Chapter 15
Exams, despite them occurring at the same time every year, seemed to take all of Hogwarts by surprise. Elle, who thrived under pressure, was constantly annoyed by the stress and panic that hung heavy in the air about Ravenclaw tower. Elle knew that she'd aced muggle studies, and her history of magic essay had gone flawlessly (though Rose had somehow written three more inches than she had). Her transfiguration had gone decently as well, Elle reckoned, though the spoon she had been trying to turn into a fork had looked more like a spork by the end. She'd produced a good DADA essay, though Elle had the sinking feeling that she'd gotten disarming and shielding charms confused in the last question. She knew she'd only gotten a passing grade in astrology, and that was only due to some long hours spent reviewing with Ruth, curled up on the rug next to the Ravenclaw hearth. A similar story could be said about Herbology, though Isidre was the one who had guided her through that one.
Charms had been her absolute favourite, and her guava had performed a beautiful tango. Flitwick had told her squeakily that she was the top of the class, which still filled Elle with warm happiness whenever she thought about it. All in all, going into her last final exam, Elle didn't think she was doing half bad.
The only thing about exam season that got to Elle was that it was becoming harder and harder to find a spot in the library. Elle found this particularly insulting, since her group of first years had been studying at the same table all year. Ever the early riser, Elle snuck out of the Ravenclaw dorm twenty minutes before curfew was lifted, her disillusionment charm confidently cast. She was determined to get their table back, having been ousted unceremoniously the night before by a group of seventh year Ravenclaws prepping for their morning DADA exam.
She turned the corner to the library just as the clock chimed loudly to signal the end of curfew. Elle removed of her concealment charm carelessly, sure there was no one else in the halls this early. It felt as if she was shaking off warm water that wasn't wet, somehow. "Where did you just come from?" a voice asked loudly. Elle nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to the voice and rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you lifted your eyes from that book you would've seen me, James Potter." The red headed boy shrugged. "Fair enough" he said, flipping a long piece of fringe out of his eyes. "I've never seen you at the library before" Elle mused, looking at the history of magic textbook James was still holding open in front of him. "Not welcome in Gryffindor tower at the moment" he said, not sounding too concerned about his exile. "Turns out fifth years can't take a joke right now, very touchy." Elle knew that James was referring to his latest prank, where he had managed to bewitch all O.W.L. preparatory materials to hoot incessantly once opened. "I'm glad Art talked me out of doing the same with the N.E.W.T. stuff, because Victoire has gotten frighteningly good at the bat bogey hex recently, and I don't think she would have found the ribbiting funny." "Newts don't ribbit you know" Elle laughed "they're not frogs."
James looked up from his book again, silencing Elle's giggle "not sure how you got here so early, Ravenclaw tower is twice the distance from the library than Gryffindor, and curfews just lifted" James suddenly observed. Elle blushed, but tried to play cool. "I'm... fast" she said lamely, not being able to come up with a clever retort on the spot. James raised an eyebrow at her, in a facial expression that was strikingly similar to Albus' own teasing. "Whatever you say… speedster" he said, his hazel eyes twinkling with laughter, before entering the large oak doors to the library that had just opened. Elle hurried to her coveted table, not making any more eye contact with the older Potter.
Rose and Ruth joined her about twenty minutes later, as the library was starting to fill up fast. Ruth handed her a piece of toast under the table discreetly, and Elle bent to feign tying her shoe, so she could eat it quickly before Madam Pince's beady eyes caught her breaking the "no eating in the library" rule. She popped up just in time to see the four boys join their table, taking the remaining seats. Elle offered a shy smile to Scorpius, remembering her quiet apology to him the night that Albus had confronted her. She wasn't sure she completely believed his "don't worry about" that he'd given in reply and was being extra nice to him as a result.
All of the young students poured over their potions notes for the next two hours. Finally, Sam had had enough. "I don't see why we're even in the library" he said, his voice raising dangerously above a whisper "most of potions is practical work anyways." Rose shushed Sam harshly. She looked a mess. Her bad habit of running her fingers through her hair when she was nervous had come back in full force, and as a result her head looked tiny surrounded by a halo of brown frizz, sticking almost straight out. "Hush Sam, I need to read over my notes on the seven uses of the scarab beetle again. Albus and I have already got the practical component sorted. We've assigned clear roles." Albus nodded in response, not looking too excited about the prospect of being Rose's partner for the upcoming exam.
