Chapter 110: N.E.W.T.s Jitters

"Professor, do you really trust Snape??" James asked in disbelief. Professor Dumbledore had sent for Lily and James to his office.

"Yes, I trust Mr. Snape." Professor Dumbledore said in a calm manner.

"Pardon my impudence, but he is a Slytherin and most of them are Deatheaters." Lily spoke her opinion.

"I had several talks with Severus and I believe he is on our side."

"But his parents are Deatheaters." James said bluntly. "And we heard his conversation with Malfoy. The Malfoys are Voldemorts' supporters."

"I understand you all have prejudice with some Slytherins, but Severus is on our side. And I can vouch for him." Dumbledore said calmly.

"But-" Lily was trying to prove her point but Professor Dumbledore continued.

"I've something more important to tell all of you." His voice was serious. "Voldemort is getting out of hand soon. I think you all are our only hope." James and Lily were speechless but nevertheless continued to listen. "All of you will be leaving Hogwarts in about three months time. Our magical community needs you, the six of you, to defeat him."

"Professor, we'll try do our best." James' comment somehow lacked conviction.

"I hope both of you will not make things difficult for Severus. You all will end up working closely together in the future."

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"Don't remind me." Lily groaned as she turned to lie supine on her bed, her Herbology textbook push up above her head.

"Exactly one more month to the first day of N.E.W.T.s." Joey repeated teasingly.

"Thank you very much." Lily said sarcastically. "I'm far from prepared."

"We're not ready as well." Stefanie said kindly. "I think I'm going mad with Divination."

"We should drink some tea and then analyze the tea leaves to see what grades we're going have to N.E.W.T.s." Samantha joked.

"I think it's more feasible to drink to tea and find out the questions we're going to have for the exams." Stefanie commented. Professor Trelawney had specifically told them that it was impossible for the students to find out any questions of the exams because these questions were blocked from the seers and Divination technology.

"Let's continue the mugging session." Lily turned around, with her stomach on the bed, and continued reading the cursive calligraphy of her Herbology textbook.

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"A miracle had happened." Sirius spoke suddenly and interrupted the peace in the boys' dormitory.

"What??" James turned around on his chair to face Sirius.

"There is actually peace for an hour is this room when all four of us are here." Sirius announced grandly. James shook his head at Sirius' idiotism and turned back to continue reading his Charms textbook. Apparently Remus and Peter were too engrossed in their reading to even notice Sirius' comment. Afterall it was three weeks to their very final and most important exam in their schooling life in Hogwarts.

"Why isn't anyone answering me??" Sirius looked at the backs of his three roommates. "Fine." He muttered to himself and switched his attention back to his books.

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"Two more weeks to go and we're done with exams!!" Lily exclaimed. They were doing their patrolling duties for an hour before heading back to the tower to do some night studying.

"Over with exams and next over with school." James reminded her the cruel fact.

"Yeah. That is like so fast." Lily gave a sad expression. "All but memories of Hogwarts life."

"To the real world outside."

"I supposed that's what life is all about." Lily looked ahead, not focusing on anything in particular. "James, don't leave me okay."

"I won't." James gave her hand a squeeze.

"Thanks." Lily said gratefully. "If one day you really left me for another girl, it's okay. At least now you said you won't."

"I say I won't means I won't." James insisted.

"Okay." Both of them walked in silence, hand-in-hand.

"So what do you want to do after we graduate??" James asked casually.

"I don't know. Never really thought much of it."

"I think I'm going to be an auror. Rid the world of evil." James said in such a pompous manner that made Lily laughed.

"Then I shall join you and be an auror too." Lily looked at James in admiration.

"You-" James pinched her nose lightly. "Too weak to be an auror. You need someone to protect you and not the other way."

"I can protect myself in case you haven't notice."

"Alright, not that I can't win you in this debate, I shall be a gentleman and let you win." James said airily.

"Whatever." Lily crossed her hands in front and continued walking.

"Give me your hand. You're going to crash onto something walking like this." James told her in a jokingly stern manner, but Lily refused to concede.

"I can protect myself." Lily turned to look at James, still continued walking. "Even if I'm walking – Ouch!!" She crashed straight into one of the statues ahead.

"Watch out!!" James called out, but it was too late. Lily had crashed straight into one of the statues and fell backwards. "See what I told you. You can't even walk without falling down." James pulled Lily back up onto her feet.

