manynovel Chapter 122 Final Exams in Progress
Chapter 122 Final Exams in Progress
Chapter 122 Final Exams in Progress (Part 1)
Inside the Eagle's Nest, the tension of the final assault reached its peak. Parchment nearly covered the worktable as the four men did their final preparations.
Wesley muttered to himself, gesturing at the illustrations in "Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Defense".
"Red Hat, afraid of salt, Kaba bows, Grindelho pulls hair and pokes eyes—" he muttered, as if reciting some kind of exorcism spell.
"It's 'inducing it to bow,' not you bowing to it, Wesley," Ernesto corrected without looking up, his finger tracing a mark on the timeline of magical history: "1612 Goblin Rebellion: Control of Gringotts."
"I know, I know!" Wesley scratched his reddish-brown hair in annoyance. "All these little monsters have such catchy names!"
Karen closed her Transfiguration notebook: "Let's go, it's almost time. The first event is the History of Magic."
The classroom had been magically transformed. The original desks had disappeared, replaced by dozens of individually placed small tables, spaced far apart from each other.
They found their seats, each labeled with one of their names. As Cullen sat down, Fabian next to her took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses, and unconsciously rubbed his wand with his fingers. Ernesto appeared relatively calm, though the sharp glint in his gray eyes was more pronounced than usual. Wesley, on Cullen's other side, sat down, the chair legs scraping the floor with a screeching sound that drew glances from several students, causing him to awkwardly shrink back.
Professor Binns's voice, as if drifting from an ancient tomb, echoed in the silent auditorium: "Silence. The exam begins. The papers are before you. Time: one and a half hours. No whispering, no magical aids. Now, one by one, begin."
The parchment exam paper unfolded automatically with a soft rustling sound. Karen quickly scanned the questions.
The first part was a discussion of the event. The question required an analysis of a famous goblin rebellion and its far-reaching impact—clearly pointing to the upheaval emphasized in the textbook and its connection to the reshaping of the wizarding world's financial landscape. Karen picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and quickly traced the events in his mind: the roots of the rebellion, key figures, the bloody conflict, and how the rebellion became a catalyst, ultimately leading to the wizards handing over Gringotts to the goblins to run—he wrote fluently, clearly laying out the cause-and-effect relationship.
Ernesto was also scribbling furiously beside him, clearly this was his forte. Fabian frowned slightly, seemingly trying to recall specific years and details. Wesley, meanwhile, was biting the quill pen, staring intently at the question, his face contorted in a grimace, clearly struggling with this kind of question that required in-depth analysis, and could only try to recall key sentences from the textbook.
The second part was a brief biography. The question asked for a brief description of the role a legendary figure played in the formation of an important law in the wizarding world. Karen paused briefly. This figure—the court wizard in the Arthurian legend—is debated in academic circles regarding his historical accuracy and magical contributions, but he is generally considered to be an important early advocate and practitioner of the concept of secrecy. He was not the direct drafter of the law, but his ideas and practices laid an important foundation for the final law. Karen, drawing on her review material, clearly explained the transitional role of this pioneer.
Fabian seemed to be more comfortable with this topic, and he focused on the character's dual identity and the legacy of his ideas during his review.
Wesley breathed a sigh of relief; he was finally familiar with the man's name, although words like "pioneer" and "ideological foundation" made his writing a bit of a struggle.
The third part is a timeline. Several major historical events need to be arranged in the correct order and labeled with the century. Karen quickly listed them on a draft: the goblin rebellion at Hodmorg Tavern, the signing of the bill concerning troll rights, the establishment of the International Wizarding Organization, and the birth of the Quidditch governing body.
After confirming that everything was correct, he neatly wrote the answer on the exam paper. Ernesto finished almost at the same time. Fabian carefully checked the century attribution of the Troll Act. Wesley scratched his head, trying to recall which event was older, and ultimately, out of his love for Quidditch, placed the founding of the Quidditch Organization last.
Professor Binns's monotone voice rang out again: "Time's up. Stop writing. The exam papers will fly back on their own."
