The next morning, in the Great Hall, Dumbledore outlined how the exams
would take place.
"5th years will take all their theory exams in this hall, and all their practical exams in their regular classrooms. This will be the same for 7th years, but their theory exams will instead be held in the Ballroom." This statement surprised a lot of 5th years.
"We have a Ballroom?" Ron whispered to George.
"Where do you think the 7th yeas have their parties?" George whispered back. Ron accepted this, and went on listening to Dumbledore.
"Good luck everyone, you will have 2 hours to complete each theoretical exam, and 1 1/2 hours to complete practical exams, unless otherwise stated." And with that, the 7th years filed out of the Hall, and the eating tables moved to the side of the room, to make way for desks to fill the room. Harry, Hermione and Ron all chose desks near each other.
"Right, the first exam is Defence Against the Dark Arts. Your papers should now be on your desk. Please proceed, I will notify you when your time is up" McGonagall's voice rung out in the hall. Students all picked up their quills, and started their essays.
Harry flipped the paper open. The question read:
As you all know, Hogwarts has a Great Lake in it's grounds, and this lake is available for enjoyment, as long as there is a barrier to keep all the inhabitants below 30 feet. Most of these inhabitants are Harmless, but five are not. Please describe these 5 harmful creatures, and give an example as to how to kill them. Harry smiled, he couldn't believe his luck. Not only had he asked Sirius and Lupin about the Grindylow, he'd actually experienced some of these creatures during the Triwizard tournament last year. He set to work quickly, and finishing a few minutes before time, he looked around at everyone else.
Hermione had finished her essay, and was staring off into space.
'Probably reciting all the dates for History of Magic in her head' Harry thought to himself. Ron was still scribbling on his parchment, and Neville looked completely lost.
"Right, times up!" Ron wrote one last sentence, and dropped his quill, relieved. McGonagall collected all the papers.
"You may have a 15 minute break, but I expect to see you all back here on time" And with that, the students half-walked, half-ran out the door.
History of Magic was next, the exam was actually quite easy. It just involved remembering the date of the Goblin revolution and what took place. Harry and Ron couldn't quite remember what fighting took place, so they embellished a little. Hermione remembered everything with precision accuracy. Next up was Divination for Harry and Ron, and Arithmancy for Hermione. They said goodbye and wished each other good luck, before going their separate ways. Harry and Ron ascended the staircase up to Trelawney's stuffy, smelly room. Their test again involved looking into tea-leaves and crystal balls. Ron and Harry made up gruesome fates for themselves, but Harry made the mistake of predicting something good for himself.
"I see myself finding another part of my family" he told Prof. Trelawney. Harry wasn't sure, but he thought he'd actually seen it in the ball.
Leaving the room, they met up with Hermione again for Potions.
"Right, today you need to make an Anti-freeze potion. This is used as a counter to the full-body freeze jinx. Work by yourselves, you have an hour and a half. Start" Snape commanded. Ron and Hermione started well, but Harry could barely remember anything. Then he remembered Ron asking Hermione a question about this potion, and it set his memory in motion. As the allocated time drew near, Harry was astounded to note that his, Ron's and Hermione's potions all looked and smelt similar. He took it as a good sign, and grinned at Ron from across the cauldrons. Bursting out of the dungeon and onto the grounds again, Harry, Hermione and Ron were thrilled to note they only had 2 exams left.
"Charms is always easy, but I don't know about Transfiguration" Harry worried out loud.
"You'll be fine!" Hermione objected.
"We went over everything a million times. We're all going to do really well on the O.W.L.S!" she sounded quite sure of herself, and this boosted Harry's and Ron's moral. Dinner that night was much more enjoyable than the night before, as many students only had 1 or 2 exams to go. Hermione advised the boys not to study tonight.
"It will only warp your mind"
Ron and Harry didn't need convincing, and instead played a couple of games of Wizard chess and exploding Snap. Harry also found the time to write to Sirius.
I think I did OK in my exams. Thanks for the help on the Grindylow's, it was actually an exam question!
At Lupin's House...
Sirius read Harry's letter the next day, and was pleased to note that harry was confident in himself. He was also pleased to note that there was no trouble, as there had been in Sirius's 5th year exams. Of course, he and James had been the ones to cause the trouble, but nobody else knew that! Many years earlier.....
"D'you think it'll work?" James whispered quietly.
"It better!" Sirius whispered back. It was the night before their O.W.L.S, and James and Sirius, being James and Sirius had decided to stir up a little trouble.
"I swear, I saw it on a muggle television show once. The siren rang and everyone left the building" Sirius was sure his plan would succeed. James was a little dubious however.
"So we just magic up a siren, and allow it to ring through the entire school?" James asked.
"Yes, only the siren should say something, like 'Please evacuate the building, there is a troll loose'. That'd be better," James nodded his head in agreement to Sirius's statement.
