I do not own the Harry Potter series or Pokémon.

Some scenes and dialogue are derived from Prisoner of Azkaban.

Chapter Twenty Nine: Examination

There were many things that Moon could be doing, and taking the exams with everyone else was the least appealing option. Watching everyone worry and fret over their work reminded her too much of the attitudes her classmates in mandatory school had taken. The subjects were different, but the behaviour was the same. The teachers weren't expecting them to perform perfectly, and anyone rarely did, so there was no reason to get hung up over minor mistakes.

"You're transfiguration was fine," Moon assured Hermione, who had been worrying over how her tortoise ended up looking like a turtle during the Transfiguration exam.

The exams did drag themselves out a fair bit, but that was only because Moon was hoping that, at any second, Dawn would appear to take her away. Attempting to distract herself by studying didn't work for very long. Having Rotom back didn't help her with focusing, either.

"So Harry lost two useful objects in one day because he sneaked out, and your first reaction is to swear and be mad at the teachers."

"Don't tell me you're surprised," Moon muttered, reviewing her notes. She could feel the other three students staring at her.

"Why were you upset with Professor Lupin?" Harry asked. "Snape, I understand, but Lupin kept me from getting in more trouble."

"It had to do more with what he said to you. I thought it was an unprofessional, low blow."

Rotom snickered, but didn't say anything.

"That didn't mean you had to go up to him and get him to apologize," Harry said.

"Lupin asked me to stay after class because I was angry at the time," she countered. "Maybe it was petty of me to hold a grudge, but my point stands."

"That'zzz not the only reason you were angry at him."

"Quiet you," Moon muttered, staring down at her textbook. She could feel Hermione's gaze.

"Is there something… other than what Professor Lupin said that made you dislike him?" the brunette said knowingly. Moon could guess her train of thought; the obvious assumption was that she hated him for his lycanthropy, despite what she had said earlier.

"No."

"Yezz there izzzzz," Rotom drawled. The pokédex was enjoying watching her avoid the topic. She threw a glare at Rotom, who did not look the least bit sheepish.

"You've always acted a little weird in his class," Ron said, drawing her attention away from Rotom.

"No I haven't."

"Yes you have."

"No I—"

"It'z because she's related to him."

All of the blood drained from her face as she whipped her head back around to stare at Rotom again. "Oh for fu—were you blabbing like this at the Ministry too?"

"Not that particular tidbit of information," the pokédex defended. "Just elaborating on what May was saying."

"You're related to Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked slowly. All three of them were ogling her like she had sprouted a third foot out of her ear. She released a slow breath. There really wasn't any way to get around it.

"Yeah, we're related. Half-siblings, to be specific, through my… our father."

Comprehension dawned on Hermione's face. "That's why you didn't tell us about your father?"

"That's why I didn't tell anyone," Moon replied. "As far as I know, only Dumbledore is aware of this. And… Professor Lupin."

Rotom perked up. "You finally told him?"

"I accidently dropped those old photos I was carrying around. He saw the family portrait and… well…"

The electronic equivalent of a snort escaped from the pokédex. "Of course that'zz what happened."

"Mind if I see that photo?" Hermione asked suddenly. Moon rubbed the back of her neck, avoiding eye contact.

"I… kinda… left it behind…"

The hopeful look in Hermione's eyes faded. "Oh… well, never mind, then."

"Are you going to go back for it?" Harry asked

"I didn't really want to keep it that much," Moon said. Something clicked in her head, and she looked the boy in the eye. "Speaking of which, have you gone back for your cloak?"

"Haven't really gotten the chance," he admitted. "And if I get caught next to the secret passage again…"

"I could get it for you," Moon offered. His eyes widened in surprise.

"You'd do that?"

"Just tell me how to get to the secret passage."

"Tap the statue of the one-eyed witch and say Dissendium, the cloak should be nearby."

"Professor Lupin has the map with him, and he knew what it was," Ron said. "He could catch you going there, and if Snape sees you—"

"I'll get the map first then," Moon said. "It has to be somewhere in his office."

Hermione gave her a scandalised look. "You're going to break into a professor's office?" she asked, her voice unnecessarily low for a room containing four people and a ghost.

"I don't think it will come to that, but I will if I have to."

Even with her declaration, there wasn't really a suitable time to enter a professor's office during exams. Most of her time was spent studying, doing the exam, sleeping, or eating. There were no opportunities to sneak in or drop by. Moon concluded that she'd have to wait until she was finished with exams entirely.

Some exams such as Care of Magical Creatures, where they worked with Hippogriffs again, went easily for her. Others were more difficult, such as History of Magic where she had to fight to stay awake, or Potions that required extreme precision.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was the most difficult of them all. Not in the execution of it, but the result. The obstacle course was unique compared to the other exams, but it wasn't that much different from some of the trials Moon had faced. She managed to get past the Grindylow and the Red Caps with ease, and only struggled with the Hinkypunk's directions for a minute. She ended up near a trunk that had expansion charms on the interior. There was supposed to be a Boggart inside that she'd face alone. She ignored the way Lupin was deliberately staring down at his notes as she climbed inside and shut the lid behind her. She could handle another fluffy Absol on her own.

