After the unexpected visit from the Minister for Magic in person, Harry became much more careful with his surroundings and also much more attentive to the people around him. What had transpired in Dumbledore's office had come as quite a surprise, and it had made him realise something that made him feel slightly uncomfortable, or rather, very uncomfortable: he was no longer invisible.
After having been invisible for so long, finding himself in the spotlight of so many people at that moment made him feel strange, and it was not at all unusual for the boy to seek the solitude of his secret room or to remain in his bedroom, sitting on his bed, petting his cat. It was during those quiet moments that he reflected on people's reactions to his presence, and who had changed the way they treated him and how. What he discovered was that the only one who had genuinely altered their treatment of him was the Headmaster.
The boy had long since proven that he was no fool, and the sudden attention from the Headmaster, knowing Dumbledore's character, what he was doing, and why he had ignored Harry for so many years, made him realise that the only reason he was now being scrutinised so closely was because Dumbledore wanted to be able to control him and his magic – something Harry did not like one bit. He understood that he would have to be more cautious than he had ever been.
It was precisely for that reason that the boy didn't realise how quickly time was passing, how the days were flying by, and he was totally oblivious to his various real and self-imposed obligations. It came as quite a surprise when, in one of his classes with the seventh-years, one of his Ravenclaw classmates suffered a nervous breakdown due to the impending NEWTs. It wasn't until then that he understood he barely had two weeks left to take his end-of-year examinations.
"This must be a joke," he murmured incredulously. "Only two weeks?"
"Harry, what world do you live in, if one may ask?" one of his fellow Hufflepuffs asked incredulously. "How can you be so calm? It's impossible that you didn't notice that the exams were approaching!"
"I've been busy, and I haven't really worried much about the day I was living in."
"So you haven't studied like we have for the NEWTs, and yet you are one of the best prepared… all this is very unfair!"
Deciding to study for his examinations, after classes he went straight to his secret room in order to use his personal library, sure that there he would have better reference material than the Hogwarts library, no matter how famous it was. There he picked up several reference books for his different subjects, and it was there that he found some information that left him quite impressed: a complete and quite long paragraph about Mages, what Remus had assured him he was a few months ago. Curiously, he read it quickly, and then a little more slowly.
"The Mage are magical users (witches or wizards) with an above-average power and with capacities far superior to others, as well as many of them with abilities that in many cases were believed to be lost to the magical races of the world.
Likewise, it is well known that the appearance of a Mage is derived from an unsustainable situation for the magical balance of the world. Whenever a dangerous situation arises, a Mage is born. Despite what you may think, it is a common fact throughout history that these magical users often suffer from hard and troubled childhoods.
Some of the great Mage of the past are such important names as Paracelsus, Joseph or Merlin."
Harry looked at the book with fascination. Although it shouldn't have surprised him, after all, Remus should have found more books on the subject, and when he finished his NEWTs, he could investigate the subject properly. He had found this little bit here, but surely inside the library, he would find more, much more.
On the day of his NEWTs, or rather, the day they started, the boy was even more nervous than usual. After all, he had only truly prepared for two weeks, much less than his usual time.
It was rather strange to sit in the Great Hall this time with the rest of the seventh-years to take their examinations. Not far from him, he could see Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater, two seventh-years with whom he was perhaps more acquainted because of his friendship with the Weasley twins; after all, he had met Percy and his girlfriend even though they were both from different Houses than his own.
On this occasion, the examiners did not say anything when they saw him sitting with the rest of the students, surely remembering when the previous year they had raised a whole series of complaints about his presence, asserting that he would be unable to achieve good results, and then he had earned magnificent grades. So the pre-teen picked up the parchment that would serve as an examination and quickly read his questions before picking up his quill. They were forbidden to touch their quills until the examiners gave the go-ahead to begin.
"Very well, ladies, gentlemen, you may begin your theoretical exams. You have exactly two hours starting, now."
It was almost as if someone had cast a Silencing Charm. Suddenly, all the murmurs that still remained died away to give way to the gentle scratching of quills as the students began to answer their examination questions.
When the boy looked at his questions, he did so with a touch of apprehension, since he had only studied for a few days and not with the intensity to which he was accustomed. But he could breathe a slight sigh of relief when he saw that even if he didn't know the answers outright, they sounded familiar enough for him to be able to deduce them.
