Up on the fifth floor of the castle, we quietly tiptoed our way forwards, towards Professor Balog’s office. A few 5th Year Slytherin students walked passed however they paid us no attention at all as they continued down the hallway. Someone had left a window open in an adjacent classroom and the door was swinging open and closed with the cold winter wind. Dian held up her hand and started making signals with her hands, as though we were part of the British SIS.

“What does that even mean!?” Holly hissed from behind me, “From here it just looks like you’re having a seizure!”

Dian turned and shot her a death stare whilst we all chuckled quietly. I had to resist the urge to start coughing aloud as I laughed too hard.

“The coast is clear!” She said as she made her hand gestures again, “Let’s go into Balog’s Office!”

She leapt up from her spot and flourished her wand poignantly at the doorway to the Professor’s Office.

“Flipendo!” She cried, in the same manner that Melissa had done previously, and from her wand shot the same orange light, however it hit the door and flew straight back. It hit Dian square in the chest and knocked her over to the ground.

“Dian!” Marilyn called out, running over to her friend who lay on the floor giggling uncontrollably.

“That was awesome!” Dian yelled as she began laughing loudly. All of a sudden I had a sinking feeling and I quickly found out why.

“What, was awesome?” A strict voice pierced through the laughter. Dian stopped immediately and we all looked up to see Professor Balog, in all his glory, standing in the entrance to his office. He had a pair of glasses on beneath messy blonde hair, and he had a pair of emerald green robes on, with a patterned silver outline. He looked tired and confused as he gazed at us all.

“I.. um.. we were just-” Dian began, but she was quickly cut off.

“They were laughing at me Professor Balog.” A gentle voice called down the hall. We all turned and could see a Ravenclaw Student, by the name of Anne Pickering walking down the hallway. Her long hair billowed out behind her and she clasped a copy of “A History of Magic” in her hands.

“Why would they be laughing at you, Miss Pickering?” Professor Balog enquired as he turned in her direction. “You don’t appear to have done anything remotely applicable to this scene”

“I was attempting to get my essay to write itself for Transfiguration” She explained smoothly, “However the charm caused the quill to smack into your door and then crash into poor Dian, knocking her onto the floor”

We all stared incredulously as this perfectly formed lie came from Anne. In a way, I admired how rapidly she’d come up with it and how she was getting us out of trouble. She then held up the book in her hand.

“I was also hoping to discuss the theorisations of Herpo the Foul with you?” She continued, motioning into his office.

“Oh, um, yes very well, come on in” He said wearily as he turned and went back into his office. Anne smiled at us all and giggled at Dian who now had an orange smear on the front of her shirt from where the spell struck her. She walked into the office and closed the door behind her. I quickly jumped up and ran over to Dian, helping her to her feet.

“Are you okay?” I muttered to her, trying not to laugh at the giant orange stain on the front of her uniform.

“I’m great!” She replied, her face still a little shocked from what had just occurred. “In fact, I’m even more driven now to find out more of Balog’s secrets!”

She picked up her bag and waving to us, ran down the hallway in the direction of the History of Magic classroom.

“5 Galleons says she’ll be expelled before the term ends” Marilyn called out from behind us.

“I’ll accept that bet” Sam responded, now throwing his ball close to Professor Balog’s door. I caught it as it rebounded.

“Come now Sam, let’s not tempt fate with another Balog encounter?” I said coyly to him. He stared at me stunned and blushed slightly before grabbing the ball off we and heading down the hallway.

“Catch you all later” He called behind him, “I’m gonna go get some food from the elves”

Slowly everyone dispersed and so Holly and I decided that we’d head out into the grounds and see what was going on out there. As we walked down the Grand Staircase, suits of armour were walking around, carrying little internal flames that generated heat. I shivered in delight as I felt the warmth spreading through my body and we stopped briefly to absorb some of the heat. I looked down over the banister and could catch a glimpse of Shweta Night running down towards the History of Magic classroom. I dread to think what her and Dian are getting up to! On the level above that, Charelle Bryant was just walking out of the Charms classroom, followed by Aranya Filicin and Greg Dean. They were all chatting excitedly and Charelle waved when she glanced up and saw me. I smiled and waved back before turning back to Holly.

“Shall we keep going?” I asked her, watching her smile in delight from the heat.

“I suppose so” She sighed, before turning on her heel and walking down the staircase.

We skipped along the first floor corridor and out into the Transfiguration Courtyard where the fourth years were just coming out of Transfiguration. We giggled as one Hufflepuff boy walked out with a beak on his face instead of a mouth and I glanced into the classroom as we walked past. Professor Darkstorm was sending shots of silver light around the room which were causing objects to spin and pop and change back into their original forms. On the chalkboard was written “The Theorisations of Time & The Class-C Transfigurative Spell”. I can’t even comprehend what that means!

We walked down into the Entrance Hall, where Professor Nivera, dressed in an elegant black dress robe, was pointing at puddles of water and yelling at the poltergeist that floated in front of her. He pulled a pie from his pocket and threw it at her, but she, quicker even, pulled out her wand and chained the poltergeist to the wall. Not wanting to get involved, we quickly slipped out the main entrance and out into the freezing snow. I breathed in the cold clean air as we walked through the courtyard and out towards to Greenhouses and the Owlery. Holly pointed ahead and we could see Professor Tudor, once again, fighting back some plants that had gotten out of control. Seeing her reminded me that I still had to complete my homework for Herbology the next morning, and I made a mental note to do it that night in Professor Mae’s study hall. We continued walking and I glanced up to the Owlery where I could see Professor Afolayan observing the sky with her telescope and pointing with her wand as she talked to Professor Ham. We decided to go and see if Professor Tudor needed help, and as we approached we could hear her yelling.

“Get back!” She cried, lashing out with her wand and sending bluebell light at the vines, “Back into your pots!”

“Professor!” Holly cried out as we hurried forward, “Can we help you?”

“Yes Girls!” The Professor responded, as she danced around slashing her wand “When I restrain these plants, I need you to use Incendio or Lumos on them to get them to go back inside!”

Neither of us had had much practice with Lumos and Incendio was in later chapters of our textbooks, but we both glanced at each other and then pulled out our wands, moving to stand on either side of the Professor.

“Okay” We said in unison. I turned my body to the right and held my wand out in front of me, feeling comforted by the stick of wood which I could not yet fully command.

“Miss Higgins, Lumos, if you please” Professor Tudor said, “And Miss Greenburg, Incendio”

I paled with the weight of the expectation however I swallowed my fear and nodded.

“Immobulus!” Professor Tudor cried as she slashed her wand diagonally. The vines all leapt at her and were caught in the line of the spell, stopping them instantly and causing them to move in slow motion.

“Lumos!” I heard Holly cry and saw as a small beam of light was generated from her wand, irritating the vines. I turned back to my share of the vines and steeled my nerve

“Incendio!” I muttered, flourishing my wand, and watched in delight as a small jet of blue flames shot from my wand and into the vines, causing the immobilising magic to break and the vines to leap back into the greenhouse.

“Phew!” The Professor exclaimed, “Thank you girls! The Devil’s Snare can be devilishly fun, and on days when there is a severe lack of sunlight, so pretty much the majority of winter, it can all get a bit out of hand!”

“You’re most welcome Professor” Holly responded, “We’re glad we were able to help!”

She handed us each a chocolate frog and then returned into the Greenhouse. We both stared at each other, excited by what we had just done and turned to go and tell the others. I opened up my Chocolate Frog and pulled out the card inside. Professor Nivera.

I can’t wait to get back into the warmth, the frozen student,

Genevieve Greenburg