June- Exam
Minerva grasped her wand tightly as she queued up to reach Dumbledore's desk. She stood stiffly, wand almost snapping in her tight grasp, as pale as a patronus. Her hands trembled slightly; nerves were making her stomach flip. The last time she could remember being this nervous was during her sorting almost a year ago.
Jason stood behind her, appearing much more relax than she was. "Calm down, already," He muttered to her. "You'll be fine, really, you're the best at Transfiguration in our year!"
"What if something goes wrong?" She hisses, her heart sinking into her stomach.
"Nothing will go wrong; you'll do brilliantly!"
Minerva shuffled on her feet, not too sure. She twirled her wand around in her fingers, feeling slightly nauseous. Taking deep breaths, she brushed a lock of ebony hair out of her face and tried to control her shivering hands.
She heard Jason ask the passing people, all those who had completed their exam, what was the task but they all gave different answers: mouse to snuffbox, needle to matchstick, matchstick to needle, feather into a twig, etc.
Even though she was against cheating, Minerva had wished that Dumbledore hadn't been so clever and decided to surprise them all by giving them different tasks, reducing the chances of cheating. If she had known what was coming, she would have been calmer and prepared. But then, it wouldn't been fair on the person who had to go first.
Minerva thought she was going to throw up when Malfoy stepped forward to do his exam. Taking in shaky breaths, she heard Dumbledore place a pin in front of him and ask him to turn it into a length of thread. The boy had almost been successful, apart from the fact that the thread was (apparently) a bit stiff. He earned an eight out of ten and turned to leave.
Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling when Minerva stepped forward, trembling like a leaf. "Calm down," He muttered to her gently. "You'll do fine, I'm sure." He told her.
Minerva gave him a weak smile. A small smile appeared on his face as he placed a small, cream button in front of her. Minerva frowned and glanced up questioningly.
"I'd like you to turn this button into a lemon drop for me, please."
Despite all her efforts, Minerva snorted. She stifled the giggle, sharing a knowing smile with Dumbledore before waving her wand and the button instantly became a sugar coated lemon sweet. Dumbledore's grin grew even wider as he picked it up and inspected it. His azure eyes twinkling brighter than a star-filled sky, he carefully analysed the small sweet while rolling it in his palms. Finally, he popped the sweet into his mouth. He rolled it around on his tongue and started chewing. His smile returned immediately.
"The perfect lemon drop," He announced. "Full marks."
Minerva could have fainted with relief. She sighed gratefully, turned and hurried back to her desk. As soon as she sat down, the realisation hit her and she covered her mouth to stop her uncontrollable giggles from being audible. Tears rolled down her cheeks, her sides ached with laughter. A few of her classmates were staring at her weirdly, but Minerva didn't care. She still couldn't control her laughter. How typical of him, she thought. A bloody lemon drop...I'm starting to wish I'd never got him those, now...