The noon bell echoed heavily between the stone walls, its last notes still ringing.
Behind the lectern, Professor McGonagall tapped her lesson plan twice against the flat desktop.
"Class dismissed. Before you leave, turn the earthworms in your trays back into matches and put them in the wooden box to the right of the lectern."
Stool legs scraped against the stone floor all around the room.
Gavin closed the notebook lying open before him. In the center of the newest page, the ink on the words "Golden Cup" had dried.
He had just risen from the bench to leave when Professor McGonagall spoke again from behind the lectern.
"Mr. Gu, stay a moment."
Justin was almost out of the classroom. He turned back at the sound, sympathy in his eyes.
Gavin waved for them to go ahead to the Great Hall for lunch. Ernie patted Justin on the shoulder and pulled Rolf across the threshold with him.
Before long, nearly everyone had left.
Only at a desk near the front did the sounds of someone packing up continue at an unhurried pace.
Hermione put the heavy Intermediate Guide to Transfiguration into her bag. She had fastened the clasp halfway when she opened it again, pulled the book out, turned it around, and put it back. Her two quills lay side by side next to the ink bottle, yet she bent down and searched the empty space beneath her desk with intense concentration.
Gavin watched from nearby without a word.
Professor McGonagall looked up over her glasses. Her gaze crossed the empty desks and settled on the lingering figure.
"Miss Granger, do you have another question?"
Hermione snatched up the quills and stuffed them into a side pocket.
"No, Professor."
She hoisted her bulging bag and hurried toward the door.
Only