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Day One of Finals
Author: Ella
Date: 05-06-09 17:27
Which variety of mulberry is used in folk medicine to treat ringworm?
Ella wasn't sure she'd learned anything at all in Professor Farnon's Herbology classes, but since she'd done a bit of last minute cramming before finals and mulberry had been covered most recently in her readings, she knew the answer was Black.
Earlier that morning, she'd had her History of Magic final. Now she wrote her Herbology exam, and later this afternoon she'd take DADA, Charms and Potions. Tomorrow would be nearly as full a day, with Arithmancy & Divination in the morning, Ancient Runes and Transfiguration in the afternoon, and Astronomy at night.
She couldn't wait for finals to end, because it would bring summer that much closer. Ella wanted to spend all of July and August with Zane but hadn't yet figured out how to get away from under her parents' supervision for that long. She knew that they were planning a trip to New Zealand. Perhaps she could get out of it and spend at least that portion of her summer with Zane.
Ella realized her mind had wandered and attempted to concentrate on the next question in her Herbology exam.
Name a medical condition for which juniper berries are a remedy.
Ella really had to wrack her brain on that one. Eventually, what she thought was the correct answer came to her. She wrote down Urinary tract infection.
She answered a few more questions when Professor Farnon announced. "Time's up!" Her test paper flew to the front of the greenhouse before she could even complete her current thought.
Ella sighed. She'd not gotten to the very end, but she'd only had a couple of questions left. Oh, well!
She gathered her things together and stepped underneath the blue summer sky. Her gaze drew toward the Hogwarts gates, where she imagined Zane standing, but her feet carried her towards the castle instead. She was hungry for lunch, and then she had her other finals to take.
Two Down, Lots More To Go (Marjani)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 05-06-09 18:03
Pushing a few stray hairs off her face, Marjani also takes a moment to flex fingers tired of writing. Her morning started off with the final examination in Herbology. The exam was fairly simple and straightforward but it was entirely written. At least the questions seemed straight from the text. Marjani supposes that's a good thing seeing as how she didn't have very many actual notes made during any of Professor Farnon's classes.
Sitting now in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Marjani wishes this exam were entirely dueling or on the obstacle course. They were graded on all that last week though. Unless Professor Isuki's going to have the leave off the writing part at a certain time for them to show more of their skill with their wands, then Marjani's cramping hand isn't going to get much of a break until lunch.
Charms, Potions, and History of Magic are all today. Astronomy is also today but that's not until 11 tonight. That means that between 5 pm when History of Magic ends and 11 pm when Astronomy begins, Marjani has to get in last minute reviews for Astronomy as well as tomorrow's exams of Arithmany & Divination, Ancient Runes, and Transfiguration.
Thank goodness there is a Fitness & Athletics exam tomorrow as well. Dosie, or Professor Batuti or Coach Batuti as Marjani refers to her in class, did test them last week but it was more of a regular unit exam and not a comprehensive end of term final examination. Majani does suspect that Dosie would like Fitness & Athletics to be included in the exam schedule, including OWLs and NEWTs, if it's to remain on the Hogwarts course roster. And, based on what Marjani knows at the moment, the class is being offered again in the fall.
Two more questions to go and then she can go back to the few items she skipped or needs to elaborate one. Marjani looks at those last two questions Describe a hinkypunk, explain why it is dangerous, and give at least two defensive measures against one. and What is a tebo and why does it have a XXXX rating?
Marjani tackles the tebo question first, being more familiar with the warthog looking creatures than the other students in her class. That's because tebos are native to central Africa and before transfering to Hogwarts was on a field trip once that included a tebo sighting.
When at last she's entirely done writing, Marjani wants to put her head down and nap a little bit before lunch. There's not much time but a catnap is better than none. If not for a niggling little feeling that she should read over her exam answers in what time is left, the nap would have been too difficult to resist. Afterall, she's done with the exam and can't leave the classroom yet. It's her time to kill. That niggling feeling just won't quit though so Marjani dutifully starts reading over her answers, looking for anything that needs fixing.
(Cornelia) End of the Day
Author: Griet
Date: 05-07-09 19:35
"Five minutes," Professor Snape drawled, from where he sat at the front of the Potions classroom.
