NOVEL WEB Octopus Maximus
The following day, Harry filled Ron and Hermione in on the mysterious note and the cloak that had been returned to him.
Ron held the note and asked, "What do you think it means?"
"I believe Professor Dumbledore is already aware of what happened in the forest, and he wants me to use the cloak in case things go terribly wrong," Harry answered, trying to make sense of the situation.
Hermione furrowed her brow, "If what Brown says is true, then Dumbledore was behind your meeting with You-Know-Who."
Realization dawned on Harry - if Dumbledore returned the cloak to him, then it was highly likely that he-
"What's with you and Brown now? You're always going, 'Brown this' and 'Brown that.' I thought you didn't believe in this prophecy nonsense?" Ron said, displeasure showing on his face.
"I never said I don't believe in it," Hermione replied, her voice stern as she tried to hide her fluster. "I said that it's a very imprecise branch of magic, and the fact that he hasn't been wrong once carries some weight."
"What about the other prophecy he gave you then? It hasn't come true, has it?"Ron shot back at her.
"That-" Hermione faltered, not having a ready response. She was still uncertain as to what the prophecy meant, and how it related to their current situation.
"Does that mean we don't have to worry about it then? If Professor Dumbledore already knows about everything, the stone should be safe, right?" Harry asked, seeking reassurance for himself more than anything.
As the exams drew nearer, their focus shifted away from the looming threat of Voldemort and towards the daunting task at hand - passing their exams, they hardly had any time to think about anything else.
Harry could hardly focus, as he couldn't get any sleep at night. He was plagued by recurring nightmares. In them, he saw a hooded figure, cloaked in shadow, dripping with blood. It all felt like a foreboding of something terrible to come to Harry, but he was unsure what to do about it.
Ron and Hermione didn't seem as bothered about Voldemort as they didn't have to see his blood-dripping face every night.
Michael Corner was another person walking around with big dark circles around his eyes. Ben hadn't forgotten about his transgressions in the Great Hall, and had been giving him regular doses of [Fear] every night. Michael's biggest fear, a bloodthirsty stoat, had now turned into his biggest nightmare as well.
To stop Michael from wailing like a baby, Ben had to release Sil back into the forest. This wasn't an inconvenience for Ben, as he could summon him back whenever he needed. It also helped Ben map out the whole forest through Sil.
Ben sailed through his exams like a breeze, even without his self-answering quills. Practical exams were even easier for him. Flitwick had asked them to make a Pineapple tap dance across the table to show their control over the levitation charm.
Ben not only made it tap dance, but he also properly peeled it, diced it into perfect cubes, and served it in a beautiful pattern on a platter.
Flitwick seemed to have swelled with pride and grown taller at the end of it, or perhaps he was just seething with anger at the loss of his pineapple. Ben couldn't tell.
McGonagall gave them a mouse, and Ben turned it into a snuffbox with the most intricate patterns she had ever seen. He wasn't an artist in his past life for nothing.
Even Snape breathing down their necks didn't stop Ben from brewing the perfect Forgetfulness potion in record time. Snape looked both impressed and pissed at the same time.
Quirrell didn't take any practicals, and Ben doubted he was in any shape to test them. Living a cursed life must not be easy.
After a long and tiring History of Magic exam, Ben went down to the lake. He had filled long parchments with all the unnecessary details about the batty old wizards who had invented self-stirring cauldrons. Now, he needed to stretch his legs a bit.
The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid basking in the warm shallows. Ben hadn't seen Fred and George in a while. After taking away their precious map, it seemed as if they had lost their wings. They not only got caught very often now, but they sometimes got blamed for Ben's pranks as well.
"Yoh, Wotcha!" Ben greeted the twins and Lee as he approached them.
"Hey, look, it's the little raven," said the twins in sync.
"Uh-he doesn't look so little to me," said Lee Jordan.
Ben had grown quite tall throughout the year, and heavier too. It was only because of the enlargement charms that he could still fit into his school robes.
"What have you been eating, Occamy eggs for breakfast?" the twins asked jokingly.
"Perhaps, I've been eating at Hagrid's a lot," said Ben, remembering all the odd stuff that Hagrid cooked.
The twins made a disgusted face, knowing of Hagrid's eccentric taste buds.
"So, what have you guys been up to? I heard Snape's been hammering hard on you guys," said Ben.
"They exploded a massive dungbomb in his office, that's what," said Lee Jordan.
"Wicked! You guys must be the bravest Gryffindors around," said Ben.
"Bravest? Nah, Most fun? Yes, we are," said the twins.
"What's fun in getting detention with Snape?" said Ben, deflating their enthusiasm.
"Ahh, that slimy bat, he took something of ours," Fred and George said together, "but we'll get it back, eventually."
Ben felt a little bad about taking the map from them, but he didn't regret it. The Marauder's Map had proved very vital before he got the invisibility cloak, and even now, it helped him perfectly monitor his surrounding; Ben also felt reassured that the twins couldn't monitor his movements through the map.
"Anyways, what are you guys doing with Satly the Squid here?" Ben asked, trying to lead the conversation to the giant squid.
"Salty? That's a fun name, but we've got something better, don't we George?" Fred asked.
"I call him Kraken McSquidface," said George, sounding very proud of the name he had given to the beast.
"Eh, I still think, Sir Suctioncup sounds a lot better," said Lee.
"Better? That sounds too cute and mushy," said Fred.
"Better than 'Octopus Maximus' that you came up with," said Lee.
The discourse soon turned hot, and the three were almost at each other's throats.
"Alright, calm down you three," Ben said, pulling them apart. "It clearly should be named Squidzilla," he said, feeling quite proud of this one.
But the uncultured Wizard population was clearly not prepared to understand this level of cultured reference. The three laughed at and ridiculed him, and Ben had to make a tactical retreat.
There were a lot of students hanging around the lake today, sitting in groups. Some were simply relaxing, some having fun, and there were some who were still discussing the exams. The weather was particularly nice today, and a warm breeze was blowing.
Ben made his way towards a group that had flopped on top of the soft grass under a tall tree.
