Yeah, most of the exam part is filler, I admit it, but there are also bits that pull together things that need to be known that Harry and Blaise wouldn't know any other way since they are who they are. As for the last part…I'm not commenting. Feel free to let me know what you're thinking though.

ShadeDancer

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and can't get money for this, but I can make him into a Mafia Prince.

Warning: Some chapters (the ones including pranks and mimes) might not be appropriate to read at work. Laughter may ensue leading your co-workers to see you as even more insane than they previously thought.

Chapter 21: Almost Home

Of course, things could never work out as well as one might hope. Harry and Blaise still had little more to go on as to why Sirius Black was so interested in Ronald Bilius Weasley by the time final exams rolled around. It was a situation that had them completely stumped and that frustrated them to no end, but as promised they relaxed their investigation in order to focus on the exams as an unnaturally studious hush fell over nearly the entire castle.

Transfiguration was the first test the third years faced together, Professor McGonagall pacing around their desks and keeping a sharp eye out for anyone foolish enough to attempt to cheat. At least one student was faced with her eagle eye when nerves made them reflexively look over at someone else's parchment. All the while an hour glass on the desk at the very front of the room trickled down the time until the allotted hour and a half was up. That didn't mean their ordeal was over yet though, there was still the practical to be taken and many students left the room agonizing over their attempts.

"Mine still had a spout for a tail, what a nightmare…"

"Were the tortoises supposed to breathe steam?"

"It was floral patterned and the shell was still porcelain. I bet I failed for sure…"

The most amusing perhaps, but also sad in it's own right, was Neville Longbottoms's attempt. He had turned his teapot into a tortoise alright but instead of breathing steam like one Hufflepuff's he had steamed the turtle instead, cooking the poor thing right inside it's own shell. McGonagall's face had gone tight, but she had somehow managed not to yell at Longbottom and instead marked down a grade for him and dismissed him for the next student. Harry and Blaise had both gone to the front when their respective names were called, transfigured their turtles without fanfare or attempting to add embelishments, then returned to their seats. They needed decent scores, not to show off like some of the other students were attempting to in the hopes of gaining extra points.

After Transfiguration the third years headed for lunch, an event that involved a lot of students craming for their next test while shovling food into their mouths as fast as they could. For Harry and Blaise that meant Charms for which their practical was the Cheering Charm, Flitwick having to lead a handful of students to quiet spots to rest when their partners overdid the charm, and then it was dinner time with many of the students heading back to their common rooms in order to study for the round of tests that would be occuring the next day. Harry and Blaise decided on doing a minimal review for their next tests before setting up a chess set (a muggle one since the wizarding ones were likely to add to stress instead of relieving it) and attempted to relax.

Hagrid presided over the Care of Magical Creatures exam the next morning though he seemed to lack the heart for it, the test being ridiculously easy and one that most of the class considered a useless waste of time. After all, there wasn't much you needed to do in order to keep a Flobberworm alive and it was considerably tame after their normal lessons with Hagrid—such as the one where they had been introduced to the Hippogriffs. Harry and Blaise decided that Hagrid's personal problems, whatever they may be that would so effect the man's ability to give a decent exam worthy of such an important class, were none of their business and let the matter pass.

Harry did take note on the fact that Hermione spent much of the period talking lowly and urgently with Hagrid though, ignoring her Flobberworm in favor of trying to cheer him up or solve whatever the problem was; the two seemed to be on more familiar terms than just professor and student though Harry wasn't stupid enough to think that anything inappropriate was going on. In fact, he vaguely remembered hearing something about Hermione going regularly to tea at the Gamekeepers hut since Hagrid had befriended her in her first year when she hadn't had many friends because she was a Know-it-all-bookworm. Even Hermione's involvement in the matter still wasn't enough to get him interested in Hagrid's problems despite the fact that Harry was still planning on using his acquaintance with Hermione to his advantage in learning more inside information about the Gryffindors; it was better to have more than one source after all and the Twins could only provide him with one point of view.

That afternoon was the Potions exam, one Harry and Blaise had no worries over despite Professor Snape's penchant for giving extremely difficult tests on things they may or may not have covered in class. According to Severus they had been given their books for a reason, not so he could hold their hands through every chapter. It was just a shame that they weren't allowed to keep their potions if they turned out right, you never knew when a vial of a Confusing Concoction would come in handy.

After that the exams just seemed to zoom by. They had Astronomy at midnight, up on the tallest tower where they could clearly see the sky for what seemed like miles, leaving them all gritty eyed for their History of Magic test on Wednesday morning. Of course the History of Magic exam was another joke, the material mostly covering just the Goblin Rebellions, and it was somewhat surprising that the ghost of Professor Binns actually knew to give out the tests considering that half the time he didn't even know what day it was. Rumor had it that Binns could sometimes be found in his room on Saturdays, teaching a non-existent class. That didn't mean their ghostly professor wasn't able to spot cheats though; Pansy quickly discovered that while Binns might boringly drone on and not notice his students falling asleep during a regular lesson he could spot an open book during an exam from halfway across the room no matter how far you had it hidden under the desk.

Wednesday afternoon meant Herbology out in the greenhouse, the normally humid temperatures inside the building soaring even hotter as the sun beat down on them through the roof. It was enough to make even the plants cranky, and there were some of them that had no qualms about making their displeasure known in a myriad of ways. Professor Spout ended up spending a good deal of time disciplining the Venemous Tentacula for making a nuissance of itself and disrupting the tests. Seeing how unruly the magical plants could be made Harry revise his thoughts on talking to Trevor about using them as a defensive line around the house; the plants were just as likely to attack their own men as opposed to the enemy. As it was they all left the greenhouses hot and sweaty, their clothes sticking to their skin beneath their robes, glad that tomorrow would see to the end of all the testing.