Cornelia looked up at her instructor, still quite surprised to see Snape in the position instead of Carrow. She certainly had no complaints, though. Snape could be tough at times––she definitely remembered him from her first two years at Hogwarts––but she'd take him over Carrow anyday, as would all the other Potions students, she wagered.
She looked down at her test booklet again. The Potions final consisted solely of questions, to be answered either with a few words or in short essay form. The next question stated: Name three ingredients used in a concoction to relieve nasal congestion.
Cornelia remembered peppermint and rhubarb straightaway but had to think hard for another ingredient. She finally wrote down chrysanthemum powder, not entirely sure if she'd gotten it right or not.
The five minutes ended quickly. Snape announced, "Time!", and summoned all of the papers to his desk. He dismissed everyone with a curt, "You may go."
Cornelia grabbed her things and fled the Potions classroom for the Great Hall. Finally, her day had ended! Unfortunately, she still had another day of testing to endure.
She slipped into a seat at one of the tables in the Great Hall and started piling her plate high with food. Cornelia ate in silence, ignoring the hum of conversation around her. Her mind wandered away from today's and tomorrow's exams to thoughts of her family. In particular, she thought about Griet, and even about Sadie and Ramona. Cornelia had heard from others at Hogwarts that some of their missing family members or friends had returned, just like Dumbledore, Snape, and other teachers had come back to their old lives at Hogwarts.
Cornelia hadn't heard anything about her sister or cousins, and it had her wondering. She'd even written to her parents to see if they'd heard anything, but they'd responded in the negative. Cornelia feared that Griet had died, but wouldn't she have heard about it by now if it had truly happened? She almost lost her appetite for supper, but her stomach growled, reminding her that she'd had a very strenuous day and that she needed sustenance. She ate, and soon found herself distracted by talk of Quidditch from others seated at her same table.
(Mark) Transfiguration Test
Author: Isolde
Date: 05-08-09 16:52
Mark lowered his quill and picked up his wand when Professor McGonagall called his name. The Transfiguration final exam consisted of a written and practical portion. The written portion mainly comprised of questions that required one word answers (ex: What spell is used to transfigure a beetle into a button?), though there were a couple of short essays too. Throughout the exam, Professor McGonagall called up a student to perform one or two transfigurations for the practical portion of the exam.
Mark got up and crossed the room to Professor McGonagall's desk, which was covered in an assortment of items like worms, pebbles, socks, and white rabbits. On the walk over, Mark glanced over the items and quickly went over in his mind the incantations McGonagall might ask him to perform.
"Mr. Farnon," she said, eyeing him steadily. Since starting at Hogwarts, Mark had had four Transfiguration professors––and he was only completing his second year! First, there'd been Professor Whitehorn, then Professor Tabu very shortly followed by Professor Grubbly-Plank. Now he had Professor McGonagall, who seemed to be the sternest of the bunch.
"Yes, Professor?" he asked in the same low tone she used to address him.
She picked up a pair of black socks, cleared a space for them in front of Mark, and set them down on the desk. "Please transfigure this pair of socks into a pair of tap shoes."
Mark remembered the charm, but took a brief moment to envision the socks turning into tap shoes. He pictured the socks changing from soft pieces of fabric to firm, shiny shoes with silver plates nailed to the front half of the sole and the heel.
Because he could feel McGonagall's gaze firmly on him, he didn't hesitate a moment longer. Mark pointed his wand at the pair of socks, enunciated clearly the proper incantation, and watched with bated breath and the socks took on their transformation. It took only seconds, and then the socks were gone and tap shoes were in their place.
Professor McGonagall picked up each shoe in turn. "Very well. Now, transfigure this hedgehog––" she moved the tap shoes away and summoned the spiny mammal in question "––into a pincushion."
Mark did as requested of him with marginal success––his pincushion had little ears and a tail––and then returned to his seat to complete the written portion of his final.
Relaxing...Planning a Party!
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 05-08-09 17:33
Orei sat curled on her bed, fingertips idly fingering her acceptance letters...all the schools had responded favorably, however, she had to make a decision...which of the three did she want to go to, and -what- did she want to study? If she went to St. Emry's it would more than likely be to Agrippa College with a focus in linguistics, as Ancient Runes was her strongest course here at Hogwarts...However, she was curious if she could study at Blane as well.
