3 – OWL results
The delay in the results had been caused by events with the Order but Dumbledore's excuse had been that the return of Voldemort had delayed the marking because of the examiners needing to attend meetings. Harry ran to catch up with Hermione, Ron hot on his tail. He reached the castle and tried to spot Hermione among the enormous crowd. It was impossible! There was no way that he would be able to spot her. Suddenly, the crowd died down as some of the students' names were read out and they were each sent to different rooms to collect their results. He and Hermione were both sent to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Poor Ron was sent to the Potions lab to collect his results from Snape. This was obviously because he was near the bottom of the alphabet.
Harry and Hermione were met at the door by a smiling Lupin. When everyone on his list had arrived, he made his way to the front of the class and raised his voice above the chattering students.
"Excuse me everybody! I know you're excited but if you could please be quiet while I give out your results then I would be very grateful." He paused, waiting for the noise to die down. Then, he picked up an envelope and took a series of smaller envelopes out of it. He removed the elastic band holding them together and began to read names.
Everything passed in a blur until his name was called. Hermione jabbed him with one finger. She was, Harry noticed, clutching an envelope in her left hand. Harry rose and collected his envelope and sat down again. He lost track of time until a sharp bell rang indicating that they could open their results. With a trembling hand, Harry tore open the top and pulled out a slip of paper. McGonagall's words from the previous year rang in his ears. He had just said he wanted to be an Auror.
"It's a difficult career path Potter. They only take on the best."
Harry's future depended on these results. He brought his eyes into focus and read down the list of results.
Ordinary Wizarding Levels Results for Harry James Potter
Astronomy……………………….……………………… A
Care of Magical Creatures….….......…………………E
Charms………………………………………………… O
Defence Against the Dark Arts...……………………O
Divination………….……..………………………… P
Herbology………….…..……………………………E
History of Magic..........…………….................... O
Potions…...………..……………………………… O
Transfiguration……………………………………O
Congratulations on your results. We hope you are satisfied and that your results will help and not hinder the career path you wish to pursue.
Signed
Matilda Gothfirk
Harry stared at his paper in amazement. He, Harry Potter, had achieved five Outstanding OWLs. This meant that he could continue in his attempt to become an Auror. For one glorious second, Harry Potter felt like he was on his way to the top. He was brought back to Earth with a bump by a shriek from Hermione piercing his blissful thoughts. She was waving her paper in his face. She was flushed and breathless. She looked like she had been out in the freezing cold for too long.
"Look! Look! Harry, snap out of it and look!" she cried. She was practically jumping up and down on the spot. He took her paper as his was rapidly snatched out of his hand. It read:-
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results for Hermione Ann Granger
Ancient Runes…………………………O
Astronomy………………………………O
Arithmancy………………………………O
Care of Magical Creatures……………O
Charms……………………………………O
Defence Against the Dark Arts…………O
Herbology…………………………………O
History of Magic……………………………O
Potions………………………………………O
Transfiguration………………………………O
Congratulations on your results. We hope you are satisfied and that your results will help and not hinder the career path you wish to pursue.
Signed
Matilda Gothfirk
Harry was thrilled for Hermione, he really was, but he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy. She could have anything she wanted. He looked up at her and smiled, hoping it didn't look too unreal. They left the classroom in search of Ron. They remembered that when fifth years collected their OWL results their parents had the chance to speak to teachers about their child's progress and about which NEWTs they would be taking in their seventh year.
They found Ron and he showed them his results with a slightly red face.
Ordinary Wizarding Levels Results for Ronald Patrick Arthur Weasley
Astronomy……………………….……………………… A
Care of Magical Creatures….….......…………………A
Charms………………………………………………… A
Defence Against the Dark Arts...……………………O
Divination………….……..………………………… P
Herbology………….…..……………………………E
History of Magic..........…………….................... A
Potions…...………..……………………………… A
Transfiguration……………………………………E
Congratulations on your results. We hope you are satisfied and that your results will help and not hinder the career path you wish to pursue.
Signed
Matilda Gothfirk
"Well done, Ron!" Hermione said, and it seemed genuine.
"Yeah, well done, mate!" Harry said, thumping Ron on the back. Ron's face reddened, starting with his ears and slowly filling up the rest of his face. Maybe his results weren't as good as his or Hermione's but they were better than were expected, certainly by Ron's standards – and he had got one Outstanding OWL in possibly the most important subject in the curriculum. Harry, Hermione and Ron found Neville who had managed to pass Herbology with flying colours and yet he failed potions abysmally. He passed Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures and he also scraped through Charms. He failed Divination and History of Magic. He also failed Astronomy and scraped a pass in Transfiguration. He was over the moon as was his Grandmother. All in all, it seemed that most students were satisfied with their results and most of the parents had now stopped screaming with joy and were interviewing the teachers. The trio left Neville and his Grandmother to go to the greenhouse to talk to Professor Sprout while they made their way to Hagrid's cabin. The only problem was; Hagrid wasn't there.
A/N: - Hope you enjoyed that! And a big thank-you to my new reviewer, ClearGreenWater: - I am glad you're glad I brought Lupin back because I was glad to bring Lupin back, if that makes sense!