Freaks: Year One

You Are Wanted

Mentions of abuse, and discussions of torture.

Jasper, for one of the first times in his life, felt relaxed. He finally had a clear solution with Christopher helping him with Defence. They only had a week or two, but with determination, Christopher believed he would be able to succeed, and Jasper would succeed. This was the most important thing, and he finally knew how he was going to do it.

With Christopher's promise to help, Jasper spent the last few days before exams studying. He was very grateful for Harry's idea for studying sessions earlier on in the year, as all the first year Hufflepuffs studied each day for two months so even though Jasper was delayed with studying on his own, he still felt prepared.

Harry, on the other hand, despite studying since the beginning of the year, was a ball of nervous energy. Jasper understood why, as Harry always put a lot of pressure on himself for good grades for a few different reasons, but Jasper knew his friend was going to do well.

As the first year Hufflepuffs were walking to the first exam (it was Potions), Harry kept asking the others review questions.

"Why do you need to stir the giggling potion slowly after adding alihotsy leaves?" Harry asked.

"Harry." Marty said as that was the eleventh question on this walk to the exam. "Relax, you'll do fine."

Harry looked over to her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Penelope responded. "We are sure."

That did nothing to calm his nerves. He kept going through all the things he learnt that year in his head, making sure he remembered everything. What if he forgot something during the exam? What then?

The Potions exam went well. Jasper thought. They had the written, and practical portion at the same time, and he felt like he remembered most of the material, and he had succeeded in making the potion that was required on the exam much to his relief.

"Do you think I did well?" Harry asked.

Jasper laughed. "Yes! You did the potion perfectly mate, trust me."

"What if I didn't though?" Harry worried.

"The examiner literally said, good job mate." Jasper remembered. "You did great."

"What if he just said that to mislead me?"

Jasper shook his head. "Harry, you did great trust me. Try to relax."

Harry nodded, but he was still a little nervous, and he was quite tired, but at least one exam was over with. Transfiguration was next.

Again, this one went well. It was a lot harder than the Potions exam, Jasper found, but Professor McGonagall was always a tougher professor. Still, he felt like he would get a B...A? E? What was the right grade in Wizarding terms? He still had a hard time understanding the terminology. He remembered he had gotten an O on his first Charms essay, (with a lot of research, and hard work) and he had sat there contemplating how horrible it must have been to surpass an F.

"I think I did well." Maryrose said, quite relieved as Transfiguration was not her best subject. "I transfigured it right! I was so nervous."

"You did amazing." Jasper told her.

Harry was looking over the exam schedule. "Defence is tomorrow...and Herbology." He pulled out his Herbology book, and started to read it while walking.

Maryrose said, "Harry, you really should take a break, and careful!" She led him away from the wall he was about to crash into.

And again the exams went pretty smoothly. Harry actually felt like he did pretty well in Herbology, but he had trouble doing one spell in the practical portion of the Defence exam. He just kept thinking about all the things he could have done better, and he gave a tired sigh.