Chapter 42: O.W.L.
June 8, 2008
The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake, the satin-green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze: June had arrived, but to the fifth years this meant only one thing: Their O.W.L.s were upon them at last.
Dawn, Harry, Hermione and Ron received their examination schedules and details of the procedure for O.W.L.s during their Transfiguration lesson.
"As you can see," Professor McGonagall told the class while they 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 exams 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." McGonagall said as she looked straight at Harry and Dawn. "And any Professors that have siblings who are students will be forbidden in the room while the exam is given. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbor at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. Our new—headmistress has asked the Heads of House, for Gryffindor I am doing that at Professor Potter's request, to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely—because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the headmistress's new regime at the school…"
McGonagall gave a tiny sigh. "However, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about."
"Please, Professor," said Hermione, her hand in the air, "when will we find out our results?"
"An owl will be sent to you sometime in July," said McGonagall.
The first exam, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning.
Once breakfast was over, the fifth and seventh years milled around in the entrance hall while the other students went off to lessons.
"Nervous?" Dawn asked Willow.
"A little," Willow said. "It's taken a whole year for me to get back to the point that I was okay doing magic again."
At half past nine, they were called forward class by class to reenter the Great Hall. The four House tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing them. When they were all seated and quiet, she said, "You may begin," and turned over an enormous hourglass on the desk beside her, on which were also spare quills, ink bottles, and rolls of parchment.
Dawn turned over her paper lowering her eyes to the first question: a) Give the incantation, and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly… Smiling slightly, she bent over the paper and began to write…
The fifth years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four House tables reappeared over the lunch hour) and then trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forward in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practiced wand movements, occasionally poking one another in the back or eye by mistake.
Hermione's name was called. Trembling, she left the chamber with Anthony Goldstein, Gregory Goyle, and Daphne Greengrass. Students who had already been tested did not return afterward.
Ten minutes later, Professor Flitwick called, "Parkinson, Pansy—Patil, Padma—Patil, Parvati—Potter, Dawn."
"Good luck, Dawnie," Harry said as he quickly hugged his sister.
Dawn walked into the Great Hall.
"Professor Tofty is free, Potter," squeaked Professor Flitwick, who was standing just inside the door. He pointed Dawn toward what looked like the very oldest and baldest examiner, who was sitting behind a small table in a far corner, a short distance from Professor Marchbanks, who was halfway through testing Draco Malfoy.
"Potter, is it?" said Professor Tofty, consulting his notes and peering over his pince-nez at Dawn as she approached. "One of the famous Potters?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn distinctly saw Malfoy throw a scathing look over at her; the wine glass Malfoy had been levitating fell to the floor and smashed. Dawn could not suppress a grin.
"That's it," Professor Tofty said in his quavery old voice, "no need to be nervous… Now, if I could ask you to take this eggcup and make it do some cartwheels for me…"
"Which would you prefer?" Dawn asked. "Wiccan or wand?"
"Now that is an interesting question," Professor Tofty replied. "I assume you can do both?" Dawn nodded. "Whichever you prefer then."
On the whole Dawn thought it went rather well; while Professor Tofty had said either would do. She showed him both. She would start with wand and then move to Wiccan for each charm that she could perform both kinds of magic for.
There was no time to relax that night—Dawn went straight to the common room after dinner and submerged herself in studying for Transfiguration next day.
She forgot the definition of a Switching Spell during her written exam next morning, during her practical she asked if it which was preferred wand or wiccan, again it was said either would do if she could do them wandless that is.
She had her Herbology exam on Wednesday (other than a small bite from a Fanged Geranium, Dawn felt she had done reasonably well) and then, on Thursday, Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was sure she had passed. Dawn had no problem with any of the written questions and took particular pleasure, during the practical examination, in performing all the counterjinxes and defensive spells right in front of Umbridge, who was watching from near the doors into the entrance hall.
"Oh bravo!" cried Professor Tofty, who was examining Dawn again, when Dawn demonstrated a perfect boggart banishing spell. "Very good indeed! Well, I think that's all, Potter… unless…"
He leaned forward a little.
"I heard, from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that your brother can produce a Patronus? For a bonus point let's see if you take after him…?"
