Chapter 9: May 2015

Over the next few weeks, Molly did nothing but study. Of course, this wasn't entirely out of the ordinary for Molly, so at first her friends didn't notice anything amiss. When Molly stopped going to the Great Hall for meals though, they started to get worried.

"Molly, you at least need to eat," Debbie insisted.

"I'm not hungry," Molly muttered, scribbling furiously in the margins of her notes.

"You didn't come to breakfast or lunch," Sarah pointed out. "You really should come to dinner."

"I'll grab something before curfew," Molly assured them. "On my way back to the common room. I have to swing by the library anyway, so it won't be too big of a detour."

"Molly, you're starving yourself!" Julie exclaimed.

"I am not," Molly frowned, irritated at the prolonged distraction. "I got a spot of breakfast before any of you were awake, and I grabbed some extra toast and put it in my bag and ate it for lunch. I fully intend to eat something before it gets recalled to the kitchen, I just don't have the time right now!"

Raising their hands in surrender, her friends backed away, leaving Molly alone in the study room.

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, Molly went back to what she was working on. It was imperative that she utilize every spare second to her advantage now. The end of term was coming, and with it exams. She'd thought that because of her rigorous study schedule throughout the year, she wouldn't have to worry so much now. However, if her Jelly-Legs Jinx situation and the wideye potion debacle were any indication, Molly was going to need to really concentrate on her studies from now until exam time.

Thankfully, the first year exams were all theoretical. It no longer mattered whether she could cast a spell, care for a plant, brew a potion, or use a telescope. All that mattered was that she understood what was on paper, and could articulate it in an exam question. It was a small relief, though Molly also knew that her practical skills would still be needed next year, and so they couldn't be neglected altogether. She would have plenty of time after the exams finished though, to make sure they remained up to par.

Molly's system wasn't working though. She flew back and forth between the different subjects in a completely random fashion and studied whatever part of the subject was at the top of the pile of notes that she grabbed. She knew she needed to organize herself, but she was torn. It would mean losing time studying, after all. But things had gotten to the point where she had little choice, unless she wanted to show up to the exams with only a piecemeal knowledge of the material.

Pushing aside her herbology notes, Molly got out a fresh sheet of parchment and mentally counted down the days until her last exam. It was currently a Wednesday… and exams started in two and a half weeks. Then they would last exactly two weeks, ending on the Thursday of the second week. She drew out a timetable for four weeks and a day, numbering each of the days carefully.

She started at the end. She had a transfiguration exam on the final Thursday, so she would want to study transfiguration that morning and the night before. That would be general last-minute studying though. And since she had her defence exam the day before on Wednesday, she marked in that she would study general defence that morning and the Tuesday night prior. On the Tuesday, she had her Herbology exam, so she wrote in that she'd study Herbology that day and the day before, on which she had no exam.

Next she scheduled herself to study transfiguration the whole day on the final Sunday, and defence the whole day on the final Saturday. If she was getting a full uninterrupted day of Herbology study, she wanted to be fair with her other classes.

Then she looked at the first week of exams. Her charms exam was first on Monday, so she would study charms that morning and the Sunday before. Potions was on Tuesday, so she marked it in for the usual morning of and night before, as well as the Saturday before. On Wednesday she had no exam, so she decided she would study for Thursday's history of magic exam Wednesday and Thursday morning, and then Thursday night and Friday would be devoted to Friday night's astronomy exam.

That left sixteen days of study, not including today. Molly frowned, wondering what the best course of action would be. Obviously she should focus more on the newer material, because she'd had less time with it. But that didn't mean she could neglect the old material.

Molly decided to take the next four days to review everything from the first term. Tomorrow would be transfiguration, with herbology on Friday. Saturday would be for charms, defence, and history, and then Sunday would be for potions, astronomy, and a general review of the first term. Starting on Monday, Molly would study material from January and February in transfiguration and herbology. Tuesday would be the same in charms and history. Wednesday would follow suit in defence and potions. By Thursday, she should be finishing with the January and February material in astronomy and moving onto the March and April material for transfiguration.

