With the location of the Horcrux now known, the last thread of tension in Jon's heart finally eased.
After the Easter holiday ended, the Mandrakes had fully matured... With Professor Sprout and Professor Snape working together, the restorative potion was brewed and administered to the students who had been attacked by the Basilisk.
They all returned to normal.
After Justin Finch-Fletchley woke up, he learned the "truth"... He immediately went to find Harry Potter of Gryffindor and apologized to him endlessly, saying that he had wrongly blamed him before.
Colin Cleever, meanwhile, became Harry Potter's devoted little follower, looking at him with worshipful eyes at every moment.
Percy Weasley admitted that, before being petrified, he had fought a desperate battle against Slytherin's monster... "I think I did my best, Professor McGonagall, but that monster was simply far too powerful..."
However, not long after celebrating their recovery, they learned some unfortunate news:
The final exams would be held on June 1st.
There were only about seven weeks left.
During the final two months of their first year, the professors of every subject stopped teaching them new material. Instead, they gave them plenty of time to review everything they had learned over the past year.
For most of those two months, Jon sat with Astoria beside a willow tree near the greenhouses behind the castle. They basked in the sun while reciting the twelve uses of dragon blood or practising the wand movements required for various spells.
Whenever he grew tired, Jon would simply close his eyes beneath the willow tree and rest while reviewing Occlumency a few times... He had become increasingly proficient at using Occlumency!
The weather gradually turned stifling, and as June 1st drew nearer, the final exams officially began.
The written exams came first, and they all