Dawn smiled. "For this one I will do it wandless," she said. She looked directly at Umbridge who took a step back warily. After her use of the Key the woman had shied away from Dawn. "Expecto Patronum!"
The silver phoenix erupted from the core of her being and flew around the hall. All of the examiners looked around to watch its progress and when it dissolved into silver mist, Professor Tofty clapped his veined and knotted hands enthusiastically.
"Excellent, and done wandless as well!" he said. "Very well, Potter, you may go!"
As Dawn passed Umbridge their eyes met, she said, "Want to try a hell dimension, next time? I hear they can be quite nice this time of year." She laughed as Umbridge shrank back from her in fear.
The next Monday was Potions. Dawn dreaded it for multiple reasons. She knew that Snape was always exceptionally hard on her and Harry and she had no way of knowing how good she truly was at it as a result. Sure enough, she found the written exam difficult.
The afternoon practical was not as dreadful as she had expected it to be. With Snape absent from the proceedings she found that she was much more relaxed than she usually was while making potions.
When Professor Marchbanks said, "Step away from your cauldrons, please, the examination is over," Dawn corked her sample flask feeling that she might not have achieved a good grade but that she had, with luck, avoided a fail.
Dawn was determined to perform well in Tuesday's Care of Magical Creatures exam so as not to let Hagrid down. The practical examination took place in the afternoon on the lawn on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where students were required to correctly identify the knarl hidden among a dozen hedgehogs; then demonstrate correct handling of a bowtruckle, feed and clean a fire-crab without sustaining serious burns, and choose, from a wide selection of food, the diet they would give a sick unicorn.
When Dawn's examiner, a plump little witch this time, smiled at her and told her she could leave, Dawn gave Hagrid a fleeting thumbs-up before heading back up to the castle.
The Astronomy theory exam on Wednesday morning went well; Dawn had always enjoyed astronomy and had spent nights with Willow when Buffy would be out on patrol looking through a telescope. She was sure she had got the names of all of Jupiter's moons right. They had to wait until evening for their practical Astronomy; the afternoon was devoted instead to Divination which Dawn did not take.
When Dawn reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock, she found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. She wished Willow was there, not to help her in the exam of course, but to stargaze again. It had been two years now since the last time they had the chance and she had missed it.
She set up her telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star chart she had been given.
There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Several people said "Ouch!" as they poked themselves in the face with the ends of their telescopes, hastening to see what was going on below.
Dawn glanced down briefly toward the source of the sound, Hagrid's hut. The door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin she saw Hagrid quite clearly surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.
"No!" cried Hermione.
"My dear!" said Professor Tofty in a scandalized voice. "This is an examination!"
Dawn could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds; a man yelled, "Be reasonable, Hagrid!" and Hagrid roared, "Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!"
Dawn took a step back from her telescope and closed her eyes as a portal snapped into existence. She leaned her head through the portal into Buffy and Willow's suite. "Buffy!" she yelled. "Hagrid is in trouble!"
A few minutes later the front doors of the castle opened again; more light had spilled out onto the dark lawn and three long black shadows were now rippling across the lawn.
Dawn watched as the shadows sprinted toward the battle beside Hagrid's cabin.
"How dare you!" one of the figures shouted as they ran. "How dare you!"
"It's McGonagall!" whispered Hermione. "Buffy! And Willow!"
"Leave him, alone!" Buffy growled. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such—"
Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender all screamed. No fewer than four Stunners had shot from the figures around the cabin toward Buffy, McGonagall and Willow. A wall of energy snapped into existence around them and the stunners found themselves turned back on their casters who were knocked out cold.
"Get him, get him!" screamed Umbridge, but her remaining helper seemed highly reluctant to try with the fact that Hagrid had moved inside Willow's shield. Indeed, he was backing away so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over.
Dawn readjusted her telescope and looked down at the grounds. She saw that Buffy was looking toward the tower. She could tell Buffy was forming the word portal and nodding toward Hagrid.
Dawn nodded in understanding as she closed her eyes and a portal opened beneath Hagrid and he fell into it. She had sent Hagrid to platform nine and three quarters so Hagrid could easily, or relatively easily since he was half-giant, slip into a crowd and disappear.
