Same Old, Same Old

<Salutations, everyone!>

<Rose, in the future,> Sk'lar pathed, <we'd appreciate more than the occasional 'Still alive' to Shadow to let us know that you're alright.>

<That's good that you had fun,> Carolina pathed, <but your brother's been having a panic attack for two months straight.>

<Oh,> Rose pathed. <Sorry, Sk'lar.>

<It's alright,> Sk'lar replied.

<We have unfortunately been unable to directly analyze the barrier,> Oz pathed. <It blocks travel of any kind into the Rowling Plane, which means you won't be able to summon creatures to the plane either.>

<That's odd, considering I've been able to blink without any problems, which means it doesn't block access to or from the Astral Plane,> Rose pathed. <Also, I'm pretty sure the dimensional prison moved us out of the plane, so maybe I can get out of the plane, but not back into it.>

Acting on a whim, Rose produced her schema of plane shift and activated it.

Nothing happened.

<Nope,> Rose pathed, placing the stone slab back into her picnic basket. <The schema of plane shift I've got doesn't work.>

<Interesting,> Sk'lar pathed. <I'll check the Ethereal and Astral Planes, but it's possible that the sections of those planes that correspond to the Rowling Plane will also be sealed.>

<How was your break?> Carolina asked, hoping to change the subject to something she could understand.

<Naturally,> Bowie pathed.

<What did you make?> Alice asked.

<There you are!> Rose exclaimed. <Were you doing something more important than talking to me?>

<Well, I thought 'It's only Rosie, it's not like it's important.'>

<Well, then I guess I don't need to tell you what I made,> Rose replied.

<Shadow, what did she make?> Alice asked the Halfling.

Shadow replied.

<That's my girl!> Rose pathed.

<What do you mean you don't know?> Alice demanded. <You're her girlfriend, of course you know!>

<Rose, she used the G-word,> Shadow pathed. <Since she's your sister, I'll give her fair warning: Alice, you've got ten rounds before I cut out your tongue.>

<Children!> Carolina shouted. <Behave!>

There were several groans of <But, Mom, she started it!>, one of which came from Bowie.

Carolina pathed. <How did we save the world twice?>

<Quirks?> Bowie suggested.

<Cool magic items!> Rose exclaimed.

<Careful planning,> Shadow replied.

<Your guess is as good as mine,> Sk'lar replied.

<As enlightening as our conversations are, Sk'lar and I must be going,> Oz pathed, amused by all of this.

<We… Oh, right, that's tonight, isn't it?> Sk'lar groaned. <Hey, Carolina, want to–>

<Sk'lar, we must be going,> Oz pathed again. <You failed to come up with an excuse in time, and as a result, you've got to attend the conference this year. Don't worry, I'm sure it will be over shortly once everyone dies of shock that you've actually shown up for once.>

<Is that the Arcana Conference, known for being the single most boring thing in existence?> Rose asked.

<Yes,> Sk'lar grumbled.

The Arcana Conference, as Rose understood it, was a gathering of the minds in Faera to discuss the current status of their technology. When Professor Ozerl first told Rose about it, she assumed it would involve demonstrations of new advancements in magic. In reality, it was a bunch of old Elves talking in monotone voices for days.

<It's an important part of our culture and your responsibilities as headmaster,> Ozerl reminded him.

<You'll do fine,> Carolina pathed.

<Try not to die of boredom,> Rose and Alice pathed.

<No promises,> Sk'lar grumbled. <Sk'lar out.>

<Take care of yourself, Rose,> Oz pathed. <Ozerl out.>

<Seriously, what's my little sister been up to?> asked Alice.

<Someone's been busy,> Bowie pathed.

<Just try not to go overboard,> Carolina pathed.

<You're just saying that because you can't use magic items,> Rose sneered.

<I'm just saying you're different there. You can make things that no one else can, so just be careful.>

<Oh,> Rose pathed. Then, after realizing that she had been rude, she sheepishly added <Sorry.>

<It's alright,> Carolina replied warmly.

<Did you make any new friends?> asked Bowie.

<Yup!> exclaimed Rose.

<Seriously?> Shadow asked.

<Yup! She's in Ravenclaw, and she's got pale blond hair, and she doesn't look at me like I'm mad!>

<Weren't you trying to get people to look at you like you're crazy?> asked Carolina.