Moon turned to face the Boggart, only to see Lupin standing there.

Her eyes instinctively darted up to the lid of the trunk. She hadn't imagined him standing nearby, holding a clipboard and waiting for her to finish the exam. He had explicitly stated before the test that he would not be interfering with the obstacle course unless they were completely stuck.

"I thought you'd be smart enough to figure this out in an instant. Perhaps my expectations were too high."

She looked back at him. There was thinly-veiled disdain in his voice, something that she had never heard—or expected to hear—from the normally kind professor. That was when it clicked.

"You're the Boggart."

"That took you a while."

"I was expecting an Absol again," she said evenly, "not… you."

"Strange how Boggarts work," he said, much more pleasantly than before. "They know you better than you know yourself. And, if you don't know what your worst fear is, or how to make it funny…" the Boggart grinned, showing off sharp teeth, "you get stuck."

Moon was stuck. She wouldn't laugh at seeing the Boggart in a dress this time.

"You should have learned this years ago," the makeshift professor continued. "If our father had stuck around and had thought you were worth teaching, you shouldn't have had to learn everything last summer. You were kept in the dark until then, weren't you?"

The Boggart's grin only grew when she didn't respond. She shouldn't engage it in conversation, she had to find a way to make it funny before it got to her head.

"He didn't bother to check on you," the Boggart continued, "even after you did all those… what were they called? Heroic acts? You weren't the first one to do things like that, though. The other champions faced challenges far greater than what you experienced."

"You shouldn't know about that," she stated.

"You know about it, and that's enough for me," it said almost happily. "I'm what you fear, after all."

"I'm not afraid of you," she insisted.

"Of course not," it agreed, much to her surprise, before continuing. "You're not that simple. This was just the best form to take. But, if you so desperately need the hint…"

The Boggart shifted and warped until it was no longer Lupin, but Red standing in front of her.

"You're so incredibly needy," the Red doppelganger said. "You try to pretend that you're this distant, untouchable champion who doesn't need to rely on others because you don't know how to make people like you. You crave approval like a toddler with a crayon drawing. There's nothing special about you."

Tears were starting to leak out of her eyes when the Boggart morphed back into Lupin. It sneered at her, taking a step closer.

"And against all logic, you want the approval of someone who didn't know or care about your existence until recently. Someone who's only obligation to care about you is through an arbitrary biological link."

The Boggart towered over her. She froze, not having a clue what to do to make it funny. It grinned maliciously, an expression that was completely bizarre on Lupin's face.

"How pathetic are you to want some recognition from a lowly werewolf of all people?"

Moon pressed the tip of her wand against the doppelganger's throat, an idea rapidly forming.

"Riddikulus!"

The Boggart's form wavered before it was forced to shift. It was surprisingly like her first encounter with a Boggart, except instead of merely sprouting fur, the entire body morphed; the ears moved to the top of the head, the nose and mouth melded together into a snout, and a tail formed between the hind paws that were once feet. The other two paws rested on her shoulders.

She found herself staring into the startlingly humanlike green eyes of a werewolf.

The sound of the trunk opening caught her attention, but she didn't look away.

"Moon, is everything—"

Lupin's concerned voice broke when he presumably saw the form the Boggart had taken. She had nearly opened her mouth to respond when the werewolf-Boggart licked her face like Lycanroc did, covering her in drool from her chin to her forehead.

Moon laughed loudly, barely noticing the Boggart dropping to the floor with a whine and trotting to the back of the enclosure. She was still chuckling when she went to leave the trunk. Lupin hastily moved away to give her room to step out. She blinked rapidly, temporarily blinded by the sun and the remainder of her tears. When her vision returned, she saw the professor watching her warily.

"I thought you said you wouldn't interfere?" she asked, her enormous grin still prevalent.

"… The Boggart took you a while," he said weakly, "I wanted to be sure you weren't in trouble."

There was something in his voice that sounded like he was holding back from asking her about the Boggart's original form or why she thought a werewolf of all things was funny. There were still students waiting to complete their exams, however, so she was unable to explain. She wasn't even sure she could explain. She left the professor behind to go prepare for her final exam, the occasional snicker still escaping her as she walked back up to the castle.

Divination was the last exam, and although one could read about interpreting the smoke in a crystal ball until their eyes fell out, it couldn't really be understood through anything other than practice. Moon didn't bother to bring up her textbook to the tower. Hermione went off to Muggle Studies, and Harry, Ron and Moon went to the seventh floor. The other students were sitting on the staircase, some with their textbooks open, some others chatting.

"She's seeing us all separately," Neville mentioned as they sat on the staircase near him. His Divination textbook was open at the section that went over the specifics of crystal-gazing. "Have any of you ever seen anything in a crystal ball?" he asked, sounding overwhelmed. Both Harry and Ron shook their heads.

"I think I might've seen something," Moon answered, remembering the first time she looked into a crystal ball. The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed that she saw her pictures falling to the floor, and Lupin taking one of them.

The waiting line gradually shortened as the students completed the exam one after another. As each student exited the Divination classroom, the people closest to them would immediately ask them how the test went, and what they were expected to do. No one answered.