Defense was their first exam on Thursday morning and the one that Harry and Blaise had been looking forward to the most. Professor Lupin was an interesting teacher and they had only grown more fond of the easily-likable werewolf as they had extra lessons with him. He didn't disappoint them on the exam, having set up an obstacle course full of the different creatures they had studied in class with a boggart in a trunk at the end. Glad that none of the other students could see into the trunk as they each battled the boggart, Harry and Blaise wasted no time in forcing the boggart to become a dementor so they could force it away with their patronus charms. After much struggle and many exhausting attempts, Harry and Blaise had both managed corpreal patronus forms to Lupin's great delight. Harry's was a bobcat, a stealthy hunter, while Blaise's formed as a hawk, another great hunter. Professor Lupin congratulated them both on a job well done as they emerged from the course in record time.

Still feeling relaxed after being able to slightly exert themselves for the obstacle course Harry and Blaise made their way back up to the castle to grab some lunch before facing their last test, Arithmancy for Harry and Ancient Runes for Blaise. In the beginning of the year it had been a huge debate between the two of them on which would be the better class so Trevor had decided it for them. One of them would take Arithmancy and the other would take Ancient Runes, catching the other up at the end of the day so they could work on an assignments and homework together. It had actually worked out pretty well despite their initial missgivings on being seperated for the classes.

As they got closer to the steps they saw a man they had only had pointed out to them in pictures, Minister Cornelius Fudge, standing on the stairs and sweating in the heat.

"Hello there Harry!" The man was acting as if they knew each other quite well, beaming at them with a politicians smile. "Lovely day out…shame I'm here on such an upleasant mission. Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad hippogriff and then what with Sirius Black being such a high profile case…well, never mind that. You've just come from an exam, I expect? Nearly finished?"

Harry wasn't about to play any part of the publicity game, especially since he now understood why Hagrid had been so upset. Buckbeak was going to be executed over attacking Draco…probably also explained why Malfoy was back to prancing around as if he owned the school and whispering happily to his sycophants. Harry would admit that he had no personal feelings invested in Buckbeak's continued well-being, he had only ridden the hippogriff once, but he was a majestic creature that deserved respect and had only attacked when it hadn't been shown.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, Sir, do I know you that you should feel free to address me so informally?"

The Minister blustered. "Why I—that is to say—I'm Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic."

Harry nodded. "It's been interesting meeting you, Sir, but seeing as how you said you're here for such a high profile case I won't be keeping you. Good day."

With quick ease Harry put a hand on Blaise's shoulder to move her in front of him and past the Minister, guiding the two of them into the cool interior of the castle and away from the moronic minister. After meeting the Minister Harry wasn't sure who he detested worse: Cornelius Fudge or Gilderoy Lockhart. Both tried to ooze slimy charisma and both had tried to act overly friendly and familiar with him because of his position as the Boy-who-lived…and everyone had seen where that had gotten Lockhart.

"Come on Blaise." Harry said as he took his hand from her shoulder and moved next to her so they could link arms companionably. "Let's get some lunch before our last exams. I still think we should switch places though, see what the Professors say about it."

Blaise elbowed Harry in the ribs. "No causing trouble now, only one more test and then we're done for the year. Save the trouble for tomorrow."

Harry grinned back at her. "And ruin the lovely prank I have already planned? Never."

Blaise mock-sighed before smiling brightly. "Just think Harry, we'll be able to go home soon. Bet our dads are going nuts without us there to keep them on their toes."

"Not likely." Harry snorted. "Well, mine might be. Trevor's probably enjoying the much needed relaxation without having to worry about us on top of my father."

… … … … …

"Trevor?" Vasile hesitated at the edge of the man's office, the room before him was only dimly lit and even once his eyes had adjusted he didn't see Trevor within.

"It's alright." Trevor's voice came from a chair in the corner of the room. "Come on in."

Warily Vasile moved into the room, things around the manor had been tense for the past two days. "I wanted to request permission to return to Hogwarts for Nara and myself. Someone needs to tell the children and they shouldn't be left so unprotected right now. We're also prepared to escort them home immediately."

"No." Trevor's decision was swift and firm. "Right now they're as safe as they can be, the school is protected and Severus will contact us should there be danger. It's not like Sirius Black is a threat now either. It's only a few more days until they're home. Let them have those days before their thrown into this chaos, especially Harry."

"He's going to be upset at not having been informed immediately." Vasile argued.

Trevor sighed. "I know. Things are changing around here quickly, but not so quickly that he can't have a few more days respite. It's not like a few days will make a difference either way. Maybe if we're lucky things will get better in those few days."

Vasile snorted. "You don't really believe that."

"No." Trevor agreed. "I don't. But with the way things are I don't think it can get any worse so it can't hurt to wish for some luck."

Vasile bowed his head in acknowledgement before leaving Trevor's office, shaking his head negatively at Nara's questioning glance as he met up with her further down the hall. They had already known the answer of course, but it hadn't hurt to ask. They had grown extremely close to the children while at Hogwarts and they both felt so helpless doing nothing when they knew what would be awaiting Harry and Blaise when they arrived home.

Posted On: June 10, 2008