Fingertips slid from parchment to draw free some tangles out of her hair. Her things had been moved into the house in Hogsmeade not too long ago, and she knew the house elf that was also part of the gift from her parents, Lilly, was setting things up and keeping the house in working order as well as ensuring that the cubbards were stocked with food.
"Why are you in here?" Maddie's voice cut through the silence and startled Orei so much that her acceptance letters flittered to the ground. A flick of her wand and she summoned them back to her, casting a glance at Maddie who plopped herself down upon the edge of Orei's bed.
"Thinking of which school I want to give my decision to. It will probably be St. Emry's...less of a commute even by apparation or floo. I will probably do some studying at Agrippa, and probably Blane if I can, because I want to be a linguist, and maybe work for the ministry." Orei said, curling her legs beneath her.
"Cool. Have you found a roommate for the other room, since well, Brett is obviously out of the question now?" Maddie asked, earning herself a scathing glare from Orei for bringing up Orei's boyfriend, or is it ex-boyfriend now as she hadn't heard from him in what seemed like ages.
"I've not found a roommate, and I'm not sure I want one right now, but...I know you are looking to get out of your parents house..." Orei said with a grin. It was a three bedroom house, decent sized for Hogsmeade and her parents had paid for it in full as a graduation gift for Orei.
"I'll have Lilly move things in for you? So that things are there when we get done for the year?" She suggested, and Maddie nodded.
"I'll get word to her in a little bit. For now, I am thinking of having a few people over to the house a day or two after we get out of school. A celebratory party since we are all done. You know?"
Maddie nodded. "Who do you want me to talk to?"
Immediately the pair got together composing a simple guest list, some of the seventh years that they were friends with...well those that were still here since the split as the others would no doubt be repeating the time missed while in communities.
A castle house elf was then summoned, and the invites were sent off to Alanna, Jarod, Cailyn, Sage, and that was it. She really couldn't stand Mary Black or Crispin Cooke and thus, would not be inviting them to the little party, get-together thing.
"Alright. I'm starving. Food?" She asked Maddie, grinning impishly and hopping off the bed.
Thoughts Of Summer And Beyond
Author: Zabrynna
Date: 05-08-09 20:13
Sitting directly opposite Zabrynna, Anne stretches and yawns. "I think I could still sleep for days."
Philippa puts up a hand to block her view of Anne yawning. "Stop doing that! You keep making me yawn too."
"Maybe you keep yawning because like me you are still tired for the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Levels," Anne counters.
"We took OWLs, not NEWTs, Anne," Victoria says with an eye roll at Anne.
"The exams I took were Nastily Exhausting. Nothing Ordinary whatsoever," Anne good humoredly snorts. "You're awfully quite, Zabrynna. Have you learned to sleep with eyes wide open?"
"No, they just appear to be open thanks to a new spell I mastered in between taking exams."
Anne crosses her eyes and thumbs her nose at Zabrynna who then laughs and says, "I was just thinking about summer and also about next term."
Philippa looks stricken. "We're still recovering from this term. Why in Merlin's name would you want to be thinking about the next one?"
"Yes, do tell," Victoria commands, sitting more upright then leading slightly forward to rest elbows on the table, followed by propping her head up on her hands to stare with interest at Zabrynna.
"I don't know if I'll be back, that's why."
"Of course you will!" Anne insists.
Shaking her head Zabrynna looks around the table at her friends. "Not necessarily. My parents might decide to send me back to Durmstrang now that the very things that had them sending me here have been changed back to the things that had them sending me to Durmstrang in the first place."
Anne can't keep the shock from her voice when she asks, "Are your parents still such pureblood snobs after the demonstration given that a pureblood only world isn't a perfect little utopian world?"
"Unfortunately, they are such pureblood snobs but whether they've changed their views on the necessity of others I don't know. They won't discuss anything like that in letters. I've asked the past few times I've written them if I get to come back in the fall but they ignore the question."
Head still propped on hands, elbows still on the table, Victoria asks, "Now that you're sixteen, would you get more say so in staying here?"
"I think I should but they might not think so."
