O.W.L.s
Any euphoria Arthur and David had of winning the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor ebbed away instantly when Chrys informed them of what happened to her the following day after the match under the shade of the beech tree, sitting with their books spread out.
It turned out that Hagrid took Chrys into the Forbidden Forest right after the first goal and took her to meet his giant half brother named Grawp, which explained Hagrid's wounds and why he left the Forest early in the morning. She then explained how Hagrid expects them to teach Grawp English and take care of him if Hagrid is forced to leave the school.
She described Grawp as being sixteen feet tall and enjoys ripping up twenty foot pine trees.
"Are you kidding me?" Arthur hissed in absolute outrage. "He expects us to just do as he asks?"
"And he actually brought a giant back and hid it in the Forest?" David asked, also outraged.
"I kept telling him that he's officially lost his mind, but he just wouldn't listen!" Chrys hissed. "And he unfortunately made me promise."
"Well, you can't keep it, no matter what he says." David said firmly. "How does he expect us to teach Grawp English when we have exams and are close to being chucked out? And just when Norbert and Aragog were bad enough. We've never done well when interacting with his dangerous creatures."
"But we promised." Chrys pointed out.
"I'm sorry, Chrys, but David's right. If Hagrid is sacked, we can't help Grawp out." Arthur shook his head.
The castle grounds gleamed in the sunlight like it was a fresh painting; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake; the satin green lawns rippled occasionally in gentle breezes.
June had finally arrived, but to the fifth years, this meant only one thing: that their O.W.L.s were finally upon them.
Their teachers were no longer setting homework for them; their lessons were now devoted to revising the topics that the teachers thought were most likely to come up in the exams. The purposeful, feverish atmosphere drove nearly everything but the O.W.L.s out of Arthur's mind.
Of course, people started acting oddly with the exams coming closer. Ernie Macmillan developed an irritating habit of interrogating people to see what their revision practices were.
"How many hours d'you think you're doing a day?" He demanded of Arthur, David and Mike as they queued outside of Herbology, a manic gleam in his eyes.
"Eight hours per day." Arthur answered for them.
"I'm doing eight." Ernie said as he puffed out his chest. "Eight or nine. I'm getting an hour in before breakfast every day. Eight's my average. I can do ten on a good weekend day. I did nine and a half on Monday. Not so good on Tuesday - only seven and a quarter. Then on Wednesday -"
Arthur was so thankful that Sprout ushered them into greenhouse three at that point, which forced Ernier to abandon his recital.
Of course, Draco had his own method to induce panic.
"Of course, it's not what you know…" He was heard telling Crabbe and Goyle loudly outside of Potions a few days before the exams were to start. "...it's who you know. Now, father's been friendly with the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years - old Griselda Marchbanks - we've had her round for dinner and everything…."
"There's no way that's true." Chrys whispered.
"I don't think it's true." Neville said quietly from behind her, Arthur, Mike and David. "Because Griselda Marchbanks is a friend of my gran's, and she's never mentioned the Malfoys."
"What's she like?" Chrys asked at once. "Is she strict?"
"Bit like gran, really." Neville said in a subdued voice.
"Would knowing her affect your chances?" David asked.
"Oh, I don't think it will make any difference." Neville said, still more miserably. "Gran's always telling Professor Marchbanks I'm not as good as my dad… well… you saw what she's like at St Mungo's…."
Neville looked fixedly at the floor. The four all glanced at each other, not knowing what to say. It was the first time he had acknowledged that they met at the wizarding hospital.
Meanwhile, there was a flourishing black market trade in aids to concentration, mental agility and wakefulness sprang up among the fifth and seventh years.
David and Chrys did their jobs as Prefects to confiscate them, knowing that none of them worked and were just scams.
Everyone would receive their examination timetables and details of the procedure for O.W.L.s during their next Transfiguration lesson.
"As you can see…" McGonagall told the class as they all copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard. "...your O.W.L.s are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory papers in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night. Now, I must warn you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new - Headmistress -" She pronounced the word with the same look someone would have when contemplating a particularly stubborn bit of dirt. " - has asked the Heads of house to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely - because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the Headmistress' new regime at the school -" She then made a tiny sigh with her nose flaring. " - however, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about."
"Professor." Chrys said, her hand in the air. "When do we find out our results?"
"An owl will be sent to you some time in July." McGonagall said.
"Excellent…" Dean said in an audible whisper. "...so we don;t have to worry about it till the holidays."
