Lesson 5: Prepping for O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts

[Gavril Romanov]

Professor Romanov realized that time was drawing quite near for end of the year tests. The fifth years were approaching O.W.Ls and the seventh years were approaching N.E.W.Ts. The other years simply had finals and that was that. Setting aside time from his daily routine, he planned out the course work for the specific years-- since they were taught all at once these days.

Today, he figured he would start leading them through some exercises and lessons that may help them in their end of the year exams, so on the big blackboard fastened to the wall, he wrote:

Preparing for O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts and other E.O.Y.Ts.

He sat at his desk with a cup of coffee while a bewitched broom swept lazily around the classroom in order to tidy it up. He had heard that the ministry official Plumtree was appalled at the lack of cleanliness observed in some of the classrooms, so he figured he would make an effort. Reading through the Daily Prophet about some careless wizard who had caused a muggle accident in London, Gavril scoffed, smirked, and then took a sip of coffee before turning the page. The sounds of footsteps approaching stirred him, but he did not pay any heed and kept on reading as he glanced once at the clock and realized class had another five minutes before it began. If anyone addressed him, he would be so kind as to return the salutation, but until then, he was reading.

[Bryan Kelley]

Bryan had not given much thought to the rumors that there would be some Ministry officials teaching a couple of classes. During his Hogwarts career, Bryan had become used to the fact that the Professors seemed to come and go and sometimes there were classes were without Professors for a little bit. He frowned at the idea that the school would have some trouble on hiring and keeping teaching staff, but there was something things that just could not be helped. The only thing Bryan saw that he could do in response to all this was just to attend the classes he was signed up for and learn to the best of his ability. This was especially more true now that he had become the Elemental Master of Wind as he felt he needed to be prepared for his role in this war. To do so, he would need to learn.

However, Bryan's common response in attending class did not change. When he entered the room, he arched a brow to note that it was cleaner than the last time he had been inside the classroom. However, he inclined his head in greeting to Professor Romanov, but he did not verbally greet the man as some of his peers had the tendency to do. Bryan was not really one for engaging others in conversation, although there have been times he has and he never ignored people who wished to converse with him. So after the nod of greeting, Bryan moved to take his seat, after noting with some mild surprise he was the first student present. However, this did not perturb the Gryffindor in any manner.

While Bryan waited for the class to start, he pulled out his sketchbook, resting it on the top of his desk. He pulled the pencil out from behind his left ear and placed the tip of the pencil onto the white page as he began to sketch. At the moment, Bryan was concentrating on sketching a variety of symbols that did not really pertain to anything. Instead, he was just practicing designing some things. He opened the page to the sketch he had been working on during Charms. Bryan sketched lightly, only darkening and shading lines that he felt were finished and not likely to be changed. It was the Gryffindor's habit to bury into his sketchbook before the start of lesson. It gave him something to do rather than sit there rather stupidly. He did not really take the habit of reading his textbook while waiting, as it had never appealed to him.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

Transfiguration was, of course, a very important subject... transfigurations, conjurations, all the like fell under the general umbrella of that type of spell. D'rorah had, of course, read all the theory and books she was assigned, along with a few others. However, nothing surpassed for practical application of this type of magic when one wished to learn it. So, this morning, D'rorah made her way to class, her heavy satchel ever-present on her shoulder as she entered the classroom.

She nodded a silent greeting to Bryan. After all, she was his tutor... or at least that was the story that seemed to have been the easiest to use after Sam had confronted her in the Library that day. Professor Romanov seemed to be immersed in his reading, so she quietly made her way to her desk and followed suit, taking out one of the books she was currently working in to pass the time.

[Tommy Bryce]

The thought of exams had not occurred to Tommy at any point during the year so far, until now he was suddenly hearing mentions of them all over the school, from every year and house. Exams? On what? Every subject studied this year, apparently. When he had asked another first year what happened if you didn't pass and been given the teasing answer of 'they lock you up in the dungeons and take away your wand and only give you scraps to eat until you pass it', he hadn't quite realised that it was a joke, and was now absolutely terrified of doing badly in anything. The trouble was, while he was great at astronomy, he wasn't fantastic at anything else. That was his one forte, and while admittedly that was still more than one, his eyes kept going to those in his year who were the top of the class in everything. It was rather worrying, really.

