Chapter Fourteen: The NEWTs
With the NEWTs on the way, the hastily arranged Hogsmeade visit that weekend was the last chance Harry and his friends would have to relax. Harry obtained permission from Dumbledore for Jamie, Mark and Anita to come into the village for one hour as long as Civis stayed with them. He contacted all the members of the DA and told them to meet him in the Hog's Head at four pm.
Harry, Ginny and their older friends headed into the village early so they would have plenty of time to get anything they needed. When they arrived at the Hog's Head at about half-past three they were laden down with a huge amount of bags. Civis and the three first years arrived a few minutes later, and then the other DA members began to filter in.
Once everyone had got themselves a drink and found a seat, Harry stood up. "Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming. I'll try and make this as quick as possible." Here he paused. "Twenty-one months ago, about two dozen Hogwarts students - many of whom are here now - met to discuss the formation of the DADA practise club, a club eventually became Dumbledore's Army. I thought it was appropriate therefore, to bring everyone here for this announcement."
"What's up, Harry?" asked Ernie.
"Nothing's wrong, Ernie," Harry assured him. "In fact, quite the opposite. The headmaster and I feel that with the threat of the Death Eaters as diminished as it is, there is no longer a need for the DA in it's current form. So as of now, I declare Dumbledore's Army officially. disbanded.
"I have talked to Ginny, Luna and Jamie, as well as the DADA teacher who will be taking over from Professor Ambrose in September. They have agreed that an extracurricular DADA club - to be renamed the Defence Association - will continue for those of you who wish to learn more about Defence, but it will have none of the responsibilities that we have had over the last two years.
"Anyone who wants to continue with the club should see Ginny or Luna after the meeting. Anyone not interested in continuing should return their DA coins to Hermione." A handful of the younger members and most of the Quidditch teams fished out their coins and passed them back to Hermione, who pocketed them. "Now, let's finish our drinks and get out of here."
Everyone nodded their agreement to this proposal and within five minutes they were all finished and as a group they moved towards the door. Outside, they organised themselves into one big group which moved up towards the castle, with Harry and those closed to him at it's head.
As they moved through the village they picked up other students so that by the time they reached the castle gates almost two thirds of the student population were gathered in that single group. Draper, who was standing guard with Anderson at the gate, smiled as they came through. You are a great leader, Harry Potter, he thought to himself. And you have finally realised it.
----
Harry's first exam was Practical Advanced Charms, which took place on the Wednesday of the first week of exams. He would have been due to take the Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts exams but the former DA members that had taken part in the Battle of Hogwarts were given a waiver on the practical exam and an automatic 'O' grade, because as Professor Tofty pointed out, "Griselda, if they weren't outstanding. they'd be dead!"
Professor Marchbanks had reluctantly admitted that this was true, and she also passed Harry at 'Outstanding' level for the theory element, on the grounds that as he'd taught the subject, he must be familiar with the material.
The Charms exams went rather well, although the practical went a little better than the theory section, and Harry was rather pleased with his own efforts. He was less enthusiastic about his performance in Potions and Theories of Advanced Transfiguration, but he decided he'd probably got the grades he needed anyway.
Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology followed on the Thursday and Friday, so by the weekend Harry was free of exams, as were Ron, Neville, Susan and Blaise. Ginny, Luna, Hermione, Romulus and his younger friends all had exams at various points in the next week, but all in all the rush was over.
----
A week after the exams finished, Harry, Hermione, Neville and a few of the other seventh years, along with roughly two thirds of the sixth years - including Luna, Sharon and Simon Capper, but not including Ginny - were ordered to report to the Department of Magical Transportation, where they were tested by the Apparation Testing Authority. The test lasted only a few minutes and involved Apparating to a number of preset locations, a task that Harry accomplished with only a little difficulty.
Hermione, Neville, Luna and the others all passed and they celebrated receiving their licenses by Apparating to the Three Broomsticks for a couple of drinks, before returning to the castle.
