The high of winning the Quidditch Cup ran high throughout Gryffindor House over the next few weeks as summer dawned upon the castle. However, despite the beautiful weather outside could not stop the gloom of exams inside. They were set to begin on the 31st of May and would go for almost a full school week, through the third of June. And once the joy of the Quidditch Cup had faded, it was a nightmarish time to be a Gryffindor with not only Tom, but Percy Weasley and Hermione Granger, possibly the three most studious in the entire school, up to their high point in stress, snapping at anyone who dared to make a sound in the common room. Even Natalie, who fancied Tom (or so Eddie was betting against Nathan) relented that Tom was not very fun to be around during exam week.
Eddie's first exam was Charms. Knowing that it was coming from the books, Eddie and Hannah the previous evening had practiced Cheering Charms, which, in Eddie's view, was definitely the best way to study for any exam ever. As it turned out, it was probably his best charm in the exam, as Flitwick gave him full marks for it.
Next was History of Magic. Having had too much to eat for lunch, Eddie slipped into a food coma and was pretty lethargic for much of the exam, as it was a hot day, and finished with only 75 percent of the questions answered, and probably less than half of those 75 percent answered correctly.
Herbology and Potions came the following day, with Astronomy that evening, then on Wednesday it was Transfiguration and Divination, the latter of which was a particularly memorable one.
Professor Trelawney had decided to see them all separately. Eddie got in line between Lily and Hannah. Lily had firmly decided on faking her way through the exam, with Eddie deciding that was a good idea and was now in the process of trying to figure out what he would see. He decided a bird, flying into a window and dying, knowing Trelawney found death predictions fascinating. Laughing to himself, he knew he had a guaranteed pass grade. And, when Lily had finished her turn, he heard his name called and creaked open the professor's old, rickety door.
"Good day, my dear," he was greeted with as he sat down. "If you would kindly gaze into the Orb and tell me what you see within its depths…"
Screwing up his face in concentration, Eddie waited a moment before answering.
"Er...a shape...a white shape...it's moving, flying, it's a bird...it's soaring..high above the clouds..no, low to the ground, and oh, no…"
"What, what is it?" Trelawney asked excitedly, her wide eyes magnified by her strange goggles.
"It crashed into a window and fell, presumably to its death," Eddie pretended to lament.
"Well, well, you certainly saw a lot!" Trelawney exclaimed, scribbling what Eddie presumed was a perfect score on her pad. "Next!"
Eddie left, grinning, and he muttered to Hannah on his way back to copy his strategy. She chuckled and walked up the spiral staircase for her turn. Eddie decided he'd wait for her at the bottom of the staircase.
It was when he reached ground he heard a vicarious scream, followed by frantic footsteps hurrying down. Hannah flew into Eddie, knocking him over. She apologized hastily, but then delved into what had scared her so in the first place.
"Trelawney..I...I finished my exam, I went to leave but...she went crazy, crazier than usual, I-"
"Hannah, slow down," Eddie urged. "What about Trelawney?"
"S-something about the- the Dark Lord being back and his servant returning to him on the n-night where the moon shines the brightest."
Eddie froze. Peter was coming to Hogwarts. He took Hannah's hand. "We have to go see Dumbledore, come on!"
The pair dashed off for the headmaster's office.
Skidding on the hard marble floor when they arrived, Eddie shouted "CHOCOLATE FROG!" at the gargoyle in worry, however the gargoyles didn't move. Frantically trying to remember every Wizarding candy in existence, Eddie began to speak again when he was gently tapped on the shoulder by the long fingers of who else, but the man they were trying to speak with in the first place.
Albus Dumbledore smiled gently at the two Hufflepuffs, peering at them over the rim of his half-moon glasses.
"Now, why would two fine students such as yourselves be so determined to upturn the peace of another merry examination day?"
Eddie took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Professor, Hannah was just taking her Divination exam and she heard-"
He glanced at Hannah, unsure of whether or not to continue speaking. Hannah went on for him.
"I heard Trelawney make a prophecy. I -I think it was a real one this time. Her voice was all raspy, and her eyes went funny-"
Dumbledore's expression got serious. He sighed. "Prophecies are a difficult thing...could you divulge the nature of such a prophecy, Miss Abbott?"
