Exams Begin

June sunlight shone bright and scorching over the castle grounds, reflecting a dazzling glare as though the entire lawn had just been given a fresh coat of paint.

The teachers no longer assigned them homework, and every lesson was devoted to reviewing the topics they considered most likely to appear on the exams.

Ron constantly asked others how their revision was going, his face always tense, while Hermione spent much of her time muttering to herself, looking somewhat neurotic.

Even Harry, sunk in his deepest gloom, forced himself to start revising with his books. Though no one knew how much knowledge those hollow, unfocused eyes of his could actually take in.

The corridor outside the Potions classroom was as crowded and noisy as ever.

Skylar leaned against a stone pillar, flipping through a page of notes that hardly required reviewing, though his gaze rested on a small group of people some distance away.

They were not so much talking as "putting on a display."

"This," Draco drawled, as though mentioning it in passing, "is the thing about exams. What matters has never been what you know, but who you know."

Crabbe and Goyle stood on either side of him like two particularly dim-witted walls.

"My father has known the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years—Griselda Marchbanks," Draco continued, sounding smugly certain of victory. "We've had dinner together. A lot of things can be settled with just a word."

Several people in the corridor visibly stopped walking.

Skylar noticed that many students' expressions had changed—nervousness, uncertainty, unease. It was as if someone had given them a slight push, setting the already taut strings in their hearts trembling at once.

The corner of Skylar's mouth curved slightly. Draco still could not shake his nasty habit.

The tactic was crude, but