And here's the sixtieth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
* Review Response:
Fuck Names, DarkRavie, orion0905, BMS, Brockster550, Urgazhi, RedOuroboros, PasiveNox, Agnes Fonta, mwinter1, Yaw613, TheGreatBubbaJ, , thank you for your reviews, folks!
BloodDraconius, griffin blackwood, Accio698, magitech, VorpalMedia, yeah, that happened. It's fixed now. The cause of this mistake is simple: I hadn't settled on Kevin's full name yet when I started writing the chapter and when I finally did, one instance of the old name apparently slipped past me and remained unchanged.
Tbone696, I'm still rather uncomfortable with the idea of just skipping several months and jumping straight to the end of the semester, but, hopefully, a few smaller timeskips like the one in this chapter will work out well enough.
* AN: This chapter has not been beta-read.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
"speaking"
"parseltongue"
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A Year Too Soon
Chapter LX: Muggle Studies
The next couple of weeks were rather uneventful for Harry, Flora and Hestia. Their normal classes progressed well and Professor Flitwick had them perform the already-familiar exercises, like accuracy or silent-casting drills, during their special lessons.
Then, one morning in the middle of March, Harry noticed a new parchment on the noticeboard in the Slytherin common room asking the fifth-year students to schedule a meeting with Professor Snape for career counseling. It was a sign that the administrative preparations for the OWLs at the end of the academic year have begun. Thus, if he wanted to take the exam in Muggle Studies now - while definitely a rare situation, there was no rule that said that a student has to take a course in order to sit a test, nor was there a rule saying that a student has to take of his or her OWLs in the same year - it was the time for him to approach his Head of the House.
And so, Harry found himself knocking on the door of Professor Snape's office.
"Come in." The Potions Master called. "What can I do for you, Mr. Potter." He asked then, seeing who his visitor was.
"Good evening, Sir." The green-eyed teen greeted. "I would like your permission to sit the Muggle Studies OWL exam this year." Whatever Professor Snape had been expecting, this definitely wasn't it and it took him a couple of seconds to recover from this surprise.
"You aren't taking this elective, Mr. Potter." He said finally.
"Yes." Harry agreed. "But the Ordinary Wizarding Levels exam's rules do not require one to take a course in a subject to sit an exam in it. And one isn't required to take all of their OWLs at the end of the fifth year either." There was another, slightly-longer period of silence, before the Potions Master spoke.
"Let me check if it is indeed so." The man said before getting up from his seat and walking up to a large bookcase in the corner of his office. There, it took him maybe half a minute to locate his own copy of OWLs rules. Then, he returned with the book to his table and started flipping through it, looking for anything on the requirements a student must meet in order to sit the exam.
And, as it turned out, a student indeed could sit an exam for a subject he wasn't taking at Hogwarts. Nor was there anything saying that they had to have completed their fifth year - their teacher's word that they were ready for the exam was, in fact, the only requirement.
"Very well, Mr. Potter." Professor Snape said finally. "I know that you were raised in a Muggle world, so I have little reason to doubt that you have sufficient knowledge to pass the exam. However, since I'm not teaching Muggle Studies, the decision whether to admit you into the exam or not is not mine to make. I will put a word with Charity - Professor Burbage - but the decision will ultimately be hers."
"I see." Harry said with a nod. "Thank you, Sir."
"Don't thank me yet, Mr. Potter." The Potions Master said. "Professor Burbage is the one who will be making the decision." Upon the teen's nod, he continued: "Now, if you don't mind me asking this, Mr. Potter, but why do you want to take the exam this year and not the next one, with your peers?"
"Well, since I was raised in the non-Magical world and I'm not taking the course, I don't really gain anything by waiting for another year to sit the exam." Harry replied. "And taking it now means I'll have one less exam to worry about next year. Shouldn't this be a good thing, Sir?"
"Very well." Professor Snape said, accepting his logic. There was a rather long pause, before the older wizard spoke again: "And what about your friends, Misses Flora and Hestia Carrow? Will they be trying to take the exam with you this year as well?"
