With the prospect of the exams, now just under a month away, the situation at Hogwarts settled down somewhat. Maya was grateful for it; she decided to forget about her little power trip for a bit and devoted every free moment to revision. She mostly kept to her room, not only because it was more quiet there, but also because she still constantly had to watch her back in the school.
Maya was actually quite nervous to sit her OWLs. The regular exams were an annual formality as they only served to get her to the next year, but the OWLs, as stated numerous times by her teachers, would have a significant impact on her entire future. With these exams, one bad day could have very severe consequences. In Maya's opinion, it was much fairer to take the average of every subject over the last five years and then only give the OWLs a fifty per cent weight to a final grade. Alas, that was not how it worked, and the possibility of ruining five years' hard work in one bad sitting was quite uncomfortable. After all, even diligent students like Maya could have bad days.
The only subject she knew for a fact she would pass without a hitch was Transfiguration. It had always been her very best subject and she had already managed to become an Animagus after all. Getting an 'O' would be quite reasonable.
She was pretty good at Potions too, but decided to dedicate a substantial amount of time to that anyway; Snape only allowed those with an 'O' in his N.E.W.T. class and since she was usually hovering between 'E' and 'O', she would have to work really hard to prevent trouble from brewing. The same went for Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, but as for those she could go for a N.E.W.T. even with an 'E'.
She was probably going to drop all of her other subjects regardless of her grade; she simply was not great at Herbology and what good were Astronomy, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic anyway? As far as Maya was concerned, those subjects had always been a waste of time. The prospect of dropping five out of her current nine subjects was fairly great; without being held back by a bunch of useless subjects, she would undoubtedly make substantial progress as a witch.
Some distraction came on the last weekend of May, but it was not the good kind. Slytherin suffered a narrow loss against Hufflepuff and since Gryffindor pulled off a miracle victory against Ravenclaw they actually won the Quidditch Cup. It was annoying as always to see Slytherin miss the mark, but it strangely also boosted Maya's self-confidence; if Gryffindor, with Ron as Keeper, could emerge victorious in the Quidditch season, then there was no reason she could not achieve an 'O' in all of her four favourite subjects.
June arrived, but there was no time to enjoy the blue, cloudless sky and the sunny castle grounds. The OWLs were upon the fifth years at last. Maya studied for hours on end, showing no interest whatsoever in silly distractions like the black-market trade in brain stimulants and the stringent anti-cheating charms that had been applied to the examination papers. A true witch would rely on herself and nothing else.
They received their examination timetables a few days before the start of the exams. Their OWLs were spread over two consecutive weeks. Theory papers were in the mornings, the practical parts in the afternoons. The first examination was Charms theory on Monday morning, and thus Maya busied herself with reading five years' worth of Charms notes, her The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 lying open on her desk. She did not really know how her fellow students were preparing, but she was confident in her ways.
She did actually have a hard time falling asleep the night before her first exam, and she definitely had the jitters at breakfast next morning. In fact, none of the fifth years talked much, and after breakfast they waited in the Entrance Hall until they were called to re-enter the Great Hall. The four house tables had been replaced with many tables for one, all with a name tag and facing the staff table.
"You may begin," Professor McGonagall said once they were all seated and quiet, turning over an enormous hourglass. Maya turned over her paper with beating heart, but she relaxed when she saw the questions. A) Give the correct name for the Shield Charm and B) Which spell can it not deflect and why? Wow, she even knew that as a first year... Which charm ends a spell? Really? That was one of the basics of Charms, at least as far as Maya was concerned... A) Give the incantation and B) Describe the wand movement required to make objects fly... She could hear tiny Professor Flitwick saying 'Swish and flick, swish and flick!' in her mind and before Maya knew it she had answered all of the thirty questions.
After lunch they sat their practical examination in a small chamber beside the Great Hall. They were called forwards in alphabetical order and Maya went in with Michael Corner, Vincent Crabbe and Tracey Davis. There were four examiners sitting behind small tables, and Professor Flitwick pointed Maya towards a tiny, very old witch. Professor Marchbanks said the name tag in front of her.
