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describe how you would survive it. (35)
    4. Write down a suitable curse for THREE of the following people (15):
    a. Elephant poachers (5)
    b. People who talk during movies (5)
    c. Litterbugs (5)
    d. Cigarette manufacturers (5)
    e. Bullies (5)
    5. Describe how you would re-create the Great Plague using ingredients found in your local supermarket. (10)
    It was as easy as that.
    As soon as David had run his eyes over the questions, he knew he was going to be all right. He had even reviewed the Great Plague a few nights before and the rest of the exam was just as straightforward.
    So he was smiling when the clock struck one and Mr. Helliwell called time. While everyone else remained in their seats, Vincent and another boy who had been sitting in the front row got up and started collecting the papers. It was Vincent who came over to David’s desk. As he handed his answers over, David lifted his head and allowed his eyes to lock with Vincent’s. He didn’t say anything, but he wanted the other boy to know. I got every question right. Nothing can stop me now.
    Mr. Helliwell dropped the papers into his leather bag and everyone was allowed to leave. Once they were back out in the open air, David caught up with Jill. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun felt warm on his neck after the chill of the cave.
    “How did it go?” he asked.
    Jill grimaced. “Awful. What on earth is thinato mania?”
    “Thanatomania. It’s a sort of multiple curse,” David explained. “It was when a witch wanted to hurt a whole town or village instead of just one person.” He shuddered. “I don’t know why they teach us about things like that. It’s not as if we’d ever want to curse anyone.”
    “No,” Jill agreed. “But most of the stuff you learn at school you never actually use. You just have to know about it, that’s all.” She took his arm. “So how did you do?”
    David smiled. “It was easy.”
    “I’m glad you think so.” Jill looked away. In the distance, Vincent was walking off on his own toward the East Tower. He was smiling and there was a spring in his step. “I wouldn’t count your chickens too soon,” she said. “There goes Vincent. And he looks pretty confident too.”
     
     
    David remembered her words over the next few days. There were more classes, but with the final exam over, the standings list was officially closed. Everything now hinged on Advanced Cursing, and although David was sure of himself, although he pretended he wasn’t thinking about it, he still found himself hanging around the bulletin board near the heads’ study where the results would eventually be posted.
    And he was there one evening when Mr. Kilgraw, the assistant headmaster, appeared, a sheet of paper in one hand and a thumbtack in the other. David felt his heartbeat quicken. There was a lump in his throat and a tingling in the palms of his hands. Nobody else was around. He would be the first to know the results.
    Forcing himself not to run, he went over to the bulletin board. Mr. Kilgraw gave him a deathly smile. “Good evening, David.”
    “Good evening, sir.” Why didn’t Mr. Kilgraw say anything? Why didn’t he congratulate David on coming in first, on winning the Unholy Grail? With difficulty, he forced his eyes up to take in the bulletin board. And there it was:
    ADVANCED CURSING—RESULTS
    But the name on the top was not his own.
    Linda James, the girl who had been disintegrated by Mrs. Windergast, was first.
    David blinked. What about the name underneath her?
    William Rufus had come in second.
    Then Jeffrey Joseph.
    It wasn’t possible.
    “A very disappointing result for you, David.” Mr. Kilgraw was talking, but David hardly heard him. He was panicking now. The typed letters on the list were blurring into one another as he searched through them for his name. There was Vincent, in ninth place with sixty-eight points. And there he was, two places below . . . eleventh! He had scored only sixty-five. It was