Pomona checked the time. There were still five hours until the little trolls finished their last exam. Not only them—she herself was almost "free" as well.
"I hate glass." She looked up at the greenhouse's glass roof.
The students only had to stand here until their exams were over, while she had to be here morning and afternoon. During some years' exams, she could hide from the blazing sun beneath the shade; during others, she could only be "baked" in it.
Then she thought of the Dementors again. At least they could bring a little coolness.
At lunch, each House table was full of students cramming at the last minute, eating while reading. Perhaps the sight gave Albus and Flitwick some strange inspiration, because the two of them kept whispering to each other without pause.
Whatever the case, Pomona picked up her chilled pumpkin juice and gulped down over half the glass in one go. Minerva stared at her in shock from beside her.
"What?" Pomona asked.
"Aren't you being a little too unconcerned with appearances?" Minerva said stiffly, then glanced at the four House tables in the Great Hall. "The students are watching."
"Right now, their books are more captivating than I am." Pomona smiled. "This term has been so long."
It was finally ending, she thought. They had spent an extra month in class compared to a normal term, even covering next term's lessons as well.
"Come look at this," Sinistra said, handing them a newspaper. "These are photographs of the comet striking Jupiter the night before last."
Pomona looked at the newspaper Sinistra had handed her. It was Muggle-published, and the photographs could not move, but at least they were in color.
For Muggles, it was an excellent opportunity to study Jupiter's atmosphere. But Pomona thought of