The last few weeks leading up to finals were a total blur to Hermione. She asked Noa for help reminding her to turn in her homework on time as she didn't want to be called into the counselor's office again. Nothing against Senhora Roque, Hermione just couldn't afford to waste anymore time. She had already decided that whether she had parent permission or not she would be returning to Hogwarts to make sure that nothing else horrible happened to those she cared about. Even with that, she'd bounced around trying to decide whether going back to Hogwarts was the right thing and even resorted to card reading, but all she got was the King of Clubs and had no clue what that meant, so she flipped a coin instead. Then she decided that was dumb and her own feelings didn't matter, she had to go back so she could stop the adults from making any more messes they refused to fix.

Even if she had to do a mid-semester transfer after she turned seventeen, she would find a way to make it happen. It made her sad to leave behind her friends, but she had already told them all what she decided and so they were planning a surprise party to bid her farewell. The party hadn't been thrown yet, but Alejandro let it slip, bless his heart.

Alejandro had been a very sweet boyfriend. Kind and attentive. They'd gone out three times, once dancing, the other to a performance the theater club had put on, and the third was a double date with Cássia and Quripuma, and the couple had a study date twice a week leading up to exams. He was in the year above her and had a couple of her teachers so he gave her some prep work for her upcoming finals. It really, really sucked that she had to take cumulative finals alongside her Level Ones as was common with A-Group, but she decided to just count the finals as extra practice for the Level Ones. Besides, she didn't have to take Level Ones for her electives, it was strictly surrounding her core classes. Her final scores for her electives would probably determine if she would be able to continue on to the N.E.W.T. course back at Hogwarts. As her electives were not on the Hogwarts curriculum, she supposed she didn't have to worry about that.

"Are you okay, Nia?"

Hermione looked up from the notecard in her hand. "Hm?"

"You've been stuck on that card for a while," he said. "That's Archimedes' equation for—"

"—contradiction," Hermione finished. "Often used for when two spells are trying to cancel each other out on the same artifact or anchor stone. I know. I'm just… all up in my head."

"Worried about your exams?"

"Mm… maybe. I mean… I know my practical portions will get worse as the week goes on. Even with Hyrane's salve, my hands…" She flexed them and winced. "I can barely grip my wand as it is. I don't know what two weeks of writing and spellcasting is going to do to me. Of course, I could probably request to use a dictaquill on the written portion. Honestly, apparition will probably give me the fewest problems."

"You have the test next week right? How's that going for you?"

"I actually got to move on to the side-along lessons and that will be part of my test next week."

"That's good. Unfortunately, I can't apparate."

"No? Why not?"

"Maybe it's my troll side," he said, shrugging. "It's just not something I have the ability to do and not for a lack of trying either. People can side-along with me, but I personally can't."

"Well, not everyone chooses to apparate," said Hermione. "And, really, it's so much more draining than just taking the bus or the floo network."

"I don't lose sleep over it," he said. "Though I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek and untangled a lock of his hair from his horn. "Your hair is getting long."

"Yeah, I should probably cut it." He glanced at the clock. "It's late. They're about to call curfew."

"Already?"

"Yeah, I'll walk you back to your dorm."

"Thank you." She packed her things in her school bag, minding that her notes and study guides didn't get mixed up with his, and they left the common area. Only a couple people were left, but pretty soon Senhor Luna would be by to make sure they went to their dorms for the midnight curfew. These past few weeks seemed to be more strictly enforced than the rest of the year.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

"What makes you think anything is on my mind?" he asked evasively.

"When you have something you're not sure you want to say out loud, you make this chuffing noise," she said. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. I'll see you for our breakfast date, yeah?" She stretched up on her toes to kiss him and he rested his hands on her shoulders.

"It's probably rude to do this before finals," he said. "But given that your feelings for me are platonic, I think I'm in the clear."

"You're breaking up with me." It was a statement not a question.

He nodded. "I liked going on dates and I care about you, but I liked our dynamic better when we were friends. I know I asked you out and gave you a stone and everything." He cringed. "Does that make me terrible?"

"Not at all," she said. "We tried the dating thing, it doesn't work for us, but guess what?"

"What?"

"We can still be life-long friends and that's just as wonderful, don't you agree?"

"Yeah. It is. I don't think I really had people I could call close friends until you started S.A.M.B. It's great to have a community."

"It is." She hugged him tightly. "Still on for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Absolutely. Good night, Nia."

"Good night, Alejandro." Hermione backed into her room and closed the door.

