The Girl Who Lived

Chapter 12: Transfiguration

Philomene looked up at the clock, and suddenly realized that she should start preparing to go to class. Now in the Gryffindor common room, Philomene started to throw her books into her duffel bag, which was starting to strain from the weight of the heavy tomes. Mental Note: get a new backback. She thought, before swinging it on her back and starting to walk towards the door.

As she was about to push the door open, it opened on the other side. A young boy, a second or third year, stood on the other side. Knowing her manners, Philomene stepped to the side to allow the boy to pass. The boy clambered through the door, flashing her a small, grateful smile as he hurried past. She watched as he went over to the couches in front of the fireplace, plopping down onto a big, comfy chair.

Philomene turned and bent her head as she walked through the hole, avoiding bumping her head. She walked down the hall.

Several Hours Later...

Although her legs and brain were weary, Philomene was overexcited about her classes. As she hurried back to the Gryffindor Common room, she rehearsed the facts she had learned in her shortened sessions, committing them to memory.

She peeked out of the ornate hall windows as they flew past. It was dark and cold outside, it being late at night. Her classes ended at 7:30, starting at 4:00. To fit her classes in, she had to have shortened periods. But that was no problem for the teachers, seeing that she was the only student in their class.

She finally arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait,  spoke the password, and walked in. To her great surprise. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were waiting. Hermione had her nose in a book, Harry was staring into the flames of the fire, and Ron was asleep, snoring. This seemed to be annoying Hermione greatly.

"Hi guys!" Philomene greeted with a smile. Two heads jerked up and smiled at her, but the snoring continued. Harry elbow Ron in one quick, fluid movement, not taking his eyes off of her.

Ron jerked awake, then saw me. "Hello," he said simply, then turned to Harry and asked, "can I go to bed now? I'm exhausted!"

"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione, "It's only natural to wait for her after her first day learning magic! Aren't you at all curious?"

"I guess," he mumbled back.

Hermione was satisfied and turned back to her new friend. "So how was it?" she asked sweetly.

"Great!" Philomene replied, "McGonagall is my favorite teacher. Transfiguration is intriguing! I managed to turn my matchstick into a needle on my second try!"

"Congratulations!" Hermione exclaimed.

"You're only one try behind Hermione when she took that class!" Ron exclaimed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sure, and she's infinitely ahead of you two when you took that class," she said, crossing her arms. The boys looked down at the ground in mild embarassment.

"I for one am definitely ready to go to bed," Philomene confessed, after a huge yawn.

"Okay," Hermione said, "I'm tired too. Let's go." She rose and led the way up the steps to the girls' dormitory. Inside, a girl, whose name was Ginny, was already asleep.

After quickly changing into comfortable pajamas, Philomene clambered into bed.