章 15: Chapter 15: Extra Classes (U)
A/N: The U in the brackets stands for unedited. I will come back and some point and edit it properly. Till then just bear with errors.
***
After spending another great week, it was time to return to Hogwarts.
Ginny was really dreading the next few months. She really, really wished there was a way to somehow avoid her extra Potion's classes. Sadly, the world wanted to screw her over.
The train back to Hogwarts was uneventful. She did not find Aileen, Gwen or Luna so she just sat along with the Golden Trio.
Hermione, the moment she saw her, squealed and hugged her tightly, jabbering away about her Christmas Gift and how awesome it was and about how she couldn't wait to try the spells.
"I did not even think that Engorgement Charm could become so easy to cast with just one modification!" Hermione expressed her surprise.
"Yeah, I found out when I was experimenting with its counter-spell…" Ginny explained how Riddle had chanced upon it while casually using his magic in his 2nd year.
Ron's ears perked up. He asked, feigning a casual demeanour, "The Engorgement charm?" He'd been struggling with the Charm for a while now, and still had a hard time casting it consistently.
"Mh-hm." Ginny nodded but did not explain. She wanted Ron to ask for it. She knew very well that his ego would stop him from asking his younger sister, despite knowing that she was better than him. No he would ask Hermione. Which was what she wanted. While Ron was not as bad as he was in his first-year, he still did not stop making cracking jokes at Hermione's expense. And while they were mostly harmless, over time they added up. And it was not doing anything good for the girl's self-esteem.
Ron might not understand that what he was doing was actually quite harmful, both to himself and Hermione. So she hoped to give Hermione the upper hand once in a while.
In just a while, they reached Hogwarts.
What was a little surprising to Ginny was that she did not have to wait till her 2nd year to catch a glimpse of the Thestrals. Yes she could see them. She'd guessed she could see them due to her unique circumstances.
-x-x-x-
It wasn't until they reached the Great Hall, that she finally found her roomies. It was Gwen who spotted her first, causing her to bounce on her seat and enthusiastically wave to her.
"Ginny, I missed you!" She was immediately given a tight hug from Gwen. Aileen, sitting on the other side of the table also greeted her.
"I missed you both too!" she replied, returning the hug just as enthusiastically. She was not lying. She really did miss teasing them! She was very much looking forward to the next few days. She would surely make up for her loss of satisfaction!
Aileen suddenly shivered, feeling a chill rush up her spine. She frantically looked around, only to see a smiling Ginny staring at her. Ginny raised her hand and waved. Aileen uncertainly returned her wave.
After a round of greetings, they sat down in a lively banter about their holidays while waiting for the Welcome Feast to begin.
-x-x-x-
The next day at breakfast, McGonagall found Ginny and handed her a piece of parchment.
"This, Ms. Weasley, is the timetable for your extra classes. With the exception of the weekends, you will have double periods from 4 pm to 6 pm on all other days. While you will be taking Astronomy with the 2nd years, Professor Sinistra says they are not much further ahead and you will be able to catch up in a short while.
"As for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Flitwick has, quite graciously, agreed to guide you."
Ginny nodded.
"Now," the Scottish witch fixed her with a stern gaze, "remember, Miss Weasley, that the professors are going out of their way, taking time out of their own free time to help you in your studies. I expect you to be on your absolute best behaviour, no matter what happens. I will not tolerate a single word of complaint about your misbehaviour during these extra classes."
"So, if it's not during the extra classes, it's fine, professor?" Ginny's eyes that had dimmed immediately lit up. The corner of McGonagall's lips twitched but decided not to comment in the end, completely ignoring her student's question. Clearly, she had given up on discipling the mischievous young girl. In her long career, the professor had come to realise that students like Ginny had a mind of their own and no amount of detentions, lecturing and punishment would change their minds.
Besides, the sheer brilliance the girl showed endeared her immensely to most of the professors. Filius was pretty much wrapped around her fingers - even if she didn't know it. Every time Snape tried to have her punished in some way or another, he would always counter the Potions' Professor vehemently, making her doubt sometimes which House she actually belonged to.
Ginny simply took her silence as tacit agreement.
After explaining a few more things before McGonagall walked away in her signature brisk gait.
'Hmm… Charms on monday, Defence on tuesday, Transfiguration on wednesday and Potions on thursday, Herbology on friday. Well at least I have three days to prepare before it's time to face the music.'
