Alex's first class after lunch was Transfiguration. She and Lily made it just in time and were forced to take the only remaining seats: the empty ones right at the front, next to Hermione.
"Hey, Hermione," said Alex quietly, pulling out her book and parchment, "how're you?"
Hermione stiffened. "Fine, thank you," she said, giving Alex a quick, forced smile before returning her eyes to her desk. Alex and Lily shared a look; Lily shrugged.
McGonagall walked in. "Good afternoon," she said, closing the door after her and flicking her wand at the blackboard. A title scribbled itself on the board:Medium Scale Shaping. "We are starting a new topic today, which will be the last we cover this year." Hermione raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Are we going to revise, before the exams?" asked Hermione.
McGonagall gave Hermione a small smile. "That is the plan, yes. The exams begin on the first of June, so we still have just over two months to prepare." Ron Weasley's hand went up. He didn't get a smile like Hermione did. "Mr Weasley?"
"Can you tell us what's in the exam?"
His question caused McGonagall's lips to thin in disapproval. "Everything in the course," she said, "which means, in case you haven't been paying attention, both minor and major shaping, including object division and combination. And, of course,today's topic."
Her tone clearly indicated that question time was over, and she starting pacing in front of the board. "Now, so far this year we have focused on small scale shaping. But we need to be able to shape objects which are considerably larger than a cubic foot, which is what we are learning today. Who can tell me whatmedium scalemeans?"
"Bigger than a foot?" called Ron, without raising his hand.
"Your hand, Weasley," reprimanded McGonagall. "I was hoping for a more specific answer. Miss Potter?"
The class shifted, as if only just noticing her. Alex resisted the strong urge to look back at them or shrink into her seat. "Less than five cubic feet, ma'am," she said, "but more than one."
"A point to Hufflepuff," said McGonagall, nodding her head. "Another if you can tell me why."
Alex was glad she'd read up on the basics of arithmancy. "Five is a very stable magical number, isn't it?" she said, thinking aloud. "Magiclikesfive feet… you'd need a more powerful spell to go further."
"Exactly," said McGonagall. "Imagine that the mutation spell is a hill--" she flicked her wand, and a sloping line drew itself on the board "--and the larger the object you're shaping, the more power the spell needs to have." Another wave of her wand made the line shift, flattening out in the middle. "Five cubic feet is like a plateau in the spell," she continued, pointing to the flat section, "after which the hill grows much steeper."
"Are there other plateaus, Professor?" asked Hermione.
"Certainly," said McGonagall. "In truth, the spell is somewhat more complex than this line indicates. Who can tell me why it is that larger objects are more difficult to shape? Miss Patil?"
"Oh!" said Parvati, sounding startled. Alex had no doubt she'd been daydreaming. "Er, you need more magic?"
"A common misconception," said McGonagall, "but it is close to the truth. You need to usestrongermagic to affect a greater area, or in this case, volume. This is a universal rule of magic: to affect a greater amount ofstuff, you need a more powerful spell. And that is what we will practice for the rest of the lesson: increasing the power of the mutation spell. I want you in groups of four, please."
Alex, Lily, Hermione and Dean Thomas ended up in the same group by virtue of proximity. By the looks he kept sending to his friends, Dean wasn't too happy at being stuck with girls, but Seamus and Ron were grinning at him, winking and sending him thumbs up.Boys.
McGonagall swept her wand, banishing their desks to the sides of the room, and a quick jab conjured a large block of wood for each group. It looked to be around three cubic feet.
Once she was done, she returned to the front of the room. "You are to attempt to turn this cube into a sphere, as we have practiced before," she said. "The only difference is that the object is larger. To increase the power of the spell, you need to grip your wand more firmly, make the jab sharper, and the wrist motion faster. If you do not understand why, consult your books -- you will not be able to perform this spell properly unless you understand it! Any questions?"
Predictably, Hermione raised her hand. "Won't those changes make the spell harder to control?"
"One thing at a time, Miss Granger," said McGonagall. "First we have to boost your spell-power. We can worry about regaining fine control later. Now, off you go!"
