Chapter 12:
The only break in her frantic studying over the next week was when she had to testify against Jason in civil court. The recantation article was written wonderfully and she had witnessed the disgusted looks on people's faces as they read it. Severus had written that there had been an outrage at the Gryffindor table at breakfast the morning the article was reprinted in the Daily Prophet. He said Minerva was so proud of her students for being upset and was still mad herself that Albus had to silence the table himself by making a short statement that all was well.
The trial was a quick affair. As there was no use of the more powerful truth serums in civil cases, all she was placed under was a minor truth charm that would not allow her to lie but would let her answer however she felt. That was perfect as when she told the court that their relationship was faked for the press and that she had spurned all his advances, it was true, she just left out the part where they were in a relationship for a small time. Jason did horribly on the stand as Hermione had prepped her lawyer much better than he had and hers knew the questions to ask that would get him flustered and look like an idiot. After two hours of testimony the judge ruled in Hermione's favor and sentenced Jason to pay her reparations for defamation of character of 150,000 galleons, which is roughly two years salary for him. She knew it was a lot of money and that he would have to struggle to make ends meet, but she knew it was necessary to show him that money is not everything. He places too much emphasis on fame and fortune and now he would loose both and have to work hard like everyone else. She though it was disgusting that professional Quidditch players made more than 10 times what an average ministry employee or Hogwarts professor made in a year. The most amusing thing to her was that as much as Jason valued money, he had barely spent any of it in the years he had been playing. The court was able to seize all of the allocated money immediately and he still had a little over 1,000 galleons in his vault.
Hermione paced in waiting area of the transfiguration testing area the morning of her master's exam. She was anxious more than nervous as she knew she would be able to ace the test. She knew the masters testing her would be some of the best in the field including the head of the Transfiguration Masters' Guild. He was a wizard older than Albus who was the leading expert in the field. To this date he had never given anyone an M, which was the highest mark available. The students were given a percentage for how they answer the set questions and perform the set transfigurations; anyone over 80 would receive their masters. Then their individual work was graded on a scale like the OWLS or NEWTS except it was called the MASTER scale. M was for Magnificent and reserved for only the most talented masters, A was for Acceptable and was the mark of a true master, S was for Standard and for those who would get their masters but not be particularly great, T was for Terrible and meant you would have to retest in 3 months as your work was not to master level, E was for Education Needed as it meant that the person needed at least another year of schooling before they were at master level and R was for Review Qualifications as it meant that they felt the person would never be capable of masters level and should rethink their career path.
She was sure she would score very high in the exam portion, she was hoping for a 95 as that was the current school record and was hoping to receive at least one M from one of the 5 master judges although she knew she would not receive a composite of over an A as no student in over 100 years had received an overall M, although Minerva was close as she received 2 M grades and 3 A grades when she took her exams 50 years ago.
She was going over her personal spells in her head when they called her in. She was the first student to be tested and historically the first student was tested the hardest as they wanted to get a feel for the level of talent in that year's class. She smiled politely to the masters and bowed in respect once she was standing in front of them. "Miss Hermione Granger, you are here to determine if you are at Master level in Transfiguration. You will perform the practical portion of the exam first and as you take the written portion we will adjourn to discuss your practical scores. Once you finish your written exam we will begin with your individual work. Do you have any questions?" The witch at the far right of the table asked her.
"No Madame I am ready to begin," Hermione replied politely, knowing most students did not show the masters the proper respect they deserved.
The practical exam went on for over an hour, Hermione was confused when after the witch she assumed was the administrator stopped giving examples to transfigure the Guild Master himself began asking her to transfigure items. She did not let it faze her and performed everything he asked of her. Her confusion was from the fact that all research she had done on the exams stated that the practical portion lasted only around half and hour and hers lasted more than double that. She sped through the written portion with the same zeal she used to at Hogwarts. She was very pleased with her answers and when she rang the bell stating that she was finished she was surprised to note it had only been an hour when she was allowed up to two.
Her anxiety was back now that she would be getting to her individual work. She knew her research was impeccable and there were no loopholes in her theories, as she had run them by both Albus and Minerva. She was confident, but since her work was so revolutionary she was scarred it would be received badly. She was told to present them with her research and then to start with what she believed to be the easiest of her own work, explain her thought process of how she came up with the transfiguration and then demonstrate it, if it was judged acceptable. At then end she could show them her animagus form or tell them that she had not perused that path.
