novelcrest Chapter 384 Exam Week
Chapter 384 Exam Week
Chapter 384 Exam Week
The next morning, in the auditorium.
Sunlight streamed through the tall stained-glass windows into the Great Hall of Hogwarts, and the breakfast laid out on the long table emitted an enticing aroma.
The students sat in twos and threes, chatting quietly about the fun things that happened last night or today's class schedule.
The table was laden with golden toast, fragrant bacon, and steaming pumpkin juice.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Sophia sat at one corner of the Gryffindor table. Hermione seemed to have recovered a little more than she had a few days ago, but she was still somewhat silent, occasionally taking a sip of pumpkin juice before looking down at a book in front of her called "Advanced Charms".
"Can't you eat something?" Ron took a bite of his buttered toast, frowning at Hermione. "All you do is read all day."
Reading won't fill your stomach.
"She didn't sleep well last night," Sophia interjected, a hint of sarcasm in her eyes. "Hermione, don't tell us you stayed up all night studying spells, or..." she deliberately drawled, glancing mischievously at Hermione, "were you up to some secret plan again?"
"No." Hermione quickly put down her cup, her tone somewhat wary. "Don't talk nonsense, Sophia."
Harry looked up, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them, sensing that something was off.
So he put down his fork and looked at Hermione: "Hermione, are you alright? Last night—I saw you coming back alone from the direction of the library, and you didn't look well."
Hermione paused for a moment, but quickly regained her composure: "I'm fine, I've just been a bit busy lately."
Ron poked at the eggs on his plate with his fork, saying dismissively, "What are you so busy with? Even with Buckbeak's case, you can't handle everything alone. By the way, will the information we got from the Ministry of Magic last time be of any use?"
"Can't you keep your voice down?" Hermione snapped immediately, glancing warily around to make sure no one else was listening. "This isn't the time to discuss this."
"But we need to make a plan—"
Ron wanted to say something more, but Ha nudged him lightly with his arm.
"Alright, Ron," Harry shook his head, gesturing for him to shut up. "Hermione knows what she's doing. She might need some space right now; let's not put any more pressure on her."
Sofia smiled, her gaze sweeping over the group, but she didn't interrupt.
She took a small bite of the toast and then dipped it in the ketchup on the side.
"Alright," Hermione said softly, her tone softening slightly, "let's focus on today's lessons. I'll tell you the next steps once everything is arranged."
Ron pursed his lips, and although he was somewhat dissatisfied with Hermione's attitude, he did not continue to argue.
He lowered his head and began to focus on his breakfast, poking at the fried egg on his plate with his fork, seemingly processing the conversation in his mind.
At that moment, the sound of flapping wings broke the silence between them.
A sound came from the window of the auditorium, and Hedwig flew in gracefully, a note tightly held in her mouth.
She landed lightly on the dining table in front of Harry, preened her feathers a few times, and waited for her master to take down her letters.
"It's Hagrid's," Harry said, pulling the letter from Hedwig's mouth.
He unfolded the note, his eyes quickly scanning its contents, and his expression gradually became serious.
"Buckbeak's appeal will definitely be on the 6th," Harry said rather solemnly.
"It was the day we finished our exams," Hermione quickly added, then lowered her head and started flipping through her arithmetic and divination textbook.
"They're coming here," Harry continued reading the letter, "with people from the Ministry of Magic and—and an executioner."
Upon hearing this, Hermione looked up abruptly, her face filled with shock. "They're bringing the executioner to hear the appeal? It sounds like a verdict has already been handed down!"
"Yes," Harry murmured, his gaze fixed on the last line of the letter, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
"No way!" Ron suddenly roared, slamming his fork on the table. "I went to so much trouble to get those things, they can't just ignore it!"
"Calm down, Ron," Hermione said, but her tone was tinged with suppressed anger, clearly indicating that she was just as distraught as Ron.
Harry clutched the letter tightly, a sense of foreboding filling his heart.