Aileen and Gwen, who had been quietly listening on the side, snatched the timetable out of her hands.
"You have to free time left at all!" Gwen looked at her friend in pity after she'd finished going through the parchment. "You probably have less free time than Third- and Fourth-years."
"Nah, she's probably even happy that she gets to study more. Darned bookworm!" Aileen rolled her eyes.
"Sigh… and I worked so hard to find an easier alternative to the warming charms, sigh… people just don't cherish their friendships these days" Ginny shook her head in a theatrical performance of lament.
Needless to say, someone changed their tune faster than she could say 'quidditch'.
-x-x-x-
After another disappointing Defence Against the Dark Arts class, the first day of the year came to an end.
Ginny on the other hand was hurrying over to the Charms classroom after bidding her roommates a goodbye.
Upon reaching the classroom, she found the diminutive professor in his classroom, seated behind his desk. He noticed her presence the moment she entered the classroom.
"Ah, welcome back, Miss Weasley!" he said cheerfully.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, professor." she 'panted' slightly.
"No, no, you are perfectly on time, Miss Weasley." he shook his head. "Have a seat and catch your breath while I organise a few things."
While she 'caught her breath' she watched the professor go through some parchments, involving some incredibly complex charms work she found rather familiar for some reason.
Before she could look further, however, the professor had already filed the parchments in a folder and put them away with a casual flick of his wand.
"Now, Miss Weasley. Minerva says you have already read ahead and even completed your practical charms work for the year?" Flitwick queried after he noticed that she had 'caught her breath'.
"Yes, professor, I have already started on the 2nd year syllabus with Hermione." she nodded in assent.
"Ah Miss Granger, a rather brilliant student - even if a bit overly focused on theory. It is a good idea to learn with her. But we are not going to start the 2nd year's syllabus until I'm convinced of your proficiency in the 1st year's.
"Take out your wand miss Weasley. I shall test you from where we stopped in the first-year classes. Let's begin with the Unlocking Charm…"
What followed was Professor Flitwick asking her to perform spells, and she performed them with no problems at all. With each spell she performed correctly, the professor grew more and more excited. By the time they had gone through all the first-year spells, the professor was positively euphoric. Ginny even had a feeling that he might've started bouncing on his feet if he did not want to keep his dignity intact.
"Good, very good Miss Weasley! You have perfectly performed every spell perfectly up to and beyond standard for an Outstanding in your exams! Unfortunately, I cannot award you points since this is - strictly speaking - an informal class. But rest assured, I will give you the points you deserve when you perform in formal class. Besides this is quite an advantage - your points won't be docked either." the professor winked conspiratorially at her.
Her smile widened immensely.
"I have a good idea of your progress now. I believe we can start with the 2nd year's syllabus next week." Ginny nodded to indicate that she understood and made to get up
"Ah, before I forget, your homework - yes, homework Miss Weasley, you are not escaping that so easily. Your homework will be to write a summary for all the spells that I had you cast today. You have until next week. You should be done by Sunday if you do one spell on weekdays and three on weekends."
-x-x-x-
Extra Defence with Flitwick was a similar matter, where he ruthlessly dumped another massive pile of homework on her head.
She never imagined that she would, one day, curse the usually cheery professor - who was also one of her favourite teachers - to the depths of hell. That goblin ancestry was definitely showing through.
'I'm sure my Minny won't give me such horrendous amounts of homework.' she thought.
She was wrong.
-x-x-x-
"P-professor, are you sure I have to do all of this by the next class?" she tearfully at McGonagall.
"Yes, I am very sure, Ms. Weasley. It should not be too difficult for you." McGonagall spoke with a no-nonsense tone.
Ginny nearly burst into tears right there.
-x-x-x-
Snape was a different beast.
"Dealing with a know-it-all was hard enough. But now I have to deal with an insufferable know-it-all and an undisciplined, misbehaving brat who thinks she's the best thing to walk this earth since Merlin." Snape spat out in his nasally voice as he peered down imperiously at her.
'At least, I'm not the greasiest thing to walk on earth. Unlike someone.' she gritted her teeth and suppressed the retort that had - almost instinctively - bubbled up.
It took a healthy dose of magical blood pressure pills that went by the name of 'occlumency' to get through each of the Potion classes.
Needless to say, her homework only increased when it came to Snape. She was not even surprised when she got more homework in Potions than Transfiguration and Charms combined.