The quill pens stopped igniting. The completed exam papers automatically rolled up and flew towards the podium. A sigh of relief and hushed whispers filled the auditorium.
"How is it?" Wesley leaned closer and asked Karen with a nervous look, "Is that Troll Act from the 15th or 16th century?"
I think I made a mistake!
"In the mid-15th century," Karen replied, "it was signed after the goblin rebellion was quelled and the destruction caused by the trolls prompted reflection within the wizarding community."
"Merlin's beard! I've lost another point!" Wesley cried out in despair.
Ernesto packed up his stationery, his tone flat: "At least you wrote the character summary. What about the event analysis?"
"Well—it mentions something about fairies causing trouble, and then the wizards putting them in charge of money in exchange for them stopping the trouble?" Wesley said uncertainly, pushing up his glasses. "That's roughly the core idea, but we need a more specific causal chain. The rebellion was the trigger, accelerating the change, and ultimately manifested in the establishment of the new institution."
"I wonder if Professor Binns will go easy on me," Wesley muttered.
The morning's History of Magic lecture was like a heavy stone thrown into a lake; before the ripples had even subsided, the afternoon's Astronomy Theory exam followed. The location changed to the Astronomy Tower classroom.
Beneath the curled hair was a huge star chart with intricate constellation patterns, but key areas were left blank. The task was to identify specific famous constellations and bright stars, and deduce the movement of a planet based on the current season.
This was a piece of cake for Ernesto. He hardly had to think; his quill pen moved with precision and fluidity, marking the corresponding blank spaces on the star chart, drawing arrows, and writing concise notes beside them.
Karen, thanks to her solid review and frequent assistance in recording celestial phenomena for Ernesto, also completed the annotations accurately. Fabian, referring to his star chart notes from his review sessions, carefully located the points and eventually finished successfully. Wesley, however, was bewildered by the complex star chart. Fortunately, Ernesto often shared his stargazing results with everyone, and he managed to barely recognize the iconic Dipper constellation and the pointing star. But the exact location of another unusually bright star and the trajectory of that planet left him scratching his head, only able to guess based on his vague impressions.
"That planet seems to be in direct motion during the summer? On the Leo side?" he muttered uncertainly to himself as he drew crooked arrows.
After handing in his paper, Wesley breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally finished! The stars all look pretty much the same!"
"That's because you didn't bother to memorize their features and relative positions," Ernesto pointed out bluntly.
"Hey! I've done my best!" Wesley protested.
At dinner time, the atmosphere in the auditorium was slightly more relaxed than during the day, but the tension from the exams still lingered. Students ate their meals while quietly discussing the day's exam questions and the even more nerve-wracking practical exam the following day.
"Tomorrow's Potions," Fabian said, unconsciously poking at the roasted potatoes on his plate with his fork, his brow furrowed. "Just thinking about Snape proctoring makes my stomach clench and I have no appetite."
"Those material identification and formulation analyses," Wesley said with a pained expression, "those taboo words, like 'explosive,' 'corrosive,' 'highly toxic,' and so on—they gave me a headache just thinking about them. And those pitfalls in the formulation process—"
"Stay calm and remember the key points," Karen reminded him. "For example, be careful to shake certain volatile materials, know the correct way to obtain specific juices, and know when to add certain thorny materials to boiling liquids—Snape emphasized these repeatedly in class."
"And there's the analysis of the steps for that classic potion," Ernesto interjected, "The order written in the book differs from the 'critical point' Snape required. I bet that'll be on the test."
"I'm afraid he'll grade the papers according to his demonstration!" Fabian worried. "The book says to add it at a certain color stage, but he added it when the steam had just changed color and the liquid was still a different color!"
"So when answering questions, you should not only write out the standard steps, but also point out the importance of 'pursuing the critical point of magical activity'; that's a safer approach," Cullen suggested. "Snape may be strict, but he values understanding the principles more. And Fabian, you're still too nervous."
Of the four of us, your potion-making skills are the best, even better than mine. Don't worry, you'll be fine.
"I hope so," Fabian sighed, clearly worried about the Potions exam that was to come. The pressure from Snape was more substantial than Professor Binns' hypnotic teaching style.