Lionheart (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

Chapter 15: Wizarding Obstacle Course

Chapter 15: Wizarding Obstacle Course

Exams have started. I had been dreading them for quite some time now. Not because of their contents, no. But because they signify the year coming to a close. They mean I have to return to Grimmauld. The very thought fills me with a terror I can't even begin to describe. I'd rather spend the rest of my life in the Forbidden Forest than ever go back there.

**

Uncle Siri,

I served detention yesterday night. Not the first time I've done it, and I'm quite sure it won't be the last. This one was different. We went to the Forbidden Forest. I had been planning to go all year, and being able to go during detention made me feel as though all my dreams had come true. At least, until it all turned into a nightmare.

There was something killing unicorns and we had to find it. I was looking forward to adventure – to fighting something dangerous. I found the unicorn and felt so incredibly guilty that I had been excited earlier. That something so beautiful – so pure – had died... it was hard to swallow. I didn't have time to wallow in sadness when the killer appeared.

It was a person, not a creature, much to my surprise. I got so angry – my wand sparked. The person saw me. They charged me, but I was saved by a wolf. The person blasted the wolf away and I took my chance; blasting them with the Curse of the Bogies. They retreated.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that the person I had attacked was really Voldemort in disguise. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at that point. I just pissed off the evilest wizard of all time. On one hand, I'm... there are no hands. I'm terrified, Uncle Siri. 

Voldemort is a powerful wizard and I'm just an eleven-year-old kid. I can't - I can't... Give me a moment while I quietly hyperventilate... I'm not familiar with fear, Uncle Siri. I've never been afraid of anything but... I'm scared. What do I do?

Please help.

Love,

Leo

**

Leo managed to hide his growing sense of terror quite well, he had to admit. He kept a broad smile on his face and continued to strut around the castle like he usually did. Pulling pranks with the Weasley twins helped immensely. It was nice to just kick back and have a laugh, forgetting all his worries for the moment. Not even the oncoming exams dampened his slowly rising spirits.

It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-cheating spell. 

They had practical exams as well. Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox — points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Leo couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."