Chapter 15 : Preferential treatment

Nine exams. This was the minimum that fourth year students had to take at the beginning of June, seven core courses and two elective courses. Suffice to say that the workload was considerable.

Memory was put to the test with History of Magic or Muggle Studies, practical skills with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures and Astronomy and logic - which is so difficult to acquire - with Arithmancy. There were subjects for everyone, but even intelligent and hard-working students found that it was a lot to get through in such a short period of time. However, they had no choice. Like each year, they had to hold on and not give in to panic with the mass of work that they had on their heads.

This was particularly difficult for Akira who had missed a good part of the classes at the beginning of the school year. Because it was easier to remember something that had been explained during class for an hour than to see the material for the first time in its corner. Therefore, Akira had the unpleasant impression that she had only mastered part of the lessons on this Sunday evening which was the very last night before the exams, and even a sleepless night couldn't put everything into her head. Arcturus couldn't do much for her either, even though he had abandoned his own revisions to help her as much as possible in hers by reading and rereading aloud what she had missed.

"Okay, I think we're good with History of Magic." He commented while abruptly closing the thick book which was placed on the table in front of them.

They got the chance to find a place where to revise in the crowded common room full of stressed students, and Arcturus had spent the last hour showing to Akira the images of important historical events that she should remember by heart for the exam taking place the next morning. No need to say that she was completely fed up with all the names, dates and places to know.

"Do you want me to ask you some questions, just to be sure that you are ready for tomorrow ?" Arcturus offered even though he was bored because he already knew everything.

"Forget about it." Akira sighed while sliding on her chair before taking her face in her hands with annoyance. "It's almost midnight and we'll need all our faculties to face this horrible exam. And then, what will happen will happen because I don't have the courage to get tangled up in all these data this evening."

"Are you sure ?" Arcturus asked her with the greatest concern at her resigned look. "Sometimes, extra efforts can pay. And you can also take the Wit-Sharpening potion that I gave you for Christmas. It will help you greatly in your revisions. Also for the exam tomorrow, it will stay between the two of us." The latter added after leaning towards her to whisper these words in her ear since it was forbidden to take this kind of potion for an exam.

"No thanks." Akira replied before getting up from her chair as she could no longer see her History of Magic notes after spending so many hours on it. "Right now, I envy your super memory. It would be very practical for me to read things once and remember everything because I can't put anything more in my brain."

"It's not a gift, more of a curse. It's often an ordeal to not be able to forget anything." Arcturus admitted to her while getting up as well before stretching until his bones cracked after spending so much time on a chair to help Akira in her revisions. "And if I could, I would gladly lend you some for tomorrow but I don't know about a potion or spell that can transfer memory to another individual. It would be so useful."

"Well, we'll have to invent it for next year." Akira said in a sarcastic tone that made Arcturus smile mischievously. "In the meantime, I just want to reach my bed."

"Good night. And maybe take this as a bedside book if you ever wake up." Arcturus recommended while grabbing the huge History of Magic book that weighed its weight before handing it to her with trembling arms from the effort.

"What's next ? I'm already going to have nightmares thinking about the wars and other conflicts which have filled the history of the wizarding world, I don't want in addition to reread the precise events." Akira replied as she was very tempted at this point to throw the book in the fireplace even though no fire was burning at the moment since it was summer.

"Okay, no imposing books." Arcturus quickly said with a short breath before hurrying to put the book down before his arms gave way. "How about rereading my notes instead ? They're messy and I sometimes dozed off during class because of Binns' monotone tone but it's better than nothing." He insisted while handing her the stack of parchment.

"I'll be even more confused if I read all of this again." Akira pointed out while staring at the pile with reluctance. "I prefer to sleep on what I know and we'll see tomorrow how it goes."

"I'm crossing my fingers that it will go just fine." Arcturus added before showing her his two hands on which he actually crossed the index and middle fingers. "I've faith in you."

It was nice to hear and it was on this final comment that they each went to their dormitory unlike many Gryffindors who were still in the middle of their revisions. Once she reached hers, Akira immediately collapsed on her bed without even bothering to put on her pyjamas.

Contrary to what she had hoped, she was unable to rest that night. The apprehension of the exam kept her awake, or as soon as she finally managed to close her eyes she had a nightmare that woke her up brutally.

Even seeing the sun rise over the horizon didn't give her any relief since it was rather a harbinger of the start of the fateful day. History of Magic was the only exam of the day for the fourth year students but as soon as it was done, the others would follow at full speed to their great dismay. The next two weeks promised to be long, very long, and it was with great effort that Akira finally got out from her bed even though she really didn't want to face her exam paper. And Arcturus didn't want it either, although in his case he knew everything by heart and would do well in the exam, because he was supportive towards Akira. He didn't even allow himself to sleep peacefully as her success in the exam was his one and only concern.

