Class Four - N.E.W.T.

Alice entered class and saw teacher. She had heard his words about opening the book and stuff. "I'm sorry, if I'm late," she said in her calm voice. Without waiting his answer, she went on nearest free place and sat. Alice opened her book and started reading.

Mariana looked surprised as Professor McCoy sat next to her.Wilson just made fun of her current state as it was a practical joke and no other Professor really payed attention to her.She just smiled sadly not really sure what to answer. "My life is a wrong turn that's what's going on...Though that's a generally known thing Professor..Sorry if I am ruining your class." she said not changing her expression for a moment.There were some things that shouldn't be discussed publicly.

''No, no, my dear. Do not worry about the class. Arthur m'boy, you will take over if I do not finish here in a few moments.'', McCoy said to Arthur. ''So, what is the wrong turn Miss Diggory?'', he asked.

McCoy looked at Arthur. ''Please, Arthur, would you be so kind to take over until I finish here.'', he said.

(I can' wait anymore)

Arthur stood up and stood in front of the class. ''Well, you probably think this is awkward and think that it is unfair that I have been chosen, well... you'll have to live with it. You all know me, so I am not going to introduce myself.'', Arthur said.

''Now, today we are transfiguring rodents nonverbally. Can anyone tell me how the mechanism of non-verbal transfiguration works? Verbal is easy, you have an incantation and it works. Non-verbal is a little tougher, you do not have an incantation and you still have to turn something into something else. Does anyone know how that mechanism work? Amelia, would you be so kind? And no, you do not have to address me 'professor'. Just use Arthur. So, Amelia, would you?'', he asked, with a smile.

Amelia, while not giving any indication that she was listening, had heard the professor’s words as he approached Marianna’s desk, clearly concerned for her wellbeing. Although Amelia had no way of knowing how Marianna felt about the professor’s inquiries into her personal life, she was certain that in the same situation she probably would have told the person to bug off, professor or not. This was just one of many reasons Amelia did not wear her emotions on her sleeve: the questions that usually followed.

Despite her sympathizing with Marianna’s unwillingness to tell Professor McCoy everything that was going wrong for her, Amelia was not directly affected by the situation so she wasn’t forced to pay it much mind until she heard the phrase that the professor uttered that made her eyes widen in disbelief, though she was still staring at her textbook so no one was likely to have noticed.

Arthur? Amelia thought incredulously, thinking Arthur no more capable of teaching the class than she was of becoming a muggle plumber. Sure, he was intelligent, that much she had seen, but why give him free reign of the classroom? He was pompous enough as it was; this would certainly only add fuel to that already blazing fire.

Amelia kept her head down as she heard Arthur get up from his desk, taking the place at the head of the classroom as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Internally, Amelia was fuming, already having a dislike for the know-it-all Gryffindor and now stuck in a situation where she would be required to do as he said. It was painfully difficult, focusing her attention on his voice, because she was usually able to tune him out quite well as he answered question after question in class, not giving anyone else a chance for house points or credit.

It was a good thing she was listening, though, because a few sentences into his new teaching position Arthur specifically called on her, drawing attention to her though she would have liked to remain anonymous for the rest of this lecture to avoid saying anything that might indicate her feelings on the subject of Arthur being promoted from student to professor.

But Amelia was practiced in holding her tongue and playing nice, and in truth, what good would it do her to antagonize Arthur? He had the consent of the professor to be instructing the class, and if their roles had been reversed and he had intentionally made her life difficult, she would have been upset by it. Not that it wasn’t tempting, to put Arthur in his place, but now was not the time.

“Of course,” Amelia responded in a sort of forced polite manner, though she doubted anyone would notice, moderating her voice to keep her usual sarcasm out of it. If she was antagonistic to Arthur he would be sure to call her out on it, and she wasn’t in the mood to deal with that today, “Non-verbal transfiguration, like all other non-verbal spells, looks beyond the incantation and requires much more of the user than mere memorization and execution. Non-verbal spells require mental discipline and focus,” Amelia continued, reciting what she knew and pushing away thoughts of barbed comments she might insert.

“Non-verbal transfiguration can be especially tricky because one must focus on the being or object he or she wishes to transfigure in addition to that thing or being they wish to produce. Some witches and wizards find it useful to consider homologous structures or behaviors when transfiguring non-verbally, because it makes the transition from one form to another more seamless,” Amelia finished, hoping this answer would be complete enough for Arthur’s liking. If not, she doubted he would hesitate to publicly correct her shortcomings. He seemed the type.

