OWLs

Dear Grandma,

Five weeks until the exams and everything is completely insane. Anyone in fifth year or seventh year is in a complete state of panic about all the studying they still need to do. The teachers are absolutely piling on homework, and the common room is still full of people trying to finish it, even at three in the morning. I don't think anyone in my year gets more than four or five hours sleep a night, and the NEWT students are even worse. The lack of sleep and amount of stress everyone is under means that there are a lot more fights than usual. People get angry at the slightest thing and all the younger students have learnt to stay out of the way of anyone who looks like they're studying, and to be as quiet as possible in the common room, if they don't want to get yelled at. And this is only Hufflepuff, which is by far the most laid back and relaxed house in the school. I dread to think what the other houses must be like.

Actually, I suppose I have an idea of what the other houses are like. I've been into the Gryffindor common room a bit, and it's completely mad. It's not like it takes much for a Gryffindor to get angry, even at the best of times, so right now they're constantly yelling at each other. James, Cameron and Fred don't help by setting off fireworks every two minutes, or showing off all the latest products from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They did their OWLs last year and don't have NEWTs until next year, so they're doing their best to drive everyone mad, and succeeding brilliantly. I think they must have been yelled at by every fifth or seventh year in Gryffindor by now, but it doesn't seem to bother them. I hate going in there, but somebody has to be there to calm down Rose.

Rose has got to be one of the most stressed right now. She's under so much pressure, because her mum did so brilliantly in her OWLs. I don't think Rose will do as well as her mum did, and she doesn't really expect to, but she's terrified she's going to fail everything and disappoint everyone. Not that that's going to happen either. Personally, I think she'll do brilliantly in Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Potions, Astronomy and Transfiguration (maybe even outstanding) and reasonably well in most of the others. I really doubt she'll fail anything. But it's Rose, and she always gets far too stressed, and when she gets stressed she gets very irritable. Al avoids her completely at the moment, as he does before any major exam or test, and Ethan has been doing the same ever since the two of them had a massive fight and I advised him to just wait until the exams are over to try and talk to her again. It's not like Rose is actually mad a him – she fights with everyone before exams – but if he tries to make up with her now then she will just get even more angry and they will end up breaking up for good, which I wouldn't normally mind, but the two of them are so perfect for each other that it would be awful for it to end just because Rose is a bit stressed. I think, after all those idiots she dated, she may finally have found the right guy. Ethan makes her so happy, when she's not freaking out about her OWLs that is.

Anyway, all of this means that Rose and I spend a lot of time together at the moment. It's great because it means we get loads of studying and stuff done, and can help each other out a lot, because all the subjects I struggle with she's really good at, and vice versa. We may both fail Defence Against the Dark Arts, what with Al not being around to help us, but neither of us is really very worried about that.

The only problem is that Daphne doesn't like me spending so much time with Rose and so little with her. She and Rose normally get on very well but, like anyone else with any sense, she's been avoiding Rose at the moment, so it's not like all three of us can hang out together. Oh well. Once the exams are over everything will go back to normal, with the six of us either hanging out together or in our couples.

What I said earlier, about Ethan being the right guy for Rose, I really believe that, and I think she does too. She may be a bit pissed off at him at the moment, but that's the only time I've ever seen the two of them fight, which is pretty impressive considering how much she used to fight with the rest of her boyfriends, even before breaking up with them. But it's okay, because I'm beginning to get over her. Daphne's amazing, and I'm starting to think that maybe there could be something more serious between the two of us after all. And Al's still going out with Carmen, which is a bit of a record for him I think. Wouldn't it be great if all three of us have finally found the right person? I know we're only fifteen, but I think that maybe we have.

Got to go – I really should get some sleep.

Scorpius


Scorpius,

I wonder whether Rose has considered the idea that the right guy for her may not be the one she only fights with when she's really stressed, but instead the one who she never fights with at all, even before the most important exams of her life so far. And whether you have ever thought that maybe the girl you're meant to be with is the one who is mentioned in every single one of your letters, and has at least one full paragraph to herself, rather than the one you squeeze in right at the end, and only because it links in to your previous paragraph about Rose. But far be it for me to interfere.

Anyway, good luck with your OWLs. I'm sure you'll do wonderfully, but I'll be proud of you no matter what happens.

Lots of Love,

Grandma


Albus,

Good luck with your OWLs – we'll both be thinking of you!

Love, Mum and Dad

P.S. Tell Rose and Scorpius good luck from us


Rose,

I'm sure you'll do wonderfully in your OWLs, but just remember that we're proud of you no matter what, and try not to get too stressed. Good luck, darling!

With love,

Mum and Dad


Scorpius,

We can't wait to see you when you come home for summer. Good luck with your exams.

