemate that it was me during my 'placement' exam, she thought it to be quite amusing.
"Us Slytherins are so misunderstood," she told me, "Every dark wizard happened to be one, but none of us here are dark wizards." I appreciated her admirable feat of attempted friendship. The bell rung and we sat in silence. Out of the corner of my eye I saw James and his friends saunter in late and take seats at the very back. A few minutes passed and some students began whispering to each other. The door at the top of the landing swung open and our Professor stepped out.
"Really," a voice cried from the back of the room. People began to snicker and look back at James who slammed his head on the desk in front of him.
"He's already embarrassed himself before I even got the chance," Professor Potter stated. The class joined in laughter as he wrote his name on the chalk board with his wand. In a slightly sloppy scrawl it read,ProfessorHarryPotter.
"I never dreamed of being a Professor," he confessed, "But when I was given this opportunity I just couldn't turn it down." The first day of class consist of him telling a more detailed version of his life story than I had gotten from my new friends. Then he explained the importance of practical defenses against dark magic. Before I knew it, the class was over. We poured into the halls and made our way to respective common rooms to relax after a long first day.