She began with her hair braiding transfiguration as it was the easiest and the only non-controversial one she had. She explained that her hair was normally fuzzy and unmanageable without potions to tame it and even then there was a risk of it getting in her way in potions brewing and she knew she had to come up with a reliable way to keep it back. She detailed her research and then her modifications of the incantation to produce different braids as well as that only the caster's wand would be able to undo the work. She then demonstrated on a doll that she transfigured and enlarged. After they were satisfied with the work she explained that the universal canceling charm that medi-witches used to undo any human transfigurations on their patients would also work on this charm in case the caster could not undo the spell.
She moved onto her research on the sight correction transfiguration and was pleasantly surprised by the insightful questions the panel asked. She was pleased to note that they allowed her to demonstrate on a frog and when the test was successful they granted her the necessary paperwork to continue her research on humans, in a supervised and sterile environment. Meaning she could only test it on a human in the presence of two other masters and a qualified medi-witch or medi-wizard and in a place like a hospital or clean room.
Her research on muggle electronic transfiguration had the most questions asked. The panel was stunned to learn that her research was effective and easily duplicatable. She demonstrated on another cell phone and on a portable DVD player she had brought with her. She explained her research in detail and that she planned to patent it as soon as she left the room so she could begin her business. She even told them of her plans for her business when asked and they were impressed with her foresight and planning. The Guild Master even asked her if she would send him one of her catalogues so he could order a DVD player for his granddaughter. Hermione smiled and offered him the one she had just transfigured as well as the DVD of "The Wizard of Oz" she had brought for testing purposes and asked if any of the others would like the cell phone, to which one witch accepted saying she had muggle relatives and it would be nice to speak with them more often.
Hermione left the building certain that she had passed, able to continue her research and with the knowledge that she had impressed the head of the Transfiguration Master's Guild. She would get her test results in a week's time and a list of the living masters so she could look for an apprenticeship. Her potions masters' exam was the next day and then she would have a week full of end of term exams. After that she was done with her schooling, had one year of apprentice work and then would be a certified master in both her fields of study. She was almost skipping in her excitement, she would be home soon!
Her master's exam for Potions went as well or even better than her exam for transfiguration had as she had more independent work to present to the potions board with all her hair care products. She had to hold in her smile when the one witch on the panel exclaimed in a shocked voice that she didn't realize that she was "That Hermione," and told the other panel members that she used the products and they worked wonderfully. She was even able to detail some of her more advanced research on the Wolfsbane potion as well as on an easier to make Animagus potion, and the consulting work she did for Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes for Fred and George. They had received a letter from Vivek as well documenting her apprenticeship and that he had nothing else to teach her as she was the brightest student he had ever taught and that he knew she would surpass him in the field quickly. As Vivek was well known for his research it was quite a compliment for him to say she would surpass him.
The skip in her step as she walked out of her last end of term exam was noticeable to all. She was done and she had done well. There had not been a single question on any of her exams that she did not know the answer to and she had flawlessly performed the practicals. Her masters' test results would be arriving in the next few days and graduation was the next day. She was happy that Max was coming to the graduation ceremony to watch Carley as he promised to take photos of Hermione getting her degrees as well. She knew Harry and all her friends would want to see pictures.
It had taken every ounce of restraint in her body to keep from calling Severus when she received her masters test scores. She had done the unthinkable and broken the university's records again. She received a perfect 100 and an M on both exams, making her the only person ever to score that high. There had been 100 scores before and there had been an occasional M, but never both for the same person and never for two different masters' tests. She was also the only person to get straight M grades from all 5 of the masters on the panel. Hermione was beside herself with joy at her results but had to keep them to herself. If she called and shared her excitement with her friends she would blow the secret she had worked so hard to keep. She was able to show her results to Vivek and Carley and they had a huge party for a combination of a 'Congratulations' and a 'Going Away' party that all students were invited to as well as anyone else Hermione knew in Australia. She had a great time saying good-bye.
The next day Carley helped her pack up all her stuff from her dorm room back into her trunk. Hermione gave her a letter box so they could keep in touch. The two cried a little at the thought they might not see each other but remembered that they could meet up anytime Max had to go to Europe for Quidditch. Hermione thanked Professor Vivek for all his help and gave him a letter box as well, a larger one so they could send potions samples. She promised to keep in touch and that she would inform him if she found anything pertaining to his research once she got back to Europe. She couldn't believe that she was finally going to go home! She was wished well by the customs agent at the ministry before she took hold of her portkey and was in Australia no more.