"I'll inform them of what you've told me today, Professor. Whether or not they decide to go ahead and sign up for the exam this year is up to them." The young Potter replied.
"I see…" The Potions Master said. "Please tell them to make their decision quickly. I don't think Professor Burbage will be very happy if she has to test each of you separately." Harry nodded.
"Of course."
"Then, if there is nothing else, may I request you to leave, Mr. Potter?" Professor Snape said. "Career counseling is scheduled to start soon." Harry nodded again.
"Yes, Sir." He said, before giving the Professor a small bow. He then turned around and walked out of the man's office. His destination, of course, was the Slytherin common room as he needed to relay the main points of this conversation to his girlfriends.
After Harry relayed everything Professor Snape had told him to Flora and Hestia, the twins mulled over this new information for a short while before deciding that they still wanted to try taking the Muggle Studies OWLs exam with him this year. The prospect of proving that they had sufficient knowledge on the subject to Professor Burbage did intimidate them a little, but they were pretty confident that they will be able to pass whatever test the Muggle Studies Professor will give them.
And so, once the dinner was over, they went to see their Head of the House. Harry wasn't sure how long his conversation with the Potions Master took, but it definitely felt like Flora and Hestia had been talking to the man for a while. The young Potter was actually starting to get nervous, when the twins finally rejoined him in the Slytherin common room.
"How did it go?" He asked them once they were sitting comfortably together on a large armchair in the far corner of the cavernous room.
"Professor Snape said he will ask Professor Burbage about letting us take the Muggle Studies OWL test with you." Flora replied. "But whether or not she admits us into the exam is her decision and he can't influence it." There was a brief moment of silence, before the young witch continued: "Do you have any idea how Professor Burbage will test us?"
"No idea, really." Harry replied. "I don't think there have been any students trying to sit OWLs for subjects they didn't take in quite some time. Professor Snape had to look into a rule book to confirm that it is at all allowed. I don't think there is any standard procedure…" He paused for a moment, before speaking again: "I think Professor Burbage will either interview us to see how well we know her subject, or we will be given a test from the previous year or something like that."
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Hestia said.
"But are we ready for that?" Her sister asked then.
"Well…" Harry began. "We've talked about most things that seemed important to know, and you've been to non-Magical London this summer and seen what it's like with your own eyes. I think you'll do alright."
"Let's hope you're right." Flora said with a small sigh.
~/ *** \~
Over a week after they'd approached Professor Snape about taking the Muggle Studies OWL exam this year, Harry, Flora and Hestia finally received a note from Professor Burbage telling them to stop by the latter's office after classes.
And they did as asked.
"Mr. Potter, Misses Carrow?" The witch greeted them, before inviting them in: "Please come in." Her office was a moderately-large room with a large bookcase along one of the walls. Most of the books there definitely were written and published in the Magical world, though Harry could see a handful that could've been 'imported' from the Muggle side. On the opposite wall, hanging above the Professor's desk, there were several framed black-and-white photographs of some city, presumably London. These photos were also Muggle in their origin, and judging by the appearance of cars in them, were taken sometime in the mid-thirties. Along the third wall, next to the window, there was a long bench-like couch with a couple of coffee tables in front of it.
Presumably, this is where Professor Burbage wanted them to sit, and so the three teens took their seats on the couch with Harry in the middle with Flora to his right and Hestia - to his left.
"Now." The Muggle Studies teacher continued once they were seated. "Professor Snape informed me that you three wish to take the Muggle Studies OWL test this year, despite not taking the course. Is that right?" She asked.
"Yes, Ma'am." The Slytherin trio replied.
"Let me be straight with you then." The witch said. "I'm not really happy that you three have decided that you don't need my lessons to take the exam. However, the rules set by the Department of Magical Education do say that one is not required to attend a course in order to be eligible for the exam - only an admission from their teacher. The students, who do take the course here, get their admission automatically if they earn a passing grade on their tests at the end of the fifth year. This approach, however, doesn't work in your case. So, instead, I'll give you three tests with questions taken from the past years' Muggle Studies OWLs exams. If you can score Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding on it, I'll give you admission to sit the actual exam in May. Any questions?"
