The tense and exciting examination period finally arrived.
As Hermione had warned them, the school provided special quills for all exams, enchanted with powerful anti-cheating charms. If anyone was caught attempting to cheat during an examination, their quill would immediately fly into the supervising professor's hand, making their results instantly void and ensuring automatic failure.
For Dudley, these examinations posed no real challenge. The content wasn't particularly difficult. As long as students had listened attentively during classes and completed their homework assignments, passing should be quite straightforward.
Harry and Ron weren't truly poor students either. With intensive review sessions led by Dudley and Hermione during that final week, they had made remarkable progress.
Of course, beyond written assessments, there were practical examinations as well. After all, magic couldn't simply be answered on parchment. It had to be performed to demonstrate any real competence.
"This morning we have Professor Flitwick's Charms assessment. How is everyone feeling about their preparation?" Hermione asked anxiously over breakfast.
"Pretty well prepared, I think. As long as Professor Flitwick doesn't expect us to cast spells that make him fly around the room, there shouldn't be any major problems," Ron replied with nervous humor.
"If that were actually the requirement, I doubt many of us would succeed," Harry added thoughtfully.
"Generally speaking, it won't be that challenging," Dudley said calmly while eating his breakfast.
An hour later, everyone gathered outside the Charms classroom. They were required to sit quietly in chairs and wait to be called in by name for individual assessment.
As the examination officially began, Professor Flitwick's voice carried clearly from within the classroom. Each time a name was announced, that student had to immediately enter for their evaluation.
However, he seemed to call names completely at random rather than following alphabetical order.
"Seamus Finnigan!"
"Oh no, I'm not ready yet!" Seamus, sitting beside Ron, went pale and froze momentarily before hurriedly standing up.
"Good luck!" Ron called encouragingly.
Seamus walked into the classroom with obvious dread written across his features.
Dudley glanced up at the windows above their seating area.
"Let's move to different seats," Dudley announced suddenly, relocating to another section.
"Why?" Although Harry and the others didn't understand Dudley's reasoning, they followed his lead anyway.
The next moment proved his wisdom.
Bang!
An explosion erupted from within the classroom, shattering the windows completely. Glass fragments rained down exactly where Dudley and his friends had been sitting moments before.
"Bloody hell," everyone breathed collectively.
"Now I understand why you wanted us to move," Harry said, staring at the dangerous glass shards scattered across their former seats.
"Our little explosion expert lives up to his reputation," Dudley smiled slightly.
Seamus had an uncanny ability to produce spectacular explosions at the most unexpected moments. When Seamus entered the classroom, Dudley had sensed exactly what would happen.
Several minutes later, Seamus emerged from the classroom wearing a devastated expression, looking utterly defeated.
"How did it go, Seamus? Did you pass?" Ron immediately inquired.
Seamus shook his head dismally, then nodded in confusion.
"What exactly does that mean?"
"I accidentally blew up the examination equipment, but fortunately Professor Flitwick gave me another chance. I did pass the exam, but my score definitely isn't impressive," Seamus explained mournfully.
"That's actually quite good, considering," Hermione wanted to laugh but recognized this wasn't the appropriate moment.
"Hermione Granger!" Professor Flitwick's voice suddenly called from inside.
"Oh, it's my turn!" Hermione jumped up quickly and walked into the classroom with obvious confidence.
A few minutes later, Hermione emerged wearing a brilliant smile.
"Clearly no problems whatsoever," Harry observed.
"The examination content was much simpler than I had imagined. If I'd known, I wouldn't have memorized quite so many additional spells," Hermione said happily.
Obviously, Professor Flitwick had been thoroughly satisfied with her performance.
"Ron Weasley!"
Ron, who had been laughing and congratulating Hermione, immediately stopped smiling and stood up nervously to enter.
Several minutes passed before Ron reappeared.
"Did everything go smoothly?" everyone asked eagerly.
