The next morning, Jerry entered the Great Hall neatly dressed and yawning, ready for breakfast. To his surprise, someone had arrived before him.
"Hey, why are you three up so early? And why does it feel so tense?" Jerry asked. At the Gryffindor table, Harry, Ron, and Neville sat huddled together under a cloud of unease.
"After we got back to the Common Room last night, Harry nearly got into a fight with Moxie," Neville explained quietly. "Seamus and his mother seem to believe what the Daily Prophet says."
"Seamus insists Harry's lying about You-Know-Who," Ron added.
"Seamus is an idiot!" Harry burst out.
"This is infuriating!" Jerry was about to comfort Harry when Hermione stormed over.
"Hermione, what's wrong now?"
"Jerry, look at this." Hermione slapped a sheet of paper onto the table. "I just tore it off the noticeboard."
Jerry glanced at it. The twins had posted a notice looking for people to test their Skiving Snackboxes.
"Hermione, it won't be long before you change your mind," Fred and George said as they sat down at the table. Spreading jam on their bread, they added, "You're in fifth year now. You'll soon find you need Skiving Snackboxes."
"Why?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"Because fifth year is O.W.L. year," George explained.
O.W.L. stood for Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Students' marks in each subject determined whether they could continue studying it at a higher level.
Students took an O.W.L. in each subject and received a grade. O meant Outstanding, E meant Exceeds Expectations, and A meant Acceptable.
The failing grades, P, D, and T, meant Poor, Dreadful, and Troll.
Only students who earned at least an A in a subject could go on to take its N.E.W.T. course.
"Are you saying I'm going to fail?" That only made Hermione angrier.
"Every year,