It was best alternating between subjects, Molly decided. If she took two days straight to study one subject, she would probably go insane. Not to mention she'd be likely to forget everything from the first subject she chose to study by the end of the study period and that would be no use. No, she had to stay current in each of her subjects.

When she finished sketching out when to study the March and April material, she added in May. She would give a little extra time for each subject to study material from May, because it was the newest, and some of it she was only still learning. She'd want to make sure to digest it all fully. The final Friday before she started general exam review would be devoted to all her subjects and making sure she had everything straight in her mind.

Taking a step back, Molly looked over her study schedule. It was concise enough and appeared to be well-organized. It was a little hard to read though, so Molly decided to color-code it. After all, her schedule only started tomorrow, so she could waste a little time today with a fun activity.

The question now became what color to assign to each class. She thought potions deserved a darker color, because it took place in the dungeons. Besides black, her darkest color was purple, so she filled in her potions days with some purple. She carried on in similar fashion until the whole schedule gleamed at her colorfully.

"What's that?" Debbie asked, causing Molly to jump in surprise.

"Study schedule," Molly replied as her friends returned from dinner.

"Let's see then," Julie said grabbing it from Molly's hands. "Hmm…"

Molly felt herself get nervous. She'd just spent close to an hour on this. If Julie hated it – would she have to start all over?

"It's certainly interesting," Julie finally said. "But take a look at mine."

Molly took the offered sheet of parchment and began to take it in. Julie's was also color-coded, but differently than her own. Potions had been designated the color yellow, which just seemed strange. Transfiguration was green instead of red. The only color that was consistent was charms, which was blue in both Molly's and Julie's timetables.

"What do you think?" Julie asked, reminding Molly that she wasn't simply meant to be looking at colors.

"Well…" Molly said slowly. "I noticed you've left the evenings of exam days blank."

Julie nodded. "To rest," she explained. "We can do last-minute studying in the mornings, but the night before we should get to sleep early so that our minds are sharp and alert for the test.

"Makes sense…" Molly muttered, looking over the rest. Basically, the pattern was that every day, two subjects were studied in an alternating pattern. Not much thought required in making it, but a sound strategy. "You realize that on weekends you'll have more time for studying," Molly pointed out. "But since you've only put as many subjects as any other day, aren't you going to end up with a heavier focus on them?"

Julie shook her head. "Weekends are also for regular weekly assignments," she explained.

Of course! Molly shook her head. She'd forgotten that the teachers were still assigning homework even though it was the end of term. In fact, Professor Binns' big end-of-term paper was only due in two weeks, though Molly had finished her own ages ago.

"That makes sense," Molly nodded. "But I notice that history and transfiguration are both scheduled to be studied one day more than the other classes. Why is that?"

"Well we started studying off this timetable at the beginning of the month," Julie replied. "It was even starting from there."

"Oh," Molly nodded. This made sense. "Wait, we?"

"Yeah, we compiled the timetable together," Debbie nodded. "We're all on the same schedule."

"Why didn't you include me in this?" Molly frowned.

"We tried," Julie replied. "You were too busy studying like a crazy person and skipping meals."

"Oh," Molly said, blushing slightly. "Right. I guess I did get a little carried away."

"Well anyway," Julie said, grabbing her own study schedule back. "It's up to you how you want to study. But just so you know, I think your way is a little over-complicated."

"Thanks for the advice," Molly replied. "But I think I will stick with mine. I don't want to start your right in the middle. I might end up missing something. It'll be better just to start fresh with mine. Maybe next year though, we can all follow a single schedule."

Her friends nodded in understanding and then took their seats. After all, there was still time before curfew, and they needed to utilize all the time available to their advantages. Sarah, Debbie, and Julie all got out their defence notes and immediately got to work. Meanwhile, Molly collected all her notes and started putting them back in order – they'd gotten significantly mixed up over the past few weeks of crazy frantic studying. It would be good to start fresh in the morning.

