Book: Courage
Chapter 75
Word Count: 4183
The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake; the satin green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze. June had arrived, but to the fifth-years this meant only one thing: their OWLs were upon them at last.
Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to revising those topics the teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams.
They received their examination timetables and details of the procedure for OWLs during their next Transfiguration lesson.
"As you can see," Professor McGonagall told the class as they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard, "your OWLs are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory papers in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night. Now, I must warn you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new — Headmistress — has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely — because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the Headmistress's new regime at the school—"
Professor McGonagall gave a tiny sigh; Layla saw the nostrils of her sharp nose flare.
"—however, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about."
"Please, Professor," said Hermione, her hand in the air, "when will we find out our results?"
"An owl will be sent to you some time in July," said Professcr McGonagall.
"Excellent," Dean whispered to Layla, "so we don't have to worry about it till the holidays."
Their first examination, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning.
During Sunday after lunch, Layla had deeply wished that she had remained in the library because the second she returned to the common room, it was chaos. Enough chaos to give Layla a migraine.
Ron was reading two years' worth of Charms notes with his fingers in his ears, his lips moving soundlessly; Seamus was lying flat on his back on the floor, reciting the definition of a Substantive Charm while Dean checked it against The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5; and Parvati and Lavender, who were practising basic Locomotion Charms, were making their pencil-cases race each other around the edge of the table.
Layla skipped dinner again that night to revise more for the exams. It had reached the point that food didn't even cross Layla's mind anymore. However, that came with a price. She couldn't move too fast without the risk of fainting, her skin had gotten paler, and permanent dark circles seemed to appear below her eyes. She didn't care though. She just had to pass the exams...
It was an uncomfortable sort of an evening. Everyone was trying to do some last-minute revising but nobody seemed to be getting very far. Layla went to bed early but then lay awake for what felt like hours. She just couldn't sleep.
None of the fifth-years talked very much at breakfast next day, either: Parvati was practising incantations under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her twitched; Hermione was rereading Achievements in Charming so fast that her eyes appeared blurred; and Neville kept dropping his knife and fork and knocking over the marmalade.
Once breakfast was over, the fifth- and seventh-years milled around in the Entrance Hall while the other students went off to lessons; then, at half past nine, they were called forwards class by class to re-enter the Great Hall. The four house tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing them.
When they were all seated and quiet, she said, "You may begin," and turned over an enormous hour-glass on the desk beside her, on which there were also spare quills, ink bottles and rolls of parchment.
Layla turned over her paper, sighing quietly as her eyes skimmed the questions.
Just breathe. It's only an exam...
She looked around. Two rows to her left and one seat ahead, Hermione was already scribbling. Layla lowered her eyes to the first question:
1) Who invented the Cheering Charm?
Felix Summerbee
2) In which scenario would you use Cistem Aperio?
To open a chest
And the rest of the exam seemed to whizz by.
The fifth-years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four house tables had reappeared for the lunch hour), then they trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forwards in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practised wand movements, occasionally poking each other in the back or eye by mistake.
Layla's name was eventually called. She left the chamber with Sue Li from Ravenclaw, Neville, and Draco Malfoy.
She walked up to the door with the three other students. Draco was acting as obnoxious as ever, ranting to Sue Li about how well he did on the exam and would do even better with the practical, and how he didn't even revise and was just naturally smart. Layla rolled her eyes and turned to Neville, who looked like he was about to pass out.
"You'll do fine, Neville, I'm sure of it," said Layla. "Just breathe."
"Thanks, Layla," sighed Neville.
"Professor Tofty is free, Lupin," Professor Flitwick called over, pointing out a bearded wizard sitting at a table near the end of the hall. Layla walked over as Professor Tofty looked over some notes.
"Lupin... Lupin... ah, here we are! Layla, is it?"
"Yep, that's me," said Layla, taking a seat.
"Are you ready to start?" said Professor Tofty, receiving a nod in return. "Now, if I could ask you to take this egg cup and make it do cartwheels for me."
On the whole, Layla thought it went rather well. Her Levitation Charm was certainly much better than Malfoy's had been, who had dropped and smashed the wine-glass he was supposed to be levitating.
There was no time to relax that night; Layla went straight to the common room after dinner and submerged herself in revision for Transfiguration next day. She went up to her dorm with her head buzzing with complex spell models and theories, receiving no sleep once again that night and only a muffin that she had eaten for lunch after Ginny had badgered her about eating something.