~o0o~

"Hi! I'm Herminia Lotulelei-Sanchez y Granger. Welcome to the future of Wizard Society. No, I'm not talking about the radio—shit." Hermione sliced her hand across her throat and rubbed her forehead. "What take was that?"

"Fifteen," said Márcia.

"But who's counting?" said Bernice.

Hermione rubbed her temple. "Why do we need an introduction anyway? Our video speaks for itself doesn't it?"

"Dona Claudia said because you started the club you should be featured in our video," Cássia reminded her.

"Well can we tell Doña Claudia that I have a speech impediment and prefer to be behind the camera?"

"It's just a little preface," said Alejandro. "We had the written card in the beginning explaining what this was, just say that."

Hermione groaned and fell into a ragdoll position. She swung down and back up, resting her hands on her head. "Finals start tomorrow, we should be making copies of these videos yesterday."

Quripuma beckoned her hand and finger-spelled, "N-O-T-E-C-A-R-D."

Hermione handed the cards over with her lines. Quripuma waved her wand and made them into the size of regular cue cards. She held it just over the camera and waved for Márcia to start filming again.

"Action."

Hermione straightened her spine and hoped her smile wasn't too deranged.

"Hi! I'm Nia Lotulelei-Sanchez y Granger," she said. "Welcome to the future of Magic Society. I'm not just talking about the form of media you are currently enjoying, but also about the bridges we can build. It is the goal of the Society for the Advancement of Magical Beings or, S.A.M.B. with a silent 'B', for you to walk away from this seeing Magical Beings in a new light. This video is just a meet and greet, but if you'd like to learn more, we will be creating a series of documentaries to help you gain a greater understanding. You can get the documentaries for the Centaur Camp based in northern Brazil, the Cihuacoatl City in Southern Brazil, and the Troll's Hearthstone in Venezuela right here at this booth with even more to come. Now, it's time to listen and learn as we begin our film 'Your Friend, a Magical Being'."

"And cut."

"How was that?" Hermione asked. "I think I stuttered on a few words."

"You could hardly tell," said Bernice. "I'll take this to Manuel and Verónica. They don't have to worry about E.D.A.M.s so they'll have time to put this in and make copies to sell."

"People aren't going to buy these," said Hermione. "I think we should bump the prices up on the other recordings and just take those extra profits to compensate."

"I agree," said Cássia. "I mean… who would pay to learn about us? Besides people like you Nia."

"Well, hopefully we'll gain enough traction so we can charge some in the future and people will actually be happy about the proceeds going to disenfranchised peoples." She took a deep breath and sighed.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," said Bernice. "Maybe people will just write this off, but we'll at least be raising awareness. That's the first step, right?"

"Yeah… I just worry about what will happen when I leave."

"We won't let this organization die," said Márcia. "It's too important to all of us. And we can't be shut down. Ten years ago, the school board voted on a set of criteria that would enable them to ban a school club. It led to the ban of three clubs so far, but our club doesn't match the criteria."

"Alright, that's good then. The immediate goal is to just make things not worse."

"Exactly," Bernice agreed.

After dropping off the footage, the six of them went to Hermione's dorm to hunker down and finish cramming. Thankfully, their finals for the core classes only covered the last Unit rather than the cumulative they would face for their E.D.A.M.s.

~o0o~

Hermione ran to her first E.D.A.M. She was wearing her compression gloves and had everything she needed in her arms. Book bags were not permitted within the testing areas. All students were allowed a pencil bag, water, and a quiet snack. She had gone with gummy bears. Scratch paper would be provided. A week before, Hermione was given a sheet of paper in her mailbox telling her when her testing times were and where. It looked like she had one per day and she was scheduled for the first slot, which meant she had to be at the testing center by eight in the morning and would have until noon to finish. According to the sheet, students would be called into an adjacent room for the practical for Transfiguration, Arithmancy, and Charms. The Potions E.D.A.M. would be two hours written, two hours practical with a random potion assigned to her from a list they were given to memorize.

The first test of the day was Magizoology. Hermione just barely caught the tram to get to the testing location. As they would have a practical portion with actual creatures, the whole thing would take place outside. This and Horticulture were the only ones not taking place in a classroom.

Everyone looked frazzled and anxious. Some were mouthing information they had been studying while others looked to be praying. Hermione just wanted a nap. She hadn't had a good night's sleep… well, ever, but she couldn't even meditate like she normally would have. Frankly, she wanted this to be over and done with.

"Are you ready?" Noa asked.

"Meh."

"That's fair."