There was a knock at the window and curiously, Molly got up and walked over to see what was going on. She opened the window and in flew an owl, who went right to the middle of their square of desks and landed.

"Who's owl is this?" Molly asked her friends.

They all shrugged, unsure.

"Well who's the letter for?" Molly wondered.

"I'll check," Julie said, reaching over and untying the letter from the owl's leg. Once it was free, the owl hooted happily and flew back out the window, which Molly decided to leave open. The fresh air was nice, after all.

"So, who's it for?" Debbie prompted when Julie simply stared at the envelope.

"All of us," Julie said. "It's from the Headmaster."

"Well open it up and read it," Molly said, simultaneously wondering why the Headmaster was sending them a letter at all.

Julie did as instructed, tearing into the envelope and smoothing out the letter on her desk. "Should I read it aloud?" she asked.

"Yes please," Sarah nodded.

Julie cleared her throat and then began.

To first year students Debbie Alderton, Julie Belcher, Sarah Radford, and Molly Weasley,

As per our discussion in October, you have been allowed to maintain the use of an abandoned fifth-floor classroom for studying purposes throughout the duration of the school year. However, the year will soon be over and new arrangements must be made. Kindly join me in my office following your last class tomorrow afternoon so that we may discuss possibilities.

Sincerely,

Silas Slinkhard

The girls remained silent for a moment when Julie finished reading.

"What do you think he's going to say?" Molly finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Perhaps they've finally come up with an alternative solution," Sarah suggested. "When we spoke to him in October, he did say he would look into the issue."

"But it doesn't sound like he's come up with any ideas at all!" Debbie said. "He wants to discuss 'new arrangements' with us – look into different 'possibilities'. That doesn't sound promising."

"I'm sure he'll let us keep the room at least through exams," Julie said reassuringly. "He wouldn't add to the stress of studying by making us give up our study space."

"I hope you're right," Molly said, unconvinced.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next day, after their last class, the four girls nervously made their way to Professor Slinkhard's office. When they reached the stone gargoyle, they announced their names, claiming that the Headmaster was expecting them, and waited for the stairs to appear for them.

"Ah girls, excellent, please come in," Headmaster Slinkhard said when they knocked at the door. "Take a seat," he instructed.

Curious and nervous, Molly followed her friends inside and took a tentative seat in one of the chairs across from the Headmaster.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what you're doing here," Headmaster Slinkhard said.

"Aren't we here to talk about our study room?" Julie asked.

"Yes, in fact we are," the Headmaster replied. "Professor Longbottom has been thinking about the predicament that led you to create such a space and after consultation, first with myself and the other Heads of House, and then with the rest of the staff, has come to a decision."

"And what is that?" Julie wondered.

"As of next year, Hogwarts is going to have an inter-house lounge, where students from different houses can spend time together outside of the Great Hall or the library," the Headmaster replied.

Molly frowned. It had taken seven months to come up with that?

"Therefore," the Headmaster continued. "Your own personal lounge will no longer be necessary, as the new lounge will allow you to socialize together."

"I'm sorry Professor…" Julie said slowly, trying to figure out the exact words she wanted to use. "It's just that… our problem wasn't only that there was nowhere for members of different houses to mingle. It was also that there was nowhere quiet to do our studying, because the library is so chaotic."

"Well this solves that problem as well!" Headmaster Slinkhard said. "With the new lounge open for socialization, the library can go back to being a place of quiet, where you can indeed get your work done free of the distraction of bored students."

"I see," Julie nodded.

"Since the new lounge won't be open for use until September, you may keep your study room until the end of exams," the Headmaster generously allowed. "However, I would like you to have everything back to the way it was before boarding the train home. I won't have you leaving it for Mr. Filch and Mr. Clarke to clean up for you."