"She says the crystal ball's told her that, if I tell you, I'll have a horrible accident!" Neville said shrilly as he rushed down the ladder and away from the classroom. Enough students had gone through within the hour that the three of them had moved up to the landing.

"That's convenient," Ron snorted, his disbelief evident. "You know, I'm starting to think Hermione was right about her," he gestured towards the trapdoor leading to the classroom, "she's a right old fraud."

"Wouldn't pass that judgement just yet if I were you," Moon said. "You've still got to take the exam. Wait until afterwards to talk about her credibility."

Harry checked his watch. "That'll be a long time to wait. Wish she'd hurry up."

Parvati was glowing when she climbed down the ladder.

"She says I've got all the makings of a true Seer. I saw loads of stuff," she said happily, "…well, good luck!"

Parvati dashed down the stairs to meet with Lavender and discuss what they saw in their Orbs.

"Ronald Weasley," Professor Trelawney's voice chimed from above. Ron grimaced before climbing the ladder to the Divination classroom, leaving Moon and Harry behind.

"Do you think she's a fraud?" Moon asked as soon as Ron disappeared from view. Harry's brow creased.

"She's not exactly reliable with her predictions, is she?" he responded.

"Not sure about that," Moon said, her eyes drifting to the ladder. "She was right about Lavender's rabbit, and Hermione leaving. It's a bit too weird to call those coincidences."

"She keeps predicting me dying every time she sees me."

"She sees a big black dog, thinks it's the Grim, and predicts that you're going to die soon," Moon countered. "I'll say she's partially wrong in this case. Seeing the possibilities and interpreting them are separate parts of Divination."

He shrugged, as if he didn't care for an explanation to Trelawney's wild proclamations.

Ron eventually descended from the ladder, his face flushed from irritation.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked, standing up from his spot on the staircase.

"Rubbish," Ron said flatly. "Couldn't see a thing, so I made some stuff up. Don't think she was convinced, though…"

Harry mumbled something that Moon couldn't hear, just as Trelawney's voice called out, "Harry Potter!" Ron gave her a nod before heading down the stairs, and Harry climbed up the ladder, leaving the champion by herself.

She leaned her head against the wall and let her thoughts drift. She still needed to retrieve the map and the cloak, preferably in that order, and preferably before the next day. Exams had gotten in the way, but she'd be free of them soon enough. The only problem was how to get the map from Lupin's office…

It couldn't have been more than ten minutes before Harry was scrambling down the ladder, his face exceptionally pale and his eyes wide. Moon pushed herself off the ground, suddenly overwhelmed with concern.

"Harry?"

He opened his mouth to respond when Trelawney interrupted.

"Moon Blakesley."

Both looked at the ladder, and then back at each other.

"Meet me near the portrait of the Fat Lady when you're done, I'll tell you then," he said hurriedly. Moon nodded, watching him head down the staircase to join Ron. She turned back to the ladder and, with a deep breath, ascended into the Divination classroom.

The smoky sweet scent was more powerful than ever before. All of the curtains were drawn shut, and the only light came from the roaring fire and the enormous crystal ball that sat in front of Professor Trelawney.

"Come in, my dear, and sit," the woman uttered, her voice as mystical as ever. Moon sank into the plush cushion across from her professor. "Now, as you've done before, gaze into the Orb… watch the mist… tell me what you discover."

Moon crossed her legs on the cushion and leaned forward, pushing her thoughts of breaking into offices and meeting near a portrait to the corner of her mind. The fog danced within the crystal ball, slowly settling into a cloaked figure that hovered in the Orb.

"Well?" Trelawney's light voice pressed. "Have you seen something yet?"

"I'm… not sure what this is," Moon admitted slowly. "It could be a Dementor, but the head's all wrong…"

"Keep gazing, it will come to you," the professor encouraged. "What's it doing?"

"It's… it's following someone. A woman. But they're not alone…"

The cloaked creature was trailing behind a feminine figure, who was walking with three other people. There was another one with them, but their legs weren't moving.

"I'm not sure what this means," she breathed. The smoke wasn't doing anything to calm her down. The fog twisted to let shadows surround the figures. Two of the figures stumbled, while the other two—

"Best guess then. It's the effort that counts here."

Moon looked up at Trelawney's insect-eyes, breaking her concentration.

"It's someone's worst nightmare," she said, a chill running through her despite the stifling heat of the room.

Professor Trelawney leaned back in her chair, her magnified eyes blinking rapidly. Then, she nodded.

"Very well done, my dear," she said. "That will be all for today."

Moon left the cushion seat and made her way to the ladder. When her feet touched the floor of the landing and the trapdoor shut behind her, she moved towards the wall to lean against it. Her legs were trembling so much that she was having trouble standing. Her breathing had become sharp and uneven, so much so that she had to take deliberately slow breaths to calm her fiercely beating heart.

Whatever she had seen was not a Dementor. That much she was certain of. But the cloaked creature had made her heart race with adrenaline and fear. It was a familiar sensation, one she hadn't experienced in several months.

It was the same thrill she got when facing legendary pokémon.