They unloaded at the sanctuary. As everything was staggered, Hermione's testing group (which would not change for the whole two weeks) only had thirty people. She was glad for the smaller size. Upon arrival, everyone was given a lap desk, a green exam book, and their pencil bags were scanned for cheating devices.

"Miss, please open your pencil case."

Hermione blinked in surprise and fumbled with her bag, working it open and held it out. The testing supervisor poked around with his wand and took out the dictaquill.

"Oh, I hadn't realized I grabbed that," she said. "Is there a place I can check it into? It was a gift from my b—my ex-boyfriend."

The supervisor looked at her hands.

"Can you actually write?"

"More or less."

"Is this auto-filling?"

"No, it's verbatim." She pointed to the word on the clip. "See?"

"If you consent to a bubble charm around your station, you may use it, but I will be watching for the first couple questions to make sure it's what you say. If you aren't telling the truth that this is a verbatim dictaquill you'll receive an automatic zero."

"That's fair," she said and took a seat a small ways away from the group. She had to turn her back so they couldn't try to read her lips and the testing supervisor made sure everyone had their materials.

"Everyone should have received a green booklet," he said, looking down at the clipboard in his hands. "Please write out your full names on the correct line as well as the date on the line below it. Under 'Class Number' please write AA3 - 227806." He drew it in the air with his wand. "If you need additional paper, have a question, or an emergency, please raise your hand and I will be by. In two hours you will have the opportunity to use the bathroom. One-by-one, we will collect you for the practical portion. For the practical you will receive three tasks of six and they will be random for each student. I am passing your test packets out now. You may write on the packet or use the scratch paper you have been provided." He flicked his wand so the packets and paper passed themselves out. "Please wait until I say to pull the red tab and open your packets. You will have four hours to complete your exam. We recommend you use as much time as you can to leave thorough and thoughtful responses. If you finish early, please raise your hand so I or the assistant supervisor can collect your packet. When you finish you may rest your head or request a book to read. Raise your hand if you have not received a packet." He paused and nobody raised their hands. "Raise your hand if you require a writing utensil." Again, no one raised their hands. "Alright. The time is now 8:32 in the morning. You will have exactly four hours to complete your exam. Your time begins now. You may open your packets."

Hermione opened hers. The testing supervisor came over and cast the bubble around them. She read the opening question to herself.

What makes the Peruvian Vipertooth unique from other dracones?

"Quill, prepare short answer," she said and the quill bounced up. "Peruvian Vipertooths are the most maternal out of any dracones and will raise a clutch of eggs until well into adolescence, even going as far as to adopt other dracones hatchlings or a human that happens to be confused for a baby wyvern. Source: ask Doña Claudia about the Sanchez-Wyvern incident in January. Due to competition of resources beginning from the colonial period, Vipertooths acquired a taste for human flesh. However, if their normal food sources are ample, then they will not resort to eating humans."

"You were the one that got kidnapped by a wyvern?" the testing supervisor asked.

"Quill, pause." She looked up at him. "Yeah. I made a video about it. Am I okay to keep using my dictaquill?"

He looked down at the paper. "Yes. You may proceed."

He left the bubble and Hermione was left to her devices. Each question was short answer which, frankly, she was relieved about. She hated multiple choice because the main goal of those always seemed to be to trick you and, occasionally they were downright incorrect. This way, at least it would be on her to be correct or not. She answered question after question until it was her turn. She had hoped she would go very first or very last, she hated being pulled out in the middle of a narration.

"Miss Sanchez, Herminia," the testing supervisor called again.

Hermione halted her quill, closed her packet and used the clips on the lap desk to keep her papers from blowing away. She hurried after the assistant testing supervisor over to the correct station, passing by one of her peers along the way. Waiting was another testing supervisor.

"Miss Herminia Lotulelei-Sanchez y Granger?" the supervisor asked.

"Yes."

"That name is a mouthful, have you considered shortening it?"

"Not willingly."

"Alright, Miss Sanchez, here is your first task. Please demonstrate correct handling of a bowtruckle." He led her over to the bowtruckle tree, but before she could do the right thing of enticing a bowtruckle with a snack, one jumped down and landed on her shoulder.

"I remember you," she said, holding up her hand with the back facing up. "You've gotten so big, Larry."

Larry the bowtruckle climbed onto her hand and chittered happily. His little spindly legs kept moving around so she made sure he had a place using both of her hands.

"Sorry, I caught him from the tree when he was born and he seems to have imprinted on me," she said. "Should I do a different task?"

