Chapter 7 – Timetables
The great hall was starting to fill out as kids got their timetables and went on to their first class. I flopped down at the Hufflepuff table and groaned when I put my head in my arms. The others chuckled as they filled their plates.
"Here."
I looked up to Cedric, who slid a hangover potion to me. "Why didn't you give that to me earlier?"
"Because you practically ran out of the room." Cedric rolled his eyes playfully. I took the potion and drank it in one, the hangover disappeared in an instant and I felt better, still tired but at least not hungover anymore.
"Thanks." I gave him a feeble smile. He winked at me and started filling up my plate with my favourite things. I was on my last bit of bacon when professor Sprout came into view.
"Morning!" She said happily. "I hope the party didn't get too wild."
"We all played nice." Lyra grinned up at the professor.
"Good, good." She started fumbling with the papers. "Here are your timetables. Odin, Cedric, you have to get going if you want to be on time for Arithmancy." She said as she handed the boys their timetables. Professor Sprout always called the Hufflepuffs by your first name, she is probably the only teacher who did that. The boys accepted it quickly and stood up from the bench, Cedric looked at me for a moment as Odin kissed Lyra on the cheek.
"We'll compare them later, now go." I shooed them away with my hand and the boys were off.
"Alright, Lyra..." She checked the papers again. "Oh, here we go. You have Muggle Studies, in half an hour." She handed over the piece of paper. Lyra inspected it quickly, before she grabbed the last piece of toast and headed out of the great hall.
"And now, Gwen." She placed her timetable in front of me. "You have Care of Magical Creatures in a little over an hour. And you'll be in the first group that start their apparition tests, together with everyone who turns seventeen by December first. We'll post more information when the time comes."
"Thank you, professor Sprout." I smiled up at the witch.
"I'll see you in class this afternoon." She patted my shoulder and walked to the other students of her house.
I picked my timetable up and examined my upcoming year. Today, Thursdays will consist in Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and two hours of potions. My timetable had a lot of free periods, the classes were scattered across the week. I didn't take as much classes as Cedric and Odin, or even Lyra. I received 7 OWL's, that included History of Magic, but I dropped the subject without a second thought. I put the timetable in my bag and walked out of the great hall. I was excited for my first class of Alchemy tomorrow; it was touch and go to see if there would be enough students who wanted to take it, but it looked like it turned out alright.
.
I strolled through the corridors as I made my way to the library. Not to study, no it was way too early for that but to research the previous Tournaments. The library was mostly empty, I passed the desk of madam Pince who gave me a kind nod. I walked further in the library passing the rows of books. When I found the book about the previous Tournaments, I couldn't help but pick up a book about alchemy and I began flipping through it as I walked to one of the tables in the back. I stopped in my tracks as I heard a couple of familiar hushed voices from around the corner. I peeked my head around the bookshelf, the books tight to my chest and saw the twins and Lee hunched over together, whispering. George jotted down notes while the two others flipped through the books in front of them. I pursed my lips together as I held back a grin. I quietly made my way down to their table and flopped myself down next to George. My books dropped on the table with a loud thud, making the three boys look at me in surprise.
"Hello. I thought you didn't know where the library was?" I asked grinning at the three shocked Gryffindors.
"Merlin, Guinevere! I barely recognized you!" Fred clutched his heart.
"We do know, we just choose to avoid it." George mimicked my expression, his eyes twinkled as he looked at me. I tore my gaze of the mischievous twin and looked at the other two.
"What brought the three of you in here then?"
"The Tournament of course." Lee answered.
"You're not old enough." I pointed out.
"That is why we are here, queen Guinevere." Fred bopped my nose.
"You're trying to find a way around it?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
"Maybe..." George stretched the word out. He glanced at the books I dropped on the table. "Are you going to enter?" He asked pointing at my book about the Tournaments.
"I don't know yet, going to do some research first."
"When do you turn seventeen?" Fred asked.
"October 1st. So, I am legal to enter." I teased. I saw George pushing the top book aside. "What are you doing?" I asked, laughing softly.
"Are you taking Alchemy?"
"Uhm, yes, I am. Thought it would be interesting." I shrugged. "I do wonder who will take the class too because there needed to be at least five students for it to proceed."
George rummaged in his bag and pulled out his timetable and placed it on my books. "Me!" He said proudly.
"What?" I asked, looking at the paper in front of me. And there it was, every Friday afternoon and Monday morning, three hours of Alchemy. I took my own timetable from my bag and placed them together. My smile went wide as I looked from the paper to George, who was grinning at me. "We have Alchemy, Charms and Transfiguration together."
Fred and Lee leaned over to look at my paper. "We have potions together." Lee pointed out.
"And we have Herbology together."
"Does anyone have Magical Creatures?" I asked the three boys. They all shook their heads. "Damn, wish Charlie was still here. I guess I'll will see how many there will be."
"Where were you at breakfast?" Fred asked as he glanced from my timetable to me.
"Got in late, Hufflepuff back to school party last night, might've drank a bit too much."
"We know how wild those Hufflepuff parties can get." The twins grinned.
"You should come to the Gryffindor party." Fred invited me. George and Lee looked in confusion at Fred, but I didn't seem to notice.
"What is the occasion?"
"Oh, uhm. Nothing really, just a chance to get drunk." He gave me a lopsided smile.