Tuesday's exam — which was Transfiguration — flew by. Of course, it wasn't Layla's best subject. She had forgotten quite a lot of the theories for the exam, and for the practical, when she was meant to be vanishing an iguana, she had shrunk it instead. Apart from that, it went alright.
They had their Herbology exam on Wednesday, and Layla felt she had done reasonably well; and then, on Thursday, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Here, Layla felt sure she had passed. Her father loved DADA. She practically grew up surrounded by it. She had no problem with any of the written questions and took particular pleasure, during the practical examination, in performing all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells right in front of Umbridge, who was watching coolly from near the doors into the Entrance Hall.
"Oh, blimey!" cried Professor Tofty, who was examining Layla again, when Layla demonstrated a perfect Boggart banishing spell. "Excellent work! Well, I think that's all, Lupin. You may go."
Thankfully, Layla had a day off in Friday. She was planning on spending the day in bed, but when she peaked out her window to see Dean and Seamus sat by the lake outside, she decided that fresh air wouldn't hurt. She headed down to the lake and over to the two boys.
"Hey," she greeted. "I'm bored, and revision is giving me a migraine. Mind if I join?"
"Layla!" Dean's eyes lit up immediately. "Yeah, of course. We were just talking about playing a game of Gobstones. Seamus brought a game from home. You in?"
"Yeah, sure," said Layla.
"I'll go get it," said Seamus, rising to his feet and hurrying off to the castle.
"So, how are you finding exams?" asked Dean, leaning back on his elbows. Layla followed suit.
"Alright so far. You?"
"Meh," Dean shrugged. "As good as can be, I guess. I've been thinking about you a lot, you know."
"How forward of you," Layla smirked, mildly amused. Dean chuckled.
"It's not my fault you're beautiful."
Layla stayed silent, taking a moment to look at Dean. He was so different compared to Cedric, who was the perfect gentlemen, the friendliest person alive with a heart of gold, with his charming features and his perfect hair. There was never anything bad to say about him. But Dean, on the other hand... he held himself proudly and he had a modest ego, in the way that he was very handsome and he knew it. He was flirtatious and wasn't afraid to go after what he wanted.
Layla surprised herself with how much she enjoyed Dean's company. He was incredibly charming, and he knew what he was doing whenever he complimented Layla. He liked her, she liked him... but with Cedric always on her mind, Layla was terrified that she would let Dean down. She couldn't be loyal to him with her dead ex-boyfriend always on her mind.
But maybe it was Merlin's plan sending Dean her way. Maybe the universe was telling her to move on. To find happiness. To find love again. That was definitely what Cedric would have wanted. He wouldn't have wanted to hold her back.
"Will you be my boyfriend?"
It took a few seconds for Layla to realise that the words had come out of her own mouth. She didn't mean to blurt it out so suddenly, but she didn't regret saying it. That was until she noticed the shocked look on Dean's face, wondering if she should've stayed quiet.
But suddenly, a confident smirk found its way onto Dean's face.
"Thought you'd never ask, doll."
"Doll? Ew," said Layla, chuckling. "No way. Try that again."
"Fine," Dean grinned. "What would you prefer? Princess? Baby? Beautiful? Let's go with beautiful. May I kiss you, beautiful?"
"Do you even have to ask?" and with that, Layla leant forward and pressed her lips to Dean's. The second guy she had ever kissed. It felt different, but it also felt... really nice. Dean rested his hand on the side of Layla's face, pulling her closer to him, but they were interrupted by a loud voice.
"Sorry, am I interrupting?"
The two pulled away to see Seamus, a game of Gobstones in his hands, grinning widely.
"Shut up," smirked Layla. "Let's just play."
So, they played a few rounds of Gobstones and the three of them had an amazing time by the lake.
Monday, the exam which Layla had been looking forward to least. However, the Potions written paper turned out much better than she thought it would.
The afternoon practical was not as dreadful as she had expected it to be either. With Snape absent from the proceedings, she found that she was much more relaxed than she usually was while making potions. Neville, who was sitting very near Layla, also looked happier than Layla had ever seen him during a Potions class. When Professor Marchbanks said, "Step away from your cauldrons, please, the examination is over," Layla corked her sample flask, feeling that she might not have achieved a good grade, and left feeling proud of herself.
Care of Magical Creatures' written paper wasn't too bad either, and given Layla's love for animals, she felt she did very well. The practical examination took place in the afternoon on the lawn on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where students were required to correctly identify the Knarl hidden among a dozen hedgehogs (the trick was to offer them all milk in turn: Knarls, highly suspicious creatures whose quills had many magical properties, generally went berserk at what they saw as an attempt to poison them); then demonstrate correct handling of a Bowtruckle; feed and clean out a Fire Crab without sustaining serious burns; and choose, from a wide selection of food, the diet they would give a sick unicorn.
