Cast yourself (you are the spell)

Chapter 5

Her next class is Transfiguration, which she has with Penelope, Rose, and Ethan. They have this class with Ravenclaw as well.

"You were right," Hope tells Penelope along the way. Penelope arches one brow in confusion.

"About the Saltzman girl," Hope clarifies, a lump in her throat. "She's nothing but trouble."

"When am I ever wrong?" Penelope laughs in delight, quickly being elbowed by Ethan, who's just caught up with them.

"Like, all the time," he interjects, a smirk against his lips.

"Oh, please," Penelope scoffs. "Name one time."

"This morning," Rose cuts in quickly, and they all laugh despite the frown on Penelope's face.

"Whatever," she grumbles, walking faster as she enters the classroom. She stops shortly.

"Oh, come on!" she groans immediately. "We're changing seats in here, too?"

Hope strains over her head and sees that they are-in fact-switching seats.

That's...peculiar.

"What?" Ethan groans as well. "McGonagall never assigns seating charts."

"Maybe the old hag has finally lost her mind," Penelope comments as they all find a spot along the wall similarly to the way they did during potions.

Hope straightens up somewhat as her eyes catch Josette entering the classroom with Anna Lowly, a Ravenclaw. They appear to be friendly enough, and Hope breathes out a heavy sigh before she can stop herself.

The bell rings to signal the start of class, and with brief introductions McGonagall starts pairing them off.

Once again, Hope finds a partner in Josette Saltzman. She grits her teeth as she makes her way to their assigned desk, which just so happens to be right in the front of McGonagall's own.

Penelope and a Ravenclaw Hope hasn't bothered to learn the name of are sitting right across them, with Ethan and Anna just behind them.

Rose is at the back of the classroom by herself, and Hope doesn't even have it within her to laugh about it.

She does actually laugh when she sees that Ethan and Penelope are already arguing.

"Haha, I got a smart person!" Ethan attempts to gloat, gesturing to Anna's blue and copper robe.

"Me, too, dumbass," Penelope name calls, pointing to her seat partner who is wearing the same Ravenclaw robe. The smile on Ethan's face slips off easily enough.

Hope glances at Josette next to her, realizing that she isn't wearing her Slytherin robe.

Maybe she hasn't had the chance to purchase one yet?

She thinks she might be staring too long, so she glances back at Ethan and Penelope. She wonders if they'd still be as happy with their Ravenclaw partners if they were anything less than purebloods.

"Okay, class. This morning we will be transfiguring inanimate objects to live ones. For the first half of class, we will be starting small, with beetles and bugs. The second half of class we will focus our magic on bigger animals. We have been practicing this spell for the last week or so, so I expect that you will have little to no trouble. Please remember your wand movements and pronunciations. I have set aside various objects in front of you-you may now begin."

The class dissolves into chatter once again, and Hope looks at the task before her. There's a couple of cups and knobs on the desk, and she reaches for a chess piece.