Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The holidays ended too soon and before long it was back to classes and exam time. Harry felt himself wishing that they had done their exams with the rest of the school, before Christmas instead of after it, because it meant having to study during the holidays. Hermione was always in the library or behind a tower of books in the Common room. Harry was darting between his studying, homework, Duelling Club and extra lessons with Lupin.
Divination was their last exam. As they walked out of the classroom Neville, Seamus and Ron were all talking about what they had had to do and what they had told her they had "seen". Harry remained silent. He had truly seen something in the crystal ball. A figure had come out to him and stretched his hand to Harry. Fog had come and swept the figure away, in the place where the figure had stood was Ron and Hermione. They were swishing their wands around and Ron was yelling something. A dog then came running across the crystal ball and smoke had enveloped all three. Harry didn't know what it meant. He hadn't known whether or not to tell Professor Trelawney, but on reflection decided not to. She would make a mountain out of a molehill and probably tell Professor Dumbledore offhandedly one day and get Dumbledore wondering. He decided to keep it to himself. He wouldn't even tell Ron and Hermione.
In his extra lesson with Lupin that day, Harry had to inflate a Muggle life raft. It was his "exam" for Lupin.
"Now, don't worry, this has no effect on any of your grades, of course, because this is not a real class. I'm just going to make some notes and stuff. Just do what we've done in our normal lessons, okay?" Lupin looked over at Harry who nodded with a concentrated look on his face. Professor Lupin stood a few feet from Harry and the life raft and waited. Harry thought hard, all his attention and concentration was on inflating the life raft. There was a hissing sound as the life raft grew and grew. Finally it reached normal inflated size. Harry was sure not to over-inflate it like he had done a while ago with a beach ball. He and Lupin had had a good laugh over that incident!
Harry glanced up to see Lupin's reaction and saw the quill in Lupin's hand poised in mid-air as though he was going to write something. Lupin was smiling down at Harry with a far off look on his face.
"Um? Professor?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Sorry, Harry. I was just thinking." Lupin looked down and wrote some notes.
"Well done. You have come so far. Now, for the next test I want you to raise this desk and carry it over to that spot. Right there, I've marked it with white chalk." Harry nodded when he saw the desk and spot Lupin was talking about. Concentrating again, Harry managed to levitate the desk and made it glide over to the spot on the ground. He carefully lowered it and with a soft thud the desk landed with the chalk directly beneath it. Lupin smiled at Harry again.
"Well done, Harry! For the last test I want you to inflate that life raft again, carry Hermione on it to the spot on the ground. I've invited Ron, Dean, Seamus, Fred, George, Ginny and Neville to come make noise, try talking to you, try distracting you as you carry out this test. It's to see if you can focus and concentrate properly even if there are many distractions. Harry watched in amazement as the party entered the room. He felt very self-conscious and watched as Hermione went over to stand by the life raft. The others made a ring around Harry. He noticed with a sinking feeling that the twins were holing out their wands and that Dean was holding a megaphone. Judging by the mischievous looks on all their faces it looked liked they were out to do their job well. Harry felt the familiar butterflies in his stomach. What if he failed?
Lupin nodded at the group and immediately they began with the distractions. For a moment Harry was blinded by the light and sparks coming from Fred and George's wands and felt confused by all the voices. He quickly gathered his wits and tried to block out all the sounds and flashes of light. Slowly the life raft began to inflate for the second time that day. Hermione waited patiently, studying the look of concentration on her friends' face. He stopped inflating the raft when it came to normal size. Ron was babbling about Quidditch in one ear and Dean was bellowing soccer rules in the other. Neville was talking about Fungi and Mandrakes, while Ginny started talking about colouring her hair bright pink or yellow. He levitated the raft and Hermione slipped on to it. Harry took a deep breath and tried to block out the sounds and lights again. His head was beginning to pound from the concentration and noises. The raft began its descent across the room yet again. Hermione sat calmly viewing her surroundings and Lupin was smiling behind his papers. There was a screeching sound in Harry's ear and he briefly lost his concentration. The life raft dipped down almost to the ground before he got control again and set it back on its course. He carefully set the life raft on to the white circle of chalk and the noise stopped. He blinked. He couldn't believe that he had done it.
"Well done, Harry! I'd say that you were finished your extra classes with me! You know exactly what you are doing. Just be sure to practise often so you don't forget. I'll go tell Professor Dumbledore now. Thank you all for participating in this exam." Professor Lupin gave them his gentle smile and left quietly. The group was going on about how cool it was that he could do that without a wand and wanted to know if he could do it again.
"Sorry, guys, my head's pounding and I feel so tired. Maybe later." He wearily left the room with Ron and Hermione.
