This was a chapter that really took me back 10+ years, and for those of you that dislike school and exams… I'm so sorry! It is a massively important time for Leo though so it's only right to focus on the O.W.L.s, with a couple of other important moments around that time sprinkled in…
Talking about the summer term of Leo's fifth year in the future would soon become a case of Before the Weasleys and After the Weasleys. The twins' defiance and flight served to bolster the spirits of the students, and if it hadn't been for the O.W.L.s growing ever closer Leo would have definitely joined in on the skiving snackboxes that seemed to have grown massively in popularity. Unfortunately though and unlike a lot of his classmates who indulged in the Weasley's products more than frequently, Leo felt like he needed to be sensible and his self-made schedule had allowed him only one free afternoon away from classes or studying, and that was for the final Quidditch match of the school year.
The way the season had worked out so far meant that Gryffindor needed to beat Ravenclaw in order to win the cup due to the Ravenclaw team having a better points difference thanks to their heavy victory over Hufflepuff, and so a lot was on the line as the school made their way towards the Quidditch Pitch and up the stands. Leo actually felt nervous, hoping that Ginny Weasley, Harry's replacement, would just catch the snitch quickly.
The weather leant itself to a Quidditch match as the sky was bright blue and cloudless, and Leo found himself in a simple red shirt discussing with Fay, Anna and Neville all the possible permutations for the day.
"So if we win, we win the cup." Leo was saying.
"And if we lose… then Ravenclaw win it?" Neville asked.
Fay nodded. "It's simple. We either finish first or third because Hufflepuff beat us, but if Ravenclaw lose then they finish second because they beat Hufflepuff…"
It was hurting Leo's brain, and so he was grateful when Lee Jordan began drowning out the 'Weasley is our King' chants from the Slytherins at the far end by reading out the teams, before Madame Hooch blew her overly loud whistle and the Quaffle was thrown into the air.
"And they're off!" Lee Jordan was commentating. "Davies takes the Quaffle immediately, Ravenclaw captain Davies with the Quaffle. He dodges Johnson, he dodges Bell, he dodges Spinnet as well…" Lee was growing less enthusiastic as he went along. "He's going straight for the goal! He's going to shoot! And… and… and…" The Quaffle soared past Ron and through the right hoop. "And he's scored."
Leo groaned along with the rest of the Gryffindors as both the Slytherin and Ravenclaw sections began to cheer, with the Slytherin's starting up their favourite song once more.
Weasley cannot save a thing. He cannot block a single ring…
"I wish they'd shut up." Leo growled as the game got underway again. He began searching for Ginny who was hovering over the centre half staring at Cho Chang. Leo was watching as Lee started speaking again, though not flirting as much as normal over the speakers. "Johnson with the Quaffle, she dives over Davies, hands it over to Bell. Bell spins underneath Bradley! Bell to shoot… Bell to score!"
Leo cheered loudly, hugging Fay beside him before turning his back and noticing two spaces where Harry and Hermione had been, the occupants having seemingly vanished into thin air. Shrugging to himself he gave Neville a hug as the celebrations died down and the nerves settled in once more as the Ravenclaw Keeper threw the Quaffle over to Davies. "Ravenclaw on the attack now as Davies passes to Bradley, who passes to Chambers, who passes it back over to Bradley…" Lee was explaining. The Quaffle was flying between Ravenclaw chasers quickly and it was tough to keep track of the red ball. "Davies feints and sends Bell heading towards the castle! The Quaffle goes to Bradley who feints and shoots… AND WEASLEY SAVES IT!"
Leo let out a roar alongside the rest of Gryffindor as for what seemed to be the first time all year Ron had caught a shot to his left cleanly before passing to Alicia Spinnet to counter, and the game began to settle into a pattern after that much to the jubilation of the Gryffindor students. Ron would make a save, and then Gryffindor would attack at pace, scoring more often than not, and one of the more creative third years had started singing a different song…
Weasley is our King! Weasley is our King! He didn't let the Quaffle in, Weasley is our King! Weasley can save anything, he never leaves a single ring, that's why Gryffindors all sing, Weasley is our King!"
