Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 82 - The OWL Exams

Enjoy :) But Merlin I'm so evil!

 Al rolled her eyes at the swarm of Gryffindors headed up to the castle cheering 'Weasley is our king' as they went. It had been bad enough for the Slytherins when they lost to Hufflepuff - of all the houses to lose to - but now Gryffindor had actually won the Quidditch Cup. Al hadn't even wanted to watch the match, but she'd been forced to by Umbitch. All the Inquisitorial squad had.

 And now, Al had little over a month to revise for her OWLs and stress levels were high. She'd given up revising in the common room long ago, as the lower years didn't quite seem to grasp the concept of silence. As a result, Al, Draco, Theo and Daphne spent their revision time in the library or outside in the sun, testing each other and making extra notes. Al was by far the most nervous for Transfiguration - she'd worked so hard this year and she'd be gutted if she were to fail.

 As the sun rose earlier and earlier, Al did too, choosing to go for runs only on weekends and instead getting an early breakfast on weekdays and then revising. She spent her History of Magic lessons revising other subjects that she felt was more important. History was just memorising things - she could do that easily. And if she couldn't she'd just make it up.

 May flashed by and soon it was the month that the fifth and seventh years had been dreading - June. Exam season. Al spent the weekend before her first exam cramming relentlessly for Charms, and it seemed everyone else had had the same idea. She redid every set of questions she could find, only ever having minor crying fits when she got something wrong. To her relief, she wasn't the only one, as many other students were walking around puffy eyed with their noses in books.

 On Monday, Al had an early breakfast and then went up to the library, where she read her Standard Book of Spells: Grade Five as fast as she could. And then it was time. Her very first exam. Butterflies pounded the walls of her stomach and her hands became awfully clammy as she entered the Great Hall, sat behind Tracey Davis from her dorm.

 Al answered as many questions as she could, not doubting herself too much on incantations or wand movements. She was sure she'd done one of her diagrams wrong, and her theories were all muddled up. All too soon, the timer ran out and Al hurriedly finished her sentence, before scurrying out, pushing past Hermione so she could compare answers with Daphne, who was particularly good at Charms. The practical examination went fine, and Al didn't mess up a single one of her charms. She just hoped it was enough to forgive her written exam.

 Tuesday brought Transfiguration, and Al went in, hoping and praying that she'd do well, that she'd worked hard enough. She yawned as she sat down behind Tracey, having not got much sleep the night before. She'd stayed up late in the common room reading the important bits in her textbook, and as a result entered the exam hall bleary-eyed. Panicked, Al just scribbled down whatever came to mind, her hand shaking, and feeling like she was going to cry. She was definitely going to cry. When this was over...focus! She was sure that was NEWT level - how was she supposed to know that?

 Al left the exam hall without talking to anyone, instead going straight to the toilets where she burst into tears. She'd worked so hard all year, and for nothing! Merlin, why couldn't she do anything right? She slowed her sobs down to tears when she heard the door open. "That wasn't as bad as I thought," Lavender Brown's voice said.

 "I know, I think I did quite well," Pavarti Patil's voice said. Even more discouraged, Al left to sit in a random corridor, deciding to skip lunch and study peacefully. Hopefully she could pull it back around.

 "What are you doing out here, Dursley?" a voice said from Al's right. She looked up and saw McGonagall stood there, looking concerned.

 "Oh, um...the exam didn't go too well...I'm hoping the practical will be better..." Al stammered, scrambling to her feet, begging her exhausted self not to cry again.

 "Well," McGonagall said, putting an arm around her shoulders, "I'm sure it wasn't that bad." Al opened her mouth to protest but McGonagall stopped her, "Don't you say a word. You just need more confidence in your ability. You've got a real knack for this stuff - now go and sort yourself out before that exam."

 Feeling slightly better, Al rushed off to her practical, where she was called in with Michael Corner, Crabbe and Tracey Davis. McGonagall directed her to Marchbanks with an encouraging smile. "Let me see...Dursley. Ooh yes! I read that fantastic paper of yours on that cross-species switching spell. Perhaps you could show me at the end?" Al nodded with a small smile and did her exam. Her vanishing charm went perfectly and her gills spell was given a round of applause by the surrounding examiners who watched her eagerly.

 The Herbology written exam went as well as could be expected, and the practical not much better. She forgot a few plant names and her longer answers definitely missed a few points - but what could be expected of her? She'd never really liked Herbology anyway. Defence Against the Dark Arts was entertaining at a minimum. As the duelling champion she got all the jinxes and counter-curses in both her practical and written exam and she saw some very smug DA faces leaving the hall.

 For Ancient Runes Al had no idea whether she'd done well or not. She translated the runes as best she could, but it seemed like a very tricky exam, and even Hermione left in a huff. So it couldn't have gone that badly. Al had been dreading Potions the following week, and her written exam went horribly as she crossed out and corrected answers and then crossed them out again. Her brewing skills were unrivalled in her class though, as they'd been asked to make a strengthening solution, which Al was particularly good at.

 Her Astronomy paper went fantastically, as this - like History - was just memorising where everything went, and Al was very good at this. She was in her element in Arithmancy, and left the hall beaming, having actually enjoyed doing the paper. She chatted with her classmates, telling them what her answers were, and was encouraged even more when they heaved sighs of relief that they'd put the same as her.

 That evening was the practical Astronomy paper, something Al had been dreading because, even though she could name all of Jupiter's moons, she had no idea where they were in the sky. She did her best at marking her star chart, guessing when she needed to, and shivering in the night time breeze. But then there was a sudden banging and a yell and Al looked up to see Hagrid storming out his hut and having stunning spells fired at him.

 The examiners reminded them that it was an examination, and most people turned back to their work. Al watched as Hagrid's dog got hit by a stunner and Hagrid picked up the offending wizard and threw him across the lawn. The class collectively gasped. Then when things surely couldn't get any worse, McGonagall came out shouting for Hagrid to be left alone and four stunners hit her in the chest. She rose slightly in the air, before collapsing to the floor.

 "Merlin's beard!" one of the examiners exclaimed. Al was right next to the door. All she needed was a distraction and then she could slip out.

 She pointed her wand at the other end and whispered, "incendio." A fire sprang up at the other side of the astronomy tower and students backed away from it.

 "No, no," the examiners said, rushing over to it, "Stay where you are - we'll put it out."

 Al slipped her chart under Draco's and rushed out the door, hurtling down the stairs and out the front doors. She ran to where McGonagall lay in a crumpled heap, and Al wasn't sure she was breathing. Umbridge and the aurors weren't anywhere to be seen, so Al turned McGonagall over, shaking as she did so.

 Al checked for a pulse at the neck and wrists, but couldn't feel a thing. McGonagall's heart had stopped.