Bucolic- RBR Book 3

Bucolic || 15

Chapter 15: Howls and Hippogriffs

June arrived with such a swiftness that I ended up writing the wrong date on my papers for at least two weeks into the month. However, this was very typical of me, as I didn't know who or where I was most of the time (thanks, dad).

The weather was still celebrating the Gryffindor victory, and the skies turned blue and cloudless. I yearned to spend my days under a tree, scaring people off as they dared to come near me, forgetting about Sirius Black and my mother's warning about my father.

That, however, was not an option.

Exams were thrust distastefully upon us like a sick, dying, old cactus.  Instead of spending our days lazing around outside, we spent our days inside the castle walls, cramming our brains with information in hopes that we would be able to pass the upcoming exams, especially those of us who were friends with Hermione Granger. Even Fred and George, careless and devilish though they may certainly were, had been spotted working. Percy hoped to enter the Ministry of Magic and needed top grades on his N.E.W.T.s. He became very edgy and nasty. In fact, the only one who had a sharper bite than Percy at this time of year was Hermione herself.

She had, once again, forced me into studying with her, though I was perfectly happy t just wing it on the exams. If I didn't know it, the I wasn't going to know it after a week of forcefully trying to push it into my brain.  I had expressed this to her this and I had to duck so se wouldn't hit me on the head with Numerology and Gramatica. The only time I saw her antsier was when Harry and Ron asked her how she was going to sit twos exams at once. I had given up asking months ago, and had just assumed that by now, eh had ascended into the dark arts, which allowed her to become an intergalactic space-time travelling alien. I had no proof for this, but if you ask me, its a compelling explanation.

"Have any of you seen m copy of Numerology and Gramatica?" Hermione asked us lol shortly in the common room the night before exams started.

"Yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of light reading," Ron said softly. I choked on  the water I was drinking, spewing it int the fire. Hermione began shuffling papers around. Harry patted me on the back as he picked up napped letter from Hagrid.

"I know where your book is, 'Milne," I said, my eyes watering. "I couldn't find mine so I borrowed it." She dropped the papers with a relieved sigh.

"Whats this?" Harry asked, holding up the letter from Hagrid.

"Letter from Hagrid," Hermione said, desperately trying to organize her papers again.

"Buckbeak's appeal is set for the sixth," I said, scribbling something down on a sticky note- wonderful muggle invention, by the way, they come in all sorts of fun colors too!

"That's the day we get ut of exams," Ron replied, looking at his schedule. I nodded.

"Apparently, they're sending someone from the Ministry of Magic," I replied, slamming my divination textbook shut.

"And an executioner," Harry said grimly, reading from the note. Ron turned to look at him slowly.

"They can't do that!" Ron howled. "It sounds as though they've already decided his fate, and I've spent ages reading up on stuff for him; they can't jus ignore it all!"

"The Committee," I said bitterly, scribbling hard as I wrote a letter to Malfoy Sr. to threaten him to ease his son up on me or I would send all of them to the dogs, "has had their mind made up by Mr. Malfoy."

"I wish we could go see Hagrid," Harry said, rather disappointed. With all of the strict new rules after Sirius Black had been spotted a second time within the castle, it was nearly impossible for us to sneak out to see Hagrid again.

The next day, we had our Transfiguration exam ad i felt like barfing the whole time. Never had I felt so stupid in my entire life that when I was sitting there not knowing what a tortoise even looked like.

After a hasty lunch, we all rushed upstairs for Charms. We did Cheering Charms, which Seamus couldn't even achieve a reduction in my anxiety.

I took my Arithmancy test the net day and for once, felt like I did okay. Math was my strong point and all Arithmancy was really just the math behind magic. I could get it. Then, I had potions, and I swear I saw Snape almost smile at me as I turned in my Confusing Concoction. 

Astronomy came at Midnight and I mumbled to myself the whole time about how stars were jus starts and di it really matter where Mercury really was anyway and whyI had to wake up at eleven thirty just to go take some dumb test for a subject I would never use again.

Wednesday morning we had History of Magic and I wrote all I could remember about the witch hunts from a book that Hermione had forced me to read over the summer. In the afternoon was Herbology and I couldn't have been happier that I pt sun cream on every morning because I was so damn pale I got burnt from the moonlight.

Thursday we had Defense against the Dark Arts. Remus Lupin, my main man, put together a freaking obstacle course with evil creatures for our exam. It was, I think, the first time I drew pleasure from taking a test. At the end of the test, Ron almost laughed at Hermione's boggart, and I could tell an argument was going to arise. Even more dangerous was the fact that I saw Cornelius Fudge, Mnister of Magic who would sooner have me killed than Sirius Black at the top of the stairs.

"I'll see you later," I muttered to my friends before running off. He didn't know who I was yet, and we were going to keep it that way. I went ahead to Divination, where the ladder opened before I even drew near.

"Rumor Stormhenge," Her mystical voice called down the ladder an I climbed up. In front of her was a crystal ball, and she sat on a pouf. "Welcome my dear, to your final Divination exam. Please, have a seat." I sat on the pouf and stared into the crystal ball, my mind racing for certain events that I knew were going to happen that I coud tell her about if all else failed. She asked me to look into the crystal ball, and I stared at it harder.

I saw something. Like for real something.

"What do you see?" She asked, excited, she must have seen the change in my facial features.

"There's a cauldron, a large one.  It's in a grave yard, sparks are sitting off of it. There's a man sobbing on the ground net to it- a man is climbing out!" My voice became panicked. "He's laughing, the man on the floor is scared of him, but in awe of him at the same time." Trelawney looked impressed. It was hard to make up suc a complicated story line as that.

"Do you recognize either man?" She asked, scribbling something furiously on the paper.  I shook my head.

"They don't look too nice though," I said, pulling my thumb. But I knew exactly who both of them were. Lord Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew. I had just seen my father's rebirth.

"Well done, Rumor," she smiled at me. "It's good to see that you've moved past making things up." My eyes widened.

"You knew?" I asked. She laughed.

"Of course I knew, you think I don't know that Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley do it too?" She smiled at me gently. "Though most think the opposite, my third eye is not clouded."

"Why don't you ever take points off?" I asked, very confused.

"It amuses me to see what you think of. I can award points for creativity, and not everyone has the Sight. However, I think that you have just opened up your third eye."

Little did I know, she was right. That fateful day in my divination exam opened up a door in my mind, and once I knew it was there, I wouldn't be able to close it.

I hope I got on O on the exam, though.