"You don't keep the same partners for the potions exam" a voice behind them observed. Rose turned to Louis, panic in her face. "Whaddaymean?" She said in a rush, looking pale. Louis shrugged "they assign you random partners, probably to keep you from trying to plan ways to cheat beforehand. You guys have your exam in less than an hour, yeah? Can I grab this table then?" he asked, seeming unperturbed by Rose, who appeared to be choking on her own breath. Elle pulled at face at Louis "you know, most people don't memorize every year's exam schedule, so they know when library tables are about to free up." The tall blonde grinned "that's because not everyone is as smart as I am" he said, putting his bookbag on the spot of the table Elle had just vacated.
The seven first years rose, just as Louis waved over a group of fifth years by the door, all sporting shining prefect badges. Albus seemed to be trying to calm Rose down but was not having much success. They were halfway down the hall before she sputtered out her first intelligible words "could've… warned… going… to fail" Ruth patted Rose on the back reassuringly, glancing back to Elle who tried her best to provide support. "Don't worry Rose, we've all done brilliantly so far, I'm sure you'll be fine."
"Speak for yourself" Albus muttered darkly, stepping back from Rose to leave the comforting to Elle and Ruth. He fell back into step with Scorpius, letting Isidre and Sam lead the way to the dungeons. Albus waited patiently for Scorpius' refutal, but it did not come. He turned to the other boy, slightly hurt. Scorpius was ready, meeting his gaze with a glance that seemed to say 'really'? Scorpius sighed "I'm not going to repeat myself for the millionth time, Albus" he said, "you already know my stance on your exams." Albus tsked, annoyed "it's all well and good to say I bungled all the practicals because I lack confidence, but I really think you just haven't properly considered that I'm just not very good at magic."
Scorpius shrugged. "I didn't get the stupid guava to tango on my first try either Albus. The difference is that I didn't let it get to my head. You heard Sam, he exploded three of them before he got one to do a wobbly wiggle. No one told you that you could only cast the spell once. You just lost heart after your first try failed." Albus scowled bitterly. They had had this argument before, Scorpius was right. "I was just looking for a bit of moral support" he said, crossing his arms. Scorpius raised an eyebrow "I won't coddle you, Albus" he said. Albus huffed. The rest of the walk to the dungeons was silent, except for Rose's hyperventilating in front of them, and Isidre's small goodbye as he turned down a different corridor to his cohort's exam room.
Rose fought her way to the front of the small crowd of students that had started to huddle near their potions classroom door and let out a small shriek. "Scorpius, thank God, you're with me" she said, grabbing Scorpius and pulling him away from Albus to whisper hurried instructions to him. This left Albus to fight his way to the posted list at the door alone. He could have cried when he saw his name right next to Esmond Warbeck's.
Albus didn't dare meet Esmond's eyes until they had all filed in and taken their assigned tables. Starting to pull out his potions kit, Albus tentatively tried to start up a conversation "glad we're done with exams once this is over with" he said nervously. Esmond grunted neutrally, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Albus opened his mouth to say something about the weather, but Esmond cut him off "we're not friends. Just do as I say, and pray you aren't the reason I fail." Albus swallowed, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. "Yeah. Cheers." He snuck a small glance to the table to his left, where Scorpius gave him an encouraging smile.
Professor Gladwell clapped her hands, brining Albus's attention back to the front of the room. "Right! Students, you can overturn your parchments now, there is a potion we've gone over in class before assigned for you to recreate from memory. Each pair has a different assignment, so don't think you can just copy the tables around you. You have two hours. Begin." Albus reached to overturn his parchment, but Esmond slapped his hand out of the way, overturning it himself. The two boys groaned. They'd been assigned the Ex Libris Potion, which temporarily gave you the ability to read at 2x speed. It was by far the most complicated potion they had learned all year.
