𝔞 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥; 𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔶 𝔭𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯

xiii. through the trapdoor

EMMMALINA when looking back would never quite remember how she managed to get through her exams during a time when she half expected Voldemort to break through the door at any moment. Because after all, the world doesn't end simply on the re-rise of a dark lord. However, as the days passed, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Fluffy was still alive behind the locked door.

There was oppressive heat in the large classroom where they wrote their papers. New quills were provided for the exams, which had been bewitched with an anti-cheating spell.

They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox -- points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

Emmalina supposed she did well on the practicals, although she couldn't be sure. However, she knocked a vile of liquid on Snape's feet, causing steam to erupt from it and he even had to go to the hospital wing. Because of the chaos of the whole thing, Snape had forgotten to deduct points from Gryfindor but Emmalina did not doubt that it would reflect badly on her practical marks.

Ron and Harry were well amused with the outcome of the events. Ron went as far as to say, "That git deserves it."

However, not all was cheery, for Harry had been suffering from nightmares of his journey to the forbidden forest, and kept seeing you-know-who in that cloaked person. He had tried to push past it and Emmalina went as far as to suggest him getting a potion from Madam Pomfrey for dreamless sleep.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Emmalina couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

"Yeah that was bloody useless," Emmalina spoke, eyes turning into an annoyed glare. She had studied till late in the night to cover those portions but of course, the portions she was not confident in appeared in the exams.

Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterwards, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid basking in the warm shallows. 

"No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching 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."

Harry was rubbing his forehead. "I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting -- it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming..." 

Emmalina's face turned sombre, a feeling of dread forming in the bits of her stomach.

Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.