An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
This class is intended to be read by 5th years and above only.
Moods varied as 5th years headed towards their last class until after the holidays; some were eager to take the upcoming time off, and others gloomy about having more classes so close to "freedom". Transfiguration was a favourite of some, but a dreaded challenge for many.
Yet as they arrived at the classroom, they found the door was not only unusually closed but also locked. A note was magically stuck to the door. Written in Professor McGonagall's familiar and impressive handwriting, it instructed them to wait there until further notice. This had never happened before, so much that a few distracted students had even walked into the closed door -- so used to it being open, awaiting them to enter and take their seats.
The mood remained mingled. Was this going to be a special lesson? Did that make it more fun and interesting, or an even trickier task than usual? There were O.W.L students now... but there were no clues to go b; there was nothing left to do than wait.
Please refer to the Standard Classroom Layout for full details -- including class expectations, noise level rules, and any changes.
Post by William Doren on Aug 26, 2023 15:46:39 GMT 10
William stood by, not too close but not too far, from the door after reading the note. They had been told to wait there for further instruction. Simple.
So he wondered why, then, he had witnessed more than one classmate walk into a closed door.
It being morning was no excuse as far as he was concerned. A closed door was hard to ignore or mistake. He came to the conclusion that people were simply idiots and he was stuck with them in his class. Unfortunate.
His gaze shifted away from the door as he was certain he wouldn't be able to keep his expression neutral for much longer if another person walked into the door. William looked at the wall opposite him instead.
Transfiguration was a class he had to work hard at and was determined to focus in order to do well this year. He thought about how much he could study over Christmas at home and hoped it would be enough to ensure a top grade in each class.
His grades last year had been disappointing to his parents but also to William.
Post by Joshua Twiggs on Aug 26, 2023 16:53:32 GMT 10
While Joshua was in no particular hurry to get to class, he did walk with purpose. And straight into the locked door.
"Ouch!"
He rubbed his nose as tears welled ibto his eyes.
Merlin's beard why was it locked?
Reading the note, Joshua hoped none of his friends had seen this. He'd never live it down.
He felt like he momentarily locked eyes with Doren though, but Joshua quickly looked away and stepped to the side to wait for Professor McGonnagal, pretending nothig had happened.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Aug 26, 2023 17:12:41 GMT 10
Transfiguration wasn't exactly Reena's strongest subject, nor her favourite in that matter, but nonetheless she did not drag her feet.
She was surprised to find her classmates wait in the hall instead of inside the classroom and arrived just in time to witness one of the Twiggs walk face-first into the door.
Reena slowed her pace at that until she came to a halt in close proximity to William Doren and read the note at the door for herself.
Her stomach seemed to droop slightly, as she feared they'd get an especially challenging class this morning. Although, it wasn't like her to back away from a challenge, she supposed.
Post by Amber Lloyd on Aug 26, 2023 17:44:26 GMT 10
Amber tailed behind Joshua and felt the box of cookies in her back while walking.
“Oh, Josh, remind me later to give you –“, her words were interrupted as her friend walked into the locked classroom door. And as she was close behind him, she almost ran into Joshua as well, but managed to come to a halt right behind him.
She swiftly stepped aside and gave his face a short glance, seeing everything was alright. Though, she quickly turned her gaze away, biting on her lips to not let out a laugher.
Amber rummaged through her bag and managed to get a cookie out of the box. “Speculoo?” she offered Joshua one with her hand as a treat for his mishap, although her gaze was still not turned to him. Then she waited with him for Professor McGonagall, wondering why the door was closed.
Last Edit: Aug 26, 2023 17:44:49 GMT 10 by Amber Lloyd
Post by Arthur Hocking on Aug 26, 2023 22:34:36 GMT 10
Arthur saw the group of people standing outside the classroom and assumed the door was closed. And probably locked. What that meant, he had no idea. Were they supposed to bring anything special? Arthur had just brought his normal supplies.
He stood next to Reena, and since she was next to William Doren, next to him as well. "What do you think that means?"
He was asking Reena more than William, since he doubted William would want to talk to him. As far as he knew, the Slytherin boy wasn't exactly the most social.
Post by Caine Hawke on Aug 26, 2023 23:07:01 GMT 10
Following behind his friends, Caine was quiet as they walked. He hung back, watching Amber and Joshua. Yoshie was about as smooth and crunchy peanut butter, not very flirtatious and it seemed like neither of them really knew what all the blushing and staring was about.
Oh but Caine knew. And he had plans.
He just had to figure out a way around their total lack of awareness and set the mood. But he was no singing crab and they weren't on a boat so he'd have to figure out other ways to make some sparks.
