Thirteen years after The Battle of Hogwarts, two wizarding children are about to embark on their own adventure. They both have been lied to their entire lives, one to protect her from the wrath of the wizarding world, and the other to protect him fr...
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Exams were fast approaching, and the thought of actually taking tests in some of his subjects almost drove the thought of the missing Book of Necromancy, and what Bel could be doing with it, out of James's mind. Three weeks before exams were scheduled to begin, James trudged up the steps to the Astronomy Tower, surrounded by some of the Slytherin and Gryffindor first years. Victoire had made him stay up half the night yesterday to help her study Defense Against the Dark Arts, which consisted of either holding flashcards, or being blasted repeatedly into a pile of cushions. James honestly couldn't decide which activity was worse.
After an eternity, the steps of the tower finally ended, and flattened out into the platform. The telescopes were set up on the roof, which was good, as Professor Sinistra never lectured and held a practical class at the same time. James felt that marking down star positions was slightly less boring than listening to the Professor drone on about constellations and Signs of the Zodiac. However the Professor looked distinctly excited, which was definitely depressing. Sinistra never looked excited unless something that James would consider very bad was about to happen. Such as extra homework.
Sure enough, she clapped her hands for silence, and addressed the class. "As some of you are no doubt aware, something very special is about to happen next week. There will be a triple conjunction of the planets, on May 11th, when Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter come together in the night sky. Your exam will be to observe and record the interaction of the planets, that night..."
At this point James's hand shot into the air. Professor Sinistra looked surprised, but nodded for him to continue. "Sorry Professor, but exams aren't until June. How are we supposed to observe the conjunction thing for the exam?"
"Excellent point, Mr. Potter!" replied Sinistra, not deterred in the least. "Because of the rarity of such a special event, I have obtained special permission from the headmistress to make a slight alteration to the exam schedule. The Astronomy exam will be the week of the conjunction, so we all can have the experience of watching the event!"
At this the entire class groaned. Bel slumped in her seat, and muttered, "Exams three weeks early! It isn't fair! How can she do this to us?" Scorpius only continued to glare at the ecstatic professor in disgust.
Cat had buried her head in her arms, and was whispering "I'm doomed," over and over again. She wasn't very good at astronomy, and had counted on an easy exam for the first years. This was far worse than anything she could have imagined.
Of course, Professor Sinistra did not notice her students' distress, but continued to babble happily about the many useful magical things—that nobody actually did—that could be gleaned from knowledge of planetary conjunctions. They were not even able to retreat behind their brass telescopes. The air grew colder as time crept by...as if through stinksap syrup. When everyone had frozen solidly to the stone benches, Sinistra looked up at the sky and started. "Stars, look at the time! Where did my hour and a half go? Hurry down to your dormitories. Please try to make it before curfew!" As she dismissed the class, a flick of her wand sent the telescopes back into their cases and stacked them neatly in the supply closet.
