Chapter 1769: War Without Victors (219)
The Ultimate Wizarding Exams for seventh year came earlier than the O.W.L.s for fifth year, but since most Advanced Classes had very few students, the Great Hall was not requisitioned during the Ultimate Wizarding Exams. Instead, a fairly spacious classroom was used as the examination hall.
Naturally, the written Defence Against the Dark Arts exam was an exception. They had been forced to use two adjacent classrooms as examination halls, and even Professor Marchbanks, who was overseeing the exams, found it surprising.
Fortunately, everything went fairly smoothly, and the practical portion was not particularly difficult either.
The only variable was probably the new Minister's requirement. An additional component had been added to the Defence Against the Dark Arts practical exam. It was not especially difficult; students merely had to use magic on dummies to ensure they had "the ability to fight" when facing enemies.
Combat Practice had indeed once been the weakness of most students, but during Albert's time as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, spells missing their targets had become almost nonexistent.
Even the examiners in charge of proctoring were greatly surprised. They knew better than anyone what standard Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts had been at for the past fifty years, and they gained a new understanding of Albert's teaching ability.
At the very least, in their eyes, this year's graduates had attained no small level of proficiency in Defence Against the Dark Arts.
The tremendous improvement in Hogwarts students' Defence Against the Dark Arts was indeed related to Albert, but it had not come from those few weekly Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. Rather, during the Second Wizarding War, Albert had spread the Self-Defense Guide, and many students had seriously learned how to protect themselves.
There was no