"𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝.
𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫..."
The Lestrange line has been a loyal ally of the Dark Lord for years, enthusiastically being one of the caus...
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CHAPTER SIXTY OWLS
THE CASTLE GRONDS 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 OWLs were upon them at last.
Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to revising those topics the teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams. The purposeful, feverish atmosphere drove nearly everything but the OWLs from Artemis's mind.
Constantly learning about OWL's allowed her to shake off the tension under which her housemates subjected her, over time she began to forget about her bigger problem - summer was coming and she had to return to her mother. And while Artemis was calmly preparing with her friends for the OWL's, Hermione was spending a lot of time muttering to herself and had not laid out any elf clothes for days.
She was not the only person acting oddly as the OWLs drew steadily nearer. Ernie Macmillan had developed an irritating habit of interrogating people about their revision practices. From time to time she could see him frantically asking questions of various students in the middle of the corridor.
"How many hours d'you think you're doing a day?" he demanded of Artemis as she queued outside Herbology, a manic gleam in his eyes.
"Not quite sure," said Artemis. "Around six, I s'pose?"
"I'm doing eight," said Ernie, puffing out his chest. "Eight or nine. I'm getting an hour in before breakfast every day. Eights my average. I can do ten on a good weekend day. I did nine and a half on Monday. Not so good on Tuesday- only seven and a quarter. Then on Wednesday- "
"Come on, Ernie, Potter and Weasley want to talk to you," Wyatt said, showing up behind Ernie to pat him on the shoulder. He pointed to the two Gryffindors who had been talking. Ernie nodded and hurried to the two boys.
"Thank you, I didn't know how long it would take me to hear his babbling." Artemis exhaled with a smile. Wyatt shook his head, amused, and they headed for greenhouse three, which Professor Sprout had just ordered them to head to.
Her cousin Draco, meanwhile, had found another way to cause panic.
"Of course, it's not what you know," he was heard to tell Crabbe and Goyle loudly outside Potions a few days before the exams were to start, "it's who you know. Now, Father's been friendly with the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years- old Griselda Marchbanks- we've had her round for dinner and everything ..."
"Oh really?" exclaimed Artemis jokingly. "I thought last time you said that your father was a close friend of Fudge's, not Marshbanks."
"And I haven't heard any news from my father that your father has invited anyone to your home, Draco," Tom joined in, raising his eyebrows teasingly.
