OWLName: ILONA KYLLI ROWLEYear: 5
CharmsLevitation CharmThe year had gone by faster than Ilona ever expected, and before she knew it, OWLs were upon them. She felt prepared, after all she had studied hard enough that term, but there were still a few nerves as she walked into her first practical exam. Luckily, the first exam was Charms, a subject she did not find particularly difficult. It wasn’t her favourite, or her best, but she felt confident she could do well, at least compared to some other subjects on her timetable.
In the middle of the Great Hall was a table, set up with three different objects.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Rowle. For your Charms examination, you will be required to levitate each of these objects, and move them over to that table.” The examiner pointed to a table a good 10 meters away, approximately where the professors’ table would usually be positioned.
“Once you are ready, you may begin.” Ilona blinked a few times in surprise. That was it? Just levitate the objects over?
Somehow she had expected the OWLs to be more convoluted, testing multiple spells in an exam obstacle course of sorts. In comparison, this seemed quite simple. With a slight smile, she began, starting with the first object: a pillow.
"Wingardium Levisoa," she said with a swish and flick of her wand, watching as the pillow levitated off the table. Then began the slightly more complicated part: moving it over to the other table without losing control. The progress wasn’t quick, Ilone being a bit overly cautious as she moved it steadily across the Great Hall. After all, what if they were testing her control in moving it at an even pace, or keeping it at a consistent height? The test seemed much too simple as is, there must have been some catch, so Ilona did not want to take any chances.
The pillow made it over to the other table with no issues, and so she moved onto the next object: a large vase. It was significantly more of a challenge than the pillow, considering it was heavier, and more delicate. If she lost control, the end results would be much more disastrous. With the same focus as before, she cast the levitation charm, lifting the vase a few feet above the table, and began moving it over to the other table. It was not quite as level as before, dipping up and down a few times, but it made it across without any damage, landing with a soft thump on the end table.
Last was the heaviest object: a large boulder. Ilona took a breath before casting the spell one last time, putting all her focus on the object. The heavier the object, the harder it was to levitate it, so she knew she had to concentrate on this one. It levitated just about a foot off the table, and Ilona tried to hurry up her speed as she moved it over to the next table, less concerned with keeping it level, instead focusing on keeping it off the ground. In what felt like no time, the last object landed on the table at the end of the hall. It wasn’t the softest landing, but it worked. And just like that, her first OWL exam was complete.
DADABubble Head CharmIlona was quite happy to find out that her Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL would involve the Bubble Head Charm, one of the spells they had specifically studied that year in charms. She remembered those classes quite well, and felt adequately prepared for the subject at hand. Professor Channing had definitely drilled it in them enough. Perhaps she had known it would appear on their end of year exams? No, Ilona shook that thought away. Professor Channing was not that nice.
The exam itself very closely resembled the practice they had done in class, albeit on a larger scale. They were to perform the charm and immerse themselves in the Black Lake for a period of two minutes, during which the bubble was expected to remain intact. A relatively simple exam, although the idea of jumping into the lake’s murky waters was not exactly appealing. The examiner first cast a water-repelling charm on her robes, to which Ilona was extremely grateful as she did not wish to don wet robes for the rest of the day, and then directed her to begin with the exam.
She immediately cast the spell, aiming her wand towards herself and saying,
“Caput Bullaeris,” while waving her wand in a curling movement that oddly resembled an octopus. A large bubble promptly formed around her head, and she jumped into the lake, not wanting to waste any time. The task was unpleasant enough as is; she just wanted to get it over and done with so she could proceed with her day. Only once her head was fully immersed did the timer start, and then all she had to do was wait.
Keeping herself afloat just below the water’s surface, she looked around at her surroundings. Black. That was all she really saw. She was sure if she dove deeper she might find more interesting scenery, but she had no intention of doing so. Partly because that was not part of the exam, but mostly because she did not care to know what lived deep within the lake. She got a good enough view of its depths from the common room, and she had no intention of visiting its inhabitants any closer than that.
With nothing to do, she let her mind wander. To her brother. To Lewis. To the pack. To her parents, and her old family. She was already at the end of her fifth year of school, and already of legal age. Her old life seemed so long ago, and yet like only yesterday. What would her life be like if she hadn’t left home? If her brother hadn’t been turned? More importantly, what kind of person would she be?
