Chapter 51: Tests
Ron was so elated about the Gryffindor win over Ravenclaw that he talked about the match almost non-stop for the next day. Harry and the others would occasionally glance at one another and shake their heads. None of them really wanted to bring up Grawp and burst Ron's enthusiasm.
They had gathered outside under a tree near the lake as they would be less likely to be overheard than in the noisy common room.
"…well you saw how it went," Ron was saying.
Harry exhaled slowly. "Actually we didn't Ron."
Ron's eyebrows shot up and his mouth dropped open. "What? You didn't watch the match?" he asked dumbfounded.
Mahaad gave Harry an encouraging glance.
"No we didn't. Hagrid cornered us during the match and took us to the Forbidden Forest," Hermione said in a anguished voice. She then told Ron in detail about Grwap and how Hagrid wanted their help in teaching him English.
"Hagrid's lost it. He's really lost it this time. He wants us to teach a giant English lessons!" Ron shook his head slowly.
"I am starting to agree with you," Hermione stated.
"We can't do that," Ron protested as he set his textbook down on the grass.
"We promised," Mahaad broke in.
Hermione and Ron turned to look at him. Hermoine nodded slowly. "That's true," she confirmed.
"We're not too far from being thrown out as it is!" Ron exclaimed.
There exams were drawing ever closer. Their teachers had basically stopped giving them homework and began covering things they thought might show up on their O.W.L.s.
Mahaad shook his head almost every time he saw fifth or seventh years exchanging memory aid potions, charms or the like.
Yugi glanced at Mahaad once when they were studying Akkadian grammar patterns. "You really don't think any of those will help, do you?" Yugi asked giving him a concerned look.
"No, Nebi." my Master. "I have some serious doubts about their usefulness. They are just trying to take the easy way out."
Yugi drew idly on a sheet of parchment with his quill. "I'm nervous because we have had more to learn this year than everyone else."
Mahaad gave him a weak smile. "But this wouldn't be the first time you've faced insurmountable odds and come out on top," he lowered his voice and switched to Japanese, "I'm sure the Pharaoh agrees."
Yami took over and nodded his ascent. "Mahaad, we can't forget to give a proper thank offering to the Ennead for their help. We don't want to incur their wrath."
Mahaad shivered. "No, of course not."
"We'll go to the Room of Requirement after classes get out this afternoon."
Mahaad nodded.
Even he had a hard time keeping up with Binns as the ghost reviewed some of the most relevant material for their exam. Mahaad glanced at the clock and suppressed a sigh. They still had 45 minutes to go.
After class during their final free period before their Charms exam the next morning, Mahaad followed Yugi as the Duelist up to the seventh floor.
Neither of them said much on the way up, each lost in his own thoughts.
Mahaad watched as Yugi paced back and forth, his eyes shut in concentration as he focused on what he needed.
The door appeared and he smiled at Mahaad. "After you," he said politely to the taller man.
Mahaad obliged and stepped through the door first. They had entered a replica of the grand Temple of Karnak, which was the largest temple complex in all of Egypt.
Mahaad led Yami who had taken over, through the preparations for the offerings. Mahaad dressed in his finery, held the censer filled with burning incense as he trailed the Pharaoh as his king entered the inner sanctuary to offer sacrifice and read the invocation offering.
They returned to the Gryffindor common room after they finished the offerings. Mahaad got ready for bed and fell into an uneasy sleep, thinking about the upcoming examinations.
The fifth and seventh years waited behind after breakfast while the rest of the students headed to class. Professor McGonagall read from a roll of parchment and allowed them to reenter the Great Hall in groups. The four house tables had been replaced with row of desks facing the staff table, which now had extra rolls of parchment, quills and ink wells.
Mahaad entered the Hall with the others and took a seat. He was a few rows away from Hermione whose quill was already scratching away.
Mahaad looked down at his own exam paper after saying a silent prayer to his patron Maahes for strength. He turned over his parchment and read the first question.
How do you make objects fly?
Mahaad smiled to himself thinking of his apprentice Mana's antics—making fish fly and then getting smacked in the face by them.
Two hours later the exam was over and they gathered with the rest of the students for lunch and then were back at it with the practical portion of their exams afterwards. Mahaad felt he did fairly well and only switched a couple of spells around like the Color Changing Charm and the Cheering Charm.
The next day they had Transfiguration which Mahaad felt fairly confident with his performance. On Friday Mahaad, Yugi and Hermione had their Akkadian exam, while Ron, Marik and Ryou had the day off.
Hermione came back from the exam in an angry mood. "I mistranslated a few key words. And to make things worse as I was passing Umbridge's office someone put another niffler in there!"
