Beat Them Back (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

The Take Over (The Breaks Over)

"Christmas holidays are over" Professor McGonagall began, pacing around our dimly lit Transfiguration room. "This means that it is time to start focusing on your futures, if you haven't begun to do so already. The school year is halfway over and you will be graduating in June. Something else that takes place in June is your NEWT examinations."

You could feel the entirety of the classroom cringe at the mere mention of the appropriately named test. Nastily exhausting wizarding test, it made me tired just thinking about it. You would think that a jock like me, who planned on playing professionally, wouldn't even need to take a NEWT exam. But, because I am a pinnacle of self-punishment I decided to take five NEWTs level classes.

Potions? Passable DADA? One of my favourite classes ( and not because Professor Lupin is a cutie)Charms? If you know the swish and flick, you know it allHerbology? If I can wrestle with Flint, then I can wrestle a plantTransfiguration? I only pay attention so I can learn about various ways to turn Wood into a footstool

"I will not lie to you. The next few months will require developing an extremely strict time schedule, laser focused attention, and keeping up with an extremely heavy work load. We professors will not pity you, and give you less homework because of it." The candlelight reflected in the glass of Professor's spectacles as she struck fear into all of our hearts with one blunt glance.

"Talk about harsh" Tilley hissed in my ear, taking me by surprise. With a start, I toppled backwards off of my seat and landed flat on my back.

"Ms. McCormack, Ms. Abbot, there will be no horse play in my classroom" McGonagall tutted and turned her beady eyes directly on us. "Now Ms. McCormack if you please?" she flicked her wand and set my chair back up onto its legs.

"With that being said, today we will be dealing with an extremely difficult branch of magic. In your previous educational years, you may have been taught a few of these spells but other than those selected few, it is a type of magic that we wait to teach in your seventh year. Can anyone tell the class what Conjuration is?"

Even though this was a NEWTs level class, the silence was shocking. Someone near the back of the room coughed loudly, but other than that, I could hear the sound of my own heart beating.

I carefully raised my hand, my eyes glued to the board behind McGonagall's head. "Yes, Ms. McCormack, you can go to the lavatory" she said, exasperatedly.

"Actually Professor, I wanted to answer your question" I said, rather snippily. Sure, maybe I didn't pay much attention in class. And yeah, maybe she was always ragging on me about always talking to Tilley, but I was in her class for a reason. I got good grades! I could give a Ravenclaw a good run for their text-books. Why was it such a shock that I, of all people, could answer a question?

"Oh, then be my guest" she smiled curtly and folded her hands in front of her.

"Conjuration is a branch of transfiguration where one is to conjure objects or animals out of 'thin air'." I shrugged and tucked my quill behind my ear. "There are, of course, some limitations to conjuration."

"Very good Ms. McCormack, ten points to Hufflepuff. Now, can anyone else tell me what some of these limitations are?" She paced around her desk and narrowed her eyes towards the back corner of the room. "Mr. Wood, do you know the answer?"

All heads turned to where Oliver sat, crouched over a small, to scale version of the Quidditch Pitch. He pushed around little figures with the tip of his wand, pausing every so often to scribble down another tactic. He barely raised his head in recognition before clearing his throat and covering the pitch with his arms.

"Excuse me professor? Care to repeat the question?" Professor rolled her eyes and sighed deeply before flicking her wand. The tiny pitch wrestled its way out of Oliver's grasp and soared to the front of the class, landing quietly on the professor's dress.