71 Responsible partner

James slept peacefully in a double bed. The room was completely dark. There were no windows to let in sunlight. Because of his drool, he opened his eyes with difficulty.

"Mm... Why is it so dark?" stammered James. As his brain slowly kicked in.

'What time is it...' he thought as he got out of bed. The torches flared again allowing him to observe the clock in the distance. He had to focus his eyesight well to manage to see the time.

"Shit! It's already past nine!" shouted James as he stood up and began to change at light speed. With his wand, he quickly grabbed everything he needed for class today.

With a book in hand, he carefully left the room. Even though he was in a hurry, he couldn't leave abruptly and found that someone was just passing by, and since there were classes there, it was most likely Filch.

'I don't hear anything...' thought James, opening the door and starting to run towards Classroom 1 on the First Floor. That's where the first-year transfiguration classes are held.

Since he already knew he was going to sleep in the secret room, he didn't bring his invisibility cloak with him. Otherwise, he would have to take it to his dormitory.

'Of all the subjects I have, why do I have to be late for Transfiguration...?' thought James standing in front of the door to Classroom 1. He could hear McGonagall's stern voice delivering the lesson.

James was seriously thinking about whether he should go to the infirmary and create an excuse that he was sick or something, but Madame Poppy would find out that he was perfectly fine and he would be in more trouble.

'Maybe I should cast a Jinx on myself?' thought James and then shook his head. He preferred to take responsibility for his actions.

James without further thought, grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, which made a slight squeak. McGonagall stopped talking and looked at him. All the students looked at him as well.

James stared at McGonagall's stern face. An awkward silence reigned in the classroom. He didn't know whether to walk slowly to his seat or wait for the professor's punishment.

"James Potter, do you know what time it is?" asked McGonagall.

"9:35 professor..." replied James.

"Exactly. More than thirty minutes since class started. May I know why you are so late?" asked McGonagall again.

"I overslept..." replied James, scratching his tousled hair that he didn't have time to fix even a little bit. He didn't even have time to eat breakfast, so hungry was he.

At James' response many snickered under their breath, something McGonagall didn't like at all, "Silence!" she bellowed, and not a fly was heard to fly.

"Go sit down. After class, we'll talk," sentenced McGonagall. Many including James, were surprised that he hadn't been punished immediately and lost a few points.

Afraid that McGonagall would change her mind, James began to walk hurriedly to the back to sit with Sirius, "Not there!" raised McGonagall's voice.

'Did she get cold feet?" thought James as he looked at the professor.

"You will sit here. In the front row," said McGonagall, pointing to an empty seat. Knowing that if he said anything he would be in more trouble, he obeyed and sat in front of everything, next to Lily Evans, who even her friends didn't want to always sit in front of everything, so she sat alone.

McGonagall made this decision for several reasons. First, she knew that if James was in the background he wouldn't pay attention, and his friend Sirius always distracted him. She knew of James' talent in transfiguration, a talent she rarely saw. So she wanted to guide him as best she could and have him take advantage of his talent.

Lily glanced at James and looked ahead without paying any more attention to him.

"Let's pick up where we left off. We were talking about the transfiguration spell: Avifors. Can someone be so kind as to explain it to our classmate James?" asked McGonagall in a satirical tone.

"Lily," said McGonagall, looking at the redhead's raised hand.

"The Avifors spell transforms small objects and creatures into birds," replied Lily as usual. McGonagall nodded in satisfaction, glad that she was paying attention to her explanation.

"Correct. You should note that the spell is seen as a Jinx when used to transform certain creatures into birds. This spell is the most complicated spell we have seen so far. Now turn to the appropriate page in your books, and after reading carefully, practice with these stones," said McGonagall as she waved her wand lightly.

Five stones began to appear in front of each student, "If you have any problems, let me know. I will help you. Now get to work," she added.

