JILY - AN UNEXPECTED RETURN

60. OWLs - 3

PREVIOUSLY IN JILY RETURNS

The OWLs and NEWTs begin.

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That exam was surprising easy, Harry later thought. He might have overdone it on the Cheering Charms, causing the tiny man to giggle constantly, but it wasn't that bad. His part of the household charms went quite well, which he wasn't surprised at. He'd had a bit of practice with them when he'd been at Sirius's over spring break.

They were done for the day, but that didn't mean relaxation. No, the next day was Transfiguration, and they all knew what Anita Chowdhury would do to them if they failed it. Not to mention, most of them needed it for their career choices, so as soon was dinner was over, it was back to the books.

The next day passed much the same as the first. Written after breakfast, and practical after lunch. Harry understood what Brianna had meant when she'd said that the exams were not as difficult as she had thought. Sure, he didn't want to take these ever again, but all the hard work everyone had been doing over the past few weeks was paying off.

For the written exam, Harry struggled with a few of the questions. Transfiguration, despite his success at the Animagus transformation, had never come easy to him, and sometimes the theory was much harder for him than the actual spellwork.

Why is inanimate to animate transfiguration more difficult than animate to inanimate?

What restrictions are there to Switching Spells and give four examples.

Harry was thrilled to find a few bonus questions at the end, and gleefully answered two of them with no hesitation.

List five dangers encountered in attempting the Animagus transformation.

What is the spell that can be used to transform an Animagus back to his/her human form?

For the practical exam, there had been a variety of difficult spells required. He'd been asked to show proficiency in Switching Spells, vanishing spells, animate to inanimate transfigurations (for him, it was turning a turtle into a teapot), and inanimate to animate transfiguration. For the last, he'd had to bite his lip a bit when asked to turn a large rock into a dog. He thought of Cedric facing the Swedish Short-Snout, and had to force his concentration back onto the exam.