They left the Gryffindor common room late. Harry, Ron and Hermione are late for Transfiguration. And they themselves do not understand how it happened.
The silence is broken by the footsteps of three friends and the sound of Hermione dragging her bag up the stairs.
"I don't want, - she says, - Professor McGonagall to keep us out of class."
"Hermione, why do you need so many textbooks?" Harry asks.
"I need it," she replies.
"I help."
Ron grabs the handle of her bag and blindly walks backwards down the stairs, risking head over heels down the stairs.
"I don't think Professor McGonagall would be that strict, though," Harry hopes.
However, there is no teacher in the class yet, and the Ravenclaws started a discussion.
"I don't think, - says Zacharias Smith, "that the Slytherins will be subdued.- They will get even more arrogant."
"Yes, their impudence will increase even more," support Padma Patil.
"Why?" the one to whom Zakharia objected a couple of seconds ago asks in bewilderment.
"Because our new director was sent from the ministry,- Parvati replies with undisguised irony. - Almost all parents of Slytherin students work in the Ministry."
"Besides, these Slytherins are too pompous," puts in the newly minted Ravenclaw Casey.
"You're new. Have you already talked to them?" Seamus Finnigan asks.
"Yes, I ran into them several times in the corridor,- she replies. - They are terrible."
"But I don't agree with you, - Luna enters into the conversation. - I think the new director will put things in order here."
"Yes, I also think that Mr. Goodden will not turn a blind eye to everything," agrees Dean Thomas.
"Maybe then the Slytherins will play Quidditch by the rules, too?" - Ron joins in the argument with irony.
"Maybe," Dean replies, and it is clear that he hardly believes it himself.
"C'mon. When did the Slytherins play fair without trying to incapacitate the other team's players?" George says and sits down on the desk table.
"Gryffindor will have the hardest time," states Mandy Brocklehurst.
"Yes, yes, they have an innate dislike for us," Parvati sighs.
"They don't like us that much either," Luna says.
"But there are more of them," Zachariah interjects with a chuckle.
"And the Hufflepuffs?" Casey asks.
"They don't pay any attention to them at all," George replies.
"All right, don't worry about it. Everything will be fine," Hermione reassures everyone.
"We'll make them for Quidditch," Harry promises as team captain.
"Ravenclaws too," say the students of this faculty.
"I feel like we're going to have a hard time," concludes George, meaning not sports, still sitting on this table.
The door opens.
"George Weasley, please get off the table, - Professor McGonagall, who entered, says very sternly and, reaching the teacher's table, adds. - Let's start the lesson."
Entering after the teacher, Will and Paige stop in indecision, because they do not know where to sit, noticing this, McGonagall helps them:
"Girls, just sit down in the empty seats."
Friends sit at the end of the classroom.
"Good thing we met her, - Paige whispers. - We certainly wouldn't have found it on our own."
"And not only a class, but also to find a way to our room," Will also answers in a whisper.
This concludes the conversation during the lesson. Muggles listen with interest to the teacher of the magical school, although they do not understand much.
The girls get to the next lesson without getting lost: they just follow the students of their faculty. And it's not at all difficult to find the way to the dining room for lunch, the appetizing smell serves as a navigator.
"I saw you talking to that guy over there," Will points to George.
"He was explaining the corridor system to me. And I understand. I think," Paige says matter-of-factly.
"Didn't he explain to you where it's better to sit at dinner?" Will asks.
"In terms of? - Paige smiles, blushing. - What are you implying?"
Will only smiles back mischievously and walks towards George, dropping onto the bench next to him. Paige has no choice but to sit there. This she does, doomedly plopping down on the bench.
"Hey, did you hear a new joke?" George immediately turns to the girls.
They shake their heads.
"Pansy Parkinson is sitting on a bench, - the red-haired mischief-maker begins to tell, - She is sad. Professor Sarp walks by and asks: "Miss Parkinson, what happened? Should I punish someone? Tell me everything." - George narrowed his left eye, imitating the new teacher, who had already gained the reputation of "Snape 2", and continued, - "Yes, professor, sit down," says Parkinson, - tels Weasley and at the same time drinks, - Sarp obediently sit down, then the Slytherin continues: "You see, this bench is painted..."
All the Gryffindors sitting next to him laugh in unison.
"Give a five," Seamus says.
As lunch begins, so it goes - Gryffindor students laugh and joke.
At the exit from the dining room of Will, catch yourself:
"How lesson will we write down? We have run out of paper!"
