June arrived in the blink of an eye. For the fifth-years, it meant only one thing: the O.W.L. exams had finally begun.
The castle grounds shimmered under the sunlight, as if they had just been freshly painted. The cloudless sky smiled down at its reflection in the rippling lake. The grass, smooth as satin, rose and fell gently in the breeze.
But no one was there to appreciate such scenery. Everyone was desperately revising. Eda put away her lazy attitude and began grinding through practice questions again and again. The twins stopped telling jokes and started memorizing their books in earnest.
The professors no longer assigned homework to the fifth-years, and all class time was used for reviewing the topics they believed most likely to appear in the exams.
This feverish atmosphere of hard work affected everyone. Even many lower-year students were swept up in it and began studying seriously.
During this time, the black market among the fifth- and seventh-years thrived, dealing in items that could help with concentration, boost alertness, and keep people awake.
These transactions made the prefects' jobs even harder, driving Percy into a rage. Eda even went through both the boys' and girls' dormitories with her wand, confiscating piles of useless Baruffio's Brain Elixir and so-called "dragon claw powder."
With that kind of effort, they might as well have brewed a bottle of Felix Felicis—it would at least be somewhat effective.
As the exams drew closer, many people's behavior became increasingly strange, using all kinds of "performance art" to relieve stress. Although Eda said, "This is nothing, no need to panic," she spent more time revising than anyone else.
Charge for five minutes, study for five hours—Eda's desperate studying left Hermione stunned. Some people are not only better than you, but also work harder than you. So Miss Beaver began following her senior's example and spent even more time reading.
That made things tough for the twins, Harry, and Ron. The four boys looked at each other, sighed in unison, then each picked up a book and joined in the revision.
The exams finally arrived. The O.W.L.s lasted for two weeks, with theory exams in the morning and practical exams in the afternoon. The Astronomy practical would be held at night.
Moreover, all known cheating methods in the wizarding world were useless during the exams—Remembralls, cheat sheets, and self-correcting quills (or ink) could not be used. The punishment for cheating was also especially severe.
The first exam was Charms theory, scheduled for Monday morning. In the Great Hall, Dumbledore stood together with a group of elderly witches and wizards. The chief examiner was Griselda Marchbanks, who was even older than Dumbledore.
Griselda Marchbanks had once been Dumbledore's examiner. Back when Dumbledore took his N.E.W.T.s, he had left a very deep impression on the old lady.
At nine-thirty, the exam officially began. The four house tables in the Great Hall had been removed, replaced by many single desks, all facing the staff table at the end of the hall.
When Professor McGonagall flipped over a huge hourglass, the students received their papers and began answering.
The content of the paper wasn't particularly complicated, nor was it much harder than previous end-of-year exams. It mainly required writing down the names of spells and their standard wand movements, with the occasional question about which year a certain spell had appeared.
In the afternoon, the fifth-years lined up and entered the small room beside the Great Hall, waiting to be called in for their practical exams. Due to the alphabetical order of surnames, Eda was placed near the end of the line, with only a few people left behind her, including the twins.
Over the next few days, aside from Astronomy, which took place at night, the other exams were more or less the same. The students were exhausted, constantly memorizing key points or practicing wand movements every day.
The examiners kept grading without pause, occasionally letting out exclamations when someone performed particularly well. Among them, the one who left the deepest impression was undoubtedly Eda.
Eda showed the examiners what true precision and proper form looked like. Although she had her own casting habits and didn't need to follow standard wand movements, that didn't mean she had forgotten them.
Except for Herbology, all of Eda's practical exams could be described as stunning. Chief examiner Griselda Marchbanks gave extremely high praise, saying that Eda's performance reminded her of Dumbledore. When the little old lady said this, her dentures nearly flew out in excitement.
When the two-week-long examinations finally ended, everyone realized that the people around them had at least lost a noticeable amount of weight.
Joy returned to Hogwarts. With no exams to face and no need to think about results for the time being, everyone indulged in laughter and sang at the top of their lungs.
But in this sea of joy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn't feel happy at all—they had spotted Cornelius Fudge on the grounds.
The Minister was wearing a pinstriped cloak, and behind him followed a fierce-looking man. Today was Buckbeak's final appeal, yet the Minister had brought the executioner to Hogwarts. The appeal hadn't even begun, and it was already over.
After saying a few words of concern to Harry, the Minister led the executioner and the members of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures toward Hagrid's hut.
Though furious, Harry, Ron, and Hermione could do nothing. They couldn't change the Minister's decision, nor could they alter the outcome of the trial.
Just as the three of them stood there at a loss, they happened to see Eda walking out of the castle with three people, heading toward Hagrid's hut as well.
When Eda got closer, the three of them noticed that her left arm was wrapped in thick plaster and bandages. Harry and the others could swear that her arm had been perfectly fine at noon—how had it gotten injured in such a short time?
Hermione also recognized the tall man beside Eda. She had seen him before—he seemed to be Eda's cousin. Why had he come to Hogwarts? Was he here to check on his cousin?
Filled with confusion, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed behind the Minister's group, as well as Eda and her cousin, all the way to Hagrid's hut.
At that moment, Dumbledore and Hagrid were standing on the open ground outside the hut. The ground was covered with enormous pumpkins, and the hippogriff Buckbeak was tied up in the middle of them.
Dumbledore warmly welcomed Fudge's arrival, casually introducing Hagrid's giant pumpkins as if nothing were amiss.
Hagrid's face was filled with unwillingness and anger. The final appeal hadn't even concluded, yet Fudge had already brought the executioner, Macnair, to Hogwarts—they had long prepared to carry out Buckbeak's execution.
"Fine weather," Fudge said, casting his gaze toward the hippogriff in the distance. "What a pity… what a pity…"
Those words were like rubbing salt into Hagrid's wounds. The half-giant, standing eleven feet tall, looked as aggrieved as a child, but Fudge showed no intention of stopping.
He continued, "You know, Albus, the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures requires that when executing a rampaging hippogriff, there must be a witness present. I just happened to be coming to check on Black, so I was drafted into this."
"The time hasn't arrived yet," Dumbledore said with surprising leisure. "Come, let me show you some other interesting things!"
Hagrid wanted to say something, but didn't know how to express it. Just then, Eda and her group arrived at the hut. The tall Henry Rosier first glanced at Hagrid in surprise, then turned his attention to Dumbledore and Fudge.
"Minister, Headmaster, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Henry from the French Ministry of Magic…"
"The French Ministry of Magic?" Fudge interrupted. "What are you doing here? If you have any official business, you should be in London."
Dumbledore said nothing, instead looking past the others at Eda. Eda slightly raised her left arm, wrapped in bandages and plaster, in response. That small gesture alone was enough for Dumbledore to confirm his guess—reinforcements.
"It's like this, sir. We did go to London first, but the people there suggested it would be better for us to come here," Henry explained. His serious demeanor really did make him look like a bureaucrat.
Another person who had come with Henry took two documents out of a briefcase and handed them to Fudge. As Fudge opened them, Henry continued, "We wish to extradite a hippogriff, and we hope the Minister will grant our request."
Fudge frowned as he looked through the documents. They were entirely proper and legal—but to go through such trouble just to extradite a hippogriff, what exactly were they planning?
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