<Yeah, but it got old after a while when everyone looks at me like that,> Rose replied. <Wait. It gets old when people keep asking me the same questions. That's what's getting old.>

<It does, doesn't it?> Shadow pathed.

<That makes way too much sense,> Shadow pathed.

While Rose was talking to her family, Alex was explaining that everything was the same as last year, except instead of seven flights of stairs, they only had to climb six to reach their rooms.

Unlike Rose, Sally-Anne was paying close attention, although Rose kept catching her attention.

Rose was completely spacing out, laughing randomly, and kept making faces as if she were reacting to a completely different conversation. Sally-Anne had seen her do this before; according to Hermione, Rose was talking to her "imaginary friends". Sally-Anne didn't know what that meant, but she was certain that it was another strange quirk of Rose's. There were plenty of them to go around.

"Rose, are you alright?" Sally-Anne whispered.

"Fine," Rose replied. "Just chatting with my family back home."

"Okay," Sally-Anne replied. "Just making sure."

"Okay!"

"Hermione, are you awake?" whispered Rose that morning.

"No."

"Crab apples," cursed Rose. "When will you be awake?"

"Never," Hermione mumbled. "I'm never waking back up. You'll have to find a new friend."

"Okay," Rose replied. "I'll see if I can smuggle Luna in here."

"You do that," Hermione replied. After hearing nothing for a few minutes, Hermione sat up.

"Wait, what?" she asked, but there was no reply. Her head darted around their room, and, after not seeing Rose, she lept out of bed and threw on some clothes.

"Please don't be going to Ravenclaw Tower this early in the morning," she muttered to herself as she descended the stairs. "Please don't be going to Ravenclaw Tower this early in the morning,"

To Hermione's dismay, she found an empty common room when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She looked around the empty room, hoping that she had just missed the crimson-haired girl, but there was no sign of her.

"She's going to Ravenclaw Tower at two in the morning."

Hermione fished around in her pocket for the seashell, grabbing a hold of it the moment she found it.

<Rose, where are you?>

<Rose, it's two o'clock in the morning. No one's going to be awake at this hour.>

<Good! That'll make it even easier to sneak Luna into Gryffindor Tower!>

<Rose, please don't!>

<It'll be fine!>

Hermione began to panic. If Luna were in Gryffindor Tower, not only would Rose get in trouble for removing Luna from Ravenclaw Tower while the blonde girl was asleep, but for being out of Gryffindor Tower past curfew. There would be actual proof that she was gone! Classes hadn't even started yet and Rose was going to get them all in trouble!

"What's wrong, Hermione?"

She whirled around to see a drowsy Sally-Anne standing in the doorway to their room.

"Rose is running off to Ravenclaw Tower to kidnap Luna," Hermione said.

"That sounds like something she'd do," Sally-Anne replied, rubbing her eyes.

"Trouble is, I can't think of how to stop her," Hermione said quickly. She was beginning to panic. It wasn't life-threatening, but it was still stressful when Rose went off to intentionally and nonchalantly break the rules.

"Why don't you try bargaining with her?" Sally-Anne asked. "Rose is certainly… what's the word? Prag… something."

"Pragmatic?"

"That. There must be something that you've got that she needs."

Hermione hadn't thought of that.

"Like what?"

Sally-Anne thought for a moment, then replied, "Until a couple weeks ago, Rose didn't know Professor Lockhart was real. I saw her scribbling something down in her notebook when he said he was going to be our new Defence Professor, so she'll probably want to re-read his books. You've got all of his books, so why not offer to let her borrow them? It's faster than the library."

"Sally-Anne, you're brilliant," Hermione said.

"Not really," Sally-Anne replied.

<Rose, if you come back right now, I'll share my books on Professor Lockhart with you. I bet they're already checked out of the library by now, so you'll–>

"What's this about intel on Lockhart?"

Hermione jumped, but Sally-Anne was so exhausted that she was apathetic towards Rose's sudden appearance in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Thank you," Hermione said. She turned to Sally-Anne. "You should probably get some sleep."

"Saluta–"

"Good idea," Sally-Anne said, cutting off her pale friend. "Would you two please try to be quieter? I'm sure if Parvati and Lavender weren't such heavy sleepers, they'd ask the same."

