Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. I bow to the genius that is Rowling. All hail the queen of the universe in which this story exists.
Harry couldn't seem to get a hang of the crystal ball. He never had been able to (or any other manner of divination now that you mention it). Still, he had been hoping for some tiny spark of revelation when it came time for his NEWTs. More than anything he hated the thought of lying on what seemed to be such an important occasion. All of that propaganda about the importance of NEWTs that Hermione had been spouting since the first year must have sunk in at one point. He just couldn't bring himself to flat-out lie like he would have in class while he was taking this test.
He was still caught up in his moral dilemma when it happened. Harry had been surprised, to say the least, when Hermione had not been dismissed from the divination NEWTs. She had dropped the class way back in the third year and had not been asked to sit for the divination OWLs. Still, when Snape had handed out the test he had taken no little pleasure in dropping one in front of Hermione Granger. He had smirked with a sort of satisfaction that Harry had thought was only reserved for when he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Throughout his years at Hogwarts Harry had learned some restraint when it came to dealing with Snape. For this reason alone he let his friend stand on her own when she made her case to the sadistic potions master. As Harry had expected, Hermione was not successful and she was forced to sit through this last test (as if any test, even divination, would be a problem for Hermione Granger).
Soon after she gave up trying to get out of the test Harry returned to his own bit of parchment. It was then that he noticed something strange. His test was at least three feet of parchment. There where at least twenty questions on it ranging from the weather next week to how many children he would have. When he looked over to Hermione's desk he saw that she had a mere eight inched of parchment, most of which was blank. As far as he could tell she only had one question to answer. Harry had just noticed this when Hermione fell to the floor in a dead faint.
Harry couldn't seem to get a hang of the crystal ball. He never had been able to (or any other manner of divination now that you mention it). Still, he had been hoping for some tiny spark of revelation when it came time for his NEWTs. More than anything he hated the thought of lying on what seemed to be such an important occasion. All of that propaganda about the importance of NEWTs that Hermione had been spouting since the first year must have sunk in at one point. He just couldn't bring himself to flat-out lie like he would have in class while he was taking this test.
He was still caught up in his moral dilemma when it happened. Harry had been surprised, to say the least, when Hermione had not been dismissed from the divination NEWTs. She had dropped the class way back in the third year and had not been asked to sit for the divination OWLs. Still, when Snape had handed out the test he had taken no little pleasure in dropping one in front of Hermione Granger. He had smirked with a sort of satisfaction that Harry had thought was only reserved for when he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Throughout his years at Hogwarts Harry had learned some restraint when it came to dealing with Snape. For this reason alone he let his friend stand on her own when she made her case to the sadistic potions master. As Harry had expected, Hermione was not successful and she was forced to sit through this last test (as if any test, even divination, would be a problem for Hermione Granger).
Soon after she gave up trying to get out of the test Harry returned to his own bit of parchment. It was then that he noticed something strange. His test was at least three feet of parchment. There where at least twenty questions on it ranging from the weather next week to how many children he would have. When he looked over to Hermione's desk he saw that she had a mere eight inched of parchment, most of which was blank. As far as he could tell she only had one question to answer. Harry had just noticed this when Hermione fell to the floor in a dead faint.