Hope - George Potter

14 - Those chaotic Potter boys

Professor Flitwick didn't let them go until they had both straightened their robes and tied their ties. He watched them amusedly as they were struggling to do so. Afterwards, he gave them their timetables. Their first lesson was Transfiguration, taught by Professor McGonagall.

Professor Flitwick told them the way so they wouldn't turn up too late.

"Now it doesn't matter anyway. We're already far too late. A few minutes don't make a difference," George said to Henry. They both didn't want to run anymore, so they leisurely walked to the classroom.

They knocked and a voice told them to come in, so they opened the door.

"I don't tolerate lateness. What made you think that it would be a good idea to be late on your first day? All of the other pupils obviously didn't have a problem in turning up punctially," Professor McGonagall said in a strict tone. Unlike Professor Flitwick, there was no trace of amusement to be found.

"Well it wasn't entirely our fault. I don't know if you know about the difficulties of getting into the Ravenclaw common room or not. We forgot a wand in our room and had to get back inside which took quite some time," George explained, trying to sound as innocent as possible. He didn't want the prefect, who hadn't woken them in the morning, to get into trouble.

"And then we fell through a wall," Henry decided to add, which caused the class to erupt into laughter.

"And Professor Flitwick wouldn't let us go to class without tieing our ties," George added.

"We really wanted to turn up punctually. We even ran through the whole school," Henry said, trying a puppy look.

"I will let it slide as it is your first day. Get seated," their teacher said and George wondered whether the puppy look had actually worked.

They quickly walked over to the only free table, which was obviously in the first row. George looked around and saw that they were having this subject together with the Gryffindors.

For the rest of the first lesson, they learned about the basic theory of transfiguration, the Bubbing rule of the eleven steps. George had already read about it and was surprised by how little his classmates knew. He wouldn't have had to be so nervous about knowing less than the pupils who came from magical households.

In the second lesson, they tried to transfigure a match into a needle. Cho Chang, one of the girls in Ravenclaw, actually managed to do it in the end, but she was the only one. George's match was at least not of wood anymore, but it still had the form of a match. William Prewett, an annoyingly loud and attention-seeking Gryffindor, had actually managed to lit his match instead of transfiguring it. He nearly burned the tip of his wand as he had poked the match with it.

While the class had been quite interesting, George groaned when he heard of the three foot essay they would have to write about Gerald Bubbbing, the inventor of the Bubbing rule, which they would have to complete until Friday.

"It's the first day of school!" Henry protested in a low voice so McGonagall wouldn't hear him. He didn't want to annoy her any further.

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"I don't know whether I want to cry or smile," Minerva McGonagall said to her friend Filius Flitwick later that day, "he looks exactly like his father. He acts a lot like him, too. And he reminds me of Fleamont quite a bit."

"Oh yes, those Potter boys are always so chaotic. I believe he was late for his first lesson with you, right? When I saw him standing there in front of me with the Shacklebolt kid, his hair still wet, his tie hanging loosely around his neck, and completely out of breath, it was so difficult to hold back a laugh. The sight was so familiar. Whether it was from James and Black or from Fleamont and William back when we were at school," Filius said. He sighed. "I didn't think I would ever see that again," he added in a sad tone.