The Competition of Danger and International Relations

“The HERO bill is going to be introduced by Andromeda in the Wizengamot today,” Hermione said as we sat down for breakfast.

“Awesome,” Ron said, more preoccupied with food than anything else.

“Harry, I looked over your study schedule, you need to study more for Herbology and Astronomy,” Hermione said.

“I have went from A- to O- in Potions, that’s a rapid improvement,” Harry argued.

“Your potions skills have not changed a bit. Zo just got rid of Snape and Slughorn loves you. Same with History of Magic, although at least Lupin is unbiased in either direction” Hermione said.

Finals always came with an air of dread and illicit potions to help students better study or do well on the test. At least the prefects regulated the actively harmful ones.

On the Monday of Final week, Professor Flitwick passed out the exam schedules with the help of some of the Ravenclaw prefects. It was going to be a week of the dreaded exams and on the Saturday right after the week ended, the Third Task would take place.

“Oh! I have a free period before Transfiguration Theory while you have Divination,” Hermione said happily.

“Let me guess, you’ll go to the library?” Ron asked teasingly.

“Naturally,” Hermione replied.

“We’ll swing by the Library before Transfiguration. I’d hate for you to get lost in studying and lose track of the time,” I said.

“Thanks, you should get going if you want to get to the Divination Tower before the exam starts,” Hermione said.

The train system made getting around the castle so much easier and it was much better than trekking up several flights of stairs between classes. The Divination Practical last year was the easiest exam.

In mine, I pretended to be distressed over a vision of Harry in extreme danger in the Third Task then gasped dramatically about how I saw Voldemort. Trelawney seemed to love my prophecy and was very sympathetic about my distress. She escorted me out into the hallway and told Lavender, whose surname was earlier in the alphabet than mine and had already taken her test, to escort me to the Hospital Wing for a Calming Draught. I managed to convince Lavender that I would benefit much more from a breath of fresh air in the courtyard than a trip to the Hospital Wing.

Transfiguration Theory was painful, but I didn’t do too poorly. Herbology Practical was even worse. Ancient Runes Theory was almost fun. We were told to write at least two pages on how various runes could be used in certain situations and then a handful of short answer questions. Then it was dinner and studying in the Common Room. 

The Charms Practical and Herbology Theory passed uneventfully.

DADA was awesome. The theory was partially asking us to write down spells and partially asking us to reply on what we would do in various situations. The practical was Moody asking each student to cast a shield charm, two combat spells of the student’s choice and then to briefly duel another student. Moody was an awesome teacher and I was sad that he would be leaving.

Transfiguration Practical the next morning was a tad stressful as McGonagall was very strict about knowing the wand movements and correct pronunciation, even though I could cast spells without. Divination Theory was short and easy. Trelawney only seemed to be checking that we had a basic understanding of the concepts of divination and weren’t sleeping during class.

Divination Theory was just as easy as the practical. Charms Theory and then Astronomy Theory did involve some thinking but were also relatively easy. Hermione criticized my method of memorizing notes five minutes before the test, but it worked just as well as her study methods and involved far less time. The Astronomy practical was about locating the constellations, naming the stars and then a brief quiz about what constellations were in the winter sky.

The first slot of Thursday morning was delightfully free due to the midnight Astronomy exam. The Ancient Runes practical was presenting the project we had done. Hermione and I’s project was the tracking amulets used in the Enchantlympics Scavenger Hunt. While an ordinary tracking amulet would be a rather bland project, ours was more intricate due to the fact that we had created seven amulets that would sync up to our map that the audience was watching in live time.

Potion theory that afternoon was shockingly easy, although I reasoned that with only Snape’s potion tests to compare too any decent teacher would seem easy. It wasn’t that the tests were designed to be easy, it was that they were designed to measure a fourth year’s competence, not convey how much the teacher despised children and teaching.

In the evening, we got the news that the HERO bill had passed through the Wizengamot. There were heavy amendments, but the most important parts regarding elves being able to leave their jobs if they wanted and not being sold as slaves were a part of the final bill.

For the Potions practical on Friday, we brewed a Wit-Sharpening potion with a partner. Rather than the usual pairings, I worked with Harry and Hermione worked with Ron. While Slughorn usually encouraged us to help and work with all of our classmates, we were only allowed to work with our partner on the practical exam. 

The free period right before lunch was spent frantically studying for the Arithmancy theory for Hermione and I and the Care of Magical Creatures practical for Harry and Ron. After Arithmancy, which wasn’t any more complicated than middle school math, we were done with finals.

We went out to the lawn by the Great Lake and sat down under the shade of a large oak tree.

“Thank Magic that finals are done,” Ron said.

“Now we just have to get through the Third Task tomorrow,” Hermione replied.