"Lumos!"
Both Blake and Greengrass's wand tips lit up at the same time – Blake's light a light blue colour, and her's a dark brown.
"Impressive, Mr Renshaw and Ms. Greengrass," Professor Flitwick complimented. "Now, there's a stronger version of this spell - 'Lumos Solem'. I know neither of you have practiced it, but I want to see you try to hold it for as long as you can, and as bright as you can."
Blake thanked the Professor, while Greengrass merely smiled at him. Blake was almost surprised at the display of happiness – almost. She's as Slytherin as it gets, Blake thought. She's already trying to win the Professors over. But to be fair, so am I.
"Lumos Solem!" the pair said, and a silent competition started between them – both of their lights shone just as brightly as each other, and they held on as long as they possibly could. Seconds turned into minutes, and where other students were either trying and failing at producing any light at all from their wands or failing to produce any substantial amount of light for more than a few seconds, the Slytherin pair kept their light shining so bright that the students nearby had to shine their eyes. But even though both of them refused to show it, they were getting tired. Blake's breath began to become shorter and faster, and eventually, he couldn't hold on any longer, and the blue light from his wand collapsed – not even half a second later, so did Greengrass's.
"Excellent show, both of you" said Flitwick.
"It appears that we have our top students: Mr Renshaw and Ms Greengrass. 10 Points to Slytherin for Mr Renshaw, and 20 for Ms Greengrass!"
As Blake expected, the class showed barely any reaction – save for Tracey, who loudly complimented her friends, and Malfoy, muttering under his breath about how they must've cheated.
I would have thought they'd be more excited, considering how much the people here care about this stuff. Oh wait, Blake thought as realisation dawned on him. The Slytherins won't clap for me.
But honestly, Blake didn't really care about that - he was frustrated. Frustrated that he had lost, yes - but more than that, he was frustrated that he had lost to her of all people. Now she definitely thinks she's better than me, he thought, annoyed.
But to his surprise, Greengrass reacted for once - looking at him coldly. Blake didn't know what to make of the girl's expression, but one thing was clear - it wasn't a positive one.
The rest of the lesson went by in a blur - it was nothing too difficult for Blake, but even so he made sure to act in line with his earlier performance, even if he could do better. Unlike him, however, Greengrass made no such effort, and continued to outshine the entire class, much to the chagrin of Blake and Malfoy.
Blake's thoughts were interrupted by Flitwick announcing that the class was over, and as he packed up, he looked up to see Zabini waiting for him.
"You're not walking with Tracey?" Blake asked the other boy innocently.
"Was that meant to be a joke?" replied Zabini, trying to sound unbothered, but Blake detected a slight annoyance in his tone.
"Not at all," Blake replied neutrally, and the pair made their way to their next class - Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. This should be interesting, Blake thought.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"My first question for you all is: what is Transfiguration?"
McGonagall had not opted for seating plans, and so Blake and Zabini had ended up in one of the middle desks, right in front of Daphne and Tracey, while Charlotte was unfortunately left to sit with Goyle this time, as Malfoy and Crabbe sat together at the back. After a few seconds of no one putting up their hands, finally a pale one rose.
"Ms Greengrass?"
"Transfiguration is a branch of magic that focuses on altering the appearance of an object, person or animal," stated the girl methodically, with a neutral but polite expression on her face. So not smiling like with Flitwick - different approach for different teachers, huh?
"That's correct, Ms Greengrass. 5 points to Slytherin. My next question is: what are the uses of Transfiguration in the real world?"
Again, after a few seconds, Greengrass's hand went up.
"Ms Greengrass?"
"You can use it to multiply existing things, or even create things out of thin air - in accordance to Gamp's Law, of course, or switch 2 objects around, or cause something to vanish, or transform things, or modify them slightly." The girl spoke very calmly, not rushing at all. Blake came to the realisation that Greengrass had already prepared for her lessons, and was clearly at least a couple steps ahead. Yeah, she knows way more than I do. I need to do more, and fast, before I let her overtake me completely.
"Well done, Ms Greengrass, that's correct. Another 5 points to Slytherin." Greengrass gave a small smile this time, while McGonagall asked her final question.
"What are some of the dangers of Transfiguration? Maybe someone other than Ms Greengrass this time please?"
No hands went up.
"What about you, Mr Renshaw?" Blake froze. Uh oh.
"Sorry, Professor, could you repeat the question again please?" he asked politely, trying to buy himself time to think, while the class snickered.
"I said, what are some of the dangers of Transfiguration, Mr Renshaw?"
I've not got a clue Professor, Blake thought, worried that McGonagall may not think he was taking Hogwarts - or more specifically, her subject - seriously. Oh well, might as well guess.
"Is it that there's a risk that if the spell isn't performed properly, the object being transfigured might become entirely different? And especially if it's a human or animal, they could get permanently hurt or changed?"
"Are you asking me or telling me, Mr Renshaw?" McGonagall asked him curtly. Does that mean I got it right?
"Um, I'm telling you, Professor," Blake replied with faux hesitation, now 99% certain his answer was correct.
"That's correct, Mr Renshaw," McGonagall said after a second of pause, "5 points to Slytherin." Good, now she thinks that I've already started studying.
"And another 5 points to Slytherin for the quick thinking." Never mind, Blake thought as his cheeks began to colour.
"Now, everyone, turn to page 10 of your textbook. Mr Malfoy, start reading from the top of the page."
As the class progressed, Blake found himself enjoying McGonagall's class and teaching - he much preferred it to Flitwick's, especially considering McGonagall made sure to explain the real world applications of everything they learnt. I got lucky that she was the one to contact Mum, Blake thought. I'll need to learn as much from her as I can.
AN: If you would like to view up to 20 more bonus chapters on all my fics so far including this one, and would also like to support me, please visit my P@TR30N, at pa tr eon.com / GhidorahWriter (remove the spaces). Thanks for reading and make sure ADD to your COLLECTION and VOTE with POWER STONES! The target is 100 POWER STONES for the next BONUS CHAPTER!