Maya Dursley [ABANDONED, ENDING REVEALED]

35: Exams and Escapees

For the rest of the school year it was not exactly a good time to be a Slytherin. The Gryffindors constantly jeered at them and unfortunately the Quidditch Cup was not even the only thing the Slytherins had lost. Their victory had earned the Gryffindors so many house points, that also the House Cup was now all but impossible to win for the Slytherins. In a certain way it was actually a relief to Maya that the exams were nearly upon them, so she had something to dedicate all her attention to. Reluctantly ignoring the good weather, she shut herself in the quiet of her room and did some intense studying. She was very determined to get top grades and was only worried about History of Magic, Herbology and Divination. Her strategy for the latter would be again to be as dramatic and ominous as possible, and her preparation consisted of coming up with various unpleasant events she could pretend to see in the crystal ball.

The evening before exam week began, Maya was frantically revising all her notes, mumbling to herself in the process. "Where did I put that? Need to go over those again... or should I practise Cheering Charms some more, just in case?"

Draco looked at her. He did not seem nervous for the exams, just very happy with Buckbeak's incoming demise. "Talking to yourself, Maya? You definitely need the summer holidays," he said earnestly.

"Don't worry, I only talk to myself when I need an expert opinion," Maya shrugged.

Their first exam was Transfiguration on Monday morning, in which they had to turn a teapot into a tortoise. This exam posed no particular challenge to Maya; Transfiguration had always been one of her favourite subjects, and with a little focus she usually managed to perform the spells. After a hasty lunch it was time for the Charms exam, where they had to perform the Cheering Charm. Since Maya had practised those a lot, these too were a piece of cake. Two down, seven to go Maya thought when she left the Charms classroom, feeling rather pleased with herself.

The Care of Magical Creatures exam turned out to be the easiest exam Maya had ever sat. They were all given a Flobberworm and if it was still alive at the end of one hour, they would pass. Flobberworms flourished best if left to their own devices, and thus nobody had any troubles with this exam. About a thousand times harder was the Potions exam that afternoon. The Confusing Concoction lived up to its name and was a very tough potion to brew. Maya's potion turned out a darker shade of green than what it was supposed to be, but she was sure she had passed nonetheless.

Astronomy at midnight was fairly challenging, but Maya concentrated deeply and managed to finish her chart in time. History of Magic on Wednesday morning was mostly about medieval witch hunts and went pretty badly; this was the first exam that Maya thought she could actually fail. It was unfortunate, but it was not a subject she cared about and her other grades would more than compensate for it. Maya really had her work cut out for her that day, because in the afternoon it was time for the Herbology exam. They had to cut roots and tend to various types of plants the right way, and even though Maya struggled a bit, she did remember what she was supposed to do and thus she was sure she had passed.

For their Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, on Thursday morning, Professor Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam yet. It was some sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, make their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring the misleading directions from a Hinkypunk and finally climb into an old trunk and battle with a Boggart. "Well done, Maya, full marks," Professor Lupin said brightly when Maya had made short work of the gigantic caterpillar again.

Maya's very last exam was Divination. Professor Trelawney was seeing them all separately, and while each person climbed up the silver ladder, the rest sat on the floor waiting. When Maya's name was called, she took a deep breath and climbed her way into the stifling classroom. The fire was alight and the curtains were closed. "Good day, my dear. Kindly gaze into the orb... take your time... tell me what you see..."

Maya pretended to be in a state of deep concentration. "I see..." she began dramatically and Professor Trelawney bent closer in anticipation. "I see... a cauldron... and a dark figure... it's Professor Snape... he's poisoning students..." Maya whispered. Professor Trelawney looked at her like she was crazy.

"Professor Snape? Are you sure?" she asked in a dramatic whisper.

"Very sure. I'll be sure not to accept anything he offers me, no madam," Maya said earnestly, trying her hardest to keep her face straight.

A few minutes later Maya met with her friends on the grounds, enjoying their bit of long-awaited freedom in the sun. Draco was again gloating about Buckbeak's execution, which would take place in a few hours from now. He seemed exceptionally proud of himself that he had managed to bring it about. Maya glanced at Hagrid's cabin, which was just about visible in the distance. She felt a bit guilty, and just before dinner she secretly and anonymously wrote Hagrid a sympathy card. She had Aurelia send it to him and told the owl he was not to see her, hoping it would understand.

Next day was rather eventful even though the exams were over and done with. First they heard that Sirius Black had been captured in the night and locked up in Professor Flitwick's office, but somehow he had managed to escape again. In fact, so had Buckbeak, even after Ministry officials had witnessed the Hippogriff tied up in Hagrid's yard. Draco was nothing short of furious about it, and felt strongly that Hagrid should be punished for it. While all sorts of theories and rumours went around the school, Maya was deeply convinced that somehow Harry and his friends were behind it. Maybe when they were back at Privet Drive she would ask her cousin about it, if he even trusted her enough to tell her in the first place. In any case, Maya was sure that this close call would make it unlikely for Black to roam around Hogwarts much longer, and then all those security measures could be lifted. She definitely hoped that this would be the last of Black, at least for a while.

Second, Professor Snape had come to the Slytherin common room that morning to tell them that Lupin was a werewolf and that he thus would be leaving Hogwarts. This dropped quite the bomb, and most Slytherins were very angry with Dumbledore that he had allowed Lupin to teach with his condition. Maya, however, felt sad about his departure. "I mean, we actually learned stuff in his classes. And judging by the state of him, I'm sure this job was all he had. Oh, that came out wrong, scrap that," she said.

"I don't give a damn. Like I've said before, this school's going to the dogs. A werewolf as teacher, sure, why not. I wonder what kind of dangerous creature they'll give us next year!" Draco spat. He was in an extremely foul mood and Maya inadvertently did not mind going back to Privet Drive as much as she usually did.

"I could've known though, after that essay on werewolves Snape set us. He totally set us that essay in the hope that we would recognise that Lupin's so-called 'illnesses' always occurred on the full moon. You know, I love how Snape was explicitly told by Dumbledore that he could not tell anyone about Lupin's condition, and he just fully committed to passive-aggressively skirting that line without technically crossing it," Maya said.

The exam results came out on the last day of term. Maya had achieved top grades in every subject but History of Magic, which she had passed by the skin of her teeth. At least academically this year had been a success for her, but it was a sickening sight to see Gryffindor win the House Cup once again. It meant that all of next year she would have to see the scarlet and gold hangings in the Great Hall too. "We'll get it next year," Maya said gloomily, as she and her friends tried their hardest to enjoy the end-of-term feast.

All in all, Maya and Draco were more than ready to leave this disappointing year behind them when the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station next morning. Maya watched Hogwarts disappear from view behind a mountain, like she always did, but this time her thoughts were already set on next year.

As the train sped past the vast wilderness outside, Vincent and Gregory joined them in several games of Exploding Snap and they enjoyed each other's company for what would be the last time in two months. Draco told them about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, held in Britain this summer. "My father will definitely get tickets for the Top Box, it's going to be great," he said importantly. Maya just rolled her eyes behind her book, but inadvertently wished that this train ride would never end. All too soon, however, the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross station and Maya reluctantly walked out onto the platform and through the barrier with the other students. She waved her friends goodbye and wondered what she would do this summer, knowing full well that looking into the future was always better than dreaming about the past.