Harry Potter : the next generation

chapter 13

"That's all, class," Professor Wilkes said. "You can go."

            The sound of thirteen Ravenclaws slamming their books shut at the same time echoed through the classroom.

            "I hate Friday afternoon classes," Professor Wilkes muttered. Talking to herself, she said, "That's why I don't schedule the N.E.W.T. classes for the afternoons. At least they're paying attention for what matters."

            Scorpius knew that Professor Wilkes wasn't fond of teaching the early years of History of Magic; for the O.W.L. level of the class, the course was a survey of important Wizarding events in European (and more particularly British) history, from the earliest archaeological traces of the Wizarding world in 5000 B.C. to the fall of Grindelwald in 1945. She'd already made it clear several times that she much preferred the subject of her N.E.W.T. class to the basic O.W.L material; first year of History of Magic covered from the earliest traces of magic around the globe through the most famous events of the ancient Wizarding world, and the second- through fifth-year courses continued on, starting where first-year History of Magic left off and proceeding chronologically.

            "This course starts in your first year, in the murky mists of time," Professor Wilkes had said their first day, "and ends when Albus Dumbledore defeats Gellert Grindelwald, about a month before your O.W.L.s, if I'm running on schedule."

            Thus far, they were still mired in the murky mists of time. Scorpius had to admit that he felt much happier learning about the material covered in first term than he thought he would be in sixth- or seventh-year History of Magic, when they got around to covering the events of the recent past. He enjoyed reading about the different arguments over dating the earliest traces of magic in Britain in his textbook (Wizarding Around the World: From Ancient to Modern Times, by Melia Blackstone), discussing the differences between primitive British magic and other early magical cultures around the world, or even hearing Professor Wilkes give her opinions on various other historians' unsubstantiated theories over how magic had arisen in the first place, when the wand had been invented, or how long it took for individual wizards and witches to discover one another and coalesce into a community. He thought all the discussions were interesting, and he liked them because he knew that, however old his family claimed to be, there were no Malfoys running around in 4000 B.C. that he'd have to feel ashamed of.

            In modern history, though...

            He tried not to think about it as he zipped up his backpack. That was years in the future, and maybe he wouldn't even take History of Magic at the N.E.W.T.-level. He supposed it all depended on what he decided he wanted to do when he got older, and what he could fit into his schedule, and what he got on the History of Magic O.W.L.

            Not to mention a thousand other things that I don't have to think about yet, he told himself, waiting for Rose to finish throwing a last bit of parchment into her bag. "Come on," he urged her. "It's Friday."

            "I know, I know," she said, pulling on the zipper and nearly zipping up the parchment in the process. Finally, she got it. "Don't want to keep Hagrid waiting!"

            "Besides, the earlier we get there, the longer we can stay," Scorpius said. They usually took tea with Hagrid from the time that he finished teaching his last class – which was usually about the time it took them to get from the castle down to his home on the grounds – until it was time for dinner in the Great Hall.

            After the first rocky beginnings, Scorpius had found that he loved visiting Hagrid's hut; Hagrid seemed to have warmed to him, and he always let him play with Tiny as much as he wanted.