Of Monsters, Of Men

Chapter 18

June 12, 1941

On the twelfth of June, at five minutes to three o'clock, Harry gripped his quill as he waited to be let into the classroom, eager to finish his last exam. Out of the corner of his eye, he narrowly avoided Avery's shoe, foiling his attempt to trip him. Harry gnashed his teeth together, although he kept his expression neutral. The motherfucker.

It was too bad that Tom wasn't here to take the test with him (Harry had no one to complain to). They were in the same History of Magic class, but because Tom had picked up self-study of Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies (all were prerequisites for the OWL level classes), Tom was busy taking one of those exams, having already taken the History exam.

Just thinking about it made Harry's head spin: he was drowning in his nine classes, but Tom was taking nine and self-studying three for a total of twelve. Harry was unsure where Tom managed to squeeze out the free time needed to cram for everything, but he was pretty sure it came from all nighters and Pepperup. (Harry had fallen asleep many nights to the sound of Tom reciting formulas and facts to himself.)

Jokes on you, Harry thought. Who's the one addicted to Pepperup now?

When Professor Yates clapped once, Harry blinked, bringing his attention back to the present. Professor Yates stood outside the door of the History of Magic classroom, inspecting each student as they put their wand in the tray before entering to find their assigned seat. Harry followed, shivering as Yates' gaze felt particularly unforgiving.

When everyone had settled down and found their desks, Professor Yates, ever the man of little words, waved his wands and delivered the exams face down and uttered one word: "Begin."

Harry stared at the papers, took a deep breath, and dipped his quill into his inkpot once, and then once again for good measure. He answered the multiple choice questions in a blur. Although he knew the exam wasn't difficult and that he had memorized everything he needed to know, his palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy. Tom would have his head if he wasn't in the top three. It didn't help that Professor Yates's gaze was constantly on him, as he was the student sitting front and center.

Once the clock passed the thirty minute mark, he took a long inhale and exhale, recentered himself, and began the open ended questions, ignoring the prickling gaze of Professor Yates. With ten minutes remaining, he read the last free response question.

What were the effects of the 14th century witch hunts?

Harry scribbled down his answer, writing,

The 14th century witch hunts were ineffective in actually decreasing the wizarding population, as the Flame-Freezing Charm allowed witches and wizards to withstand the effects of fire ... However, the Flame-Freezing Charm was not discovered until the early 1520s, resulting in the deaths of an unfortunate witch and required mass obliviator squads when the witches at the stake fought back ...

With five minutes to spare, Harry finished writing his response and placed his quill down. He slumped over to the right of his chain and stretched his arms out.

It was not a moment too soon.

"Avada Kedavra!"

An emerald green spell whizzed out the end of Professor Yates's wand and narrowly missed Harry's nose, shooting through where his head had just been. The flash of green light lingered on the floor. The Killing Curse. His veins iced over.

The room descended into utter chaos. Students screamed, jostling each other in their urge to get out of their cramped desks. Papers were pushed to the floor in their haste. The students closest to the door banged on the door, finding it locked.