Mum and Dad


Rose and Albus,

Good luck with your OWLs – fingers crossed for brilliant results!

Love,

Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur


Scorp,

How are your holidays going? I'm at the Burrow, but it's so much better than last year because Ethan's here, and Dad seems to really like him. Well, when I say he really likes him, I mean he hasn't punched him yet, which is always a good sign, and that he's given us his "permission" to be together. As if that makes any difference! But I'm glad that Dad and I are talking again – last summer was horrible.

The one thing that ruins this summer a little is that the results are coming soon, and I'm terrified. I'm sure I've failed Charms. I want to check what the answers to some of the questions are now that I've got my textbook, but I forgot to take the question paper out of the exam hall with me, so I can't. Al's getting absolutely sick of me constantly interrogating him about what he wrote for certain questions, and whether he thinks a page is enough to write for a five-mark question, but I think Ethan's just so relieved that I've stopped yelling at people that he puts up with it. Though I've noticed he does drag me off to play Quidditch a lot, probably because he knows I can't talk so much when I'm on a broom and whizzing around all over the place, trying not to drop the Quaffle too often.

Oh well, got to go, the others want to play Quidditch again, and if I don't hurry they'll all have picked their positions and I'll be stuck playing Beater. Again.

Rose


Rose,

Quidditch? But you hate Quidditch! Why is Ethan making you play that? I don't think I've ever heard you talk about playing Quidditch with your cousins before.

In answer to your worries, yes a page is definitely enough for a five-mark question, and I figured you would want to see the question papers, and that you would have been too stressed to remember yourself, so I took them all out of the exam with me. I've enclosed the Charms one, and written on what I think the answers are beside each question, and if you want any of the others then I can send them to you too. I decided not to send them all at once, because I thought the poor owl might collapse from the weight if I did.

Scorp


Scorp,

You're an absolute lifesaver! What would I do without you? I've checked all the Charms questions and I think I may have done alright, though definitely not as well as you. But you've always been good at Charms. Could you send me the Transfiguration paper, and the Astronomy one? I don't even want to see the Defence Against the Dark Arts paper – I know for a fact that I've failed that one – and I've got all the rest.

Quidditch isn't so bad. It can be quite fun sometimes, and I think I've always been a little biased because – Actually, who am I kidding? I can't stand Quidditch. I used to play it a bit before I started Hogwarts, because that's what everyone did, but I've always hated it really, as you know perfectly well. But I've never told Ethan that, and he seemed so excited about having a game with the whole Potter-Weasley family that I just couldn't disappoint him. I could have just sat and watched, obviously, but then I know he'd have felt bad and ended up not playing for my sake, and I couldn't do that to him. So I decided one game wouldn't kill me, but since then it's just been one game after another and I think I'm going mad. But it's still a better summer than last, and it can be fun sometimes as long as I'm not a Beater – those Bludgers are really scary – so I shouldn't complain. Ethan puts up with my whole mad family for my sake; the least I can do is put up with the occasional game of Quidditch for his.

Rose


Rose,

Okay, but don't let Ethan's love of Quidditch ruin your whole holiday. If it gets too much for you then just tell him that, and if he really cares about you then he'll respect you for sticking up for yourself.

I've put in the two papers you wanted. Do you think the answer I've written beside Question Seven on the Transfiguration paper is okay? I think it's basically what I wrote in the exam, and I'm not sure if I put in enough detail.

Scorp


Scorp,

It's okay, I've found a new way of avoiding Quidditch matches. Your letter arrived last night, but I didn't get a chance to reply then, so I've told them all I need to reply now, and that they can just go and play Quidditch without me. Maybe I should just write to you every time they want me to play Quidditch, as long as you don't mind my long, rambling letters. Though they might get a bit suspicious if I do that every time, so I'll have to think of some other excuses too.

Yeah, I think your answer to Question Seven is fine, though you could probably have added a little more about the restrictions on becoming an Animagus. But apart from that it's all great.

Uncle Harry's birthday was last week, so we all had a massive party. And when I say massive, I don't mean what most people would class as massive, I mean Weasley-family massive. Every single relative was there, as well as loads of my parents' friends from school, and a bunch of Uncle Harry's colleagues from work. The house was so packed that a lot of people had to bring tents and sleep outside. Fortunately, this put a stop to the Quidditch games for a few days as the tents were pitched where we normally play, and Grandma Molly forbade it in case we dropped the Quaffle on one of the tents or, worse, the Bludgers got loose. The party was great. Lots of Uncle Harry's school friends have their own kids now, some of whom go to school with us, so there were plenty of people to chat to. I wish your dad had been friends with Uncle Harry, back when they were at school, so that you could have been there too. You'd have loved it. James, Cameron and Fred helped Uncle George set off this massive fireworks display at the end, and it was absolutely stunning. I'm not sure why we made such a fuss of this birthday in particular – it's only his 42nd or something like that, so not really a particularly special age – but I'm not complaining. Personally I think Grandma Molly just felt like throwing a party. She does that sometimes, and normally uses Uncle Harry's birthday as an excuse because it's in the summer holidays so we can all go. I hope she has another one next year.