Her thoughts were cut short when she saw a flash of red sparks in the sky, the signal that her time was up. She immediately swam back up and popped her head out of the water, removing the spell once she was back on dry land. Ilona was pleasantly surprised. The exam hadn’t been as miserable as she had expected, and with a nod from the examiner, she was on to the next one.
HerbologyRe-pot a MandrakeHerbology was one of the few classes Ilona was legitimately stressed about in regards to her examinations. While all her exams were important, this was one of the few that may determine the course of her future career, and one class in which she did not excel. She’d tried asking Lewis for help numerous times over the years, but to very little success. It was odd, considering her aptitude for Potions. One would think Herbology would be a natural pair to that class, but in her case it was simply not so.
Luckily, she found the exam task that day to be relatively simple: repotting a Mandrake. A task they had done relatively early in her education, and one she was sure she could handle with a decent amount of skill. She didn’t need to ace it, she simply needed to pass with a high enough grade to get into the NEWT class. With a deep breath she positioned herself at the pot in question, and placed her earmuffs over her ears. It would not bode well for her grade if she were to pass out mid exam, or worse.
Waiting for the examiner to be prepared as well, she nodded when they donned the proper earwear and motioned her to begin. One more deep breath to center herself, and she dove right in, grabbing the mandrake by the leaves and yanking it out of the soil with one big pull. Luckily the mandrake came out without too much of a fuss, although it immediately began screeching loudly. Ilona swore she could see the windows shaking from the sound.
She wasted no time, quickly moving over to the new pot with fresh soil, which she had prepared at the very start of the exam period. A large hole was already dug into the center, ready to accommodate the growing plant. Plopping it down right into the hole, she realized too late that the hole was not quite deep enough, causing its head to poke out a few centimeters out of the dirt. Drat, the mandrake was larger than she had anticipated, perhaps not quite as young as she had thought. She couldn’t let the examiner realize her mistake, however, and quickly went about rectifying her mistake. With her free hand she scraped at the bottom of the dirt in her pot, hoping to add just a bit more space.
Placing the screaming baby root back in the new pot, this time it just fit, snug as a bug. She quickly went about covering it all back up with the new, fresh dirt, until its screams subsided and its bulbous body no longer visible. She heaved a deep sigh of relief and removed her earmuffs, leaving the room when the examiner dismissed her.
TransfigurationVanishing SpellOne last practical OWL and she was done, and of course it was one of the more difficult subjects: Transfiguration. Ilona wasn’t necessarily bad at Transfiguration, but she did acknowledge that it was a challenging subject matter. The good thing about having it last was that it gave her extra time to practice. The bad thing was, well, it was the last exam. Her brain was fried from the number of exams she had done so far, and so having one of the most challenging at the end was not ideal. Luckily, after this, she was done, and could enjoy the summer sun along with her fellow students.
So she went in with that attitude, summoning one last burst of energy to finish off strong.
“Hello Ms Rowle,” the examiner greeted as she entered the Great Hall one last time.
“Today you will be demonstrating the Vanishing Spell.” In an overly dramatic fashion, at least in Ilona’s opinion, the examiner unveiled a large glass case under a sheet.
“On this Iguana. When you are ready, please begin.” Ilona hesitated for a moment. They wanted her to vanish a large reptile? They had practiced on snails, and mice, but never on something this large.
Her nerves increased for a moment as she stepped closer to the creature laying in the large aquarium. This would definitely be a challenge, but she didn’t have much choice in the matter. With a deep breath, she put all her focus on the task at hand, eyes narrowing in concentration. Her wand was at the ready. She had practiced as much as she could. She just had to believe in herself. She waved her wand in a downward zigzag fashion and said the incantation,
“Evanesco,” aiming towards the Iguana.
With bated breath she watched and waited as the Iguana began disappearing from view, and then, poof, it was gone, as if it had never resided in the glass case. Ilona released the breath she’d been holding, happy that she had been successful. She had never before vanished something quite so large and complex, but it seemed all of her other practice had come in handy. The examiner cracked a small smile, giving Ilona hope that she had done well, before dismissing her.