Without saying anything, Esmond got to work, grinding the dried scarab shells in his mortar and pestle. "Start chopping the dandelion root" Esmond instructed Albus, who obeyed. For the next hour and a half, things went well. Albus was not allowed to touch the cauldron, but Esmond assigned him different prep work. As the last thirty minutes closed in, the potion was turning a promising shade of navy. Most of the students had filtered out of the exam room by now, since very few potions they had learned this year required the full two hours to brew. Scorpius and Rose were still there though, Rose stirring frequently and muttering to herself, while Scorpius tended to the fire. It looked like they'd been assigned the forgetfulness draught, which should have only taken them about an hour and half, but Rose had insisted on getting all the ingredients prepped perfectly before even starting. Despite their setback however, the potion was turning clear, and would probably be ready to drink in another ten minutes.
Albus turned to Esmond, handing him the last ingredient he'd prepped, eye of newt soaked in brine. Esmond looked at him in disgust "what is this?" he demanded. "The last ingredient, eye of newt?" Albus replied, annoyed. "Why are they wet?" Esmond asked. "Because they have to be brined" Albus replied, repeating the obvious. Esmond shook his head, looking exasperated. "Dried eye of newt is the last ingredient, I'm sure of it." Albus rolled his eyes "no it's not" he said, reaching over to pour the bowl of newt eyes in the cauldron himself. Esmond grabbed his arm threateningly. "Don't you dare" he said, forcing Albus to put the bowl back down with a thud. Albus looked to Scorpius desperately. The blonde boy met his gaze, mouthing clearly 'try again'. Albus gulped, but turned to Esmond again, who was just reaching into his potions kit to find the dried newt eyes. "I really think the eyes need to be brined" Albus said, holding the bowl up again. This time, Esmond fully knocked the bowl out of his hand, and it broke with a crash that made the few students in the room gasp. Albus quickly ducked down, trying to collect the pieces of jagged porcelain from the stone floor. He was interrupted by a loud boom above his head and accompanying screams from the students around him. He popped back up to see Esmond standing, shocked, in front of an exploded cauldron, the jar of dried newt eyes in his hands. "I told you it was brined newt eyes, you git" Albus said loudly.
Professor Gladwell rushed over to their table, surveying the scene. Albus was still holding the shattered pieces of his brining bowl. Professor Gladwell tsked. "Esmond, ten points from Slytherin for making a mess and ignoring your partner's input" Esmond scowled at Albus, which was a funny image, since his eyebrows had been singed off. "Albus, I'll make a note that you identified the correct final ingredient" Gladwell continued. "you may go now. Esmond, you can stay and help me clean." Albus tried not to let Esmond see his grin, but Scorpius definitely caught it, because he gave him a subtle thumbs up on his way out.
Sam and Ruth were waiting for Albus outside in the corridor. "Heard a boom mate" Sam said at once "hope that wasn't you?" Albus snorted "nah, but Esmond's got no eyebrows right now." Sam laughed loudly. "Where did Elle run off to?" Albus asked, realizing she wasn't waiting in the hall "her and Matilda were done their boil cure potion ages ago." Sam shrugged, but Ruth answered. "She's off to see McGonagall again. Something about where she's living this summer."
Elle had been sitting in McGonagall's office for fifteen minutes now, as the headmistress had gone over the details of her living situation. "… there will be other children there, but the home is quite spacious… it's a quiet little countryside, but I'm sure you won't get bored…." Elle fidgeted in her chair, barely listening. She'd heard all that she needed to hear. First, McGonagall and Mr. Potter didn't want her back in the city this summer, so she would not be returning to London. Second, she would be living in a group home, and sharing a bedroom, so she would not be able to receive any owls from her friends. She would have nothing but time to think about her mother, and no opportunities to look for her. McGonagall had made it very clear that she had to stay on the property at all times, for her own safety "until we can get to the bottom of what exactly is going on". Running away was not an option. Elle had heard enough to decide that this was going to be the worst summer of her life.
Elle didn't tell her friends about her summer arrangements until they were on the train home, preferring to soak up her last few days of freedom without breaking bad news. Ravenclaw had won the house cup by a tiny margin, and she'd enjoyed the house pride and celebrating at the last feast. Her and Sam had invented a new game, where they competed on who could levitate stones from the lake up highest. They had only stopped when the giant squid had starting using the stones as batting practice, and someone had complained to a prefect. Elle had also discovered that Isidre was the only one capable of beating Rose in wizard's chess ("thank god" Albus had said, "she needs someone to humble her").
