Chapter Twenty Six
With that persistent diversion finally out of the way and two weeks of the third and final term remaining, Cho, Ginny and Hermione were now totally focussed on academic pursuits. Ginny was increasingly working with students of her own cohort, Luna Lovegood for instance, Colin Creevey, Demelza Robins, Romilda Vane and others.
Ginny woke, trained, breakfasted and went to class, every spare moment throughout the day was spent reading, checking her notes, returning library books and borrowing more, writing paragraphs describing the various uses of potions or charms and checking them against her pre-prepared bullet point references. She had fully organised all of her class notes, developed flow charts and diagrams, she was practicing expanding short answers into essay length responses and back again, prompting her memory with coded questions and other problem-solving strategies. The final week would be devoted to practicing her responses to examinations from previous years.
She was not stressed, it was a matter of sustained hard graft, but it was not anxiety provoking. Ginny had worked hard all throughout the year, there was no chance that she was going to fail anything, not even close. She was likely to do rather well, but the high standard she was maintaining now, in this last fortnight, was only to determine just how well she was going to perform, it was well within her ability to achieve the highest results of her year level.
It was much the same for Cho and Hermione, they were not stressed either, not really, it was just hard work and making the most of their opportunities. Cho, used to her competitive teasing manner of relating to Ginny, had absent mindedly teased Hermione a number of times; mentioning that she had found a book that she hadn't noticed throughout the term but had now 'forgotten' the name of it. That a professor had released an examination advice update, had Hermione seen it?
She wasn't entirely aware of the impact her teasing was having on her friend. It apparently poked an unconscious response within Hermione, who had never really been satisfied with her preparation and performance in any of her examinations since arriving at Hogwarts. Hermione began keeping a watch on Cho's notes, she began questioning Madam Pince about the books seventh years had been borrowing and she had more than once knocked on the doors of Professors personal rooms to ask after recently released exam notices.
The days disappeared. Then it was the last week, then the last day of classes, and then it was the last Hogwarts class Cho and Hermione would ever attend. The seventh years had several free days whilst the younger students also finished their classes and then on the final Monday, the Examination period formally began for all students. Ginny wished Cho and Hermione good luck at breakfast and watched as Cho slumped off and Hermione walked quickly with her head held high toward their first and last defense Against the Dark Arts exam, theoretical before lunch and practical after lunch.
On Thursday evening Cho and Hermione plonked themselves down and the Gryffindor dining table, Cho looked devastated and Hermione thrilled. Hermione was looking forward to discussing their final exam in great detail, question by question, reciting her answers but Cho wouldn't have a bar of it. Ginny stared daggers at them both, she crammed her dinner down, grabbed extra food from almost every plate, packing it away in her backpack to sustain her through her intended allnighter.
Ginny's final exam was Transfiguration and it was to be held the following morning. Knowing that the seventh year students were going to be celebrating, probably loudly and probably until late, Ginny was intending to set up camp in the library overnight. She gave the women one final, silent, evil look and stomped off toward her final night of cramming , just before she reached the dining room doors to the Entrance Hall, she felt a tug on her sleeve.
Turning, Ginny's cranky face softened to see a somewhat mollified Cho, "Ginny?"
"Oh don't look at me like that," she said, giving her bad temper away immediately, "I am not a scary monster about to do you an injury!"
"Ok, well if you're sure," said Cho, tempting fate, with a small, hopeful smile. "I just wanted to say good luck tonight, and for tomorrow,"
"Ok, well thanks, and enjoy your celebrations tonight."
"Thanks. There's something else," Cho began, as a few students began piling out of the dining room around them, she pulled Ginny to one side, "Will you have lunch with me tomorrow? There's something I'd like to show you."
"Like a date lunch?" asked Ginny, raising her eyebrow to see what she could squeeze out of her girlfriend, it had been a long time since they had spent any real time together, and with their impending post exam separation, she was beginning to feel a little necessitous.
"Yes, a lunch date."
"I would love to."
"Good, well, I am sure you will do well, and I will see you tomorrow,"
"Bye, Chang," Ginny hoisted her bulging bag over her shoulder and turned away.
"See you, Weasley," said Cho, watching her girlfriend with empathy, Cho was about to have a late night of a very different sort.
The seventh year students celebrated! It began with partaking of the wine at dinner, then, feeling a little maudlin they decided to go for a final walk around the lake, reminiscing about their time at Hogwarts. Hermione tried to beg off a number of times but Cho slipped her arm through her friend's arm and kept her close, "Come on, Hermione, if anyone has interesting stories about this place, it's you!" The other seventh years turned around and agreed with enthusiasm, as on, they began to plead for some as yet unheard amazing Harry Potter tale.
Hermione denied that she had anything left to tell, "I'm an open book, and anyone who hasn't heard everything Harry Potter has achieved, has been living under a rock,"
"Don't believe her," began Neville, laughing. "There are things those three got up to," he said, pointing backwards at Hermione, "That will never be known!"