"Dursley?" the witch barked loudly, consulting her notes and peering at Maya as she slowly made her way towards her. Maya nodded, and forced herself to give the professor a smile. Every little bit helped, such as being charming in a Charms exam. "All right, now if you could perform a Levitation Charm on this wineglass for me..."
The examination went like a charm. The Levitation Charm posed no troubles, which was rather uplifting, and neither did the Cheering Charm, which made her feel pretty good. Lastly the Colour Change Charm went well too, causing her fellow students to be green with envy. When Maya walked out a couple of minutes later, she was sure she had charmed the pants off the examiner and with that had achieved an 'O'.
Transfiguration next day did not get her bent out of shape. She had no trouble vanishing her iguana in the afternoon, but the theoretical part in the morning had been a whole different animal. Sure, she might not have answered all questions correctly, but at least ninety per cent of them. Another 'O', surely.
Wednesday was time for Herbology. Maya was feeling fresh as a daisy and when it came to the theoretical bit she did not beat around the bush. The practical examination could have gone a lot better; like so often in Herbology, she could not see the wood for the trees. With some luck she would have scraped an 'A' but what did it matter really...
Defence Against the Dark Arts on Thursday was easy too. The written questions were not exactly hard, and neither was performing some rather basic counter-jinxes and defensive spells, which she had of course down to a fine art. Maya felt she could have passed the practical bit in her second year, and that her third 'O' was in the bag. The only really important exam she would have left now was Potions, which would be on Monday. Maya spent all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday fervently revising her notes.
The written Potions paper was difficult, but the afternoon practical was okay. That bit was more a matter of capability rather than memorised knowledge. When Maya corked her flask she was sure she did well; she could only hope that her potion would compensate for the couple of questions she had not known.
Tuesday's Care of Magical Creatures exam was not much fun, but Maya had no real other option than to take the bull by the horns. Hagrid was watching them like a hawk from his cabin, but for the most part the exam was all bark and no bite and thus Maya again was sure she scraped at least an 'A'. She knew how to handle a Bowtruckle and what to give to a sick unicorn, but had forgotten how to identify a Knarl among a dozen hedgehogs.
The Astronomy theory paper on Wednesday morning was not stellar and neither was Maya's Divination exam in the afternoon. She was pretty bad at Divination, but unfortunately correctly foreseeing a failure did not actually give her a pass grade (and, to be fair, if it did then she had not correctly foreseen a failure after all). Suffice it to say that she did not play her cards right and really dropped the crystal ball on that one.
The practical Astronomy examination brought them back down to earth, but not for the right reasons. They were at the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock, everyone diligently filling in the star-chart they had been given with Professors Marchbanks and Tofty strolling among them.. It was a cloudless night, which was ideal for stargazing, and the only sounds came from the scribbling of quills and the occasional creak of a telescope. Maya was just about to finish the Andromeda constellation on her chart when far below her the front doors of the castle opened, spilling a bit of distracting light across the lawn.
Six figures made their silent way across the grounds towards Hagrid's cabin. The distant knock echoed through the dark and now deserted grounds. Then the door was opened and the half a dozen people entered. Maya dedicated her attention to Mercurius now, adding the planet on her chart. A roar from the cabin distracted her again, though, and not just her; several students around Maya now peered in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.
"Er, twenty minutes to go. Try and concentrate, everyone," Professor Tofty said softly, but then came a loud bang from the grounds. Hagrid's door burst open and, judging by six beams of red light, the people Maya had seen earlier were vainly attempting to stun him. He was still very much upright and swinging his fists at his attackers.
"Be reasonable, Hagrid!" a man yelled.
