Chapter 54: O.W.L.s
"Ahh!! I can't transfigure the matchstick to rabbit properly!!" Lily shrieked. It was the day before their O.W.L. exams. They were practicing their Transfiguration, which was going to be their first paper.
"Don't worry so much, Lils. You can do it. Try again." Stefanie said as she transfigured a parchment to a quill and back again.
"We still have a couple more hours to practice." Arabella said, transfiguring a parchment to a full-length mirror and back again.
"I hate Transfig!!" Lily muttered and concentrated even harder to transfigure the matchstick again.
"Looks like we are the least worried fifth-years about tomorrow Transfig. Paper." James said, lying near the lake looking at the late afternoon sky.
"I think we're pros at them already." Sirius boasted, lying beside James.
"We're pros at everything." James added.
"If you're that great, you won't need help for Charms, M.S., H.O.M., Herby, C.O.M.C., Div-" Remus went on and on about James' weaker subjects.
"Thanks for reminding me about them." James said sarcastically.
"That's to keep your ego at bay." Remus grinned cheekily.
"Practice a little tonight then. Our next paper is Charms, which is two days away and not too hard either." James remarked.
"We know more Charms than anyone in the whole school." Sirius said.
"But those are the Charms we can't use in the paper." Peter pointed out.
"Flitwick will flip if we put the Collapsing Charm in his paper."
"He can flip any moment if his stepper isn't firm enough."
"I get your point."
"What's the last paper??"
"Div."
"Eeew!!"
"It's easy."
"I can't do well for the exams though."
"'Coz Bell is getting all the grades. Trelawney's inner eye says so."
"Well, at least we know Bell isn't a fraud."
"Do you guys want to get back??"
"Yeah. Getting kinda dark."
"Our dear Jamesie scared of darkness??"
"I'm not."
"You're."
"No!!"
"Oooo."
"Shut up, Sirius."
"I know your little secret."
"What is it??"
"Remember when we were five??"
"What happened??"
"Our little coward Jamesie stepped
saw a cockroach and climbed up the sofa to get away from the cockroach."
"James. You-" Sirius, Remus and Peter
started laughing.
"Well, I just climbed up the sofa, Sirius wetted his pants though." James remarked.
"I didn't."
"You did."
"I didn't"
"You want proof??"
"What proof??"
"Photos??"
"What photos??"
"Fion took pictures of that incident."
"WHAT??" Sirius looked horrified. This time, it's James, Remus and Peter's turn to laugh.
Argh. How come this matchstick isn't transforming to an owl?? Lily concentrated even harder and tried to transfigure the matchstick before her. The furthest she could get was transfiguring an owl head with a matchstick body some white fur sprouting out here and there. C'mon. Transfigure please. I don't want to fail Transfig.!!
Nice and easy. James thought to himself. A white owl was standing rather still in front of him, waiting for McGonagall to come and grade his owl, which was actually perfect.
Professor McGonagall walked over and jotted some notes on her parchment, nodded and left James' table. Then she proceeded to Sirius' table, which was in front of him. Sirius had gotten a tiny and gray hopping owl. They were allowed to transfigure any sort of owl they want as long as the owl can fly and eat like a normal owl without any imperfection. Remus had transfigured a large tawny owl out from the small matchstick. It looked a little like his owl, Knight. Even Peter transfigured a school owl look-alike, which looked kind of perfect.
Finally. I thought I wasn't going to make it. Lily heaved a sigh of relief as she waited for Professor McGonagall to come by to grade her owl. All three girls had normal school owls look-alike because it was the easiest to transfigure and that was the one they learnt. The guys were more advanced and had more practice and hence were able to use a little more imagination on their owls.
Why isn't this quill dancing?? James was trying hard to remember the exact charm they learnt to control a non-living thing to move by itself. Argh, and this stupid quill aren't writing on its own. Each of them was given five quills for them to charm to do five different actions at the same time.
Ok, this one is going to dance; this is going to write; this is going to sing and what about the last two?? Lily thought as she tried to think what were the charms they had taught on quills. Aha, this can draw, and the last one?? What can quills do?? Draw?? Write?? Sing?? Dance?? Eat?? Nah, can't transfigure. Yes!! I've got it!!
Drats, the handwriting look so illegible. At least now this is dancing. C'mon quill just draw something. James thought desperately as he tried to remember more charms on quills that they had learnt in the last few years. Hmm, can I use accio??