"Do you want to go back to Durmstrang?" Philippa asks.
"Not really. I quite like it here. I do miss friends from Durmstrang but not the school itself. It's dark and dreary and I am always cold when I'm there."
Philippa waves a hand as if clearing the air. "Oh, this is too depressing to consider. Let's talk about fun summer plans."
"We should all go to Emrys Fest together," Anne suggests.
"That would be fun!" Victoria agrees.
Zabrynna voices agreement that they should make plans to do that though her mind is only half on the conversation. The other half is absorbed with thinking about how her time might be running out to use the love potion she's been carrying around for ages now. If she doesn't get to come back to Hogwarts in September, then there's no telling when she might ever get to see Declan Douglass again.
Come to think of it, even if she's back in the fall doesn't mean he'll be returning to Hogwarts. Maybe he's taking another job or maybe he wasn't asked back, though Zabrynna finds that hard to believe.
Time is definately of the essence if she's going to take action and use the love potion.
Sometime between now and catching the Hogwarts Express on Thursday, Zabrynna will have to find a means and an opportunity to slip him some of the potion.
Icy Cold Water
Author: Jared
Date: 05-09-09 15:03
Stretched out on a blanket, soaking up the sunshine beside Alanna, Jared turns a drowsy eye her direction and then to Sage just beyond stretched out on a blanket as well. "Did I tell you the Emrys Fest tickets came this morning?"
Alanna, harking back to teasing done about there being another woman, impishly asks, "Since you've not actually asked me to go with you, I'm guessing you're taking the other woman."
Sage's snicker is stopped short when Jared looks frankly at each and states, "Why yes, I am."
A half second pause then Sage's snicker resumes. "Your mum doesn't count as the other woman."
Sitting up on elbows and forearms Jared smirks at Sage. "Taking Georgia Copperpot?"
"What's Georgia got to do with anything?" Sage deflects by asking a question instead of answering Jared's.
Alanna pokes Jared in the ribs. "Yes, let's not get off in a tangent about Georgia and Sage's deep, undying devotion to her. I want to know about this other woman of yours."
Lying back down, then throwing am arm over his eyes to block out the glare of the afternoon sun, Jared says, "You already know her. In fact, you somewhat seem to like her."
Alanna is the one propped up now, leaning over and casting a shadow across Jared. "Her name wouldn't happen to be Julietta would it?"
"Excellent guess!"
"What do I win for guessing correctly on the first try?" Alanna coyly asks, leaning in closer.
"Would you two like me to leave?"
Jared snorts, "You're just green with envy."
"Don't say it."
"Say what? That you're Sage green with envy?"
"I'm getting you for that."
Alanna suddenly jumps up with a shriek of laughter. "Hey! I'm innocent."
As Jared is hit with a stream of icy cold water the laughing Sage tells Alanna, "You looked like you could use some cooling off."
Sputtering at the shock of the frigidness of the water, Jared jumps up as well. At first he thought the water came from Sage's wand even though he never heard Sage say a spell but now he sees that Sage is holding something.
"What's that?"
"Water gun," Sage says matter of factly as another stream of water comes shoot out.
Laughing and trying to get out of the way as the water spurts toward Jared, Alanna asks, "Water gun?"
"Aaron gave it too me."
"Shooting unarmed people is hardly fair," Jared says, wand now in hand, prepared to shoot water or whatever other liquid he can think of from it.
"That's why I have two others here," Sage grins. Bending he pulls out two similar water guns from the basket that Jared had thought held only drinks and snacks.
"Before I hand yours over, I'm refilling mine," Sage says with an evil little grin.
Moments later, Jared is diving for cover behind a bush calling out to Alanna, "Hey! Shoot Sage, not me!"
Nearly Done
Author: Jared
Date: 05-09-09 15:27
Etta walks back to her desk after having been called by Professor McGonagall for a demonstration of Etta's Transfiguring abilities. Before sitting back down and picking her quill up again Etta stretches her arms and tries not to yawn. She wishes her day was nearly over but unfortunately for Etta, her final examinations don't end until midnight. The fourth years are so very lucky to have the 11 pm to 12 am testing period for Astronomy. At least she can sleep in tomorrow.