Their first examination, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning. Arthur tested Mike after lunch on Sunday as David did the same for Chrys, all four of them, now feeling like they were about to vomit from all the anxiety they felt for what will come tomorrow.
Later, during dinner, none of them talked and just ate their food with gusto, having studied all day from the moment they woke up.
"Oh, my goodness." Chrys suddenly said, staring into the Entrance Hall. "The examiners are here."
The three boys all whipped around to see. Through the doors to the Great Hall, they saw Umbridge standing with a small group of ancient looking witches and wizards. And much to Arthur's delight, Umbridge looked nervous.
"Let's get a closer look." David suggested.
All four hastened towards the double doors to the Entrance Hall, slowing down as they stepped over the threshold to walk past the examiners. Arthur thought that Marchbanks had to be the tiny, stooped witch that had a face so lined that it looked like it was draped in cobwebs; Umbridge spoke to her deferentially. Marchbanks seemed to be a bit deaf; she answered Umbridge very loudly considering that they're a foot apart.
"Journey was fine, journey was fine, we've made it plenty of times before!" She said impatiently. "Now, I haven't heard from Dumbledore lately!" She added, peering around the Hall, hopeful that he'd emerge. "No idea where he is, I suppose?"
"None at all." Umbridge replied, shooting a malevolent look at the four, who all dawdled around the foot of the stairs as David pretended to do his shoelace. "But I daresay the Ministry of Magic will track him down soon enough."
"I doubt it…" Marchbanks shouted. "...not if Dumbledore doesn't want to be found! I should know… examined him personally in Transfiguration and Charms when he did N.E.W.T.s… did things with a wand I'd never seen before."
"Yes… well…" Umbridge said as the four dragged their feet up the marble staircase as slowly as they dared. "...let me show you to the staff room. I daresay you'd like a cup of tea after your journey."
It was an uncomfortable evening.
Everyone tried doing last minute revision yet no one got very far.
Arthur ultimately went to bed early and tried to fall asleep, yet he found himself remembering McGonagall's furious declaration that she'll help him become an Auror if it's the last thing she does during his careers consultation. It made him think that he should have had a more achievable ambition as he didn't want his favourite teacher to get into trouble.
Eventually, he fell asleep.
None of the fifth years talked much at breakfast the next day: Parvati practised incantations under breath, making the salt shaker in front of her twitch; Chrys muttered to herself, remembering what she read; and Neville kept dropping his knife and fork, knocking over the marmalade.
Once breakfast was over, the fifth and seventh years all milled around in the Entrance Hall as the other students went off for their lessons; then, at half past nine, they were all called forwards class by class to reenter the Great Hall, which was rearranged to exactly as it was when Arthur saw it in the Pensieve with his father, Sirius and Snape when they took their O.W.L.s; the four house tables were removed and replaced with many tables for one, all facing the staff table end of the Hall where McGonagall stood facing them.
When they were all seated and quieted down, she said "You may begin" and turned over a large hourglass on the desk beside her, where there were also spare quills, ink bottles and rolls of parchment.
Arthur turned over his paper and lowered his eyes to the first question:
a) Give the incantation and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly.
Arthur remembered the club soaring high into the air and landed loudly on the thick skull of a troll on Hallowe'en in his first year. He smiled slightly as he started writing.
"That was actually much easier than expected." Chrys said in the Entrance Hall two hours later, still clutching the exam paper.
The fifth years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four house tables having reappeared for the lunch hour), before trooping off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they'd wait until they were called for their practical examinations.
As small groups of students were called forwards in alphabetical order, those that were left behind all muttered incantations and practised wand movements, occasionally poking each other in the back or eye by accident.
Students that were tested didn't return afterwards, therefore, both Arthur and Chrys had no idea how both Mike and David had done.
"They'll be fine. They normally get good grades in Charms." Chrys said to a nervous Arthur, worried about how his boyfriend would do.
Ten minutes later, Flitwick called "Parkinson, Pansy - Patil, Padma - Patil, Parvati - Pendergast, Arthur."
"Good luck." Chrys said quietly as Arthur got up and walked into the Great Hall, clutching his wand so tight that his hand shook.
"Professor Tofty is free, Pendergast." Flitwick squeaked, who stood just outside the door. He pointed him towards who had to be the very oldest and baldest examiner who sat behind a small table in a far corner, a short distance from Marchbanks, who was halfway through testing Draco.
