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"What the bloody hell do you mean you aren't having Occlumency lessons anymore?" Iris asked incredulously, wondering if her brother was completely thick in the head.

"I've told you," Harry muttered. "Snape reckons I can carry on by myself now I've got the basics..."

"So you've stopped having those dreams?" said Iris sceptically.

"Pretty much," said Harry, not looking at her.

"You're lying!" Iris said loudly, her voice filled with shock at his audacity.

"No," said Harry forcefully. "Just drop it, Iris, okay?"

The twins were sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room late at night trying to get some last-minute homework assignments out of the way. Iris slammed the textbook she had in front of her closed and looked hard at Harry.

"I can't drop it, Harry. How do you still not understand how serious this is?"

He sighed heavily, glaring into the blazing fireplace. The boy raked a hand through his messy hair. "I've tried— it's just not working!"

Iris felt her temper rising, "You aren't trying, Harry, you've made no progress," she insisted, "D'you know how I know that?"

'Because I'm in your head right now.'

'Well, get out of it.'

Iris rolled her eyes. She huffed, turning away from her brother and also glaring into the fire. More than ever, Iris felt the weight of the world on her shoulders since Dumbledore had left. Harry's well-being was left entirely up to her now, and she didn't know what to do about it. The girl had never felt so alone.

"I wish I could talk to Remus," Harry admitted quietly a few minutes later.

Iris' chest seized. "Yeah... I miss Sirius. At least they're stuck in that house together."

She hated the idea of either one of their godfathers stuck alone in isolation again, and though she knew they were less than pleased with not being allowed to leave the house, it meant they were safe, and that was all that matted to Iris.

Weeks later, the castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake, the satin-green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze: June had arrived, but to the fifth years this meant only one thing: Their O.W.L.s were upon them at last.

Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to reviewing those topics their teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams.

They received their examination schedules and details of the procedure for O.W.L.s during one of their final Transfiguration lessons.

"As you can see," Professor McGonagall told the class while they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard, "your O.W.L.s are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory exams in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night."

"Now, I must warn you that the most stringent Anti-Cheating Charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs, and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new — headmistress" — Professor McGonagall pronounced the word with the same look on her face that Aunt Petunia had whenever she was contemplating a particularly stubborn bit of dirt — "has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely — because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the headmistress's new regime at the school..."

Professor McGonagall gave a tiny sigh. Iris saw the nostrils of her sharp nose flare.

"However, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about."

"Please, Professor," said Hermione, her hand in the air, "when will we find out our results?"

"An owl will be sent to you sometime in July," said Professor McGonagall.

"Excellent," said Dean Thomas in an audible whisper, "so we don't have to worry about it till the holidays..."

Excellent, Iris thought. She would only have to wait a few weeks to see how poorly she did.

Iris did not admit it to anyone, but rather than spending every last second studying like her peers, she preferred to spend her time doing other things. At odd times, when she knew no one would pay attention, Iris would sneak off to open the Room of Requirement again. She would only spend an hour or two here and there, but Iris used the time to go over everything Dumbledore had taught her the entire previous summer. She carefully honed her skill, flinging curses and charms around like they were an extension of herself. There was nothing more important to Iris at that moment than being prepared for the fight of her life. She never wanted to be caught off guard again.

None of the fifth years talked very much at breakfast on the day of their first exam. Parvati was practising incantations under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her twitched, Hermione was rereading Achievement in Charming so fast that her eyes appeared blurred, and Neville kept dropping his knife and fork and knocking over the marmalade.

Once breakfast was over, the fifth and seventh years milled around in the entrance hall while the other students went off to lessons. Then, at half-past nine, they were called forward class by class to reenter the Great Hall, which was now arranged so that the four House tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing them. When they were all seated and quiet she said, "You may begin," and turned over an enormous hourglass on the desk beside her, on which were also spare quills, ink bottles, and rolls of parchment.

