Chapter 240: Exams End
The Charms exam required the students to make a pear tap-dance across a desk. Professor Flitwick would grade them based on their performance.
Some students couldn't use the spell proficiently, so their pears ended up doing a jazz dance. Others had such poor control that their pears even turned into frogs.
In magic exams, a wide variety of mistakes could always happen. It wasn't unheard of for a young wizard to accidentally Transfigure their partner into a badger.
That was why they entered the classroom one by one, and the professors checked their results individually.
"Excellent—"
Professor Flitwick exclaimed in admiration.
Inside the Charms classroom, Professor Flitwick looked at Sean with satisfaction. His pear had already danced across the desk, and he had even used a non-verbal spell.
After leaving the Charms classroom, the following days were filled with similar exams.
Sometimes it was theory: such as the orbits of Jupiter's moons.
Sometimes it was practical: like Professor McGonagall watching them turn a mouse into a snuffbox—the more exquisite the box, the higher the score; if the box still had whiskers, points were deducted.
Apart from Sean, both Ron and Hermione performed well in this exam.
When they met up in the corridor, Ron looked as though he had just been encouraged by Professor McGonagall; his face had turned beet red, making him look like a sun-dried carrot.
Today was the last day of exams.
At the long table, Neville was muttering incantations from Magical Drafts and Potions. Beside him, Hermione had three open notebooks stacked in front of her as she quickly corrected the parts of History of Magic that Harry was reciting incorrectly. Sometimes the students in the Room of Hope would quiz each other on the History of Magic timeline, but Sean felt that random quizzing covered too little ground and wasn't very useful.
In any case, they had survived the nerve-wracking Potions exam with Professor Snape breathing down their necks.
If they could just hold on for one more hour and answer which peculiar old wizards invented the Self-Stirring Cauldron, they would be free. They could play to their hearts' content for a whole week until the exam results were announced.
When Professor Binns's ghost told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment scrolls, Sean heard the surrounding students cheer in unison.
Walking out of the exam hall, the sunshine was so brilliant it seemed to coat Hogwarts Castle in a layer of honey. The young wizards felt as if they were melting in the warmth.
At the castle entrance, the warm sun shone on the grass, and the doors and windows seemed lower and more inviting. The grass was setting its seeds, the wind was shaking its leaves, and everyone gazed at the lush green fields, smelling a faint, wonderful scent.
"That was far easier than I thought," Hermione said as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
"Maybe, but the exams are over. Could you please not make me relive them?"
Hermione always liked to review the exam content right after finishing, which Ron said made him feel sick.
"You should summarize your learning for the year. If you don't know what went wrong, how can you improve?" Hermione frowned, trying to encourage him to study.
"Nice weather... I see the Giant Squid..."
Ron tried to change the subject. Of course he knew Hermione was right, but knowing and doing were two different things.
"Hermione, we've been busy for so long, revising hard almost every day. Surely we should rest for a while?" Justin interjected gently.
"Yeah, yeah," Ron said, looking at Justin like a savior. Then his eyes darted around, and he looked at Sean, who hadn't brought any books out. "Sean, what do you think?"
Sean looked at Ron and Harry. They had changed a lot. With their persistent effort, they would likely get good grades even in Potions.
"We can summarize anytime. Shall we go see the Giant Squid?"
"Oh, definitely! That's what I said we should do," Ron said, looking very pleased with himself.
"Sean has already finished summarizing," Hermione said abruptly.
Ron looked at Sean, then at Hermione, and fell silent.
So they wandered leisurely down the slope to the lake and flopped down under a tree. Over there, the Giant Squid was basking in the warm shallows, while the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were gently tickling its tentacles.
With the pressure of exams gone, everyone chatted under the tree about the recent events in the Forbidden Forest. Now, they wished they could tell the whole world—
We stopped Voldemort's plot!
Sean watched them silently, then took some alchemical materials from his bag.
While everyone enjoyed their rare leisure time, Sean created a new alchemical object.
Leisure time is always brief, and soon it was time for the results to be announced.
Everyone in the Room of Hope achieved excellent grades. Sean was first by a landslide; it was said that not a single professor had the heart to deduct even one point from his score.
He had breezed through the exams with a perfect score.
Hermione came second. She was somewhat dissatisfied with this result, but on the other hand, she was content—she had firmly beaten Justin.
On the night the results were announced, Sean went deep into the Forbidden Forest.
The Centaur teacher was always waiting there on time, never a minute early nor a second late.
Sean's Divination magic proficiency had reached five points, but due to the high uncertainty of Divination magic, he hadn't even been able to summarize anything useful.
However, Teacher Firenze was quite satisfied with his learning progress.
"Let us learn the types of some herbs. Approaching summer, we use sage and mallowsweet..."
Just then, a strong wind blew past. Anticipating this, Sean took out his latest alchemical creation—the Astronomical Instrument.
It was a small, ring-shaped object that quickly expanded on the ground, then emitted flames that blocked the strong wind.
"What is this?"
The Centaur teacher seemed to be seeing such a thing for the first time.
"A simple instrument. Its functions are roughly creating fire, blocking wind, and observing the moon," Sean explained. He waved his hand, and the Astronomical Instrument jumped into his palm. Soon, a telescope-like object extended from within the ring.
Teacher Firenze's calm eyes showed a ripple of emotion.
For a long time, the Centaur herd had followed the laws of nature. When the stars were dim or strong winds blew, they would wait for nature to grant them another opportunity to observe.
This was tradition, but also because they had no other way.
The usefulness of the Astronomical Instrument exceeded imagination. For the next few days, Sean wasn't troubled by wind or clouds.
The holidays were approaching, and the final Quidditch match was just around the corner.
Although Sean didn't care much about that, the things he had to be busy with were gradually increasing.
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