Of all her friends, Elle dreaded telling Isidre that she wouldn't be able to write the most. He had been excitedly talking about maybe receiving an owl from his father, as a late birthday gift, for weeks. Elle felt pretty guilty about missing Isidre's birthday. It had occurred in the few weeks that Elle had been withdrawn from the whole world, and she hadn't even registered when it was. He was a spring baby just like her. She'd missed her own birthday to her brooding as well.
The seven first years had settled into the same compartment that her, Rose, Albus, and Sam had occupied on their way to school. It felt like years had passed since then. The group of students laughed the hours away, reminiscing about pranks and classes and spells they had learned. It had even been long enough that Albus could chuckle over his disastrous first flying lesson. He'd improved a little since that day. Elle knew that Scorpius had been giving him pointers all year. Elle kept trying to find a time to break it to the group that she couldn't write, but she hadn't wanted to spoil the mood. Finally, the train was pulling into the platform and Elle couldn't wait any longer. "I have something to tell you all" she said sadly. "Wait! I have to go grab something" Isidre said, leaping to his feet. Before Elle could protest, he was already out of the compartment. Elle sighed. She would have to find him and tell him separately.
Her friends didn't take the news well. "I can still send you regular postage, can't I?" asked Sam hopefully. "We all learned how to send a muggle letter this year" Scorpius added in excitedly "I would be willing to give it a go." Albus laughed "Scorpius last time I quizzed you on how to send a letter, you told me that you needed to give it to a policeman to mail it." "Is that not right?" Scorpius asked concernedly "because that's definitely what I said on the exam." Elle laughed. "I appreciate it guys, really, but I won't be able to send you anything back. I don't have any stamps or anything and I'm not technically allowed to leave the property to go to a post office. I'll be alright, really. We can meet back here on platform nine and three quarters in two months. It'll go by quickly, honest." The rest of her friends didn't look like they believed her, but at that moment the whistle of the train, indicating that they were good to disembark, interrupted them. "I have to find Isidre and let him know" Elle said hurriedly, grabbing her trunk and cat carrier. She was surprised at how much easier it was for her to carry this time around. She must have had another growth spurt at the castle.
Elle fought her way across the waves of bodies streaming to and fro on the platform, dodging the family reunions to the best of her ability. She tried not to think about who should be waiting on the platform for her, blinking back tears. Finally, she spotted Isidre's tiny body and found her way to him. "There you are" he said, breathless, "I have something for you" he said shyly. Elle looked at him, confused. Isidre thrust a broom into her hand. "Where did you get this?" Elle asked, shocked "first years aren't allowed to have their own brooms." "Yeah well, I didn't know that did I? It got confiscated on the first day. I've only just got it back from the head boy now." Elle nodded, running her fingers over the wood and feeling the familiar warmth and thrum beneath her fingers. "I can't take this" Elle said, "it's yours." Isidre shrugged "I've got more at home. I meant what I said about you being able to make the Quidditch team next year. Just write to me soon about how she flies for you, yeah? Scorpius said you can borrow his owl." "Wait, Isidre, about that –" Elle started, but she was cut off by a squeaking voice at her feet.
"Master Isidre" the strange voice said. Elle looked down and noticed an odd creature, only about two feet tall, with large eyes and even larger ears. It appeared to be wearing a tea cozy as a skirt about its waist. "Oh. Hullo Lolo" the small boy said, looking embarrassed. The small creature reached out it's hand for Isidre's, and before Elle could say another word the two had disappeared with a loud crack. Elle was left standing on the busy train platform with a broom in her hand, not sure exactly what had just happened.
"Are you Miss Williams?" A voice behind her asked, and she turned to see a large woman, plainly dressed. She fit the description that Headmistress McGonagall had provided. "Yes" Elle said, sighing. She followed the woman marching out of the platform. Right as she was about to leave, Elle turned one last time, drinking in the chaos of platform nine and three quarters. "I'll be back soon" she promised, more to herself than to anyone else. Cat meowed loudly in agreement from his carrier.