Chapter Seventeen
"The O.W.L.s"
Before Harry, Ron, and Hermione had realized it, the end of the school year had come along. Harry had become somewhat of a master of apparating in the few months he had been practicing and they were to take the O.W.L.s in two days. Harry and Hermione were feeling fairly confident and they continued to study in a well-planned out routine. Ron, on the other hand, had completely panicked. He was staying up day and night cramming for the exam. Hermione and Harry and found him several times snoring on his O.W.L.s study book. He had parchment and ink and books spread all over one of the tables in the common room. Hermione desperately wanted to tell Ron, "I told you so." But Harry advised against it. As it was they were trying to organize things for him. His red hair was as messy as Harry's and he had dark circles around his eyes. "What was I thinking!" he croaked the night before the exam. "I'm never going to pass this test! My mum is going to kill me!" Harry tried to comfort him but it was very hard. Finally he and Hermione convinced Ron that a good night's sleep would help him more than anything else would from this point on. So he sadly went upstairs and fell asleep. Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus all got up early the next morning. They found Hermione, Parvati, Lavender and some of the other fifth year girls sitting in the common room. They all went down to breakfast together. They tried to eat breakfast. Hermione ate heartily, but Neville and Ron looked absolutely ill at the thought of eating. Each house would take the exam with their own head of house. They all shuddered when McGonagall approached the end of their table and told them it was time. All the fifth year students trudged along behind her into the transfiguration room. Everyone took a seat and pulled out their quills and ink. McGonagall passed out sheets of parchment to everyone. "Don't bother cheating, as each exam is different. Some of you are taking different classes than others, some of you are taking more classes than others, and each exam is personal to the one taking it. Now, you may begin." She said and then she went to sit down at her desk. Harry looked down at his exam. Describe in detail how you would transfigure a mourning dove into a goblet. Harry thought for a moment. He wondered how much detail she could possibly want as it was just a simple spell. He wrote down: Tap your wand three times and say 'Incontaro Felisio'. Then he went to the next question When making a potion to cure boils, what are the ingredients put in, and in what order are they stirred into the cauldron? Harry tried to remember he tried not to panic, so he decided to skip ahead while he thought about it. Name twelve creatures that reside in the Forbidden Forest. He grinned. This one is easy. Harry had been in the Forbidden Forest every year since he'd been at Hogwarts and he had met many of the creatures. He wrote down Unicorns, Giant Spiders, Werewolves, Vampires, Griffins, Hippogriffs, Blast- Ended Skrewts, Centaurs, Flobberworms, Cornish Pixies, Fire Faeries, and Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia. Harry grinned and went on to the next question.
In which year did the Middlesex Witch hunt reach its peak? Harry thought for a moment and wrote down his answer. He wrote 1615. What charm would you use to levitate? "Wingardium Leviosa" Whose broomstick was stolen in the great Quidditch battle of 1902? "Marvio the Mad's broomstick." Which animal did the profound animagus Walter the Great transfigure into? "Walter the Great transfigured himself into a Walrus to help break up glaciers during the ice age with his tusks." When working with flobberworms, what precautions does one take? "No precautions should be made as flobberworms are harmless." When mixing a potion to rid oneself of acne, which plant is imperative and why? "Bubotuber pus will help get rid of acne, but it must be diluted as undiluted bubotuber pus will cause large yellow boils." When approaching a hippogriff, what must one do to gain its trust? "You must bow to a hippogriff to gain its trust." How does one know, when reading a star chart, if they will experience awful misfortune? "If the stars align with your sign, and the constellation of your sign is in the house of Jupiter, you will be experiencing misfortune." Name all seven potions that one could make to relieve oneself of stress, and name the ingredients. "1. The anti-anxiety potion, 2. The stress-away potion, 3. The stress-be-gone potion, 4. The no-more-stress potion, 5. The stress reliever potion, 6. The anti-stress potion, and 7. The more advanced Stress killer potion. The ingredients for each of these potions are almost the same. Two parts bat talon, minced beetle, eye of newt, rat's tail, prism water, and wart of toad." Which charm is used to erase one's memory? "Obliviate." What does it mean if Saturn's moon is in Cancer's circle of light? "It means that death is upon the misfortunate soul who is reading the charts." In Quidditch, what happens when the golden snitch is caught if the seeker's team who caught the snitch is 200 points behind? "The seeker's team who caught the snitch will lose by fifty points." Harry read on and on, he really disliked the potions and divination questions, but he thought that the Herbology and charms questions were very simple and he really enjoyed the Quidditch questions. Hermione was right, there were a