Leo and Fay were two of the loudest in their part of the stands, watching as the score grew and grew on the Gryffindor side whilst staying at 10 points to Ravenclaw. By the time Ginny Weasley had sped towards Cho and snatched the Snitch from right under the Ravenclaw's nose, the score was 290-10 and the Gryffindor section erupted.
"WE WON!" Fay was screaming as Leo picked her up and spun her around. "WE WON! WE WON!"
"WEASLEY IS OUR KING!" Leo was screaming in tune at the same time, as they pulled away from one another to see the players fly down to the pitch, Cho throwing her broom tearfully in frustration as the Quidditch Cup was brought out by Professor McGonagall to hand over to Angelina, who immediately hoisted it into the air to a loud roar from the Gryffindor stands before handing the trophy over to a deserving Ron Weasley.
Thankfully Lee Jordan had been supplied with enough butterbeer to feed the whole House, so despite Fred and George no longer being at the school their famous parties could go ahead anyway. Leo didn't know who had gotten the kitchens to supply the food, but as the entire common room erupted into the Weasley is our King chant whilst the man in question jumped around on the main sofa pumping his arms in the air, Leo didn't care for the logistics. He even got to hold the cup for a split second as it was passed around the common room, something that would be a fond memory as the days afterwards brought only stress and revision.
Despite the jubilation of winning the Quidditch Cup, reality very quickly set in as June soon fell upon them and exam season was just around the corner. Students were caving into the stress and Leo had taken to completely ignoring certain people, such as Ernie Macmillan's constant badgering on how many hours they were revising for. Even those that Leo considered to be relatively sane were buckling under the pressure, as sixth years were taking advantage and offering bogus potions and elixirs that they swore got them great grades the year before.
Soon enough, the schedules had been posted and the first exam would be Charms on the Monday. Students reacted differently the weekend before, with some deciding that they had done as much revision as they physically could whilst others, mainly Leo and Hermione from the Gryffindor Common Room, had decided to quiz each other on the entirety of the Charms textbooks. Leo somehow even managed to get Hermione to stop believing that he was misleading her by telling her she got her answers right, having winced earlier in the day at Harry getting whacked in the nose by the brunette before deciding to sub Leo in.
Dinner that night was possibly even worse as the examiners arrived to make it all seem horribly real. Professor Griselda Marchbanks was the one that drew the most looks, being a famous examiner who had even supposedly examined Professor Dumbledore almost one hundred years earlier, and Leo knew that she would be the one that took the Magical Law lesson next year that he was extremely interested in.
"I recognise her." Harry had whispered as Umbridge led the small, wrinkled woman away from the nervous fifth year crowds. "She was at my trial…"
Not wanting to think about Professor Marchbanks beyond the fact that she would be in charge of the biggest moment of his life up until that moment, Leo had decided to get to bed early that night for some decent sleep, though he didn't drift off until well after midnight and the dream had turned into a nightmare when he managed to charm Professor Marchbanks into doing an Irish jig when he was meant to be enchanting a kettle.
Breakfast was subdued, and then it was time. For all of the subjects the written exams were in the morning and so the Great Hall had done away with all the House Tables, settling instead for individual tables in alphabetical order. Leo was placed in behind Neville and front of Ernie Macmillan. After everyone had settled Professor McGonagall called out. "You may begin." Before turning over an enormous hour glass on her desk.
The rustling of paper was loud but brief, and Leo looked at the first question, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw:
Give the incantation and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly.
Grinning at the memory of an eleven-year-old Hermione Granger berating Ron about his pronunciation on the other side of the Charms classroom, Leo began to write out his answers.
