Study Hall
In late November, the rain gave way to snow. Soon, the lawns were covered in a thick white blanket. The only thing that disturbed the snow was two trails – one that ran to the Greenhouses and the other to the edge of the forest, where Greenleaf and Hagrid conducted their Magical Creatures class.
Just as the student’s attention turned towards their end of term final exams, Christmas came to the castle. A great sturdy pine stood in the Entrance Hall, so tall that it reached the second story. Shorter, more manageable trees appeared by the hearth in the Den, in the Hearth Room of the Halls of the Serpent, and in the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor common rooms as well. Mistletoe sprigs hung from the ceiling and from the silver lances of some of the castle knights.
On the second Friday in December, Stacy and Philip had a final exam in their O.W.L. condensed class, Muggle Studies. One of the questions was: “Write six inches on the uses of Muggle cell phones.” After the test Stacy and Philip conferred outside on the front steps of the school.
Stacy, her hands jammed into her coat pocket, said, “I can’t believe how many things those cell phones do. Give directions. Play music. They’re really handy!”
“You know, I have one,” said Philip, steam shooting from his mouth as he spoke. “It’s still in the box. I’ve never used it.”
“You should take it out and try it!” said Stacy. “Plug it in when you get home and play around with it. See what it can do.”
“Who would I call?”
“Liam has a cell phone,” said Stacy, “and so does Sadie. I heard they call each other sometimes over the summer. If you ask them, I bet they’ll give you their numbers.”
“I don’t even know my cell phone number.”
“Still, once you have theirs, you can call them.”
“It would be great to speak with Liam over Winter Holiday,” said Philip. “Sadie, too. She’s fun to talk to.”
“You know who else is bound to have one?” said Stacy, her eyes twinkling brightly. “I bet Pauline has one.”
“You’re probably right about that. She spends part of the year in the Muggle World, and these things are becoming de rigueur.”
“You’re always looking for stuff to talk to her about. Ask her about her cell phone! I bet she’ll give you her number if you ask her for it.”
“I should ask her the next time we’re working in the library together,” said Philip.
“Why wait?” said Stacy. “Ask her today!”
Stacy continued to coach Philip through lunch, sitting next to him instead of Lara. “Ask her how her finals are going, and then mention our Muggle Studies class. You’ll be talking about cell phones in no time.”
When Liam sat down on Stacy’s other side, she asked him, “You have a cell phone, don’t you, Liam?”
“Yes. Not with me, of course, but at home I use it.”
“Philip has one, too. I’m trying to encourage him to use it during Christmas break.”
Liam reached down into his bag and pulled out a half sheet of parchment. He wrote his phone number down on it and wrote his initials underneath.
“Calais has one too,” said Liam as he past the note back to Philip. “So does Sumner. Their numbers are in my phone, though. I don’t know them by heart.”
“What about Sadie?” asked Philip.
“I have her number, too, but it’s in my phone. Ask her for it. She’ll give it to you.”
Philip looked across the Great Hall to the other tables. Sadie was reading a book while she munched on her sandwich. At the Slytherin table, Pauline and her friends had wrapped up their meal, but they lingered, talking.
Stacy gave Philip a little nudge. “Go on, ask her.”
Philip forced himself to his feet and walked with what he hoped was a confident strut over to the Slytherin table. He couldn’t help but notice the dark looks he got from the Seventh Year boys as he approached.
As he drew close, the girls got up in unison and began walking to the door. Pauline saw Philip and said, “Hullo, Hark. How’s your finals going?”
“Oh, fine, thanks.”
“Easy so far, right? Just Charms. Next week we have Defence and Government. Wennie wants to set up a Gov study session for Monday. You’ll come, won’t you?”
“Yes, I always benefit from Morwena’s preparation.”
Morwena, hearing this, said, “I think we could all benefit from the insight you could give us, Philip. With so many family members in Ministry, you’re the class expert.”
“I’m flattered that you think that,” said Philip.
They had reached the Entrance Hall. Pauline touched his arm. “So, you’ll come?”
“Of course!”
“Great! See you later, okay?” With that, the girls disappeared into the girls’ bathroom.
Philip lingered awkwardly outside for a moment before walking away. He had missed his chance to ask for her phone number. Well, I’ll get another shot during the study session.
That evening before dinner, Liam and Dave Evans met with Morwena and Umberto outside the Great Hall. “Professor Sinistra is caroling with the young kids tonight,” said Liam. “I think we should come along to make sure things don’t get out of hand between Lupin and Marrett.”
The brawl during which Dennison cursed Gillian was started by an exchange between Lupin and Marrett. “You know me,” said Morwena with a smile. “I’m always ready to go caroling.”
After dinner, the prefect walked the younger students to the Entrance Hall where Professor Sinistra was waiting. Liam greeted her. “Good evening, Professor. We’d like to join you if that’s alright.”
“That would be wonderful, Wren.”
Gillian joined Liam, and Sadie came with Alma. Philip stood beside Pauline. Tess and Rhiannon were there as well. The two junior Ravenclaw prefects, when they saw the group of Sixth Years, asked Sadie, “Can we go back? We have finals to study for.”
“You don’t need to stay,” said Sadie. “I’ll bring the kids back.”
Sinistra led the students throughout the castle, entertaining professors in their apartments. The older students sang boldly and in harmony, and the younger students fell in behind them.
The prefects’ show of force was plenty of deterrence to keep another brawl from sparking between the Slytherins and Gryffindors.
On Monday evening, Liam hosted a Potions study session in Professor Meadow’s classroom. The session was intended for 1st through 3rd Years, and it was well-attended. All the young Hufflepuffs were there, as were Shona and her friends. Morwena and Sadie brought their Second Year girls to the session.