"Thanks." Lily dusted her robes as she stood up on her feet.

"See what I just told you." James said, smirking a little, trying very hard not to laugh out loud. "My prediction." Then he burst into laughter.

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"No!! No!! No!! You don't have to remind me." Lily raised her hands in surrendering manner. It was one week until the seventh-years final examinations, the N.E.W.T.s. Most of the students were feeling anxious and jittery, especially for those who did not excelled in Transfiguration, which had happened to be the first paper.

"It's like a piece of cake." James was easing the tension in his style. The Marauders had literally dragged Lily and Stefanie out of their dormitory to the Hall for dinner break. The girls had been taking packed meals into their dormitory so they could save time and distractions.

"Yeah, you guys excelled in every subject even without studying. Sometimes I wondered if you guys had gotten hold of the exam papers or something." Stefanie joked.

"You girls need a break." Sirius said with his mouth full of food. "Look at us. Play hard and became smart."

"Yeah, since when??" Lily laughed at Sirius' joke.

"I'm the ideal example." Sirius boasted.

"Jeez.. I'm going to doubt that then." Stefanie said. "Especially when you're the ideal example." She shook her head. "Anyone with brains would know never ever follow Sirius' words of idiotism."

"I'm so hurt. My most beloved sister saying that to me." Sirius was being over dramatic by clutching his hands together close to his heart. Though the truth had been revealed that Sirius and Stefanie had been cousins instead of twin brother and sister, they still felt the brother-and-sister bond between them.

"I think you spent at least ten years of your life trying to banish me in a way or another." Stefanie told the rest.

"Luckily he didn't succeed." Remus added. "Otherwise I probably wouldn't even want to talk to him."

"Hey Moony, you knew me before you even liked Stef." Sirius reminded him. "That's because I always knew you had such a wonderful sister, it was a ploy, you see." The exam tension had been lifted that the group of sixth teens were talking as if N.E.W.T.s was a year away.

"I should have stole her letter so she'll never get to come here. Or I could have bribe Beaubaxton to take her in instead."

"Then I would have gone to Beaubaxton to meet her instead."

"Awww.. that's so sweet." Lily commented. "Sirius, if you dare to do anything to Stef, I won't let you off. Remember that." She told Sirius in a jokingly threatening manner.

"And if Lily is being Anti-Sirius, I will definitely join her." James joked.

"Wormtail, you're on my side, are you??" Sirius asked Peter.

"Definitely." Peter laughed.

"At least Wormtail is my true friend. Not like you two, abandon me for girls." Sirius reprimanded the two guys.

"But if Gracie is Anti-Sirius, the way James put it, I'll be on her side too."

"What has this world turn into??" Sirius raised his hands into the air and called out to no one in particular in a dramatic manner. Obviously that earned a few curious looks from those around him.

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"Well, today is the day." Samantha declared. It was the first day of the N.E.W.T.s for the Hogwarts seventh-years, the Transfiguration paper.

"We studied all seven years for seven papers within ten days." Stefanie commented.

"We've about two more hours to go before the paper." Joey added. The Nasty Exhausting Wizarding Tests were usually held approximately a month before the other types of exams. This gave the graduating batch of students at least a month free from schoolwork and examinations to enjoy their last few days in Hogwarts.

"And after that, holidays!!" Lily cheered optimistically.

"Lils!!" Joey groaned.

"But before that, the NEWTs!!" Stefanie reminded Lily.

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"Transfig. rules!!" Sirius shouted exaggeratedly. The boys were eating their breakfast in the Great Hall. It was about an hour to their first N.E.W.T.s paper and they were far from nervous.

"That's because you're good at this subject." Remus laughed good-naturedly as the four boys continued to feast greedily on the food.

"Nothing beats Transfig." James added. "We've more than enough practice and done more research than anyone else in Hogwarts."

"Our Transfig. knowledge is as good as Maggie's, or perhaps even better." Sirius boasted.

"Don't let her hear you calling out the pet name you chose." Remus reminded. Over the years, Sirius had earned extra detentions whenever Professor McGonagall heard Sirius using the word 'Maggie' whenever he referred to her. And most of the time she overheard him in the Great Hall. The Marauders usually made the loudest noise among the other groups, and had the most attention, especially from the girls.