There was a long minute's quivering silence, everybody gazing openmouthed into the grounds. Then Professor Tofty's voice said feebly, "Um… five minutes to go, everybody…"
Dawn moved her telescope back to peer at the stars above and in the remaining time quickly finished the remaining one-third of her chart.
"That evil woman!" gasped Hermione when she, Dawn, Harry, Ron, Buffy and Willow were in Buffy and Willow's suite. "Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!"
"She clearly wanted to avoid another scene like Trelawney's," said Dawn.
"What was that thing that turned the stunners back?" said Ron.
"Shield spell," Willow answered.
"At least they didn't get to take Hagrid off to Azkaban," said Ron. "Where did you send him to, Dawn?"
"King's Cross," Dawn answered. "From there he can blend in till he joins Dumbledore. Assuming that's what he intends to do."
"Oh, this is awful," said Hermione, who looked tearful. "I really thought Dumbledore would be back before long, but now we've lost Hagrid too…"
"But why sack Hagrid now?" asked Ron.
"Umbridge hates part-humans," said Buffy angrily.
It was nearly four in the morning before they finally went to bed.
June 20, 2003
The final exam, History of Magic, was not to take place until the afternoon. The fifth years entered the Great Hall at two o'clock and took their places in front of their overturned examination papers.
Dawn looked over at her brother and knew that Harry like herself felt exhausted.
"Turn over your papers," said Professor Marchbanks from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hourglass. "You may begin…"
While Dawn did her own exam, she kept stealing glances at her brother. She noticed he was having difficulty due to his exhaustion.
It was toward the end of the exam that Dawn noticed that it appeared that Harry was dosing. She nudged her brother who shook himself suddenly awake.
After the exam Harry told Dawn what he had seen and they hurried through the castle to Buffy and Willow's suite.
"Buffy!" Harry called out as he and Dawn burst in and found Buffy and Willow sitting on the sofa.
"What is it, Harry?" Buffy asked.
"I just saw Sirius at the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort has him. There's a room full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of row ninety-seven… He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there… He's torturing him… Says he'll end by killing him…"
Buffy pulled out her mirror. "Sirius."
Faith appeared in the mirror. "B, he's not here at the moment. Said he wanted to get something from Grimmauld Place. Left me the mirror in case you needed to get in contact with me."
"Thanks, Faith," Buffy said as she turned her attention to Dawn. "Dawn, we need a portal."
Dawn nodded in understanding as she closed her eyes and pictured the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. As the portal snapped into existence; she, Buffy, Harry and Willow stepped through it.
"Sirius?" Harry shouted. "Sirius, are you here?"
Kreacher creeped around a corner toward them. "Mistress," he said spotting Buffy.
"Where is Sirius?" Buffy asked.
The house-elf gave a wheezy chuckle. "Master not here, Mistress."
"Did he go back to Sunnydale?" Buffy asked.
"Kreacher, has he gone to the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked.
Kreacher stopped in his tracks. "Master does not tell poor Kreacher where he is going," said the elf quietly.
"Answer truthfully, Kreacher," Buffy said.
"Kreacher does not know where Master has gone," Kreacher answered.
"Should we try the mirror again?" Dawn asked.
"You two can do that," Buffy said. "Willow and I are going to the Ministry."
"Buffy, I'm …" Harry started to say.
"Harry James Potter," Buffy said. "You will return to Hogwarts where you can continue to try contacting Sirius. I am going to check out the Ministry with Willow alone. Dawn portal the two of you back to Hogwarts now. And remain in my suite until Willow and I return. If Umbridge tries to get past Simon you are to portal to Faith is that understood?"
"Yes," Dawn said resignedly. She opened a portal and dragged Harry through it.
"Come on, Will," Buffy said.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Buffy led Willow to a battered telephone box and opened the door. They stepped inside. Buffy picked up the receiver and dialed six two four four two.
As it whirred back into place a cool female voice sounded inside the box, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Elizabeth Potter, Willow Rosenberg," Buffy said very quickly. "I am a member of the Wizengamot here on official business."
"Thank you," said the cool female voice. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."