lot of potions questions and they were all equally difficult. After he finished thirty pages of questions, double-sided, he realized that he had finished the exam. With a sigh of relief, he gathered his papers and handed them into Professor McGonagall. Harry made his way up to the common room. Hermione was sitting in a big squishy chair. When she saw Harry, she grinned and said, "Wasn't that fabulous?" "Speak for yourself," said Ron, who was coming through the porthole. His hair was sticking up where he had run his fingers through it so many times, his shirt was untucked and his tie was loosened. He collapsed in a chair next to Hermione and let out a deep heavy sigh. Harry walked over and sat down across from them. Ron looked exhausted and he said, "Those potion questions were horrible! And those ruddy divination questions, ugh!" "I found it to be quite relaxing," Hermione said grinning. Ron looked at her with disgust. "Well, I'm sure I would have found it quite relaxing, if I knew all the answers too!" he croaked. Harry laughed and Hermione stuck out her tongue. "Well if someone didn't wait until two days before the exam to crack open a book." Hermione started. "Oh, that's right, go on, say it! Say it! Ron's a great insufferable prat, who doesn't know a bloody thing. Go on, say it!" Ron huffed. "Ron! It's not my fault you didn't study properly, don't take it out on me!" she shouted at Ron. Harry felt himself growing very uncomfortable. "Well if you didn't hold it over everyone's heads all the time how brilliant you are, maybe I wouldn't take it out on you!" Ron shouted back at Hermione. "Harry! Will you tell Ron that he is being absolutely childish and he deserves whatever score he receives!" Hermione yelled. "Er-," Harry stuttered. "Harry! Will you please tell Hermione that I don't remember ever asking for her ruddy opinion!" Ron roared. "I-uh," Harry started. "Oh, Ron! You're being absolutely horrible!" Hermione yelled. "So what! I don't care how I am! Nobody said you have to hang out with me!" Ron scowled. He stood up and stomped off to his dormitory and left Hermione in tears. "Oh, that big baboon! Sometimes I think I'll never understand him!" She said as she ran over and sobbed into Harry's chest. Harry hugged her trying to be a comfort.
Before Harry, Ron, and Hermione had realized it, the end of the school year had come along. Harry had become somewhat of a master of apparating in the few months he had been practicing and they were to take the O.W.L.s in two days. Harry and Hermione were feeling fairly confident and they continued to study in a well-planned out routine. Ron, on the other hand, had completely panicked. He was staying up day and night cramming for the exam. Hermione and Harry and found him several times snoring on his O.W.L.s study book. He had parchment and ink and books spread all over one of the tables in the common room. Hermione desperately wanted to tell Ron, "I told you so." But Harry advised against it. As it was they were trying to organize things for him. His red hair was as messy as Harry's and he had dark circles around his eyes. "What was I thinking!" he croaked the night before the exam. "I'm never going to pass this test! My mum is going to kill me!" Harry tried to comfort him but it was very hard. Finally he and Hermione convinced Ron that a good night's sleep would help him more than anything else would from this point on. So he sadly went upstairs and fell asleep. Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus all got up early the next morning. They found Hermione, Parvati, Lavender and some of the other fifth year girls sitting in the common room. They all went down to breakfast together. They tried to eat breakfast. Hermione ate heartily, but Neville and Ron looked absolutely ill at the thought of eating. Each house would take the exam with their own head of house. They all shuddered when McGonagall approached the end of their table and told them it was time. All the fifth year students trudged along behind her into the transfiguration room. Everyone took a seat and pulled out their quills and ink. McGonagall passed out sheets of parchment to everyone. "Don't bother cheating, as each exam is different. Some of you are taking different classes than others, some of you are taking more classes than others, and each exam is personal to the one taking it. Now, you may begin." She said and then she went to sit down at her desk. Harry looked down at his exam. Describe in detail how you would transfigure a mourning dove into a goblet. Harry thought for a moment. He wondered how much detail she could possibly want as it was just a simple spell. He wrote down: Tap your wand three times and say 'Incontaro Felisio'. Then he went to the next question When making a potion to cure boils, what are the ingredients put in, and in what order are they stirred into the cauldron? Harry tried to remember he tried not to panic, so he decided to skip ahead while he thought about it. Name twelve creatures that reside in the Forbidden Forest. He grinned. This one is easy. Harry had been in the Forbidden Forest every year since he'd been at Hogwarts and he had met many of the creatures. He wrote down Unicorns, Giant Spiders, Werewolves, Vampires, Griffins, Hippogriffs, Blast- Ended Skrewts, Centaurs, Flobberworms, Cornish Pixies, Fire Faeries, and Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia. Harry grinned and went on to the next question.
