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ESTE HAD NEVER BEEN AN ACADEMIC. It was an odd paradox she found herself stuck in──she enjoyed it when McGonagall praised her when she did well, but at the same time, she wanted to burn Hogwarts to the ground. The snake eats its own tail. She craved the attention, and the praise Hogwarts Professors gave her but at the same time, she didn't want to try hard──she wanted to be careless, she wanted to be someone who could spend her nights partying and ace an exam the next day. But Este wasn't that girl──she was the girl that had to do well, the girl who had to try extra hard. But even then, she had an inkling that her best was not good enough. Este yawned widely and poured herself some coffee. That day, double Charms was succeeded by double Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of O.W.L.s.
"What you must remember," said little Professor Flitwick squeakily, perched as ever on a pile of books so that he could see over the top of his desk, "is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your career, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!" They then spent more than an hour reviewing Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Flitwick were bound to come up in their O.W.L., and he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest amount of Charms homework ever.
It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration. "You cannot pass an O.W.L.," said Professor McGonagall grimly, "without serious application, practice, and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L. in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work." Gregory Goyle made a sad little disbelieving noise. "Yes, you too, Goyle," said Professor McGonagall. "Today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T.level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L."
She was quite right; Este found the Vanishing Spells incredibly difficult. And by the end of a double period, she managed to successfully vanish her snail on the tenth attempt, earning her a ten-point bonus for Slytherin from Professor McGonagall. But even then, McGonagall sent her out of class with another stack of homework. Now panicking slightly about the amount of homework she had to do, Este spent her lunch hour in the library looking up the uses of moonstones in potion-making. By the time she reached Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon, Este's head was aching again.
The day had become cool and breezy, and, as she walked down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they felt the occasional drop of rain on their faces. Professor Grubbly-Plank stood waiting for the class some ten yards from Hagrid's front door, a long trestle table in front of her laden with many twigs.