After the written exam and lunch, it was time for the Charms practical exam. One by one again in alphabetical order students were called into the Great Hall, and Leo found himself being directed to Professor Tofty, an old, balding wizard that his Mother had praised when discussing her own exams. "Ah, MacDonald. I had the pleasure of examining your Mother for her Charms O.W.L.s.. She was rather talented at the Cheering Charm."
Leo smiled, though the nerves would surely have been clear on his face. "She mentioned to me how relaxed she felt taking them, Professor."
Professor Tofty smiled kindly. "An endeavour I shall hopefully pass on to you." He responded, before he gestured to the egg cup on the table. "Now take a deep breath, and if you could make this do some cartwheels for me?"
Leo nodded and pointed his wand at the egg cup, rotating it in small circles before saying. "Facere Rota." The egg cup floated a couple of inches in the air and began spinning around. The rest of the exam followed similarly, and by the time Leo had needed to levitate a wine glass, turn a rat into a shocking neon green and enlarged a dinner plate to the size of a medieval shield, he left the room feeling extremely buoyant.
Transfiguration went just as well on the Tuesday, although his good luck was about to come crashing down as his overconfidence as he walked into the Herbology exams on Wednesday, forgetting a number of the answers to the questions in his written exam before the practical ended with an escort to the Hospital Wing, as a mistimed yawn led to Leo ending up on the receiving end of a rather nasty bite from a Fanged Geranium.
Thursday was his best day however, as Leo felt like he nailed the written exam whilst in the afternoon Professor Umbridge was skulking around the room watching in silent anger as all of the DA performed better than expected in the practical. The only thing that Leo felt like he messed up was that it took two attempts to banish his boggart, being shocked initially at the sight of his mother's lifeless body. Thankfully Professor Tofty was once again kind and sympathetic. "Our greatest fears are terrifying by nature dear boy, worry not."
Friday was a bit calmer, with Muggle Studies only having a written exam which Leo once again thought he did rather well on, and by the time Friday lunchtime came around Leo simply collapsed into an armchair, listening to Harry and Ron playing chess before falling asleep in the Common Room, not caring about the noise around him.
Saturday and Sunday like the week before were spent revising, although for the first time in a long time Leo had decided to avoid Hermione, who's bad mood was growing by the hour, and with Potions being one of Leo's weak points he needed all the focus he could get. The exam went as well as Leo could have hoped for, as he felt like he messed up more than normal on the written section but without Snape breathing down his neck the practical went well, corking the last of his sample vials and thinking that the only issue was that the colour was a little bit paler than it should have been.
Given that Leo wasn't doing Care of Magical Creatures his entire Tuesday was spent revising for Arithmancy and catching up on some sleep as the next day meant he was doing four exams in one day. The astronomy written paper was fine, though immediately afterwards was the Arithmancy paper which turned out to be the toughest of them all, not least because Leo's mind was still focused on Jupiter's moons. The Arithmancy practical went a little better, with Leo only miscalculating a couple of calculations.
Then that night was the Astronomy practical exam, and the 11 Gryffindor fifth years all trudged up to the top of the Astronomy tower. Leo was already yawning and so really wasn't expecting too much by the way of success tonight. They had to fill in a blank star chart based on the night's sky, and the scribble showing Leo's first input would inevitably dock him points.
His attention was taken from the night sky to the grounds down below them when a loud bang sounded, and Leo began to stare down at Hagrid's hut in the distance where half a dozen figures were standing outside. That bang was followed by a roar, and Leo, completely forgetting that he was in the middle of an exam, gasped at the number of stunning spells aimed at the gentle giant.
"No!" He heard Hermione cry, and Leo looked around to see that everyone was watching the confrontation below them rather than the sky.
"My dear, this is an examination!" Professor Tofty cried in outrage, but nobody cared at that point as the scene below them grew brutal. Leo heard the yapping of Hagrid's dog, Fang, before a final yelp and silence. Leo gasped once again as Hagrid bellowed out an angry roar and grabbed the dog stunning culprit, launching him ten feet or more away. It was terrifying to see Hagrid like this as he took stunner after stunner without affect.
