Incendio

Chapter 19: Ten Points To Gryffindor

Samantha had never had a better time in her life. Every day between classes, she and Lee were helping Fred and George perform some kind of mayhem against Umbridge. One night the four of them had snuck out in the wee hours of the morning to place dung bombs beneath every one of the desks in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The classroom smelled for a week. Another time they hung little sticky spiders from the ceiling of the Great Hall, it took Filch three days to get them all down. Samantha's personal favorite was when she transfigured Umbridge's Daily Prophet to only show articles supporting Potter.

Of course Samantha made time for her studies, but the satisfaction of giving that cow everything she deserved had consumed a fair bit of time. They were preparing what Fred and George often referred to as, 'The Big One' for the upcoming Monday. For some reason, the twins had asked that both She and Lee not be present for this one. They said it could be too easy to pin them as accomplices if they both didn't have alibis.

She had her career consultation with McGonagall on that day around the exact time they planned for. So she was pretty taken care of, and Lee had Charms class.

She wasn't nervous as she walked into her meeting, she knew what she wanted to do. Even if Umbridge ruined her chances with The Daily Prophet, Samantha figured she could still go for a job with WWN, Witch Weekly or as a last resort, The Quibbler. Her appointment was at four-thirty on Monday. She was grateful it was near the end of DATD so she could leave the toad's ever present eye.

"Miss Fyre." McGonagall's face formed a relieved smiled as Samantha came into her office. She motioned for Samantha to take a seat. "Thankfully my consultation with you should be decently painless. With our," Professor McGonagall gave a quick cough, "headmistress, or whatever she believes she is, teaching her afternoon class, we shall not be interrupted. It should be a quiet afternoon hopefully."

Samantha laughed a little."It will be a very quiet afternoon, I'm sure."

McGonagall looked over her spectacles and raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Oh, you are?"

Samantha nodded.

"You know Miss Fyre if you are aware of any prank or misbehavior I would need you to report it." McGonagall smirked as she spoke and Samantha realized she was being sarcastic.

Samantha smirked back, "If I knew that Fred and George were about to turn a corridor in the east wing into a swamp, I'd tell you."

"Theoretically, if you did know, I'd have to ask if you were involved."

"And I'd say of course not." Samantha pursed her lips into a guilty smile.

"Ten points to Gryffindor for your, good intentions." McGonagall smirked again. "Now onto business. You and I have been having this discussion for quite a while, and I know you realize what grades you need to achieve to enter into NEWT level classes. Myself and Professor Flitwick place your grades in Exceeds Expectations and Professor Burbage says you will easily get an Outstanding in her class. Your Ancient Runes is doing fine, but don't let up, I know you have some trouble with it."

Samantha nodded.

"You also realize these grades are not exactly necessary, just recommended. However, The Daily Prophet is known to take on trainees with better grades more frequently than not. Not to mention it is important to have certain skills when working in the field."

"I am well aware Professor." Samantha nodded. "I am worried they won't take me though."

"Let me guess, our Headmistress mentioned something along those lines?"

Samantha nodded. The bell signaling the end of classes rang and Samantha knew it wouldn't be long.

"I would not take her opinion too far into account." McGonagall smirked again, "I have no doubt anywhere you desire to write for, would take you on. If you aren't interested in the Daily Prophet, there is always the WWN which I know will be taking applications for their internship. I'm sure Mr. Jordan could help you fill out that paperwork."