"Of course not Headmaster," Julie nodded. "Thank you so much Headmaster. If you don't mind, we'll go and study now."

"Absolutely," Headmaster Slinkhard said, standing up. "Best be ready for those exams, hadn't we?"

"Indeed," Julie nodded, making a face at Molly as they turned and headed for the door.

As soon as they were back in the main corridor, Sarah let out a loud groan.

"This is a disaster!" she cried. "No way is this lounge idea going to make any difference."

"Agreed," Debbie nodded. "Julie, why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't I say anything?" Julie frowned.

"Well you were the one doing all the talking," Sarah nodded.

"I wasn't about to tell the Headmaster his plan was terrible!" Julie cried. "He seemed to think it was ingenius."

"But now we have to give up our room," Molly sighed.

"Not until then end of exams," Julie pointed out. "Then we have the whole summer to figure out what we're going to do next year."

"The library's still going to be utter chaos," Debbie muttered.

"Maybe we can talk to Madam Maxwell," Sarah suggested. "We could ask if the library could be divided – silent study on one side and quiet study on the other."

"It'll never get properly enforced," Julie shook her head. "She's only one lady. She can't control hundreds of students at once, which is how full the library can get at times."

"We'll just have to come up with something," Molly said. "We've got three months. It shouldn't be too difficult."

They returned to their study room and Molly immediately took out her transfiguration notes while her friends got started on herbology. It was silent for a while until Debbie suddenly broke the silence.

"Maybe we just wait for September and then show Headmaster Slinkhard that the library is as bad as it's always been, and then he'll let us have the study space back," she said.

"Or maybe we just take our study space back without permission from anyone," Sarah offered. "It's basically what we did this year, and that turned out pretty well."

"Guys, this really isn't a conversation we need to be having now," Julie cried. "We have to focus on exams. All of this can wait."

"You're right," Debbie agreed. "Of course. Grades first."

MmMmMmMmMmM

"How do you feel?" Sarah asked a few days later as she and Molly returned to Gryffindor Tower. "About the exams? Do you think you're ready?"

"Not yet, but I will be," Molly assured her friend. She'd finished reviewing the material from the first term and felt quite confident about it. Of course, it was easier than the material from second term, but it was still worth noting. Now she had four weeks to make sure that she'd internalized all of the second term and she'd be good to go. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I feel good," Sarah nodded. "Not so much for potions."

"But you're great at potions!" Molly exclaimed.

"Just because I brewed all my potions well doesn't mean I have the theory down," Sarah pointed out. "It's just that there's so many ingredients and they all have different properties and uses. It's a lot to remember."

"But that's the best part of potions," Molly said. "Memorizing the properties and uses of all the different ingredients."

"But aren't you afraid of mixing them up?" Sarah asked.

"Not really," Molly shrugged. "I mean, it'd be pretty hard to get confused between lethe river water and horklump juice."

"I wish we could just brew a potion for our exam, like the second years," Sarah sighed. "I could never mix up actual lethe river water with horklump juice. Because horklump juice smells awful. But on paper, I might mix up which potions they go into or something."

"I'd be more afraid of an exam where I had to brew a potion," Molly disagreed. "I mean, just think. One mistake and the whole thing blows up in smoke. That's all it took with the wideye potion and we got a D."

"Professor Abbott-Longbottom wouldn't give you a D on your exam for one mistake," Sarah shook her head. "You probably got the D because there were multiple mistakes."

"Well if there were, they were all Flora's fault," Molly muttered.

"Or maybe you got the D because you failed at working in a team," Sarah mused. "Maybe that was part of the assignment."

"We worked together!" Molly cried.

"You were sitting at different workstations," Sarah pointed out. "And that's the only reason the potion was a failure."

"Good point," Molly nodded. She shook her head to keep from dwelling on it. "Well anyway, I'm sure exams are going to go fine. At least they're individual. I don't have to worry about anyone but myself and my own knowledge."