"Look!" Parvati squealed as she pointed towards the front doors of the castle and Leo saw a lone person storming over towards Hagrid's hut.
"Now really!" Professor Tofty continued to complain about the noise from the students. "Only sixteen minutes left, you know!"
But once again nobody cared as the familiar Scottish tone filled the night sky, with Professor McGonagall shouting as she ran towards the battle. "How dare you! How dare you!"
"It's McGonagall!" Hermione whispered the obvious.
"Leave him alone! Alone I say!" Professor McGonagall cried out. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such…"
Four stunners shot towards Professor McGonagall simultaneously, and Leo heard at least three people atop the tower scream in horror. Professor McGonagall was illuminated briefly by the red shots before she was lifted straight off of her feet, landing in a crumpled heap a few feet away.
"Galloping gargoyles!" Professor Tofty cried out, becoming the last among them to forget that there was an exam ongoing and instead peering over the side of the tower, drawn to the scene below. "Not so much as a warning! Outrageous behaviour!"
Hagrid seemingly agreed. "COWARDS!" The half-giant shouted before he moved to attack. "RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT! AN' THAT!" He was throwing his fists around at the attackers, connecting with a pair of them and knocking them out immediately. Leo winced at the sight, but that turned to horror as Hagrid fell to a knee.
"No!" Leo cried out, but his fear was unfounded as Hagrid hadn't been taken down, he had only stopped to pick up his unconscious dog and drape Fang around his shoulders.
"Get him! Get him!" The shrill voice of Umbridge sounded, but she only had one companion left who even Leo could tell from the distance he was watching from, didn't want to get involved with Hagrid's fists as the half-giant sprinted away towards the gates.
There were only 5 minutes left of the exam, but Leo couldn't focus on the stars after all that they had seen and he was glad of Professor Tofty finally excusing them. After putting his telescope back into its holder Leo, all tiredness forgotten, joined in the discussions.
"That evil woman!" Hermione was raging in front of him. "Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!"
Leo scoffed in anger. "She thought she had learnt from Trelawney." He surmised. "But clearly didn't realise what being half giant means to one's biology despite her hatred of them."
"Was that why all those spells bounced off him?" Ron asked.
Hermione nodded. "Giants are like trolls when it comes to spells affecting them, they're really tough. Professor McGonagall though… four stunners to the chest, she's not exactly young, is she?"
They had reached the bottom of the tower now and students were starting to split into House groups as they returned to their common rooms. All the chatter was about the incident, but Hermione seemed to be taking it the worst out of them all. "First Dumbledore, now Hagrid… Professor McGonagall out for how long… she really is an evil, vile woman." She raged as they reached the Fat Lady.
Wanting to get some sleep due to his hectic day Leo ignored the gathering in the Common Room as everyone began retelling the events and went straight to bed so he could get enough sleep before the History of Magic exam the next afternoon, though in his dreams all he could see was the illuminated form of Professor McGonagall being launched backwards through the air.
Reviews:
SkepticPrinceArthur: Kingsley should pop up later on! As Leo gets more entwined with the Order they're bound to cross paths after all.
Lightningscar: I think it's a site wide issue that's popped up again, the same as last year. I'm not sure when it will be fixed as FFN are usually quite slow. When I was thinking of Leo's academics and future wishes, mixed with knowledge from my own schooling where when it gets to A levels (the equivalent of N.E.W.T.s) there are more niche, advanced subjects that become available and I see no reason for that to not be the case in Hogwarts. Marchbanks is who you remember. Known as a Professor so I liked the idea that she taught one or two of the more niche subjects a couple of times a week.
Dante687: There's a long way and an entire war before they even get to be adults, let alone top ranking Ministry employees!