Another rather too short chapter, I'm afraid, but I had to include the exams as yet another adjoining chapter. Well, I can't go straight from event to event, can I? No one's life is that interesting, not even Harry's. As you might have figured out, this series is nearly finished. There's about three more chapters after this one, I think, so stay tuned for the conclusion! (Please?)
Harry had never known work so difficult, or so much of it at once. Every spare second was spent revising, as was each second that was not spare. Hermione was looking more stressed out than ever, but it was barely noticeable among everyone else. Harry was spending the five minutes before their first exam, Defence Against the Dark Arts, rummaging through his notes. He had decided that this was more important than combing his hair.
At least it wasn't Transfiguration, thought Harry as he entered the room. That was probably their hardest subject, but thankfully was one of the last on the exam timetable. He still had time to make sure he knew what to do.
'Space yourselves out,' called Professor Meredith once they had all sat in their usual seats. 'There's plenty of space. Two to a desk, now – sit at opposite ends.' Harry shared a desk with Ron and they exchanged encouraging smiles as the test papers were handed out.
'You will be given one hour for the written test,' Professor Meredith said. 'I always think it's too long, there are only four pages… when I sat the OWLs, we only had 25 minutes, and the practical was much more difficult too…'
Seamus Finnigan cleared his throat loudly. There wasn't time today for one of Meredith's long and irrelevant stories.
'Oh yes. The practical exam will follow. You'll have a five-minute break to discuss – if you need to – and look through your notes, then I'll take you outside one by one for your practicals. I cannot stress enough that there is to be no talking between the first paper being handed out and the last being taken in. I will tell you when you may begin talking again. Start now.'
The silence was annoying, thought Harry, as he filled in question one on the paper: Give two ways to defeat a Grindylow. The first page was easy – it covered things they'd learnt in their first three years. Page two became more difficult and Harry frowned, reading the last question – he didn't remember covering that at all. But he dutifully wrote something – guess or otherwise – in every answer space, and was finished ten minutes before he needed to be.
The practical was somewhat more complicated. The students went one by one to face Professor Meredith in the corridor, in alphabetical order. Hermione went before Harry or Ron but did not return. Their numbers were diminishing rapidly. It seemed that Meredith was sending them away after their tests to avoid any cheating.
By the time Harry was called Ron was looking quite green. 'If I don't come up to the common room after you, Harry, don't worry, I've just died,' he said faintly as Harry left the room. Harry himself was feeling rather frightened – after all, he didn't know what was in store.
But the test wasn't as difficult as he'd imagined. Professor Meredith aimed three jinxes at him (without warning him first) and he blocked them all, if a bit jumpily. Then she tried a couple of hexes, both of which Harry blocked again (though he didn't mention the slight light-headed feeling he experienced just after deflecting the Hallucinatus Hex). Then a Boggart was unleashed (easy, thought Harry, shouting 'Riddikulus!') followed by a cloud of Polyclopes (tiny seven-eyed flying creatures which tickled you, making it extremely hard for you to fight them). The Polyclopes distracted Harry for a while – he had the most trouble of all with these – but then he remembered 'Dispersus Maximus' and uttered it. It worked as he had hoped, and the Polyclopes split up, falling like large specks of dust to the ground. This left him free to tackle the final obstacle – Professor Meredith performed a spell called Impluverim, which sent a very powerful jet of water spurting from the end of her wand. Harry performed the Reflecta defence, which mirrored the effect, and the water changed course, knocking Meredith off her feet. 'Well done,' she said dazedly, sitting in a puddle, before dismissing him.
That was quite fun, Harry thought. Just the sort of thing Professor Lupin would have dreamt up. He grinned at the thought of Lupin returning next year – aided by none other than Sirius! Defence Against the Dark Arts would be even more fun than usual. But Meredith was all right really, Harry reasoned. He wouldn't have thought that exam would be the sort of thing she'd set.
He returned to the common room, where Hermione was sitting rifling through an enormous book called Sky Study: How to Succeed in Astronomy. Harry's heart sank as he remembered that they had another exam that afternoon. Sinking into an armchair near Hermione, he took out his copy of Advanced Astronomy and began to revise as manically as before.
Ron returned shortly afterwards. 'That was terrible,' he moaned. 'The Jelly-Legs Jinx completely got me, I still feel like I'm walking on a trampoline – and the Polyclopes had me on the floor…'
'Shut up, Ron!' said Hermione. 'We're revising!'
'Oh yeah… Astronomy…' And Ron sat down beside them, producing an uncharacteristically high pile of books he thought might help.
The next few days were much the same. The Astronomy exam was universally declared ridiculously hard, but Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures test was as usual not much of a challenge, though it was enjoyable trying to entice a Boomslang and an Ophidot, two of the most peaceful creatures in the magical world, into furious combat and then separate them. Harry's Ophidot appeared to be asleep, and the Boomslang kept wandering off.
Divination was tedious but not too involved – they had to first draw out charts relating to the Chinese New Year and what their symbols would bring them in the coming year, then demonstrate their newly-acquired telepathy skills to Professor Trelawney. (She looked quite shocked when Harry told her she was imagining his death by decapitation, and he suspected his mark might be increased.) Transfiguration, on the other hand, was almost impossible. Worse than Astronomy, Harry decided as he poked at the ginger and white kitten he'd been given, trying in vain to turn it into a puppy. By the end its face had lengthened and its ears turned a bit floppy. The theory paper was marginally easier, and Harry managed most of the questions before retiring to the Great Hall for his lunch. It was Thursday and the exams had finally finished.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Andromeda took their food up to the Gryffindor common room, wanting to discuss the exams. After all, they hadn't spoken much among all the frantic revision. Andromeda had some news for them all, and produced the following letter:
Dear Andromeda,
I am writing to ask if you would like to finally meet up with me on Sunday morning in the Three Broomsticks. I will be waiting there at nine o'clock. Wear this band in your hair so that I'll know who you are. Write back if for any reason you can't make it, but otherwise don't worry about getting back to me. I'm too nervous!
Your uncle,
Callidus Green.
'I'm going,' said Andromeda firmly.
'I'm coming with you,' said Harry, equally determined, and no one said a word to stop them.