Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
————————————
Aurora Areli
EXAM SEASON WAS UPON us, and it was a wonder I was able to concentrate on my revision after what Harry and I had seen in the Forest. I was trying not to worry, though, because there was no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door, and there hadn't been much suspicious activity from Quirrell or Snape.
The temperature had increased dramatically outside, and it was especially hot in the classrooms where we had to take our written papers. For those, we had been given special quills bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.
Aside from the written ones, (which weren't at all as difficult as Atticus had made them out to be), we had practical exams as well.
For Charms, we were called into Professor Flitwick's office one by one to see if we could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. For Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall watched us turn a mouse into a snuff-box — points were given for how pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Potions, however, was my least favorite and most stressful exam, with Professor Snape breathing down our necks as we tried to make a Forgetfulness Potion.
I was a bit distracted throughout the whole thing by Harry, who kept wincing in pain. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me his scar had been hurting him ever since our trip to the Forest. Harry also told me about how the nightmares he'd been having were growing worse, and that he kept seeing that same cloaked figure dripping blood.
That only made my worry for the Stone intensify, unlike Ron and Hermione, who were definitely scared at the thought of Voldemort, but didn't let it bother them as much. I could only imagine how Harry was feeling.
Our last exam was History of Magic, which was easy enough. All you had to do to pass it was memorize a bunch of names and dates, which was fine for me.
"That was far easier than I thought it would be," Hermione said, as we joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
I smiled slightly and shook my head. Only Hermione would take it upon herself to learn unnecessary extra material. She also liked to go through the exam papers afterward, but Ron said that it made him feel ill, so instead we wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree.
I watched in mild amusement as the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan tickled the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.
"No more revision," Ron sighed happily as he stretched out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
I looked over and saw Harry rubbing his forehead.
"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily.
