Exams Are Out!

Hallie placed her quill down besides her sheet of parchment of her Potions Theory NEWT. Alas, her final exam had come and gone. A sigh of relief escaped Hallie. That paper hadn't been too bad, in fact it had gone much better than she had predicted. Potions had been her worse subject, maybe after this exam she would have achieved the acquired grades to become an auror - or at least start the training. This may have been her final exam yet there were a whole load left to take in order to become a fully qualified auror.

The sound of scraping chair legs against the stone floor brought Hallie back from her musings as she'd watched a wasp continually collide into the glass window pane. The Gryffindor too stepped up from her desk and departed The Great Hall. In a few hours time she'd be returning for tea and the individual tables would be gone and the four long house tables would reappear.

Hallie had no plan of what to do now, she simply let her feet carry her body wherever they decided to venture. In this case they had led her out into the baking sun, the paved courtyard not too far from transfiguration. She hadn't spoken to her transfiguration professor about yesterdays theory exam. Hallie knew she'd aced the practical, it was her greatest magical strength. If anything stopped her achieving an outstanding in her Transfiguration OWL it would be yesterdays theory. Not that she'd found it particularly challenging; yet she sometimes wished she'd gone over a few more things, such as advanced elemental transfiguration and aquatic metamorphosis. Oh well. It was over now and she would have defiantly gained an exceeds expectations, which was a blessing.

The sound of the booming bell echoed around the courtyard, herds of students began to make their way to their next lesson. Luckily Hallie had no more classes. All her time now at Hogwarts was for herself. Of course there would be a few lessons but nothing demanding, just fun learning until graduation. Sitting on a stone bench Hallie took her robes off, stripping down into her white shirt and skirt - her shoe-less feet stretched out in front of her. Closing her eyes Hallie allowed the sun to sweetly kiss her pale flesh. What better way to spend the afternoon than sunbathe and reminisce about her seven years of being a mischievous Gryffindor.

Zane's classes had finished for the day, so he decided he wanted some air and headed out to the courtyard for a bit of a break. He had been doing some reading on Transfiguration the day before and had a spell he was dying to try out.

As he walked into the courtyard the only person he saw was a blonde girl he was pretty sure was in Gryffindor relaxing on one of the benches. Deciding he didn't want to bother her, he headed to one of the other benches and put his bag down, pulling out his wand. The rule about not being able to use magic outside school until he was 17 - then being a legal adult - was disappointing, and he was determined to try out the spell before he had to leave for summer. He drew his wand from his back pocket and opened his bookbag.

The spell was designed to turn the object of the spell into a quill. He pulled a piece of parchment and sat it on the bench. He wanted to start of with something rather small or easy and move up to bigger objects. Thinking back to the book he'd been reading, he began trying to transform the parchment.

Zane pointed his wand at the parchment, gave a small flick and said, "Scribblifors!" A purple light flew out from his wand, and he watched as the parchment moved a bit but didn't change. Glaring for a moment at the parchment, he shook his head and tried again, louder this time. A brighter purple light came out of his wand and the parchment slowly changed into a quill.

"Yes!" He grinned. "That's brilliant." Now if he ever forgot his quill? No worries. What a perfect spell. He thought back to the times it would've been useful.

Slowly the sound of student chatter in the background died down as they ventured into classrooms or headed to their common room if their classes had ended as some NEWT students did have many free periods. Opening her eyes she gazed around the courtyard, taking in the few weeds that were beginning to creep between the cracks. The specs of bird poo on the castle walls. The murky window panes in a tower that overlooked the courtyard. All so trivial, insignificant and somewhat ugly attractions yet they were what made Hogwarts, well Hogwarts. Hallie really was going to miss this place. It had been a home for her the past seven years.

Taking a deep gulp of nostalgia her eyes fixed on a boy not much younger than herself across the courtyard. He seemed to be a Ravenclaw and was attempting some sort of spell. Hallie raised a hand across her eyes to block the sun, allowing her to focus her attention on the boy. Hmmm. Transfiguration. She knew of the spell, especially seeing as she sat her transfiguration NEWT earlier in the week.

Hallie had originally intended to chill out and think back about her years at Hogwarts but the prospect of heading over to the boy and see more about what he was up to was somewhat attractive. Plus the boy was cute. Cuter than Brian and more talented than Brian. Sure Brian could catch a snitch and zoom about the air on a firebolt but he couldn't perform transfiguration like this boy. Maybe the fact Zane's talent resembled her own or whether she simply wanted to be in company to take her mind off of the potions exams that kept infecting between the memories Hallie didn't know.

'Hey.' She greeted, taking a seat next to the boy, who may or may not know her name. 'What're you doing?'

Zane looked up in surprise when the girl he'd noticed before was suddenly next to him, sitting down. She asked what he was up to, so he held the quill out in front of him, twisting it in his fingers so it spun around. "Changed a bit of parchment into this quill." He said vaguely. He wasn't usually open with people right away, so he hoped the girl wouldn't be offended or anything. He was just naturally quiet. "Just found the spell yesterday. Transfiguration is sort of.. my thing, along with Potions." He wasn't sure why he offered up the information. But he definitely preferred conversation to silence or awkward pauses.

Looking over at her once more, he added, "Um, I'm Zane by the way. Zane Wakefield. I don't think we've met before." He offered her a hand to shake if she wanted, hoping she'd introduce herself as well. Sure, he'd seen her around, but it wasn't like they'd been introduced formally or anything. He wasn't even totally sure she was a seventh year.

