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The day continued as usual. It was now afternoon, and the sky was partially cloudy, although the weather remained fresh and pleasant, perfect for doing some outdoor activity.
Seeing the pleasant weather, almost all the students of Hogwarts decided to spend their day off outside the castle.
Some were relaxing in the courtyards with their friends, talking or playing. Others preferred to take a peaceful walk through the grounds or rest by the shore of the Black Lake.
And those more energetic and hyperactive chose some slightly livelier activities, such as playing a friendly match of Quidditch or simply flying on their brooms around the Quidditch pitch or near the greenhouses.
Of course, not everyone chose to spend time on the grounds of Hogwarts. Some students preferred to stay inside the castle, resting in their common rooms.
And among this small minority were the more studious, quiet or antisocial students of the ravens' house.
In truth, those descriptions fit almost every Ravenclaw student... however they clearly did not apply to my friends.
They, along with roughly a dozen other Ravenclaws, were also in the common room.
However, the reason they were inside instead of enjoying the day outside had nothing to do with them being antisocial or the type who preferred staying indoors.
The reason was actually much simpler and more obvious. And that reason was called... homework.
"I seriously can't understand..." Lisa began to say, looking at Anthony with a frown, "Why do you always wait to do your homework on the very last possible day?"
"Professor Snape assigned this essay to us more than a week ago," she continued, "And we have to hand it in tomorrow. So why are you only doing it now?"
"Because I was busy before, Lisa," Anthony replied, without lifting his face from the parchment in front of him.
"Busy?" She raised an eyebrow, "With what?"
"With boy things... You wouldn't understand," he waved his hand casually.
In response to that, Lisa threw him a deeply disdainful look.
"Besides, I'm the one who can't understand you," he continued, finally dropping the parchment to look at the Ravenclaw girl, "Why do you do your homework so early?"
"It's not like you couldn't wait a little longer... Doing everything so early just makes you waste your days."
Lisa rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I don't know why I do my homework so early... Maybe it's because that way I don't have to rush to finish an essay at the last minute, risking doing everything wrong or leaving it incomplete?" she said with sarcasm.
"And you talk about wasting the day doing homework... but what exactly are you doing right now?" she added, glaring at him fiercely.
"That's different. All of this is part of a carefully calculated strategy to optimize my mental performance," Anthony nodded to himself with a serious air.
"Huh?" Lisa blinked, "That makes absolutely no sense!" she said, confused and perplexed.
And just when she was about to continue the argument, Sue — who was sitting beside her — placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't even try to argue with him, Lisa," Sue said, shaking her head in resignation, "He's already a lost cause."
Lisa still seemed willing to argue, but after a few seconds of hesitation she only let out a tired sigh.
"What is Ravenclaw becoming?" she muttered, looking upward helplessly.
Completely ignoring the two girls, Anthony returned to focusing on his homework.
But after some time intensely staring at his essay, he dropped his quill and parchment on the table.
"Arg... Why does this homework have to be so difficult?!" he complained, scratching his head furiously.
"Twenty uses for Incandescent Moss... ten ways to distill the saliva of a Rocky Grubio... what are the effects of a Purifying Potion on a Grey Ghoul..."
"Why should I know all of this?!" he raised his hands dramatically.
"I understand that Professor Snape doesn't like us, but couldn't he have given a shorter and less complicated assignment?" he continued, irritated.
Tired and with a slight headache caused by the overuse of his few remaining brain cells, Anthony could not help venting his frustrations.
Since the start of the day, he had already done at least three pieces of homework: a Charms essay, a small Astronomy test, and a Herbology research project.
And after finishing all of that, he moved on to the most tedious and complicated subject... Potions.
But even after spending almost the entire afternoon reading books and writing on his parchment, he still had not managed to finish this damn homework.
Adding that to his exhaustion and his deep — and absolutely sincere — dread of homework, it was inevitable that he would be irritated and bored.
Terry, who was also finishing his own homework, felt his eye twitch upon hearing yet another round of complaints from his friend.
Unfortunately for the poor boy's ears, this was not the first time Anthony had opened his mouth to complain.
In fact, he had probably spent more time complaining and grumbling than actually writing.
With a heavy and irritated sigh, Terry dropped the parchment he had in his hands onto the table with a thud and turned toward Anthony.
"Could you please stop complaining for at least ONE SECOND?!"