The Astronomy theory paper on Wednesday morning went well enough. They had to wait until evening for their practical Astronomy; the afternoon was devoted instead to Divination.
Layla was never too fond of Divination, but she felt she did alright. Sure, she probably didn't get the highest grades, but she was almost completely certain that she passed. Layla felt like she did her best on the palm reading since she remembered each line correctly and gave very good predictions.
When the class reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock, they found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight and there was a slight chill in the air. Each of them set up his or her telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star-chart they had been given.
Professors Marchbanks and Tofty strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets they were observing. All was quiet except for the rustle of parchment, the occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on its stand, and the scribbling of many quills. Half an hour passed, then an hour; the little squares of reflected gold light flickering on the ground below started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were extinguished.
As Layla completed the constellation Scorpius on her chart, however, the front doors of the castle opened directly below the parapet where she was standing, so that light spilled down the stone steps a little way across the lawn. Layla glanced down as she made a slight adjustment to the position of her telescope and saw five or six elongated shadows moving over the brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and the lawn became a sea of darkness once more.
Layla put her eye back to his telescope and refocused it, now examining Jupiter. She looked down at her chart to enter the planet there, but something distracted her; pausing with her quill suspended over the parchment, she squinted down into the shadowy grounds and saw half a dozen figures walking over the lawn. If they had not been moving, and the moonlight had not been gilding the tops of their heads, they would have been indistinguishable from the dark ground on which they walked. Even at this distance, Layla had a funny feeling she recognised the walk of the squattest of them, who seemed to be leading the group.
She could not think why Umbridge would be taking a stroll outside after midnight, much less accompanied by five others. Realising that she was in the noddle of an exam, Layla tried to brush off the thoughts of Umbridge and a bunch of others taking a little stroll and turned her attention back on her star chat, jotting down Jupiter's position.
However, as soon as Layla went to turn back to her telescope to look for other planets' positions, she heard a distant knock which echoed through the deserted grounds, followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large dog.
She looked up. There were lights on in Hagrid's windows and the people she had observed crossing the lawn were now silhouetted against them. The door opened and she distinctly saw six sharply defined figures walk over the threshold. The door closed again and there was silence.
Figures were then moving across the cabin windows, temporarily blocking the light.
Trying to focus on her exam, Layla managed to write a few more planets' positions and one other constellation before she heard a roar from the distant cabin that echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Several of the people around Layla ducked out from behind their telescopes and peered instead in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.
Professor Tofty gave a dry little cough.
"Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls," he said softly.
Most people returned to their telescopes.
There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Several people cried "Ouch!" when they poked themselves in the face with the ends of their telescopes as they hastened to see what was going on below.
Hagrid's door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin, they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.
"No!" cried Hermione.
"My dear!" said Professor Tofty in a scandalised voice. "This is an examination!"
But nobody was paying the slightest attention to their star-charts any more. Jets of red light were still flying about beside Hagrid's cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be bouncing off him; he was still upright and still, as far as Layla could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds; a man yelled, "Be reasonable, Hagrid!"
Hagrid roared, "Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!"
Layla could see the tiny outline of Fang, attempting to defend Hagrid, leaping repeatedly at the wizards surrounding him until a Stunning Spell caught him and he fell to the ground. Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the culprit bodily from the ground and threw him; the man flew what looked like ten feet and did not get up again. Layla bit her lip to hold in a gasp that threatened to spill. She had never seen Hagrid in a real temper before.
"Look!" squealed Parvati, who was leaning over the parapet and pointing to the foot of the castle where the front doors had opened again; more light was spilling out on to the dark lawn and a single long black shadow was now rippling across the lawn.
"Now, really!" said Professor Tofty anxiously. "Only sixteen minutes left, you know!"
But nobody paid him the slightest attention: they were watching the person now sprinting towards the battle beside Hagrid's cabin.
"How dare you!" the figure shouted as she ran. "How dare you!"
"It's McGonagall!" whispered Hermione.
"Leave him alone! Alone, I say!" said Professor McGonagall's voice through the darkness. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such—"
Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender all screamed. The figures around the cabin had shot no fewer than four Stunners at Professor McGonagall. Halfway between cabin and castle, the red beams collided with her; for a moment, she looked luminous and glowed an eerie red, then she lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more.
"Galloping gargoyles!" shouted Professor Tofty, who also seemed to have forgotten the exam completely. "Not so much as a warning! Outrageous behaviour!"
