Echo | Harry Potter - George Weasley

Chapter 34: Thunder and Lightning and Everything Frightening

When Shaye entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and noticed that the desks had been put back into their usual rows, Shaye huffed disappointingly and made her way over to her regular seat. 

Everyone had been having such a blast with Lupin's alternative and hands-on lessons that they could hardly remember a time when Defence Against the Dark Arts wasn't their favourite class. Now, however, with the classroom back to its boring self and a projector sitting at the back of the room, it was looking like the fun might be over.

Hearing the door slam shut, Shaye and the rest of the class looked over their shoulders, surprised to see Snape instead of Professor Lupin. Suddenly, the bland return to the ways of the past made complete sense.

As Snape strode towards the front of the room, he flicked his wand three times, closing the shudders on the three windows and plunging the room into darkness. He then pulled the projector screen down and turned to the class, his usual scowl present.

"Turn to page 394."

There were a few shared looks of confusion but for the most part, the class did what they were told and pulled their textbooks out of their bags—a textbook they rarely ever used when Lupin was teaching.

"Excuse me, sir." Harry was the first to speak. "Where's Professor Lupin?"

"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter?" Snape retorted. "Suffice it to say that your professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Turn to page 394."

As Snape meandered to the back of the room and tapped the projector with his wand, causing the lightbulb to flicker to life, Shaye and Harry looked to each other, the same worried expression on their faces. Was Lupin okay?

Ron, who was clearly already bored with the class for the day, lazily flipped through his book. When Snape saw this, however, he frowned and waved his wand at Ron's book, causing the pages to flip rapidly until the desired page had been reached.

Ron jumped a little. "Werewolves?" He read the title of the page.

"But, sir, we've just begun learning about red caps and hinkypunks." Hermione turned in her chair to face Snape; a chair that Shaye could have sworn was empty two seconds ago. "We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks."

"Quiet," Snape ordered. 

"When did she come in?" Ron whispered; this habit of Hermione showing up out of nowhere really starting to freak him out. "Did you see her come in?"

Shaye and Harry shook their heads. Hermione, as usual, ignored Ron's panic and got ready for the lesson. 

"Now, which one of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?" Snape asked as he returned to the front of the room where the slides were being projected onto the screen. No one except Hermione rose their hand. Shaye thought she might know, but she wasn't confident enough to risk being belittled by Snape. "No one? How disappointing."

"Please, sir." Hermione couldn't hold her tongue any longer. "An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice. With each full moon, when he transforms, he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he crossed his path. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind."

Draco let out a howl. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy." Snape glared at the boy.

Shaye smirked to herself. Her answer had been similar enough to Hermione's to have been considered correct. Now if only she had the unwavering intellectual confidence and seemingly photographic memory as Hermione.

"That is the second time you've spoken out of turn, Miss Granger." Snape turned his attention to Hermione, his hands clasped in front of himself. "Are you incapable of restraining yourself or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"