"Well, I would stop... if someone helped me finish this essay!" Anthony replied, puffing out his cheeks.
"I've told you dozens of times... The answers are in the Grovitch's Intermediate Potions textbook!" Terry said, grinding his teeth.
"Yeah, but I also told you those answers aren't good enough," Anthony said, shaking his head.
"Professor Snape clearly said he wouldn't accept a simple and basic answer for the last homework of the year... he wants something more complete."
"So if I don't do it perfectly," he pointed to the parchment, "he'll definitely get irritated."
"And I wouldn't be surprised at all if, to vent his anger, he uses me as a test subject the next time he invents a new potion!"
As he said that, a look of genuine panic appeared on the blond boy's face.
"If you wanted to make a perfect essay, maybe you shouldn't have started it one day before having to hand it in!" Lisa commented immediately, seizing the moment to mock him.
"Hey," Anthony turned to her indignantly, "Are you on Snape's side or mine?!"
"Neither... Right now I'm just against you," she replied, crossing her arms.
"Wow, what a great friend you are," he made a face.
"Thank you. I do what I can," Lisa replied cheerfully, receiving an irritated snort from him.
Then, deciding to ignore his so "loyal" friend, Anthony looked back at his parchment.
He made another face, still not knowing how to proceed with his homework.
However, knowing that he did not have much time, and that he still had other homework to do, he forced himself to finish this one.
Picking up his quill again, he leaned over the parchment and began writing the rest of the essay with an extremely concentrated expression.
However, just like the other times, he completely ignored Terry's and the others' suggestions and help.
He decided he would do his homework his own way... In other words, the wrong way.
Seeing that, Terry could not contain the tired and irritated sigh that left his mouth.
"Seriously, I'm starting to understand why Professor Snape is so grumpy," Terry muttered, rubbing his temple.
""Mm-hm"" Lisa and Sue immediately agreed.
Even our other friends, who were only watching the show, could not help but agree.
Everyone was already used to Anthony's endless complaints when the subject was homework or any other kind of assignment, but today he seemed particularly unbearable.
"Well, I'm sure Professor Snape would be very pleased if he heard you saying that."
A new voice suddenly appeared, in a playful and amused tone.
Hearing that very familiar voice, all the ravens of this dysfunctional group immediately turned toward the entrance of the Common Room.
"""Ethan!""" they exclaimed at the same time, surprised and somewhat excited to see me.
"Hey everyone," I greeted them, smiling slightly.
Before I could even approach them, they all dropped whatever they were doing and stood up, quickly coming toward me.
Like a group of excited and curious children, they crowded around me, looking at me with happy and expectant expressions.
Seeing that, I didn't mind at all. Their excitement was something completely natural.
Since the end of the third task and all that confusion with Fudge in the medical tent, we hadn't had a real conversation.
In fact, the last time we had all been together was during the dinner when the Headmaster gave his speech. So it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this was the first time we had truly interacted since that day.
Because of that, it was obvious that they would be eager and excited to talk to me.
"Thank Merlin you showed up, Ethan," Anthony was the first to speak, looking at me with a mixture of relief and adoration, "I really needed someone who actually knows what they're talking about… and not someone who only talks nonsense."
As he said the last part, he glanced sideways at Terry, who rolled his eyes with obvious disdain.
"Oh? And does that have anything to do with the Potions essay you left until the last minute?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I glaced at the parchment and books spread across the table.
"Yes, exactly," he replied, nodding repeatedly.
Anthony then took a step forward, moving far too close to me while looking at me with what he believed were puppy eyes.
"Could you please help me finish my Potions homework? I have no idea where to find the answers needed to complete it," Anthony practically begged me.
"Please stop making that face… it makes me nauseous," I said with a look of disgust while pushing his face away from me.
"And as for the answers to Professor Snape's essay, it's not that complicated… All of them are in Grovitch's Intermediate Potions textbook — more specifically on pages 48, 72 and 126," I replied.
"Hah!" Terry celebrated immediately, turning to Anthony and pointing at him with a triumphant air, "I told you, you thick-headed feathered badger! The answers were in that book!"
In response to that, the naïve Ravenclaw boy simply turned his face to the side with a sulky expression.
"Whatever…" he muttered reluctantly.
Even so, he still made sure to memorize the page numbers I had mentioned.
'At least Ethan's answer was more helpful than yours,' he thought, finding a way to criticize his friend even now.
End.
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