They worked silently for another half-hour, and then left, blown away by there own intelligence.
The next morning, Anya and Lily were up bright and early studying at the Great Hall dining tables. James and Sirius sauntered in, looking totally relaxed and calm.
"Why all the work?" Sirius smirked at Anya.
"Gee, I dunno Black, maybe it has something to do with the fact that WE HAVE THE O.W.L.S TODAY!" studying always stressed Anya out. Lily looked suspiciously at James.
"Have you even studies James?" she asked. James nodded. He and Sirius had both studied hard for the exams, but they had still found time to have fun. Lily gave him another once over with a suspicious eye, but she went back to reading her book.
Finally, the Hall was devoid of all but the 5th years, and the DADA exam was about to start. McGonagall handed out the parchments, and they began. But halfway through the exam, the students were interrupted by a loud, magnified voice that was reverberating through the castle.
"Please evacuate the castle immediately. There is a troll. I repeat please leave the castle" The voice sounded exactly like Dumbledore's, and the students didn't want to stick around to find out whether it was a hoax or not. People ran out, leaving their paper floating around the Hall. McGonagall tried to stop people, but she had no idea what was going on either. Eventually, the entire population of Hogwarts Academy was standing on the lawns of the school.
Dumbledore strolled out of the castle, along with Ogg, the groundsman, and Professor Doyle, the DADA teacher.
"Students, please calm down. There is no troll, it was a false alarm!" Dumbledores' voice rang clear across the assembly.
"Why'd the siren go off then?" somebody called out from the crowd.
"I don't know, I assume it was joke by some student who has not studied for their O.W.L.S. I will be paying very close attention to exam marks!" Dumbledore sounded strict, but the students could see the twinkle in his eye still. With that, teachers began ushering their classes back into the castle.
Luckily for them, Sirius and James both did very well in their O.W.L.S, so they were never found to be the culprit of the pranks. However, many people had their suspicions, and weren't afraid to voice them. Severus Snape was lived that they weren't to be punished for their crime.
"Everyone knows it was you!" he yelled at James and Sirius in the hall one day.
"Oh shut it Snape. You're just jealous cause Sirius got better marks than you, and got the girl," he jerked his thumb at Anya, who blushed and smiled. Snape's face looked ready to explode, but Prof. McGonagall took that moment to pass by and suggest that they all 'run along to class!'. James and Sirius took this opportunity to run from Snape and the angry bunch of Slytherins.
"5th years will take all their theory exams in this hall, and all their practical exams in their regular classrooms. This will be the same for 7th years, but their theory exams will instead be held in the Ballroom." This statement surprised a lot of 5th years.
"We have a Ballroom?" Ron whispered to George.
"Where do you think the 7th yeas have their parties?" George whispered back. Ron accepted this, and went on listening to Dumbledore.
"Good luck everyone, you will have 2 hours to complete each theoretical exam, and 1 1/2 hours to complete practical exams, unless otherwise stated." And with that, the 7th years filed out of the Hall, and the eating tables moved to the side of the room, to make way for desks to fill the room. Harry, Hermione and Ron all chose desks near each other.
"Right, the first exam is Defence Against the Dark Arts. Your papers should now be on your desk. Please proceed, I will notify you when your time is up" McGonagall's voice rung out in the hall. Students all picked up their quills, and started their essays.
Harry flipped the paper open. The question read:
As you all know, Hogwarts has a Great Lake in it's grounds, and this lake is available for enjoyment, as long as there is a barrier to keep all the inhabitants below 30 feet. Most of these inhabitants are Harmless, but five are not. Please describe these 5 harmful creatures, and give an example as to how to kill them. Harry smiled, he couldn't believe his luck. Not only had he asked Sirius and Lupin about the Grindylow, he'd actually experienced some of these creatures during the Triwizard tournament last year. He set to work quickly, and finishing a few minutes before time, he looked around at everyone else.
Hermione had finished her essay, and was staring off into space.
'Probably reciting all the dates for History of Magic in her head' Harry thought to himself. Ron was still scribbling on his parchment, and Neville looked completely lost.
"Right, times up!" Ron wrote one last sentence, and dropped his quill, relieved. McGonagall collected all the papers.
"You may have a 15 minute break, but I expect to see you all back here on time" And with that, the students half-walked, half-ran out the door.
History of Magic was next, the exam was actually quite easy. It just involved remembering the date of the Goblin revolution and what took place. Harry and Ron couldn't quite remember what fighting took place, so they embellished a little. Hermione remembered everything with precision accuracy. Next up was Divination for Harry and Ron, and Arithmancy for Hermione. They said goodbye and wished each other good luck, before going their separate ways. Harry and Ron ascended the staircase up to Trelawney's stuffy, smelly room. Their test again involved looking into tea-leaves and crystal balls. Ron and Harry made up gruesome fates for themselves, but Harry made the mistake of predicting something good for himself.
