Ron had been startled to discover there were only six weeks left until their exams. Photograph: Allstar/WARNER BROS/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar The look of exam peril in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. “But you passed your exam with three hundred and twenty per cent!” said Ron. The third-years emerged from Transfiguration at lunch-time on Monday limp and ashen-faced, comparing results and bemoaning the difficulty of the tasks they had been set, which had included turning a teapot into a tortoise. “Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery.”Įxam week began and an unnatural hush fell over the castle. “Couldn’t remember all the goblin rebels’ names, so I invented a few.” The exams were nearly upon them, and instead of lazing around outside, the students were forced to remain inside the castle, trying to bully their brains into concentrating while enticing wafts of summer air drifted in through the windows. “I’ll never remember this,” Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. “Well, that’s a good sign, I never feel you perform as well in exams if you’re not a bit nervous,” said Hermione heartily.
In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Hermione, Harry and Ron making a good attempt at looking like they are revising.