In which year did the Middlesex Witch hunt reach its peak? Harry thought for a moment and wrote down his answer. He wrote 1615. What charm would you use to levitate? "Wingardium Leviosa" Whose broomstick was stolen in the great Quidditch battle of 1902? "Marvio the Mad's broomstick." Which animal did the profound animagus Walter the Great transfigure into? "Walter the Great transfigured himself into a Walrus to help break up glaciers during the ice age with his tusks." When working with flobberworms, what precautions does one take? "No precautions should be made as flobberworms are harmless." When mixing a potion to rid oneself of acne, which plant is imperative and why? "Bubotuber pus will help get rid of acne, but it must be diluted as undiluted bubotuber pus will cause large yellow boils." When approaching a hippogriff, what must one do to gain its trust? "You must bow to a hippogriff to gain its trust." How does one know, when reading a star chart, if they will experience awful misfortune? "If the stars align with your sign, and the constellation of your sign is in the house of Jupiter, you will be experiencing misfortune." Name all seven potions that one could make to relieve oneself of stress, and name the ingredients. "1. The anti-anxiety potion, 2. The stress-away potion, 3. The stress-be-gone potion, 4. The no-more-stress potion, 5. The stress reliever potion, 6. The anti-stress potion, and 7. The more advanced Stress killer potion. The ingredients for each of these potions are almost the same. Two parts bat talon, minced beetle, eye of newt, rat's tail, prism water, and wart of toad." Which charm is used to erase one's memory? "Obliviate." What does it mean if Saturn's moon is in Cancer's circle of light? "It means that death is upon the misfortunate soul who is reading the charts." In Quidditch, what happens when the golden snitch is caught if the seeker's team who caught the snitch is 200 points behind? "The seeker's team who caught the snitch will lose by fifty points." Harry read on and on, he really disliked the potions and divination questions, but he thought that the Herbology and charms questions were very simple and he really enjoyed the Quidditch questions. Hermione was right, there were a lot of potions questions and they were all equally difficult. After he finished thirty pages of questions, double-sided, he realized that he had finished the exam. With a sigh of relief, he gathered his papers and handed them into Professor McGonagall. Harry made his way up to the common room. Hermione was sitting in a big squishy chair. When she saw Harry, she grinned and said, "Wasn't that fabulous?" "Speak for yourself," said Ron, who was coming through the porthole. His hair was sticking up where he had run his fingers through it so many times, his shirt was untucked and his tie was loosened. He collapsed in a chair next to Hermione and let out a deep heavy sigh. Harry walked over and sat down across from them. Ron looked exhausted and he said, "Those potion questions were horrible! And those ruddy divination questions, ugh!" "I found it to be quite relaxing," Hermione said grinning. Ron looked at her with disgust. "Well, I'm sure I would have found it quite relaxing, if I knew all the answers too!" he croaked. Harry laughed and Hermione stuck out her tongue. "Well if someone didn't wait until two days before the exam to crack open a book." Hermione started. "Oh, that's right, go on, say it! Say it! Ron's a great insufferable prat, who doesn't know a bloody thing. Go on, say it!" Ron huffed. "Ron! It's not my fault you didn't study properly, don't take it out on me!" she shouted at Ron. Harry felt himself growing very uncomfortable. "Well if you didn't hold it over everyone's heads all the time how brilliant you are, maybe I wouldn't take it out on you!" Ron shouted back at Hermione. "Harry! Will you tell Ron that he is being absolutely childish and he deserves whatever score he receives!" Hermione yelled. "Er-," Harry stuttered. "Harry! Will you please tell Hermione that I don't remember ever asking for her ruddy opinion!" Ron roared. "I-uh," Harry started. "Oh, Ron! You're being absolutely horrible!" Hermione yelled. "So what! I don't care how I am! Nobody said you have to hang out with me!" Ron scowled. He stood up and stomped off to his dormitory and left Hermione in tears. "Oh, that big baboon! Sometimes I think I'll never understand him!" She said as she ran over and sobbed into Harry's chest. Harry hugged her trying to be a comfort.