"Pendergast, is it?" Tofty said, consulting his notes and peering over his pince-nez at Arthur as he approached. "The famous Pendergast?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Draco throwing a scathing look at him; the wine glass Draco had been levitating fell to the floor and smashed. Arthur couldn't suppress his grin, Tofty smiling back at him encouragingly.
"That's it…" He said in his quavery old voice. "...no need to be nervous. Now, if I could ask you to take this egg cup and make it do some cart wheels for me.
Arthur passed very well. His Levitation Charm made Draco's look incompetent and he went through the Colour Change and Growth Charms with ease, making his rat turn orange for example.
Later, Chrys said that she was able to pass with ease.
There wasn't any time to relax that night; they all went straight to the common room after dinner and submerged themselves in revision for Transfiguration the next day; Arthur then went to bed with his head cool and calm, knowing he'll succeed in Transfiguration, his best subject other than Defence Against the Dark Arts.
His written paper the next morning was hard but rewarding and his practical was the most natural he felt with the subject, being able to Vanish the entirety of his iguana. Meanwhile, Hannah Abbott lost her head completely at the next table and had somehow multiplied her ferret into a flock of flamingos, causing the examination to be halted for ten minutes as the birds were captured and carried out of the Hall.
Their Herbology exam was on Wednesday and Arthur did well, though he felt that he didn't do as well compared to Charms and Transfiguration.
Then, on Thursday, it was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Arthur had passed with flying colours. He answered all of the questions with ease and he felt pure pleasure during the practical examination, in performing all the counter jinxes and defensive spells right in front of Umbridge, who watched coolly from near the doors into the Entrance Hall.
"Oh, bravo!" Tofty cried, who examined Arthur again, when Arthur demonstrated a perfect Boggart banishing spell. "Very good indeed! Well, I think that's all, Pendergast… unless…."
He leaned forwards a little.
"I heard, from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that you can produce a Patronus? For a bonus point….?"
Arthur raised his wand, looking directly at Umbridge, imagining her being imprisoned in Azkaban.
"Expecto patronum!"
His silver lion erupted from his wand and cantered the length of the Hall. All the examiners looked to watch its progress and when it dissolved into silver mist, Tofty clapped his veined and knotted hands enthusiastically.
"Excellent! Very well, Pendergast, you may go!"
As Arthur passed Umbridge beside the door, their eyes met. There was a nasty smile on her wide, slack mouth, yet he didn't care. He knew that he would at least get an 'Outstanding' O.W.L. for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
On Friday, Arthur, Mike and David had a free day off as Chrys went off for her Ancient Runes exam, and since they had a whole weekend in front of them, they decided to have a break from their revision.
Arthur and Mike in particular cuddled together by the open window, where the warm summer air wafted in, with David nearby reading a book.
Arthur could see Hagrid in the distance, teaching a class on the edge of the Forest.
Eventually, Chrys clambered in and looked a bit anxious.
"How was the exam?" David asked, placing a bookmark in the book.
"I think I might've mistranslated a word, but overall, I think I'll get a good grade." Chrys replied.
"Then why are you so anxious?" Arthur asked as he and David sat up.
"It's because someone put another Niffler in Umbridge's office. I heard her shriek her head off and it seemed like it was trying to take a chunk out of her leg."
"And?" The boys all said, not understanding the point.
"She thinks it's Hagrid that did it!" She said.
The three boys all looked worried. They knew that Umbridge is the type to not care for proof, looking for any excuse to fire someone like Hagrid, a half-breed who has close ties to Dumbledore.
Her anxiousness carried over for most of the weekend as they revised for Potions on Monday.
The written paper had to be the most difficult that Arthur had done so far, though he was able to answer all questions correctly, knowing that he'd get top marks on the question about Polyjuice Potion, describing the effects accurately, having taken some illegally during his second year.
The afternoon practical was actually much more pleasant than expected. With Snape's absence, he was more relaxed when making the potion. And Neville, who sat very near to him, looked happier than he ever did during a Potions class.
When Marchbanks said "Step away from your cauldrons, please, the examination is over", Arthur corked his sample flask and knew that he'd receive an 'Outstanding', which gave him hope that he'd be able to become an Auror.
"Only four exams left." Parvati Patil said wearily as they all headed back to the Gryffindor common room.
"Says you!" Chrys snapped at her. "I also have Arithmancy, which has to be the most difficult subject!"
Thankfully, no one snapped back at her.