The students set up cauldrons on the workbenches where they typically practiced transfigurations. Meadows sat in a corner, grading projects. Liam stood in the front of the class and walked the group step by step through some basic potions. After each concoction was complete, he reviewed the results and had the group discuss what went well and what went wrong.
When she was done grading, Meadows sat and observed. “You’re doing wonderfully, Wren,” she said. “10 points to Hufflepuff.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
At the end of the hour, the prefects returned for their charges and the room began to empty out. Two Ravenclaw boys, both Fifth Years, slipped in just as the last group was leaving. “They say you’re very good, Wren,” said one of the boys.
“I wouldn’t be here doing this if I wasn’t good at it,” said Liam.
“Will you help us?” asked the boys.
This brought an amused smile to Liam’s lips. “What do you need help with?”
They held out a sheet of parchment on which they had written some notes. Liam looked over at Meadows. “Professor, this may take a while.”
“Why don’t you get to work, then,” she said. “I’ll see if Edward can’t relieve me.”
She left the room, and a few minutes later, Professor DeVere joined them. He sat down where Meadows had been and graded papers. Liam and the two boys discussed the magical properties various magical ingredients and how they interacted in potions. Liam went over finer points such as moderating the temperature of a mixture and proper stirring technique.
“If you want an Acceptable in Potions,” said Liam, “all you have to do is follow the recipe. If you want those higher scores, you really need to think about how it all works together. Follow your intuition, watch how each little thing works to improve your potion. But you have to remember what you did. You gotta be able to repeat it.”
They stayed for another hour. When they were cleaning up, DeVere said, “That was really wonderful, Wren. I knew from that first day you had a knack for potion-making. It’s good of you to share your wisdom. Ten points to Hufflepuff.”
So, Liam earned 20 points for Hufflepuff in a single night. As he came downstairs, he paused in the Entrance Hall to check where Hufflepuff stood in the standings. Despite his efforts, the Badgers were in third place, 125 points behind first place Ravenclaw.
If we’re going to catch them, it can’t be just me, he thought. I’ve got to get the whole House behind me somehow.
That same evening, after Morwena and Sadie escorted their charges back to their common rooms, they met back up in the library with Umberto, Gordon, Pauline, Rhiannon and Philip. Their exam in Government was the next day, and they wanted one more session to review information.
The room had a large chalkboard with enchanted sticks of chalk. Morwena waved her wand, and soon the chalk sticks were drawing a large chart of circles with interconnecting lines showing the hierarchy of various departments within the Ministry of Magic. Philip reviewed each connecting line and made corrections.
“The Planning Department reports to the Director of Economic Development rather than the Director of Public Services,” said Philip.
“Oh! You’re right.” Morwena waved her wand. The eraser wiped away the errand chalk line, and an enchanted stick drew the correct connector.
The others copied Morwena’s chart onto parchment and questioned Philip more about the responsibilities of various departments and boards.
After an hour, the group was satisfied that they were prepared for the next exam. “I had better get down to check on my charges,” said Umberto. He and Gordon excused themselves and left.
Morwena waved her wand and the eraser began to clear the board. “Thank you, Philip,” she said. “I don’t know what we would have done without your help. You make it all very clear.”
“Yes, Hark,” said Pauline. “You were great. We really appreciate it.” She gave him a quick hug and then moved towards the door.
He called softly after her. “Pauline.”
She turned and gazed at him. “Yes?”
“Let me walk with you.”
“Sure! Though, we’re perfectly safe in a group, especially with Wen and Rhi around.”
He walked with her out of the library. Morwena and Rhiannon were a little ahead of them. Philip asked, “Do you have a cell phone?”
“Of course.”
“We were learning about them in Muggle Studies. Quite useful things, I understand.”
Pauline laughed. “Yeah, cell phones are like Muggle Magic Wands. We carry them everywhere. Except here, of course. They don’t work up here. No signal, I guess.”
“Also, Hogwarts is unplottable. The magic will distort your GPS and guide you right out of the area,” said Philip.
“Yeah, I think they went over that with me after I got my letter. I was so disappointed that couldn’t bring my phone to school, but then I got up here and no one had one or even knew what they were, so I didn’t feel so bad after that.”
With her green eyes gazing brightly into his, she asked, “So, what do you know about cell phones?” With some effort, he recited the items he had put into his finals answer. “Not bad,” she said. “I’d give you at least an Acceptable for that.”
“I have one at home. A cell phone, I mean. It’s smooth and black. I looked at it once, but I’ve never used it.”
“Really? You have a cell phone? What’s your number?”
Philip’s blush deepened. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
“You know how to find your own number on your phone, right?”
“Yes, I know that now. I have notes I can refer to, at any rate. First, I’ll have to plug it in. I’m sure it’s lost its charge by now.”
“Yes, for sure.”
“If I can get it working, can I call you?”
“I would love to get a call from you,” she said. “At Christmas and summertime, I get kinda lonely. I miss you guys! I like the letters I get, but it’s not the same as talking to you all.”
“How will I know that you’re not busy?”
“Don’t you have a crystal ball or something?” she asked, with a laugh. “Text me first. Did they teach you how to do that in Muggle Studies?”
She may have been teasing him, but he answered, “Yes, they did.”
“So, you send me a text that asks, ‘Are you free?’ And if I say ‘Yes,’ then call me!”
“I will.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the note from Liam. “This will have to do for my address book.”
She wrote out her number and a note: “Hark, Call me sometime! Love, Pauline.”
“You’ll call me?” she asked again. “You’re not just leading me on?”
He blushed brightly. “I will call you. I promise.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “Happy Christmas, Hark,” she said.