Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 221 Nightmare Omen

The OWLs exams are the most important exams for fifth graders, for everyone. There are twelve courses in total, each requiring a full day's exam, with theory in the morning and practical exams in the afternoon. The exams are proctored not only by professors but also by staff from the Ministry of Magic, making them extremely rigorous.

Students take exams based on their course selections. For most students, this allows them one or two days of rest to adjust. However, for Hermione, who has selected all courses, every single day of these two weeks is an exam, except for Sundays when she can relax.

The first week was mostly filled with compulsory courses. The problems in Charms, Transfiguration, Herbalism, and Defense Against the Dark Arts were extremely difficult, a completely different experience from the final exams. Harry didn't take Ancient Rune Studies on Friday, but he did take Divination on Saturday, which was an elective.

I finally got a break on Sunday, but before my chaotic brain could fully recover, exams started again next week. Potions, Fantastic Beasts Protection, Astronomy, and Muggle Studies, with Arithmetic Divination on Friday. At least I got two days off; I'm finally recovering.

Saturday was the last exam, History of Magic. This was arguably Harry's worst subject; in fact, he hadn't been fully alert in Professor Binns's classes for the past five years.

The History of Magic exam didn't include a practical component, so it was scheduled for the afternoon. After waking up, Harry wanted to go back to bed after breakfast and take another nap, but considering his potentially disastrous grades, he decided to cram at the last minute. He forced himself to study Hermione's thick notebook all morning, and by the time he arrived at the exam hall in the afternoon, he was completely disoriented.

After the professor who was proctoring the exam announced the start of the exam, Harry stared blankly at the questions on the exam paper and suddenly realized that he didn't know the answers to any of them. He seemed to know the answers, but he also seemed not to know them. His mind was a complete mess.

He heard the scratching sound of a quill pen and looked up to see Hermione diligently answering questions not far ahead, while Ron was frantically pulling at his hair.

He looked at the exam paper again and began writing on it with his quill. But in fact, he didn't know what he was actually writing. He remembered that Hermione's notebook contained information about these questions, but it contained far more than he had written.

In a daze, Harry finally finished the last problem. He breathed a sigh of relief, looked up at the hourglass on the podium, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found himself in front of the familiar black corridor.

He walked down the corridor, through a series of doors, and arrived once again at the place filled with crystal balls. This time, he didn't see Ike; instead, he saw two other people.

One was completely shrouded in a black robe, with only one hand holding a wand visible. The other lay on the ground, covered in blood, occasionally twitching in pain.

"Extremely painful!"

"what!"

"Lord Voldemort is waiting..."

"Unless you kill me!" The person on the ground raised their head; it was Sirius Black's face!

Harry shouted, but the two men didn't hear him at all. The one standing was still torturing Sirius with the Crucifixion Curse, and Sirius stubbornly refused to give in.

Suddenly, it felt like someone bumped into him, and Harry woke up with a start. Opening his eyes, he found himself back in the exam room.

Before they knew it, the exam time had arrived, and Hermione and Ron were standing nearby, looking anxious.

"What's wrong, buddy? Do you need to go to the school clinic?" Ron asked softly.

"No... I'm not going..." Harry slapped his head hard, trying to clear his head.

"This doesn't look like everything's alright..." Ron said.

"I'm fine...no, Sirius..."

"Sirius? What about Sirius?" Hermione asked疑惑地, then suddenly realized and asked seriously, "What did you dream about this time?"

Harry finally came to his senses and looked around. There were only six people left in the examination room: him, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. The annoying Investigative Team wasn't there.

"Voldemort has captured Sirius!" he said without hesitation.

"What?"

"How could that be!"

Everyone was stunned, their faces filled with disbelief.

"I saw it, just now, during the exam," Harry said.

"Where is it? How did you catch it?" Ron asked anxiously.

"The Department of Mysteries, I told you all..." Harry said, suddenly standing up, but a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he nearly fell. He quickly grabbed the table in front of him for support. "He wants to use Sirius Black to get that crystal ball. He's been torturing him, using the Crucifixion Curse... and he even wants to kill him!"

"We have to go save him!"

"Harry!" Hermione called out to Harry as he staggered toward running away.

"Calm down!" Hermione grabbed Harry. "Are you really sure Sirius has been captured?"

"Of course! I'm sure!" Harry struggled several times without success, and said anxiously, "I can't be wrong! Just like with Mr. Weasley last time!"

“We need to check, Harry,” Hermione said. “It’s five in the afternoon, the Ministry of Magic is full of staff. How could they have gotten in without being noticed? That doesn’t make sense!”

"I don't know, it could be an invisibility cloak, or something else... But that's Voldemort, he must have a way..."

"I think Harry's right," Ron interjected. "After all, Dad did the same thing last time..."

"We should at least check!" Hermione glared at Ron. "At least ask if Sirius is at Black's old house."

"Yes, yes, that's what we'll do..." Harry was convinced. "To Umbridge's office, we have to go there!"

“We need a plan,” Hermione said, glancing at Luna, Ginny, and Neville beside her. “We need your help to lure Umbridge away again, keep watch, and make sure those nasty guys don’t find us.”

Hermione explained her plan to the others, and they all agreed. Then, they rushed out of the exam room.

Harry immediately returned to his dormitory, found the Invisibility Cloak and Sirius Black's knife, and quietly left. The dormitory and common room were filled with students relaxing after their exams, discussing a big party that night, completely unaware of Harry's departure.

In just two minutes, he arrived at the corridor where Umbridge's office was located, where Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville were already waiting.

Ron left first; he was going to find Umbridge and lure her away. Ginny, Luna, and Neville stood guard on both sides of the corridor, driving as many people as possible out. Hermione and Harry donned their invisibility cloaks, and once most of the people in the corridor had left, Harry simply used Sirius Black's knife to pry open the door.

Ignoring the cat pictures scattered throughout the room, Harry went straight to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, threw it in, and stuck his head into the leaping flames, shouting, "Number 12 Grimmauld Place!"

His head was spinning rapidly, making him feel nauseous. But soon he found himself in the filthy fireplace of Blake's old house, facing the cold, unfeeling kitchen.

"Sirius! Sirius!" Harry shouted, but received no reply from Sirius for a long time.

"Master has gone out." A voice rang out, and Harry quickly looked in the direction of the voice, only to see Kreacher's ugly face.

"Where did he go? Where is he?" Harry shouted, but Kreacher didn't answer, only chuckled coldly. This infuriated Harry, but he couldn't care less about anything else now.

"Where's Lupin? Mad-Eye? Is anyone home?"

"There's only Kreacher here, no one else!" Kreacher was overjoyed, jumping and spinning around as he prepared to leave.

"Where did Sirius go? Did he go to the Department of Mysteries?" Harry called out to Kreacher's departing figure.

"Master won't be back from the Department of Mysteries! Kreacher can be alone with the mistress again!" Kreacher continued walking and disappeared from Harry's sight.

"You!" Harry shouted angrily, but before he could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain on the top of his head. Then he was spun around painfully, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw Umbridge's pale face with a terrifying smile.

(End of this chapter)