1077 O.W. L’s & N.E.W.T.’s

The first day of the exams is annoyingly bright and sunny, but worst of all humid. The written exams would be first thankfully and as such a cooling charm was permitted. Unfortunately, cooling charms are not allowed during practical exams.

The Professors doubly checked the students for auto-answer quills which are automatically confiscated and banned in the examination hall along with cribbing cuffs, and self-correcting ink. Strangely the lucky cat pendants of the Whisperers of the Meow are ignored and permitted into the examination. Personally, Rowan thought these talismans are far more suspicious than the other items!

The examiners a variety of witches and wizards arrive at half-past nine including an ancient familiar face, Madam Professor Griselda Marchbanks. Madam Professor Marchbanks is an elderly witch with curly silver hair and a haggard figure. Why she had tested Professor Dumbledore on his exams in his time and she had already been old then!

One by one the classes are called forward in the Great Hall. The four house tables had long been removed with countless tables all facing the staff table at the end of the hall. At each table, there are quills, ink pots, and rolls of parchment that have stringent Anti-Cheating charms applied to the examination papers. There is a spare desk with supplies and a giant hourglass on the spare desk to tell the time.

"You may commence," instructed Madam Professor Marchbanks as the hourglass is turned over and the sands begin to drip down towards the bottom of the hourglass.

The first written exam is Theory of Charms, the Standard Book of Spells Grade 5 which would likely be basic locomotion charms and so forth. Rowan's conjecture is proven correct as the first question reads, "give the incantation and b, describe the wand movement required to make objects fly-." Ironically, the practical exam is far easier than the apprenticeship practical exams had been. There was also a lot less stress than Rowan had originally anticipated, go figure.

After the written exam is the practical exam for Charms. Students are taken out in small groups in alphabetical order. Professor Tofty, an old examiner nearly as old as Madam Professor Marchbanks has a spotted bald head. In a wheezing voice, he peers at them requesting they make an egg do cartwheels, cast a color-changing charm, and a growth charm, before returning the egg to normal.

Rowan did great but she knew she would have nightmares later that night after seeing a pair of tiny legs and feet grow out of the egg in order to perform a perfect cartwheel. There was simply something wrong with the magical world at times….

Normally, there would only be one set of exams per day but because Severus and Rowan were taking their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, their schedule was slightly off. That same evening their Mermish Examiner, Barty Crouch Sr. arrived. Rowan did rather well on the exam, but Severus did not match Rowan's effort much to his chagrin. Although Rowan had to admit that Barty Sr. looked much better without his parted hair in half and the Hitler mustache.

Tuesday came with Transfiguration which Rowan did great on the written exam, but not so well on the practical exam. She knew she would be docked plenty of points for refusing to transform an adorable kitten into a throw rug! What is wrong with the sanity of witches and wizards?

Later that same evening they had a written and verbal exam for Gobbledegook. Rowan knew she would do well, tragically, she would not be able to drop the class as previously hopped at the start of the year. With heavy exams, Rowan knew she would be in the top five, but that she wouldn't take first place. That honor would undoubtedly go to Dirk Cresswell. Rowan was certain that Pandora and Xeno would also be in the top five especially Xeno. Rumor had it that Xeno had been offered a position at Gringotts in their newly created newsroom…

On Wednesday for Arithmancy, Rowan calculated the position of the stars and moons in conjunction with the approaching Summer Solstice on June 21st. It had been by far the easiest exam in the context that there is only a practical exam to prepare for which in essence is the written exam. On the other hand, Ancient Studies went just as well. They had to break a variety of curses using the sliding block puzzle technique. Rowan had great fun solving the block puzzles and breaking the curse in one go!

Thursday arrived as many of the 5th years and 7th years looked half-dead. However, there was only Thursday and Friday to get through. Then they were free on the weekend to make one last trip to Hogsmeade before the Goodbye Feast on Sunday with everyone heading back home for the summer holidays the following day. (Luckily or unluckily, the Prefects were all permitted to head over to Hogsmeade. They were not required to chaperone, but they were required to…reprimand a student if needed.)

For the Defense Against the Dark Art's practical exam, they were asked to cast a boggart banishing spell. Rowan did not have any trouble casting Riddikulus spell the instant she saw her boggart begin to take the form of Severus. She might have been a bit too passionate, but the examiner did not dock her points.

Followed right after was Alchemy in which they had to construct basic constructs as well undo their constructs in reverse. The examiner was very pleased gushing over Rowan and Severus. Rowan and Severus had to finally distract the examiner before fleeing from the classroom.

Rowan thankfully only had one final exam on Friday, Ancient Runes. Their written exam was translating two documents one from runes to English and vice-versa. It was a long, tedious task, but it wasn't awful as far as they come.

Although it would be a lie to say, Rowan had not been nervous about the Ancient Runes final exam. Professor Babbling informed the examiners that the students would be permitted to carve rune stones with their wand or another tool. With special permission, the students using alternative tools had been permitted to bring their personal tools for carving. Each tool had to be submitted early to an examiner to be checked prior to the exam to ensure there are no cheating spells or runes therein before the carving tool is permitted to be used in the exam.

Rowan with great care had used the silver blade, she regularly used to delicately carve a rune into each stone to forge a rune stone. She had come a long way from simply blowing up her stone with her wand. She still times had difficulty carving at times as the blade grew more worn and duller. The current blade she was using no longer worked as well. For the upcoming year, she would need a new blade, but that was a worry for another day.

The minute Rowan was done, she ran outside to lie down in the shade to rest. She had earned a decent nap and her freedom was nearly at hand. No more school! (Technically, that wasn't true since she would have summer homework….). But most importantly, she wouldn't have Prefect duties! It would no longer be her problem to deal with!

Rowan wasn't the only one as Remus and Lily was actually counting down the minutes to their freedom as the Prefects of Gryffindor. Needless to say, Remus and Lily had a whole newfound appreciation for Prefects and their Professors. After a yearlong of Prefect Duties, Remus and Lily had finally gained an understanding of exactly why the other three houses thought Gryffindor's had zero preservation instincts. Some of the Gryffindors clearly did not possess such an instinct much to Remus and Lily's dismay….