Arthur was the most determined to perform well in Tuesday's Care of Magical Creatures exam because he didn't want to let Hagrid down.
The practical examination took place in the afternoon on the lawn on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where students had to correctly identify the Knarl hidden among a dozen hedgehogs (the trick being to offer them all milk since Knarls, which are highly suspicious creatures with quills that had many magical properties, generally go berserk at they would assume was an attempt to poison them); then to demonstrate the correct handling of a Bowtruckle, feed and clean out a Fire Crab without sustaining any serious burns; and choose, from a wide selection of food, the diet they would give to a sick unicorn.
Arthur saw Hagrid watching anxiously out of his cabin window. When his examiner, a plump little witch this time, smiled at him, telling him he could leave, Arthur gave Hagrid a fleeting thumbs up before he headed back to the castle.
The Astronomy theory paper on Wednesday morning went well. Arthur found it easy to get all the names of Jupiter's moons. And since they had to wait until evening for their practical Astronomy, the afternoon was devoted to Divination.
The exam was easily the worst one for Arthur to complete. Though he didn't really care since this subject isn't important to become an Auror.
"Hey, we were always gonna fail that one regardless." David assured him as they ascended the marble staircase.
"If only someone like Firenze taught the subject from the beginning." Arthur groaned.
"Yeah… his classes were actually interesting. But hey, at least we can now give it up." Mike pointed out.
"True." Arthur shrugged with a smirk.
Chrys then came running up behind them.
"I believe I've done alright in Arithmancy." She said.
When they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock, they saw that it was a perfect night for stargazing, it was cloudless and still.
The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight and there was a slight chill in the air, which Arthur welcomed since the summer was hot.
Each of them set up their telescopes and, when Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star chart they were given.
Marchbanks and Tofty both strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets they were observing. All was quiet except for the rustling of parchment, the occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on its stand and the scribbling of many quills. Half an hour had passed, then an hour; the little squares of reflected gold light that flickered on the ground below started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were being extinguished.
But as Arthur had completed the Orion constellation on his chart, the front doors of the castle opened directly below the parapet where he stood, making light spill down the stone steps a little way across the lawn.
Arthur glanced down as he made a slight adjustment to the position of his telescope and saw five to six elongated shadows moving over the brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and the lawn became a sea of darkness again.
Arthur then put his eye back to his telescope and refocused it, now examining Venus.
He looked down at his chart to enter the planet there, yet something distracted him; pausing with his quill suspended over the parchment, he squinted into the shadowy grounds and saw half a dozen figures walking over the lawn.
If they didn't move, and the moonlight hadn't glided the tops of their heads, they would've been indistinguishable from the dark ground that they walked on. And even in the distance, he could easily recognise the walk of the squattest of them, leading the ground.
The only reason he could think of for her to be out at night with five others accompanying her would be to sack Hagrid, which made him furious.
Someone coughed behind him, making him remember that he's halfway through an exam. He filled in Venus' position.
Then he heard distant knocking that echoed through the deserted ground, which was followed by the muffled barking of a large dog.
Arthur looked up, his heart hammering. He saw lights on in Hagrid's windows and the people he observed crossing the lawn were now silhouetted against them. The door then opened and he saw six sharply defined figures walk over the threshold. The door then closed and there was silence.
Arthur was incredibly tense. He would glance around to see if David or Mike or Chrys noticed as well, but Marchbanks came behind him at that moment and, not wanting to look like he was cheating and sneak looks at anyone else's work, he added some notes to his star chart before he peered over the top of the parapet towards Hagrid's cabin. Figures were now moving across the windows, which temporarily blocked the light.
Arthur felt Marshbanks' eyes on the back of his neck and pressed his eye to his telescope, staring up at the moon, even though he marked its position an hour ago.
But then when Marshbanks moved on, he heard a roar from the distant cabin that echoed through the darkness all the way to the top of the Astronomy Tower.
Several people around Arthur ducked out from behind their telescopes and peered out in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.
Tofty gave a dry little cough.
"Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls." He said softly.
Most returned to their telescopes. Arthur looked and saw that Chrys was gazing transfixed at Hagrid's cabin.
"Ahem - twenty minutes to go." Tofty said.
Chrys jumped and returned to her star chart.
Arthur looked down at his own when a loud BANG rang out from the grounds.
Several people cried "Ouch!" when they poked themselves in the face with the ends of their telescopes and hastened to see what was going on below.