"Fairly smoothly, I suppose. My wand gave me some trouble, but Professor Flitwick still allowed me to pass," Ron said with a somewhat flushed face.
His wand had suffered significant damage and frequently malfunctioned during spellcasting.
"Ron, you really should..." Harry began, but Dudley stopped him with a subtle gesture.
He knew what Harry intended to suggest, basically recommending a new wand, but didn't Ron already know he needed one? The issue wasn't desire but financial capability.
"Harry Potter!"
Harry had no time for further conversation and quickly walked into the classroom.
Before long, he also emerged looking relieved.
"Pretty smooth experience, simpler than I'd anticipated," Harry appeared much more relaxed now.
"Dudley Dursley!"
Professor Flitwick's voice soon called out.
Dudley bid farewell to his friends and headed toward the classroom. Nobody worried about his performance in the slightest, already congratulating him in advance for passing with distinction.
"Ah, our famous dragon knight has arrived!" Professor Flitwick greeted him with obvious enthusiasm.
"Good morning, Professor Flitwick," Dudley replied with a respectful smile.
"Good morning, my boy." Flitwick regarded Dudley with growing fondness. "You know, it would have been wonderful if you had joined our Ravenclaw house instead."
Dudley smiled diplomatically. "Professor Flitwick, are you certain you could have handled all the chaos I've caused this year?"
"Ahem, well..." Professor Flitwick laughed somewhat awkwardly.
Reflecting on all the incidents Dudley had been involved in throughout the year, he wasn't entirely sure he could have withstood that level of constant pressure.
"Very well, let's begin. You simply need to make that pineapple tap dance across the desk. This should be quite elementary for someone of your abilities," Professor Flitwick explained the assessment requirements.
Dudley noticed that the wall nearby was splattered with pineapple remnants from previous attempts.
"Yes, Professor." Dudley drew his wand, executed a graceful wave, and spoke the incantation clearly. The pineapple immediately began hopping onto the desk, then tap-danced across its surface with perfect rhythm and style.
"Excellent, absolutely excellent, truly perfect!" Flitwick exclaimed with genuine delight.
Dudley's wand movement displayed remarkable elegance, superior to every previous student's performance. His relaxed, effortless demeanor was something the other students completely lacked.
"Thank you, Professor." Dudley politely returned his wand to his robes.
Professor Flitwick nodded with obvious satisfaction, indicating that Dudley had passed with flying colors and could depart.
Before leaving, Dudley caught a glimpse of the record book in Flitwick's hands and noticed his grade marked the highest possible rating.
The Charms practical assessment concluded without further incident, and everyone managed to pass, including Neville.
The afternoon brought Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration assessment. The examination process followed a similar pattern to Charms class, with students taking individual turns in the classroom. The content wasn't overly challenging either: transforming a mouse into a snuffbox. The more elegant and refined the resulting box, the higher the score achieved.
Of course, if the finished product retained any mouse characteristics, points would be deducted accordingly.
Finally came the dreaded Potions assessment.
Dudley's prediction had been absolutely correct. Their examination content involved brewing a Forgetfulness Potion.
However, Harry and Ron had become thoroughly familiar with this particular potion's preparation. Even when Snape leaned his hooked nose directly over their cauldrons, searching desperately for flaws, he couldn't identify any problems with their brewed potions. He was forced to let them pass the assessment, though his expression remained thunderously dark throughout.
The final subject tested was History of Magic, where they merely needed to identify which eccentric wizard had invented the self-stirring cauldron to earn complete freedom from academic obligations.
In this atmosphere of nervous excitement, Hogwarts' final assessments came to their conclusion.
This milestone also meant they were drawing ever closer to summer vacation.
Before departure, they could enjoy a full week of leisure while awaiting the announcement of their examination results.
After completing all his exams successfully, Dudley planned to visit the Forbidden Forest to check on Norbert. He hadn't seen the dragon for quite some time since that dramatic incident, and he found himself genuinely curious about how his scaled friend was faring.