Time passed quickly, and exam week quietly arrived. Even Sagres Greengrass found himself unusually busy.
Although preparing questions for the upcoming final exam wasn't something he was particularly interested in, he still put in a rare effort to ensure the exam covered all the content taught throughout the year.
This wasn't difficult for Sagres. After all, his classes were always filled with various spells, and remembering this knowledge should have been easy. Of course, the real challenge lay in how to apply it flexibly—something the young wizards seriously lacked.
As the weather grew increasingly hot, the students of Hogwarts became more and more irritable. This reached its peak when the professors handed out anti-cheating enchanted quills.
...
Meanwhile, ever since returning from the Forbidden Forest, Harry had been plagued by nightmares. He knew the truth but was powerless to change anything—he could only watch helplessly as time slipped away.
Every night before falling asleep, Harry would imagine Voldemort gradually regaining his strength. Maybe one day Snape would steal the Philosopher's Stone and deliver it to Voldemort, who was waiting deep within the Forbidden Forest.
And once Voldemort was fully restored, the first thing he would likely do was come to Hogwarts… to take Harry's life.
Harry's mental state deteriorated by the day. Ironically, this led the other Gryffindor students to stop isolating him. Most of them simply assumed he was suffering from "exam anxiety."
Hermione and Ron continued to comfort him, repeatedly telling him that Hogwarts was the safest place in the world—that Voldemort wouldn't dare to barge in, and Snape could never bypass the trapdoor guarded by Fluffy to steal the Philosopher's Stone.
Amidst the anxious waiting, the week-long final exams finally arrived. Sagres was only responsible for the fifth- and seventh-year exams, which seemed quite simple in his eyes.
"All of you, listen carefully. The Charms Theory and Practical exam is very simple—the practical portion is to grab a test paper, and the theory portion is to complete that test paper."
"Professor, I don't understand..." a student asked.
"You'll understand soon enough."
Sagres tossed the test papers into the air. The pieces of parchment transformed into birds, paper cranes, and insects, flying and darting around the classroom.
"You have two hours to catch one test paper. If you succeed, you pass the practical exam. Any spell is allowed—I don't care whether I've taught it or not."
"What if we can't catch one, Professor?" another student asked.
"Then it's a zero," Sagres replied, sitting down in a chair. He casually added, "Zero for both the practical and the written exam."
He then waved his Everlasting Flower Wood wand at the blackboard, conjuring a clock: "You now have... one hour and fifty-eight minutes left."
The classroom instantly descended into chaos.
The papers, now transformed into little creatures, were incredibly agile. They could circle a young wizard several times within seconds.
Even worse, whenever someone tried to grab them by hand, the enchanted papers would mock loudly:
"Fool! You're a wizard! Fool! You're a wizard!"
The young wizards all pulled out their wands at once, and in an instant, the classroom was filled with flashes of spell light.
Petrificus Totalus, Stupefy, Bombarda, along with Freezing Charms, Binding Charms, and Leg-Locker Curses—every kind of spell was flying through the air. Many students weren't even aiming; they were just casting as fast as possible.
Various spells intertwined, plunging the classroom into complete chaos.
At first, because there were so many enchanted test papers, quite a few students managed to grab one purely by luck. Seeing this, other young wizards became even more frantic and began launching indiscriminate attacks.
They unleashed all sorts of their favorite jinxes, targeting the areas where the test papers clustered the most densely. Some unlucky students were hit by stray spellfire.
Soon, they discovered that whenever someone was struck by another's spell, the countdown clock on the blackboard would instantly decrease by one minute.
This group of unreliable young wizards finally calmed down and started paying serious attention to their aim.
Sagres also had to intervene to save a boy who had been hit by a Stunning Spell, a girl who had been cursed with Tarantallegra, two boys petrified by Petrificus Totalus, and one poor student who was hit by Incendio Maxima, ending up covered in painful, burning boils.
As more and more test papers were caught, it became increasingly difficult to grab one. Some of the more talented students decided to cooperate.
They divided the work clearly: some herded the flying papers into the corners, others used spells to restrict their movement, and a third group focused on large-area offensive spells to overwhelm the targets.
Although their first few attempts ended in failure, after a couple of rounds, their coordination noticeably improved.
In the end, a well-timed, eight-person Bombarda Maxima produced impressive results—the attack range covered nearly half the classroom.
Sagres was quite pleased. It seemed that these underage wizards had indeed learned something useful from his practical lessons.
Of course, there were still a few fools—for example, several students who used fire-based spells like Incendio Maxima, completely burning their test papers to ashes. Those students were now firmly locked onto Sagres's zero-score list.
Yes, he had indeed said there were no restrictions on spells. But using fire spells to capture parchment… well, it wasn't technically impossible—but realistically, only a Professor might pull it off successfully.
As the hours quickly passed, Sagres stood up, holding the parchment test papers that automatically flew into his hands, and walked out of the classroom.
Early the next morning, a snowy eagle owl descended from the Owlery. The letter from Snowy Owl was stored in the small cylindrical capsule attached to the owl's sharp talons.
...
To the Esteemed Mr. Raven,
Your efficiency and precision have outshone even the most seasoned black market traders in Knockturn Alley. I hereby present the payment as stipulated in our contract, along with this letter as a token of appreciation for your impeccable professionalism.
A copy of De Vermis Mysteriis is enclosed. I hope it aids you in unraveling the mysteries that trouble you and helps you find the answers you seek.
Additionally, I must say that this collaboration once again affirms the high praise the industry holds for you—if there were a "Hunter's Medal," it would surely be yours without question.
As previously mentioned, my private collection room will always remain open to you with the highest clearance for trading. Should you have need in the future, my encrypted Floo Network password is "Eternal Night's Rainbow."
P.S. The Time-Turner will be reserved for you until the Bronze Feather Gathering at the end of July. I sincerely hope you will obtain it as you desire.
Your devoted partner, Snowy Owl
In the Eye of the Storm, Norwegian Sea
...
Sagres pulled out the manuscript from the envelope. A faint, ghostly wail emanated from the parchment, sending an involuntary chill down his spine.
The light in the room dimmed, forcing him to use his wand to cast light just to see the writing on the parchment.
Every line of text seemed alive, writhing faintly under the weak glow. A faint aura of decay and darkness permeated the air, quietly resonating with some vague memory buried deep in his mind.
Sagres frowned slightly. With a tap of his wand, a flash of light sealed the manuscript temporarily, preventing any power from leaking out.
Though he had long looked forward to studying this manuscript, now was clearly not the time for in-depth research. First, he needed to finish grading the exam papers for this group of young wizards. Once the holidays arrived, he would have plenty of time to focus on his own matters.
_____
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