"Y-yes, P-professor. I- she said something about the Dark Lord returning and his servant joining him when the moon was brightest-"
Dumbledore glanced at Eddie. He briefly nodded, and the headmaster understood.
"It seems, Miss Abbott, that your prophecy is referring to the escaped convict of Azkaban Prison- one Peter Pettigrew. Why and how he has returned to Hogwarts, I cannot say. But, take caution. He may be a coward, but he is a dangerous man with far more dangerous allies. It would not do to cross him. One way or another, he will find his way back…" Dumbledore's voice trailed off suddenly. "Back to Voldemort…" The old wizard seemed to be in a sort of trance, before shaking it off. "It matters not. What does matter is that you've got exams to be studying for. Good day!" He smiled brightly at them before dismissing them.
It was clear as day to Eddie and Hannah when they left Dumbledore that they had stumbled upon the secret facet of his personality. Eddie knew that he was thinking, scheming, ways to be able to find and defeat Voldemort. However, he had not pressed him further, and instead started up a conversation with a now-shaking Hannah.
"You-Know-Who..back?" she asked him nervously.
"Just say the name. You'll find you're scared of him less that way."
"V-Voldemort."
Eddie grinned. "See? Not so bad, was it?"
She nodded, smiling. "I guess not."
Heading for the common room, with Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures to study for, Eddie's mind was spinning. If Pettigrew really returned...but Voldemort couldn't return without Harry's blood..could he? And what about the Triwizard Tournament approaching? Would he recruit Barty Crouch Jr and run the same plan as he had in the original timeline, with another student? Surely not...WHAM!
Eddie's thinking came to an abrupt halt when he'd walked straight into the wall next to the common room door. Quickly coming back to his senses, the first thing he saw was Hannah, bent double, laughing at him. Turning a shade of red briefly, Eddie held open the door for her, ("Wow, you found the handle!") and followed her inside.
Later that evening, after dinner, Eddie was discussing with the Fateful Eight what Hannah had found out.
"He- he can't come back, right?" Eddie asked tentatively.
Tom shook his head. "Not a chance. 'Blood of the foe,' remember? Who's Voldemort's 'foe?' now that he's killed Harry?
"There's always ways he can come back." Sean assured them. "That's why we need to stop him. We need to find Pettigrew and bring him to the dementors. It's the only way we can prevent this."
"Sean, Dumbledore said NOT to go after Pettigrew!" Eddie groaned. This was getting them nowhere.
"Yeah, because he has this super elaborate plan that's gonna get a whole bunch of people killed- 'for the greater good!' He never gave up that shtick he had with Grindelwald. He made Harry his pawn in the original timeline and now he's about to do the same to us. When the moon is full, we find Pettigrew, we bring him in." Glaring at the rest of them, Sean huffed. "Well?"
There were a few half-hearted nods. Sean smirked.
"Alright then. I think this meeting can be adjourned?"
They all nodded, and departed for their respective dormitories.
The following morning, Eddie got up and sighed. One more day of exams. And then, their plan to go behind Dumbledore's back, to find Pettigrew. It was going to be a really, really long day.
At nine o'clock, after Eddie's light breakfast (he spent much of the morning feeling sick to his stomach) he along with the rest of the third years trudged out to the courtyard to take Lupin's obstacle course exam. Malfoy's face lit up like a kid at Christmas when he saw Eddie in line behind Hannah.
"Hey, Pattinson! I don't think you can get past the boggart! Heard yours is really handsome, though!"
"Just ignore him, Eddie." Hannah muttered.
"That's what I was planning on doing." Eddie hissed back.
"Sor-ry…"
"What's your boggart, by the way?" he asked.
"V-You know-"
"Nope, say it."
She sighed. "Voldemort."
Eddie grinned. "See, you'll get better at it. Don't worry."
Reassuring Hannah's fears was one thing, however, reassuring his own was a whole other challenge entirely. He sighed and began Lupin's course, which consisted of Grindylows, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, and of course, the boggart. Eddie clambered into the trunk, and was taken aback.
