CW: brief misogynistic comments & homophobic slurs
Regulus was studying Legilimency.
He remembered the promise that he had made Barty, and this was one that he could keep. So, he studied, and he studied, and he read until his eyes hurt. In all honesty, it sort of made him feel as though he was studying for O.W.L.'s all over again. But, unlike his O.W.L.'s, there wasn't exactly any sort of way that he could practice. It wasn't as though he had anyone around that he could practice on - if he tried to use Legilimency on his parents, it certainly would not go very well at all.
One thing that he learned throughout his studying was that there was little to no chance that he could manage to do it wordlessly again. For, the last and only time that he had done it, he had had copious amounts of determination - determination that he simply didn't think he was capable of having anymore. So, he would have to use the other method that he had found - the method that involved using a verbal spell. He would still need to concentrate, but not nearly as much as doing it wordlessly.
Somewhere on the cusp of July and August, the results of their O.W.L. exams arrived.
Regulus had been called downstairs by his mother only to be handed the letter and told to open it. He did as he was told, unsure what exactly it was at first and even less sure why his parents were watching him so intensely. That was, until he removed the sheet of parchment from the envelope and looked it over. He saw the top line, and he felt his blood run cold and anxiety creep through him as he hesitated to read anything else. Though he sucked it up, and he swallowed it down, and he read the sheet of paper that was being held in trembling hands.
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS
Pass Grades: Outstanding (O), Exceeds Expectations (E), Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades: Poor (P), Dreadful (D), Troll (T)
REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK HAS ACHIEVED:
Ancient Runes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E
Astronomy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O
Care of Magical Creatures. . . . . . . . . . . . O
Charms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E
Defense Against the Dark Arts. . . . . . . . . O
Divination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P
Herbology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E
History of Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A
Potions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E
Transfiguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E
Regulus was quite pleased with the results, in all honesty. He had achieved nine O.W.L.'s, and he had only gotten a fail grade on one of them. And, to top it off, his only fail had been on the cusp of not being a failure at all, as well as being in a class that he would never need in his life. He was a bit more worried about what his parents would think of both the Poor and the Acceptable, and he was forced to find out almost as soon as his eyes had left the page.
Walburga ripped it from his hands and looked it over, Orion reading it over her shoulder. Regulus watched nervously, trying to see if there was a break of emotion in either of their faces. There was none, but Walburga did look up with quite an intense glare on her face when she had finished.
"An Acceptable in History of Magic? A Poor in Divination?" Her voice was sharp and sunk into Regulus's stomach like knives.
Regulus straightened his posture and raised his chin. "I'm sorry, mother. I promise I'll do better on my N.E.W.T. exams."
YOU ARE READING
The Story of Regulus Black - Years 5-7
FanfictionWith pressures growing and a war looming, Regulus Black has a whole new set of tasks and more doubts circulating than ever before. The final three years of his time at Hogwarts had always seemed so exciting to him. However, as he experiences loss, h...
