2 | CONFESSIONS° HARRY POTTER

24 | O.W.L.s

ACT THREE, loss
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR, o.w.l.s

     The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake, the satin-green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze: June had arrived, but to the fifth years this meant only one thing: Their O.W.L.s were upon them at last.

Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to reviewing those topics their teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams. Pansy was, thankfully, a lot quieter now that she had to cram for the exams and when Oliver wasn't too busy bragging about how he didn't have to take his O.W.L.s, he was actually a useful study partner.

Meanwhile Draco Malfoy had found a different way to induce panic.

 "Of course, it's not what you know," he was heard to tell Crabbe and Goyle loudly outside Potions a few days before the exams were to start, "it's who you know. Now, Father's been friendly with the head ofthe Wizarding Examinations Authority for years — old Griselda Marchbanks — we've had her round for dinner and everything. . . ." 

Iris rolled her eyes at what Draco was saying.

A flourishing black-market trade in aids to concentration, mental agility, and wakefulness had sprung up among the fifth and seventh years. Eddie Carmichael had offered her a bottle of Baruffio's Brain Elixir and Harold Dingle offered her powdered dragon claw that she turned down.

Iris received her examination schedules and details of the procedure for O.W.L.s during her next History of Magic lesson.

"As you can see," Professor Binns told the class while they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard, "your O.W.L.s are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory exams in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night. 

"Now, I must warn you that the most stringent Anti-Cheating Charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs, and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbor at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new — headmistress" Professor Binns cringed as he said this, "has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely — because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the headmistress's new regime at the school. . . ."

Professor Binns heaved a great sigh and glanced up at the ceiling.

"However, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about. Results come out in July."

Excellent, Iris thought, I won't have to think about it until the holidays, and by that time I'll be back at Grimmauld Place with mum and dad.

Their first exam, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning. On Sunday, Iris tried to quiz Pansy and Tracey but Pansy kept shouting at her and Tracey was too busy nervously picking her nails to even focus on the questions.

It was an uncomfortable sort of an evening. Everyone was trying todo some last-minute studying but nobody seemed to be getting veryfar. Iris was first in bed, feeling a sense of calm wash over her that no one else seemed to be feeling. She was ready for her exams and knew that, with all the studying she had done, passing wouldn't be too hard.