His boggart had taken form, but it was different. Instead of Malfoy and Hannah in a relationship, it was now Hannah's corpse.
Thinking quickly, Eddie pictured it rising, just a prank from Hannah, and telling him she was only feigning it. This elicited some nervous laughter from the Hufflepuff, and it was enough to dispel the boggart.
When he climbed out, he ran to Hannah and gave her a tight hug. Confused by this, she hugged him back, saying,
"I told you I wouldn't ever go out with him. He's quite a nasty person, you know."
"No, I-" Eddie hesitated for a brief moment, then nodded. He didn't wish to divulge the information that his boggart had changed, and certainly not with the girl whose dead body he had just seen, now standing not three feet from him. Hastily changing topic, he mentioned something about being very hungry and began heading back to the castle, with Hannah anxiously following him.
After a brief lunch where Eddie took exactly three bites of a very delicious ham sandwich, he returned to the common room where he paced around by the fire for several minutes, killing time until his Care of Magical Creatures final. Most students didn't question it, as they figured it was exam stress, but Lily and Hannah looked worried.
How had his boggart changed? Surely his light worries weren't enough to do that.
He sat down on the couch finally, closing his eyes, and scaring a fifth-year girl in the process as she was deep into her copy of The Monster Book of Monsters. This resulted in the book going nuts for a few minutes, and it successfully managed to distract Eddie as he helped the girl shut the book and apologized for causing the ruckus.
He'd almost cleared the bad thoughts from his mind when Hannah tapped him on the shoulder, lightly, but the stress Eddie had been concealing made him jump about a foot in the air.
"Hannah!" he exclaimed. "Don't do that!"
"Are you all right?" she asked, meeting his eyes.
Eddie groaned. "I'm fine, Hannah."
"Nope, nope, you're not going to lie to your girlfriend like that, Eddie…" Lily chimed in. "I know when you're not okay. We've got two hours until the exam. You can't wiggle out of telling us what's going on."
Under his breath, Eddie muttered something about "not wanting to freak anyone out." Relenting, he asked. "Can I tell Hannah in private?" Lily nodded. Taking her by the hand, Eddie led Hannah from the common room, through the castle doors, and out by the Black Lake.
"Sorry. Wanted to go somewhere calm and quiet." He sighed. "Yes, what I was going to tell you was that my boggart had changed."
Hannah seemed confused. "It- changed? That's your big secret?" She stifled a laugh.
"I'm getting to the important part. It changed..into your dead body." Hannah stopped smiling.
"Eddie...you care about me that much? We're third years.."
"You don't understand. I don't either, to be honest. What I think it is is that...back home..I didn't have a lot of friends, much less a girlfriend, and I guess...this is just my hypothesis..I found myself in this magical world, this absolutely spectacular, amazing world...and my connections with everyone became that much stronger. Yeah, I know, it's dumb.."
Hannah chuckled slightly. "It's not dumb. It means you care about those close to you. And I admire that in you. Now, come on, I swear I won't tell a soul, let's get back to the common room."
"Better yet, a bite to eat, I barely had lunch. I think there's still some left."
Hannah smirked. "Lunch, then, now, come on."
Eddie sighed, and followed her.
Two hours later, they were back on the grounds for their Care of Magical Creatures final exam. Their last exam. It had been an exhausting week. Eddie was gathered with the rest of the Hufflepuffs when the cheerful and bearded visage of Rubeus Hagrid emerged from behind his hut.
"Welcome!" he greeted them with a grin on his face. "Welcome ter yer final exam! And for this one, I've brought a special treat!"
Eddie's brain was racing, and he could see it on Lily's face too. It couldn't be…
"Everyone please say hello ter BUCKBEAK!"
Eddie gasped and a grin crept across his face, as the hippogriff stepped out into the clearing. With his stormy gray feathers and piercing orange eyes, Buckbeak definitely ranked in the top five of Eddie's favorite creatures from the Wizarding World.
"So," Hagrid asked excitedly, "Who wants ter have a go?"