James' eyes were heavy. He lazily opened his book to a random page: 'The zombie inhabits only the southern part of America. It can be recognized by its grayish color and rotten smell...' James read and realized something was wrong.

He looked at the cover of the book and realized the problem, 'This is not the transfiguration book,' he thought as he pushed aside the book which was Quentin Trimble's defense against the dark arts.

The blackboard had little detail unlike the book and he had no idea about the Avifors spell. He looked at Lily and noticed that her attention was completely absorbed by the book. Her green eyes moved quickly following the lines of text, 'What is that reading speed...' thought James, somewhat surprised.

Lily noticed James looking at her and looked at him, "Do you want something?" she asked.

"No, nothing," James replied, dropping her gaze. Although he wasn't on bad terms with her, he also didn't have the confidence to ask her and read the book together.

Lily noticed James' book and realized that the cover did not belong to the transfiguration book. She quickly identified it as Trimble's book.

After a moment's thought, she sighed inwardly and moved the book to the center of the table. Close to both of us.

"You can read if you like," said Lily as she brought a hand to her mane and slid the red locks, which fell over her face behind her ear.

"Thanks..." said James as he leaned in close and began to read the book along with Lily.

Their shoulders bumped slightly, and their faces were quite close, but neither gave it any thought. They were both engrossed in reading the theory of the Avifors spell.

James had to turn his attention to something to keep from falling asleep, and what better than this transfiguration spell that looked like fun. After several minutes, he finished reading and started practicing with the stones.

Lily also started practicing with the stones. They were the first to move on to practice. After saying "Avifors" and failing, they both went back to reading the theory in the book.

"Mm... I have to emphasize the first syllable..." muttered Lily in concentration.

"Yes. Then quickly you have to say 'vi' and 'fors' softly, but without wasting too much time," muttered James. They both nodded and returned to their stones.

Thirty minutes passed, and the class came to an end. In addition to pronunciation, James and Lily discussed the correct wand movement, and both contributed very useful observations. This allowed them to be the only ones with a breakthrough on the stones, although they still didn't get to turn them into 100% birds.

McGonagall watched the two with a slight smile. She knew she was right, putting James next to Lily. They could both benefit from each other's talents and help each other practice more effectively. Plus James wouldn't be distracted, since Lily doesn't waste time in class.

On the other hand, she noticed how Sirius Black drove Peter Pettigrew crazy, playing with rocks using Wingardium Leviosa, among other things.

'I must find that boy a responsible partner...' thought McGonagall, watching Sirius with a frown.

"Thanks for letting me read the book," said James as they all put their things away and started to leave the classroom.

"You're welcome. Your suggestions helped me so we're even," Lily said as she said goodbye to James and left with her friends.

"James Potter, come here," McGonagall said from her desk as she noticed James wanting to slip away with Sirius and the others. With no other choice, he went towards McGonagall's desk.

"Sit down," said McGonagall as a chair appeared near James.

"Where to start..." she added as closed a book.

Fifteen minutes later, James came out of the classroom with a happy expression that was hard to observe because of the dark circles under his eyes and the sleepiness he had. Amazingly McGonagall didn't punish him. No week cleaning trophies or armor, no less points for his house.

She only gave him a lecture that James listened to attentively, as he agreed with the wise professor on several things. For example, paying attention in class and stopping falling asleep.

McGonagall noticed that James was paying less attention in class and had dark circles under his eyes, and the quality of the homework he was handing in had dropped.

James had to give her some excuses, since he couldn't tell her that he found a secret room and was spending until six in the morning there when he should be in his bedroom.

So, from now on, he won't be so late in the secret room practicing. He will set a fixed schedule so that he can get at least six hours of sleep. When the curfew starts at about ten o'clock at night. He will go to the secret room. He will be able to practice for about three hours, which will allow him to sleep for about six hours.

He doesn't usually stay up until six in the morning every day, rather he has an irregular schedule.

'Is this luck because my birthday is coming up?' thought James as he hurried to the next class or he would be late again.

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