Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter Eight: The O.W.L Results

The astonishing snowstorm that had wowed and worried everyone had only lasted a single day, which was even more worrying than the storm itself. However it didn't take long for everyone to put it in the back of their mind as a freak incident and to get on with things.
It was several days after the storm that Harry was woken with a startle; Hermione was stood holding 3 large letters in her hands and was absolutely beaming with joy. She thundered into the room as soon as they'd been delivered and had awoken both Ron and Harry with shrieks.

"Uhhhhhhh," groaned Ron still half asleep.

"Wake-up, wake-up our O.W.L results are here," said Hermione smiling, "I can't wait to see how I did."

Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes as he focused on the excited Hermione, her Bushy hair bouncing along with her as she jumped on the balls of her feet, clearly anxious for both boys to open the letters with her. It took Harry a moment to clearly figure out where he was and why he'd been awoken from his dreamless slumber, but once he did he wondered what all the fuss was about.

"It's 7 in the morning," said Harry glaring at his watch, "can't you open yours and let us open it in 5 hours or something?"

"Of course not, we can open them together," she said strongly, her voice imposing itself on both Ron and Harry.

"Can we at least wake-up first," said Ron as he tried to shake off the cobwebs of being prematurely awoken from his slumber.

"You're awake now," she said quickly, before pushing the letters addressed to Ron and Harry into their hands, "I'll go first."

Hermione did not hesitate in ripping open the envelope with her right hand; she looked at the open envelope with bated breath her lip caught between her teeth as the anticipation was obvious to all. She slowly put her fingers into the envelope and pulled out a piece of light brown parchment, she stared down at the spidery writing and stared for a second before a large smile burst onto her face.

"I got 10 O.W.L's," she said jubilantly, her joy and happiness at her great results completely lost on both Ron and Harry who were just staring at her in disbelief.

"You got 10!?" said a shocked Ron, "that's more than I even took, I'll be lucky if I get 5."

"We can't all be know-it-alls," said Harry jokingly, his words immediately drawing a sharp, scornful gaze from Hermione, "Lighten up Hermione, I was only joking."

"Oh, well seeing as you made the joke, you can open yours now," said Hermione leering at Harry.

"No, I want to open mine next," said Ron surprising both Hermione and Harry, "I don't want to wait any longer."

Harry just shrugged and leaned back as Ron sat up fully and grasped the letter tightly. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened the letter, his head aimed squarely at the wall as he tried to keep his eyes way from the letter until the very last moment. As the letter was pulled from the envelope, Ron grimaced.

"So?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Err, I got 4 O.W.L's," he said disappointedly, "I was expecting at least 5, I'm sure I nailed the Divination exam, the prediction of Harry's death never fails."

Harry let out a large guffaw as Hermione stood staring nonchalantly, her arms now crossed, "Oh do grow-up," she uttered sharply.

"Well done Ron," said Harry with an encouraging tone, "you did better than Fred and George."

"I did, didn't I?" he asked rhetorically a beaming smile now on his groggy looking face, the bags under his eyes still heavy after waking up.

"Your turn Harry," said Hermione enthusiastically.

Harry looked at Hermione and then turned to his letter, it seemed heavier than Ron's or Hermione's and yet it was the same size and thickness. "It's a bit heavy for it to just be my results," he said.

"Well open it and find out," said Hermione quickly.

Harry ran his finger over the edge of the envelope and then ruthlessly opened it, the paper shredding at the top as his finger burst through the paper. He opened the letter slightly and looked inside, there were 3 bits or parchment folded up inside and something shining in the glint of the room's light. He reached inside and pulled a red and gold 'Quidditch Captain' badge from the envelope and stared in awe.

"You're the new Quidditch Captain," said Ron with a beaming smile, "Brilliant!"

"That's great Harry, you'll make a good Gryffindor captain," said Hermione.

"But Umbridge put a lifetime ban on me, I can't be the captain, I'm not even allowed to play," said Harry confused.

"Obviously Professor Dumbledore rescinded the ban and made you captain, or at least Professor McGonagall made you Captain," said Hermione intelligently.

Harry pulled the Red and Gold badge out fully and placed it on his bedside table. He looked back inside the envelope and pulled out the next piece of parchment and began reading its spidery writing.

Dear Harry,

I hope that you are well in the Burrow; we felt that it was necessary for you to be in a place of which you could be content and happy. Anyway, I'm not writing to you to ask how you are but to explain why you have been chosen as Quidditch Captain. I know that Madam Umbridge had placed a rather extreme Lifetime ban on you and have thus rescinded the ban; it was a ridiculous ban and thus should have never been given.

Regardless of that I have decided that you are the worthiest person to be the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. It is also in part because of my own mistake in not making you prefect in believing that you had enough on your plate, I hope that this makes up for last year and that you'll lead Gryffindor to glory. If of course you feel that someone else is worthier of being Gryffindor Quidditch Captain then please send me a Owl saying so, and I'll be sure to consider it; of course I do not expect you to do so.

