Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Year 5

Take the OWLs Part 1

"So..." McGonagall grabbed a pamphlet off her desk and gave it to Dani. "Professor Dumbledore and I agree that you're a witch of great magical aptitude, Miss Jackson. The Ministry of Magic would need your talent."

"I'd... Like to stay away from a boring desk job, thank you."

"As if the desk jobs at the ministry need you, Miss Jackson. No, I'm talking aurors and healers, the ones that get out into the field for their job. However..."

McGonagall swiped Dani's report card from last year up off her desk. "As I'm sure you're aware, you don't have the best grades, Miss Jackson. And..." She showed Dani her Potions paper. "You failed this, Miss Jackson. Professor Snape only accepts students with an O into his NEWT class. I take students with an E or higher, but you..." She also picks up Dani's Transfiguration paper, "You barely scraped my class. Aurors require at least five Es on your NEWTs. Miss Jackson, I'm worried. Your OWLs are in less than a week, and you-"

"I know," Dani said softly, trying to be as polite as possible as her professor reached for a pile of failed essays from not so long ago behind her. "I think I'll do better this year. It's just the waiting game with the cursed vault now."

"You better," said McGonagall. Dani could tell that after nine long conversations about their futures with 15 and 16-year-olds, McGonagall was getting sick and tired of this duty as a head of house. "But have you thought about what you'd do if your OWLs or NEWTs don't work out in your favour?"

"I'd love to become a cursebreaker, for obvious reasons," said Dani. "I know that it may not be the easiest, especially since I don't even take Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, but hey, they'll put Harry Potter in the auror office even if he gets Ts on all of his NEWTs, won't they? I bet exceptions can be made."

"I agree, but I have a lot of experience concerning careers in my years of teaching. I think the ministry needs someone like you."

"I'll think about it.

McGonagall checked her watch. "I have to go see Professor Dumbledore now. It was nice talking to you, Miss Jackson. You'll learn more in your seventh year when you have your off-school-grounds career experiences. But for now, I'd advise you to go study..."
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The night before their first exam-Potions-Dani was studying with Chiara, Penny and Rowan in the artefact room. As you could probably tell from her careers talk, despite having an absolute nerd, geek, bookworm, you name it for a BFF, studying was one of the things Dani hated doing the most (and she was actually asked Jae for cheating supplies, but as it turned out, even JAE KIM decided againat cheating on his OWLs-no, really), and for one of the most important examinations in her life, Dani was practically relying on Rowan to carry her, and since Penny had been training with the co-leaders lately, Dani thought why not study together too. (Ben had plans, and Merula was with Ismelda.) Chiara crashed the party, saying that she was looking for good study spots around school, and since both Dani and Penny knew her, they decided she could join in. (Penny went on to mention wolfsbane potion, and Rowan, in true Rowan fashion, freaked out at the prospect of missing part of the syllabus. It wasn't included.)

As Chiara stirred the wideye potion the other three been working together to brew the day before (it takes 23 hours with a pewter cauldron, I did my research)-Rowan claimed that she'd be up all night studying, and Dani thinks that she probably wouldn't even need a potion to do that-Penny began, "So a deflating draught-"

"Is the antidote to the swelling solution. It causes anything-"

"That's enough, thank you, I don't need you to recite Magical Drafts and Potions. What's your question?"

"Hm... Name a possible side effect of pepperup potion."

"I know this one!" yelled Dani-their lesson on this last year was particularly funny (for the students, but most definitely NOT Snape). "It may make steam come out of your ears!"

"Correct."

Dani decided to ask a question she was pretty sure she'd forgotten the answer to but was to lazy to check her textbook for. "OK, how many lionfish spines are needed for a batch of herbicide potion?" she asked as quickly as she could.

"Four, and you'll also need-"

"And I believe the potion is ready," said Chiara at the perfect time.

"Looking good," said Penny, leaning over to see the blue-green liquid. "Now, Rowan, did you say you wanted some?"

As Rowan helped herself to the concoction, she asked, "So Dani, is it still cursebreaking? Did McGonagall change your mind?"

"Do YOU still want to be the youngest professor at Hogwarts?"

Dani and Rowan looked at each other, figured that the professors weren't doing a good job on discouraging students from their dream jobs (Dani knew Tonks wanted to become an auror, but she was worried about Jae and Tulip now), then got back to what they were doing.

"Well, I still want to be a potioneer," said Penny.

"What about you, Chiara?" Rowan asked curiously.

"A healer," was the reply. "Sprout said that I'd need NEWTs in Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms and DADA. Not easy, but not impossible either."
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The written part of the Potions exam wasn't too hard (in fact, Dami was glad she asked Rowan about the lionfish spines because they actually came up), and for the practical, the invigilator gave each student a piece of parchment telling them the potion they had to brew. Dani got the draught of peace, which wasn't too hard, but she didn't envy her classmates who got the befuddlement draught (The phrase always came with 'I had no idea how to brew it' or something along those lines, and Dani was pretty sure someone blew up their cauldron during the exam, which reminded her of her first Potions class ever. Of course, Dani couldn't remember how to brew a befuddlement draught either.), unlike those who got the wideye potion (which wasn't any of the three Dani studied with the night before FYI).

One exam down, seven to go (for Dani at least)...
Suggestions to self for improvement: if you tell your followers they have the right to murder you if you didn't finish a chapter the day before a school day, start on it earlier. It's 9:31pm in my area, I haven't showered, I need to study and I need to be up at 6:30am tomorrow...😅