And so, he had thrown himself into relearning everything they had studied this year out of fear of what would happen if he didn't pass. Having never taken an exam or any such thing before, he had no concept of what to focus his revision on and was going into much more detail than they had ever gone into during the lessons. He could see the older students worrying and pacing about, spending hours in the library, and assumed they didn't want to be locked up either.

But with all his research, Tommy was wearing himself out. He was staying up much later than he ever had before to locate stars in the sky and was even missing that hobby unless he was studying astronomy at the time, in which case he could justify it to himself.

With rings under his eyes and a heavy bag weighing him down, Tommy entered the Transfiguration class to find it almost empty. The professor was at the front, whom he nodded shyly to before hurrying to a sit in one of the middle rows, noting the presence of the older Gryffindor and one of the Ravenclaw prefects also there. He pulled out the transfiguration text book, rubbing his eyes blearily before squinting down at the page, focussing on the small print and trying to take in the intricacies of a spell that he didn't technically have to learn until second year, but which was related to a first year spell so he thought he should learn.

[Keaira O'Connell]

The one thing that Keaira could honestly say had remained a constant every year since her very first was the fact that towards the end of the school year there were exams. Of course this year’s exams were the important ones. The ones that would help shape her future. But really what was an exam, it was simply a way to measure whether or not you had learned the things you ought to have learned over the years worth of schooling.

Honestly Keaira wasn’t that worried about the exams. Even though many of her classes this year had been subpar, and even completely lacking she had taken the extra measures to ensure that she would succeed, there was no such thing as failure in Keaira’s mind. As such she had read every class book that she owned, front to back, taking the time to practice each spell she came across, not knowing what might be covered on the OWLS. Hopefully she would be more than adequately prepared for what lie ahead. Without work, quidditch, or well any other distractions, for instance Zane, all Keaira had to do in her free time was study anyway.

This year she had exams in Charms, Defense Against Dark Arts, Potions, History of Magic, Arithmancy, Herbology, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, and Transfiguration. Of all of them she felt the most confident in Potions and Transfiguration, and the least confident in Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic, and Charms. Of course she was studying when she could and practicing more than she ought to, so she would either pass them or fail them, and there would be nothing to change that. She will not be saying ‘If only I’d studied harder’ when she got her grades back.

Right now however, Keaira was not studying, she was walking. Her transfiguration class would begin in just a little bit, and since it was one of the few classes that was fairly steady she felt confident in her grade for it. With her ‘happy face’ on, as well as her pressed school robes and shinning prefects badge, Keaira made her way to the classroom, and without a word to anyone, sat down in the second row, right by the door. While the rest of the class prepared for the lesson, Keaira moved to retrieve her materials from her book bag.

[Kerridon Paradox]

Kerridon was not all that worried about the prospect of exams, despite having never done them before. He was confident in his own abilities and what he had studied, and did not see that tests were needed to affirm this; such that if, for whatever reason, he didn't get high grades, it didn't really matter to him. Kerridon was not really a person who had ever had to worry about his future, and with both his parents dead there were two small fortunes he now had access to. The only things in the future he had to worry about were Dark Phoenix and D'rorah, but he couldn't think about either of those issues in public anyway.

Of course, not worrying about exams didn't mean he was going to just miss class. That would be absurd and defeat the purpose of being here at Hogwarts. As he entered the classroom he ignored Keaira, sat right by the entrance so you couldn't help but notice her, and instead nodded politely at the professor and headed straight for his customary seat at the back of the class where he could observe everything that went on in the room easily.

He examined the backs of people's heads to see who else was in the room, having to pause on all for a few seconds except for one blonde head right at the front, whom he recognised at just a glance before passing over her. He refocused his attention on the front of the class, noticing that this class was also about examinations. The teachers as well as his fellow students seemed rather concerned by the whole prospect.

[Alessandro Darko]

O.W.Ls.