Wear the badge with pride and I'll see you at the start of term.

"What's it say?" asked Ron.

"Well it's just Professor Dumbledore writing to say why he chose me at Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," said Harry his focus still on the parchment and Professor Dumbledore's words.

"Well time to face the music," said Harry holding the folded parchment which contained his O.W.L Results, "here goes."

Harry opened the parchment and gazed upon his results for a second before looking up at Hermione and Ron who were both leaning towards him, waiting anxiously to see how he did.

"Well," asked Hermione.

"I got 6 O.W.L's," said Harry surprised, "but I don't get it, I managed to get an O in potions."

Ron's mouth jaw dropped, "An O in Potions?" he asked still dumbfounded by the sheer ridiculousness of what Harry had said, "but Snape always said you were terrible, a bane upon potions, a boy who got by on his fame and fame alone."

"Oh Ron, you know Harry was a lot better than Snape said, Snape failed him because he could," said Hermione who wasn't quite as shocked as Harry or Ron.
"I can take the classes to become an Auror now," said Harry with a smile, now realising that whilst he would have to face Snape for another two years, he could still become an Auror.

"Yeah, it's not as if you're unqualified," said Ron with a smirk, but it was true, Harry was more than qualified to become an Auror, he'd faced Voldemort in a one on one duel and survived, very few Wizards or even Aurors for that matter could ever add that to their C.V.

"Hey did you two get your Books list as well?" asked Harry pulling out the parchment with the list written on.

"Yeah," said Ron.

"Of course we did," said Hermione, "Hogwarts would never forget to put in the Book lists now, would they?"

"Well no, I was only wondering," said Harry looking away from the biting stares from Hermione who looked as if Harry was considering blasphemy.

"Good," said Hermione swiftly before looking at her list and then smiling, "I have two of these books."

"No surprises there," was Ron's snide remark, Harry giggled as Hermione let out a large cough and then rolled her parchment up.

"Well, I'm going to give these to Mrs Weasley, she'll be off to pick the things up today, want me to give her your lists?" she said to Ron and Harry as she was getting from her perched position. Both Ron and Harry nodded and gave her their book and items lists, she rolled them up and in a split second was gone.

***

The day went relatively quietly for Harry and Ron, whilst Mrs Weasley was out shopping for books and clothing and whatnot, both of them engaged in Wizard Chess. They had around a dozen games before Harry finally gave-up and conceded defeat to the far superior Ron, his logical thinking a lynchpin of a good Wizard's Chess strategy. The games had managed to burn up most of the afternoon, their attentions being diverted from playing to eating and then just talking. It was by all accounts a typical day for them.

Occasionally Hermione would come join them for ten minutes at a time, her reasons being general discussions about life and what they'd want with Moody, what could cause the weather and many other unanswered questions that she felt compelled to dwell over in her head. Of course Harry too had pondered it all but he chose not to make it a public discussion as he knew more than both Ron and Hermione and if he did really speak his mind he'd no doubt talk about the prophecy and he isn't ready to let him closest friends know... at least not yet.

Evening descended on the Burrow as Mrs Weasley returned from Diagon Alley, her arms filled books, school equipment and much more. She dropped the stuff onto the Kitchen table and immediately called for Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny. It didn't take long for the 4 of them to emerge from their rooms and appear in the kitchen. Hermione and Ginny entered first and were swiftly followed by Harry and Ron who were still continuing their conversation about the complexities of the Quidditch positions.

"There you all are," said Mrs Weasley as the 4 children sat themselves at the kitchen table and gazed at the huge pile of bags and packages.

"What'd you get, mum?" asked Ron energetically.

"Oh I got plenty," said Mrs Weasley with a grin, "everything on the lists and then some."

Immediately everyone around the table beamed in anticipation at what the extra things could possibly be. "Did you get my new Broom?" asked Ginny with a smile, she had been expecting a new broom since the end of the last term and although she hadn't been promised one Mrs Weasley had let loose hints during the summer.
"Well, you'll be pleased to know dear that I managed to pick-up a Nimbus 500," she said pulling the broom from out of the pile and giving it to Ginny who looked as if her grin could get no wider. "As for everything else, well it's not just for you children, I had to pick up a few things for Remus and Kingsley, oh and Arthur too, he really wanted a new Muggletricity Detector," she said as she sifted through the sheer mountain of goodies and siphoned off everything for the adults.

Both Kingsley and Remus had been coming and going, never really staying long enough so that Harry could speak to them about the goings on. But that was to be expected; with the impending war Dumbledore had no doubt got them working tirelessly for the Order. On the oft chance that Harry could speak to either of them, all he managed to get out of them was vague answers that didn't actually mean much. Of course Harry was sure they knew exactly why Moody had been taken and was working to get him back, though he wasn't sure when they would mount the rescue.

