Chương 424: Remedial O.W.L.s
A thousand thoughts raced through Oleandra's mind as she strode down the corridor that led to the testing site. Not only was Daphne still alive, she had somehow managed to escape from Voldemort's grasp to come sit her O.W.L.s! Oleandra's pulse quickened with excitement at the prospect of seeing her sister; she broke out into a run, before bursting through the double doors at the end of the corridor.
"Eager, aren't we?" came an old man's crotchety voice to Oleandra's left as soon as she had taken a step into the testing hall. "Take a seat."
Oleandra cast her gaze across the hall, scanning eagerly for any sign of her twin's telltale green hair… and there she was! She was sitting in the back of the hall, right in front of Crabbe and Goyle, who had doubtlessly failed more than a few of their O.W.L.s…
"What are you, deaf?" the old Wizard angrily told Oleandra. "I told you to take a seat—" He then raised his voice, yelling, "—and you three, in the back! I asked you to spread out— I'm not going to ask you again!"
Grumbling, Crabbe and Goyle heaved themselves to their feet, glaring at Oleandra as they did so, before plopping themselves down a few tables away. Oleandra directed her gaze towards Daphne, noting that her twin did not seem well at all. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her normally luxuriant prehensile hair seemed somewhat faded, but also dry and stiff— sort of like dried hay.
"Daph—" Oleandra began, but she was cut short by the overly impatient invigilator.
"No talking!" the old Wizard hissed. "Here are your papers—" He waved his wand, and a small pile of rolled up parchments flew into the air, distributing themselves to each of the five students in the room. "— but do not turn them over until I say so!"
The exam paper destined to Oleandra settled itself four tables in front of Daphne's, so she had no choice but to take her seat in front of it. Speaking to her sister could wait— for now, she only needed to concentrate on her Charms O.W.L. …
"You may begin," said the examiner. "You have two hours."
Oleandra turned over her exam sheet, but her heart wasn't in it. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and look at Daphne, but with this grumpy old toad of an examiner watching her every move, she would have to abstain herself from doing so…
And so, she turned her attention to the first question: a) Give the incantation, and b) describe the wand movement required to open locks, and c) give the Counter-Charm.
Luckily for her, Oleandra had plenty of experience entering places where she had no business being in, so this question wasn't a problem…
Two hours later, the written part of the Charms exam was over— and once the invigilator had picked up all of their exams, the five students were free to go.
Oleandra was fairly certain that she'd at least achieve an 'Exceeds Expectations,' but it was also true that her head had been elsewhere during the exam. And now that she was thinking about it, she had probably mistaken the Freezing Spell for the Freezing Charm— she'd never had to use any of the two, since Isaz and Dagaz did their jobs perfectly well…
But none of that mattered any more— she could at last talk to Daphne!
Oleandra glanced behind her, but Daphne was nowhere to be seen— and neither were Crabbe and Goyle. Her sister had to have taken the side door, because she would have seen her if Daphne had left the way Oleandra had entered— but why hadn't she simply waited for her?
"Excuse me," the fifth exam taker nervously said, as she approached Oleandra. "I was wondering if you knew the answer to question twenty-six…"
"Sorry," said Oleandra distractedly. "I need to leave."
Oleandra got to her feet and strode to the door situated to the back and on the side of the hall. She opened it and peeked outside, but Daphne had already disappeared into the crowd— There were only Ministry workers heading to the cafeteria in the corridor outside, so Oleandra decided to follow them.
…
In the end, Oleandra wasted her entire lunch break unsuccessfully searching for Daphne. And after a fruitless hour of walking around the Ministry of Magic, she was forced to return to the exam hall to take her practical Charms exam.
What was going on with Daphne? Did she not want to see her?
Oleandra could not understand why her twin sister would act this way…
Upon returning to the exam hall, Oleandra found the door closed. There was now a row of chairs lined up on the side of the corridor; and three of them were already occupied by Crabbe, Goyle, and the girl whose name escaped Oleandra. They were obviously waiting their turn to take their practical…
"Ooh, I'm so nervous— are you nervous too, mate? You don't look too nervous," the girl kept jabbering away at Goyle, much to his annoyance. "Oh, I can't believe they're making us go in one by one, the stress is killing me— I can't afford to fail again, or Mum'll disinherit me, and then what'll I do…"
It looked like the practical side of the exam was much shorter than the theoretical, because ten minutes later, the double doors opened, and an old balding Wizard, who wasn't the same bloke as the previous invigilator, poked his head out through the crack.
"Greengrass?" he called out in a quavering voice. "Oleandra Greengrass?"
"Couldn't, er— couldn't someone else go before me?" said Oleandra desperately.
There were five of them taking the remedial exams, but Daphne wasn't sitting on one of the chairs— which meant that she had just finished sitting her practical, and that Oleandra was going to miss her again…
"Now, now, there's no need to be so nervous!" said the old Wizard cheerily. "You sisters are quite famous around here— someone who's defeated You-Know-Who himself should have nothing to fear from a simple Charms practical! I'm certain you'll do just fine…"
The old examiner ushered Oleandra in, completely disregarding the look of defeat on her face.
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