Early that morning, Ariana thought today would be a wonderful day.
She had broken free from her boring, monotonous existence, reunited with family she'd missed for so long, and thanks to Tom's help she'd finally enrolled at Hogwarts.
But best of all—aside from Herbology in the afternoon—Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had a joint class that evening!
Since she wasn't in the same House as Tom, the only times she could see him were during meals, free periods, and the occasional shared class. So every joint lesson was something she genuinely looked forward to.
At least, that's what she thought.
Herbology that afternoon had lulled her into a beautiful illusion—Professor Sprout's gentle teaching made her think every class would be just as lovely.
That fantasy shattered the moment the evening class began.
Because tonight's class was History of Magic… taught by Professor Binns.
If the students got to vote for their least favorite class, every House except Slytherin would happily dump all their votes onto Snape's Potions class.
But if you excluded Potions—and ignored the wildly unpredictable Defense Against the Dark Arts class—every House would vote for History of Magic without hesitation.
A subject that should've been grand and fascinating had, in Binns's hands, become a sedative.
And since the class was scheduled at night, the effect was even worse.
After a full day of intense learning, the exhausted first-years were dropping like flies.
Except Hermione—the stubborn genius—Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors alike were slumping into every kind of sleeping position imaginable.
Hannah's head bobbed up and down while her quill scribbled meaningless waves across her parchment.
Harry and Ron had long since collapsed forward, their heads pressed together, quietly snoring.
Even Ariana—who technically didn't need sleep—felt her eyelids growing heavy as Binns droned on in that flat, lifeless tone.
And unlike Snape, Professor Binns didn't even notice the two new students in his classroom. He didn't bother reviewing last lesson's material. He simply picked up right where he'd left off and kept reciting.
This is so boring… even the silly stories in The Quibbler are more exciting than this.
Tom lay slumped on his desk, listening to Binns explain the origins of the Goblin Rebellion. His paw propped up his chin, his tail lazily flicking against the desk behind him—occasionally smacking an almost-asleep student awake.
(￣ω￣) There's got to be a way to make this class more interesting…
He glanced at the fully-asleep Hannah and the glassy-eyed Hermione—who was clearly on the verge of collapsing—and began plotting.
Up at the front, Binns remained blissfully unaware, continuing in his emotionless monotone:
"During the Goblin Rebellions, the insurgents used a type of fire-spouting cauldron as weaponry. This was later referred to as the 'hotpot.' The strategy became known in later records as the 'Hotpot Offensive.'"
It should've been an amusing bit of history.
But under Binns's delivery, even a dragon attack would've sounded boring.
Wait… I remember Binns never cares what students do during class.
Tom's ears twitched. A spark of mischief lit up his eyes.
He looked up at Binns, then reached out and—somehow—pulled a bronze cauldron out of nowhere.
Then he grabbed a scrap of paper, scribbled something on it, and slapped it onto the cauldron:
[Hotpot — Replica Model]
Several half-asleep students around him blinked in confusion as Tom placed the cauldron on the desk.
Then he inhaled deeply—
—and blew.
WHOOSH!
Golden crackling flames burst from the cauldron, shooting out in little arcs.
Students nearby yelped—then quickly realized the flames looked dramatic but had no heat whatsoever.
"Whoa!"
Nobody knew what Tom was trying to do, but whatever it was, it jolted the room awake.
Tom checked on Professor Binns—no reaction at all.
Satisfied, he pulled out several sheets of parchment and began folding them with incredible speed.
In seconds, two entire rows of little paper figures stood on his desk—one side goblins with pointed ears, the other wizards holding thin paper staffs.
Then the goblin figures sprouted speech bubbles overhead, with tiny words forming inside:
"Down with wizard tyranny! Magic belongs to goblins!"
"For our treasure! For our freedom! Charge!"
The wizard figures sprouted bubbles of their own:
"Eliminate the rebellious goblins!"
"Magic wands belong to wizards! And anyway, we paid for those treasures!"
"Pff—HAHAHA!"
Hannah, who had somehow regained consciousness, couldn't hold back a laugh. She slapped both hands over her mouth, but her shaking shoulders gave her away.
Hermione was staring too—torn between This is definitely against school rules… and …but it's so entertaining…
Her eyebrows were twisted in agonized conflict.
Professor Binns?
Still reading aloud at the blackboard, not even turning his head:
"Later, the goblins attempted to use the hotpot to break into Gringotts, aiming for the treasure within."
Right on cue, the paper goblins clambered up to the cauldron, miming their struggle to push it. Speech bubbles popped up:
"Ready—one, two, three—PUSH!"
The cauldron didn't budge.
The paper goblins fell over, exhausted.
Reasonable, since the cauldron was real and they were… paper.
Binns continued monotonously:
"Due to rapid wizard countermeasures, the goblin forces failed. Some records claim the failure was due to the cauldron being overly large—so heavy that after the dragon pulling it was incapacitated, no goblin strength remained to move it."
He paused—perhaps contemplating something.
"However, this is likely apocryphal. Now, let us proceed to the later stalemate of the rebellion."
But no one—Hermione included—heard anything after that.
"Wait… did the professor just… continue Tom's story?"
Harry whispered from across the room, utterly stunned.
"Pff—HAHAHAHA!"
Someone completely lost it, and laughter spread like wildfire through the classroom.
Even Hermione ducked her head, shoulders trembling—it was unclear if she was laughing at Tom's ridiculous puppet show or at Binns's dead-serious collaboration.
From that point on, even though Binns kept lecturing in his sleep-inducing monotone, the atmosphere was completely transformed.
No one felt sleepy anymore.
Some students giggled.
Some tried making their own paper puppets.
Some started sketching comic-style goblin battle scenes.
Whatever form it took, Tom's performance had captured everyone's interest.
Even Hermione secretly slipped Tom a note:
[I know I shouldn't say this… but this is definitely the most fun History of Magic class I've ever had.]
Tom blinked, drew a little cauldron on the back of the note, and pushed it back to her.
Class continued—technically.
But for the first time in Hogwarts history…
a History of Magic lesson was actually entertaining.
And when the dismissal bell finally rang, more than a few students were left wanting more—a miracle in itself.
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