Professor Flitwick stopped in front of Lily's desk and marveled at her display of action quills. One of the quills singing the song My Valentine while another was writing the lyrics in synchrony. The third quill was drawing a little comic strip of Cinderella and the Prince. The fourth was dancing with the invisible fifth quill. Professor Flitwick looked at the perfect display nodding and jotting down notes for the five quills.
Arabella and Stefanie had no problem with their own display of quills as well because they had practiced on it the day before, but not on five quills at the same time.
James managed to get his quills into action finally. One was dancing solo; another was singing a simple song of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; the third was drawing shapes on a parchment; another was writing his name repeatedly on the parchment and the last one was floating on air by Wingardium Leviosa, which they had learnt in first year.
Sirius, Remus and Peter had gotten about the same state with James, with slight differences in their actions but generally everyone had used the sing and dance, write and draw. The fifth charm varies with the individual.
How on earth am I supposed to give a detail procedure on using a microwave oven?? What a stupid gadget. James thought about the lesson they had on microwave ovens months ago. He had not even touched the oven since that lesson. Connect the pluck. Shucks, how to spell plug?? P-l-u-c-k?? I think it's four lettered. Hmm.. P-l-u-t?? Nah. It's not t, it's erm.. G?? Ok, it's P-l-u-g. Then on the electricity. Yucks, how to spell electricity?? Electric current then. Then press the button to open the door. James tried to remember as he wrote down the steps.
Fifteen usages of refrigerators. Store raw food, keep drinks cool, make ice cubes, keep veggies, no, not veggies, vegetables fresh. What else?? Lily thought as she stroked her chin with the quill, trying to remember the functions of fridges.
Ten places where lights are found. Houses, streets, offices, schools, shopping centers, train stations, bus stops, parks, factories, shops. Aha, ten places. Remus smiled at himself and turned to the next parchment for the next question. How to operate a television?? Let me see.
Connect the plug first. Then on the main power supply. Press the button to on. Use remote control to change channels and adjust volume. What else did I miss out?? T.V. T.V?? Stefanie thought as she looked out of the window, trying to get some inspiration.
What on earth is an electric shaver?!? Did we learn that before?? Sirius looked at the question blankly. He had absolutely zero idea on what an electric shaver was.
Jeez. Name five differences between a microwave oven and the conventional oven. I don't remember. Oh shucks. One use radiation while the other use heat. Microwave heats food faster then conventional oven. Aluminium foil cannot be used in microwave oven but can be used in conventional oven. It's not possible to bake in the microwave oven but can bake in the conventional oven. Hmm.. What else did I miss?? Arabella thought as she looked at the question again, trying to remember the ovens they had hands-on months ago.
Devil's Snare. Easy peasy. James grinned at the question and wrote a long paragraph on characteristics of the Devil's Snare.
Name a powerful restorative and how to make it. Lily re-read the question and thought about the answer before writing it down. She had studied the notes on the Mandrake the night before and she was just gathering the thoughts.
Characteristics of a bouncing bulb?? Yeah, besides bouncing huh. Arabella thought as she wrote down anything and everything about bouncing bulbs.
Where do people find Flutterby Bush?? Eeps. What sort of questions is these manz?? I don't remember a thing!! Sirius frowned as he looked through the questions. Not too far away from him, Peter was smiling away as he wrote the answers conscientiously.
Shucks. What is another name of Mandragora?? What on earth is Mandragora?? Remus thought as he tried to remember what he had read through. Mandragora. Mandrago. Mandy. Bleah. Mandrak. Mandrake. Yes. Mandrake is the answer.
Gillyweed. Water plant. Eater can grow gills and fins for one hour. What else?? Stefanie thought as she looked at the Gillyweed plant floating in the tank at the front of the greenhouse.
What's the next ingredient after root of asphodel?? Lily thought as she tried to remember the recipe for the invisibility potion and visibility potion. They were supposed to make the two potions simultaneously in two hours independently. Then the potions would be tested on their pets to make sure it works. Aconite. Yeah. That's is. Is it turning blue soon??
Why is my potion green?!? James thought frantically. What did I miss out?? I know I didn't. Bezoar not supposed to be added. James checked all his potion ingredients that were laid in front of him. Argh. Thirty more minutes. What did I forget?? C'mon James.
What's next?? Sirius looked around the table to find any form of hint on how to make the potion. There were all sorts of items in front of him, but not all of them were used. What do I add next??
"What did you see my child??" Professor Trelawney asked.
"I'll be with James someday and we will have a son name Harry. Arabella will be with Sirius but will not last because they would be separated. Stefanie will go missing in action. Both Arabella and Remus will become Professors in Hogwarts in the future." Lily said confidently. She could not see anything in the crystal ball at all, but well, she had seen the future.