He said in a low voice, "They made their decision a long time ago—the Committee to Deal with Dangerous Organisms—and they have no intention of listening to any defenses."
Harry thought of Mr. Malfoy and his influence on the committee.
Judging from Malfoy's sarcastic remarks in recent days, he is convinced that Buckbeak will be executed, and he seems to be quite pleased with himself about it.
Draco had quieted down considerably after Gryffindor's victory in the Quidditch final, but in the last few days, he has returned to his old arrogance—even more so than before.
Harry gritted his teeth, trying his best to control his emotions. He didn't want to slap Malfoy like Hermione had—although he felt he might explode at any moment.
Worse still, they now have almost no time or opportunity to see Hagrid.
Against this backdrop, exam week began, and Hogwarts Castle was unusually quiet.
Sunlight streamed through the high windows onto the stone floor, and a tense atmosphere filled the air.
The students buried themselves in their books and notes, and even the usual noise from the corridors disappeared without a trace.
Even the Weasley brothers "disappeared" during this period.
They were preparing for the most important exam of their five years at the school.
On Monday at lunchtime, third-grade students filed out of the examination room of the Transformation Class, each one looking dazed and pale.
As they walked toward the auditorium, they discussed the exam questions in hushed tones, their faces revealing exhaustion and frustration.
"This is too difficult," Seamus complained. "They want us to turn a teapot into a turtle! This is way beyond our capabilities!"
Hermione, hearing this, couldn't help but interject, her tone somewhat urgent: "The turtle I conjured looks a bit like a sea turtle, will that cost me points?"
"Hermione!" Parvati glared at her angrily. "Can't you pretend to be worried about something else like us? At least your 'turtle' is a complete turtle!"
"My turtle's tail is still shaped like a spout, it's terrifying!" Neville added, his face full of tears.
"My turtle can even breathe steam," Dean sighed, his eyes filled with despair. "The shell I conjure up even has willow patterns on it," Ron muttered. "How many points do you think that will cost us?"
Hearing these complaints, Hermione couldn't help but show a troubled expression: "But sea turtles and tortoises are completely different creatures, this kind of mistake..."
Before she could finish speaking, the people around her gave her a series of disgruntled looks.
Admittedly, Hermione's "perfect performance" inadvertently made the failures of others more obvious.
Upon arriving at the auditorium, the complaints gradually subsided. Everyone hurriedly finished their lunch, as the tense atmosphere had left them with no appetite for the food in front of them.
The third-grade students hurriedly went back upstairs to prepare for the afternoon's cursed exam.
Hermione was right; Professor Flitwick really did test her with the Happiness Charm.
Although Hermione passed the test easily, Harry failed due to excessive nervousness.
His movements were so forceful that his partner Ron burst into hysterical laughter, which echoed throughout the exam hall.
Finally, Ron had to be taken to a quiet room and stay there for a full fifteen minutes before he could recover and continue his exam.
Harry looked apologetically at Ron as he came out of the house: "I'm sorry, Ron, I didn't mean to—"
"Harry," Ron interrupted him, waving his hand wearily, "please, I'm laughing so hard my stomach hurts that I don't want to talk anymore."
After dinner, the students dragged their tired bodies back to their respective common rooms.
But they weren't there to rest; instead, they immediately began preparing for the upcoming exams.
Protecting magical creatures, potions, astronomy—every subject felt like a dark cloud hanging overhead, making it hard for everyone to breathe.
Hermione nestled in a corner of the sofa, holding a copy of "The Handbook of Protecting Magical Animals" and reading the contents aloud.
Harry and Ron sat opposite her. Although they were both trying to concentrate on their studies, Harry's mind was still replaying Ron's laughter from that afternoon, while Ron kept glancing at the book in Hermione's hands, muttering with a troubled expression, "I really don't understand how she remembers all this stuff."
Sophia chuckled softly to herself, then turned to Ron: "Don't worry, you just need to remember which animals you shouldn't mess with—like centaurs, sniffers, oh, and those little guys who like to pick your pockets."
