"Now, please put down all your quills and I will take the exams on my way to the desk", a squeaky voice announced. Lily looked up and saw the tiny Professor Flitwick walk along the rows of desks, collecting the exams in Charms they had been writing. She sighed deeply and put down her quill. She hastily looked through her answers, she had answered almost every question – only one question remained unanswered.
23. This charm can completely hide a person or a place in such a way that no one can find them unless a Secret Keeper gives them the location. What charm is it?
Lily's memory was blank. She couldn't think of anything. She knew that she'd heard the charm before, but where, and how? She knew all the other charm, the summoning charm they had learned in their fourth year, and the banishing charm; she had known the three Unforgivable curses. She saw Professor Flitwick come closer, and then it hit her. She grabbed her quill and scribbled down "The Fidelius Charm" on her exam. She leaned back in her chair and smiled broadly. There. Now she might get 100 per cent on the exam, and then she would be on step closer to her biggest dream ever: to become an Auror.
It was the last exam for the sixth years and Lily Evans was just one of all sixth hears attending on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They sat in the Great Hall, just have done their Charm-exam for Professor Flitwick. Row after row the students sat behind their desks, impatiently waited for the exam to end.
A couple of rows nearer the teacher's table sat a young man in the same age as Lily. His black hair was untidy; he ran his hand through it the whole time, as though he wanted to mess it up even further to make look windswept. Just as if he just had gotten of his broom. His eyes were hazel brown behind his glasses; he was tall and thin with a thin face. He was playing with a quill, dropping it and catching it just a few inches from the desk surface. He only did it to impress, wanting to show his fast reflexes, because James Potter was a Chaser in Quidditch and was a very good one too. Wanting to impress the female part of the school, there was especially one girl he wanted to impress. And that girl sat on the other side of the Hall, smiling broadly. He leaned back in his chair, balancing on two legs, and turned his head so that he came to look at her. Lily Evans was a very beautiful girl, and very smart too. He caught her eyes and smiled towards her. She smiled back and waved with a couple of fingers, so Flitwick wouldn't see it. He did the same and she smiled again. Then Flitwick passed her and her attention was moved from him to the Professor. When the Professor passed, she got to her feet, grabbed her things and let the Hall.
James almost fell of the chair. How come did Flitwick let Evans leave the room before all the exams were collected? He heard a silent laughter to his right and turned around to look at Sirius Black, one of his fellow companions, who sat two benches further down the right row. He frowned at him, and then turned around again, eagerly waiting for the exam to end.
Outside the Hall Lily ran up to her dormitory on the seventh floor in the Gryffindor tower, and opened one of her books. Out fell a letter, written by her mother. She had got it the same morning, but hadn't had time to read it during breakfast. Now she tore the envelope apart and read the letter quickly.
Dearest Lily,
In writing moment we're all feeling well, and I hope that you do too. I wondered if you are coming home in a few weeks as usual, or if you are going to friends a couple of weeks before coming home. Petunia's having a cold at the moment, she's very irritated and might not be easy to deal with. I hope your exams went good? We're very proud of you, sweetheart, and I hope you know that. Love,
Mum
Lily sighed deeply. Good, her parents were all right. She always became nervous when she got letters from home; they always seemed to remind her of where she came from – something she would like to forget at the moment. She read the letter once more, and smiled when she read the line about her sister. Petunia was always in a bad mood; Lily had a feeling that she didn't like the fact that her sister was a witch. Lily put the letter down again, reminding herself of writing a reply to her mum later. She brushed her hair a couple of minutes, it was red and shining. Her eyes were brilliant green and shaped like almonds. Her smile showed perfect white teeth. She met her own eyes in the mirror, and sighed. Nope. She wasn't a classical beauty, but she didn't look too awful.
On her way out of the common room, someone ran into her. She fell to the floor, cursing, and her long hair came into her face.
"Sorry, Evans", she heard a very familiar voice say. She looked up and met the eyes of James Potter. "I saw you run away from the exam, Evans", he said jokily. "Did you get tired of the whole thing? That's not going to look good in your results if you want to be a Head Girl."
"Beat it, Potter", Lily said angrily. "It had nothing to do with the exam, I just felt sick and had to go. Since I was finished with it, Flitwick let me go."
James's hazel-brown eyes became worried. "Are you okay now, then?" he asked. She got to her feet again, looking at him. He was very handsome, he was, but he was very annoying too.
"Yes, James, I'm fine", she said. "Can I go now?"
He blinked a couple of times, then said hastily: "Yeah, I mean – yeah, of course." He let her pass and stood still looking at her when she walked away.
She called me James, he thought. That must be something, right?
He smiled broadly and then climbed into the common room through the portrait hole in the wall. The portrait of the Fat Lady swung back and closed with a soft thud.
