Nicholas was, embarrassingly to say, out of breath when he reached the astronomy tower. He supposed that if he'd come from his house's common room directly, he would have been all right, but he'd stayed overlong in the dining hall reading a poor excuse for a novel and had therefore been required to run most of the way up. Well, perhaps not run, but it sounded better given his current winded status.

He was almost grateful to see the lint roller and the signage beside it, as it gave him an excuse to (for lack of a better word) suck some air while he swiped away at imaginary fluff on his sleeves. Once he was properly composed, he walked into the classroom and looked around at his classmates... some of whom appeared to be falling out of their desks. He spotted one boy who'd used his books to prop up his chair, and while part of him applauded the problem-solving skills another part cringed at the boy's choice of building materials.

Still, the sight of quite a few students slipping gave him a heads-up at what awaited him at his own desk, and he gave the seat a testing wiggle before settling himself in at a strange angle. Using his feet as a brace seemed to work, though he was unable to make it appear nonchalant as some of his classmates did.