William Winston McCoy wrote:''No, no, my dear. Do not worry about the class. Arthur m'boy, you will take over if I do not finish here in a few moments.'', McCoy said to Arthur. ''So, what is the wrong turn Miss Diggory?'', he asked.

McCoy looked at Arthur. ''Please, Arthur, would you be so kind to take over until I finish here.'', he said.

(I can' wait anymore)

Mariana wasn't sure what would others think.After all McCoy was a Professor. "Let's just say my life is a disaster or at least big part of it Professor...I took too much wrong turns and there's no way of getting back now.Just looks like my life lost the point outside of studying and quditch that keep me occupied...I don't know how to explain it. My life looks like a tunnel that's coming to its end without light being on the end..." she said not really wishing to mention Jess since it was too personal.

Arthur smiled. He had not expected anything less from her. Although he had secretly hoped she would make a mistake, that is not the reason why he called her out. He was, in fact, sure she would not make a mistake. ''Lovely, typical, but still lovely. Ten points for Ravenclaw, if the professor agrees.'', he said. McCoy just raised his head and nodded in acceptance. ''There you have it Amelia, 10 points. Now, I suppose some of you have had the opportunity to use non-verbal transfiguration, but there are some that haven't. What Amelia said, the main thing you need to do is concentrate.'', he said.

He then saw some cages that were behind McCoy's desk. He levitated them on the desks, but put two on McCoy's desk. One was his and the other... Amelia's. ''Now, before you.... you see cages in which you have a mouse. Your task is to transfigure the mouse into anything without using an incantation. You can transform it into the Statue of Liberty, if you ask me, or the Great Wall of China, just do it correctly. Point your wand at the mouse, concentrate on what you want to see and try. Whoever does it with an incantation hasn't done his task correctly. I'll demonstrate.'', he said and pointed his wand at his mouse.

He waved with it and the mouse transfigured into a sparrow. ''This was an example of cross-species non-verbal transfiguration. You can, for the first time choose an object - box, stick, quill, but whoever is capable and daring enough to try can also try to create a animal.'', he said. ''I wish you the best of luck.'', he said and smiled.

He then walked over to Amelia and looked at her. He smiled. ''Amelia, your mouse is over there. Would you be so kind?'', he asked stretching his hand over to her.

''There is always a way back, my dear.'', McCoy said to Mariana. ''What happened exactly? Is it the duel? Patterson? Jess?'', he asked. ''It would not be satisfactory for all of us to see you like this.'', he added.

((Sorry for the length. There was a lot to describe. Also, the story to which I am referring is "The Lion the the Mouse". It is an Aesop fable.))

It was with a mixture of relief and annoyance that Amelia heard Arthur’s response to her answer, relieved because he hadn’t found a way to tell her she was wrong, and annoyed because he had belittled what both of them knew was a perfect answer. Yes, her answer was typical, but only because she was typically right.

Amelia wanted to spit this comment back in Arthur’s face, but he obviously had the support of the professor behind him, and what with his doling out points he might go on a power trip and decide he could take them away as well. If Arthur was going to have power over her for the next 50 minutes or so that remained of class, Amelia was not about to give him a reason to test its limits. Instead, she gave him a tight lipped smile and allowed her eyes to glaze over slightly to avoid letting him see her emotions written across her blue irises. Amelia’s eyes had a tendency to betray her – not nearly as much as her blushing did, but still noticeably – so she was conscious to avoid giving herself away as she watched Arthur continue with the lesson.

He was talented, that much Amelia already knew, but she was provided a demonstration of it anyway. Arthur spoke not a word as he transfigured the mouse in the cage into a sparrow, the winged thing zipping around in the cage that was large enough for a mouse, but not nearly enough space for a sparrow to stretch its wings properly. In any other circumstances, Amelia would have considered it showing off for Arthur to be demonstrating his skills in front of the class, but she knew that if Professor McCoy were teaching the lesson he would have done the very same thing. Her dislike for Arthur was making her ill-tempered even when the situation didn’t explicitly call for it, and Amelia mentally reminded herself that she needed to behave.

As Arthur addressed the class as a whole, Amelia had thought herself removed from the scope of his attention, but it seemed the dark haired boy was not through with her just yet. Instead, as he finished his description of the spell he walked over to her desk, extending a hand in the direction of the second cage, in which the furry rodent still resided.

