An Exam
Summary: An exam is something all students must do during their school year especially Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.
Within the halls of Hogwarts, one of the most important events during the school year was taking place. An event that determined life and death for each student in the school. It was exams and in the dungeons, Professor Slughorn was overseeing the exams for the Gryffindor's fourth-year in potions. It was a two-man project and required the students to brew a Herbicide Potion out of memory. Unfortunately for Remus 'Moony' Lupin and Sirius 'Padfoot' Black, the two of them didn't have the foggiest idea on how to brew a Herbicide Potion, which is why the two of them were just staring at their cauldron in dismay.
"Padfoot, I thought you were supposed to have copied the method during class," Remus hissed at his friend, who just rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I did, but then, Peter wanted to borrow them and I just never saw it again," Sirius replied before looking at the set of ingredients next to the cauldron. He then looked at all of the students around them, who were already working diligently at their project while Professor Slughorn was suspiciously watching certain students with great interest.
"Alright, I think I know the basics. Just let me handle this," Remus stated before he grabbed some of the ingredients and put it into the cauldron. Sirius just watched in silence before his eyes gazed at the table next to them. He noticed that the students were adding some ingredients just like Remus was while also waving their wands at the same time. Pulling out his wand, he started to wave his wand above the cauldron like the table next to them.
"What are you doing?" Remus hissed in annoyance.
"I'm just trying to help. The table next to us is doing it, so it must be a step," Sirius answered.
"Do you have any proof that this is a step in the method? For all you know, they could be wrong," Remus pushed his friend's wand away before adding some grounded powder. Sirius just pouted before watching his friend go to work. He could see the obvious stress on his friend's face and felt slightly guilty for being the cause behind it.
"Sucks that Moony has to rely on me of all people for this exam. He was still recovering when Professor Slughorn told us what the exam was about. No, don't think like that Sirius. What you should is try to remember what you wrote down to help. Come on, think. Think. THINK!" Sirius tried to remember back to that day. As his mind tried very hard to look past the pranking both he and James did that day and focus on the potions class that day, Sirius just watched Remus try to piece together the method of the exam out of thin air. He saw the brown-haired teen crush some ingredients with a mortar and it was the moment a memory hit Sirius.
"I got it!" Sirius exclaimed aloud in excitement, which gained the attention of everyone in the room.
"Mr Black, please keep noise to the absolute minimum during this exam. I don't want the work of your fellow classmates to be distracted by your usual shenanigans," Professor Slughorn scolded Sirius, who just ignored the teacher and leaned right over to Remus.
"After you crush the lionfish spine, you have to wave your wand over it before slowly adding it into the cauldron," Sirius told Remus, who just looked at his exam partner with reluctance in his eyes.
"Are you sure about that?" Remus questioned.
"Yes, I am absolutely sure," Sirius answered with a serious expression on his face. Remus stared silently at his friend before nodding his head and pulling out his wand. He waved it over the crushed powder before slowly pouring it into the cauldron.
"Then, add three measurement of Horklump juice and two measurements of Standard Ingredient at the same time once you let the cauldron brew the other ingredients for a minute until it turned into a red color like - what did Slughorn describe it again - that red paint from the jars from ancient times," Sirius continued as he started to remember more and more.
"Good, good," Remus responded in relief as he did as Sirius said. Unbeknownst to them, the tables next to them could hear what the two were saying and started to copy what Remus was doing. Soon, the time started to pass by with Sirius giving out instructions to Remus, which was heard by everyone. The minutes passed by as the students completed their exams.
"Time's up. Stop whatever you're doing and let me see what you have made," Professor Slughorn announced before being met with a wave of groans and moans from the Gryffindor students. Then, the potions master inspected each table and told them whether or not they passed. Soon, he reached Sirius and Remus' table and stared at their cauldron.
"Let's see: a forest-green color, a distinct smell of herbs, and a sizzling sound?" Professor Slughorn listed the characteristics of the potion before the potion suddenly burst into flames with a loud boom. All of the students screamed out in fright while Professor Slughorn was just surprised at the pillar of fire in his classroom. Once the fire died down, all everyone could see was just Remus glaring at Sirius while the latter was just avoiding his friend's gaze in embarrassment.
"The two of you fail. Both of you are to take catch-up classes during the holidays," Professor Slughorn stated before moving on.
"Good job, Sirius," Remus spoke in a sarcastic tone.
"What? It sounded right in my head," Sirius tried to explain himself. All of a sudden, the same thing happened at the table next to them. All of the students screamed in fright again.
"Looks like I wasn't the only person you helped," Remus' voice was light-hearted, but filled with venom.
"Oh, shut up," Sirius crossed his arms. "It was only the term exam. We can always pass the next one."
A/N: I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. All characters belong to J.K Rowling.
This is for Qudditch League Season 6 Round 2: Jurassic Fever. The prompts used were word, ancient, color, forest green, and word, proof.
Amount of Words: 1,003