"Excellent!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione gave him a hard look. "No, it's not! She thinks it's Hagrid doing it and I don't want to babysit a giant who thinks my name is Hermy!" She swept off to the dorm, slamming the door behind her.
"I think the exam went well," Mahaad said.
"Me too," Yugi agreed.
Their week continued with more exams the next week, Potions, Divination, Astronomy and Care of Magical Creatures.
Mahaad felt relaxed as they gathered at the Astronomy tower for their practical exam to fill in their star charts. Mahaad spread out his parchment and focused his telescope on a bright star overhead and noted its position.
The first hour passed in silence only broken by the scratching of quills and adjusting of telescopes.
A distant roar came from Hagrid's hut. Mahaad jumped slightly and fixed his gaze on the commotion.
Hagrid burst out of his cabin surrounded by six people who were casting jets of red light at him.
"No!" Hermione cried.
Hagrid picked up one of his assailants and threw him backward a good ten feet and the man hit the ground hard and didn't move again.
"Look!" Pavati said pointing.
"How dare you!" Professor McGonagall's voice cut through the night as she ran to help Hagrid.
Four stunners hit McGonagall, lifting her up and slamming her back down and she didn't stir.
"COWARDS!" bellowed Hagrid.
His attackers turned their attention back to him and tried to stun him again. Hagrid swept two more of them off their feet with a backhand and sprinted into the Forbidden Forest carrying Fang over his shoulder.
Mahaad couldn't concentrate the last few minutes of the exam. His mislabeled one of Jupiter's moons and had to quickly fix it before time ran out.
That night everyone in the common room was talking about the attack. People swapped stories of the things they could do to make Umbridge's life as miserable as possible. Mahaad knew that most of it was talk, but there was a chance, however small that some of it might be real.
Their last exam History of Magic was the following day in the afternoon. This allowed the Gryffindors time to get some much needed sleep before the test. Mahaad took a seat in the Great Hall and waited for the test to begin. He felt a pang of sadness to see another professor keeping time instead of McGonagall.
As the test began, Mahaad settled into a rhythm and the answers came easier to him than in some of his previous exams. He looked up at the clock and noted that was doing well on time, they only had half an hour to go.
Harry started screaming and fell to the floor clutching his head, his face beaded with sweat. A chill ran down the priest's spine. He was halfway out of his seat before he came to his senses and sat back down. He would have to let the 'adults' handle this. He returned his gaze to his test, although he kept his ears perked for any unusual noises.
One of the examiners ran to Harry's side and helped him sit up. Harry woke up gasping for air and followed the elderly wizard from the Hall.
Harry didn't return. As soon as the exam was over, Mahaad met up with Yugi, and Hermione. Ron found them a few minutes later. They were about to start searching for Harry on the second floor when he came down the stairs running.
"Harry!" Mahaad called sharply. The teen stopped and looked relieved to see them. He ushered them into an unused classroom and the details of his vision came spilling out.
"Voldemort's got Sirius at the Department of Mysteries…How are we going to get there?" Harry asked, half demanding half pleading the others to help him think of a plan.
Hermione gave him a pained look. "Harry, how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic? It's heavily guarded…"
Harry stared at her. "It doesn't matter! He's got Sirius! The longer we sit here the longer Sirius is in danger!"
"Harry, you've only dreamed about this stuff. You've never been to the Department of Mysteries. How do you think two of the most wanted wizards in the world got into the Ministry undetected?" She asked.
Harry's face turned red with anger.
"How should I know?" he bellowed at her. Hermoine shrank back a little. "There is no one left here to tell. McGonagall's gone to St. Mungo's!"
"Harry," Mahaad cut in.
Harry rounded on the magician and glared at him.
"We need to find out if Sirius really has left headquarters, "he began unperturbed by Harry's outburst. "you should go to Umbridge's office again and contact him. Yugi and I can guard the door to make sure you're not disturbed."
Yugi nodded firmly with a determined glint in his eye.
Author's Notes:
Thank you all for reading this fic! I've reached several milestones lately. I've written over 50 chapters, almost 100,000 words, received over 200 reviews and had over 40,000 views! Thanks so much for your support!
Review Responses:
Spano: That's a good idea. I have no experience dueling other than owning a Deck and watching the anime. Any help in that regard would be appreciated.
YumiStar: Agreed! Too bad Hagrid wouldn't take no for an answer.
Fireking492: Thanks for your support! I'll let you know.
Jackie Mueller: I hope this was fast enough for you! I should have some time to write over the break.