The results for the end-of-year tests and the NEWT exams came out three weeks later and no-one - except perhaps Hermione herself - was surprised by her record-braking results: she had taken seven NEWTs - Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, DADA, Potions, Study of Ancient Runes and Transfiguration - and received top grades for all seven. Romulus, Zacharias Smith and Terry Boot were next up with five or six NEWTs at 'Outstanding'. Harry, Blaise, Malfoy, Ron and Neville performed as expected, receiving two O's - although in different subjects - and passing the other exams with fairly high marks. Harry did best at DADA and Charms, although his three E's and one A (Herbology), would he expected be enough to satisfy the Auror Training Program.
Ginny did well too, coming out top of her class in DADA and Charms, while Luna did reasonably well at both subjects but distinguished herself by scoring nearly top marks in Divination. Neither girl was too concerned about their results other than that they were enough to allow them to pass into seventh year.
----
Harry woke late on the last day of term, for some reason neither Civis or Jamie (who were their usual 'alarm clocks') had come to get them. Harry shook Ginny awake and they had just enough time to shower and dress in their cleanest robes before they had to hurry out of Harry's quarters and down to the Great Hall for the Leaving Feast.
They slipped into their usual seats at the Gryffindor table just as Dumbledore entered. Hermione scowled at them, but didn't say anything.
"Good morning, everyone." said Dumbledore. "Another year is gone. It has been a year of great triumph for many of you, but also a year of great sorrow for others. However, it does not do to dwell on the past. The House Cup needs awarding yet again, and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Slytherin, with three hundred and ninety points; in third place, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and twenty-two points; and in second place, Hufflepuff, with four hundred and thirty-nine points. But, in first place, and winners for the sixth year in a row, are Gryffindor, with a grand total of six hundred points! Well done, Gryffindor!"
It took rather a long time for the Gryffindors to calm down after that, but eventually they did. At Dumbledore's signal the tables filled and the students were able to start eating.
"What are your plans over the summer, Neville?" Harry asked his friend after a while.
"I don't have much planned, but. I'm coming back here in September."
"Why are you doing that?" Jamie asked. "You did great in your OWLs."
Neville blushed. "Professor Sprout has agreed to take me on as a full-time paid assistant. She's going to train me up, and then in a few years, she'll retire and I can apply for her job."
"That's great, Neville," said Ginny. "You'll be great."
"Thanks Ginny." Neville said. "What about you, Harry?"
"I'm going to stay at home 'till September, but I'll be heading over to the Ministry Combined Operations Training Centre on the 3rd to begin classes."
"The Aurors have accepted you then?"
Harry nodded. "It'll be hard work, but it'll be worth it. And all the training time I've put in, in the last two years should help."
"You'll be fine, Harry," Ginny told him. "We believe in you."
Harry nodded, and then steered the conversation over to other topics, which endured until the end of the feast. As they were walking down to the carriages, Hermione turned to Harry. "Harry, who's taking over as Defence Assistant, do you know?"
"No one," Harry replied. "Sparky reckons that the danger's over, so he's disbanded the council. Dr Chrystan left two days ago, and Jonas, Ambrose and the Guardians are going back to their normal lives at the end of this week."
"Then the war's really over."
"Yep." Harry agreed. "There are a few little battles still to be dealt with. but the war's over."
"And we made it through." Ginny said.
"We did indeed, love." Harry agreed and drew her in closer to himself. "We did indeed."
----
Romulus, Blaise, and the Bones sisters joined the eight students and Civis in their compartment on the train. After a few games of Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess had been played and the drinks and snacks bought by Harry and Blaise from the old lady who pushed the snack trolley had been consumed, the group settled down to relax for the rest of the journey. Harry wondered what the others were doing. "Romulus, have you heard back from Commander Graydon yet?"
"Yeah, I have," Romulus confirmed. "I have been accepted and I intend to join up."
Harry smiled. "That's great! What about you, Blaise?"
