Sloane had sat near him during Transfiguration to his surprise, but there was still something off. He knew her well enough to know when she was genuinely happy (her nose always wrinkled and her smiles always showed teeth) and when she was not. The way she'd been smiling at him was not genuine, and it bothered him more than his failures throughout the entirety of Transfiguration class. (Although the more he thought about it, his annoyance made have contributed to his lack of success. He'd go with that.)

He didn't think was mad, though, because she wouldn't have agreed to walk with him to Herbology if she was mad. He tried to push his worries to the back of his mind. Who knew what went through girls' heads? Maybe her sudden weirdness had nothing to do with him. Maybe she'd been talking to Professor Yi; she had recently begun showing more of an interest in controlling her ability, so who better to help her than the Transfiguration professor? Maybe she was worried about quidditch, which is why the conversation had irked her.

He ought to let it die. He really ought to. And for once, he did.

"Now if I get to Herbology and get bitten by a mandrake, I'm dropping out of school. Immediately," he said as they walked side-by-side. He had his wand out and was examining it, as if it must be the cause of his failure in Transfiguration. "I'll play second-string for Puddlemere for the next five years of my life, and by the time you all graduate I might be a success in something."

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