Sadie started when George waved his hand in front of her face, snapping back to focus with a cheery smile. If she didn’t look in the ghost’s direction again, well, who was going to call her on it? The dead were meant to stay dead, weren’t they? There were hundreds of books and movies all about how badly things went wrong when the dead came back to life. Zombies outnumbered saviors a thousand to one.

“All of this is stories,” she said lightly, grateful for the distraction of intrigue and secrets. After dinner sounded like a lifetime away. A lifetime filled with magic and wonder; Sadie could deal with that, she decided.

They filed into the classroom, chattering brightly. It seemed that after the successful Herbology lesson, most students were in a good mood. Sadie was very nearly elbowed as she made her way towards a table George was holding. Finally, she managed to drop her bag on the table and claim a seat of her own. Seine dropped in beside her, leaning forward on his elbows. 

Watching a cat transform into a woman would [i]never[/i] get old, Sadie decided. Her eyes lit up as Headmistress McGonagall strode across the front of the classroom. The woman’s severity was a thing of wonder—the whole classroom went quiet, sitting up straight in their seats, hands stilling. 

“Good morning,” Professor McGonagall’s sharp voice reminded Sadie of Sister Marguerite’s no-nonsense attitude. Sadie decided she rather liked the woman in tartan at the head of the classroom. “Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.”

Sadie felt Seine shift a little uncomfortably beside her. The whole classroom seemed hesitant—and then Professor McGonagall transfigured her desk into a large, prowling lion. Gasps and delighted laughs filled the classroom, and Sadie [i]swore[/i] that the severe woman looked rather pleased with herself when she transfigured it back with a complicated dance of her wand.

“We will not be starting with object to animal transfiguration. We will begin with the fundamentals. Now…”


By the end of the lesson, Sadie had filled nearly five pages of lined paper with her neat cursive, and she was nearly bursting with excitement. Herbology didn’t come anywhere [i]close[/i] to transfiguration, she decided—this was incredible! Professor McGonagall had spoken of laws and rules and, despite the impossibility of magic, the fact that it had rules it had to follow was a pure joy. She [i]could[/i] make sense of this. She would. She refused to let herself just mindlessly recite words and wave her wand. She would learn everything about this world.

Seine was glassy eyed as she chattered all this at him, and seemed entirely too relieved when they were joined again by George, as if he’d found an escape in the blonde haired boy. 

“Looks like it’s time for lunch, yeah?” Seine enthused, “And, look, we have the afternoon period free. We can go find that tapestry.”

“But…” Sadie started to interject, already thinking of working on the problem set they’d been assigned. She thought better of it. Surely this adventure wouldn’t take the [i]whole[/i] evening, right?