This is my entry for Round 2 of the QLFC Season 4. I play Keeper for the Caerphilly Catapults. For this round, my assignment was to write about a student's relationship with their teacher for the subject. My subject was Ancient Runes.
This story is AU
The Great Hall at Hogwarts was alive with students celebrating the end of the exams. The enchanted ceiling showed that the sky was an azure blue, and the sun was shining brightly. Needless to say, most of the students would be spending the day outside after weeks of indoor study.
Up at the staff table, Professor Bathsheda Babbling was tucking into a plate of sausages and fried eggs. Unlike the students, the teachers did not get to celebrate after exams because they had to mark the papers of those that had not taken O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s that year. Bathsheda was steeling herself for a day of correcting mistakes. Looking down the staff table she saw that many other teachers wore the same expression as herself.
She had finished her breakfast and was just about to leave the Great Hall when she saw one of her favourite students, Hermione Granger, making her way purposefully towards her. She waited for the girl to reach her, and sat down again.
"Hello, Miss Granger, what can I do for you today?" she asked.
"I need to talk to you about something important," Miss Granger replied in a rush.
"Of course! Come to my office after dinner tonight and I will listen to whatever you have to say." Professor Babbling sighed, wondering what could possibly be the matter.
"All right, I'll see you then," the girl replied, looking extremely nervous.
"Now, go and enjoy this beautiful day with your classmates. You should be celebrating, exams are over!"
When she reached her office, Bathsheda slumped into her chair behind her desk and drew the pile of exam papers on her desk towards her. She was marking her fourth years' exams today, and there were quite a large number of them.
The first paper on the pile was Colin Creevey's. Creevey was an enthusiastic boy, but not particularly talented in Ancient Runes. Bathsheda remembered his first lesson in his third year; he was very eager, always taking photographs with his camera and reading ahead, but due to this, he didn't really pay attention.
"Now, to start you off, we will be learning the numerical ru–Mr. Creevey! Are you listening to me?"
Colin looked up from his textbook. He had obviously been reading ahead again. "Yes, professor?" he asked innocently.
Bathsheda sighed and said, "Mr. Creevey, could you possibly tell me what is so important to that it warrants not paying attention in class?"
Creevey swallowed, then replied, "I-I'm sorry Professor, but I was just trying to find out what the numerical runes were. I didn't understand."
The rest of the class laughed at this, and Bathsheda sighed once more. "If you would listen to me, Mr. Creevey, you would find that I was just about to explain them."
The boy nodded, "Yes, Professor Babbling," he said, ashamed.
Bathsheda suddenly felt bad for being harsh, and said, "Very well, Mr. Creevey. Just ensure that it does not happen again. If you are stuck on something, come and ask me after class next time."
"Of course, Professor Babbling."
Creevey had definitely been studying hard, as he passed the theory section with an E, better than the A he had achieved the previous year. His rune-drawing skills, on the other hand, were still rather bad, so he only achieved a P on that part, earning him an A overall.
Hopefully, with assistance, the boy can earn at least an E in his O.W.L.s next year, Bathsheda thought to herself, before moving on to the next paper, which belonged to Luna Lovegood.
A bright girl, but she spent a lot of time daydreaming and talking about weird creatures like 'Crumple-Horned Snorkacks', whatever those were.
"Miss Lovegood! Miss Lovegood! Will you pay attention, please?"
It was two weeks before her fourth year students were due to take their summer exams, and Bathsheda was getting very tired with Miss Lovegood's inattention, especially during quick-fire revision sessions such as these.
Eventually her words seemed to register in the girl's brain, and she looked away from the window. "Yes, Professor?" She asked, an inquisitive expression on her face.
Professor Babbling, annoyed that she had to repeat herself once again, replied, "I said, could you tell me what the English translation of 'fehu' is?"
"Of course, Professor. I believe that it means 'fortune', both material or chance."
"Well phrased, Miss Lovegood. Have you been studying hard?"
"No, not really, I was busy preventing the Nargles from stealing my shoes last night."
There was no doubt in Bathsheda's mind that Luna Lovegood was indeed a strange girl. However, she also had a talent for Ancient Runes, and she had passed both the theory section, and the rune-drawing section, with Os. This was no doubt one of the best exam papers she had seen from one of her fourth years in quite some time!
She went through a few more papers, none of which scored higher than an E overall, before coming to one that she had crossed her fingers for–Demelza Robins.
Miss Robins had been struggling with Ancient Runes since third year, but she was more determined than almost any student Bathsheda had ever had.
Bathsheda was sitting in her office, drinking a glass of pumpkin juice, when there was a knock on the door. She moved her glass to one side, before calling, "Come in!"
The door opened to reveal Demelza Robins.
"Ah, Miss Robins, what can I do for you this evening?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Professor, but I have been having trouble remembering which numerical rune is which. I was wondering if you could help?"
"Ah, yes, of course. Come and sit down and I'll see what I can do."
Bathsheda crossed her fingers in her mind; she so desperately wanted Miss Robins to do well, but she was worried all the same.
Bathsheda needn't have worried as Miss Robins had passed the theory section with an E and the rune-drawing section with an O, earning her an E overall. Her heart swelled with pride as she noted down the mark of one of her favourite students.
She continued marking the papers until dinner time had been and gone, before finally setting them aside and settling down to wait for Miss Granger to arrive. Granger had always been a rather nervous girl, but Bathsheda couldn't possibly think what could have caused her to be so flustered.
At last there came a knock on the door. Bathsheda called for her to enter, and Miss Granger opened the door. She came in immediately, and Bathsheda was rather perplexed at her still inordinately anxious expression. "Miss Granger, whatever is the matter? Is something wrong?"
Granger started to pace the office, stopped, and said quietly, "I mistranslated 'ehwaz' during my O.W.L. today. Do you think it will affect my overall result? I mean, could it be the difference between a pass and a fail?" Her voice rose with anxiety as she spoke.
At once, Bathsheda relaxed. "Oh, my dear, was that what was worrying you? One mistranslation will not cause you to fail!"
Miss Granger breathed out a sigh of relief, and Bathsheda gave a slight laugh, "Now, I recommend that you spend tomorrow relaxing with your friends. You don't have to worry about your results until the summer holidays, and even then I doubt you'll need to be concerned! Now, off to bed, and I'll see you in our lesson next week."
The girl smiled, nodded, and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Professor Babbling watched her go, then sat back in her chair and breathed out, thinking about how strangely the exams made students behave.