Chapter 267. End of Term
"What?"
Hearing the familiar words out of Lupin's mouth, Harry's eyes opened a fraction. Then, as if struck by a thought, he tried tentatively, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?"
Lupin's gaze went straight to Harry. "Where did you hear those four names?"
"The Marauder's Map," Harry explained. "They're written on it."
Harry took the yellowed parchment out of the inner pocket of his robes and laid it carefully on Professor Wesson's desk.
Seeing it, Lupin looked almost pleased. "That map was made by the four of us," he said wistfully. "Prongs was one of us as well. Ah, I forgot to explain—Prongs was your father, Harry. His Patronus was a stag, same as yours."
Harry was astonished, then asked, "And the other three…"
"Moony is me, Padfoot is Black," Lupin's expression tightened for a moment. "As for Wormtail, that's Peter… Back at school, the four of us were always together, and we drew that map together."
Harry stared at the Marauder's Map, his feelings complicated. He hadn't expected the map's makers to be right here around him—one of them even his own father.
Listening from the side, Wesson fell into thought.
Only, his thoughts had already wandered off.
Prongs… Padfoot…
Very vivid nicknames. If he were to give himself one, what would suit him?
At the end of April, Lupin formally left Hogwarts.
According to Lupin, a werewolf's sharp instincts had already warned him of certain ill omens; if he stayed, something terrible might happen.
On Lupin's resignation, opinions differed.
Most students were regretful; after all, Lupin was a rare good professor in recent years.
More worrying was that good Defence Against the Dark Arts professors had been nearly exhausted by Hogwarts.
Who knew what sort of ghoul or oddity would come next.
The good news was that Professor Wesson would, as in previous years, take over the remaining lessons—this was the one unchanging part every year.
The days that followed were much calmer. Students buckled down to prepare for their final exams.
Soon enough, exam days arrived, and then the House Cup—Slytherin won it this year.
Soon again, exams ended and results were issued.
Perhaps all professors felt this way: at this time every year, Wesson couldn't help a touch of resignation, wondering whether there was something wrong with his teaching methods.
There were always a few students who pulled off completely unforeseen manoeuvres in their exams.
Take Gryffindor's Seamus Finnigan. The task was simply to keep a salamander burning for half an hour—easily done.
But for some reason, when Seamus tossed his piece of wood onto the salamander, the poor creature promptly exploded, sending bits flying everywhere.
For that, Wesson could only mark a T (Troll) on Seamus's report. Seamus thus became the only person to fail the Care of Magical Creatures exam.
Aside from that, most people passed.
Harry's marks were decent, with passes or better in all subjects; Hermione, unsurprisingly, once again took first in the year.
Incidentally, Percy did very well on his N.E.W.T.s, earning twelve certificates, just like his brother Bill. In a chat with Professor McGonagall, he learned that Percy would be heading to the Ministry of Magic this year to seek a position. The young man was raring to make something of himself.
Of course, as with most young people, ideals and reality would likely not match. Wesson had some concerns about that.
The day after results came out, students boarded the Hogwarts train one after another, and Harry was no exception.
As usual, Harry squeezed into a compartment with Ron and Hermione.
Ron was enthusiastically laying out his summer plans. "Lie in bed all day and do absolutely nothing."
But Hermione reminded him he had a mountain of summer homework (quite a lot of it), and that Mrs Weasley wouldn't let him idle away the whole holiday—same as parents everywhere.
Just then, a knock on the compartment door cut their conversation short.
The door slid open. The three looked up to see that it was Cedric from Hufflepuff.
"Thank goodness, found you at last," Cedric sighed in relief, then held out an envelope. "Professor Wesson asked me to give you this, Potter."
"Just call me Harry," Harry said, taking the envelope. "And, what is it?"
"I haven't looked," Cedric replied with a pleasant smile. "That wouldn't be polite. Goodbye, you three—have a lovely summer."
Cedric left at once, the three of them staring at each other.
"That's the Hufflepuff Seeker, isn't it?" Ron seemed to remember. "You lost to him once."
"He's also first in fifth year," Hermione reminded him. "I can't believe you care about that."
"I've memorised the name of the top student in every year."
Harry didn't join their back-and-forth. He was focused on the envelope in his hand—since it was from Wesson, it had to be important.
He tore it open on the spot. Inside was a sheet of parchment, densely written, like an itinerary.
Only after a careful look did Harry realise it was a detailed study plan listing the exercises he needed to do over the summer: various spell drills, mock duelling, even attempts at becoming an Animagus, and so on…
Ron and Hermione leaned in to peer at the list.
"Wow," Ron said in surprise. "This is a list from Professor Wesson? Like before? Doesn't look like a light load."
Harry frowned; clearly he agreed. If he followed it, his summer might be busier than term-time.
Hermione's eyes shone. "This plan is very well structured! Harry, if you train like this, next term will be much easier."
"But my summer will be much harder," Harry folded the list away.
As dusk fell, the train slowed and finally pulled to a steady stop at the station.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione hauled their trunks off the train. The platform was crowded with parents there to collect their children, lively and bustling.
Mrs Weasley spotted them at once and waved vigorously.
"Harry, dear!" Mrs Weasley gave him a warm hug. "Do come and stay at the Burrow for a few days this summer, will you?"
"Thank you, Mrs Weasley."
Smiling, Harry nodded and scanned the platform carefully.
Sure enough, the Dursleys hadn't come to get him—of course, that was normal enough. They had no idea today was the day students returned home.
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