Chapter Nine: Stress and Exams

Harry was stunned in both Transfiguration and Charms the next day, to find that his classmates were doing stuff that he had done a month or two ago. Shaking his head he got to work on his own assignments for the two classes, completing each just as the bell rang. After Transfiguration and Charms were over, he had a free period which he used to study, before heading to Divination. He had told McGonagall that if Trelawney predicted his death one more time he would drop the class. What had sounded interesting on paper was turning out to be downright boring and uninformative. Care of Magical Creatures was interesting, and Harry had made friends with the hippogriff that Hagrid had brought to class. The name of the creature was Buckbeak, and he was apparently as entranced by Harry as Harry was with him. Harry could often be found studying while curled up against Buckbeak, while the hippogriff would lie in the sun and occasionally turn his head so Harry could rub his beak, or stroke his head. The hippogriff would even go so far as to provide a sunshade for Harry with his wing which McGonagall found very amusing, although she didn't the first time she saw Harry with Buckbeak.

Flashback:

"Harry where are you?" came McGonagall's voice. She had been searching for her apprentice for about ten minutes now, and wasn't very happy.

Harry looked up, he had forgotten that he had a meeting to discuss his current schedule. Swearing mentally he sat up, noticing that Buckbeak's wing was draped over him. Rubbing the creature gratefully he called out to his teacher. McGonagall almost had a heart attack when she saw Harry curled up against Buckbeak, but relaxed when she saw that the large creature wasn't hurting him. Shaking herself, she noticed Harry lean down, pick up the book he was studying from and come towards her at a jog.

"Sorry Master, I was studying and lost track of time," he said.

"That's fine, Mr. Potter, just keep an eye on your watch. Was that creature hurting you?" she enquired.

"Buckbeak? No he wouldn't hurt me, we're friends. He lets me curl up against him when I study outside, it's very peaceful."

End flashback

Harry grinned when he remembered this, now that McGonagall knew where he was likely to be, she always checked either the Den in Hogwarts, or outside with Buckbeak when he said he was going to study. Harry was starting to feel the strain of his class work though. He gladly dropped Divination at the end of the class, walking into McGonagall's office and stating that he wasn't taking Divination anymore. This lightened his workload somewhat, although, as the weather warmed up he found himself disinclined to study.

This caused him to receive a somewhat severe reprimand from Kiara when he forgot to do his Jedi ethics study for her and showed a rather sloppy style of lightsaber combat that, he was informed sternly, he'd have been ashamed to have shown at ten years old, much less thirteen. He had accepted the reprimand and worked harder after that, especially since he was told that in a couple of months he'd be introduced to sparring with the lightsabers set on a higher level, still not high enough to give severe wounds, but enough to give nasty burns on contact.

The strain was showing for all the students. The NEWT and OWL students were the worst off, and snapped at any younger students who were too loud in the common room, while Hermione was trying desperately to remember all her Ancient Runes and also look up information on healing. Her healing apprenticeship was going well, and she had gone to St Mungo's for the first time at Christmas. Now though, she was cramming information into her head desperately, as were the other third years.

Exams, while not directly on top of them, were still fairly close, and the two apprentices had always started studying early. Ron on the other hand was leaving it till the last minute, as he usually did. Hermione looked up one night and saw Ron playing chess while Harry had his nose in a book like hers was. She sighed. Ron had to be left alone; he wouldn't appreciate being nagged at to study. Shrugging she turned back to her own work.

Fred and George on the other hand looked very relaxed. Although they were OWL students this year, they had still found time to prank a few people. The Demons hadn't done very many pranks, mainly small ones and Fred and George were doing the bulk of them. Grinning they snuck up on Harry, or tried to, the moment they came near enough, Harry's hand shot out, and the twins felt the distinctive sensation of an invisible hand shoving them backwards. They landed in a pile of cushions on the other side of the common room and went off to find someone else to prank. Moments later a yelp from Ron told the other two Demons that Fleetfoot and Puck had struck again.