Iris turned over her paper, her heart thumping hard... Three rows to her right and four seats ahead, Hermione was already scribbling, but beside her, Harry anxiously ran a hand through his hair. Iris lowered her eyes to the first question: a) Give the incantation, and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly...

Iris had a fleeting memory of a club soaring high into the air and landing loudly on the thick skull of a troll... Smiling slightly, she bent over the paper and began to write...

"Well, it wasn't too bad, was it?" asked Hermione anxiously in the entrance hall two hours later, still clutching the exam paper. "I'm not sure I did myself justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time — did you put in the countercharm for hiccups? I wasn't sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much — and on question twenty-three —"

"Hermione," said Ron sternly, "we've been through this before... We're not going through every exam afterwards, it's bad enough doing them once."

The fifth years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four House tables reappeared over the lunch hour) and then trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forward in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practised wand movements, occasionally poking one another in the back or eye by mistake.

Every exam the rest of the week was the same. Iris had never seen anything quite like it. Every single one of her friends and classmates was filled with dread and apprehension and it left Iris with a constant migraine poking her behind the eyes as she had to focus extra hard just to keep herself from drowning in the sea of panicked thoughts.

The Potions practical was not as dreadful as she had expected it to be. With Snape absent from the proceedings Iris found that she was much more relaxed than she usually was while making potions. Neville and Harry, who were both sitting near her, also looked happier than Iris had ever seen them during a Potions class. When Professor Marchbanks said, "Step away from your cauldrons, please, the examination is over," Iris corked her sample flask feeling very satisfied, and when she looked over at her brother's, she guessed that he might not achieve a good grade but that he had, with luck, avoided a fail.

"Only four exams left," said Parvati Patil wearily as they headed back to Gryffindor common room.

"Only!" said Hermione snappishly. "I've got Arithmancy and it's probably the toughest subject there is!"

Nobody was foolish enough to snap back, so she was unable to vent her spleen on any of them and was reduced to telling off some first years for giggling too loudly in the common room.

For one of their final exams, they entered the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock. It was a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight, and there was a slight chill in the air. Each of them set up their telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks, one of the examiners, gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star chart they had been given.

Iris quickly became engrossed with her exam, not paying attention to anything but the night sky or her sheet of parchment. About an hour after the exam had started, she pressed her eye again to her telescope, staring up at the moon to mark its position, but not a moment later, she heard a roar from the distance that echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Iris, along with several of the people around her, ducked out from behind her telescope and peered in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.

What she saw made her eyes go wide. Pausing with her quill suspended over the parchment, she squinted down into the shadowy grounds and saw half a dozen figures standing on the lawn just in front of Hagrid's cabin. If the light from inside his cabin was not shining, and the moonlight had not been gilding the tops of their heads, they would have been indistinguishable from the dark ground on which they stood. Even at this distance, Iris had a funny feeling that she recognized the figure of the squattest among them, who seemed to be leading the group.

Professor Tofty gave another dry little cough. "Try and concentrate, now, students," he said softly.

Most people returned to their telescopes. Iris looked to her left, her heart hammering.

Hermione was gazing transfixed at Hagrid's. Iris made eye contact with Harry who also looked concerned.

"Ahem — twenty minutes to go," said Professor Tofty.

Hermione jumped and returned at once to her star chart; Harry looked down at his own, and Iris glanced down at hers to notice that she had drawn Venus several centimetres off and quickly went to correct it.

There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Several people said "Ouch!" as they poked themselves in the face with the ends of their telescopes, hastening to see what was going on below.

Hagrid had now stepped outside, and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.

"Oh my god," Iris muttered, horrified.

"No!" cried Hermione.

"My dear!" said Professor Tofty in a scandalized voice. "This is an examination!"

But nobody was paying the slightest attention to their star charts anymore: Jets of red light were still flying beside Hagrid's cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be bouncing off him. He was still upright and still, as far as Harry could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds; a man yelled, "Be reasonable, Hagrid!" and Hagrid roared, "Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!"