"Can my friends come?"
"Sure, the more the merrier."
"Okay." I stood up and put the books in my bag. "Let me know when it is. I better go before I miss my first class." I walked up to the end of the isle before looking over my shoulder, the three of them watched me with interest. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." And I disappeared behind the bookcase.
"You two have it bad!" Lee said shaking his head.
"What?" The twins turned to him. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Hmm, yeah right." Lee looked between the two. "I love Jen but don't let her or anyone come between you."
"We won't." They said simultaneously. Lee started flipping through the books again, Fred and George looked at each other, and knew they had to talk about it.
.
The sixth-year class for magical creatures was pretty pitiful, not even a handful of students attended the class. One boy from Slytherin, who's name escaped me, Eloise from Ravenclaw and 2 Hufflepuffs, her and Drake; not one Gryffindor was present. If it hurt Hagrid's feelings, he didn't show it. He welcomed everyone with a bright smile as he introduced the Mokes to the class. The lizard like creature in silver and green crawled in an enclosed terrarium in front of Hagrid's hut. I smiled as I came closer and listened to Hagrid's teachings. I always loved this class; I loved the creatures they cared for. But it seems not many did, Drake and I weren't really friends, we acknowledged each other in passing or in the common room but otherwise. We each had our own Moke we had to take care of for the creatures for the next month. Hagrid instructed us to choose one of the Mokes in the enclosure and keep a detailed diary about the growth, eating patterns, habits... I rested my hand on the bottom of the terrarium and waited until one of the lizards crawled up to me. I turned my palm up when the smallest one of the bunch, came up to me, it crawled on and curled up into a ball on the palm of my hand.
"Hagrid? Do they have names already?" I looked to Hagrid, who oversaw the exchange.
"No, you can pick one yourself."
"How do we know if it is a boy or a girl?" The boy from Slytherin asked holding it up to eye level.
"Oh, like this." Hagrid took one of the Mokes out of the terrarium and showed them what sex they were. Everyone had chosen their Moke and were now looking what sex they were, before we could choose a name.
"Newt." I whispered to the Moke in my hand. The Moke looked up at me before curling back into a ball.
"I think he likes it." Hagrid smiled as he came up to me. "I'm really glad, you chose to take this class, miss Northon."
"Me too, I always loved this class. You make it even more interesting, Hagrid."
Hagrid beamed at the compliment I gave him, his smile so wide. After we learned about the proper way to take care of them, I placed Newt on my shoulder and walked back to the greenhouses for the next class, Herbology. As I didn't have to come from far, I was the first to arrive at the greenhouse. Drake must've dropped this class because he was nowhere in sight.
"Hello again, Gwen."
"Hi, professor Sprout." I smiled.
"I see Hagrid started with the Mokes this year." She pointed at my shoulder.
"Yeah, do I need to bring him to my room first?"
"No, of course not dear. Just keep him on your shoulder."
"Will do, professor." I smiled before I took a place around a spiky green plant as others started to trickle in.
Cedric's smile grew when he saw me in the greenhouses. He said hello to the professor before he passed her to get to me.
"What are you doing here? You don't have Herbology this year."
"Just wanted to say hi." He winked at me.
"Oh." I hid my blush. "How was Arithmancy?"
"Good. Professor Vector already gave us homework." He grinned, then his eyes shifted to my shoulder. "Who's this little guy?"
"My homework." I chuckled. "This is Newt, I have to take care of him for a month and keep track of everything in a diary."
"That's more fun than what I have to do."
"That's your fault, you choose Arithmancy over magical creatures." I grinned up at him. "But you aren't the only one, there were four of us in the class, not even one Gryffindor."
"What's this about Gryffindor?" Fred's voice came from behind me. I turned and saw the red head leaning on the table.
"Oh, hey Fred." I smiled. "I was just telling Ced that there were only four of us in Hagrid's class, not even one Gryffindor."
"Yeah, the girls were happy they could drop the class. And the rest of us really didn't need it for future prospects." He shrugged as he straightened his back.
"Why are you standing here instead of..." Cedric waved to the other Gryffindors.
"Sprout said two around this spiky looking thing, and since George isn't in this class, nor is Lee, I'm the odd man out." He pouted.
"Hmm." Cedric hummed, looking around the green house. "I better get going, I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yes." I smiled up at him. Cedric took one last look from me to Fred before he walked out of the greenhouse.
"Attention please!" Sprout called out and all heads turned to her. "Today we'll be learning about Venomous Tentacules. The Venomous Tentacula expels venom from its shoots, and its spikes are deadly. Its bite is highly venomous and could easily stun or kill a person or animal. Please roll down your sleeves and put on your leather gloves."
The rest of the hour was pretty quiet, as everyone tried not to get stung or bitten by the green spiky plant. Fred and I let out a breath of relief when we walked out of the green house. The girls from Gryffindor were eyeing us, especially Angelina glared at me from over her shoulder.
"Fred? Why is Angelina Johnson giving me the stink eye?" I frowned. "Isn't she your ex?"
"She's George's ex." Fred corrected. "She's just jealous that George is giving anyone other than her attention. Just ignore it."
"Hm, alright." I answered vaguely as we walked in the castle. We parted ways as we walked in the great hall. Fred to his twin and Lee, while I flopped down next to Cedric.