Amelia’s eyes widened at his prompt, immediately wanting to shoot daggers at him but knowing better. Arthur knew that Amelia preferred to keep her silence and anonymity in class and he was intentionally putting her at the forefront of this lesson. He could not feign innocence on this one; they had been in the same classes since their first year and he knew as well as anyone that Amelia kept to herself.

But putting up a fight would only allow Arthur to win, and Amelia was far too competitive for that. Instead, she plastered on another of her diplomatic smiles and stood up from her desk, brushing past Arthur’s outstretched hand to move toward the cage to Arthur had indicated. As she walked, the last statement of Arthur’s little speech on non-verbal transfiguration repeated itself in her mind, making her clutch her holly wand tighter in her spindly fingers.

”But whoever is daring enough to try can also try to create an animal…”

Know it all prat, Amelia mentally insulted Arthur, allowing her sarcasm full reign of her mind since she was not allowed to utter any of it aloud. As she reached the desk, she stood behind it, focusing only on the mouse in front of her and attempting to avoid all the sets of eyes which were now focused on her thanks to Mr. Poe.

His last phrase had been a challenge, one that Amelia was taking personally. She was not going to let Arthur force her into a demonstration in front of her peers and then be shown up by him. No, Amelia was too competitive for that, and she was far too stubborn to play second fiddle to that.

Closing her eyes, Amelia focused on blocking out the noises of the classroom, including the conversation which was still passing between Marianna and Professor McCoy. In her mind, she summoned a childhood story that she had been fond of. Amelia had read incessantly in her childhood – some things never change – and this story by Aesop had always been one of her favorites. With the picture of that story firmly in her mind, Amelia knew she had made the associations necessary to perform the non-verbal spell. All that was left now was to wave her wand.

With a twist and a flick of her wrist, Amelia opened her eyes just in time to see the mouse in front of her starting to morph, the hairs on its back standing on end as it grew in size, slowly changing from black to a more golden colour, it’s face rounding, it’s tail changing from a spaghetti noodle impression to one covered with hair and a small tuft at the end. Amelia made sure to hold the image in her mind until the transfiguration was complete and in the cage before her sat a lion cub, its eyes wide with confusion at having moved so quickly up the food chain.

“Will that suffice?” Amelia asked plaintively, turning her attention back to “professor” Poe, trying but failing to keep a smile from pulling up the corners of her lips. Would her display of magical aptitude be considered showing off? Maybe. But Amelia doubted very much that there weren't a few other students in the class who wouldn't mind her bringing Arthur Severus Poe down a peg.

No one can say you are all talk… Amelia thought to herself, being careful not to seem as though she were gloating even though she wanted to leap in victory. If Arthur had been trying to make a fool of her, it hadn’t worked, as evidenced by the purring jungle cat who had now turned his attention to licking his forepaws.

(A brilliant post... yes, I have read Aesop not a long time ago, but I was not aware that people in the USA read European literature that much... brilliant.)

Arthur walked slowly behind Amelia. Step by step. He knew she was mad. He was fully aware of that sad fact, but his awareness made him feel happy. She was a challenge, not intellectually nor academically, that was useless and pretty much over-rated. Same with magical skills. She was a personal challenge. A girl that interested him extremely. Why is she always like that? She seems shy, but is strong. Why not show it? He wondered about that all the time. And her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes... they spoke a completely different story from time to time. Although she hoped people would not notice, he did. And yet again her eyes revealed much that her persona did not.

He watched her carefully as she was approaching the cage. She feels challenged, fine. If she fails, no harm, well at least not from my side. If she succeeds, a surprise. She closed her eyes. Does she need that much concentration? Did he overestimate her abilities? He did it without even blinking and she needed to focus. Will this be a fiasco?

But then - Eureka! As she opened her eyes, the little mouse that was buzzing through the cage changed into a lion cub. Well, the cage was a little narrow, but what could he do. It was obviously not meant for such large animals. ''Engorgio'', he said, making the cage larger.

He turned to Amelia. She desperately wanted to smile. Why does she have such a grudge against him? Did he do so much wrong by not communicating with her? He smiled. ''And that is, class, how you transfigure non-verbally. A lion cub. Brilliant! Another 10 points for Ravenclaw.'', he exclaimed loudly and enthusiastically. It reminded him of Gary Oldman reciting Shakespeare's ''All the world's a stage...'' in a TV commercial he had seen a few years before.

He turned to Amelia once again. He took her hand and kissed it, bowing. ''Thank you for the co-operation, Amelia. Is there something you would like to add?'', he asked.