Someday, I will own something of great value. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.
Exams and the End
It was a good thing we did all that studying, Ryua mused over dinner Wednesday night. The exams were strenuous, to say the least. Transfiguration went well, as usual, although her tortoise still had porcelain toenails by the end of time limit. Charms hadn't been a complete disaster, although she doubted she'd be bringing home an Outstanding by any means. At least she hadn't charmed her partner into hysteria, like Harry did. Care of Magical Creatures had been downright boring, and depressing, because all they'd done was talk with Hagrid about Buckbeak's impending doom.
Potions was a welcome change, as Confusing Concoctions was something she'd remembered to review. At least she had one Outstanding to bring home. History of Magic was dull, as was to be expected, but medieval witch burnings were something Ryua had found a dusty old tome about at home. Of course, it dealt more with the horrific crimes the actual witches had done, and went into great detail about how they exacted their revenge, but Professor Binns should still accept her slightly bloodthirsty response.
Tomorrow held DADA and Arithmancy, both exams she was actually looking forward to. She figured she could curse, jinx, and hex her way through whatever Lupin could throw at her, and Arithmancy was never something she'd had a problem with. She'd review notes and charts tonight, and put a silencing charm on Millicent so she could get a good night's sleep.
Sure enough, the next morning, Ryua woke up rested and calm. She removed her charm, shuddering as Millicent's snoring became audible again. Breakfast showed the entire school to be excited at the prospect of the end of exams, and term with it. Oh, right, end of term... Ryua had managed to ignore the fact that she'd have to go home in a week. Oh well, time to worry after exams.
After breakfast, Ryua was pleased to see Lupin had indeed set up an obstacle course for his test. Grindylow, Red Caps, Hinkypunk, no problem... oh, merde, boggart? Anything but a boggart. Although Lupin had accepted her bulled write-up about her fear of rats, she knew she wouldn't be facing rats in that trunk. Alright, now how the hell do I make the Dark Lord and his entire circle seem amusing? Pink robes? Shield spell? I have no idea...
"Ryua, your turn. Good luck." Professor Lupin's calm, friendly expression didn't do too much to reassure her. Well, tackle one thing at a time. The Grindylow grabbed at her robes, and she glared down at it, raising her wand. "Glassticia!" The hex made the fingers turn thin and delicate, the texture of spun glass. She kicked it off her robes, the fingers splintering off, much to the horror of the dazed Grindylow. The Red Caps weren't any more of a challenge, falling back as she sent a wave of curses ahead of her. The Hinkypunk was more difficult, as the only way to curse it would be to look at it's light. Well, she reasoned, only useless, weak people would let such a pathetic creature sway them from their course... So, she strode in, head held high, pulling the inherited Malfoy swagger into full play. Refusing to even change her course for non-enemy things, she blasted the occasional fallen log out of her way, emerging from the maze-like swamp having followed a completely straight line. Now for the hard part. She took a deep breath, and kept her cocky attitude as she entered the trunk.
Sure enough, the walls dissolved into a chamber filled with black robed figures. Not even giving the Dark Lord a chance to touch her, she raised her wand, and shouted, "Riddikulus!" A cheery, lilting Celtic air filled the chamber, and the entire group was forced into a completely undignified Riverdance line. She couldn't help laughing at the expression on her Father's face as he was forced into a leaping duet with the Dark Lord, robes flapping up and down. Giggling, she suddenly found she could open the door again, and fell out into bright sunlight and fresh air. Oh, Father's will kill me for that, if he ever finds out... And there was Professor Lupin standing there, waiting for her.
"Well done, Ryua, top marks. I see your 'rats' weren't much of a problem?"
"No sir..." she looked up into his face, as her stomach plummeted. He knew, oh, by the Hogwarts Four, he knew...
To her surprise, Lupin just smiled understandingly, putting a finger to his lips. Ryua just about melted with relief. Strange though his habits might be, he wasn't going to tell Father what she saw in that boggart. She smiled happily, turning away to get to the Great Hall. An adrenaline rush like that made you hungry, and she still had another exam to write.
Luckily, Arithmancy went over nearly as well as Transfiguration. Although she missed a middle name of one of the family members in their given example, she decided it would be close enough to give her an excellent mark.
Two days later, nearly the entire school was lined up for a Hogsmeade visit. Ryua kept searching for Ron, Harry, and Hermionie, hoping to spend some time with them before the summer. She hadn't seen them since the last of exams, actually, but had figured they were just off in their common room. This was getting strange, though. Exams were over, so they couldn't be studying, and she doubted Ron and Hermionie would miss a Hogsmeade visit. Maybe they were all going with Harry through some underground tunnel or something.
But when she got there, she never saw any of them once. She visited Honeydukes, stocking up on sugar for the holidays, ordering it delivered by her own owl. That way, neither Draco nor Father would find it. Also, she visited a rather shifty apothecary's shop to pick up some ingredients for spells. She was going to practice some more intricate ones over the summer, and she'd need things for magical shields, rune castings, pentagram circles... and they weren't' all things you could get from completely legal stores. Charming the bag to resemble simple potion kit refills, she went off to have one last look for her absent friends. They weren't at the Three Broomsticks, Shrieking Shack, or Zonko's either. Oh, well. Life goes on.
They were, however, at the feast. She managed to corner them afterwards, curious at the myriad small bruises, scrapes, and Ron's bandaged leg. "Where have you three been? There are rumors flying all over the school, all I know is it involves Sirius Black somehow."
"Well, we aren't really supposed to talk about it..."
"Oh come on. I've been trying to figure out Sirius Black since I first heard the story. Tell me what actually went on, I know you must have figured it out. After all, Harry, you haven't killed him."
Harry blinked. "What? Just how much do you know about it?"
"I know he was never a Death Eater, and that he was your parent's best friend, along with Lupin and Pettigrew. I also know that Peter Pettigrew was the Death Eater, at least, before he got blown up. What I don't know is how it all fits together."
The trio looked at each other with looks of disbelief. "Why didn't we ask her sooner?" Hermionie asked.
"I don't know, it never occurred to me that a Malfoy would willingly give up information."
"Well, my brother wouldn't, you've got a point there. All of us have known for ages that Sirius wasn't a Death Eater though, no one could figure out why he would kill the Potters. The real difference is, no one else cared, as long as the Potters were dead. It never sat right with me, though."
"Alright. But, I still don't know..."
"I'm not going to go blabbing to my Father, or anything, don't worry about that. He's never told me anything useful, why should I be the one to start the trend?"
Hermionie still looked uncertain, and Ron was downright not believing her. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to want to talk about it. "Okay, here's how it happened..."
"Well, that makes a lot more sense than any explanation I've ever heard. And Sirius is gone? Good for him. I couldn't imagine how he lived for twelve years in Azkaban. I hope those Dementors never find him. Actually, I hope we never find any Dementors ourselves. Although, that Patronus charm sounds extremely useful."
"Yeah." Harry grinned. "I still don't know exactly how I managed it. All I know is that you need a really happy thought. Or get yourself in a circumstance where you know you can do it..."
"Happy thought eh?" Ryua couldn't actually think of many thoughts happy enough to summon a wisp of silver, let alone an entire Patronus. "Speaking of happy thoughts, is anyone going to the Quidditch Cup this year?"
Ron lost all traces of misgivings at that. "Of course! Father's got us all tickets, we're even going to kidnap Harry from the muggles."
"Excellent! Maybe I'll see you all there then."
And so ended Ryua's third year, flowing into what promised to be a rather depressing summer, minus the World Cup, of course.