Hagrid's door suddenly burst open and by the light that was flooding out of the cabin, they saw Hagrid's massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, based on the tiny threads of red light that they cast in his direction, all tried to Stun him.
"Hagrid!" Chrys cried.
"My dear!" Tofty said in a scandalised tone. "This is an examination.
No one paid the slightest attention to their star charts any more.
Jets of red light still flew beside Hagrid's cabin, which actually bounced off him; he was still upright and still fighting, as far as Arthur could see. Cries and yells echoed across the ground; a man even yelled "Be reasonable, Hagrid!"
"Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!" Hagrid roared back.
Arthur then saw the tiny outline of Fang, who attempted to defend Hagrid, leaping repeatedly at the wizards surrounding him until a Stunning Spell hit him and he fell to the ground. Hagrid made a howl of fury before he lifted the culprit bodily from the ground and threw him; the man flew what had to be ten feet and didn't get back up.
Chrys gasped with both hands over her mouth; Arthur looked at both David and Mike and they were scared as well. None of them had ever seen Hagrid lose his temper at all.
"Look!" Parvati squealed, leaning over the parapet and pointed at the foot of the castle where the front doors were opened again; more light spilled out onto the dark lawn and a single long black shadow rippled across the lawn.
"Now, really!" Tofty said anxiously. "Only sixteen minutes left, you know!"
No one paid any attention to him: they all watched the person below sprint towards the battle beside Hagrid's cabin.
"How dare you!" The figure shouted as she ran. "How dare you!"
"Mum!" Mike whispered.
"Leave him alone! Alone, I say!" McGonagall said. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such -"
Mike roared in pure fury and rage at the same time as Chrys, Parvati and Lavender screamed. The figures around the cabin shot no fewer than four Stunners at McGonagall. Halfway between the cabin and the castle, red beams collided with her, making her glow an eerie red for a moment before she was lifted off her feet and landed hard on her back, moving no more.
"YOU BASTARDS!" Mike roared, scaring even Arthur as no one has seen him be this angry before. "YOU COWARDLY BASTARDS!" No doubt his voice can be heard down on the grounds, the people down there hearing the wrath of McGonagall's son.
"Galloping gargoyles!" Tofty said, now having forgotten the exam. "Not so much as a warning! Outrageous behaviour!"
"COWARDS!" Hagrid bellowed out, his voice carrying to the top of the tower, several lights flickering back on inside the castle. "RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT - AN' THAT -"
"Oh my -" Chrys gasped.
Hagrid made two massive swipes at his closest attackers; judging by their immediate collapse, they were both knocked out cold.
Arthur saw Hagrid double over and stood back up with what had to be Fang's limp body draping around his shoulders.
"Get him, get him!" Umbridge screamed, but her remaining helper was very reluctant to go within reach of Hagrid's fists; in fact, he backed away so fast that he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over.
Hagrid turned and ran with Fang still around his neck. Umbridge sent one last Stunning Spell after him, which missed; Hagrid, running full pelt towards the distant gates, now disappeared into the darkness.
There was a long minute's silence as everyone gazed open mouthed into the grounds, the only sound being Mike's growls of rage. Arthur was just speechless with rage and fury himself.
Tofty's voice then said feebly "Um… five minutes to go, everybody."
Arthur had already filled ninety percent of his chart and was desperate for the exam to just end right now.
Once it came, he, Mike, David and Chrys forced their telescopes haphazardly back into their holders and dashed down the spiral staircase.
None of the students went to bed; all talking loudly and even excitedly at the foot of the stairs about what they saw.
"That evil hag of a toad!" Mike hissed, barely able to talk through his rage. "He snuck on Hagrid and Stunned my mother! She deserves to be in Azkaban!"
"She clearly wanted to avoid another scene like Trelawney's." Ernie Macmillan said sagely, joining them.
"Hagrid's giant blood… it explains why those spells bounced off him." David said shakily.
People around the four drifted away, still talking excitedly about what they saw.
"Where will Hagrid go now?" David asked in concern.
"I don't know." Chrys said, now looking tearful.
Arthur meanwhile, held Mike's hand, now trying to calm him down.
They all made it back to the Gryffindor common room and found it to be full.
The commotion out in the grounds woke several people, who hastened to rouse their friends. Both Seamus and Dean, who arrived ahead of Arthur, Mike, David and Chrys, told everyone what they saw and heard from the top of the Astronomy Tower, which made everyone worried for Mike.