Monday had been a very full day, sitting exams in History of Magic, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Potions. Today's exams had begun for Etta at 9 am with Care of Magical Creatures. While taking that test she couldn't help but wonder if Professor Kent would be back next year or if Rebeus Hagrid would resume his former position as professor of the class.
There had been a little bit of a break between the end of Care of Magical Creatures and the beginning of the exam in Ancient Runes. Etta had been quick to eat a sandwich at lunch, scurrying to the Ancient Runes classroom well before the 12:30 start time. From there it had been Transfiguration.
When Professor McGonagall dismisses them promptly at 3:30, then Etta should have time for a quick nap, supper, and Astronomy review before going to take that last test. All day tomorrow is free, well except for needing to pack. There are no classes, no assignments, nothing. All on schedule for tomorrow is the End of Term Feast, which promises to be much more joyous an occassion than last year's was.
Thursday is the trip to London on the Hogswarts Express and Friday Etta is meeting up with Alexa to visit friends, some of whom are related to Alexa, that at times they never thought they'd see again. Jill Prewitt, Cora Fields, and Olive Green are coming to Etta's to stay all day Friday and Saturday, though Olive it seems was somewhat reluctant to leave her family even to come to Etta's. Etta can't really blame Olive for that, not after all Olive went through, the least of which was thinking for weeks that Emerald had been killed.
Professor McGonagall calls out the time remaining for the fourth years' Transfiguration exam. Etta is more or less done so isn't feeling the pressure to hurry up. She's just got to go back and fill in a couple of answers she needed time to think about and there's one answer she wants to change altogether.
When Professor McGonagall signals the end of the test and summons the papers to her, Etta feels confident she did well. Now though she's more than ready for a nap before supper!
Last Exam And Too Bad About Quidditch
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 05-09-09 21:01
With only a few questions on his Care of Magical Creatures exams to finish, Christopher diligently plods on, resolved to be done and not think about how great the weather is. The classroom they use is nice for taking exams and the classroom, work area and stables all are excellent for when the weather is cold and damp. On a day like today though, after all the rain, ice, snow, and thunderous looking overcast days, being cooped up inside these last couple of weeks has been torture. Not every day has been nice but the weather has definately shown an improvement since Euphemia Smythe-Jones was overthrown. Christopher heard some of the adults talking not long ago about how there had been so many more Dementors clustered about that the weather was affected. The gloomy atmosphere seems to go hand-in-hand with Dementors from what Christopher knows of the creatures but he had no idea they could affect the weather as well!
Christopher wraps up an answer on treatment for a blood-sucking bugbear bite then moves on to a related question asking how one prevents being bitten by a blood-sucking bugbear in the first place. The next series of questions has Christopher smiling. They deal with scarabs. Since that day in March with Professor Kent introduced beetles to Christopher's class. he's been fairly smitten with the bugs. Christopher has continued helping Professor Kent with the care of the ones the professor has and Christopher has since gotten a few of his own. His dad's even promised to help Christopher set up a big terrarium for the scarabs once Christopher's home for summer.
Christopher makes short work of the beetle questions, confident of at least acing that portion. They are the last questions of the exam so Christopher spends a few minutes reading back over everything, frowning at a few spelling errors that he quickly fixes and not at all pleased with one of the sketches he'd made. With time to work on the sketch more, Christopher sets about improving the drawing.
When the scheduled period for the exam ends, Christopher has been entirely done with tweaking the sketch and so had had time to think about other things. When walking towards the castle Christopher mentions one of these things to Daniel Gelson.
"It's too bad we didn't get to have the third Quidditch match."
"Yeah. I wish we could have had it after Hairy the Snide was taken away; too late now though."
"Is it?"
"Is it what?"
"Is it really too late?"
"End of Term Feast is tomorrow."
"But there's nothing else tomorrow is there? It's all day free."
"There are some who were supposed to be in the third game who didn't play in either of the other two."
"It's only fair they get a chance."
Daniel grins at Christopher. "The fact that you were to have played again isn't a factor."
"Nope, not at all. Let's go talk to Professor Batuti."
Changing direction to take them to the pitch to see if Theodosia Batuti is there, Daniel and Christpher are so excited to talk to her that they end up sprinting the rest of the way.