TRUST ME, harry potter

FORTY-FOUR, EXAMS!

EXAMS HAD COME BY RATHER quickly, and Cassie was doing an alright job. Her Confusing Concoction was perfect, much to Snape's dismay. He wanted to give her a zero, but he gave her full marks.

Astronomy was at midnight, up on the tallest tower; History of Magic on Wednesday morning, in which Cassie scribbled down everything she could remember from that boring lesson. Wednesday afternoon was Herbology, in the greenhouses under a baking-hot sun; and then they had to go back to their common rooms with sunburnt necks.

Their second to last exam, on Thursday morning, was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam any of them had ever taken; a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a Hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new Boggart.

Cassie almost broke down when she saw her boggart; There her mum lay, dead, on the floor. Then it showed Callie. Then Rowan. Then Aurora. Then Forrest. Then Remus. Then Harry. It flashed to each of her friends and family members before Cassie was able to get rid of it.

It took a little while to calm Hermione down from her boggart. When they calmed her down, they all headed up to the castle.

Callie was telling Cassie what she had seen as her boggart when they saw Cornelius Fudge, sweating slightly in his pinstriped cloak, standing there staring out at the grounds.

"Hello there, Harry!" he said. "Just had an exam, I expect? Nearly finished?"

"Yes," said Harry. The other four were hovering awkwardly in the background.

"Lovely day," said Fudge, casting an eye over the lake.

"Pity...pity..." He sighed deeply and looked down at Harry. "I'm here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad Hippogriff. As I needed to visit Hogwarts to check on the Black situation, I was asked to step in."

"Does that mean the appeal's already happened?" Ron interrupted, stepping forward.

"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon," said Fudge, looking curiously at Ron.

"Then you might not have to witness an execution at all!" said Ron stoutly. "The Hippogriff might get off!"

Before Fudge could answer, two wizards came through the castle doors behind him. One was so ancient he appeared to be withering before their very eyes; the other was tall and strapping, with a thin back mustache. "Dear, dear, I'm getting too old for this... Two o'clock, isn't it, Fudge?"

One man was running one broad thumb along the blade of a shining axe. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione nudged him hard in the ribs and jerked her head toward the entrance hall.

Cassie's eyes had widened, and Callie had grabbed ahold of her hand.

"Why'd you stop me?" said Ron angrily as they entered the Great Hall for lunch. "Did you see them? They've even got the axe ready! This isn't justice!"

"Ron, your dad works for the Ministry, you can't go saying things like that to his boss!" said Hermione, but she too looked very upset. "As long as Hagrid keeps his head this time, and argues his case properly, they can't possibly execute Buckbeak..."

Hermione didn't really believe what she was saying, Cassie could see that clearly. All around them, people were talking excitedly as they ate their lunch, happily anticipating the end of the exams that afternoon, but Cassie was too worried about Buckbeak and Hagrid, that she couldn't even pay attention.

Finally, the last exam arrived — it was Divination; They walked up the marble staircase together; Hermione left them on the first floor to go to muggle studies and the others proceeded all the way up to the seventh, where many of their class were sitting on the spiral staircase to Professor Trelawney's classroom, trying to cram in a bit of last-minute studying.

"She's seeing us all separately," Neville informed them as they went to sit down next to him. He had his copy of Unfogging the Future open on his lap at the pages devoted to crystal gazing. "Have either of you ever seen anything in a crystal ball?" he asked them unhappily.

"Nope," said Ron in an offhand voice. He kept checking his watch; he was counting down the time until the appeal started.

"I have," Cassie said. Neville was curious, but he was the first one called into the room.

It didn't take long for him to return, "What happened? What did you see?" Callie asked him, earning a nudge from Cassie.

"She says the crystal ball's told her that if I tell you, I'll have a horrible accident!" squeaked Neville as he clambered back down the ladder.

"That's convenient," snorted Ron. "You know, I'm starting to think Hermione was right about her" — he jabbed his thumb toward the trapdoor overhead — "she's a right old fraud."

"I don't think she's a fraud," Cassie spoke up, "Sure, she may say some things that's false — but not all of it is. Half of it has been true, and maybe she had seen everything she said to us, but mixed it up. Like the grim — it could've been a normal black dog."

Harry looked at his watch. "Wish she'd hurry up..."

Parvati came back down the ladder glowing with pride. "Cassie," she said, "You're next!"

As Cassie entered, she saw Trelawney sat down.

"Good day, my dear," she said softly. "If you would kindly gaze into the Orb... Take your time, now... then tell me what you see within it..."

Cassie stared into the crystal ball, watching it all unfog. "I see a huge attack," she said, "There's a lot of tents and they're all on fire..."

Trelawney leaned forward, interest. "What else do you see, dear?"

Cassie watched as it changed into — "Sirius Black," she said, "He's — He's receiving — he's receiving the Dementors kiss."

Cassie felt sick to her stomach.

Professor Trelawney wrote down everything Cassie had seen. "Y'know, my dear, from the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew something was special about you. Well done."

A/N: Cassie is so smart, she's such a slay. The exams are over now, yay. Anyways, I don't know what else to say here.
QOTD: are you a fred or george girl?
AOTD: fred but i love george too!