Harriet Potter 1

The Test(s)

Between the chaos of the year, the OWL exams had crept up on them and Harriet found herself in the midst of her exam period feeling wholly unprepared.

However during her exams, Harriet found to her surprise that she remembered rather more than she thought she did. Clearly Hermione's late night study sessions had paid off she thought gratefully.

"I'm surprised Snape is still teaching you occlumency during your exam period" Hermione said seriously over dinner "you should ask him if you can reschedule for after the OWLs."

Harriet shrugged vaguely "well I figure that Voldemort isn't going to work around my exam schedule."

Ron sniggered between bites of steak but Hermione looked disgruntled. "I'm surprised you aren't angrier about it, you never usually miss a chance to tell us about how much you hate Snape."

Harriet felt heat rushing to her cheeks "so how do you think you went in your Arithmancy exam, Hermione?"

—————

Harriet was exhausted from her long day of exams when she descended to Snape's chambers and flopped down onto the sofa beside Severus with a tired groan.

He pressed a kiss to her lips before wordlessly passing her a steaming mug.

"Is that an anti-tiredness potion?" Harriet asked hopefully. 

"Just coffee" he smiled "a muggle solution, but in my personal opinion, equally effective."

Harriet sighed with relief as the hot bitter liquid swept over her tongue. After a week of examinations she was exhausted and could barely keep her eyes open.

"How are your exams going?" he asked.

Harriet shrugged as she thought back over her exams. "Mostly they've been fine, apart from divination. Pretty sure I failed that one. When I read the crystal ball I told the examiner I could see six orbs of light, meaning a crucial event in the near future, but I looked up and realised it was a reflection of the chandelier."

He smirked as he slid an arm around her, drawing her closer. "I will be off premises tomorrow, so I want you to be careful."

Harriet snorted "well Voldemort's hardly going to barge into the examination room, is he?"

Snape did not smile at her joke. "What exams do you have left?"

Harriet sighed "Well tomorrow I have History of Magic. It's not my best subject but I've been studying with Hermione. That's my last exam."

He pulled her legs onto his lap "do you want me to help you revise?" He offered.

Harriet shuddered "Merlin no. I think I'm too tired to take anything in anyway."

——————

From the front of the Great Hall, Professor Marchbanks cleared her throat. "You may begin."

Harriet turned over her paper and read the question twice before realising that none of the words were sinking in. The Great Hall was warm and the only sound was the scratching of quills on parchment around her.

Harriet gave up before moving on to the next question. Ahead of her, she could see Hermione scribbling furiously on her parchment.

Harriet closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to collect her thoughts. The goblin riots had been in 1407, or was it 1704?

Harriet was walking along the corridor of the department of mysteries. The door swung open before her and she was in a cathedral like room full of shelves upon shelves of glass balls.
Then she heard it.
"Crucio!"

A man screamed in agony.
Harriet's heart thumped hard in her chest. She passed aisle 97 and hurried towards the sound. She could see the dark shape of a man huddled on the floor.

An unfamiliar voice issued from her own mouth, high and cold. "Give it to me!"

Her hand raised before her, pointing a wand at the man on the floor in front of her. The hand, her hand, was pale and long fingered. The voice spoke again. "Crucio!"

The man on the floor tried to stand, but fell back to the floor, writhing in pain.

"Give it to me... I tire of waiting."

Slowly, the man lifted his head to face her. His face was bloodstained, yet twisted with defiance.

"You'll have to kill me" Sirius said from where he lay on the floor. His voice was raw, as though from screaming.

Voldemort's voice issued from Harriet's mouth once more. "The pain you have felt until now is nothing. We have hours ahead of us and no one to hear you scream."

Voldemort raised his wand again and-

Harriet screamed, falling from her desk and landing hard on the stone floor of the exam room.