"I've been offered a place." Blaise admitted. "I'm not sure if I want to take it though. I'm not sure if I'm cut out for it."
"You'll be fine, Blaise." Harry told her. "You were amazing in the Battle."
Hermione and Romulus both agreed with Harry, as did Civis. After a few minutes, Blaise smiled. "Okay, I'll do it."
"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed. "It'll be great to have the two of you with me. You're not joining us are you, Mione?"
Hermione shook her head. "I was offered a place, but I'm going to sign up with the Inquisitor Division instead. I'll be at the COT Centre at the same time as you though. We might even have some classes together."
"I'd like that." Harry told her. "What about you, Ron?"
Ron grinned. "I'm off to join the Hit Wizards. I'll be out in the field by Halloween."
"Death Eaters beware, Ronald Weasley is coming." Civis quipped.
Harry laughed at that, Ginny and Jamie joined him almost immediately and even Ron joined in after a while, so it was a jolly bunch of students that arrived at Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters an hour or so later.
Romulus, Blaise, Neville, Luna and Mark disappeared with their respective parents, while Harry led the others over to where Sirius, Leona, Andromeda and Mrs Weasley were waiting. They piled into two cars and were whisked away from the station as quickly as possible, just avoiding - unless Harry was very much mistaken - a group of Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly reporters.
"How does it feel to be a fully-qualified wizard, Harry?" Sirius asked from the drivers seat.
Harry paused for a moment before answering. "It feels good."
A/N: Okay, almost done! Just the Epilogue- which will give you a taste of things to come - to go, and then that's another story in the can. The next story will probably be a while in coming as I may be fairly busy with university and I also want to take a break from writing HP for a bit. The Epilogue will be up by the end of X-Mas week, but I doubt there will be any other new stuff up before mid-to-late January. I would also like remind you that once the epilogue is posted it is likely that any questions sent to me without contact details will very likely go unanswered, as I don't intend to post 'response pages'. That said I would like to hear your opinions. Bye for now!
With the NEWTs on the way, the hastily arranged Hogsmeade visit that weekend was the last chance Harry and his friends would have to relax. Harry obtained permission from Dumbledore for Jamie, Mark and Anita to come into the village for one hour as long as Civis stayed with them. He contacted all the members of the DA and told them to meet him in the Hog's Head at four pm.
Harry, Ginny and their older friends headed into the village early so they would have plenty of time to get anything they needed. When they arrived at the Hog's Head at about half-past three they were laden down with a huge amount of bags. Civis and the three first years arrived a few minutes later, and then the other DA members began to filter in.
Once everyone had got themselves a drink and found a seat, Harry stood up. "Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming. I'll try and make this as quick as possible." Here he paused. "Twenty-one months ago, about two dozen Hogwarts students - many of whom are here now - met to discuss the formation of the DADA practise club, a club eventually became Dumbledore's Army. I thought it was appropriate therefore, to bring everyone here for this announcement."
"What's up, Harry?" asked Ernie.
"Nothing's wrong, Ernie," Harry assured him. "In fact, quite the opposite. The headmaster and I feel that with the threat of the Death Eaters as diminished as it is, there is no longer a need for the DA in it's current form. So as of now, I declare Dumbledore's Army officially. disbanded.
"I have talked to Ginny, Luna and Jamie, as well as the DADA teacher who will be taking over from Professor Ambrose in September. They have agreed that an extracurricular DADA club - to be renamed the Defence Association - will continue for those of you who wish to learn more about Defence, but it will have none of the responsibilities that we have had over the last two years.
"Anyone who wants to continue with the club should see Ginny or Luna after the meeting. Anyone not interested in continuing should return their DA coins to Hermione." A handful of the younger members and most of the Quidditch teams fished out their coins and passed them back to Hermione, who pocketed them. "Now, let's finish our drinks and get out of here."