Two badges slid out of the metal chute where returned coins usually appeared. Buffy took one and handed the other to Willow.
"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
"I know," Buffy said.
The floor of the telephone box shuddered and the pavement rose up past the glass windows of the telephone box. Blackness closed over their heads, and with a dull grinding noise they sank down into the depths of the Ministry of Magic.
A chink of soft golden light hit their feet and, widening, rose up their bodies. Buffy bent her knees and held her wand, peering through the glass to see whether anybody was waiting for them in the Atrium, but it seemed to be completely empty. The lift slid smoothly to a halt.
"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening," said the woman's voice.
The door of the telephone box opened as Buffy and Willow stepped out. The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from the golden fountain.
Buffy and Willow sprinted off down the hall, past the fountain, toward the desk where the security man usually sat and which was now deserted.
Buffy was sure that there ought to be a security person there even when the Ministry itself was closed for the night.
"While we don't know if Sirius is here or not. Coming might have been a good thing after all," Willow said.
"Agreed," Buffy said as they passed through the golden gates to the lifts. She pressed the nearest down button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid apart with a great, echoing clanking, and they dashed inside. She looked at the directory and saw the floor they needed and stabbed the number nine button. The grilles closed with a bang, and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling. When the lift halted, the cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries," and the grilles slid open again, they stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift.
"That's the door isn't it?" Willow asked pointing toward a plain black door.
"Based on Harry's description I would say so," Buffy said as she led the way down the corridor. As they approached the door it swung open and they marched forward over the threshold.
They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling—identical, unmarked, handle-less black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue, their cool, shimmering light reflected in the shining marble floor so that it looked as though there was dark water underfoot.
"Which one?" Willow asked. "There are at least a dozen doors."
"Harry said he walked straight across," Buffy said. "I would assume directly opposite." She marched straight at the door now facing her. She opened the door to find beautiful, dancing, diamond-sparkling light of clocks gleaming from every surface. "This is it. Harry mentioned the light."
The new room had only one door. Buffy opened it and stepped through it with Willow right behind her. "This is it," she said as she looked around the place: high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty, glass orbs.
"Harry said row ninety-seven, didn't he?" Willow asked.
"Yeah," Buffy said, looking up at the end of the closest row. Beneath the branch of blue-glowing candles protruding from it glimmered the silver figure 53. "Willow, go left and tell me the number on that one."
Willow went to the next row and looked. "Fifty-two," she said.
"Then it's the other way," Buffy said. They crept forward, staring behind them as they went on down the long alleys of shelves, the farther ends of which were in near total darkness. Tiny, yellowing labels had been stuck beneath each glass orb on the shelf. Some of them had a weird, liquid glow; others were as dull and dark within as blown lightbulbs.
They passed row eighty-four… eighty-five… Buffy was listening for the slightest sound of movement…
"Ninety-seven!" said Willow.
They stood at the end of the row, gazing down the alley beside it. There was nobody there.
"Harry said he saw Sirius down at the end," Buffy said. "Whatever it is Voldemort is after is there."
"Agreed," Willow said. "I also don't believe Sirius was ever here. But keeping whatever Voldemort is after away from him would be a good thing."
"Agreed," Buffy said as they went down the alley between the towering rows of glass balls, some of which glowed softly as they passed… They reached the end of the row and emerged into more dim candlelight. "What is he after? All I saw was the orbs."
"Maybe one of them?" Willow suggested.
"You take one side and I will take the other," Buffy said.
A little way down the row Willow spotted Harry's name underneath one of the glass orbs. "Buffy!"
Buffy walked over to Willow who was at the small glass sphere that glowed with a dull inner light, though it was very dusty and appeared not to have been touched for many years.
"You know I hate being short," Buffy said as she craned her neck to read the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball. In spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen years previously, and below that:
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord
and (?) Harry Potter
Author's Note: Yes I know that Sarah Michelle Gellar is not actually short, she is of average height for a woman, which means so is Buffy. That said though even someone of average height for a woman usually can't reach the top shelf without assistance. Plus in one of the season 4 episodes (the one where Buffy met Riley), Buffy herself comments about being short in the book store when trying to reach a textbook on the top shelf.