The tension of exam week hung over every student like the increasingly muggy air outside the Castle. For most second-years, this was only their second round of exams so intensive and formal. Parchment disappeared at an alarming rate, the common rooms and library were always packed with students bent over their books, and even Peeves seemed to have taken the hint and cut back on his pranks.
News about Harry spread quickly, as though someone were helping it along. Then again, good news like this would have traveled fast anyway. By now, word of Harry was everywhere in Hogsmeade.
It wasn't a Hogsmeade day. Apart from Will, the other students were stuck at Hogwarts, and quite a few wizards in Hogsmeade stopped him to ask about Harry.
When they learned that Harry really had returned, many headed for the Three Broomsticks. "To Harry Potter's return! We're drinking till we drop tonight!"
Of course, even if Harry hadn't "come back to life," they would have drunk themselves senseless in his memory.
"Boy, I hear Potter's back?" At the edge of Hogsmeade, an elderly wizard with a hunched back opened his door and asked about Harry before anything else.
"Yes, sir." Will nodded, confirming the news. The hunched old wizard was the Old English teacher Dumbledore had found for him.
"Wonderful, wonderful..." A smile spread across the old wizard's face. "I knew it. He's The Boy Who Lived. Come in, child. Let's get through the lesson early, and you can tell me about Potter while we're at it."
Will felt a little helpless, but for the first time, he truly understood Harry's standing in the Wizarding World. Calling him The Chosen One was no empty title.
"Where did we leave off last time? Come on, boy, don't just stand there..."
"What