"Okay," Rose whispered loudly.

As Sally-Anne began the long walk back up to their rooms, Rose turned to Hermione.

"So, Hermione, what intel have you got on Lockhart?"

"I've got all of his books," Hermione said. "I packed them all in my bag, but I couldn't fit some of my other books, so I had to leave them at home."

Hermione saw the notebook come out and immediately began to feel self-conscious. It was like Rose was just recording everything everyone said and going over it later. Hermione was beginning to feel judged.

"Rose, I really hate it when you do that." Hermione said. "Would you not?"

"Do what?"

"Write down everything I say."

"I'm not," Rose said. "I just thought of something I could get you for Snowy Time, so I'm writing it down so I don't forget."

"Oh," Hermione said, her face turning red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Rose replied. "I get bothered by other people sometimes too!"

At breakfast, Alex distributed their schedules to each of the second-year girls. As she handed Hermione's hers, she whispered, "Congrats."

"On what?" Hermione asked, taking her schedule.

"You're taking Arithmancy a year early," Alex said. "That's rare."

"Two years, actually," Sally-Anne said proudly, taking her schedule. "That's the fourth-year class."

"What?!" Alex exclaimed. "How'd you manage that?"

"It's cos my Hermione's the smartest in the plane!" Rose exclaimed, receiving her schedule. She put her other arm around Hermione and grinned.

"Maths just comes easily to me," Hermione said. "I'm trying not to broadcast it, though."

"Trying not to what?" Alex asked.

"Sorry, I forgot the term 'broadcast' isn't–"

Hermione was cut off by a crashing of plates. The girls turned around to see not the Twins or Rose, as Hermione would expect, but a boy with black, slightly curly hair holding half of a plate.

"Jonathon!" Alex shouted. "How many times have I told you to be careful with your things?!"

That must be the cousin she was talking about last year, thought Sally-Anne.

The boy's hair was remarkably similar to Alex's, although definitely shorter. Judging by the annoyed expression on the prefect's face, the plate was not the first thing he had broken. Sally-Anne wouldn't have been surprised if he had broken something of Alex's before.

"What?!" the other boy shouted back. "It wasn't me, it was…" He looked around for a scapegoat. "It was him!"

He pointed at the boy sitting next to him, holding a device Sally-Anne recognized as a camera.

"He startled me with that thing he's got!"

"It's a camera," the other boy said in a quiet voice.

"Don't try and pin this on…" Alex looked at the other first-year boy, or at least she assumed he was, since she didn't recognize him. She leaned over to Rose and whispered, "Rose, what's his name?"

"Colin Creevey."

"Don't try to pin this on Colin," Alex said, making a note to herself to ask a person's name before starting her sentence next time. "I know it was you!"

"You can't prove it!" Jonathon shot back at his older cousin.

While this was going on, Sally-Anne turned to Rose. "May I please use a piece of paper, or parchment, or whatever you've got?"

"Sure," Rose replied, tearing out a piece of paper from the back of her notebook and handing it to the dirty-blonde.

Harry noticed that the piece of paper grew back seconds after it was removed.

Sally-Anne quickly scribbled something on the paper and handed it to Alex.

Alex looked down at the paper.

You're getting worked up. Let him off with a warning.

Alex glanced at Sally-Anne, who nodded, then turned back to her cousin.

"Don't do it again."

"Or what?" Jonathon jeered. "Are you gonna tell on me?"

"Jonathon, your cousin receives her instructions directly from Professor McGonagall," Sally-Anne said. "Alex can take away points from you if she wants, and no one likes it when we lose points. People won't want to be around you if you get them into trouble all the time." She glanced over at Rose, then mentally added, Well, sort of.

"Fine," Jonathon pouted, sitting back down in his seat.

"Jonathon," Sally-Anne asked kindly. "Would you please apologize to Colin for blaming him?"

"Sorry, Colin," Jonathon mumbled.

"That's okay," Colin replied quietly.

As sound returned to the Great Hall, Sally-Anne noticed that the camera-wielding first-year was staring daggers at Harry, and realized he'd been doing so for the past few minutes. She stood up and made her way down the table to where he was sitting.

"Colin, follow me," Sally-Anne said, motioning for him to follow her.

Colin nervously followed the second-year, clinging to his camera as if it were the only thing keeping him safe.