"I see myself finding another part of my family" he told Prof. Trelawney. Harry wasn't sure, but he thought he'd actually seen it in the ball.
Leaving the room, they met up with Hermione again for Potions.
"Right, today you need to make an Anti-freeze potion. This is used as a counter to the full-body freeze jinx. Work by yourselves, you have an hour and a half. Start" Snape commanded. Ron and Hermione started well, but Harry could barely remember anything. Then he remembered Ron asking Hermione a question about this potion, and it set his memory in motion. As the allocated time drew near, Harry was astounded to note that his, Ron's and Hermione's potions all looked and smelt similar. He took it as a good sign, and grinned at Ron from across the cauldrons. Bursting out of the dungeon and onto the grounds again, Harry, Hermione and Ron were thrilled to note they only had 2 exams left.
"Charms is always easy, but I don't know about Transfiguration" Harry worried out loud.
"You'll be fine!" Hermione objected.
"We went over everything a million times. We're all going to do really well on the O.W.L.S!" she sounded quite sure of herself, and this boosted Harry's and Ron's moral. Dinner that night was much more enjoyable than the night before, as many students only had 1 or 2 exams to go. Hermione advised the boys not to study tonight.
"It will only warp your mind"
Ron and Harry didn't need convincing, and instead played a couple of games of Wizard chess and exploding Snap. Harry also found the time to write to Sirius.
I think I did OK in my exams. Thanks for the help on the Grindylow's, it was actually an exam question!
At Lupin's House...
Sirius read Harry's letter the next day, and was pleased to note that harry was confident in himself. He was also pleased to note that there was no trouble, as there had been in Sirius's 5th year exams. Of course, he and James had been the ones to cause the trouble, but nobody else knew that! Many years earlier.....
"D'you think it'll work?" James whispered quietly.
"It better!" Sirius whispered back. It was the night before their O.W.L.S, and James and Sirius, being James and Sirius had decided to stir up a little trouble.
"I swear, I saw it on a muggle television show once. The siren rang and everyone left the building" Sirius was sure his plan would succeed. James was a little dubious however.
"So we just magic up a siren, and allow it to ring through the entire school?" James asked.
"Yes, only the siren should say something, like 'Please evacuate the building, there is a troll loose'. That'd be better," James nodded his head in agreement to Sirius's statement.
They worked silently for another half-hour, and then left, blown away by there own intelligence.
The next morning, Anya and Lily were up bright and early studying at the Great Hall dining tables. James and Sirius sauntered in, looking totally relaxed and calm.
"Why all the work?" Sirius smirked at Anya.
"Gee, I dunno Black, maybe it has something to do with the fact that WE HAVE THE O.W.L.S TODAY!" studying always stressed Anya out. Lily looked suspiciously at James.
"Have you even studies James?" she asked. James nodded. He and Sirius had both studied hard for the exams, but they had still found time to have fun. Lily gave him another once over with a suspicious eye, but she went back to reading her book.
Finally, the Hall was devoid of all but the 5th years, and the DADA exam was about to start. McGonagall handed out the parchments, and they began. But halfway through the exam, the students were interrupted by a loud, magnified voice that was reverberating through the castle.
"Please evacuate the castle immediately. There is a troll. I repeat please leave the castle" The voice sounded exactly like Dumbledore's, and the students didn't want to stick around to find out whether it was a hoax or not. People ran out, leaving their paper floating around the Hall. McGonagall tried to stop people, but she had no idea what was going on either. Eventually, the entire population of Hogwarts Academy was standing on the lawns of the school.
Dumbledore strolled out of the castle, along with Ogg, the groundsman, and Professor Doyle, the DADA teacher.
"Students, please calm down. There is no troll, it was a false alarm!" Dumbledores' voice rang clear across the assembly.
"Why'd the siren go off then?" somebody called out from the crowd.
"I don't know, I assume it was joke by some student who has not studied for their O.W.L.S. I will be paying very close attention to exam marks!" Dumbledore sounded strict, but the students could see the twinkle in his eye still. With that, teachers began ushering their classes back into the castle.
Luckily for them, Sirius and James both did very well in their O.W.L.S, so they were never found to be the culprit of the pranks. However, many people had their suspicions, and weren't afraid to voice them. Severus Snape was lived that they weren't to be punished for their crime.
"Everyone knows it was you!" he yelled at James and Sirius in the hall one day.
"Oh shut it Snape. You're just jealous cause Sirius got better marks than you, and got the girl," he jerked his thumb at Anya, who blushed and smiled. Snape's face looked ready to explode, but Prof. McGonagall took that moment to pass by and suggest that they all 'run along to class!'. James and Sirius took this opportunity to run from Snape and the angry bunch of Slytherins.