"It's true," insisted Hermione, but being not altogether unaffected by the butterbeers they were carting with them, offered, "But I do have a story about Viktor Krum…"
Oohs and Aahs signalled that a story about a handsome, world class Quidditch Player was at least comparable, Cho helped her friend by unstoppering her a fresh bottle of butter beer, and took form her nearly empty one.
"Okay, Okay," she said, alcoholically lubricated enough to give them all a little thrill. "Once upon a time, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry hosted the TriWizard Tournament, playing host to students from Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. The most promising of all the students from Durmstrang was one Viktor Krum, a Bulgarian wizard, and the Seeker for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team and well known to us all due to his amazing performance in the Quidditch World Cup."
"The Goblet of Fire selected and ejected Krum's name, making him one of the participants in the TriWizard Tournament. Leading up to the first task, and in between tasks, all of the students continued with their studies. One of the Hogwarts students, Hermione, me," she giggled, and Cho cheersed her butter beer bottle in an attempt to encourage Hermione to drink and talk.
"I was frequently in the library, doing homework, studying and helping Harry figure out the tasks, when I noticed with increasing frequency, that Krum was appearing in the library. At first I ignored him, then noticing him appearing in other places where I was, I began saying hi. I noticed that he wasn't actually studying in the library, mostly just staring at an opened paged book when he wasn't staring at me," she laughed again and the other students all called out woooo! Cho replaced her bottle with another fresh beverage.
"Eventually he developed the courage to look at me, smile at me, talk to me and then he began asking me out. Would I show where this or that was, would I walk across the Wooden Bridge with him one evening, when we got to the far end, to the little gazebo, there were candles and flowers. Then he asked me if I would accompany him to the Black Lake, and when we got to the edge there was a little boat with oars, which Krum pretended was completely coincidence."
"'It's a sign,' he said, and practically begged me to allow him the honour to row me out across the Lake. It was all very romantic, until he tried to kiss me. I just realised in that moment that I didn't have romantic feelings for him, but I didn't want to upset him because I had already agreed to go to The Yule Ball with him. When he leaned in the boat wobbled badly, the closer he got to me the further back I leaned, it threatened to tip and eventually did upend, we both ended up in the lake, completely drenched."
"That wasn't the worst of it, we then got attacked by the Giant Squid, Krim panicked and began shouting, "Don't worry Hermoninny, Don't be frightened!" Cho laughed and repeated, "Hermoninny!" They all laughed, saying "Hermoninny!" "Krum was so determined to save me, but he also didn't really think very clearly and apparently just went with his strengths - he began fighting it with his fists, flailing around, getting dragged under."
"But, I knew," continued Hermone laughing at the memory, "that despite its fearsome reputation, the Giant Squid was actually domesticated and there had been many examples of it's saving or playing with Hogwarts students. I simply thanked it and said that Krum was actually a friend of mine, that I was in no danger. The squid ceased fighting him at once, it lifted us both back into the boat and pushed us toward the shore."
"He begged me not to tell any one that he had tried to kiss me, or that he had tipped the boat, or that he didn't know how to handle the Giant Squid, that it would be so simple. Once I had convinced him I would never tell, he realised I was freezing and felt compelled to carry me all the way back to the Portrait of the Fat Lady. And that's the true story of Krum, the World Cup Hero and Triwizard Champion"
The students all laughed and looked out across the Great Lake, knowing that this was likely the last time they would ever see it. They walked back to the Castle by crossing the Wooden Bridge and then headed up to the Astronomy Tower where they laid on their backs and imagined their futures. Some knew for certain what they wanted to do.
Neville had applied to Headmaster Minerva McGonagall for a place on the Hogwarts staff, in the Herbology department, under head of department, Pomona Sprout. The Headmaster explained the Hogwarts policy on not taking students directly from their final year, but strongly encouraged him to reapply in a year or two, where she felt confident his contribution to Hogwarts would be of value. So Neville was taking a 'gap year' working as an Auror to mollify his Grandmother.
Cho, of course, was playing Quidditch for the Tutshill Tornados. Hermione had applied to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures within the Ministry of Magic, and although it was mentioned that her exam results would be taken into consideration, no one suspected that Hermione wouldn't get the job she sought.
Justin Finch-Fletchley had applied to The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, a division of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic who after Arthur Weasley' promotion to head the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects.
Not wanting to break the spell on their final, wonderful, butterbeer soaked evening, they fell asleep, one by one, on the Astronomy Tower floor. Waking the following morning to the "Hmm Hmm" of Professor Sinistra, they reluctantly rolled over, groaning. Professor Sinistra was having none of it,
"If you wake up immediately," He snapped loudly, "and take all of these bottles with you, I will pretend that I did not see you here!"
The students dragged themselves up off the cold stone floor, rubbing the back of their necks, and gathering up the bottles, they headed gingerly down the stairs, their eyes shuttered against the sunlight of the morning. Despite their late entrance to the Dining Hall, they found themselves provided for; coffee, orange juice, warmed bread rolls, pastries and fruit and bacon and eggs. Cho looked around for Ginny but there was no sign of her, or any sixth years - Exams, she remembered.