Iris could see the tiny outline of Fang, attempting to defend Hagrid, leaping at the wizards surrounding him until a Stunning Spell caught him and he fell to the ground. Iris gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth in shock. Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the culprit bodily from the ground, and threw him: The man flew what looked like ten feet and did not get up again. Hermione gasped, looking terrified; Iris looked around at Ron and saw that he too was looking scared. None of them had ever seen Hagrid in a real temper before...

"Look!" squealed Parvati, who was leaning over the parapet and pointing to the foot of the castle where the front doors seemed to have opened again; more light had spilt out onto the dark lawn and a single long black shadow was now rippling across the lawn.

"Now, really!" said Professor Tofty anxiously. "Only sixteen minutes left, you know!"

But nobody paid him the slightest attention: They were watching the person now sprinting toward the battle beside Hagrid's cabin.

"How dare you!" the figure shouted as she ran. "How dare you!"

"It's McGonagall!" whispered Hermione.

"Leave him alone! Alone, I say!" said Professor McGonagall's voice through the darkness. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such —"

Iris, Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender all screamed. No fewer than four Stunners had shot from the figures around the cabin toward Professor McGonagall. Halfway between cabin and castle the red beams collided with her. For a moment she looked luminous, illuminated by an eerie red glow, then was lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more.

"Galloping gargoyles!" shouted Professor Tofty, who seemed to have forgotten the exam completely. "Not so much as a warning! Outrageous behaviour!"

Iris stared at McGonagall's unmoving body, feeling like she couldn't breathe.

"COWARDS!" bellowed Hagrid, his voice carrying clearly to the top of the tower, and several lights flickered back on inside the castle. "RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT — AN' THAT —"

"Oh my —" gasped Hermione.

Hagrid took two massive swipes at his closest attackers; judging by their immediate collapse, they had been knocked cold. Iris saw him double over and thought for a moment that he had finally been overcome by a spell, but on the contrary, the next moment Hagrid was standing again with what appeared to be a sack on his back — then Iris realized that Fang's limp body was draped around his shoulders.

"Get him, get him!" screamed Umbridge, but her remaining helper seemed highly reluctant to go within reach of Hagrid's fists. Indeed, he was backing away so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over. Hagrid had turned and begun to run with Fang still hung around his neck; Umbridge sent one last Stunning Spell after him but it missed, and Hagrid, running full-pelt toward the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness.

There was a long minute's quivering silence, everybody gazing open-mouthed into the grounds. Then Professor Tofty's voice said feebly, "Um... five minutes to go, everybody..."

Though she had only filled in two-thirds of her chart, Iris backed away from her telescope slowly, her heartbeat thundering. She then turned and ran towards the stairs out of the tower, hearing the examiners call after her only to be ignored.

Iris sprinted as fast as she could through the stone corridors and down the grand staircases until she made her way out the front entrance, through the courtyard, and out onto the lawn. Her feet carried her swiftly down the hill as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, her sights set on the glow of Hagrid's now abandoned cabin.

It seemed Umbridge and the only conscious official had fled back inside the castle, leaving five bodies scattered across the surrounding grass. Iris couldn't care less about the ministry workers lying around, she made a beeline straight toward the unconscious form of Professor McGonagall.

Kneeling down beside the elder woman, Iris let out a shaky breath of relief at the inconsistent, yet present, rise and fall of her chest. She carefully folded the witch's arms in and then Iris stood, pulling her wand out of her inner robe pocket and holding it out horizontally over McGonagall's body. With a swish and flick, the professor's lifeless form slowly rose into the air. Iris trudged back up the hill towards Hogwarts, the levitating body following after her.

Her blood was boiling. There was only so much more Iris could take before snapping, and her patience had run extremely thin.

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teehee i love it when i make bad things happen