Chapter 36: Chapter:34 Start Of The Term(7): Free time(1)
Once the bell rang, the students jolted awake from their near-slumber and rubbed their tired eyes. They glanced around, half-expecting to find that the class had been some kind of dream. However, the sight of the classroom and the assignment written on the board served as a stark reminder that they were, in fact, attending a class taught by a ghost.
"Remember to review what we've just covered,"
Professor Binns droned before floating through the wall and heading towards the staffroom.
The students all stretched and yawned in their seats, they snapped out of their daze, their faces bearing expressions of relief, and hurriedly made their way to their dormitories to stow their bags before embracing the prospect of free time.
Fred and George approached the back of the classroom, where Victoire had settled into a comfortable spot alongside Angelina and Alicia, who occupied the seats in front and behind her.
"Blimey, we thought that Thistlewood's class was bad,"
George remarked, an exasperated expression on his face as he dropped into a nearby seat.
"Binns takes boring to a whole new level,"
Fred added with a groan.
Victoire, Alicia, and Angelina exchanged knowing looks, their shared experiences making them appreciate the rest of their day even more. But Victoire had listened to what the ghostly professor had to say, and he had mostly been reading right out of the book. Reciting every other paragraph word by word.
They walked down to the Great Hall, it was mostly deserted, with only a few first-year students who had recently been released from their classes and a handful of teachers enjoying their tea or late lunch. Victoire, Alicia, Angelina, and the twins made their way to the Gryffindor table, mostly it was Victoire who dragged them there to grab a bite to eat.
Once they were seated, the twins became engaged in a heated discussion about something that they kept rather secretive from the rest of their friends, while the three girls, mostly two of them, exchanged stories about their classes and the eccentric professors they'd encountered so far.
Angelina speared a particularly juicy-looking grape with her fork before sharing her thoughts.
"I think Thistlewood's got a few screw loose,"
she mused.
Alicia nodded in agreement, taking a bite of her lunch and adding,
"She was blabbering on and on about using everything in there to kill someone."
Both girls exchanged glances, reflecting on the unconventional Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Alicia continued,
"But I won't say she's all that bad. At least the lesson was interesting enough. What I found disgusting was the Herbology lesson – poor Roserita is still in the infirmary, having her scalp cleaned of mucus."
Roserita was the girl who got a head full of ultra-cleaning soap's raw material. It was unlikely that she would grow back her hair anytime that month or maybe even this year, it all depended on the plant's age and Victoire was quite sure that it looked ancient.
"Herbology was fun,"
Said one of the twins, Fred.
"At least we saw some action. Charms was the worst in my opinion, can you believe we have to write a foot-long essay on Lumos?"
One of the twins let out a groan of exasperation while the other grumbled,
"That's a bloody foot right there,"
tossing a half-eaten chicken wing at his brother.
George looked ready to retaliate and start a food fight, but a sharp look from Isabella halted his intentions.
Nearby, the sixth-year students were engrossed in their studies, some diligently copying essays onto parchment, while others were casually chatting and flipping through a magazine.
Alicia, glancing over at the sixth years, muttered,
"Bloody perverts."
This remark caught Victoire's attention, prompting her to ask,
"What's so perverted about that magazine?" {I am giving up the bloody accent}
She had noticed similar magazines in her mother's study and her father's office, and even in her sister Lyriel's luggage, but she'd never been able to get her hands on one.
Angelina and Alicia blushed while Fred and George exchanged amused smirks at Victoire's question.
"That...
"My dear friend...
"is 'Lace & Lore',
they explained in tandem.
"It's 'Where Fantasy Meets Fashion,'...
"and one of the most popular magazines among teenage wizards and adult witches."
They said it with a mischievous grin, making it clear that the magazine was known for more than just fashion advice.
Intrigued, Victoire put down her fork and wiped her hands before making her way toward the sixth year staring at the magazine. Victoire leaned over the shoulders of the sixth years, her curiosity piqued. She peeked at the pages of the magazine, where a witch wrapped in a seductive robe was slowly unveiling a lacy, black teddy. The image was certainly not what she expected to find in a fashion magazine.
