Janet did make sure that she was present in front of the Transfiguration classroom at 6.30, she left the common room at 6, and checked if she had her wand for a dozen times, turning back to the dormitory to search for her wand when it was sticking out of her pocket. Lisa got tired of her walking in and out the dormitory checking her bedside cabinet and under her sheets for something she might have left behind and said, “You don’t need to bring anything but yourself to a detention, just GO before you get late again!” and she pushed Janet out of the common room urging her to move on. Janet checked her watch and realized that it was 15 minutes pass 6, feeling anxious; she paced faster down the spiral staircase off to the Transfiguration classroom.
“Miss Hayden,” Professor McGonagall appeared behind Janet.
“Good evening, Professor,” Janet greeted nervously.
“Glad to see that you are not late this time,” Professor McGonagall glanced at her watch, eye brow raised, “And earlier than expected. Now, follow me.” Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door and revealed a very messy classroom. A different sight from what Janet has remembered of the Transfiguration classroom she was in this morning. The tables and chairs were cleared aside, there were white and yellow feathers everywhere, at every corner of the classroom, it looked as though hundreds of birds have been fighting in the classroom.
“Avis,” Professor McGonagall muttered irritably.
Janet looked around the room, “It will take ages to clean all these up,” she thought to herself.
“Miss Hayden, I would like you to clean up all the feathers and bird droppings,” Professor McGonagall wrinkled her nose, “in here. If you manage to clean the classroom quick enough, you might be able to have some pudding from the Halloween Feast.”
“Which is most unlikely,” Janet muttered under her breathe. She spent a whole afternoon cleaning up her room during summer back home and her room was just a third of this classroom. She picked up a broom that was at the corner of the classroom and started sweeping the feathers into small piles. After sweeping a few piles, Janet realized that she has just finished clearing a corner of the classroom, the work seems never-ending.
Then, something about cleaning popped up in her mind; she recalled seeing a cleaning charm when she was flipping through her mother’s notebook this morning. “Good thing I have a good memory,” Janet thought to herself. Feeling excited, she took out her wand. “Scourgify!” She pointed at a pile of feathers she swept and it disappeared. Feeling pleased with herself, she aimed at another pile of feathers. “Scourgify!” The feathers vanished into thin air.
“That was very impressive, Hayden.” Professor McGonagall’s voice echoed from another corner of the classroom and made Janet jumped in shock. She forgot that Professor McGonagall was still in the room.
“I believe Professor Flitwick have not taught you cleaning charms yet or else you would not be only able to clear that small patch at one time,” Professor McGonagall, “However, I am impressed that you did some self-preparation on your own rather than just waiting for class like most students have done. For that, I award 5 points to Ravenclaw.”
Janet’s eyes widen with joy, “Really? I mean, thank you, Professor McGonagall.” This could make up for the points that she lost for being late and hence she could forget about feeling guilty.
Janet continued to clean the classroom using the cleaning charm. She managed to clear the feathers and bird droppings of half of the classroom before a sudden uproar outside. Janet looked up from the feathers and shot a glance at Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall was also aware of the noise outside, she stood up and headed out of the classroom, “The celebration has gone a bit too far,” she said impatiently.
Then, there were sounds of fire crackers exploding and Professor Dumbledore’s voice echoed after that, “Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!”
Janet moved closer to the door, hoping that she could get a glimpse of what was happening in the Great Hall but she kept herself within the compound of the classroom as she was still aware that she was in detention. She cleared a few more piles of feathers while waiting for Professor McGonagall to respond towards the situation.
Professor McGonagall turned around facing Janet, paused for a moment and said, “Miss Hayden, under unforeseen circumstances, we shall end your detention early. You may now return to your common room.”
Janet kept quiet for a few seconds trying to hide her smile on how glad she was that the detention has ended.
“Miss Hayden, did I make myself clear?” Professor McGonagall asked again.
“Ah! Er… Yes… Yes… Thank you, Professor,” Janet replied happily.
“I suppose you are sensible enough to go back to your common room and not let your curiosity take charge?” Professor McGonagall supplied.
“Yes, Professor. I will not be anywhere else but the common room.” Janet assured.
“So, what are you waiting for? Get going! I need to go see what caused the riot.” Professor McGonagall ushered Janet out of the classroom. On her way out, Janet saw Professor McGonagall made all the feathers and bird droppings disappear with just a flick of her wand. Janet suppressed the urge to ask what charm McGonagall used and head straight to the Ravenclaw common room.
Janet walked into a very noisy and crowded common room. She looked around for Lisa and Su but it was Michael Corner who greeted her. “Done with your detention?”
“Yeah, have you seen Lisa and Su?” Janet asked while searching around the huge crowd of Ravenclaws swarming from every direction of the common room.
“I think they are in the girls’ dormitory. You want something to eat? The food from the Halloween Feast has been sent up.” Michael held out a plate with two baked potatoes and a huge slice of Shepard’s Pie.
“It’s ok,” Janet said.
“No, take it. You haven’t eaten anything. I can just get another plate.” Michael offered, pushing the plate into her hands.
“Ok, thanks Mike.” Janet took the plate and suddenly realized that she was indeed very hungry. “I shall go find Lisa and Su.”
Janet found Lisa and Su both on Su’s four posters.
“You’re back!” Lisa exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Janet answered.
“You have taken food? We have already taken for you,” Su said as Janet approached them.
Sure enough, Janet saw plates filled with food on Su’s four posters. “Thanks, you two sure took a lot,” Janet said as she settled between them.
“We didn’t get to eat much at the feast. Oh, Ernie was looking for you, by the way.” Lisa said.
“He’s looking for me? Why?”
“I think it was just because he didn’t see you so he came over and asked where you were, and I told him you were in detention.”
“You did?”
“I wasn’t supposed to?”
“Erm… It’s ok. I just hope that the news will not reach my parents.” Janet never intend to tell her parents about her detention so if Ernie shared the news with his father, her parents are bound to know about this. Then she saw Lisa’s worried face, “But, it’s fine.” She assured.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. It’s ok. Well, what did I miss?” Janet quickly changes the topic so that Lisa will not feel guilty.
“Food wise, you didn’t miss much, most of them are here,” Lisa points at the food on Su’s four posters, “Professor Quirrell ran into the Great Hall and screamed that there was a troll,”
“And he passed out after that. Can you believe it? He was supposed to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,” Su said in a mocking way.
“That was what Terry said,” Lisa explained seeing Janet’s puzzled face.
“He repeat this over and over on the way back,” Su said.
“He never did seem brave anyway,” Janet added.
“Then we were all sent to our common rooms,” Lisa passed a piece of roast chicken to Janet. “Chicken?”
Janet quickly jerked away, “No thanks. I had enough of birds that will last me for the rest of the week.”
Lisa and Su was surprised by Janet’s reaction because she used to like roast chicken and they took a few extra pieces for her.
“I had to clean a classroom full of bird droppings and feathers. I have seen enough bird droppings to stay away from chickens, at least for today,” Janet explained, putting her Shepard’s Pie down. The sight of chicken has made her lost her appetite.
Lisa and Su laughed, “Professor McGonagall made you clean bird droppings for detention?” Lisa asked.
“It will not be that funny if you have seen the sight of that classroom full of bird droppings and feathers at every corner,” Janet said without smiling.
“I’m sorry, Janet. You want pudding? There’s no chicken inside,” Su passed a bowl of pudding to Janet while swallowing her giggles but it was Janet who started laughing and the three of them burst out laughing.
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