"But why sack Hagrid now?" Angelina asked, shaking her head. "It's not like Trelawney, he's been teaching much better than usual this year!"
"Because Umbridge despises half-breeds." Chrys said bitterly. "She's been trying to get Hagrid out since he got back."
"And she thought Hagrid was putting Nifflers in her office." Katie Bell piped up.
"Oh, blimey." Lee Jordan said, covering his mouth. "It's me who's been putting the Nifflers in her office. Jack and Kevin left me a couple; I've been levitating them in through her window.
"She'd have sacked him anyway." Dean said. "He was too close to Dumbledore."
"True." Arthur said, sinking next to Mike on the couch, rubbing his back to try and calm him down as he glared into the fireplace.
"I just hope Mike's mother will be alright." Lavender said tearfully.
"They carried her back up to the castle, we watched through the dormitory window." Colin Creevey said. "She didn't look very well."
"Madam Pomfrey will sort her out." Alicia Spinnet said firmly, patting Mike's shoulder. "She's never failed yet."
It was nearly four in the morning before the common room cleared out.
Arthur felt wide awake with Mike; the images of Hagrid sprinting away into the darkness and McGonagall's body rising from the ground before falling limp haunted him. He became so enraged that he wanted Umbridge to suffer every single punishment imaginable, even the Dementor's Kiss.
He would fall asleep imagining other means of revenge and would arise from bed three hours later feeling very unrested.
Their final exam, History of Magic, wouldn't take place until the afternoon.
Arthur did some last minute revision to keep his mind off what happened last night with Mike, who still looked furious, though he was able to be calm because he was with his boyfriend.
The fifth years all entered the Great Hall at two o'clock and took their places in front of their face down examination papers.
Arthur still felt exhausted. He desperately wanted this to be over so that he could go back to sleep.
"Turn over your papers." Marchbanks said from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hourglass. "You may begin."
Arthur, despite feeling exhausted, went through the questions carefully and as fast as he could, and since he loves history, even with a dull and boring class, he breezed through it.
By the time he was finished, knowing that he answered as best he could, he decided that he'll just have a nap.
He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands, making the glowing red of his eyelids grow dark and cool.
Arthur found himself walking down the cool dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries, walking with a firm and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a run, very much determined to reach his destination.
The black door swung open and he found himself in a large circular room with blue torches and many doors.
Straight across the stone floor and through the second door… patches of dancing light on the walls and floor and there was an odd mechanical clicking. There wasn't time to explore, he must hurry….
He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which swung open.
Arthur now found himself in a cathedral sized room full of shelves of glass spheres… his heart was beating fast… he just might get there this time.
He reached Number Ninety Seven and turned left, hurrying along the aisle between two rows….
There was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moved on the floor like some wounded animal… Arthur's stomach now contracted with fear.
A voice came from his mouth, it was a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness….
"Take it for me… lift it down, now… I cannot touch it… but you can…."
The black shape shifted a little. Arthur saw a long fingered white hand clutching a wand rise at the end of his arm… then the high, cold voice said "Crucio!"
The man on the floor cried out a scream of pain, attempting to stand but falling back, writing. Arthur laughed. He raised his wand, the curse lifted and the figure groaned, becoming motionless.
"Lord Voldemort is waiting…."
Very slowly, the man on the ground raised his shoulders with trembling arms a few inches and raised his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance….
"You'll have to kill me." Sirius said.
"Undoubtedly I shall in the end." The cold voice said. "But you will fetch it for me, Black… you think you have felt pain thus far? Think again… we have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream…."
But someone did scream as Voldemort lowered his wand again; someone yelled and fell sideways off a hot desk onto the cold stone floor; Arthur awoke as he hit the ground, still yelling, his scar on fire with the Great Hall erupting all around him.
Of all the things that Umbridge did in the films and books, what she and those Aurors did to McGonagall enraged me the most! NO ONE HURTS MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!
And just to let you all know in advance before the next chapter, I'm about to list what the characters going to the Department of Mysteries will be wearing:
Arthur - His long sleeve grey shirt that he wore in the first chapters of the story.
Mike - A brown cardigan and a purple shirt.
David - A long sleeve white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up the forearms.
Chrys - A blue sweater and jeans.
Mary - A light pink t-shirt and jeans.
Neville - A blue and grey sweater over a light orange button up shirt.
Luna - A dark blue sweater and a skirt.