"Thanks, Sophia, this is really helpful." Ron rolled his eyes and continued staring at his textbook.
The following morning, the exam to protect magical creatures was conducted under Hagrid's supervision.
He seemed distracted, his brows furrowed, as if countless worries were weighing on his mind.
The students gathered around a large bucket of fresh Floppy caterpillars as Hagrid announced the exam requirements: "To pass the exam, you must ensure that your Floppy caterpillars are still alive one hour from now."
The Flobber caterpillar thrives best when undisturbed, which makes the exam exceptionally easy.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione casually observed their caterpillars while taking the opportunity to chat with Hagrid.
"Bick is a little depressed," Hagrid said in a low voice, bending low as if checking if Harry's caterpillar was still alive.
His tone was filled with deep worry, "They've been locked up for too long. But—we'll know the day after tomorrow whether it's auspicious or inauspicious."
Harry knew "Bick" referred to Buckbeak. He whispered reassuringly, "Everything will be alright, Hagrid."
But Hagrid just sighed, clearly not holding out much hope.
Compared to the relaxed class on protecting magical creatures, the afternoon potions exam was a completely different story.
It was a complete disaster, at least for Harry.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his drug to the correct consistency, and the color always looked strange.
Snape stood behind him, arms crossed, a cold smile on his face.
His gaze was sharp, almost critical, as he stared at Harry's pot. Finally, he shook his head slightly, casually scribbled a few lines in his notebook, the sound of the pen gliding across the paper sending chills down one's spine.
Harry knew that Snape had decided to give him a zero.
After the potion exam came the astronomy exam.
That evening, the students were taken to the highest tower to take the exam.
The cool night breeze caressed my face, and the sky was filled with stars, making it peaceful and beautiful.
However, for the already exhausted third-grade students, this was undoubtedly an ordeal.
As Harry diligently marked the constellations on the star chart, he couldn't help but yawn, his only thought being to finish quickly and get back to bed.
Wednesday arrived quickly.
The History of Magic exam on Wednesday morning was held in a stuffy classroom.
Harry struggled to recall the medieval witch hunt stories Florin had told him, and wrote them all down on parchment.
His thoughts occasionally drifted to the cool chocolate nut ice cream, imagining it could dispel the drowsy heat.
In the afternoon, the herbalism exam was held in the greenhouse, where the scorching sunlight shone directly through the glass, almost suffocating people.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Sophia were sweating profusely under the scorching sun. When they returned to the common room, the backs of their necks were sunburned and stinging to the touch.
Everyone unanimously hopes that by this time tomorrow, everything will be over.
Thursday's Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was a unique outdoor obstacle course hosted by Professor Lupin.
The students must complete a series of difficult tasks: cross the deep pool of Greendylow, traverse the pit full of red hats, walk through the muddy swamp, resist the misleading words of Hinkpunk, and finally climb into an old box to face Boggart.
Harry performed all his tasks brilliantly, especially when confronting Boggart in the box, where he effortlessly transformed it into a clown-like comical figure.
Lupin gave him a satisfied smile: "Very good, Harry, full marks."
Harry, blushing, climbed out of the box, brimming with excitement.
He stayed aside and watched the other three people take the exam.
Sofia performed very well, passed smoothly, and her process was commendable.
Ron initially performed well, but was misled by Hinkpunk in the swamp and ended up stuck in waist-deep mud, a truly wretched sight.
Hermione performed flawlessly in the first few rounds, but when faced with the Boggart, she screamed and rushed out after only a minute.
"Hermione!" Lupin rushed over. "What happened?"
Hermione pointed at the box, panting, her face ashen.
Speechless.
She had just seen a figure.
The figure was wearing a Ministry of Magic uniform, but its face was hidden under a cloak.
After the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, the three walked back to the castle together, and Hermione still looked terrible.
Ron tried to make a joke about Hermione's Boggart, but before he could say anything, his attention was drawn to what he saw at the top of the steps.
Cornelius Fudge stood there, looking up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought.