Tory Potter and the Pathological Liar

Through the Trapdoor

"Suspicious" is the first word that came to mind when I looked back on the exams. In years to come, I would never quite remember how I had managed to get through my exams when I half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet, the days crept by, and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.

It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classrooms where we did our written papers. We had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.

Also, they were totally biased against Terrance, as they didn't let him set a tiny foot anywhere near the exam rooms. It's not like he would have helped me cheat, even if I asked him too.

We had practical exams as well…

Professor Flitwick called us one by one into his class to see if we could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. That was surprisingly easy, all things considered…

Professor McGonagall watched us turn a mouse into a snuffbox - points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers.

I think I passed…

Professor Snape made us all nervous, breathing down our necks while we tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

I panicked the entire way and definitely made the potion wrong. I think Professor Snape was secretly delighted, however, as he eagerly took out the silver stick again before he dismissed me.

The scar on the back of my neck kept hurting on and off the entire exam week. It was like it was telling me that danger would be coming soon, that war was approaching.

I had, in fact, checked the astrology chart for Mars and discovered I had just about one week since the forest incident until war came, but I wasn't sure since I wasn't exactly an expert. I would have to battle Voldemort and Professor Quirrell as soon as the exams were over…

Harry couldn't sleep at night, which everyone chalked up to exam nerves. He said that he kept being woken by his old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.

Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry, Terrance, and I had seen in the forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their bodies, but Ron and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry and I. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in their dreams, and they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much time to fret about what Professor Quirrell or anyone else might be up to.

Our very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons, and we'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until our exam results came out.

When Professor Binns told us to put down our quills and roll up our parchment, I couldn't help but cheer with the rest.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry went off to the lake, but I decided to head up to the library. I once again searched for information concerning fleshgaits, only to find nothing. I was starting to get frustrated with the lack of knowledge concerning them, especially considering there was one right in the Forbidden Forest.

Madam Pince came drifting over, looking at me suspiciously as I paged through another book. "What are you doing in here after the exams ended?"

"Trying to find information on fleshgaits," I answered honestly.

She frowned deeply. "You shouldn't be looking into them, especially not at your age."

I looked up at her with curiosity. "Why?"