Pre-Exam Syndrome

During the first week after term began, every professor, no matter what subject they taught, desperately piled homework onto the students and constantly stressed the importance of the O.W.L.s.

In Fred's words, it was as if the sky would fall if they failed their O.W.L.s.

However, Fred quickly regretted saying that, because the sky really did fall.

As soon as the weekend arrived, they discovered that they had no choice but to spend huge amounts of time in the library, facing an endless mountain of homework. They had even lost much of their interest in causing trouble for Malfoy.

At that moment, Fred flipped through a book while muttering nonsense under his breath. "The O.W.L.s are like a grindstone, forcing candidates' heads into books, grinding away their patience bit by bit until they go mad!"

George looked up from his parchment and glanced at the fellow rambling away nearby. "Stop going mad. You haven't practiced the Vanishment Charm yet, have you? They're doing spot checks next lesson. Watch out, or you'll get detention."

"Well, at least I'm better off than Albert. I'd rather curl up here doing homework than let Snape tutor me for two hours," Fred muttered to console himself before burying his head in his homework again.

In the Potions classroom, Albert and Isabelle listened as Snape explained the Potions Tournament.

"Magical Gardens is the most well-preserved garden in the world, with the greatest variety of potion ingredients. Though it is called Magical Gardens, it is actually a forest, no smaller than the Forbidden Forest. There are more potion ingredients inside than you can imagine."

As a Potions Master, Snape naturally knew all about Magical Gardens.

"Students participating in the Potions Tournament must enter Magical Gardens to gather ingredients. After preserving and bringing them back, they must use