"Colin, this is Harry Potter," she said as they came to her friends. "Harry, this is Colin Creevey. I think he'd like to meet you."

"Hey," Harry said.

"Hi," Colin replied. He held up his camera. "Is it alright if I get your picture?"

"Sure, I guess," Harry said. He smiled awkwardly as Colin snapped a photo of him.

"Thanks," Colin said, his face lighting up. "I've read all about you! I was so excited when I learned you were just one year ahead of me!"

"Great," Harry said.

He tried to force enthusiasm as Colin went on, but he was groaning internally. As if having Ginny fawning over him all summer wasn't bad enough, now he had this kid. When were people going to realize that he was just another person?!

At the Teacher's Table, Minerva made a note to herself to keep a closer eye on Sally-Anne Perks. It wasn't because the girl was causing trouble, but just the opposite; the girl seemed to have a knack for diffusing hostile situations.

Prefects were selected by Albus, but that had long since become a formality. In practice, it was each head that chose their prefects. Minerva preferred to wait until their fourth year before seriously considering any of them, but she wasn't sure that her assessment of the second-year girls was going to improve much. Brown and Patil didn't stand out much, Granger was strong in academics, but Minerva wasn't sure about the bushy-haired girl's people skills, and she would nominate an acromantula before she nominated Peta-Lorrum.

Perks, however, was showing promise. It would be interesting to see how she turned out in their fifth year, assuming Peta-Lorrum didn't get her killed before then.

On their way out of the Great Hall, Sally-Anne joined Harry after his biggest fan went off with the other first-years.

"Sorry about that," she said. "I was just trying to help him out."

"It's fine. He wasn't bothering me," Harry lied.

"Dürah!" Rose sneezed.

"Bless you?" Sally-Anne said.

"Huh?" Rose asked.

"You sneezed, so it's polite to say 'Bless you' when someone sneezes."

"Why?"

"I read that when a person sneezed, it was believed that they were opening themselves to be possessed by demons," Hermione explained, "so people would say 'Bless you' to that person to prevent the demons from taking over their bodies."

"This plane is so weird."

"Yeah, we're the weird ones," Ron scoffed. "So we've got a free period. Hermione, fancy a game of chess?"

"You've got a free period," Hermione corrected him. "I've got Arithmancy."

"Oh," Ron said, a little disappointed.

The best match he had had all summer was against his dad, who was good, having taught Charlie how to play, but now Ron had surpassed even him. He was starting to get bored with it. Hermione was the only person left that offered him a challenge. The best match he'd had recently had been against Professor McGonagall's statues. Hadn't Hermione said that McGonagall would be just as good? It felt weird asking a teacher to play chess with him, but if no one else challenging was going to play, then he wasn't left with many options.

"Well, why don't we all walk with you, then?" Ron suggested. "You need someone with you, right?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Who told you that?" She turned to Rose. "Did you–"

"No one," Ron said. "It was the only possible explanation why you'd want to spend that much time alone with Rose."

"Oi!" Rose exclaimed. "I'll have you know that I am delightful!"

"So you figured that if I didn't want to be around Rose, then I must need to be around Rose," Hermione said. "Ron, that's clever!"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Ron asked as the five of them started the long trip up to the seventh floor. "I'm not an idiot! Why does everyone always act like I am?"

"I'm sorry, Ron," Hermione said, feeling embarrassed for the second time that day. "That just came out wrong. I really didn't mean anything by it."

"It's fine," Ron replied, settling down. "I'd be completely mad if I had to spend all summer with her."

Today was turning out not to be Hermione's day. If she didn't have the ring of sustenance, she'd think she were just tired. Maybe she was starting to get worn out dealing with Rose all day. At least now she'd get breaks. It seemed odd, though. Rose wasn't that annoying, was she? Hermione hoped it would get better as she got better at rolling with whatever Rose said.

Whatever it was, it didn't matter, so long as it didn't happen during Arithmancy.

Rose turned to Hermione when they reached the Arithmancy room.

"We'll be here after class to pick you up," Rose said. "Don't stay out too late, don't trust anyone asking for spare gold, and don't be afraid to punch the boys if they get too handsy."

Hermione opened her mouth, closed it again, then opened it. After trying and failing to come up with a better response, she replied, "Okay, Rose."