Everyone nodded their agreement to this proposal and within five minutes they were all finished and as a group they moved towards the door. Outside, they organised themselves into one big group which moved up towards the castle, with Harry and those closed to him at it's head.
As they moved through the village they picked up other students so that by the time they reached the castle gates almost two thirds of the student population were gathered in that single group. Draper, who was standing guard with Anderson at the gate, smiled as they came through. You are a great leader, Harry Potter, he thought to himself. And you have finally realised it.
----
Harry's first exam was Practical Advanced Charms, which took place on the Wednesday of the first week of exams. He would have been due to take the Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts exams but the former DA members that had taken part in the Battle of Hogwarts were given a waiver on the practical exam and an automatic 'O' grade, because as Professor Tofty pointed out, "Griselda, if they weren't outstanding. they'd be dead!"
Professor Marchbanks had reluctantly admitted that this was true, and she also passed Harry at 'Outstanding' level for the theory element, on the grounds that as he'd taught the subject, he must be familiar with the material.
The Charms exams went rather well, although the practical went a little better than the theory section, and Harry was rather pleased with his own efforts. He was less enthusiastic about his performance in Potions and Theories of Advanced Transfiguration, but he decided he'd probably got the grades he needed anyway.
Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology followed on the Thursday and Friday, so by the weekend Harry was free of exams, as were Ron, Neville, Susan and Blaise. Ginny, Luna, Hermione, Romulus and his younger friends all had exams at various points in the next week, but all in all the rush was over.
----
A week after the exams finished, Harry, Hermione, Neville and a few of the other seventh years, along with roughly two thirds of the sixth years - including Luna, Sharon and Simon Capper, but not including Ginny - were ordered to report to the Department of Magical Transportation, where they were tested by the Apparation Testing Authority. The test lasted only a few minutes and involved Apparating to a number of preset locations, a task that Harry accomplished with only a little difficulty.
Hermione, Neville, Luna and the others all passed and they celebrated receiving their licenses by Apparating to the Three Broomsticks for a couple of drinks, before returning to the castle.
The results for the end-of-year tests and the NEWT exams came out three weeks later and no-one - except perhaps Hermione herself - was surprised by her record-braking results: she had taken seven NEWTs - Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, DADA, Potions, Study of Ancient Runes and Transfiguration - and received top grades for all seven. Romulus, Zacharias Smith and Terry Boot were next up with five or six NEWTs at 'Outstanding'. Harry, Blaise, Malfoy, Ron and Neville performed as expected, receiving two O's - although in different subjects - and passing the other exams with fairly high marks. Harry did best at DADA and Charms, although his three E's and one A (Herbology), would he expected be enough to satisfy the Auror Training Program.
Ginny did well too, coming out top of her class in DADA and Charms, while Luna did reasonably well at both subjects but distinguished herself by scoring nearly top marks in Divination. Neither girl was too concerned about their results other than that they were enough to allow them to pass into seventh year.
----
Harry woke late on the last day of term, for some reason neither Civis or Jamie (who were their usual 'alarm clocks') had come to get them. Harry shook Ginny awake and they had just enough time to shower and dress in their cleanest robes before they had to hurry out of Harry's quarters and down to the Great Hall for the Leaving Feast.
They slipped into their usual seats at the Gryffindor table just as Dumbledore entered. Hermione scowled at them, but didn't say anything.
"Good morning, everyone." said Dumbledore. "Another year is gone. It has been a year of great triumph for many of you, but also a year of great sorrow for others. However, it does not do to dwell on the past. The House Cup needs awarding yet again, and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Slytherin, with three hundred and ninety points; in third place, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and twenty-two points; and in second place, Hufflepuff, with four hundred and thirty-nine points. But, in first place, and winners for the sixth year in a row, are Gryffindor, with a grand total of six hundred points! Well done, Gryffindor!"
It took rather a long time for the Gryffindors to calm down after that, but eventually they did. At Dumbledore's signal the tables filled and the students were able to start eating.
"What are your plans over the summer, Neville?" Harry asked his friend after a while.