As for Nymphadora Tonks, well she spent a lot of time around the house, keeping a watchful eye but she wasn't very communicative to the boys, she was more interested in talking to Hermione and Ginny. Which really irked Ron, he'd found it very sexist for her to ignore the two boys because they aren't as 'talkative' or using Ron's exact words 'we don't gossip' though trying to imagine Hermione having a good old gossip was almost impossible.

"But Mum, how could you afford it all?" asked Ron his natural worry that it was all second hand coming through.

"Oh dear Ronald, with your older brothers all living elsewhere, your Father and I have been able to save a little each week, so that we could treat you all," she politely answered.

"Wicked," replied Ron instantaneously, "so what did I get?"

"Well Ronald, I got you an official Chudley Cannons jumper and one of those new fangled Broom-Warmers," said Mrs Weasley, "the man in the shop insisted that you'd love it."

Ron didn't answer, he was simply speechless, and he never got anything 'new' before, well he rarely got anything 'new'. He leaned forward and took his pile of books, parchment, robes and items, and took extra care with his jumper and the Broom-Warmer. He turned to leave but then looked at Harry and decided that whilst he wanted to spend every waking moment with his new things, he also wanted to see what Harry got.

"Hermione, I got you the new edition of 'Hogwarts a History' and 'The Healers Compendium', I hope you like it," she said with a small smile as she passed over the two books and the incredibly large pile of books and equipment that Hermione needed for school. Hermione smiled graciously and immediately took the pile in her arms, said thanks and left for her room. Ginny followed her with her stuff and both Harry and Ron were left staring at the rather small pile on the table compared to what everyone else had got.

"Ummmm, what did Harry get Mum?" asked Ron confused, "it doesn't look like he got anything."

"I'm sorry Harry dear, I wasn't able to get you anything, there just didn't seem to be anything you'd like," she said sympathetically.'

Harry just stared at the floor, he didn't mind not getting anything, but seeing everyone else with beaming smiles and hauling their pile of goodies, he felt left-out. 'It's not so bad,' Harry thought to himself, 'at least I'm happy, it's all that matters.'

"But don't fret, Remus said he got you something and that you'll get it when you arrive at Hogwarts," said Mrs Weasley looking Harry square in the face and trying to coerce him into a semblance of a smile, "he's left it with Albus."

Harry let slip a smile, he was much happier knowing that Professor Dumbledore would have a gift from Remus and he would also be able to ask questions about what's going on. Though whether or not Dumbledore would let him know any concrete was a whole different matter altogether. After last year Harry didn't quite trust him fully, it was knowing that he'd been ignored for so long that rubbed Harry the wrong way.

"Right you two, go take your stuff upstairs and pack it all away," said Mrs Weasley signalling for both Harry and Ron to go upstairs, "you're leaving for Hogwarts in 2 days, you don't want to be late because you didn't pack it all in time."

Harry picked up his things and joined Ron on the short journey up the stairs towards their room. Both of them were struggling to carry everything as they weren't 'superhuman' or the male 'Adonis' not they were both normal Wizards who were skinny and pale, the way it should be or at least that's how they felt.

"So what do you think Remus got you?" asked Ron as he hauled his large bags up the first rickety flight of stairs.

"I don't know," replied Harry dragging his bag of books along the landing towards the second flight of stairs, "It could be anything."

"Yeah, well, I bet it's something magical from like some obscure country in Eastern Europe or something," said Ron as they finally reached the bedroom.

"I wish, it's probably just gonna be some of Sirius'," said Harry, "It'd be great if it was, but I don't know, I still think about what happened and well the memories are painful enough without having an item of his."

Ron nodded in agreement as both of them hauled their items over to where the two trunks were standing side by side. "You'll get over it Harry, I have faith in you," said Ron as he lowered his parchments, ink bottles and quills into a special compartment in his trunk.

"Yeah, I guess, but Sirius was my only real family," said Harry his eyes starting to well up as the replays of Sirius fall through the veil played over a million times a second.

"What about the Dursley's?" replied Ron without thinking.

"Oh Ron! You know what I mean," retorted Harry as he put his new Defence against the Dark Arts book into his trunk and then covered it up with his Hogwarts cloak.

"Well Harry, think of it like this, the happier you are the less you're likely to notice something is seriously wrong in the world," was Ron's very surprising Philosophical type statement.

Harry stood for a moment pondering Ron's statement, "I guess you're right, again," said Harry beginning to smile again, "That's twice in the space of two minutes, what's going on with you today Ron?"

Ron shrugged jokingly and both boys continued packing away in silence, only occasionally breaking it to hum or just randomly make noises. They were definitely two 16 year old boys with short attention spans.