"COWARDS!" bellowed Hagrid; his voice carried clearly to the top of the tower, and several lights flickered back on inside the castle. "RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT — AN' THAT—"
"Oh my—" gasped Hermione.
Hagrid took two massive swipes at his closest attackers; judging by their immediate collapse, they had been knocked cold. Layla saw Hagrid double over, and thought he had finally been overcome by a spell. But, on the contrary, next moment, Hagrid was standing again with what appeared to be a sack on his back — then Layla realised that Fang's limp body was draped around his shoulders.
"Get him, get him!" screamed Umbridge, but her remaining helper seemed highly reluctant to go within reach of Hagrid's fists; indeed, he was backing away so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over. Hagrid had turned and begun to run with Fang still hung around his neck.
Umbridge sent one last Stunning Spell after him but it missed; and Hagrid, running full-pelt towards the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness.
There was a long minute's quivering silence as everybody gazed open-mouthed into the grounds.
Then Professor Tofty's voice said feebly, "Um... five minutes to go, everybody."
Layla was desperate for the exam to end. She had almost completed it anyway, so even with the large distraction, she had a good feeling that she did well.
When the exam finally ended, none of the students were going to bed; they were all talking loudly and excitedly at the foot of the stairs about what they had witnessed.
The Gryffindor common room was full when Layla returned with Seamus and Dean. The commotion out in the grounds had woken several people, who had hastened to rouse their friends. Seamus and Dean were now telling everyone what they had seen and heard from the top of the Astronomy Tower.
"But why sack Hagrid now?" asked Angelina Johnson, shaking her head. "It's not like Trelawney; he's been teaching much better than usual this year!"
"Urnbridge hates part-humans," said Hermione bitterly, flopping down into an armchair. "She was always going to try and get Hagrid out."
"And she thought Hagrid was putting Nifflers in her office," Layla piped up.
"Oh, blimey," said Lee Jordan, covering his mouth. "It's me who's been putting the Nifflers in her office. Fred and George left me a couple; I've been levitating them in through her window."
"She'd have sacked him anyway," said Dean, taking a seat beside Layla on the sofa and pulling her closer to him. "He was too close to Dumbledore."
"That's true," said Harry, sinking into an armchair beside Hermione's.
"I just hope Professor McGonagall's all right," said Lavender tearfully.
"They carried her back up to the castle, we watched through the dormitory window," said Colin Creevey. "She didn't look very well."
"Madam Pomfrey will sort her out," said Layla firmly. "She's never failed yet."
It was nearly four in the morning before the common room cleared. Although, Layla had immense trouble falling asleep that night.
Their final exam, History of Magic, was not to take place until that afternoon. Layla sat with her head in her hands by the common-room window, trying hard not to doze off as she read through some of the three-and-a-half-feet-high stack of notes that Hermione had lent her. Just as she was about to throw the notes across the room in frustration, someone sat in front of her. Layla looked up to see that it was Dean with his usual charming smile. Tall, dark, handsome... a girl's dream guy. Layla shot him a small smile.
"Hey," said Dean. "Last exam. How you feel?"
"Bad," said Layla, groaning as she buried her head in her hands again. "This stuff is barely even entering my brain."
"Here," Dean took the notes from her. "I'll quiz you."
"Thank you," said Layla, sighing gratefully. "That'll be amazing."
"As amazing as you?" Dean smirked, causing Layla to let out a small laugh of amusement.
"That was so cheesy."
"I know. I cringed as soon as I said it," Dean laughed along. "Here," he leant forward and planted a soft kiss on Layla's lips. "For luck." He then sat back and glanced down at the notes. "Okay, let's do this."
The fifth-years entered the Great Hall at two o'clock and took their places in front of their face-down examination papers.
"Turn over your papers," said Professor Marchbanks from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hour-glass. "You may begin."
Layla stared fixedly at the first question. Slowly, tortuously, she began to write an answer. As she hurried through the questions, she looked up now and again to check the large hour-glass on the desk beside Professor Marchbanks.
As Layla had completed three-quarters of the paper, she put her quill down quickly to massage her hand, which had started to cramp from all of the writing. However, as she went to pick her quill back up, she dropped it in shock, jumping as the sound of someone screaming caught her attention. Most of the hall also jumped and gasped at the noise, looking around for the source of the scream.
Spinning around in her seat, Layla's eyes fell on someone two rows behind her. Someone had fallen off of their chair and was writhing in pain on the floor, screaming as they clutched their scar on their forehead.
Harry.