When Douglas walked into the classroom and saw the stack of books already arranged on the lectern,
he fell deep into thought.
At lunchtime.
In the Great Hall at Hogwarts, the students were buzzing with discussion.
Some made their way between the House tables, tallying up how many subjects now required memorization outside class.
At the Gryffindor table.
Some students were teasing George and Fred:
"George and Fred nearly went mad in Transfiguration!"
"The moment Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, both of them stood up and raced to answer!"
"In the end, the professor banned them from speaking for the rest of the lesson!"
"Ha! I still remember what the professor said: 'Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, do you think answering questions together will earn you twice the points?'"
George and Fred slung their arms around each other's shoulders and said with grins:
"So what? The professor still gave Gryffindor five points in the end!"
Smack!
The two high-fived.
"Keep it up!"
"Let's earn those two hundred points as soon as we can!"
"George, what classes have we got this afternoon?"
"Defense Against Dark Magic, Charms-oh, heavens, and History of Magic. That'll be rough!"
Beside them, Ron said dismissively:
"That's nothing. Neville earned twenty points in Defense Against Dark Magic this morning!"
Fred and George exclaimed:
"Oh, heavens, merciful Professor Holmes!
There's hope for us yet!"
Everyone discussed all sorts of things, but strangely,
none of the three classes that had taken Defense Against Dark Magic that day volunteered anything about asking Professor Holmes for an autograph.
Only when someone asked would they say very quietly:
"Oh, heavens, Professor Holmes is really accommodating. Just put your book on the lectern during class.
He'll sign it for you!"
Soon, those words began spreading through the Great Hall.
Those three classes from