"We could try to sit not far away from each other. That way, if you don't know the answer to a question, I can send it to you via a small piece of parchment. We just need to find out what code to put in place so that I know on which question you are stumbling over." He said in a low voice as they were eating their breakfast in the Great Hall.

"There's no need for you to put yourself in danger, especially for an exam like this." Akira told him before turning her attention to his hand which was holding his spoon as he was having difficulty to eat his bowl of oatmeal with it. "Are you still crossing your fingers ? Don't tell me that you did it all night !"

"Yes, and with both hands." Arcturus replied before showing her the other one which fingers were effectively crossed. "I was afraid that it will bring you bad luck if I uncross them."

"And how are you going to write ? Because even if you manage to scribble something on your parchment, I doubt that Binns will be able to read your answers."

"Well, my handwriting isn't that good normally so he might not see the difference." Arcturus pointed out while shrugging his shoulders before eating an other spoon of oatmeal which finished half on the table.

"No, but seriously. Stop trying so hard to help me because it's becoming ridiculous." Akira said half-angrily while leaning across the table to grab his hand before forcing his fingers to uncross and hold his spoon properly. "I'll manage to deal with that exam on my own. It won't be brilliant but I'll get through it."

"You better, otherwise I'll send a letter this summer to Dumbledore to ask him to put me back in fourth year so that we'll be in the same class. Well no, forget what I just said otherwise it will put pressure on you to succeed and you'll miss the exam." Arcturus hurriedly corrected.

"I'm already under pressure. So a little more or a little less." Akira thought darkly as she crumbled more of the toast that she had for breakfast instead of eating it.

Because an exam remains an exam, and well prepared or not you never know what you'll come across. The tension therefore reached its peak when the fourth year students were allowed to take their seat in the examination room as the exam was about to begin.

Worried about what she would find on her exam paper, Akira began tapping her heel on the ground impatiently. And to make matters worse, her brain had completely emptied itself with the little she knew. She didn't even remember her name, and Arcturus wasn't around to remind her about it as the seats had been assigned and he was put at the other end of the classroom from her position. No need to say that cheating as he suggested was impossible.

In the meantime, the exam papers were already waiting on each student's desk, probably thanks to the help of an assistant since Binns in his ghost state couldn't touch anything solid. They were put upside down so no one could read the content before his colleagues and once Binns finished explaining to them how the exam would be, they were allowed to take their paper and flip it.

"Let's see." Akira said to herself while reading all the questions in a hurry to see what it was all about.

She got to the end once, then read it a second time to make sure that she understood everything. Because she had the impression that she knew the answers to every question, which was impossible since she hadn't retained much from the courses at the beginning of the year despite all of Arcturus' efforts.

But sure enough, as she began to write down a more or less detailed answer to each question, she realized that they were all related to the part of the class that she had attended.

It was more than she had hoped for, having thought until then that she would fail this exam miserably, and her heart leapt with joy in her chest when she reached the end without having to put aside a single question. She even still had some time but she didn't have the strength to reread, so she waited until the remaining ten minutes passed to return her copy at the same time as the other students who now had the day free to study the next exams.

"How did it go ?" Arcturus asked her hurriedly with a grimace when they met in front of the room that was slowly emptying itself. "I was afraid for you at the questions four and nine. Only the students who were there for the first week of classes could answer correctly."

"It went fine." Akira replied before frowning at his statement. "Are you sure that they were related to very ancient material ? Because they didn't seem difficult to me. I managed to write an answer for everything."

"Really ?" Arcturus added as his worries had just given way to enthusiasm. "Did you crush this exam ? So awesome ! We should celebrate it."

"You're forgetting about tomorrow's Potions and Transfiguration exams." Akira reminded him while feeling oppressed again as she also lacked knowledge in these two classes. "I have to study right now and hard if I want to be ready."

"True." Arcturus admitted as her success mattered more than anything else for him. "Let's postpone the party and go in the Potions classroom to redo all of the mixtures that we learned this year."

"Two or three should be enough." Akira insisted since she wasn't ready to spend hours mixing, heating and adding random ingredients in her cauldron.

The exams continued like this the following days, leaving the students little time to breathe in between. However, Akira became more and more confident as they passed since she was doing well in all of them. Not "well" to get a good grade, but "well" to pass her year. And this was thanks to what was asked to her as all the questions were referred to materials that she had seen in the few lessons that she had attended.

