Magic? || Years 1-5

Exams: Year 3

The victory for the Quidditch Cup was short lived.

The sun was shining brightly, dousing the school grounds in warmth and golden light. Amisty wanted nothing more than to go outside and talk with her friends, but exams had come and they were bombarded with work.

Even Fred and George were dragged into the work load. They were, after all, about to start their O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizard Levels) and Percy was going to start his N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test).

Percy, in particular, was very high strung. He wanted to get into the Ministry of Magic, and in order for that dream to come true he needed top marks.

He was increasingly snappier as June edged closer. Anyone who disrupted the quiet evening in the common room was guaranteed to severe punishments.

Hermione, however, beat him by far on the stress meter. She, when interrupted, tended to break into a rant about how important the exams were and Amisty had suffered through at least eight of them already. She had managed to catch a glance at Hermione's exam schedule, though.

Monday

9 o'clock, Arithmancy

9 o'clock, Transfiguration

Lunch

1 o'clock, Charms

1 o'clock, Ancient Runes

Amisty nudged Ron, pointing over at the schedule, "Is that even possible?" She asked.

"Don't think so," He muttered back, before continuing on louder and cautiously.

"Hermione? Er -- are you sure you've copied down these times right?"

What? Yes, of course, I have," She snapped, snatching up the exam schedule and looking it over.

"Is there any point asking how you're going to sit for two exams at once?" Harry asked, just as cautiously.

"No. Have either of you seen my copy of Numerology and Grammatica?" She asked, shuffling her papers around as she searched.

"Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading," Ron muttered sarcastically.

Hedwig flew in through the window, a note in her beak.

"It's from Hagrid," Harry explained, tearing the note open and scanning the messy handwriting. "Buckbeak's appeal -- it's set for the sixth."

"That's the day we finish our exams," Hermione commented, looking under the table now for her book.

"And they're coming up here to do it. Someone from the Ministry of Magic and -- " He held the letter up closer to his face, " -- and an executioner."

Hermione shot up, almost hitting her head on the table, "They're bringing the executioner to the appeal! But that sounds as though they've already decided!"

"Yeah, it does," Harry agreed solemnly, putting the note down.

"This isn't fair!" Amisty argued, slamming her hands down on the table with a loud smack.

Her bracelet was glowing faintly.

"They can't! I've spent ages reading up on stuff for him; they can't just ignore it all!" Ron added, furious.

-=+=-

As exam week edged closer and closer toward them, Amisty was struggling to keep her composure.

With Hagrid's appeal, Malfoy's snide comments and even more arrogant letters (that she replied to only for the purpose of making sure her owl wasn't harmed), and the ever-building stress of failing it was a miracle she hadn't killed someone.