"I don't have much planned, but. I'm coming back here in September."
"Why are you doing that?" Jamie asked. "You did great in your OWLs."
Neville blushed. "Professor Sprout has agreed to take me on as a full-time paid assistant. She's going to train me up, and then in a few years, she'll retire and I can apply for her job."
"That's great, Neville," said Ginny. "You'll be great."
"Thanks Ginny." Neville said. "What about you, Harry?"
"I'm going to stay at home 'till September, but I'll be heading over to the Ministry Combined Operations Training Centre on the 3rd to begin classes."
"The Aurors have accepted you then?"
Harry nodded. "It'll be hard work, but it'll be worth it. And all the training time I've put in, in the last two years should help."
"You'll be fine, Harry," Ginny told him. "We believe in you."
Harry nodded, and then steered the conversation over to other topics, which endured until the end of the feast. As they were walking down to the carriages, Hermione turned to Harry. "Harry, who's taking over as Defence Assistant, do you know?"
"No one," Harry replied. "Sparky reckons that the danger's over, so he's disbanded the council. Dr Chrystan left two days ago, and Jonas, Ambrose and the Guardians are going back to their normal lives at the end of this week."
"Then the war's really over."
"Yep." Harry agreed. "There are a few little battles still to be dealt with. but the war's over."
"And we made it through." Ginny said.
"We did indeed, love." Harry agreed and drew her in closer to himself. "We did indeed."
----
Romulus, Blaise, and the Bones sisters joined the eight students and Civis in their compartment on the train. After a few games of Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess had been played and the drinks and snacks bought by Harry and Blaise from the old lady who pushed the snack trolley had been consumed, the group settled down to relax for the rest of the journey. Harry wondered what the others were doing. "Romulus, have you heard back from Commander Graydon yet?"
"Yeah, I have," Romulus confirmed. "I have been accepted and I intend to join up."
Harry smiled. "That's great! What about you, Blaise?"
"I've been offered a place." Blaise admitted. "I'm not sure if I want to take it though. I'm not sure if I'm cut out for it."
"You'll be fine, Blaise." Harry told her. "You were amazing in the Battle."
Hermione and Romulus both agreed with Harry, as did Civis. After a few minutes, Blaise smiled. "Okay, I'll do it."
"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed. "It'll be great to have the two of you with me. You're not joining us are you, Mione?"
Hermione shook her head. "I was offered a place, but I'm going to sign up with the Inquisitor Division instead. I'll be at the COT Centre at the same time as you though. We might even have some classes together."
"I'd like that." Harry told her. "What about you, Ron?"
Ron grinned. "I'm off to join the Hit Wizards. I'll be out in the field by Halloween."
"Death Eaters beware, Ronald Weasley is coming." Civis quipped.
Harry laughed at that, Ginny and Jamie joined him almost immediately and even Ron joined in after a while, so it was a jolly bunch of students that arrived at Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters an hour or so later.
Romulus, Blaise, Neville, Luna and Mark disappeared with their respective parents, while Harry led the others over to where Sirius, Leona, Andromeda and Mrs Weasley were waiting. They piled into two cars and were whisked away from the station as quickly as possible, just avoiding - unless Harry was very much mistaken - a group of Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly reporters.
"How does it feel to be a fully-qualified wizard, Harry?" Sirius asked from the drivers seat.
Harry paused for a moment before answering. "It feels good."
A/N: Okay, almost done! Just the Epilogue- which will give you a taste of things to come - to go, and then that's another story in the can. The next story will probably be a while in coming as I may be fairly busy with university and I also want to take a break from writing HP for a bit. The Epilogue will be up by the end of X-Mas week, but I doubt there will be any other new stuff up before mid-to-late January. I would also like remind you that once the epilogue is posted it is likely that any questions sent to me without contact details will very likely go unanswered, as I don't intend to post 'response pages'. That said I would like to hear your opinions. Bye for now!