Harry, Flora and Hestia looked at each other for a few moments before shaking their heads.
"Very Well." Professor Burbage said. Then she waved her wand and three sheets of parchment flew from her table to the ones in front of the Slytherin youths. "You have one hour." Harry reached into his bag for a quill and some ink. Then, once he had them, he finally took a look at the questions he had to answer.
And the very first one listed ten pieces of clothing commonly worn in Magical Britain and asked to explain why each of those could or could not be worn while in the Muggle world without attracting undue attention and possibly breaking the Statute of Secrecy.
The next question was about the common non-Magical methods of transportation and how Muggles made them work without Charms or Enchantments to help them make things move. The third question meanwhile asked him to list common Muggle household appliances and what they are used for. There also was a question about Muggle money and one that asked to point places on a photo from which one could 'safely' apparate or portkey away.
All in all, Harry didn't find the test Professor Burbage gave them to be especially hard. That said, some questions required a lot of writing, which made the time limit of one hour they were given a bit tight. So, after giving the questions another look through, the young Potter picked up his quill and began answering them, starting with the one about money. And he could hear Flora and Hestia next to him start writing their answers down as well.
When the hour was over, Professor Burbage collected the parchments with another wave of her wand and started reading through the answers, occasionally marking something in there. All of it was done silently, which was, quite honestly, rather unnerving for the Slytherin trio.
Finally, after almost thirty minutes, the Muggle Studies professor was ready to announce their results:
"Alright." She began. "Mr. Potter, you have somewhat different views on which clothing can be safely worn in the Muggle world, and your list of household appliances is not one hundred percent what the examiners are expecting, but, overall, your result is a pretty solid 'Outstanding', so I will give you admission to the OWLs exam this year."
"Thank you, Ma'am." Harry said with a small nod.
"Next, Miss Hestia Carrow." Professor Burbage continued, barely acknowledging him. "You've made a couple of mistakes when writing about Muggle methods of transportation, and your answers for the questions about money and appliances are rather basic. Nevertheless, it is enough, if just barely, to get you 'Exceeds Expectations', so I will allow you to take the OWLs exam if you promise to do some additional studying to cover those weaknesses before then."
"Of course." Hestia said. The Muggle Studies Professor nodded, before moving on to the final parchment.
"Now, finally, Miss Flora Carrow." She said. "You did somewhat better when describing Muggle methods of transportation, but you have made a couple of small mistakes with the appliances. And your answer for the question about Muggle money could definitely use some more details. Still, you've managed to achieve the minimum required for 'Exceeds Expectations' and I will admit you into the OWLs exam as well. But, just like your sister, you should do some additional studies before the exam."
"Thank you, Professor." Flora said. The witch gave a curt nod before dismissing them.
"Well… That wasn't too terrible." Harry said once they left the office. "Though, I really hope we will be given more time to write our answers for the real exam."
"Yeah, more time would've definitely been good." Flora agreed. "But I don't think the questions were that easy. If this is how the real exam will be, you definitely need to tutor us some more, Harry." Her sister nodded in agreement.
"Alright." He acceded.
~/ *** \~
Bartemius Crouch Jr. eyed the musty, centuries-old tome lying on the table in front him. It was an ugly leather-bound book with heavy bronze corner bosses and clasps. And he was getting a feeling that those covers were made of actual human skin rather than some beast's hide.
The not-so-young man wasn't sure how his father managed to get his hands on this thing. It certainly wasn't something that the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation would ever need for his job. Perhaps, his father still retained enough of the influence he had earned as the Director of the DMLE to check the book out from whichever Ministry archive it was normally stored in?
In the end, that didn't really matter. What did matter though, was the dark knowledge contained within this old tome. Stored away within these yellowed pages were long-forgotten magics and rituals unheard of by the modern wizards.
If a sacrificial ritual to bring a dead person back to life could be found anywhere, described in full detail, it would be this book. And Crouch Jr. could only hope that the price that the tome would demand from him for that knowledge isn't too high.
That's all, folks!
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