"Reasonable? Yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!" Hagrid roared back. There was something impressive about his massive figure standing right in front of his cabin and just how strongly his voice echoed across the shadowy grounds. His dog was jumping repeatedly at the wizards surrounding Hagrid until it got hit by a Stunning Spell, causing the loyal creature to fall limply to the ground. At this, Hagrid went totally berserk and hit the culprit so hard that the man flew about ten feet and did not get up again. Maya was actually quite scared seeing Hagrid in this state, and with his giant blood protecting him, he was quite a formidable opponent indeed to Umbridge and her five Aurors.
Suddenly the castle's front doors opened again and a lone figure came dashing towards the battle. "How dare you! Leave him alone! Why are you attacking him in the night?" Professor McGonagall's furious voice rang through the darkness. Next second, four red beams soared towards her, hitting her square in the chest and causing her to fall right over.
"Galloping gargoyles! Not even a warning! What disgraceful behaviour!" Professor Tofty shouted furiously, who, like the students, also seemed to have forgotten about the exam.
"COWARDS! RUDDY COWARDS!" Hagrid screamed, taking two massive swipes at his attackers, knocking them cold. He then bent down, draped his dog's limp body around his shoulders and ran away.
"Get him!" Umbridge screamed hysterically, but her last remaining helper seemed much more keen to keep his distance. A few seconds later, Hagrid's massive outline had been completely swallowed by the darkness.
When the exam finished five minutes later, everyone was talking loudly about the scene that had just unfolded before their eyes. "McGonagall gone, Hagrid gone, this was a productive night," Draco said gleefully.
"I suppose," Maya said. "Umbridge clearly didn't want a scene like Trelawney's or the Weasley twins'."
The next day it was time for their final exam, History of Magic. Maya knew she would fail, but that was okay; soon enough, this subject would be a thing of the past. When she took her place in the Great Hall at two o'clock she just wanted it to be over, and once they began she could hardly focus. She knew her exam was not exactly history in the making and was very glad when the two hours had passed. The most exciting thing about it was Harry loudly falling off his chair and being escorted out of the Hall by Professor Tofty.
Draco had planned a little party in his room to celebrate the end of the exams, but like so often there was an abrupt change of plans. Just before dinner, Umbridge's office was somehow broken into and she had lost no time in alarming the Inquisitorial Squad. Keen to restore their tarnished reputation with Umbridge, they jumped at the chance and joined her in a frantic run towards her office. As they turned the corner, they spotted Ginny Weasley and a Ravenclaw girl Maya did not know. Ginny seemed positively horrified at the sight of Umbridge.
"You four, get them!" Umbridge yelled hysterically at Maya, Draco, Warrington and Millicent, "the rest with me to my office, now!"
"Very well," Maya said softly as Umbridge and the rest of the Squad sped past them and into the office, whipping out her wand and pointing it at Ginny. The Gryffindor did not hesitate; with a look of utmost disgust at Maya, she too drew her wand. "Now, now, Ginny," Maya said almost lazily, "we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Draco, in the meantime, walked over to the Ravenclaw girl, who did not seem to know she was supposed to resist.
Ginny fired a curse at Maya, but the Slytherin casually blocked it. "Too weak, too slow," Maya said, "Expelliarmus!" Ginny's wand flew out of her hand and straight at Maya, who caught it effortlessly.
"You double-tongued kin traitor! Disgusting power-hungry earthworm! I can't believe my family once invited you to stay with us!" Ginny spat furiously, as Millicent firmly gripped her.
"Trust me, I couldn't either," Maya said calmly, "now, Draco, if you..."
"Hey!" a voice interrupted her, "what do you think you're doing?"
Maya turned around to see Neville Longbottom dashing towards them. "You talkin' to me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I am, you idiot, now let Ginny go!" He attempted to punch Maya in the face, but she merely ducked out of the way and shot a Stunning Spell at the Gryffindor in retaliation. One second later, he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Ginny gasped in shock.
"Ugh, that fat loser has always been more trouble than he's worth," Draco said, as Warrington rather roughly scooped him up from the floor.
"Yup. Realistically, we should just leave him here. I mean, considering even his own parents don't remember him, nothing of value will be lost," Maya said smugly. The others sniggered, and then they marched their three helpless victims into Umbridge's office.