Victoire stared at the image with wide eyes, her hand clamped over her nose, her cheeks flushed with excitement. Unbeknownst to her, Isabella was standing right behind her, her expression a mixture of surprise and disapproval. The witch in the picture, sensing the prefect's disapproving gaze, hastily re-robed herself and fled from the page, disappearing into the magazine.
As the witch in the magazine hastily robbed herself and escaped from the page, Victoire realized the awkwardness of her situation. She felt a sudden wave of embarrassment as she turned to see Isabella standing right behind her, shooting her a disapproving look. Victoire stammered incoherently for a moment, trying to come up with an explanation.
"I... um... well, I was um..."
Victoire stammered as she struggled to come up with an appropriate excuse. Before she could say anything further, Isabella took matters into her own hands. She snatched the magazine from the sixth-year boys' hands, her disapproval clear on her face. She berated them loudly, not mincing her words.
"I know you apes have trouble controlling yourselves, but at least don't indulge in such activities in broad daylight, especially not in front of first years!"
Isabella scolded the boys, her voice firm and reproachful. Her glare shifted to Victoire, who had witnessed the magazine.
"Professor McGonagall will hear about this and John, you better pray she doesn't already know your so-called 'sources' of goods,"
she warned sternly. The sixth-year boys, who had largely ignored the presence of the younger students, now stared at Victoire in shock, too stunned to give any heed to Isabella's warning.
Victoire, feeling guilty for causing the sixth-year boys to lose their 'precious' magazine, couldn't help but inquire,
"How much was the magazine worth?"
However, the boys seemed more concerned about her presence than the loss of the magazine. The one Isabella had referred to as 'John' asked in exasperation,
"Forget about the damned magazine, what the hell were you doing here?"
Feeling a bit flustered, Victoire tried to come up with a plausible explanation, offering,
"Um... research?"
The exasperated boys got up and left the table, making their way to their destination. Fred, grinning, leaned in and teased,
"Told ya they were popular,"
while George, his stomach hurting from laughing, as he doubled over in amusement.
As the boys left the table, Victoire couldn't help but feel guilty for the disruption she had caused, even though she had only been curious about the magazine. She turned back to her friends and shrugged in response to their laughter, not embarrassed by the entire situation but more shocked that the wizarding world had something like this.
As she made her way back to the table, she noticed that the sixth-year prefect was occupying her table along with the rest of the quidditch team.
Looking at Victoire, Isabella shook her head and said,
"First-years need to be careful, or you'll get yourselves into all sorts of trouble."
Alicia added,
"Well, at least she learned something new today."
Angelina chuckled,
"Yeah, like the importance of discretion."
The rest of the students burst into laughter, including Victoire who was laughing at the fact that she had just nabbed the magazine off of Isabella's bag who was too busy scolding Charlie who was holding his guts from laughing too hard like his brother.
The joke remained the center of their evening, and even Victoire couldn't resist laughing about the whole situation. Later in the evening, Charlie announced that he had something important to do and convinced the rest of the team to join him. Isabella followed them, but before she left, she offered some advice to the first years:
"I've noticed none of you have been to the library yet. You should get acquainted with the librarian by the end of the day. Most of your reference materials will be there, and you'll need all the help you can get."
With Isabella and Charlie having left, the first-year students were left to ponder her advice. It seemed like a good idea, but then Fred and George announced their plan to take their new friend Lee Jordan to explore the castle and invited the girls to come along.
Victoire declined, claiming she was too hungry, and returned to her pie. Alicia, on the other hand, gave the duo a disapproving look without saying a word. Angelina simply shrugged while looking at her two friends.
A few minutes after the twins had departed, the three girls simultaneously stood up and exchanged sheepish glances. They then decided to make their way to the library on the first floor, heeding Isabella's advice.
Truth be told, Alicia simply didn't like Jordan, he was too clingy. While Victoire was in fact, simply hungry, and she only stopped eating because the two girls were glaring at her.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone