Squib

Chapter 21: Bearer of Bad News Part 1

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Bearer of Bad News Part 1

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Harry stood shocked. "So...so...are you Grindelwald's daughter?" At Lisa's nod, blasts of wind materialized and threw the furniture in the room into disarray as Harry partially lost control over his element. "How could someone be so cruel to their own daughter? I mean, I know what neglect feels like but even then, nothing my parents did could ever compare to doing experiments on your own child like a lab rat!"

As Harry gazed into Lisa's eyes, black orbs dripping with sadness, Harry found himself wondering about the injustice of it all. And yet underneath all that sadness, Harry could see a flame that burned, a desire to take control and live. Harry engulfed Lisa in a hug, her face now smeared with tears. Harry took deep calming breaths as his mind began to think logically again and started searching for answers. He wanted to go and confront Grindelwald about this but knew that that would amount to no good. What he needed to do was step up his plans to get Lisa out of here. "I promise I'll get you out of here soon." Harry whispered.

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"Hello everyone, my name is Simon Oswell and I will be your lead examiner for the day. The OWL to be taken today is the Potions OWL and it is the winter session of OWLs in progress. You have two hours for the written portion which will be followed by an hour long practical. You will find all the rules and regulations on the cover of your exam paper. Good luck everyone and your time starts now!" Simon Oswell was a short man, with huge spectacles. He wasn't a talented wizard but as a potions master, the ministry had no better man.

Simon observed the students taking the exam. There were about ten of them, and he knew most of them were taking this OWL for the second or third time, trying to pass again so they could fulfill the potions OWL requirement required by most good jobs. He had no doubt they were talented in other fields but he didn't care about that, it was only talent in potions that caught his eye. His eyes were glued on one student in particular, Severus Snape's protege. Snape was not known for his skills in teaching but it would be interesting to see how good this thirteen year old was.

Harry calmly finished up the written portion of the exam well before time and found himself waiting for the practical. When the time was up, the students were taken to potion labs specifically prepared for this portion of the exam. Harry found that it was the lead examiner for potions himself who was to overlook his exam.

"Mr. Potter, your assignment for this portion is to brew, within an hour, the cure for the Amortentia potion. You will find all the materials and instructions on the table, you may begin at any time." Simon Oswell said with a smirk on his face. Harry raised an eyebrow at the man, the potion was barely mentioned in the Potions OWLs syllabus, and the brewing was definitely NEWT level at the least. Looking at the instructions, Harry smirked. Some of them were similar to the ritual potions Snape had had him brew and he definitely had experience with those.

Simon Oswell watched in amazement and awe as Harry Potter sliced the ingredients to perfection and then started brewing the potion. His reflexes were amazing and he seemed to flow between steps required to brew the potion. He had never seen such grace in brewing potions in a student in his life. At the end of the process, a near perfect potion was ready and he doubted that he could have done better himself. Potions masters were highly sought after in the wizarding world and he knew that the ministry would love to get their hands on this young boy when he graduated. Harry knew for certain that he had just brewed himself an Outstanding by the look on the examiners face. He had cheated a bit, using telekinesis to help him cut ingredients but the examiner didn't need to know that.