Transfiguration Lesson 3 (All Years)

Grayson let out a long sigh as he settled back in the worn leather chair behind his desk. It was time to focus, to get back into the swing of things - his students would be here any minute now - but he just wasn't feeling it. He felt bad. His students deserved better. Especially as many of them dealt with their own stressful situations: the Americans, as their country prepared for what could only be described as war, and their friends, as they wondered what might happen next. There was a tension in the air, and Grayson didn't know how he was supposed to address it.

Or if he even had the energy to. The events of the holidays weighed heavily on his shoulders. He had left early, requesting a substitute for the few weeks before break that he had to miss. His mother had taken a nasty fall down the stairs in their family home, resulting in several broken bones, a concussion, and significant internal bleeding. Thankfully, a neighbor had been by to check on her and had rushed her to the hospital, but Grayson felt obligated to return home while she recovered. He stayed by her side after she was released, and over the holidays he had finally made the difficult decision to move her into assisted living. He couldn't provide the care she needed by himself while he was working full time, and he wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise, so he spent the holidays preparing her transition to a care home in London. He put the house up for rent while he was at it, loathe to sell it, but knowing he wouldn't be using it for the majority of the year. By the time the break ended, he was exhausted, and not at all in the right headspace for teaching.

He hadn't prepared anything over the break. It felt weird coming back to Hogwarts after such a long time away, and jumping back into teaching seemed wrong, somehow, as it was the last thing on his mind. Still, he owed it to his students to give them the best he had, so he'd stayed up far too late last night putting together a lesson plan. Perhaps the best he could do was just to pretend everything was normal.

The board held the plan for the day, as it usually did: Medical Conjuration. Grayson dragged his hands down his face once, then straightened up, savouring the last few moments of quiet before his students arrived.

The end of the school year was approaching and instead of the usual excitement about the holidays mixed with nerves about the upcoming exams, the castle was encased in a whole other kind of worry. Almost a dozen students had packed their bags ready to leave Hogwarts for good and Mimosa just couldn't understand why. they kept saying it was the law but surely the law couldn't be all that important? If it was, she would have heard of it by now. The child had even talked to her Jacques about it who had just reassured her that she needn't worry about such things. Despite people's insistence that travelling between America and other laces would be harder now, her own grandpa was still there and coming to pick her up for the holidays as usual. Jacques too had promise her they could go to California in the summer.

This was a major bummer, and she just wanted to go to the palace. It was the only real home she could get away from everything at.

But she had to finish her semester first. So as always, the Clement Ward held her head high, dressed herself in her pristine Slytherin uniform and made her way to Transfiguration with her usual group of friends. This would be the last class Lyra would attend with the groups so Mimosa felt compelled to walk next to her, holding the Hufflepuff's hand instead of taking her usual place beside Squid Boy.

The somewhat subdued group entered the classroom and took their seats, waiting for the lesson to begin.

Admin Closure of Class.

Thank you to those who have posted in this class - unfortunately the professor cannot finish up the class, so an admin will close it. Points will be given as follows:

10 points for attendance
5 points for any question being answered
Up to 15 points for participation in class

Thank you for your participation - this will still count as one of your three classes.

If you have any questions in regards to the points being handed out (either as a student or professor) please contact myself or another admin via PM to discuss them.

House Points
Apollonia Leandros = 10 points for attendance
Mimosa Harrington = 10 points for attendance
Nikolai Kessler = 10 points for attendance

TOTAL:
Gryffindor: 0
Hufflepuff: 0
Ravenclaw: 0
Slytherin: 30