Eddie, along with Lily, raised his hand, and he was picked, with Lily shooting him a look of mock disgust.
"Now, first thing yeh got ter know about hipogriffs is, they're very, very proud creatures," Hagrid was explaining. "Easily offended."
Eddie wasn't really listening as he watched Hagrid demonstrate the proper bow to a hippogriff with glazed eyes. He knew how to do it, he just wanted to take it all in.
He closed his eyes, as if preparing for a staring contest, then opened them, making direct eye contact with Buckbeak. He bowed, and Buckbeak bowed back.
"Well done, Eddie!" exclaimed Hagrid, beaming. "Reckon you want to ride him?"
Eddie froze. He did have a fear of unsupported heights. Roller coasters and tall buildings were no problem with him because he had some kind of restraint protecting him. Buckbeak had none as far as he could see, but then he nodded. He might as well give it a shot.
Creeping forward hesitantly, he stroked Buckbeak's feathers, seeming to relax the creature as Eddie clambered onto his back, gripping the feathers tightly. He took a deep breath.
"Alrigh, then, off ya go!"
Giving Buckbeak a gentle slap in the hindquarters, Hagrid sent the pair off, or more accutratley, up, high up into the sky, not very different from riding a broom, except Eddie wasn't the one in control. After a few seconds, however, he was no longer afraid, even daring to sit up a little. Wind whistling through his hair, ruffling it, he was having the time of his life, when- his wand slipped.
Damnit, he thought, I should've left it on the ground.
He watched the stick of sycamore and unicorn hair fall to the ground, disappearing somewhere within the trees, however, not too far from the clearing. He shrugged, figuring he'd get it when he landed.
When he did, he explained to Hagrid that his wand was somewhere in the woods and before he'd taken the test that he'd like to get it. Hagrid allowed him to on the condition that he go with someone else. Eddie picked Lily to come with him and the two disappeared off into the woods.
"So, how was it?" she asked.
"Magical," Eddie replied. "You've got no idea, it was great."
"Shame Hagrid only let one person ride it."
"Hey, snooze you lose," Eddie laughed. "Now where's my wand?"
They had been searching for almost ten minutes when Lily slapped herself in the forehead. "Oh my god, I'm such an idiot- Accio Eddie's wand!" Nothing happened.
"We don't learn that until fourth year.." Eddie groaned. It was that moment when he felt the air get...colder. "Oh, no."
"What?" Lily asked, before feeling it too. "RUN!"
Abandoning the search for his wand completely, the pair took off away from the clearing, and all the way down to the lake. They seemed to have lost the dementor or dementors, as the air felt warmer. Eddie took a deep breath.
"I guess we're not going to be finishing that exam.." he laughed. "One way to get out of it, I suppose."
"How are we supposed to get back?" Lily asked frantically. "Our one way is crawling with dementors."
Eddie thought for a minute. "We'll take the path through Hogsmeade. Shouldn't be as many there." Lily nodded and so they headed for the village. Passing the Shrieking Shack, Eddie noted that Lupin would be here in a few hours, if he wasn't already.
They went into Hogsmeade village and up the High Street when Eddie realized something. They were supposed to fight Pettigrew that night, and he was wandless.
Explaining it to Lily, she urged him that it wasn't worth it.
Not hearing her, Eddie took off for the bushes, hoping against hope that he could find his wand.
Searching frantically in the woods, with dementors surely approaching, he collapsed to his knees in desperation when he heard a voice- an adult wizard's voice.
"Accio Wand!" was the cry that rang out in the silent forest. Eddie looked up, shocked, to see none other than Peter Pettigrew emerging from the trees, and he was grinning wickedly as he twirled Eddie's wand in his hand.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" yelled a voice from behind them. Lily had followed them, and she had shot the spell directly at Pettigrew, disarming him. Pettigrew looked shocked, before laughing.
"A girlfriend, Pattinson?" he sneered, still with that same maniacal laugh. It was clear that just two years in Azkaban changed him. No longer that timid, weak wizard he was described to be, he was hell-bent on making sure that Eddie was dead for revealing his secret.
Eddie was frozen in place.
