On Wednesday evening, after dinner in the Great Hall, Aisling casually found an excuse to shake off the little crowd trailing behind her and headed alone for the Transfiguration classroom on the first floor, carrying her textbook.
At the classroom door, she ran into Cedric, who had just come from the direction of the Forbidden Forest. Noticing the Transfiguration textbooks in each other's hands, they exchanged a smile.
Cedric took the initiative to greet her.
"What a coincidence. You're here for Professor McGonagall's advanced Transfiguration class too, right? I knew it. You're so good at Transfiguration—Professor McGonagall was bound to invite you."
Aisling and Cedric had always gotten along well. Cedric was highly perceptive and never mentioned Roy in front of her.
Aisling smiled, returned his greeting simply, then pushed open the door and entered the classroom with Cedric.
Professor McGonagall had set the meeting time for seven in the evening, and it was only half past six. Other than the two of them, who had arrived early, the classroom was empty. Professor McGonagall had already prepared the teaching aids for the lesson, though she had not arrived yet.
Aisling and Cedric sat together, chatting idly about recent events at school and the problems they had encountered in their various subjects.
Conversations between intelligent people were always comfortable. The two tacitly avoided mentioning Cedric's best friend, who was nowhere to be seen all day. Cedric also bore no grudge over having been knocked unconscious by Aisling's spell during the match. Instead, he sincerely praised her exceptional spellcasting proficiency, which pleased Aisling greatly.
Before long, Professor McGonagall arrived. When she pushed open the door and saw the two chatting happily, the corners of her mouth could not help but lift slightly.
Seeing the professor enter, Aisling and Cedric immediately stopped chatting