Disclaimer: I wrote this when I was 12 to 13 in 2003. Harry Potter is hereby © to J.K. Rowling. Everything else is © to me, or its respective owners.
Chapter Fourteen: N. E. W. T.s
By the time they left, it was almost the end of February, and none of them had studied for their upcoming exams, except Hermione. They spent the rest of the month taking notes and studying everyday every chance they had. Whitney and Tom were twice as busy, taking care of Mercadez and studying for their exams. Cho, Hermione, and Alyssia had all been very helpful by taking care of her for a certain day of the week. Whitney and Tom were very grateful for their help and were amazed that they were even able to manage. When the N. E. W. T.s arrived that March, every seventh or fifth year could be seen studying in the library or the grounds, even in the hallways and lavatories. Sometimes you could see some students studying at mealtimes and scarcely touching their food.
Cho, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Whitney, Tom, Alyssia, Draco, Akira, Liam, and little Mercadez were on the grounds, studying.
"Ok, name and define the three of the uses of unicorns in our world." Hermione said.
She loved quizzing the others, but was disappointed when no one answered.
"Oh come on! This is the easiest one!" Hermione exclaimed.
Cho sighed, and Ron quietly whispered, "She's just being herself. Again."
"Unicorn hairs are used in wands for their magical properties and ability to draw out a person's magical power to its fullest extent. Unicorn horns are used for…um…potion making I think…I forgot which potions, but I've got the idea, and I should remember later on…and unicorn blood can be used to give someone life even if they're about to die. But at a price. Their life is cursed, because for slaying something so pure, and drinking its blood is uh…a crime? Right?" Akira answered.
"Wow Aki, I'm impressed…" Cho said.
"And the best part about it, Akira, you're correct!" Hermione replied.
"Oh joy!" Akira said sarcastically.
"You'll do really well on your N. E. W. T.s! I'm sure of it!" Hermione commented.
"Whatever…I only learned that because when Tai was about ten, he went on and on about unicorns…he kept taking books from our parents study and he would read about unicorns to me…he even made me memorize some paragraphs…and they're still stuck in my head…Cho really wasn't interested, she found more fun playing tag with the fairies in the maze…But when she did come back in from the yard, Tai would have her sit down as he told some amazing story that he saw a unicorn that day…" Akira explained.
"Good times…" Cho sighed.
"Can we get back to studying now?" Hermione asked annoyed.
"No." Ron replied.
Hermione scowled at him, then crossed her arms angrily over her chest and pouted.
"Oh come off it, Hermione! You're the last person that needs to study! You've only read every book in the library…" Ron said.
Hermione slammed her book shut, then grinned.
"All this studying, you know, I could use a break…how about all of you?" She said.
Everyone was shocked, but cheered happily, and slammed their books shut and stuffed away the several parchment pieces that they were taking notes on. Someone approached them from behind and cleared their throat.
"Can I have a private word with Cho please?" A male voice answered.
"Piss off, Davies." Cho replied.
"Well I was being polite!" Josh said angrily.
Everyone turned to glare at him. By now they had all found out what he had tried to do on Halloween.
"Yes, I did happen to notice…but Davies, I'm not interested!" Cho said coldly.
"What's Potter got that I don't?" Josh demanded.
"Hmmm…let me think…A heart. Unlike you, he actually respects people, and isn't a low scumbag that is sick in the head." Cho replied.
Everyone started laughing, while Josh glared angrily at them all.
Suddenly, everyone had a funny idea.
"Lumé!" They called.
The golden phoenix appeared.
"Please take Mr. Davies up to the highest tower possible, and make sure to drop him into the lake." They said.
Lumé nodded, then her golden talons clasped Josh's shoulders and lifted him into the air.
"Have a nice flight!" Cho called.
"Put me down you stupid bird!" Josh yelled.
The phoenix flapped her wings and soared away, taking him to the north tower and dropping him into the black lake with a loud splash. Everyone burst out laughing. Ron was howling with laughter and was pounding the ground with his fists…
After days of studying and taking notes, it was time to take their final exam. Every seventh year was gathered in the Great Hall, with several exam papers before them. They were to take an exam for each subject for one hour. Then they would get a ten minute break. Then it would be more testing until lunch, when they would have an hour and a half to themselves, then back to testing until dinner, when they would finish up the next day, depending on how much they got done the first day. Today it was Cho's turn to watch Mercadez, and she was in the middle of her Transfiguration exam. Hermione was a few seats away, her quill eagerly zooming across the parchment. Harry was sitting in front of her, and the others were scattered elsewhere. Mercadez was looking around the room, her big blue eyes gleaming with joy. Her long, pretty eyelashes made her eyes seem even larger, but it made her look absolutely adorable. Whitney was on the other side of the room, and would glance up at Cho and Mercadez every few minutes.
