Raven | 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 30

Throughout the next few weeks, Alexandra visited Hagrid's hut every single day to check up on Buckbeak, until he was finally able to go back into the forest to start and learn how to fly.

Things weren't going too well back at school and Alexandra had to be there for Mike more often now that they had lost their next Quidditch match against Gryffindor, letting them win the House Cup that year.

Although none of them could ponder for too long on the matter of Quidditch, seeing as their O.W.Ls were closer than ever before.

    The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted anf the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake. June had arrived, but to the fifth years this meant that their O.W.L.s were at last upon them.

     The teachers were no longer setting them homework and so Alexandra and Mike spent most their time in the library, studying. This was proven harder than Alexandra had thought, because her thoughts kept wandering off more than ever.

    "Why do you look so troubled, Alex?" Mike finally asked her with a little sigh, observing her.

    "You know, Regulus had promised to help me get through my Potions lessons for the exams. But he's been ignoring me for weeks now," she said, gazing down at her notes with a frown.

     "Look, just forget about him, okay?" Mike tried to sound sympathetic. "I'll help you with your Potions, all right? Don't worry."

     Alexandra nodded, but she couldn't stop worrying. The truth was, Alexandra didn't really care about her Potions exam or their tutoring sessions. She just couldn't understand why Regulus had been ignoring her all of a sudden, after everything was starting to seem great between the two of them.

     The atmosphere that the approaching O.W.Ls had brought with itself was terrifying. The fifth years were all under a lot of pressure, some sitting up crying all night while studying or falling sick and being taken to hospital wing. But the teachers certainly weren't helping as they came to them often with words of advice or even warnings.

      "I must warn you that the most stringent Anti-Cheating Charms have been applied to your examination papers." said McGonagall firmly at the end of their Transfigurations lesson. "Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs, and Self Correcting Ink. So all of you will do well to remember that."

     The night before their first exam was the worst one ever yet. Almost everyone was trying to do some last-minute studying as they went through their notes. All, except Alexandra. She was concerned about a more pressing matter than their examinations.

      The end of the exams was to bring with itself the start of summer break, which meant that she had to go back home to her grandfather, and yet she had no idea how he was going to react to her arrival after what had happened over Christmas.

     Alexandra still had no idea what had happened to her parents and what her grandfather was hiding, but she was starting to feel like she no longer wanted to know, afraid of the truth.

     For some reason, when Alexandra used to spend time with Regulus, she would forget all about it. But now that he was back to ignoring her, she found her mind as messed up as before with no distraction to help her.

     The next day, Alexandra walked to the Great Hall with Mike, who kept reading the notes out loud as a way to remember them better. Alexandra tried to listen to him, so she could grab a few more things before the start of their Charms exam.

      Once breakfast was over, the fifth and seventh years milled around in the entrance hall while the other students went off to lessons. Then, at half-past nine, they were called forward class by class to reenter the Great Hall.

      The four House tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor Flitwick stood facing them. There were loud sounds of scrabbling as everyone took their seat.

      Once everyone had settled and the Hall finally fell quiet, Professor Flitwick gave his wand a swish and dozens of papers started flying toward each student and the moment they got it, they started on with their exam.

     There was no time to relax that night, seeing as the next exam awaited them tomorrow. So Alexandra and Mike went went straight to the Ravenclaw common room after dinner and submerged themselves into studying for Transfiguration's exam, which was going to take place the following morning.

     Alexandra didn't do too bad in her practical exams and she also felt like she had done an exceptionally good job in Herbology. But obviously the easiest exam for her was Care of Magical Creatures.

      The practical exam for it took place in the afternoon on the lawn on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where the Ministry examiners had set them different magical creatures for them to work with.

      Afterward, Alexandra bid Mike goodbye so she could go and visit Hagrid for a cup of tea in his hut and talk to him about her month, just like old times, and later on they went to pay Buckbeak a visit. The Hippogriff had grown so much over the past few weeks and he had finally found his own kind in the forest and was spending his days among them.

      The Astronomy theory exam was on Wednesday, but they had to wait until evening at midnight for their practical exam. Alexandra didn't do as bad in Astronomy as she did in Potions, which she was pretty sure she was going to fail.

     But Alexandra found herself distracted by Regulus's presence as they had all gathered at the top of the Astronomy tower for their exam. She kept automatically glancing at his direction, but she had to quickly look away because one of the examiners almost thought that she was trying to cheat.

      But after the Astronomy exam, Alexandra told Mike to go back to the common room by himself, and that there was something she had to do. So once Mike was out of sight, Alexandra went after Regulus and followed him without him noticing toward the dungeons.

     In the past few weeks, whenever she had tried to approach him and talk to him, he kept turning around and leaving, avoiding her. He'd been ignoring her for so long and it had become frustrating.

      So that night, Alexandra wanted to follow him until they could be alone somewhere and then corner him, trying to understand what she had done wrong for him to avoid her like that.

      As Alexandra followed him down toward the dungeons, she kept her distance. She stood behind the walls, peeking glances at him before tiptoeing after him again.

      But when Regulus turned a corner and Alexandra tried to again follow him, she frowned in confusion when she found the corridor empty. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

      But suddenly, out of nowhere a hand grabbed onto her arm and dragged her toward the classroom behind them, before closing the door and roughly slamming her up against it. And then the person clapped a hand against her mouth to prevent her from screaming or making a sound.