Harry Potter And The Lord Of Darkness - Chapter 9

Arth flipped a page in his book as he calmly took a sip of his coffee. To the immediate right of him was Alice who was also reading a book, albeit in a very stressed manner.

“Arth, do you have any idea on what will be on the potions exams?”

“Just read the book and you’ll be fine. It isn’t that hard to remember.”

“Do I have to know the brewing processes of every potion or only it’s effects?”

Arth frowned. “I’m pretty sure that you only need to remember a majority of the potions effects but it won’t hurt to remember a few processes.”

“Ughhh, I’m so screwed.”

“Calm down Alice. With your skills, passing will not be that hard. Besides, you skills in DADA and charms is superb.”

“I should’ve studied a little bit earlier…” said Alice while groaning. “Then I wouldn’t be so stressed with studying right now. How is it going for you Lily?”

Lily peeked her head out from a pile of books. “I’m pretty much set for the exams. I just need to study a bit and I’m confident that I’ll pass.”

“Where are the three other boys, Arth? James, Sirius and Remus.”

“Down at the black lake fooling around.” Replied Arth after finishing his coffee.

“Great… the annoying arrogant rich boy is more confident than me. How fantastic. I’m such a great witch.”

“Just relax,” said Arth after taking another sip of coffee. “Everything will be fine. Stress and anxiety will only make you perform worse.”

“Yeah Alice. Let’s all relax.”

“…fine.”

“Don’t be to worried, we will all pass the exams tomorrow.”

“I hope….”

On the next day, they were all given written exams to fill out and answer. Although it was quite boring and tedious, Arth managed to finish early and waited for everyone to finish. Alice seemed like she was doing better than she had expected as she had a small smile on her lips while Lily was frowning her brows in a concentrated manner. James and Sirius were playing around subtly so that they wouldn’t get caught. While Remus looked over his answers multiple times before moving on the the next question.

After everyone had finished their written tests, it was time for practical exams next. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox – points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if

it had whiskers. Professor Slughorn made them brew a Forgetfulness potion as he watched them proceed with a smile on his face, as if he were scouting new recruits.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who’d invented selfstirring cauldrons and they’d be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, everyone started cheering as they left the testing room.

Alice immediately came towards Arth, along with Lily. “Hey Arth! That was easier than I thought! You were right, I had no reason to be nervous. I think I aced that exam…. although-” Alice made a face as she thought about her exam, “-I thought that the question about the goblin and the slayer in the history of magic exam was particularly unfair. I don’t recall reading about that part.”

Arth shrugged. “It was about a madman wizard who went around slaying goblins for no apparent reason. This earned him the title of goblin slayer and he created a huge anti goblin sentiment for ten years before dying from dragon pox.”

“Ahhh…. I got that question wrong then. How did you do Lily? Was it easy?”

Lily nodded her head. “I found a couple of questions to be a little difficult but I’m pretty sure I passed.”

Arth gave Alice a cheeky grin. “I’m pretty sure that I did not fail. I knew the answers to most of the questions and the practical exams went by without a hitch.”

“Meh, what do you guys want to do for the rest of the day?” Asked Alice with a slightly bored expression. “I’ve had enough of sitting in a desk today.”

“Let’s go to the black lake and… talk?” Said Lily hesitantly.

“Library. Let’s go to the library and read.”

Alice gave Arth a disgusted look. “We just took a test and you still want to read? You disgust me.”

“Meh, reading is a very wonderful thing to do. You just don’t understand the beauty of it. Oh hey Severus.”

Arth greeted Severus who had caught up to the three of them and gave them an awkward smile. “Hey Arth and Alice. How are you doing Lily? Did the exams go well for you?”

Lily nodded her head. “It went perfectly fine, you?”

“I think I did well on the potions exam,” said Severus with a small proud smile appearing on his face. “Even slughorn praised me for it.”

Lily was about to say something when she saw something and immediately frowned. “Let’s go Severus. Potter and his friends are coming.”

Lily and Severus quickly left Alice and Arth’s alone as James, Sirius, and Remus appeared and gave Arth a pat on the back. “Hey Arth, how were the exams? I bet you did perfectly fine.”

“I did decently,” replied Arth, “how about you three?”

“We all did well,” James answered. “You wanna go to the black lake with us? Sirius bet me a galleon that I won’t take a dip in the lake. You wanna join?”

“Nah, I’ll pass.”

“See you later then Arth. And go away demon girl Alice, I don’t want to see your face at all.”

Alice snorted. “Oh bugger off Potter. You aren’t a pleasing sight either.”

Arth sighed. It had seemed like a very short year but he would soon be packing his stuff and be sent home to his parents. It was an uneventful year but what else was there to expect? A normal year at hogwarts should be calm and peaceful… right?”