"No, you're doing just fine," she said, marking notes. "If you could please tell me what a bowtruckle eats?"

"Insects, mostly, though some like to eat overripe fruit because they get drunk off of it and rumor has it that if you want to lure away an entire flock you can entice them with a jar of salsa."

"Alright, you can put Larry back in his tree and we will move on."

Hermione raised the bowtruckle to the branch and he squeaked and jumped away, grabbing onto the thin braid she'd woven into her hair.

"Larry, we talked about this," she scolded.

"Miss Sanchez, you're on the clock."

She sighed and hurried along to the next station. Larry hid himself in her hair to hide from the supervisor. She had to select the right food for a tropical hippogriff as well as correctly identifying an egg. She had identified it as a dragon egg. She knew a heat spell when she saw one and dragon eggs needed fire in order to hatch.

"You don't even want to hold it or weigh it or use the magnifying glass?" her supervisor asked.

"No need. That's a dragon egg. Judging by the coloring, I would say Norwegian Ridgeback. Their eggs are a dark, splotchy brown and almost look like acromantula eggs. You can tell them apart though, because if you hold up a light to a dragon egg, you can see the embryo inside whereas acromantula eggs are completely opaque.

"Alright, then I think we're done here."

"Please take him. I'm pretty sure my bird would eat him given the chance," she said, holding out Larry.

The instructor lured the creature back with a dab of something from a tube and Hermione quickly ran off, feeling guilty. However, last time she brought Larry back it took two hours to convince him to stay and she still had half a packet to go through for her exam.

Hermione did not finish early and had actually been in the middle of expanding one of her short essays when time was called. She had the rest of the afternoon off and met up with Cássia and Alejandro because they were also in the morning group while the rest of their friends were in the afternoon group.

"I wish I was in the afternoon group," Alejandro muttered.

"Why? So you'd have time to study beforehand?"

"No. Studies show cramming a few minutes before a test doesn't work. I just want to sleep in."

"Oh, I would love to sleep in without interruption," said Cássia. "Just once."

"Why can't you?" Hermione asked.

"Can't miss Fajr," she said matter-of-factly and the bracelet around her wrist made a distinct chiming sound. "Which way is east-northeast?"

Alejandro looked at the compass clipped to her bag and turned her the right direction. She knelt on the ground and placed her white cane in front of her. Hermione and Alejandro stood on either side of her to direct traffic so nobody would walk between her and her cane or try to interrupt her from her prayer.

"Okay, what were we talking about?" she said when she was done.

"Having to get up early."

Each day was a different exam and each day brought a new level of stress for Hermione. Her brain was so full, her heart was heavy, she was constantly on the verge of tears. For her final E.D.A.M., which was Transfiguration, her hands were on a completely new level of pain as over half of her testing supervisors did not allow the use of a dictaquill without prior permission and it was much too late for that. Why hadn't she requested that accommodation?"

"Miss Lotulelei-Sanchez y Granger?"

Hermione closed her packet, rose to her feet, and went into the adjacent room for her practical. She had gotten bonus points for Charms by successfully casting a patronus charm. The test advisor had adored and praised the turtle. Hermione entered the room, did a somersault, and landed on her four paws.

"Ta-da," she said, doing jazz hands. "Can I get back to my written test?"

"You're an animagus?" said the advisor. "It takes great skill to become an animagus at your age."

"Yes."

"So then you should have no trouble completing the three tasks."

She could have cursed. Instead, she turned back to her normal self and accomplished the bare minimum of the tasks except for the Vanishing spell. If she hadn't found the ferret running away, they would have docked points for doing a Banishing Charm instead. Her puffskein paperweight was plain and unremarkable and when she was asked to turn a whistle into a watch, she almost lost it knowing how well Cedric performed the spell.

Instead, she made a simple watch and returned to her desk in the main room. When time was up, she turned in her packet and sent a note with Noa to give to her friends. Apologize for skipping lunch, but that she needed a nap and would see them all either at dinner or tomorrow depending on when she woke up.

As calmly as possible, she walked to her dorm and entered it after some difficulty unlocking it. She closed the door, set her things down on her desk, and picked up one of her many pictures of Cedric. This one was candid. She had captured him sitting on the beach, his expression calm and peaceful while he watched the sunset. Hugging the picture to her chest, she laid down in the middle of the floor and allowed herself to cry the tears she'd been suppressing for over a month.

While she lay face down on the carpet and screamed and wailed, Crookshanks bumped his head against hers and curled up against her side so she could pull him into her arms and hug him, purring the whole time in hopes to heal her broken heart.