Why was he so invested?
Well, if he thought about it, the two of them were his best friends and it just made sense so he'd have to come up with a plan one way or another - either be the odd third wheel while they made goo-goo eyes or he could move it along somehow.
But how was the question.
He watched as Joshua ran headlong into the locked door and bit back a laugh, instead stepping backward and knocking into whomever was there - he'd hoped it was Benjamin but, alas, no. But it was a Slytherin. And Slytherins were cunning - probably more so than Caine would ever be.
"Oop, sorry!" he said quickly, turning to face the girl he'd knocked into... and then he got an idea. A wonderful idea, really, and maybe, just maybe, she'd want to help him. He leaned down slightly so that his voice wouldn't be overheard by his companions.
"Do you want to help me play matchmaker? It may take some time, but I need someone that's smarter than me." More cunning, stronger willed maybe. He just had to see how it worked.
Last Edit: Aug 26, 2023 23:27:49 GMT 10 by Caine Hawke
Sinead headed down to class, still deep in thought about the topic on the front of the paper. The brunette arrived and was surprised to see some of her classmates stood outside the classroom. As she approached them, Sinead noticed that the classroom door was closed which was unusual for this class. She approached the classroom door, saw the note stuck to it and read it.
When Sinead stepped back from the door, she had a frown on her face. It was highly unusual for not only for the door to closed but to be locked as well as the note. The girl couldn't recall this ever happening before and that fact alone made Sinead uneasy.
However that uneasiness was soon turned to amusement for Sinead as she watched a few of her classmates arriving, not notice and walked into the closed door. The brunette did her best to keep a straight face but when one of the Twiggs twins walked face first into the door, Sinead couldn't not contain the rare and soft giggle that escaped her lips.
She had been about to approach and see if he was ok but she noticed a fellow Ravenclaw girl, whom she had seen hanging out with him a few times, was already there. The brunette didn't want to intrude and moved away a bit further to lean against a nearby wall when someone knocked into her. Sinead glanced around to see who had stepped backwards into her, only to see a Hufflepuff, whom she vaguely recognised as the chaotic one who often hung around with the Twiggs twin and the Ravenclaw girl.
"Ah no it's fine, I apologise for being in your way." The brunette replied as she glanced up at the boy with a polite but genuine smile. She didn't want to come across as unfriendly over something that was a mere accident. She was however a bit startled when he leaned down to speak quietly to her but she decided to listen to see what he was going to say.
"Oh uhh...yeah okay then, though I'm not sure about me being smarter though." Sinead replied with a hint of both surprise and amusement when the boy asked her to help him play matchmaker. The brunette felt a bit mystified over the whole thing but decided it sounded interesting enough to help.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Aug 27, 2023 0:40:39 GMT 10
Reena turned her head when Arthur appeared next to her and gave him a smile before she knew it. Nothing against Doren, who was perfectly acceptable company to keep, since he was unlikely to gossip as some of their other classmates were.
But seeing Arthur was a whole lot better.
Although... She absentmindedly scratched her left eye brow. Had he heard about those rumours some of their classmates had been spreading about her and Tae-Sang last night, and were maybe still doing it?
She hoped not. He didn't say anything about it, but one thing she liked about Arthur was that he respected privacy and didn't push. Strangely enough she found that parts of her wanted him to ask about it, if he knew.
"Not sure. Perhaps we are supposed to turn the door into a curtain to get inside," Reena attempted a joke to mask her growing concern about the locked door and its potential meaning.
Post by William Doren on Aug 27, 2023 4:45:17 GMT 10
William largely ignored the majority of his classmates.
Yes, he did witness Joshua as he walked into the door but he had looked away after that. When Reena stood nearby he gave her a nod of acknowledgement but was thankful that she didn't try to draw him into a conversation.
Then that Hufflepuff boy showed up and he seemed rather friendly with Reena. William liked how he seemed a lot calmer than the other two Hufflepuffs currently horsing around.
So he decided that Arthur was okay in his books -- for now.
William nodded to him as well and, unable to help it, overheard the conversation between Arthur and Reena. His gaze was trained on the wall opposite as he considered their options. He felt Reena could be possibly right if not entirely.
The way he saw it, there were a few options.
Option A - Their teacher had modified the classroom for their lesson and, to keep it a surprise, locked them out until she was ready to reveal what had changed.
Option B - The door was the test, as Reena had suggested. Perhaps not in the way she was guessing but along those lines.
Option C - Their lesson was being held elsewhere and Professor McGonagall had locked the door and put up the notice so they didn't enter the room or wander off. Easier to herd them to the new location after that.