The holidays ended too soon and before long it was back to classes and exam time. Harry felt himself wishing that they had done their exams with the rest of the school, before Christmas instead of after it, because it meant having to study during the holidays. Hermione was always in the library or behind a tower of books in the Common room. Harry was darting between his studying, homework, Duelling Club and extra lessons with Lupin.
Divination was their last exam. As they walked out of the classroom Neville, Seamus and Ron were all talking about what they had had to do and what they had told her they had "seen". Harry remained silent. He had truly seen something in the crystal ball. A figure had come out to him and stretched his hand to Harry. Fog had come and swept the figure away, in the place where the figure had stood was Ron and Hermione. They were swishing their wands around and Ron was yelling something. A dog then came running across the crystal ball and smoke had enveloped all three. Harry didn't know what it meant. He hadn't known whether or not to tell Professor Trelawney, but on reflection decided not to. She would make a mountain out of a molehill and probably tell Professor Dumbledore offhandedly one day and get Dumbledore wondering. He decided to keep it to himself. He wouldn't even tell Ron and Hermione.
In his extra lesson with Lupin that day, Harry had to inflate a Muggle life raft. It was his "exam" for Lupin.
"Now, don't worry, this has no effect on any of your grades, of course, because this is not a real class. I'm just going to make some notes and stuff. Just do what we've done in our normal lessons, okay?" Lupin looked over at Harry who nodded with a concentrated look on his face. Professor Lupin stood a few feet from Harry and the life raft and waited. Harry thought hard, all his attention and concentration was on inflating the life raft. There was a hissing sound as the life raft grew and grew. Finally it reached normal inflated size. Harry was sure not to over-inflate it like he had done a while ago with a beach ball. He and Lupin had had a good laugh over that incident!
Harry glanced up to see Lupin's reaction and saw the quill in Lupin's hand poised in mid-air as though he was going to write something. Lupin was smiling down at Harry with a far off look on his face.
"Um? Professor?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Sorry, Harry. I was just thinking." Lupin looked down and wrote some notes.
"Well done. You have come so far. Now, for the next test I want you to raise this desk and carry it over to that spot. Right there, I've marked it with white chalk." Harry nodded when he saw the desk and spot Lupin was talking about. Concentrating again, Harry managed to levitate the desk and made it glide over to the spot on the ground. He carefully lowered it and with a soft thud the desk landed with the chalk directly beneath it. Lupin smiled at Harry again.
"Well done, Harry! For the last test I want you to inflate that life raft again, carry Hermione on it to the spot on the ground. I've invited Ron, Dean, Seamus, Fred, George, Ginny and Neville to come make noise, try talking to you, try distracting you as you carry out this test. It's to see if you can focus and concentrate properly even if there are many distractions. Harry watched in amazement as the party entered the room. He felt very self-conscious and watched as Hermione went over to stand by the life raft. The others made a ring around Harry. He noticed with a sinking feeling that the twins were holing out their wands and that Dean was holding a megaphone. Judging by the mischievous looks on all their faces it looked liked they were out to do their job well. Harry felt the familiar butterflies in his stomach. What if he failed?
Lupin nodded at the group and immediately they began with the distractions. For a moment Harry was blinded by the light and sparks coming from Fred and George's wands and felt confused by all the voices. He quickly gathered his wits and tried to block out all the sounds and flashes of light. Slowly the life raft began to inflate for the second time that day. Hermione waited patiently, studying the look of concentration on her friends' face. He stopped inflating the raft when it came to normal size. Ron was babbling about Quidditch in one ear and Dean was bellowing soccer rules in the other. Neville was talking about Fungi and Mandrakes, while Ginny started talking about colouring her hair bright pink or yellow. He levitated the raft and Hermione slipped on to it. Harry took a deep breath and tried to block out the sounds and lights again. His head was beginning to pound from the concentration and noises. The raft began its descent across the room yet again. Hermione sat calmly viewing her surroundings and Lupin was smiling behind his papers. There was a screeching sound in Harry's ear and he briefly lost his concentration. The life raft dipped down almost to the ground before he got control again and set it back on its course. He carefully set the life raft on to the white circle of chalk and the noise stopped. He blinked. He couldn't believe that he had done it.
"Well done, Harry! I'd say that you were finished your extra classes with me! You know exactly what you are doing. Just be sure to practise often so you don't forget. I'll go tell Professor Dumbledore now. Thank you all for participating in this exam." Professor Lupin gave them his gentle smile and left quietly. The group was going on about how cool it was that he could do that without a wand and wanted to know if he could do it again.
"Sorry, guys, my head's pounding and I feel so tired. Maybe later." He wearily left the room with Ron and Hermione.