Cho was on the third to last question, and there was only five minutes left.
"What is the effect of an improperly cast simple transfiguration?" Cho wondered aloud.
Mercadez was blowing little bubbles, and Cho glanced at the infant and smiled. The answer was right in front of her. Bubbles! The item you were transfiguring would froth with bubbles!
'Of course! How could I be so stupid?!' Cho thought.
"Thank you, Mercadez!" Cho said, lightly patting the baby's head and ruffling the small fluff of blonde hair on her head.
Cho finished the exam without any trouble, and Professor McGonagall collected their answer sheets and sent them off on their break. The Great Hall filed out, and Whitney made her way through the passing students and found Tom then went to search for Cho. They found her packing her bag, and Harry holding Mercadez. Whitney smiled and approached her friend.
"Wha-hey! Don't do that!" Harry said quietly, as Mercadez took off Harry's glasses and tried them on.
Mercadez quickly took them off and held them in her hand. Cho looked up and giggled, then gently took Harry's glasses from the baby's tiny hand and gave them back to Harry, and scooped Mercadez into her arms.
"Now, now, Mercadez, you shouldn't do that…because Harry can't see if you take off his glasses…" Cho said softly.
Whitney laughed lightly, making Cho look up, and Harry turn around also, his glasses now back on.
"Oh hi Whitney! Hi Tom! Didn't see you there…" Harry said.
Tom and Whitney laughed, and Cho put Mercadez into her mother's arms. Mercadez giggled and squealed happily.
"Mummy!" Mercadez said.
Tom, Whitney, Cho, and Harry looked on in amazement.
"She just said her first word! And she's scarcely a month old!" Whitney said, surprised.
"Well, she's really smart…she even helped me on question seventeen on the exam!" Cho replied.
"Did she? Fascinating!" Tom said.
"It was like on cue, and she just started blowing bubbles…and then the answer hit me!" Cho said.
"Wow!" Whitney and Tom said.
"When do you reckon we should teach her to walk?" Tom wondered.
"Maybe when she's a little older…" Whitney replied.
They didn't even realize that their ten minute break was over, and their Charms exam was getting prepared. It was only when Professor Flitwick cleared his throat and told them the exam was about to start, when they ended their conversation. Whitney gave Mercadez back to Cho, and they took their seats that they had minutes before, then prepared to take their exam.
"Wands out please. This will be a practical exam." Professor Flitwick said.
Everyone in the room took out their wand.
"We'll be trying the Hovering Charm that you all learned last year. Then a Disillusionment Charm, and Summoning and Banishing Charms." Flitwick explained.
Flitwick called everyone's name in alphabetical order and asked them to perform all four charms. Cho, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Alyssia, Draco, Whitney, Tom, and Alexa were the only ones to receive top marks.
The day went on, and their last exam was History of Magic. Professor Binns droned on about instructions, no one really listening, but they got the general idea of what to do and most of them passed. Luckily, they had finished over half of their exams, and they were all exhausted. When they were excused, everyone received a short break, so the Great Hall could be returned to normal for dinner. Cho, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Alyssia, Draco, Whitney, and Tom all walked out onto the grounds.
"Now I know how the 'N. E.' in N. E. W. T.s got its name…these exams are nastily exhausting!" Ron complained.
"Agreed." The others responded.
They fell onto their backs and gazed up at the purple sky. Dinner had begun, and they didn't even notice it. Mercadez sneezed, and Whitney took out a small white blanket adorned with pink butterflies and wrapped it around her daughter.
"We should get back inside before she catches a cold…I'll bet she'll be wanting something to eat soon too…" Whitney said.
Everyone agreed and decided to visit the school kitchen. Besides, it had been a while since they'd seen Dobby…
As they walked into the castle, all of them except Ron, Harry, and Hermione wondered something.
"How do we get into the school kitchens anyway?" Cho wondered aloud.
"Just follow us…we visited in our fourth year, so we know the way…" Ron replied.
They continued to walk down a long hallway, and opened a door, then walked down another hallway, and stopped in front of a large portrait of a silver bowl holding a variety of fruit. Hermione touched a pear and tickled it, making the pear shudder and shriek with laughter. A silver door handle appeared out of no where, and Harry turned the handle and motioned the others to follow. They stepped inside, and they were almost knocked over. A small elf with large bat-like ears, a pencil shaped nose and green tennis ball-sized eyes bounded upon Harry and gave him a tight hug around the middle, making the teen fall over in surprise.
"Harry Potter sir! You've come to visit Dobby at last! Dobby's been hoping for this day for a long time! Dobby missed Harry Potter! But now Harry Potter has come to visit! And Dobby is overjoyed!" The elf squeaked.
