For the students, Hogwarts during this school year could indeed be called "the safest place in the Magical World."
As of the Halloween that had just passed, the greatest suffering Hogwarts students had endured was probably the lines Professor Snape had assigned them to copy from Magical Tuning: Introduction to Potions.
What Professor Snape truly required was not as simple as copying out Magical Tuning: Introduction to Potions; they also had to be able to recite the entire text from memory.
If he spot-checked them and found a part they could not recite, they would have to keep copying it as punishment until they could answer his questions with ease.
To achieve this goal, quite a few students could only risk using Baruffio's Brain Elixir.
This behavior alarmed Madam Pomfrey, and she personally went to Professor Snape's office to negotiate with him.
After some communication, Professor Snape finally chose to lower his requirements.
Students who could not recite the entire book only needed to copy Magical Tuning: Introduction to Potions one more time as punishment, and they would be exempt from receiving the same punishment for one month.
Michael Corner scooped up a bowl of oatmeal and set it in front of Anthony Goldstein.
"I heard Ernie and the others say just now that Professor Snape loosened the punishment requirements..." he asked eagerly. "Anthony, when you were patrolling the basement the night before last, did you hear anything?"
Anthony asked in confusion, "You can already recite that book. Why are you still asking so much?"
"Am I not allowed to be curious?!" Michael urged him with perfect confidence. "Come on, tell me!"
With Michael taking the lead, his dormmates all pricked up their ears too, wanting to know what had happened the night before last.
"I can't really say..." Anthony