"Not quite, Pettigrew. We are interested, however, in how you managed to escape and find out that it was Eddie who revealed your secret."
He chuckled. "Escaping was easy, girl, once I'd had a little motivation..as to who marked you for death, boy, I have no idea."
"Alright, well, I'm afraid we'll have to turn you into the demen-" but he couldn't finish his sentence, because Pettigrew was raising his wand and shouting, "AVADA KEDAV-"
WHAM! Lily had just tackled Pettigrew to the ground, but she couldn't bind him, for he transformed into Scabbers and took off. Diving for him and missing, Lily swore loudly when she stood back up, and then after tossing Eddie his wand, they both ran after the criminal, dodging trees left and right, when POP! Eddie felt himself get cold-cocked by a tree and then went dizzy as blood spurted from his nose at a rapid pace. Lily shrieked, but Eddie yelled at her to chase Pettigrew down. It was the last thing he remembered before everything went black.
Lily was at a crossroads. She wanted Pettigrew jailed, but she knew that Eddie would be left to the mercy of the dementors if she abandoned him. And then- just then- a howl in the distance. Lupin. She groaned loudly, and went to go retrieve Eddie's limp body.
When she got there, she nearly fainted. By now his face and robes were covered in blood, and his wand lay inches away from his hand.
"Oh, God…" she muttered to herself. She tried picking him up, bending down, reaching under him and lifting, but to no avail, he was simply too heavy.
"Need a hand?" a familiar voice spoke from behind her.
She whipped around. "Sean, oh thank God, help me, quick."
The two of them were able to lift the unconscious Hufflepuff easily, Sean making sure to put Eddie's wand in his robe pocket.
By now it was nightfall. They had to hurry. Stumbling through the forest, desperate to find a clearing, they struggled on.
Eventually, they made it to the castle. Tired, exhausted, with Pettigrew long gone, they collapsed under Eddie's weight in the entrance hall and fell asleep.
They were awoken a few hours later by some blinding bright lights, which just turned out to be the lights in the hospital wing. Evidently, one of the ghosts had discovered them, and reported it to Dumbledore, who had them promptly taken to the wing and tended to.
Eddie groaned. "What happened? Where's Pettigrew?"
At this, Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes shot right to Eddie. "Pettigrew? You mean you IGNORED my advice?"
Eddie began to speak, but was cut off by Sean.
"It-it was my idea, sir. I- I thought we could take him."
Eddie felt relieved that he would not have to explain himself. That is, however, until Dumbledore addressed Sean.
"Foolish and irresponsible as attempting to capture a hardened criminal is, that does not explain why Mr. Pattinson and Miss Jackson were in the forest with you."
"I-
Eddie sighed. "Sorry to interrupt, we were in the forest because I had dropped my wand. I was riding Hagrid's hippogriff during my Care of Magical Creatures final and it fell out of my pocket."
Lily nodded, to confirm the story.
"Very well," Dumbledore replied. "I ought to inform you that you have some very worried classmates-"
"Eddie! Lily!" burst Hannah from the hospital door. Dumbledore rose up from the bed gently and departed silently. Hannah was followed by Ernie, Susan, and then the entire Fateful Eight attempted to join them. Madam Pomfrey came attempting to chastise them out, but they all gave her a look, pleading silently not to do it this time. She relented but demanded that they leave as soon as possible.
Hannah hugged Eddie tightly. "What were you thinking?" she smiled weakly. "Not to mention you could've been attacked by a dementor-"
"Yeah, but I wasn't." Eddie scoffed lightheartedly "I totally had a plan the entire-"
"He ran into a tree and knocked himself out," Lily called over.
"Thanks for that, Jackson."
"No problem, Pattinson."
By the end of the day they were out of the hospital wing and again, it was time for the end of year feast. Not much to say this time around, Snape did reveal Lupin's werewolf secret but that was about it for the exciting bits.
As he sat at the Hufflepuff table, Eddie thought back about where he was the previous June, and how far he'd come. And then he looked ahead, not only to the Triwizard Tournament or a potential war with Voldemort, but to his future, with his friends, and with Hannah. It had been three glorious years, and he couldn't wait for more.