"Let's take a shortcut, - Paige decides with a focused face, - and maybe we won't even be late for class. George showed m... he is told me. I think we should go there," Paige points to the left.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, - "Eni" nods, but deep doubt was expressed on her face. - Go."
She takes Will's hand and leads her along.
Or rather, they run. After passing the archway, the girls jump out onto a small island of tiled floor, and then go down the stairs.
"Paige, what is this?" Will wonders.
"The stairs change direction," the friend replies in shock.
"Couldn't you tell?" Will scolds.
"I thought George was joking," marvels Paige, who is already pressed against the railing.
The stairs approach and Will, who was holding on to the railing so as not to fly back, slams, bumping into them.
"Oh, it's high up here!" she says with a tremor in her voice, looking down through her hair.
The other one, on the contrary, is thrown away from the railing farther on the steps.
"Paige, get up." Will offers his hand to his friend.
"Yeah, it's flattened out here. Thank you."
The girls race up the other stairs, hoping to reach the other end before it starts to move.
"Again, - "Sabrina" laments, - I'm already sick of these movements."
"Listen, Will, we need to jump on that ladder. She just seems to be heading where we need to go."
"Cool idea," it is clear that she does not really like it, but still begins to throw her legs over the railing.
"Not now,- Paige stops her friend, - when it will under us."
"Yes, exactly."
"Get ready,- Paige commands, - wait for now."
The stairs creak softly.
"Let's jump!"
Girls jump and land not very well. Paige almost twists her leg and accidentally pushes Will, who is already barely keeping her balance. Paige's friend begins to fall, clinging to the culprit and pulling her with him. So the girls fall head over heels down the stairs.
"Short cut? - Will asks. - Yes, we lost twice as much time."
"But who knew?" Paige staggers up.
Continuing the path, she is not firmly on her feet, risking to fall every second.
"That's it, come on," Paige sighs with relief and falls on the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Password, please," she demands.
The girls are surprised.
"What's the other password? We don't know him. Let us in!" Will demands and tries to manually open the door.
"Entrance to the Gryffindor tower is by password only," the portrait Lady says languidly.
"What is this innovation? Why don't we know anything about it?" Paige is outraged.
"Come on, don't get mad."
"I'm not angry, I'm indignant."
"This is not an innovation, - the lady from the portrait grunts, - it has always been."
"Really? And we didn't notice, – Will laments. - How careless we are."
"Clueless," Paige adds.
It's just that the girls always came in with someone who already had time to say the password. And in pairs, running up to the door, when it was already closing, after someone entered.
Will continues to lament.
"I beg your pardon, but it's impossible without a password," the Fat Lady stands her ground.
The girls sit on the floor under the door. The watchman in the picture dozed off.
"Paige, would you like some candy?" Will suggests.
She nods and asks:
"With what taste?"
"Sweet carrots."
"Which? Page asks. - I didn't hear it."
"Sweet carrots."
"Once again, I can't hear. You mumble under your breath."
Indeed, even the Fat Lady snores louder.
"Sweet carrot," Will snaps.
The lady from the portrait starts up and sleepily says from above:
"Right. Come on in."
"Is that a password?" Paige is surprised.
Will shrugs.
Quickly taking clean parchments, the girls run to the Potions class.
"I hope we make it," Will says.
"Yes, if we don't get lost," Paige retorts ironically, out of breath from running.
"We shouldn't, - Will optimizes. - We're not here on the first day."
"Second. A big difference."
Muggles suddenly lose their breath. They see the stern, if not downright evil, child-hater, Professor Sarp. Will grabs his friend by the hand, who doesn't have time to come to her senses. The girls turn on the second speed, because you need to get into the class faster than the teacher, otherwise he will do what he loves so much - deduct points.
Sarp has almost entered the classroom, but Muggles rush in front of him at the very last moment, squeeze between him and the door. They slam into their seats with lightning speed. Sarp doesn't move an eyebrow.
"The topic of the lesson,- the professor begins to say in his cold voice, - Foster's Elixir. Who can tell me about it?" he asks haughtily.
Of all the students, only Hermione raises her hand.
"Yes," Sarp barks.
"Foster's elixir is one of the greatest in the world in history. It was invented by Patrick Foster. The elixir is unique in that it can replace a wand for a while, the magic flows directly from the hands. Its ingredients are not simple, they even include dried toadstools. At first glance, it may seem that they are completely out of place, but in fact, toadstools are a fundamental component. It takes great skill and care to prepare the elixir. It often takes years of practice for wizards to achieve results..."