The widespread panic had begun and the words wafting through the air in the corridors and around school were almost always dominated by the phrase "I have to do well on my O.W.Ls or insert finish here." Alessandro was definitely feeling that stress as well, on top of everything else that he and his teammates were dealing with as well. A lump in his throat made it hard for him to swallow as he began to feel increasingly frustrated on his way to Transfiguration.

This is too much.... He thought with a tense jaw. This is too much for a 15 year old to handle. How are we supposed to live our lives and fight this war? I'm a kid for merlin's sake! I have to worry about the rest of my life too! I HAVE to do well on my O.W.Ls or else mum and Hewlett will be thoroughly disappointed...and I don't want to have to deal with Hewlett. He thought intensely, his brow lowering into a frustrated and concerned visage. He swallowed hard as he veered around the corner, hoisting his bag higher up on his shoulder while tugging at his collar.

His face was now full of expression as he continued his brisk walk, he was going to be late if he didn't continue at his pace. Not to mention, it's tough enough trying to stay alive these days...how could I possibly think about grades at a time like this??! He thought with conflicting emotions as he passed by long blue tapestry. Ever so slightly, the edges on the right side curled in and turned a dark brown with a subtle waft of smoke dissipating into the air quickly. If Alessandro had remained in the area, the whole thing would have gone up in a matter of moments due to his increasing frustrations and emotional volatility.

Hanging a quick right he approached the Transfiguration classroom and entered, his heart beating heavily as he felt rather warm. Letting out an exhale as he crossed the threshold, a quick "Hullo, Professor Romanov." was released as he took a seat in the front row, closest to the door. He acknowledged all of the occupants, Bryan, D'rorah, Tommy, Keaira, and Kerridon with a brief flicker of a smile, and a nod, and then revolved in his seat to just stare at the blackboard, inhaling deeply in order to calm down.

Right now, O.W.Ls. Focus on trying to stay alive another day... He thought to himself, convincing his mind that it was more important to worry about studies at the moment. Crossing his arms, he merely waited for the lesson to begin.

[Caitlin Collins]

A shiver ran through Caitlin as she walked down the corridor to Transfiguration, despite it being – for once – a warm, summer's day outside. But having seen the sun outside when she had woken up this morning, Cait had forgone putting on any sort of jumper because she had thought it would be warm enough. Unfortunately, the nice weather apparently hadn't quite penetrated the heavy castle walls yet and so she was still rather chilly, and with no time between classes to go back to her dormitory and fetch one.

She entered the classroom, finding it quite full already, and took a seat in one of the middle rows, just along from a first year Gryffindor boy she vaguely knew as Tommy. Glancing up at the front of the room, she blinked in surprise at the words on the board. Exams? How had she managed to forget that? Well, she knew how she'd forgotten... exams hadn't been a part of her life since she had first left England. This must be why the library was so much busier nowadays, whenever she went in there to fetch books. She generally didn't study there, instead preferring to do so on her bed in her dormitory where it was much harder to be disturbed. By this point she was mostly up to date on her schoolwork from that month she had spent away earlier in the year, but she still wasn't convinced she was actually prepared for exams. Hopefully this class would enlighten her, for transfiguration at least, on what she needed to know.

[Benjamin Ellis]

Lying outside on the grass underneath a willow tree, Ben was aware that Transfiguration class was approaching but was not making any real effort to regularly check the time so he could get there in good time. Instead he preferred to simply soak in the sun, breathing in deeply to smell the flowers all around while one hand slowly picked blades of grass from the ground beside his head before dropping them again. He loved summer, it was easily his favourite season, even when the sun didn't quite get out from behind the clouds to warm them up half the time.

Glancing at his watch, he sighed as he noticed the time and realised that Transfiguration was just about to start. While he wasn't the most organised student of all time, he did make an effort to at least turn up to class, even if he hadn't done the homework or had forgotten his books. Rising from the ground and brushing away the bits of leaves and grass that had found their way onto him, he picked up his bag and made his way back into the castle and up the stairs, heading to the classroom.

A bright grin was sent towards Professor Romanov as he entered, completely oblivious to the grass stains on his shirt and lacking a robe once again as he took a seat next to the Slytherin prefect who was sitting alone, offering her an equally intense smile and leaning back in his chair.