An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Seventy-Two

I got some of the best sleep of my life that night. And thank goodness I did, because starting first thing the next morning, everything went back to being absolutely crazy.

Starting Saturday morning, we had just ten days left before the 5th and 7th years sat for their first N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s. Technically, I didn't even need to sit these tests, since I didn't plan to stay in the wizarding world. But I'd done all the work this year, and I'd stuck it out despite the pink dementor working overtime to make me quit, so I figured I might as well see this year all the way out, tests included. Still, I noticed my fellow seventh years were decidedly more stressed out than I was.

Fortunately, I'd had plenty of practice helping classes of Hogwarts students through this time of year. We wouldn't be able to do our muggle study sessions exactly like we'd done them before, since Umbridge would take great joy in shutting that down. But one silver lining of all the shit we'd had to deal with this year was that I'd gotten pretty good at finding ways to work around her.

A few of the usual attendees might miss out, since we couldn't trust them not to rat us out to Umbridge, but frankly, that was their own fault.

Lee and I worked together over the weekend to spread the word to only trusted sources, kind of like we'd done with the DA. We made plans to meet with small groups, at random times that we determined more or less in the moment. As a result, the people who were able to attend any given session changed each time, which worked out exactly like we'd hoped. If, worst case scenario, Umbridge did catch us, she wouldn't be able to call us a club and claim we were doing something illegal. We were very careful to skirt that definition.

The only other potential problem was all the muggle tech essential in our method of studying, which we also managed to mostly solve. At the beginning of every study session, before explaining to anyone new how the devices worked, we practiced over and over how to quickly hide any and all muggle tech in the room should anyone come close to us. With one rotating person assigned to basically be a door guard, to let us know if anyone got within range of our randomly selected classroom, we were as protected as we could possibly be.

Part of me had worried that some of the other students might not be willing to put up with the added procedures, or that, despite our best efforts, we might have a mole that ratted on us to Umbridge anyway. Instead, we got the opposite.

The end of year exams were so equally stressful to everyone who had to take them, that not a single person wavered at a single study session. In fact, we were gradually able to expand our study group to every 5th and 7th year in the school who wasn't actively a member of the Inquisitorial Squad. Even the 5th year Slytherins who we'd been cautious of on Myrah and Adrian's suggestion were absolutely locked in on studying, without a flicker of an eyeroll or a sneaky report to Umbridge.

Nothing like massive exam stress to unite the entire student body.

When the first Monday morning of our tests finally rolled around, I thought the collected students in the entryhall were about to have a group heart attack. Despite not technically needing these tests, I was still right there with them. I'd worked through some truly insane obstacles to get my wizarding education this year, and I wanted to do well on these tests. Badly.

We all entered the Great Hall together with a solidarity that had been almost completely missing this year, and definitely missing since the end of the DA. It was a nice change of pace, easing the stress of the testing environment we headed into ever so slightly.

The 5th years would be taking their Charms written exam on the left side of the Great Hall while the 7th years would be taking the Potions written on the right side. All the written tests were in the morning, with practical exams taking place individually in different classrooms after luch. I tried not to let my mind wander to the after lunch piece, though, as I sat down at a desk with one last meaningful look to my fellow 7th years. Then, the instructor told us we could flip our tests over and begin, and the last hurdle of my Hogwarts career was officially underway.