JINX in JEOPARDY [fred w.]

viii. dragons & daydreams !

DRAGONS & DAYDREAMS !

. . .

Legs dangling off the desk, Avery had made herself more than comfortable in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Since the cursed subject's new professor had not yet arrived, everyone was occupying themselves in some other way. Either showing off ─typically the Gryffindors─, reading or sketching ─typically the Ravenclaws─, but most students simply chatting, as one would expect of a bunch of teenagers.

Avery felt quite drawn to the House of wit and wisdom if she were to be honest. Their reserved, brooding nature led her to believe they were all planning some sort of master plan in their brain. Most wore an air of mystery around them, which interested her to no end.

Ella's arms were folded beneath her head and rested on the desk Avery was sitting on top of. Thalia was standing, leaning back against the table next to theirs. They were conversing about a boy named Cedric Diggory, who, apparently, was particularly popular around here.

'Oh come on, he's not that fit,' Thalia said, rolling her eyes. 'I don't see why everyone is so obsessed with him.'

'Yeah, right,' Ella said sarcastically with a sigh and a sideways glance.

'He's not as fit as ─as...' Thalia's voice trailed, her eyes fleeting across the room. A devilish smirk crawled onto her face.

'He's not as fit as Weasley,' she said, pointedly looking at Avery and nodding her head in Fred's (or George's) direction.

Ella reluctantly lifted her head to turn around in her seat, examining Fred for a moment, then averted her gaze back to Thalia.

'Nobody actually believes that when it's coming from your mouth,' Ella remarked drily.

Avery giggled and suggestively wiggled her eyebrows at Thalia. The two's delightfully pointless discussion put her in a good mood and she was shaking her head, laughing heartily.

She hopped off the table and took a seat at the desk in front of Ella's. She'd stolen Thalia's book from her bag earlier, now turning the pages to the first chapter; Nifflers. Relatively harmless, unless when robbed of their treasure.

'You do know the professor has not yet entered the classroom, right? He's not here to give you credit,' Thalia commented, raising her eyebrows.

Avery made a humming noise, not taking her eyes off the page. 'I know.'

Thalia regarded her like she was some otherworldly creature, but kept silent. She sort of lived up to the Gryffindor stereotype, she supposed, never doing a scratch of homework that was not absolutely mandatory.

The door swung open, and in came a youthful man with streaks of grey in his hair, dusting off his shabby robes with one hand while tightly gripping a briefcase in the other. The class fell silent when he started to speak.