The first thing Maya noticed when she entered the pink office was that Harry and Hermione had been caught as well. A few seconds later, Pansy and Vincent roughly shoved Ron inside.
"Ah, rounding up the usual suspects, are we?" Maya said gleefully, putting Ginny's wand on the desk. Harry was standing right in the middle of the room, Umbridge viciously holding him by his hair, with everyone else around the edges.
"Got 'em all, Professor," Warrington said.
"Excellent! Take his wand!" Umbridge barked at Draco, who was more than happy to oblige. "Now, did you really think that after two Nifflers I didn't take precautions? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around my door, you idiot boy." Harry did not respond; Umbridge's grip was very painful and he tried to pull away from her. "Why are you in my office? With whom have you been communicating?"
"No one," Harry gasped.
"Liar!" Umbridge shouted in anger, actually throwing Harry from her. He slammed into her desk. "Was it Dumbledore? Or that filthy half-breed Hagrid? I know it can't be McGonagall, she's still too weak to talk." The members of the Inquisitorial Squad could not suppress their derisive laughs. Neville had regained the ability to move and he, Ron and Ginny were struggling to break free from their captors, but it was no use.
"None of your business!" Harry snarled at Umbridge.
"Very well. I offered you the chance to tell me, but you refused. Draco, fetch Professor Snape for me please."
Draco stowed Harry's wand inside his robes and swept from the room. The next few minutes in the office were mostly filled with silence, apart from the small noises resulting from Slytherins' efforts to keep their victims under control. Millicent had both Ginny's arms in a tight grip, Warrington was now holding Ron, Vincent was almost strangling Neville, Hermione was vainly attempting to throw Pansy off and the Ravenclaw girl was standing calmly by the side of her sixth year captor, seeming perfectly unfazed and rather bored.
Maya looked at Harry. "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten yourself into. You're not always good at picking your battles, I daresay," she said softly. Harry just glared at her, but then footsteps could be heard in the corridor outside and sure enough Draco entered the room, followed by Snape.
"Ah, Professor Snape. I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quickly as possible, please," Umbridge said, smiling widely.
"You already took the only bottle I have to interrogate Potter. I hope you did not use it all? Three drops were more than sufficient," Snape said coolly. He did not seem particularly perturbed by the scene before him.
"You can just make some more, can't you?" Umbridge enquired.
"Certainly. I'll have it ready for you in about a month," Snape said.
"A month? But I need it now! I wish to interrogate him to find out with whom he has been communicating!" Umbridge shrieked indignantly.
"Unless you wish to poison Potter, and I would not mind if you did, I cannot help you," Snape said.
"You are on probation for being deliberately unhelpful! And Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Get out!" Umbridge screamed furiously. Snape merely shrugged his shoulders and made to leave.
"He's got Padfoot! He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!" Harry shouted.
"Padfoot? What does he mean?" Umbridge said eagerly.
"No idea," Snape said, walking out and closing the door behind him with a snap. Umbridge now seemed to carefully contemplate her few remaining options.
"Very well," she said quietly, walking over to her desk, "there's no alternative..." She opened a drawer and extracted from it a red wand with golden strings entwined around it. It had an unusually sharp tip. "You are forcing me, Potter... I really do not want to, but sometimes the use is justified by the circumstances..." Umbridge muttered. Nobody really seemed to understand, until she spoke again.
"This special wand has been sent to me by the Minister himself, inspired by the whips, to quell the student rebellion. It has been infused with the Cruciatus Curse."
"No! Professor Umbridge, that's illegal!" Hermione shrieked. Draco, however, looked rather fascinated.
Umbridge hesitated for a bit, and then looked around the room until her gaze rested on Maya. "You, Dursley! Come here!" she commanded, beckoning Maya towards her. Maya carefully took a few steps towards Umbridge and Harry, still standing in the middle of the office.
"What..." Maya started, fearing the worst, and sure enough Umbridge held out the Cruciatus wand to her.