"Oops!! I still wanna enjoy the holidays."

"The girls are here." Remus waved to catch the attention of the four Gryffindor seventh-years who just entered the Great Hall. It was nearly emptied because most of the students had went for their classes, those remained behind were having their free period.

"Hey guys." The girls greeted and joined the guys for breakfast.

"You guys are early." Lily commented.

"For our favorite subject, we need more energy." James told them.

"Five slices of toast for Transfig. is nothing." Sirius said casually.

"That's a lot, considering you still had eggs and bacon as well." Stefanie joked.

"Let me guess." Sirius put both his index fingers on his temples. "Animagus Transformation is definitely going to be a question."

"Everyone knows that." Samantha replied. "McGonagall had made is known that there will definitely be this question in the N.E.W.T.s. They set this question every single year in the last few centuries."

"That's a good prediction." Lily laughed. "Maybe you can try drinking tea instead."

"Tea?? Oh – Divination." Sirius took a moment to catch the joke.

"We've about fifteen more minutes to go." Remus reminded the group.

Once breakfast was over, the seventh-years milled around in the Entrance Hall. At nine-thirty, they were called forward class by class to re-enter the Great Hall, which had been rearranged into an exam hall. The four house tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing them. All the seventh-years walked in silently and quickly to their seat in the exam hall.

"You may begin." Professor McGonagall said once they were all settled down and ready. She turned over an enormous hourglass on the desk beside her, on which there were also spare quills, inkbottles and rolls of parchment.

James turned over his paper, looking through the questions, smiling inwardly as he already knew nearly all the answer inside his mind. This is simple. He started writing down the answer on Animagus Transformation.

Hmm.. What is the definition of Inanimatus Conjurus Spell?? Lily wrote down as much as she could remember.

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"First paper down!!" Lily said optimistically. The group of six was all gathered ready for dinner after their Transfiguration practical exam in the afternoon.

"It was better than I thought." Peter commented.

"Of course!! We're all expert in this field." Sirius told him. "No more Maggie's lessons, I gonna miss that."

"I wonder if McGonagall is the only reason you ever love Transfig." Remus joked.

"I thought I had hidden my darkest most secret so well."

"Unfortunately the whole world knew about your obsession with Transfig. lessons." Stefanie joked. There was once when Professor McGonagall had been down with Chicken Pox, a muggle illness, which was highly infectious. Other lecturers took turn to conduct the lessons for her throughout her two-week long recuperation. Sirius had created a din because he refused to have another lecturer teaching Transfiguration besides Professor McGonagall herself, and of course he had skipped the lessons for two whole weeks even when Professor Dumbledore the one tutoring the class. Somehow he had managed to convince the other three Marauders to skip the lessons along with him. But to most people's surprise, when Professor McGonagall gave a test the week after she returned, the Marauders were the only ones who scored full marks.

"We studied with or without Maggie breathing down our necks." Sirius said. "We're Transfig. freaks if you want to put it in that manner."

"Yeah, that's because you all had covered nearly everything about Transfiguration, ranging from the most difficult models to the oldest theories." Lily said as a matter-of-fact.

"At least now one paper down. Six more to kill." Remus said.

"What a metaphor. Kill the papers." Stefanie laughed.

"Well, it would be an understatement if Padfoot is the one saying it." James pointed out. "Tomorrow is Herbology. Wormtail's best subject."

"This is probably the only night I can relax a little." Peter said humbly.

"Good for ya." Lily said encouragingly. "I still had to read up on a whole load of plants tonight."

"Mandragora and Mimbulus mimbleonia would definitely be tested." Peter said. "Professor Sprout said the plants that are useful would usually be tested."

"What are the Madrakes for??" Sirius questioned, sounding lost.

"It's called Mandrake. M-A-N-D-R-A-K-E." Remus corrected. "Learnt in second year, remember??"

"It's a powerful restorative for those who have been petrified." James said without much effort. "To put it simply for your little brain."

"My brain is not little." Sirius defended. "It's just that most of them are used to store the Transfig. stuffs."

"Yeah, right." Stefanie teased. "What about pranks, food, girls-"

"Wait till I transfigure you to something else." Sirius gave a gentle shove on Stefanie's head.

"Don't you dare!!" Stefanie shoved Sirius' head a little harder, nearly bending him forward.