The last few weeks before exams passed quickly. Harry had taken his third year tests for Transfiguration and Charms already and was about an eighth of the way through fourth year work. Care of Magical Creatures wasn't that hard to study for, neither was Potions, but Arithmancy was difficult. Harry was hunched over a book in the Den desperately trying to remember how to work out a formula, when a hand gently took the book from him. He looked up tiredly to see Professor McGonagall looking down at him. Gently she helped him stand up, before steering him to their rooms, telling him in a soft voice that it was OK to study but he'd done enough tonight and that he was ready for the exams, whether he knew it or not. Harry was now too tired to protest so he allowed her to steer him to his bed, where he promptly fell asleep, not having the energy to change or anything. McGonagall smiled softly, really, Harry did do well, but this was getting out of hand. The exams were only a couple of days away and she felt sure that Harry needed a break. Quietly she transfigured his clothes into pajamas, and placed his lightsaber, which he was never without, by his bed. Then she left his room, and went to bed herself, after checking on the Gryffindors.

Harry woke up the next day to find his clothes by his bed, and a note from McGonagall informing him that since it was Saturday, he was not going to study. Instead, the note instructed him to get dressed and have breakfast and then follow the cat. Harry's brow furrowed slightly, follow the cat? Shrugging, he obeyed, and then saw a beautiful silver cat waiting by the door. Smiling as he recognised the spell, he followed.

The cat lead him outdoors and down to the lake. He saw McGonagall and Flitwick both sitting on the grass, and they looked to be having some sort of contest. Flitwick looked up as he joined them.

"Ah Harry, sit down. Would you like to enter our contest?" he squeaked.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "What type of contest, Master?" he asked respectfully.

McGonagall nudged him. "A levitation contest, we each have to levitate something, whether it be with our wands or without them, and see how long we can hold it." Harry grinned and agreed eagerly, already feeling relaxed and happy. He smiled when Flitwick levitated the large rock by the lakeside with his wand, and held it for a few minutes before letting it go. McGonagall then showed what she'd been learning from Kiara when she levitated the same rock with the Force and held it for about ten minutes. She was breathing rather heavily when she set it down but there was a challenging look on her face when she turned to him and said, "Can you beat that Mr. Potter?"

Harry looked at her and then said calmly "Just watch." At that, he levitated the rock, the giant squid and then froze the lake water and lifted that too. He held the lot for five minutes before putting it back down. Turning round, he found the two Professors staring at him in shock.

"Showoff," they chorused. Harry smirked.

The day was spent in idle lounging round. Harry went to bed that night, surprised that he hadn't done any study that day, yet felt better and more confident about the exams than he had all week. Smiling he went to sleep, determining that on Sunday he would have a brief review of all his subjects including Herbology, which he'd found easy so far, and then relax, ready for the exams to start on Monday.

Sunday went just as he'd planned, and he even got Hermione to lighten up on her own studying and gave his girlfriend a de-stresser as well. This one consisted of finding a nice spot under one of the trees and kissing her until she couldn't think of exams at all. They stopped when Neville Longbottom wandered by. Harry had been friendly with him for the past two years and had found the Boggart lesson with Professor Lupin in DADA to be his best class yet. He had been helping Neville with his confidence issues and it seemed to be working. Neville was much less shy and more willing to stand up for himself. He had even stood up to Professor Snape, and if the way the Professor acted afterwards was any indication, he was rather impressed as he didn't pick on Neville in Potions quite as much as he used to. He was still nasty towards them but the cruel edge appeared to have disappeared. Harry shook his head, and considered the fact that he had the good fortune to have the DADA exam first on Monday. It would be nice to have a good exam first up, it would raise his confidence.

He received a note that evening from Kiara, wishing him good luck for the exams and hinting at a test for him after the exams were over. He sent a message through their bond saying thanks and asking for a hint as to what the test was. All he got back was a feeling of amusement and a comment of :wait and see: Grumbling about cryptic masters he nonetheless went to sleep that night with a smile on his face as he dreamt about the possible ways that the DADA exam would be set up.