She realized this during the Defence Against the Dark Arts practical exam, as she found herself alone in front of Deloney to show him what she was capable of against ten Red Caps which were hiding in the numerous cabinets scattered around the room for the occasion.

"Something bothers me about you." Deloney announced to her after leaning back against his desk while Akira was trying to spot the furtive movements of the creatures by spinning around with her brandished wand. "You missed the beginning of the school year for some reason that I still haven't been able to figure out, and then you missed a bunch of lessons willingly when you returned. According to me, it would be wise for you to repeat this year so that you acquire the knowledge that you lack. But instead, Professor Dumbledore instructed us to ask you exam questions about the material that you know. Why this preferential treatment ?"

"I don't know." Akira replied frankly as she was shocked by this news.

This distracted her enough for a Red Cap to sneak behind her and hit her on the head with its sledgehammer. Its colleagues took the opportunity to come out of their hiding place and also attack her while she was busy tearing off the sledgehammer from the hands of the first one. They in turn tried to hit Akira but she nimbly avoided each of their blows before shouting :

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS !"

One by one, she immobilized each of the ten Red Caps which could do afterwards nothing else than rolling their eyes in their sockets to give her a look full of hatred.

"At least, you know your fundamentals, unlike some of your classmates." Deloney stated while writing something on his notepad before turning his attention back to her with a certain interest. "But your setbacks seem like a scoop. Dumbledore refuses to tell me the whole truth about you and I suppose that if I ask you directly I won't get an answer either. But I never fail to find out, so I hope for your sake that what you have to hide isn't compromising."

"Like what ? Are you really going to waste your precious time investigating on me ?" Akira asked him as she didn't appreciate that much. "Because you won't find anything interesting. There's much more to say on Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"It takes guts to pronounce his name." Deloney commented as he almost fell from his desk when he heard it. "And I share your opinion. You-Know-Who is causing so many issues at the moment that there's enough to write entire pages of articles that would sell through the roof. But I've got in enough trouble doing so and after becoming the man to destroy for him and his followers, I have to hide myself for a while, having nothing else to write on than the boring life of this castle and its bunch of average students. But with your case, I'll surely have again a thrilling story to tell."

"Except that next year, you'll no longer be here. Even sooner since after the exams you won't be needed anymore." Akira pointed out coldly as she knew that the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor was cursed after never having the same teacher two years in a row. "Then, it will be difficult for you to find anything "thrilling" about me since you won't be around to spy on me so it's better to put an end to your investigation right now."

"Interesting remark but it will be up to me to judge. In the meantime, you can go. I have to free these Red Caps from their spell for the next student." Deloney said while taking his magic wand from his pocket to proceed.

Without adding anything to this out of context discussion, Akira left the room and slammed the door behind her as a wave of anger was overwhelming her. Because Deloney was a keen journalist, arguably the best with his career profile in infiltration and extraction of sensitive information from Voldemort and his followers. However, she still couldn't understand his interest in her when she just had a difficult start of the school year. Perhaps it was a professional bias to spot cases that might interest the public, and the secrets that Akira hid would interest more than one person.

"Did you escape unscathed ?" Arcturus asked after suddenly jumping right in front of her.

"What ? Ah, yes." Akira replied after a few seconds once she understood that he was talking about the Red Caps. "I received a blow to the head but nothing more."

"Lucky." Arcturus commented while rubbing his shins bruised by lot of hits during his passage. "They all fell on me at the same time, and even though I'm tall, I couldn't do anything against ten of these little creatures. Only take refuge on the teacher's desk to escape them. I hope I'll get a decent grade."

"Deloney is more of a journalist than a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. So I doubt that he'll be so severe since you still managed to get away from these Red Caps." Akira said to reassure him.

"You're probably right." Arcturus replied while regaining his usual smile. "Now that it's over, shall we revise Arithmancy ? Because Watterston won't do us any favors if we answer to his questions averagely."

"Let's go since we have to." Akira sighed with annoyance at this exam which according to her was the worst of all.


Hello dear readers,

Like each year, welcome back to the exam session. As usual, it's a mix of stress, mental breakdown and exhaustion but now it's almost over. And with the help of Dumbledore, no doubt that Akira will do better than expected. And if you wonder why he accords to her a special treatment, it's because he knows what she went through with the loss of Matsuo and Tatsuno at the beginning of the year. It's hard so he gave her a little help.

But will it be enough to enter in fifth year, a crucial one full of important exams, namely OWLs ? According to Deloney, she should redo her fourth year but it wasn't in Akira's plan. Simply going back to Hogwarts in two months wasn't in her future plans. Right now, all she could do was to focus on her exams, the rest could come later, for example in the next chapter that I'll publish in the middle of the month.