Oh, I can see the others coming in for lunch now, so I can stop writing. I'm going to be subjected to a moment-by-moment account of the match now, but at least then I can just switch off and pretend to pay attention while actually thinking about something else. If I do that during a match I tend to drop something or get hit by a Bludger, which I now know, from experience, is very painful and something you should avoid doing if at all possible.

I think the results are supposed to arrive some time in the next few days. Good luck with getting them, if I don't write again before that. I'm sure we've both done great. Well, I'm not sure at all, but I hope we have, and I suppose that will have to do for just now.

Rose


Rose,

Good luck to you too, not that you need it at all. Neither of us needs it, or at least that's what I'm going to keep telling exams. We're going to open our results to discover that we've done brilliantly, and so are Al and Ethan and Carmen and Daphne, and all the rest of our friends.

Good luck!

Scorp


ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades: Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades: Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

SCORPIUS HYPERION MALFOY HAS ACHIEVED:

Astronomy: A

Care of Magical Creatures: O

Charms: O

Defence Against the Dark Arts: A

Herbology: O

History of Magic: E

Muggle Studies: O

Potions: E

Transfiguration: E


ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades: Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades: Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

ROSE WEASLEY HAS ACHIEVED:

Arithmancy: O

Astronomy: O

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: E

Defence Against the Dark Arts: A

Herbology: E

History of Magic: O

Potions: O

Study of Ancient Runes: O

Transfiguration: O

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades: Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades: Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:

Astronomy: A

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: E

Defence Against the Dark Arts: O

Herbology: E

History of Magic: A

Potions: O

Study of Ancient Runes: A

Transfiguration: E


Scorp,

I passed everything! And so did Al! I've photocopied my results for you and enclosed them (Grandpa Arthur managed to get hold of a muggle photocopier and alter it a little bit so it's much more efficient) as well as Al's. Six Os! I can't believe I got six Os! And I actually passed Defence Against the Dark Arts, which I'm sure is only thanks to Al helping me so much. Not as brilliant results as my mum, but I never expected that. I'm not as clever as her, and I've always known that. I guess I'm a bit of a mix between my mum and my dad. I did better than I expected, anyway, and I'm pleased about that. Ethan's gone home now, but I can't wait to write and tell him my results, and find out what he got.

Anyway, write back immediately and let me know how you did. Now that I know Al and I have done fine, I won't rest until I know that you have too.

Rose


Rose,

There's actually a spell that does the equivalent of photocopying: taking the words on one bit of parchment and copying them onto another. I've enclosed a copy of my results, in the hope that you will be able to relax now.

Congratulations on your results! You did brilliantly! I know how worried you were before that Transfiguration exam, but I told you you'd be fine if you just stayed calm.

Mum and Dad are really proud of me. I was worried they might be a bit upset that all my 'Outstanding's were in subjects neither of them ever really liked that much, and that a lot of people see as less useful, but they didn't seem to mind. I think Dad may have been a little disappointed that I didn't get an O in Potions like he did, but apart from that they seemed really pleased. And I'll probably carry on with Potions for NEWTs, so it's not like I've let him down completely when it comes to that.

I've got you to thank for the fact that I got even an E in Potions, actually. I remember back in First Year I didn't think I would even pass my end-of-term exam in Potions, never mind getting Exceeds Expectations in my OWL! That was the main reason the two of us started hanging out more often, from what I remember. Funny how the best friendships can start for the shallowest reasons. Can you imagine if I'd never struggled with Potions, and had never asked Al if he could ask you to help me with it, and we'd never ended up friends? I'd have missed out on one of the best things that's ever happened to me.

Sorry, having a stupid sentimental moment. You and Al are the best friends in the world, though. I don't know what I'd do without the two of you.

Scorp


Scorp,

Glad to hear I'm of more value to you now than just a good Potions mark! And don't apologise. I know exactly what you mean. It's hard to imagine not having you and Al as best friends. You're the two most important people in my life, and I'd never have coped with this last year without you.

Congratulations! Your results are great, and you really deserve them. You've put in so much work over the last year, and every year since starting Hogwarts. So all three of us have passed everything, and we're NEWT students now! Can you believe it?

Rose