"Use this on Potter! This ought to loosen his tongue," Umbridge breathed.
Maya inadvertently took the wand from Umbridge. It felt as if it was emitting little electric shocks. As if she was in a state of trance, she slowly walked up towards Harry, who was now visibly trembling with fear. The room collectively held its breath; silent tears had begun rolling down Hermione's cheeks, while Ginny had completely frozen up in horror. Just before Maya reached her cousin, however, she turned back to Umbridge.
"No..." she said softly.
"What?" Umbridge snapped at her.
"I won't," Maya said in a low voice, "you can't use as scapegoats."
"You go and use that wand on Potter or I'll make sure you'll regret it, girl!" Umbridge shrieked madly. Maya looked her straight in the eyes and then threw the wand onto the floor. It barely made a sound as it landed on the carpet.
"Maya, just do it! What are you doing?" Draco called, but something had snapped within Maya. This was much more than she had ever bargained for. Umbridge had gone completely insane, like a control freak out of control.
"The right thing. This isn't what I signed up for, I just wanted a taste of power for once. I'm making a choice I can live with, I suggest you do the same," Maya said, looking at her friend, "and besides, who do you think will get blamed when things go wrong? I'll give you a hint, it's not her." She jerked her head towards Umbridge, who was trembling with rage.
"Very well, Dursley, you're off the Inquisitorial Squad and I'll also have your Prefect badge! You've always been a brat to me, and I only accepted you in the Squad because Draco vouched for you!" Umbridge screamed.
Maya shrugged, much like her Head of House had done a few minutes before, and unpinned the two badges from her robes. She threw them at Umbridge and strode away, slamming the door in her departure.
A lot of things happened in the last week of the school year. Harry and his gang had somehow managed to escape from Umbridge's office, even though Draco was strangely reluctant to tell Maya how. Then, according to the Daily Prophet, Voldemort and a dozen Death Eaters had gained entry to the Ministry of Magic. The Minister had finally been forced to admit that Voldemort had indeed returned, and Maya could not help but wonder how the wizarding world would change. The Death Eaters had all been captured and sent to Azkaban. Draco's father had been among them, and he was furious indeed, swearing revenge on Harry who had apparently (or rather, obviously...) been involved in it all again.
Then on June 23, Maya's sixteenth birthday, Professor Umbridge was officially sacked as Headmistress and Albus Dumbledore had been reinstated as Headmaster. It made for a pretty neat birthday present, and Maya could not help but smile seeing Peeves chase Umbridge right out of the castle, repeatedly whacking her over the head with a walking stick. Furthermore, that same evening she had gotten her Prefect badge back. She was in no mood to hand out punishments, but it felt pretty good nonetheless.
The vibe in the castle had changed dramatically. Professor McGonagall was back and Harry was no longer shunned; most people now seemed to consider him some sort of hero. What else is new Maya thought bitterly, as she strolled around the sunny grounds by herself and spotted a couple of Ravenclaws waving at her cousin. Harry was alone too, and to her extreme surprise he suddenly made a beeline for her. Maya's first instinct was to draw her wand, but before she knew it he was right in front of her.
"Hi Maya," Harry said softly, "I, er, just wanted to say, thanks."
"And why would that be?" Maya asked curtly, crossing her arms and scowling at her cousin.
"For refusing to torture me in Umbridge's office. I'm glad to see that even you have your limits."
This rather came as a shock to Maya. "I, er, well... we're not friends!" she sputtered, feeling most uncomfortable.
"Were we ever?" Harry asked coolly, and then he turned on his heel, leaving Maya behind rather bewildered.
Then they all packed their trunks and enjoyed the end-of-year feast. The House Cup went unawarded due to the blatant Slytherin bias this year, but Maya found herself not caring much. She would rather just wipe Umbridge and everything she had facilitated from her mind. When the Hogwarts Express pulled out of Hogsmeade station, Maya cast one more glance at the vast castle. It had been a very strange year indeed, during which she had learned a lot about herself and had quite literally become a snake in the grass.