Once the two hours were over, the examiners cast a spell with which the anti-cheat quills stopped writing, to the despair of many Ravenclaws who still wanted to write even more information than they had already put inside their scrolls. Unfortunately for them, the officials' spells were very accurate due to the great practice they had using them year after year in those examinations.
After the theoretical examination, the practical one followed. This time, too, it was different from what he was used to. They had all the students outside the Great Hall, and they were called three by three to perform the spells or curses that the examiners requested. Then, to prevent them from explaining to others what they had done, they would leave through another door, thus saving themselves the questions.
Overall, it wasn't how the young Hufflepuff had been expecting the dreaded NEWTs. In fact, he had imagined them as strict as his OWLs had been the year before, but it was clear that the overcrowding made them much more relaxed than if they were conducted individually. Of course, if you had them individualised, it was because you were prepared enough to do them, and surely much better than the others.
Perhaps, what was worse for his classmates and himself was the wait between examinations, knowing that in a short time, you would have to take some other theoretical examination or perhaps another practical one. That wait was truly unbearable.
During the time that the examinations lasted, he hardly had a moment for anything else, even his friends. The only ones he could see a little were the Weasley twins, since that year they were also taking their OWLs, and for the first time in a long time, if not for the first time in their lives, the two Weasleys took their studies seriously and had applied themselves enough to earn some OWLs.
After a stressful week, at least for the vast majority of fifth and seventh-years, the OWLs and NEWTs were over, and there were many who breathed a sigh of relief. The examinations were finished, and although everyone knew that in just a few days, they would most likely be hysterical due to the lack of news of their results, for the moment, they were going to enjoy a certain peace and tranquility.
"Very well, ladies and gentlemen," said the representative of the Ministry when all the seventh-year students were gathered. "Officially, you have finished your studies. Now you must apply for the job you want…" That's why they'll receive their NEWT results at the latest sometime during the first week of July. Thank you very much for everything, and good luck."
All the young students smiled and flocked out of the Great Hall to enjoy their two weeks of rest, while Harry looked in surprise at where the Ministry representative had been. He hadn't expected to know his results so soon; he thought that until his birthday, he wouldn't know anything. Well, better, so he could start his apprenticeship earlier than planned.
Harry smiled before he packed up his things and went to find his friends, in order to enjoy his last days at Hogwarts as a student. As soon as he had his NEWTs, he would begin his apprenticeship in Potions. He found them near the lake, also resting from their own examinations.
"Are you done yet?"
"Yep," he laughed. "I've officially finished my studies at Hogwarts."
"But…" Athenea began. "Aren't you going to do your apprenticeship inside Hogwarts? I mean, Snape will be your teacher, and he's a Potions teacher at Hogwarts."
"Yes, of course, I will do it here, but I will no longer be a student but an apprentice; it will be different."
"Ah…"
Harry laughed at her expression and calmly took off his shoes to enjoy the coolness of the lake waters. He was about to dip his feet when the images reflecting on the water's surface faded, and others appeared.
It was his hometown, Godric's Hollow, and it was full of Death Eaters on all sides, ready to carry out a massacre in the small half-Muggle, half-magical district. The Hufflepuff was seen there, in the middle of the attack, with his family not far from him, looking at them with indefinite expressions. Obviously, he hadn't expected them to be there and see him.
The doubts disappeared when he saw how one of those monsters was about to torture and kill a girl who was no more than four years old. He could not allow that, and before the stupefied gaze of his family, he found himself beginning the counterattack.
The image blurred again, and he saw his parents and Dumbledore. They seemed to be arguing, and his name was repeated quite often… especially how to control him now that they knew he was the White Phoenix. After that, the surface of the lake returned to normal, leaving a very shaken young man behind.
"Harry!" The frightened scream brought him back to normal.
"Hey? What's going on?"
"It looked like I had given you something," Draco muttered with worried eyes. "You've had a vision, haven't you?"
"Yes."
"Can we know what?"
"My parents are going to discover me… they will know that I am the one who stops the attacks… and they're going to try to control me…"
"No!"
"Yes… What am I going to do now?"
"Don't worry, Harry," Draco began, putting his arm around his shoulders. "We will find a solution."