Sally-Anne was having a hard time not cracking up. She was pretty sure that Rose was just joking (something that was often made more difficult to deduce by the fact that most of what Rose said sounded like nonsense), but she didn't want to laugh in case Rose wasn't joking.

Hermione walked inside and took her seat at the front of the classroom. She took out her notebooks and organized her desk, desperate to find something to do to keep her mind off class. Hermione was thrilled to be in Arithmancy, but she was nervous about it nonetheless.

"Good morning, Hermione," she heard after a few minutes.

She turned around to see Cedric walking inside.

"Hello, Cedric," Hermione said.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here today."

Hermione smiled, glad to see a familiar face.

"Getting an advance on your visits, or are you actually taking the class now?"

"Yeah," Hermione said, a broad grin covering her face.

"I'm sure I'm not the first to say 'Congratulations'," Cedric said. "You're two years ahead. That's brilliant!"

"Thanks," Hermione said, blushing a little. "It's really nothing. I'm just good at maths is all."

Having already been through the same thing last year, it shouldn't have been so bad when the other students came in and saw Hermione sitting there talking with Cedric. To her surprise, however, Hermione was finding that it was worse. Did they not realize that she could hear them whispering about her, or did they just not care?

"Good morning, class," Professor Vector said as she walked in. "I see you have all discovered that Ms. Granger is here. To crush any rumors that may have spread, she will be joining us this year as a member of the class."

More whispering.

"I must say, I'm a little disappointed," Professor Vector said, looking at the small cluster of Ravenclaws near the front. "I would think that as fourth-years, you would all be smart enough to realize that sound carries."

Roger went pale as he realized that he had been heard, and Rebecca shot a quick glare at Hermione.

Professor Vector opened by discussing what they'd be learning that year. Hermione wrote down what she could, making notes here and there. She found herself wondering how Rose did this so fast, not to mention all the time. She used a different language for her notebook, didn't she? Maybe that language was more efficient than using Latin letters. Hermione made a small note in the margins of her notes to ask Rose about her notebook.

After Arithmancy was Herbology, which Rose found far more interesting this year than she had last year.

"Be careful with them," Professor Sprout warned them. "The cry of a mandrake can be lethal to those who hear it."

"So it's like holy word?" asked Rose.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Peta-Lorrum, I'm not sure I understand."

"Seventh-level spell that kills any non-good creatures that hear it that have ten less HD than the caster. Otherwise, it could blind, paralyze, or deafen them."

"Actually, that's not far off," Professor Sprout said, surprise evident in her voice. "Even muffled, a mandrake can be harmful, causing several of those symptoms."

Finally, something in this plane makes sense, thought Rose.

Finally, something she says makes sense, thought Professor Sprout.

Rose stifled a laugh as Reflectesalon relayed Professor Sprout's thoughts to her.

Beside Rose, Hermione raised her hand.

"Wouldn't that be the equivalent of dropping a bomb on people?" asked Hermione. "If it's lethal to all who hear it, then it could be potentially devastating!"

"Your concerns are not misplaced, Ms. Granger," Professor Sprout said. "Mandrakes are regulated to the best of the Ministry's ability, but they are sought after mostly for their use in several potions. Can anyone tell me what the most common use for mandrake root is?"

Several hands went up, many students eager to receive house points early in the term.

"Mr. Longbottom, I believe your hand was up first."

"They're used in potions to reverse transfigurations."

"Very good, five points to Gryffindor."

Neville was proud of himself. He might have gotten ten points total last year, and that was not counting the upwards of fifty points that he had lost from Professor Snape alone. No matter how hard he tried, the only time that he had done well during Potions was the one class that he had worked with Rose as a partner. He wasn't sure how, but she had caught every mistake that he had made before it turned into a disaster. It was like she could just talk to the cauldron to figure out exactly how much of each ingredient he had added. In fact, that was exactly how it had appeared.

Adding to that was the quirky girl's anal attitude towards the care of the cutlery.

"If you leave a mess on it, then it will ruin the blade," she had said. "Keep them sharp, keep them clean. If I wouldn't sell it, I won't use it."

Neville still had no clue what that last part meant, but it did mean that their potion hadn't been ruined by leftover ingredients on the blade or cutting surface. He had tried keeping his workspace clean the rest of the year, but he was always so nervous around Professor Snape. He felt like he was being watched throughout class, and Professor Snape was just waiting for him to make a mistake.

