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Chapter Twenty-Six
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.

*~*~*

The following week saw the start of the Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations.  They had to take a written exam for each subject, and a practical in some fields of magic.  The subjects they had OWLs in were Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dark Arts, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Divination, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic, Muggle Studies and Latin.  These were to be spread over two weeks, with written exams in the morning, and practicals in the afternoon.

Monday of the first week had written exams for Transfiguration and Arithmancy in the morning, and the Transfiguration practical in the afternoon.  The four time travellers breezed through the morning, already knowing all of the material.  The others, however, were not so happy.  Gallatea thought she had done well, as she studied almost as hard as Hermione, and Christabel was confident she had passed, if not with high marks, then certainly with respectable ones.  Ardwick was complaining, saying they were too hard, but gained no sympathy from Hermione, who just lectured him on studying harder.  That afternoon, the Transfiguration practical was reasonably simple.  They had a list of items and a potato.  They had to transfigure the potato into the first object on the list, an aardvark.  They then had to transfigure the aardvark into a mace.  The list continued, each time the transfiguration getting harder, alternating between animate and inanimate objects.  When the students reached a transfiguration they couldn't manage, they had to mark on the list how far they had gotten, and hand it in.  The exams were strictly monitored, to ensure there was no cheating.

The rest of the two weeks passed in a similar fashion.  For potions they had brewed some complex concoctions, and had to create their own potion for an original purpose.  Charms had simply been a test by the teacher of 100 random charms.  Any that could not be performed were written down.  DADA and the Dark Arts were both assessed at the same time.  Students were paired up, and one at a time the pair would be tested in the form of a duel.  They would each throw only Dark Arts curses and hexes at each other, and they would have to defend themselves from these attacks to make up the DADA portion of the exam.  Naturally, with all of his extra reading on the subject, Harry beat Ron in only a few minutes.  The time travellers had been paired up, as their exchanged knowledge would make them more advanced, and this would not have been fair if they were paired with anyone other than each other.  The Divination exam had been mostly covered in the written portion, but for the practical, the students had to do readings with tea leaves, crystal balls, tarot cards and runes.  

When the final exam of the second week was over, Ron let out a loud whoop of joy.  This elation, however, was short lived when they ran into Hufflepuff on the way to the Gryffindor room.

“ Well now, just the students I wanted to see.  Now dears, I know you have had an exhausting two weeks, but I feel I must tell you.  Next week we will be testing you on the other skills you have learned.  As you know, we created the original OWL and NEWT examinations, and so we have created a further six to cover invisibility, animagus, duelling, sword fighting, archery and martial arts.  We feel in the future it might be beneficial for you to have written proof of your skills.  The exams will take place on Monday and Tuesday, and of course all seven of you will be attending the animagus test.  Don't worry, though.  Just because we are examining you, doesn't mean the lessons will stop.  They will continue through the summer until you leave.  Do you have any questions?”

Everyone shook their heads, but Harry was a little distant.  He was wondering if Lolide would give him an exam, so he made his way up to the hospital wing.  When he got there, he looked around the room to make sure no students were there before heading to Lolide's office.  He found her napping in front of the fire.  Not wanting to wake her, he turned to leave, but was stopped by a soft voice.

“ You are not having to leave, Harry.  I am assuming you came here to ask me something?”

“ Yes I did, actually.  I was wondering if you would be giving me exams in the things I have learned with you.  I'm getting them for the other extra lessons…”

“ Oh, of course!  Yes, you will be tested, and I am asking you to be coming here at nine o'clock on Wednesday morning.  You will have written and speaking exams in my tongue, and in my culture.  You will also be getting practical exams in healing and elven magic.  Is there anything else you is wanting to ask me?”

“ No, that's fine Lolide.  Thank you, I'll see you on Wednesday.”

*~*~*

The following week, while not as hectic as the previous two, brought its own kind of stress.  For the four friends, these exams would be the most challenging, as they already knew all of the information they needed for the other OWLs.  But these were practical, and based on skills acquired rather than information learned.  Monday was the start, with sword fighting, archery and animagus.  The animagus exam was first, as all seven had to take it.  They started with a written test, based on theories behind the transformation, the dangers of doing it incorrectly, and things the forms should not be used for, such as breaches of privacy.  For Ron, Hermione and Harry this section brought back unpleasant memories of Rita Skeeter and her beetle form.  The second part was a simple practical, where the students simply had to transform to prove they were capable.  Once this was over, Gallatea, Ardwick and Christabel were allowed to leave, but they chose to sit and watch their friends.

The next test was in sword fighting.  Each of the four had to have one fight with Gryffindor, while the other founders stood back and watched, assessing the students' level of skill.  The archery OWL passed in much the same way, with the founders marking them for accuracy as they shot arrows at targets.

