Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [172]
It went on like this for several minutes, Harry doing all of the speaking. Except for a few random and inaccurate shots from Parvati and Lavender, he was the only one to have said anything, and he was by far doing the best job. Even if he stopped now, more than halfway through the movie, he would still get the O.W.L. From the looks Professor Trelawney was giving him, he had done the best of any student she had ever seen.
A half hour later, the movie was over, and Harry’s Advanced O.W.L. was in the bag. The second the movie ended, Harry pretended to snap out of his catatonic phase by giving a sudden spasm. To add to the effect, Harry collapsed on the floor, as if he had just performed some massively taxing feat. Harry couldn’t help but give a small smile as he felt people gather all around him, shaking him and speaking excitedly. To try and avoid any questions they may have about his expression, Harry decided it was time to get up. Harry made a few moans and put his hand to his forehead, acting like he was just coming out of a coma. He had actually pulled it off!
“What was it like Harry?”
“What did you see?”
“Did voices talk to you?”
“Were there any buffalos?”
Many questions were thrown at Harry as they helped him up. Professor Trelawney, however, took him aside. She pushed him up against a wall, and immediately began interrogating him.
“How did you do that Harry?” she asked, sounding amazed. Harry began to feel nervous. Even though Professor Trelawney was not especially good at predicting the future, she probably knew quite a bit about what’s really supposed to happen during a true trance. If he told her he saw or heard something that he wasn’t supposed to, she’d figure out he had faked it.
Then, Harry remembered two years ago, at the end of his third year. Professor Trelawney had gone into a trance, like the one he had faked being in. She had predicted that Wormtail would join forces with Voldemort and resurrect him. Harry remembered that when he questioned her about it afterwards, she didn’t remember any of it. Harry decided to follow the same path.
“Do… do what professor?” said Harry, trying to look utterly confused.
“You went into a trance my boy!” she said. “You recited every line to that movie perfectly! Something must have triggered that state of mind, what was it?”
“I haven’t a clue professor,” said Harry. “All I remember is you putting in the movie, seeing the opening credits come up, and then now… all of you asking me about what happened.”
Professor Trelawney gave him a hard stare, as if she didn’t believe him. She opened her mouth, ready to say something when suddenly, the final bell of the day rang, ending the tests.
“Sorry professor,” said Harry, trying to look innocent, “maybe we can talk about this later. I’ve really go to go.” Harry released himself of her grasp on his shoulder, and shot out of the room with the rest of his classmates. Only Parvati and Lavender questioned Harry anymore, but he managed to throw them off by using the same explanation as he gave Professor Trelawney. Leaving them slightly disappointed, Harry ran up to Ron.
“Oh man, I thought today would never end,” said Harry.
“Me either,” said Ron. There was a few seconds of awkward silence as they walked.
“So how did you do that, Harry?” asked Ron.
“You mean the Divination O.W.L. test?”
“Yeah.” Harry gave a small chuckle.
“That movie we watched, it’s Dudley’s favorite. We watched it so many times over the summer, I couldn’t help but memorize it.”
“So you just faked the entire thing?”
“Yep,” said Harry, sounding quite happy with himself.
“Excellent,” said Ron nodding his head. They reached the door