Amulet of time 1: The Age of The Founders

Chapter 26: OWLs and The Leaving Feast

After Christmas the time seemed to pass quickly for the seven friends. Harry and Gallatea were still going out, although their relationship was getting more serious. Hermione had finished the book she had been working on, after several long months, and had started her next one. The Marauders were still causing havoc at least once a week, but as none of the teachers had definitive proof of who was causing the trouble, they never got punished for it. Gallatea's love of quidditch had only grown, especially after Ravenclaw beat Hufflepuff House. Ravenclaw were to meet Slytherin for the last match of the year, which was to take place the day before term ended. Harry's lessons with Lolide were progressing at a spectacular rate, making the elf sure he had elven blood somewhere in his family. She had taken him to see her family in one of the elven cities over the Easter holidays, and it had boosted his confidence and language skills exponentially. Lolide was amazed at how quickly he had picked up the elven tongue, but didn't think too much about it.

On the Slytherin front, things had been rather quiet. Since Horatio's expulsion, there had been few outbursts against muggleborns. Even Slytherin himself had been less outspoken about his beliefs after his defeat at the hands of Godric. The time travellers and their friends had been watching him like a hawk, but had heard nothing about his plans to take over Hogwarts. Even Harry's snakes, who had been talking to Kiriani and listening in on the monthly updates, had found out nothing. The group was starting to feel a little uneasy. They didn't think it plausible for Slytherin to go to so much effort to make plans, just to do nothing for months. He was preparing, they just knew it, but how he was doing so was a complete mystery.

One sunny and warm June morning found all seven friends cooped up in 'their' corner of the Hogwarts library, studying hard. The OWLs were coming up for them this year, and they had a lot of studying to do. Gallatea, being a Ravenclaw in nature and not just in name, had been preparing for months, as had Christabel. Ardwick, like Ron, was less enthusiastic about revision, and was only there because Hermione had nagged him into going. Although the time travellers didn't need to study, as they had the knowledge already in their heads, they were revising anyway; to make sure they were well prepared. Much to Hermione and Ron's surprise, Harry had thrown himself into his studies, showing them why he had been placed in Ravenclaw that year. His newfound thirst for knowledge, especially in the Dark Arts had never wavered over the year. It was during this revision period that Ginny brought up an interesting point.

" Guys, you do realise that even though we're taking the OWLs here this year, we'll probably have to take them again next year."

Everyone stared at her blankly, even the usually sharp minded Hermione. Ron was staring at her in abject horror. Ginny just rolled her eyes at them.

" Honestly, I can't believe you've never thought about this. We'll be taking the OWLs a thousand years before our time. You've seen already how much magic has been lost. The magical knowledge the founders gave us was all based on what magic is used now. It is barely recognisable in our terms. The next place we go will be nearer our time, and I get the feeling it won't be too much in the past. From the knowledge sharing, we are all at a level equal to four years education in our time. We still need to learn modern fifth year spells to progress. Even with everything we know now, I doubt we could pass OWLs in our time. Well, Hermione might…"

" I see where you're going with this, Ginny. We really should repeat our fifth year in the next place we go. You said you felt like it would be close to our time. When you say you have a feeling, is that just a wishful thinking sort of feeling, or a Seer sort of feeing?"

" A Seer feeling, 'Mione. I know you still think it's a load of rubbish, but I've never been wrong before."

" What do you two think?" Hermione asked, turning to Ron and Harry. Both nodded their heads in agreement, the redhead somewhat reluctantly. Ginny had made a good point, and they knew they would have to go through their fifth year again.