Hermione wants to add something else, but Sarp interrupts her:
"Enough. That's right, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now open your textbooks and start making the elixir," Sarp says and leaves the classroom.
Hermione is flipping through the pages like crazy. Ron scratches himself in front of his closed textbook.
"If it is so complicated, why are we preparing it?" he whispers.
"Just because we need to know what it is," Parvati Patil replies.
"It's also terribly interesting, - Hermione adds. - And who knows, it might save your life in the future, Ron."
Weasley opens the textbook.
"The paragraph is so long, and even with a biography," Ron says lazily, who is clearly not in the mood for studying today.
"Why is bread called bread?" Patiently question on question replies Hermione.
"What's with the bread?" Ron doesn't understand.
"Despite the fact that just the paragraph is what it is. The author of the textbook decided that this is all necessary and important."
"You eat bread without asking too many questions, right?" Hermione Supports Parvati.
"Yes, he absorbs it in such quantities, - George begins to tease, - that I'm afraid the textbook will not be enough for him."
"But I don't run ten times a day to the kitchen," Ron is sarcastic.
George is having fun and wants to say something else, but he and Ron are distracted by Harry:
"What do you think about this game strategy? Will they quickly understand?"
"This is something new, I think it will work," Ron replies.
George agrees with him.
"Guys, let's do the lesson, and Quidditch at recess. Ok?" Hermione asks.
The boys nod and bend over their books.
The paragraph is headed by a portrait, under which the letters move, forming either "Patrick Wang Foster", then "inventor of Foster's elixir", then "Chevalier of the Order of the Alchemists".
Paige and Will also just opened their textbooks. Before that, they studied the bottles with the ingredients, it is too interesting!
"He's handsome!" Will notes.
"And what eyes he has!" melt Paige.
Here Patrick turns his head and waves to the girls. The Muggles recoil from the table in fright, spilling the ingredients they had left open after watching. Will rushes to collect. The flame dances on the table.
"What's happening?" Muggles are horrified.
"The ingredients started mixing right on the table," Hermione calls from the other end of the class.
The flames nearly reach Will's robes, which hold the dried toadstools, but Harry pulls her away from the desk by the elbow.
"It's because of the toadstools, the flames are drawn to it," Harry wheezes.
Will wants to get rid of it, but he can't.
"It's stuck," she screams hysterically.
Harry starts tearing off the toadstools one at a time, throwing them in different directions. At this time, the rest of the guys are trying to cope with the flames.
"The peony extract spilled on the toadstools, so it stuck,- Harry chatters, wielding his hands in different directions. - The flame reaches only for a pile, there is no attraction for one toadstool."
Students rush around the classroom and panic is already beginning to be felt.
"What to do? What to do?" Paige screams in horror as she finds the toadstools on the edge of her robes, towards which the flames are already reaching.
"I'll try to stop it," Hermione ran up, waving her wand.
"Get the ingredients out of the classroom, - Seamus yells, - otherwise, thanks to this, the fire may spread."
Everyone immediately fuss.
"We can't put out the flames,- Hermione cries, - only contain it. There must be something to stop it," thinking hard, she begins to look around.
Will and Paige, after being rid of the toadstools, are in a stupor.
"Exactly! – find solution Hermione. - We need to pour a decoction of the seven-thousander. It's on the teacher's desk," Granger, an excellent student, chatters.
"I'll take it," classmate Elionora Ferrari, who stands closer, volunteers, but trips and hits her head. Harry immediately pick her up.
"It is necessary..." the girl speaks.
"I will," Paige decides.
And against the background of about a dozen guys scurrying back and forth, they rush to the teacher's table, a centimeter from the fire. The flames will scorch her robe. However, this does not stop Paige. She approaches the flame as far as possible and convulsively begins to open the bottle. The lid is tight. Hermione and a few other guys hold back the fire while the others carry out the vials.
"Let me try." Will run up and yank Paige away from the flames towards her.
"Almost open," she says.
"I think it needs to be on this side," Will suggests.
"Faster!" Hermione hurries.
The cover is fought from two sides.
"What is it?" Paige says.
"Maybe it's unscrewing," Will suggests.
They pull the bottle in different directions, trying to open the lid. And it still opens, splashing out the contents directly on Professor Sarp, who enters at the wrong time.
"Minus twenty points to Gryffindor," Sarp says, raw and displeased.
The girls sigh doomed.