Friday mid morning found both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first years at the school greenhouse with Professor Sprout.
Almost half an hour had gone and Magnus, together with Anthony Goldstein, were trying to strangle a baby Mandrake plant from its pot.
The little menace, however, was unleashing hell on them.
Even with the earmuffs, he could still feel the shriek of the plant as it protested their cruel uprooting.
"Fu...!" Magnus screamed suddenly, letting go of the plant.
He pressed his hands on his ear. Goldstein had suddenly plucked the earmuff from his right ear without a warning.
"Why the hell did you do that?" he began before stopping.
Goldstein was pointing towards the far end of the greenhouse.
Magnus turned, with his hand still pressed to his ear.
The deputy headmistress, McGonagall, was standing next to Professor Sprout.
"Professor McGonagall was yelling for you to head over," Goldstein said.
"Oh crap!"
He hastily squeezed himself past a group of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students until he got to where the two adults were waiting.
"Mr Magnus, the deputy headmistress needs you to come with her."
"What... me?" he asked stupidly. The Herbology professor did not answer.
It was like she was waiting for him to answer his own stupid question.
"Hurry up," McGonagall said. "And Pomona, we are going to need you as well."
Sprout nodded before turning to the rest of the class.
"In that case," she said, "I will require all of you to write an essay on the healing properties of the Mandrake plant and how to safely harvest them. I suggest you head over to the library. The lesson is still not over."
Some of the students were already jubilating as Magnus followed the deputy headmistress out of the greenhouse and into the castle.
Dozens of questions were crisscrossing his mind, but he clearly had no one to ask.
Once they were inside the castle, he immediately found Fred heading out.
"Mr Weasley, do not try my patience," McGonagall fumed. "I told you several minutes ago to take your Pokémon back to the daycare."
Magnus looked at Fred, feeling suddenly uncertain.
He too had his Pokémon, although it was inside a Pokéball within his robes.
"I got held up while recording Professor Snape's homework, Professor."
"Enough excuses. Make it quick."
McGonagall stepped aside to usher him through. Magnus wondered whether he should just follow Fred, but he did not see any reason for that.
Nobody knew he had it anyway.
Fred winked as he passed. Magnus did not react.
"Wait here, Mr Magnus. I shall fetch Miss Granger."
He was left there standing, confused.
What was going on, he wondered. Had they somehow reconsidered?
Clearly, McGonagall had fetched Fred before him, and now she was going for Hermione. Exactly the same group that had been interviewed by the Ministry.
There was no doubt about it. It was about the Pokémon.
Either the Pokémon club issue, or the Ministry had somehow reconsidered their resolution.
In any case, there was no need for him to worry himself. He would soon find out.
He stood there as both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students passed him, throwing him curious glances.
Ever since the hearing, they were treating him with a mixture of jealousy and suspicion.
Magnus did not know which was worse than the other. Both were bad, since they ended up bringing unwanted attention.
A few minutes later, Hermione appeared with Professor McGonagall at her heels.
"Is Mr Weasley here yet?" the deputy headmistress inquired.
"No ma'am," Magnus said.
McGonagall made a frustrated face and was about to tear off towards the daycare when Fred appeared jogging.
She instead took a deep breath and waited for all of them to regroup.
"I am to escort you to the headmaster's office. Mr Weasley and Miss Granger, I expect you to be on your best behavior. Especially you, Mr Weasley."
Fred was about to protest, but McGonagall was not having it.
"Not a word from you, Mr Weasley. Listen to me carefully. You do not speak unless you are given leave to speak. And no matter what is said, keep your emotions and opinions to yourself unless given leave to speak. Do you understand? You two are from my house, and I will expect the best behavior from both of you."
She then turned to Magnus.
"I am not exactly your head of house, Mr Magnus, but I am certain Professor Flitwick would expect nothing short of your best behavior. Are we together?"
Magnus nodded. He was too stressed to speak.
With that said, they followed her as they ascended towards the headmaster's office.
It was now almost the fourth time Magnus was going up the rising steps past that stone gargoyle. Actually, that alone was an achievement for a first year.
Not many got a chance to get to the headmaster's office.
McGonagall gave the password, and soon they were going through the massive double doors that led to the main chamber. The place they had been just a few days ago.
Something did a flip flop in his belly as soon as they walked into the room. Just like the hearing, the room was packed.
The headmaster was, of course, sitting behind his massive polished desk, and then to his right there was a familiar figure of Miss Olenna Winstead.
Although today she had her hair done in a different fashion that could have made her a little unrecognizable, were it not for her stern look and the ever present clipboard in her hand.
She also had some companions with her that Magnus had never seen before.
He assumed they were from the Ministry, Department of Pokémon Affairs.
The ever silent Lupin stood just at the edge of one of the windows, seemingly afraid to fully commit to sitting.
Surprisingly, Professor Sprout was already here. Magnus wondered how she had gotten ahead of them so fast. Then again, she was a fully capable witch.
She could very well have apparated.
His head of house, Professor Flitwick, was also present, which meant, of course, Snape was too.
Magnus tried as much as possible not to make eye contact with Professor Snape.
Actually, he could feel himself trembling at the sight of the man.
He had not told anyone else about the incident other than his group, and at the moment he could not help but wonder whether Snape had spoken to anyone else about what he had seen inside his office.
Magnus hoped that the man had been afraid enough not to.
After all, he had been in the wrong himself.
"Ah, here come our little experts," Dumbledore said, spreading his hands in a welcoming fashion.
"Please, have a seat." The headmaster's words were full of warmth and were delivered in a casual manner. That was clearly meant to put them at ease, but Magnus felt nothing easy at all.
Little experts?
The words did not leave any warmth. It felt like a mockery to him, though he very well knew that the headmaster did not mean them in such a fashion.
Once they were seated and the door had closed behind them, the headmaster corrected his glasses and scanned the room.
"There is no need to be worried," he said, looking at them.
"You might all be familiar with why we are here. A few days ago, the Ministry, together with the stakeholders of this school, made a resolution to establish a Pokémon club.
It is for that reason that we are here to deliberate on the best way to bring this resolution to life safely and effectively."
"I shall not take much of your time," he said, staring at the teachers and the students, then turning to the Ministry officials.
"Olenna"