"To further alleviate your concerns, Ms. Granger," Professor Sprout continued. "It becomes less dangerous the farther away from it you are. So it wouldn't be as dangerous to those on the outskirts of a small community if one were to be released in the center."

Hermione nodded her understanding.

"Today, we are going to learn how to pot a mandrake," Professor Sprout said. "It's not too challenging, and these are only infants. You place your earmuffs over your ears, take them out of the soil, and put them in the pots. Simple. However, no one do anything until everyone's earmuffs are on. It is dangerous, and I don't want to send anyone to Madame Pomfrey this early in the school year. Is that understood?"

There was a chorus of agreement from her class.

"Very good," Professor Sprout said, smiling again. "Now, does everyone have a pair of earmuffs?"

After having visual confirmation that everyone did in fact have a pair of earmuffs, she continued.

"Alright, everyone, earmuffs on!" she ordered. She waited for everyone to place their earmuffs on their heads, then shouted, "One person from each pair, take the mandrakes out of the soil!"

For most people, it was hardly tolerable to hear that much screeching all at once. The earmuffs were a big help for all of them.

Except Rose.

She winced as her bonuses to her hearing were once again used against her.

<Not again,> she groaned to Reflectesalon.

She quickly shoved the annoying creature into its pot as her vision began to go fuzzy.

<There's the blindness.>

"Is everyone alright?!" shouted Professor Sprout as the last of the mandrakes was potted.

She looked out over her class until her eyes fell upon Rose.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, are you alright?"

"I'll be okay," she replied. "Like I said: Just like holy word."

As they sat down in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom that afternoon, Sally-Anne looked out at all of her friends. As she would have expected, Hermione was excited to be learning from Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry was happy that someone else would be getting all the attention, Ron was annoyed that someone else was getting all the attention, and Rose was curious about their new professor.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Professor Lockhart greeted them, flashing a smile at his students. "As you all know, my name is Professor Lockhart."

Sally-Anne zoned out as Professor Lockhart began to list off a bunch of titles. What was it about him that had eight of the nine other girls in the room fawning over him? His hair was kind of nice, and he had a nice smile, but she didn't see what was so special about him. Maybe it was just her.

"Now, I'm going to start us off with a little quiz, just to see how much everyone already knows," Professor Lockhart said.

When Sally-Anne received her quiz, she quickly realized that it was all about him. As if it weren't bad enough that all of his books were required for the class, but now he was giving a quiz on himself! Professor Lockhart had to be the most conceited person she had ever met! Everyone had painted him as some brave hero, and Sally-Anne admired that, but he was just full of himself.

Afterwards, he collected the quizzes and looked over them.

"Disappointing, I must say," Lockhart said. "It seems most of you forgot that my favorite color is lilac."

Or some of us don't care, Sally-Anne thought.

"But, Hermione Granger and Rose Petolarrum did well! Three points to each of you!"

Hermione blushed, and Rose beamed, hiding her annoyance that he had messed up her name.

"Now, on to today's lesson," Lockhart said. He pulled a sheet off a box on his desk, revealing a cage of pixies.

"Remember, the most important rule is not to panic!" he shouted as he opened the cage.

Pixies flooded the room, grabbing quills, books, and a poor Neville and flinging everything around in a mass of chaos.

"Don't worry, this is just practice!" Professor Lockhart shouted. "I've got everything under control!"

He waved his wand, shouting an incantation, which caused his wand to spark in his hand. After that, a pixie dropped a book on his head, and the man went down.

As the entire class began to panic, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Sally-Anne turned to Rose.

"Do something!" Hermione shouted.

Rose looked at the unconscious professor and sighed. Without saying a word, she walked over to the cage where the pixies had once been held and closed it. She then turned around, her wand in her hand, and muttered something under her breath.

Next thing everyone knew, every one of the pixies appeared back in the cage.

"That's how you do battlefield control," Rose said, grinning. She turned to the man pretending to be a defence professor, who was still out cold on the ground.

"I'm disappointed. I had such high hopes for you." She grinned. "Oh well! Now it will be less disappointing when you leave at the end of the year!"

She turned to the rest of the class and shouted, "Class dismissed!"

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