It was a nice way to pass the time, thinking about the possibilities and William wondered which one was correct.
Or was there a fourth option he hadn't thought about yet?
Post by Caine Hawke on Aug 27, 2023 5:15:17 GMT 10
"I... ran into you. Why are you apologizing to me?" He asked, clearly taken aback.
"You weren't in my way at all, I'm just clumsy."
She seemed nice enough! Sure, he'd only even spoken to her a handful of times but she was his classmate. She was a Slytherin, he knew that by a combination of robes and memory, and she was... pretty quiet most of the time. Sinead, right? Right. She had friends, didn't she? They were somewhere in the Slytherin group...
Which meant they were around here somewhere!
She answered his question about helping which was countered by her saying she didn't know if she was smarter than him... he could probably promise that she was. At least about some things. She was modest, he concluded without a thought further on it - surely she had gifts that he didn't.
And, seeing his grades, he could almost promise hers weren't as bad as his own.
"You may surprise yourself," he responded, standing back to his full height.
"But meet me after class for the better details. But if you need a partner in class today, I'm your guy."
That way he could get to know her, right?
Right.
At least better than a passing face in the crowd. She was a fifth year, like he was. So it only made sense that he tried to be her friend!
Last Edit: Aug 27, 2023 5:16:07 GMT 10 by Caine Hawke
Post by Arthur Hocking on Aug 27, 2023 7:12:25 GMT 10
"Curtains? Ugh, I'd be stuck out here the whole lesson!" Arthur said as a bit of a joke, though he wasn't confident in his Transfiguration abilities. "Maybe Professor McGonagall overslept."
That was probably less likely than Arthur turning the door into curtains. As long as he'd taken her class, Professor McGonagall had been punctual. And wanted them to be punctual, too. There was a chance they'd all missed some early-morning owl and were now late for a lesson. Arthur didn't even want to think about that.
There were other things to consider, anyways. "Are you doing anything after Transfiguration?"
Maybe they could study together. Whatever they were going to do in this lesson was sure to be difficult, if only because they were OWL students now and Professor McGonagall probably expected more from them than any year before.
Post by Oscar Tinkle on Aug 27, 2023 12:28:44 GMT 10
The unexpected sight of his classmates gathered outside their classroom door had Oscar pausing on his way down the corridor.
Since when did they wait outside? That was not how things usually worked and Oscar found that he did not like the surprise change. What did it mean? Was class cancelled? Or taking place somewhere else? Was Professor McGonagall ill?
He hoped not. It was not particularly nice being ill and he would not wish that on anyone.
Figuring that he should probably join the gathered students lest he be left behind if or when their class started, Oscar slowly walked the rest of the way to quietly join the crowd. Maybe one of them would be more knowledgeable about why they were gathered outside too.
Hoping that he would maybe overhear someone explain what was going on, Oscar leaned a shoulder against the wall as he scanned who was in the crowd.
It definitely seemed like the whole class was gathered at least, or close enough to it, so that probably ruled out them all being late.
Sinead blinked but had a faint smile on her face as the boy mentioned that he was clumsy. She had started to become more curious about him, which was only heightened further when he told her that she may surprise herself after she had answered him about not seeing herself as smart. Surely his grades couldn't be any worse than hers...could they?
Anyways Caine seemed friendly enough in Sinead's eyes and she hoped she could get to know him more. The boy it seemed had an answer to her unspoken thought when he mentioned about being partners in class and meeting afterwards for details about this matchmaking. It seemed like a fair deal to the brunette.
"Deal. I'll meet up with you after class then and thanks it would be nice to partner up with you in class if we need to, so thanks for the offer." The shy brunette responded with a shy and rare smile. It would seem that the walls Sinead had built around herself were finally starting to crack.
Post by Reena Ashworth on Aug 27, 2023 17:06:44 GMT 10
"The people who succeed will need to share their class notes with those stuck out here then," she picked up on his joke.
When he suggested McGonnagal might have overslept, she gave him a doubtful look. Very unlikely.
Although, the thought of McGonnagal rushing through the castle in her slippers and night gown, with a shower cap on, to hang this note - was hilarious. Because that would never happen, not to her.
She was way too composed and class for something silly like that.
"After?", Reena hesitated. She had that handwritten letter from Tae-Sang in her pocket, though hadn't decided yet that she would actually go.
Ah. She supposed she would.
"I'm meeting up with someone." she shrugged. "Why? What did you want to do? I could come find you after."
She gave him a small smile. He probably wanted to get on with studying. She'd enjoy that.
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