Shouted incantations soon filled the room, generally not having much of an effect. Alex's own group, however, stood in awkward silence, no-one wanting to go first.
"Oh, fine," snapped Lily, pulling her wand out. "I'll do it, shall I?" She waved her wand around clumsily, going through the spell at super-speed, finishing with a jab at the block. "Mutato lignum!"
The block wobbled like it was made of jelly but did little else. Alex poked it with her wand; it wobbled again.
"Er… it wasn't meant to do that," said Lily, frowning at her wand.
McGonagall swooped down on them. "A bit less speed, Miss Moon," she advised after she saw the wood jelly. "The increase in speed must be deliberate, not rushed. Try adapting just one element of the spell at a time, until you have each individual part mastered." She reset the wood and headed off to help another group.
"I'll go next, shall I?" said Dean, frowning in concentration. He went much slower than Lily did, finishing with an extremely violent jab. "Mutato lignum!"
The wood cracked loudly, splitting down the middle. "Oops," said Dean, avoiding the girls' eyes. "Any idea what I did wrong?"
"It was your jab," said Alex, miming his action with her own wand. "It was too out of balance with the rest of the spell, so you just got a lot of power but not much else. Here, let me try." She had, in fact, been practicing this topic before Christmas. The motions were quite familiar by now, and manipulating wood was rather easy compared to the iron she had since advanced to. "Mutato lignum!"
The cube smoothly reformed into a ball with the sound of creaking wood, the crack from Dean's spell not disappearing.
Hermione sighed. "Figures," she muttered, not looking at Alex. Lily just laughed, well-used to Alex by now.
McGonagall came over, awarded her a point and changed the sphere back to a cube, removing the crack too. And then it was Hermione's turn.
"Mutato lignum!" she said, speaking firmly, but not shouting like Ron. Her wand articulation was good, but Alex noticed a few mistakes. After a moment the cube shifted, reforming and shrinking at the same time, forming itself into a sphere half the size of Alex's. Hermione frowned. "Not enough power," she said, speaking mostly to herself.
"I'll help you, if you like," said Alex while Dean fetched McGonagall to fix their wood. "You just need to--"
"No, thank you," said Hermione, her voice clipped. "I can figure it out on my own."
Alex shrugged. "If you want."
The rest of the lesson was quite boring for Alex, as they were just practicing the same spell. She did it again a few more times, just for practice, but spent most of her time helping Lily and Dean, who seemed to lose his ability to speak every time she tried to start a conversation with him.
Finally, just as Hermione was getting it, McGonagall ended the class. "That's all we have time for!" she said, returning the desks to the centre. "Next class we'll be using more complex objects, so make sure you understand everything we did today."
The class filed out, Hermione being one of the first to leave. "I'll catch you in Charms," Alex said to Lily, quickly packing up her stuff and hurrying after Hermione.
"Hermione! Wait!" she called, almost having to run after the girl striding down the corridor. Hermione paused, then turned around.
"What is it, Alex?" she said, her voice resigned, as if expecting bad news. "I have to get to History."
"I just wanted to--"
"--Out of the way, Potter!" said an older boy, pushing past the two of them. They shifted to stand by the wall.
"Well?" said Hermione.
"I wanted to apologise," said Alex, rushing it out before she lost her courage. "I was a… a right bitch, and you got hurt. I'm sorry."
Hermione said nothing. Her face gave nothing away.
"So… yeah," said Alex, looking around. She ran a hand through her hair. "That was basically it."
"I forgive you," said Hermione, nodding as she said it as if convincing herself.
Alex smiled widely, feeling suddenly much lighter. "Oh, thank you!" she said, throwing her arms around Hermione in a hug. Hermione stiffened and Alex withdrew.
"As I was saying," said Hermione, "I forgive you. But I can't forget what happened. I think it would be best if we just avoided each other."
Alex bit her lip. "Well, if that's what you want…"
"It is."
"Okay then," said Alex, and she breathed in deeply. "I won't hold you up any longer. Truce?" She held out her hand.
"Truce," said Hermione, taking Alex's in her own.
They shook on it, and parted ways.