Tuesday passed in a similar manner, with a written and practical exam for invisibility first.  The written exam was along the same lines as the animagus exam the day before, looking at theory, technique and moral uses.  The duelling and martial arts practicals were carried out in the same way as the sword fighting.  For martial arts, the students would fight Slytherin, and for duelling they would face Gryffindor.  Out of the four, Harry was the only one who beat Gryffindor, which in itself was very surprising.

By the time Wednesday rolled around, Harry was ready for a break.  The night before there had been a party in the Gryffindor room, as the other six had felt it necessary to let out some of the pent up stress of the OWLs.  Hermione and Gallatea were already worrying about what they would get, and Ardwick and Ron were rejoicing at the end of studying until September.  Harry, though, couldn't relax.  He excused himself early, much to the surprise of his friends, and made his way back to the Ravenclaw common room to read over his notes from Lolide.  His visit to the elves over Easter had done him the world of good, especially when it came to the language, as most elves didn't speak any human languages.  However, he still felt he needed to revise as much as possible.  Lolide had taken time out of her life and put a lot of effort into teaching him, and he wasn't prepared to let her down.

Harry's exams for the elf were split into ten parts.  He had both practical and written exams in elven magic and healing first.  This was then followed by a listening, reading, writing and speaking exam in Lolide's language.  Once this was done, the elf gave him two more written exams, one in elven culture and one in elven history.  Harry didn't have too much trouble in any of the exams, much to Lolide's delight.  She had been hesitant about his ability to cope when she took him to her home, but as she could see, it had made a world of difference.  He was much more confident than he had been before.  She knew he would be fluent in her tongue before he left on September 1st.  If he hadn't finished his training, she would give him some books to read after he left.  Harry himself was surprised at how well all of his exams had gone.  Now all he had to worry about was the last quidditch match of the season, which would be the following Thursday.

*~*~*

“ Welcome to the last quidditch match of the season, where Deep Thinkers Ravenclaw face off against Cool Cats Slytherin for the first ever Quidditch Cup!  I am your commentator, Samuel Peeves of Hufflepuff House, enjoy the match.”

Harry and Gallatea walked onto the pitch in excitement and sadness.  For Harry it was a momentous match, not only because it was for the title of winners of the Quidditch Cup, but also because it was his last real match with Gallatea.  His girlfriend was also a little sad for the same reason.  Harry had brought this fantastic sport into her life and it would be one of the things that would remain of him after he had gone.  However, playing it without him would always make her sad.  For the match she pushed away her dreary feelings and concentrated on the excitement.

“ And here come the two teams and our lovely referee, the beautiful, the talented, the elegant, the intelligent…”

“ PEEVES!”

“…Lady Hufflepuff!  Give them all a great round of applause, they need the encouragement.  And they all mount their brooms and rise into the air, as Lady Hufflepuff releases the bludgers and snitch and throws the quaffle, AND THEY'RE OFF!”

The two teams sped around each other, creating a multicoloured blur above the pitch.  Harry and the Slytherin seeker rose into the air and Harry started to hunt for the snitch.  He had to duck as Gallatea went speeding over his head.

“ And Gallatea Ravenclaw has the quaffle.  Is she going to score?  YES SHE IS!  10 - 0 TO RAVENCLAW HOUSE!”

Harry looked at the other seeker trailing him and thought of his options.  He knew from the other matches that Slytherin had a very good seeker, but he didn't think she would fall for the Wronski Feint.  Looking for another option, he spotted Gallatea making another run for the goal hoops…

Harry suddenly started speeding towards the Ravenclaw goals, much to the surprise of the keeper.  Looking back, Harry saw the other seeker hot on his tail, looking for an imaginary snitch.

“ AND POTTER SPEEDS TOWARDS THE RAVENCLAW GOAL HOOPS, HAS HE SEEN THE SNITCH?  IT CERTAINLY LOOKS LIKE IT.  ALENA DI ANFRISTA IS RIGHT BEHIND HIM, BUT WILL SHE GET THERE BEFORE HIM?  GO HARRY, GO HARRY…”

“ PEEVES!”

“ Sorry, Lady Ravenclaw.”

The Ravenclaw keeper had to quickly move out of the way as the two seekers sped forward.  At the last minute, Harry swerved out of the way, only just missing the pole of the central goal hoop.  The Slytherin seeker wasn't as lucky.  With a sickening crunch, she dropped 30 feet to the ground.  Harry, a little concerned, called a time out to allow Lolide to treat her.  A few minutes later, she was sent off to the hospital wing, and would not be returning for the match.  Harry took this as a good sign.  He was the only one left to catch the snitch, so as long as Ravenclaw didn't fall behind Slytherin in goal difference, the match was as good as theirs.  Looking around, he could see the Slytherins giving him decidedly evil looks.  Shuddering slightly, he vowed to watch his back.