Hallie smiled lady-like as she took his hand. 'Hallie Cooper, but you can just call me Hallie. Or Hal. Most people do anyway.' So he was called Zane and he was just turning a bit of parchment into a quill? And transfiguration was his thing? Transfiguration was Hallie's thing to. She adored the subject and for some reason it seemed to adore her too. It was simply a natural talent for her and she was pretty confident that she had scored an outstanding her her NEWT that she recently sat. Potions of the other hand...

'Ugh, don't even mention potions I've just had my NEWT and what an awful way to end it with potions.' Hallie shut her eyes and ran her fingers through the top of her hair to the back of her head. It wasn't that she hadn't performed well in potions, she thought that she'd done alright but whether she had achieved that exceeds expectations was another thing. All she could do was hope.

Opening her eyes she looked down at the quill Zane had created. He could put Scrivenshaft's quill shop out of business. Hallie began to think why a quill shop existed if it could be conjured, or why any sort of shop existed for that matter if it could be created from a transfiguration spell. Then again it wouldn't be permanent and chances are the spell would began to fade after a while.

'You're good.' Hallie acknowledged continuing to gaze at the quill before looking up to Zane's eyes. They were refreshing, somewhat comforting. They reminded her of someone, though of who she couldn't quiet place it.

"Nice to meet you, Hallie." He replied, inclining his head towards her in a sort of greeting. She seemed pretty interested in his love of Transfiguration which he was rather pleased about. He didn't often meet people who preferred it over any of the other subjects. Sure, it was fascinating, but it wasn't the easiest thing in the world.

"NEWTs?" Zane repeated, "You're graduating then. I'm not sure I'll be ready to go when the time comes. This place is pretty spectacular." He looked around at the old courtyard. This is where he'd met one of his best friends, and spent most of his free time over the years.

She complimented his quill and he smiled at her, "It's what I've always been interested in it seems. Since first year. It's just sort of.. natural for me." He shrugged. There wasn't an easy way to explain why he was good at Transfiguration or Potions. He just... was.

A nervous smile showing her tightly shut teeth was Hallie's reply to her being a graduate. Of course she was excited about venturing into the wizard world where life would be more adventurous yet she was used to being, well, spoon fee. The Gryffindor enjoyed the social aspect. School was easy. Not the studying mind, she needed to work hard, but life was so care free - perhaps she was thinking that more now she'd sat her final exam but any sort of change is difficult at first.

'I know. So many memories.' Hallie replied as she too glanced at a spot where she'd had her first kiss by the archway leading into the courtyard. 'It feels like time has flown by, yet, in the moment it seems to stand still.' A giggle escaped her lips as she ran a hand through her hair. 'Odd isn't it.' 

Hallie wasn't one to think philosophically she simply pointed out things then moved on. She didn't like to overthink things; it would mash her mind with all the unanswered questions. Much like potions mashed her mind. 

'You nervous about your NEWT's?' The Gryffindor asked making conversation.

(ooc; sorry if there are typos anywhere I replies on my iPod so predictive text may have kicked in)

Zane nodded in agreement as she gave her version of the years flying by. "Exactly. When you're in the thick of exams or other things it feels like time will never pass. But now, looking back, I realize how little attention I payed. I probably have forgotten complete events because I was too caught up in other things." A soft frown crossed over his face briefly, before he shook it off mentally and turned to look at her again. He wasn't sure if she actually had wanted a response to that, but he'd just given it anyway like the Ravenclaw he was.

"I wouldn't say I'm nervous so much as I don't know if I'm prepared enough. Seems silly for someone to imagine a Ravenclaw not being prepared for NEWTs I guess. " Zane shrugged, not really knowing how she perceived his house. "I just am very glad I have all next year to study, and some people who are serious about getting their studies done to go through it with me."

Zane was going to ask something, but wasn't sure if it was exactly good etiquette to ask about someone's career. He observed her for a moment before deciding he was going to end up asking his question anyways and may as well. "Have you got a plan for after graduation?"

Hallie shook her head. 'It's normal for anyone to feel unprepared. The problem I had with revising in a group is that I literally sat there and didnt do anything... Too much distraction.' The Gryffindor wasn't lying. Any opportunity to laugh and have fun trumped revision, even if she did need top grades for her chosen career path. Studying could be so dull. Hallie was more of a hands on, practical girl.

'Well I do want to become an auror, or work in the department of magical law enforcement some way or another.' Ever since Hallie's father had been murdered by death eaters when defending the Muggle victims in their village she had always opposed the dark arts. She despised everything that they stood for and wanted more than anything to rid the world of it. To get as many dark wizards in Azkaban as possible so that... So that nobody would feel the pain she'd felt because of the dark arts. 

'Although I'm hoping more for being an auror rather than just a bog standard employee - aurors have more fun.' Hallie added with a cheeky grin. If she wanted to do good in the world she may as well do something practical, adventurous, investigative. Something that'd get the adrenaline rushing through her veins. 

Zane sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. It didn't seem fair that everyone around him knew what they were supposed to do with their lives after Hogwarts, while he was stuck not knowing what he wanted. He had thought about multiple options, but each seemed viable and potentially rewarding.

"I've been thinking," Zane began, "about working with the ministry to use either Transfiguration or Potions skills, but I also am used to protecting people, so I may end up leaning towards being an Auror come my graduation and Uni years." He shrugged. He didn't want to seem concerned about his confusion or lack of decision-making skills.

Zane chuckled at her explanation for wanting to be an Auror. "I bet they do." He agreed. "They get to be the heroes."