"Very good, you may go now." Professor Trelawney smiled at Lily.
"Ah, my child, what can you sees in the crystal ball??" Professor Trelawney asked.
"James will top be the top wizard for our year and Lily will be the top witch. Both of them will become good friends and become Head Boy and Head Girl when we are in seventh year. Lily will regain her memory sometime next but it won't affect her much because she had started to fall for James again. She will receive an amazing gift somewhere after her sixteenth birthday. Stefanie and Remus will get together sometime soon but they will not last because the ugly reality will keep them apart but their hearts will unite. Joey and Samantha will set up a restaurant after we graduate and become successful career women. Their other half will not be from Hogwarts. Peter, he will betray us someday. I don't really want to go into the details about it because it's just too horrible to talk about." Arabella went on and on about what she saw in the future. She could not tell if those visions were from the crystal ball or from her mind because they were just so clear.
"It's okay, my dear. That's enough for today." Professor Trelawney smiled in a kind manner.
"Thank you. May I go off now??" Arabella asked politely.
"Yes, please." Professor Trelawney was busy writing some stuff on her parchment. Arabella departed from the classroom and returned to join her friends downstairs.
"You took a long time." Lily said.
"I had quite a lot of visions until I don't know if they're from the crystal ball or my mind." Arabella said quietly.
"It's ok, we're here for you whenever you need a listening ear." Stefanie said and gave Arabella a hug.
"Thanks. Let's head back to the dorm." Arabella said and the three girls left the room. They were the first few to called up because their surnames were one of those earlier.
"Not fair!!" James complained as the girls left. The three girls waved goodbye to the guys and Joey and Samantha.
"You can go off first, you know." Remus told Sirius jokingly.
"What for?? When I'll be alone. I might as well as stay here with you guys."
"James, it's all because of you!!"
"What?? I can't control my surname to start with P."
"Tell me what did you see??" Professor Trelawney asked.
"Sirius and Remus will fight tonight; Lily will lose something precious and regain her memory; Peter will not be found anywhere during the summer break; Arabella and Stefanie will quarrel over a guy sometime this month." James said as he tried to see something besides the white mist in the crystal ball. He had imagined out all the premonitions. Arabella had refused to disclose any predictions of hers no matter how much the guys begged for them.
"Very well, you may go now." Professor Trelawney said as she wrote some stuff in a parchment. James shrugged and left the room
"Finally they're over!!" Lily jumped in joy in the girls' dormitory.
"Yeah manz!!" Stefanie said happily.
"We gotta do something together again." Arabella suggested.
"Another night of makeover??" Joey asked.
"We better make sure our drinks are not drugged for that night." Samantha said. The girls giggled. A year ago, they had wanted to makeover again on their last day of school, but unfortunately all of them were animals for that night and hence, not able to do anything at all.
"We must not touch anything those guys touch."
"How can we avoid??"
"I've an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible or not."
"What is it??"
"On the day before, we can get some food from the kitchens to last us throughout the day. Because the food in the kitchens is unlikely to be drugged if the house-elves are there."
"You know where the kitchens are??"
"Sort of. Been there only for a couple of times."
"Sounds so cool."
"Can take us there??"
"We must keep it a secret though. Because they can't let the whole school population know where it is. We stumbled upon it by accident actually."
"We promise."
"Keep everything we say in this room ok??"
"Pinkie promise huh??"
"Why not??" The five girls put their pinkie together and did a girlie scream.
"Ok. So on next Friday morning we shall go and get some food."
"Then we shall just eat here."
"Then that night we stay awake??"
"So let's sleep in the day instead."
"Soundproof and lock the room so no one else can come and disturb us."
"We gotta seal the windows as well. People can fly in if they really want." There were times when the Marauders had come over to the girls' dormitory via the windows.
"So that settles the night event."
"I can't wait for that day."
"Neither can I."
"Any bright ideas for end-of-year prank??" James asked. The four guys were hanging out together at Hogsmeade. It was not a Hogsmeade weekend but since they had their means of coming, so they were there.
"We need something special." Sirius suggested.
"Isn't all our pranks special enough??"
"Last year we turned them to animals."
"The year before was operation anti-gravity."
"Then before that was water guns."
"And in the first year we didn't do anything."
"This time we need something really outstanding."
"All our pranks are outstanding."
"Well, it had to get better and better after each year."
"I've got an idea. But it needs improvement and quite a lot of research." James suggested. He always come up with complicated pranks while Sirius come up with the normal regular ones. Remus always perfected the plans while Peter often used to diverge the attention temporary.