Two hours later, the match was still going on, with the score standing at 120 - 110 in favour of Ravenclaw.  The teams were both getting tired, but Harry hadn't even glimpsed the snitch at all.  Ten minutes later, he saw it, hovering near the ground in front of the Gryffindor stands.  Speeding over, he grasped it in his hand, just before a bludger smashed into his broom, courtesy of some still angry Slytherin beaters.  He could feel the handle of his beloved Firebolt snap under his hand and gravity start to take control of him.  Luckily he wasn't too high up, and he didn't hurt himself.  Meanwhile, the Ravenclaws were cheering loudly as the rest of his team, minus Gallatea, did a few victory laps of the pitch.  The next thing Harry knew were the warm arms of his girlfriend circling his neck.

“ Are you alright, Harry?  You have to stop scaring me like that!”

“ Sorry, `Tea.”

Harry looked forlornly at the broken broom in his hands.  It had been the first gift he had received from his godfather, and he couldn't help the tears that welled up in his eyes at its destruction.

*~*~*

The next day, the group of friends was rather morose.  It was the last day of term, and Ardwick, Christabel and Peeves would be leaving for their homes in the morning.  Although all three had agreed to come back for Harry's birthday in July, they were still sad at their parting.  That night at the leaving feast, none of them had much of an appetite.  It wasn't too bad for Gallatea, as she knew she would be seeing the three again at the start of the next term, however, for the time travellers, it would be torture.  After the following morning, they would only see their friends again once before they went back.  For Ardwick, Christabel and Peeves it would be less painful, as they could spend the rest of their lives knowing their friends were alright in the future.  But for Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny it was a horrifying thought.  They had never really thought about their departure this way before.  They had been pushing to that back of their minds the fact that wherever they ended up, all of the people they knew in this time would be dead.  As most of them were never mentioned in history books, they would never be able to find out what had happened to everyone.  Of course, they would have Peeves in the form of a poltergeist, but knowing the Peeves of their time, they weren't sure they would get anything useful out of him.  They were all pulled out of their depressing thoughts when Lady Ravenclaw stood up to address the school.

“ Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Hogwarts leaving feast.  This year, we have some good news and some bad news.  Firstly, I would like to say congratulations to the Ravenclaw quidditch team, who have won the first ever inter-house Quidditch Cup!”

Loud cheering rang out from the Ravenclaw table, with polite applause coming from the other Houses.  Once the students had quieted down, the founder continued.

“ This year I am pleased to announce that Hufflepuff House, despite being home to one of the infamous Marauders, has gained enough points to qualify for this year's House Cup.  Congratulations Hufflepuff!”

More cheers filled the Great Hall, this time centred on the Hufflepuff side of the room.  After a few minutes, Lady Ravenclaw threw sparks into the air to silence the jubilant students.

“ Sadly, I have not only good news to give you, but also some bad news.  Sadly, out newest students, Harry Potter, Ronald and Virginia Weasley, and Hermione Granger will be leaving us to continue their studies elsewhere.  We on the staff would like to take this opportunity to thank them from the contributions they have made to this school, and wish them luck for the future.”

Much to the four's embarrassment, the whole student and teacher body started applauding them.  Many of their housemates were clapping them on the back and shaking their hands, thanking them personally, especially for the new Hogwarts sport.  Finally, the food arrived and the students dug into their meals, making the most of the remaining time with their school friends before they broke up for the summer.

*~*~*

The next morning was filled with furious packing and last minute conversations.  Harry and Ron were spending time with Ardwick and Peeves, having a last minute Marauders meeting.  Since they had started the Marauders, they had been compiling a book of all the pranks they played, including photos taken with Ginny's camera.  There was a whole chapter dedicated to the prank war alone.  During their last meeting, Ron used a duplicating charm on the book to five copies of the book, one for each of them, and one for Sirius and Remus when they got home.  Each of the original Marauders hand signed the five books.  Each book was only about a third filled; leaving space to fill the rest of the pages with their own future pranks, making each volume unique.

The girls, in the meantime, were sitting in the corner of the library having a last minute discussion.  Then a bell sounded throughout the school for the students to make their way to the carriages, Hermione had an idea.

“ `Tea, do you think you could ask your mother to gather all of the staff and students on the front steps of Hogwarts?”

“ Sure, I don't see why not.  Why?”

“ I want to take a photograph as a keepsake.”

“ Sure, I'll go and ask her.”

Twenty minutes later found the entire population of Hogwarts standing on the front steps, the staff at the back, and the students in rows in front of them in descending year order.  Ginny stood in front of the group and set her camera, using a levitating charm to get it floating at the right height, and putting it on a timer.  Getting into the picture, the group waited for the bright flash, before moving into the carriages.  They headed for the newly built station, purpose made for the recently created Hogwarts Express.  Once everyone had reached Hogsmeade, most of the students got straight on the train.  The eight friends stood and looked at each other before breaking down in tears and hugs, and promising to write.  Eventually, it was time for Ardwick, Peeves and Christabel to leave.  Getting on to the train, they found a compartment before leaning out of the window, waving to their friends as the train moved away, before losing them in the distance.

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