-x-x-x-
Professor Sprout, Ginny decided, was the sweetest being that ever walked the earth.
The professor excitedly told her about how much she liked the cup that she had given her for Christmas. The parallels between using the cup and taking care of magical plants was 'beautifully done' according to her. In fact, she even commissioned several such props for the next year from Ginny in exchange for some cash.
She wanted similar props for the students. Only this time they would each correspond to a particular plant and required special treatment according to what the said magical plant required. Ginny accepted in a heartbeat. She had already squandered all her pocket money on ingredients for nutrient potions' materials and was currently pawning off some of the weaker magical objects she found in the Room of Hidden Things to barely make enough to keep up with her needs.
The professor also mentioned that it was considered inappropriate to give professors any gifts, be it for Christmas or Birthday or any other occasion. Because it could very well be considered a bribe.
At some point in time during the early 14th century, a valedictorian of the year was found to have failed every single O.W.L. exam. This surprised many people, so upon investigating, they found out that the students' parents had been bribing every teacher with ridiculous amounts of golden Galleons as Christmas or Birthday presents in exchange for their child's supposed excellence.
It was a massive scandal that ended in the expulsion of the student and sacking of multiple professors. It was a huge mark of shame in the history of Hogwarts.
Since then, it was considered a taboo to send professors any gifts as long as your ward or equivalent was attending Hogwarts.
Ginny was rather fascinated as this had never appeared in any of the books about the history of the magical world. Which was clarified later by the professor, that most of the books they read these days were written after the 15th century, and most of them selectively omitted this dark history.
Anyway, professor Sprout also gave her homework, but she gave very little compared to the other three, leaving Ginny very grateful and with a newfound interest in History and Herbology.
She was so happy, she did not even realise she'd been tricked into liking Herbology more.
-x-x-x-
With such a hectic schedule, she had very little time for extracurricular activities such as the Trial of Magic. She could only dedicate a small portion of her time to go to the Room and read up on the tomes about spell creation.
She still needed to spend time maintaining her relationships. After all, she greatly enjoyed spending time with her friends: teasing her roommates, pranking other students and Filch with Fred and George, spending time with the Golden Trio and discussing the possibility of the existence of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks with Luna.
Her relationships were probably the best thing that happened to her since her transmigration. Her world felt more colourful, vibrant and lively compared to her previous life. It wasn't her supernatural senses, she was sure of that.
They were vastly more important than any trial could ever be. Besides, with her abilities, the idea that she would not surpass every single famous figure like Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and their likes had frankly never occurred to her. Inheritances and whatnot were simply a shortcut to her goals. Nothing more.
-x-x-x-
Anyway, it was already the end of the 2nd week of February and today was Valentine's Day.
She trod through the corridors of Hogwarts, clicking her tongue every time she spotted - sensed rather, through her magical perception - a couple in a broomstick closet or some other place that would give a claustrophobe a heart attack. She even spotted three at once, twice! It was either some really progressive relationship or someone was wearing a green hat! She hoped it was the former rather than the latter, but knowing that such progressive relationships weren't really a thing at this point in time, especially in the Wizarding World - which was even more ancient in its traditions - she didn't have much hope.
What was the most amusing to her were the dwarves hired by Lockhart. She had a field day laughing at the expense of other students' supremely embarrassed expressions. That was until she had a group of dwarves that came after her.
It was only after running up several flights of stairs and copious amounts of Confundus Charms that she got rid of them.
It was time, she decided, to send Gilderoy Lockhart packing.
-x-x-x-
It was not really hard, actually.
A healthy dose of veritaserum in the high-quality chocolate in his Valentine's Day gifts along with a well-placed and well-timed confundus had him loudly reciting his misdeeds and fraud in front of the whole school at Dinner.
You'd think he would have learnt after the Christmas Gift she sent him. Though, he had managed to completely avoid the Duelling Club meetings after that. Not letting Ginny trick him into Duelling Snape.
It was later found out that he was slipped some veritaserum, but they still followed the leads and found a lot of appalling stuff. So at the end of it all, Gilderoy Lockhart was sentenced to a decade of imprisonment in Azkaban, thanks to all the friends and family of his victims. Sadly, the wizarding world did not consider his crimes worthy of a lifetime of imprisonment.
At least, he finally made the first page of the Daily Prophet!
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