"Yeah, well, it's nice to see you too, Dobby…" Harry said.
The elf squealed, noticing the others behind him.
"Harry Potter sir! You brought friends! Wheezy and fair Miss!" Dobby cried, giving Ron and Hermione a hug.
"Hi Dobby!" Ron said.
"It's really great to see you, Dobby. We're glad to know you're doing well…" Hermione added.
"Harry Potter sir! Who are the others?" Dobby asked.
"Oh well, that's Cho behind me, then there's Akira, Cho's sister, Liam, Whitney, Tom…" Harry began.
The elf spotted Draco and started howling.
"Young Master Malfoy!" He said, his tennis ball sized eyes nearly popping out of its socket.
Draco avoided the elf's eyes. Dobby was his family's old house elf. But Harry had set Dobby free. Draco was pretty sure that Dobby still had the memories and scars from the past, forever etched into his memory. Draco, now realizing how cruel he was, felt regret and guilt.
"Dobby, I'm not your master anymore…Dumbledore is. I've changed, I'm one of Harry's friends now. And I'm sorry about the past and what my family and myself, all the things I've done, I regret it all…but now, I just hope that you can forgive and forget…" Draco said.
He hoped the elf wouldn't hate him, he hoped Dobby would accept his apology. Dobby's eyes flickered for a moment, as the words registered, he looked his former master in the eye, then blinked a few times.
"Dobby forgives Young Malfoy. Dobby is glad that Young Malfoy has apologized. And because Young Malfoy is now a friend of Harry Potter, Dobby can trust you. Dobby knows you are a good person." The elf said quietly.
Dobby gave Draco a hug as well, and the other house elves appeared, and started bringing tons of food toward the group.
"Dobby, we actually had a reason to come here…you see, Whitney's got a daughter, and her name's Mercadez…anyway, Mercadez is probably hungry, so that's why we stopped by-" Tom began.
"BENTO!!! OH MY GOSH! CHO! THEY'VE GOT BENTO!" Akira shrieked, interrupting Tom.
"Bento? Really?!" Cho asked.
Akira nodded vigorously and motioned her sister over.
"What the hell is bento?!!" Ron wondered.
"Your guess is as good as mine…" Harry replied.
"Bento is Japanese for 'box-lunch' and usually has really good stuff in it…it's Aki's favorite…Cho's pretty fond of it too…" Tai said behind them.
"Tai!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Seems like you all know your way around this castle pretty well…I just stopped in for some pumpkin juice…why weren't you at dinner?" Tai wondered.
Akira was eating a piece of crab sushi and was holding a piece with chopsticks. She looked up from her plate to her brother, and swallowed her food, and graciously downed a glass of juice that an elf brought to her on a silver tray.
"Oh um, we were to busy doing some star gazing to even care…but this kitchen has a better selection of food than what's on the house tables…because here, we can eat anything…I just might visit everyday because they've got bentos here." Akira said.
An elf walked over to Tai with a plate.
"Wow! You all are really good at this! You just know our favorite things or something! I love rice-filled omelets!" He said.
Another elf gave him chopsticks and another gave him some pumpkin juice.
"Although I just ate about an hour ago, and I'm pretty full, I'll live…I can just do extra practice for the team to work it off…" Tai muttered.
Akira started putting little packages in everyone's hands.
"Bentos for everyone!" She cried.
Cho passed out chopsticks, and all of them were confused.
"I'll teach you all how to use them. But if you don't get it, I'll give you all forks." She said.
She quickly went to each of them and gave them a lesson on using chopsticks. She returned to Harry and picked up a piece of shrimp, and fed it to him. Harry did the same, and Whitney watched and broke into giggles.
"You both are too cute!" She squealed.
"Well, maybe you all should get going to your dormitories…" Tai suggested quietly.
He checked his watch, and yelled.
"We've been here for nearly two hours!" He exclaimed.
Dobby pressed a milk bottle into Whitney's hands, then they all attempted to leave, but the elves were insistent that they took food with them. Before they could even get within a foot of the door, their arms were full with sweets and other food. Finally, they got outside the portrait, and Dobby waved goodbye, and everyone rushed down the hall as fast as they could and upstairs just barely missing Mrs. Norris on their way.
-
The next day they finally finished all their exams. The rest of the day was spent having fun and playing games. It was a fun afternoon, Tai even swam a few laps across the lake. The giant squid twirled its tentacles merrily. As quickly as that day had gone, it was over, and replaced by April.
Nothing really happened in April. Everyone found that they were packing up their things, for the end of the school year was upon them. The teachers no longer seemed to care about all the rule breaking going around. They no longer took off house points, or gave out detention. But one day, Professor Snape burst into the Great Hall during dinner, and was soaked in blood.