For the last remaining month of first year, Hoffa no longer worried about the future. After leaving the hospital, he no longer rushed to accomplish anything either.
He spent most of his time in the library preparing for exams and reading Hogwarts, A History. In his spare time, he took walks by the Black Lake with his two friends, played with kites and Frisbees, and sometimes sat on the grass drinking chilled juice.
Miranda showed no further signs of turning dark, and Argeleia no longer spent every day thinking about becoming the boss.
The three of them played, studied, and chatted like ordinary students.
Sometimes, Hoffa went to see Joey and spent time with Maya, bringing Argeleia and Miranda along.
Maya now completely regarded him as one of her own kind. She even often caught raw fish from the Black Lake and force-fed them to him. Hoffa found it impossible to accept such kindness, and the trio was often chased into a panicked retreat by a giant bird.
But as Maya gradually grew up, Joey often expressed his worries about taking Maya back to the United States before the British Ministry of Magic discovered her.
Hoffa did not try to stop any of it. He calmly accepted the possibility that he would have to part ways with Maya and Joey.
Before long, the final exams arrived as scheduled.
Hoffa earned quite high marks in Charms and Transfiguration, but his other subjects were fairly ordinary.
Miranda.
She still got ordinary marks in every class, barely passing every subject. Even in Charms, she had only barely passed.
As for Argeleia, of course, she came first in every subject, including Transfiguration. (Hoffa had done worse than her in both Transfiguration Theory and the History of Transfiguration.)
When the grades came out, all three