Cursed With Curious Minds | Hp Next Generation

5 - You're NEWT Students Now

Delilah was sitting in transfiguration, surprised to have arrived there before Astrid, considering she had just been in potions and Astrid had a free period. To be fair, it wasn't past ten o clock yet, so Astrid wasn't strictly late. In all honesty, Delilah was quite glad she had gotten to the lesson before Astrid – it allowed her to choose a seat directly behind James Potter without having to explain to Astrid why she chose to sit there.

At 9:59am Astrid entered the classroom, red in the face. It looked as though she had been running.

"How was I here before you?" Delilah asked, as Astrid took her seat next to her.

"It's a long story – I'll tell you after this lesson." Astrid responded. Delilah could tell from the look on her face that it was a good story.

At exactly 10:00am, Professor Munslow walked briskly through the doors and into the classroom.  Professor Munslow was never a particularly strict teacher at O.W.L. level – he had his moments (usually when people walked in late), but overall he was quite laid back. Today he did not bring a laid back atmosphere.

"Welcome to NEWT transfiguration!" he announced, to his class of inquisitive students. "You will recall at OWL level, I was much more easy-going, however I hate to inform you it will not be like that at NEWT level. We have a lot to cover and very little time to cover it – and I'm sure you've been warned by other students that transfiguration is one of the hardest NEWTs you can take. I would also like to remind you that by the end of this year you will all be of age – many of you within the next few months – so I expect you to act like adults," Munslow shot a glance at James Potter, and Astrid shifted nervously in her seat – her 17th birthday was in a month's time. "With that said, I still want you to enjoy the subject – but, don't forget to take it seriously."

Professor Munslow's little speech had left the class in a bit of shock, and as he spent the first lesson outlining the course they would be covering over the next two years, his transfiguration class was the quietest Astrid had ever seen. Even James Potter didn't make any witty comments as Munslow talked – and there was plenty opportunity for him to do so.

***

The class ended, and everyone promptly left. They had a bit of time until third period, which gave Astrid time to tell Delilah why she was nearly late to transfiguration.

"Ok tell me what happened!" Delilah said, the moment they were out of a crowded place, and were walking towards the Ravenclaw common room.

"Well, I don't know what came over me as I left the Ravenclaw tower, but I began speed-walking my way to the Hufflepuff common room-"

"You didn't!" Delilah interrupted.

Astrid nodded. "I didn't even get all the way there! I ran into Ophelia on the way – literally ran into her. She was holding a bunch of letters and dropped them all over the floor!"

Astrid began to recall the entirety of the morning's events, not leaving out a single detail as they made their way up to the common room. They wouldn't usually go to the common room during their short break, but the arithmancy classroom was so close to it, they thought it made sense to spend their break in comfort.

"No way." Delilah responded as Astrid finished. "I cannot believe it. You spent all first period with her! That's insane."

"I know. I can't believe I got so lucky. I fully believe I would have wimped out the moment I got to the door if I hadn't run into her in the corridor."

Astrid and Delilah's conversation was suddenly interrupted by the door, asking them a riddle.

"A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him underwater for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?"