Year-End Exams

Adam's Animagus training went quite smoothly, just as expected.

After all, the greatest difficulty of practicing Animagus transformation was the strict weather requirements throughout the process. For every wizard who had practiced this magic before, it had been purely a matter of luck.

But Adam had the Clow Cards.

With the Cloud Card and the Storm Card, Adam created a cloudless full moon followed by a storm the next day. Amid the grumbling cries of countless young wizards rushing back to the castle, Adam underwent his Animagus transformation.

"Amato, Animo, Animato, Animagus..."

Pointing the tip of his wand at his heart, Adam finished the incantation and downed a mouthful of blood-red potion.

The sound of a second heartbeat rang out, becoming deafening within seconds. At the same time, intense pain swept through Adam's entire body as if it had erupted from within every cell.

"Is Adam really going to be okay? Practicing such a reckless kind of magic..."

Watching Adam's body begin to tremble, Kero could not help irritably clawing at the grass beneath his paws, keeping the Wrath Card ready to act at any moment.

Suppi did not answer. He simply watched Adam in silence.

Neither of them was maintaining the smaller form they usually used more for cuteness than energy conservation. Instead, they were in their original forms: a winged lion and a butterfly-winged leopard, intimidating from appearance alone.

As guardian beasts of the Book of Sealing, Kero and Suppi were not merely capable of guiding Adam in learning the magic contained within the Clow Cards. Representing the sun and moon, they each held the right to use half the Clow Cards in the Book of Sealing with Adam's permission!

Even though using the Clow Cards still required drawing upon Adam's magic, his current reserves were enough to handle any trouble that might arise during his Animagus training.

Under the watchful eyes of the Sealed Beasts, Adam's body stopped trembling. Then, amid a ripple of distortion, he turned into a very familiar-looking creature—a Maine Coon!

His slit pupils instantly became round. Kero and Suppi stepped forward and lowered their heads to look at the fluffy little ball on the grass.

Still getting used to his new body, Adam looked up. There was a huge cat-faced creature to his left and an enormous cat to his right, and he could not help saying:

"...Meow?"

Ah, he had forgotten that he could not speak in Animagus form.

"You... really are Adam?"

Kero cautiously held out a paw. The Maine Coon on the ground raised a paw as well and high-fived him. The big cat's paw suddenly looked tiny before a truly large feline.

"Mm... meow... hiss... Yes!"

After making some adjustments with the Voice Card's magic, Adam finally turned his cat noises into human speech.

As soon as he finished speaking, Adam could not help turning his head and using a cat's exceptional flexibility to bury his face in the soft fur of his waist and belly, taking a deep breath. Oh my god, my Animagus is just as huffable as I expected!

Heaven knew how excited Adam had been when he discovered, while practicing the Patronus Charm, that his Patronus was a Maine Coon. Unfortunately, a Patronus was ethereal and insubstantial, impossible to touch.

Now, Adam had finally gotten his wish...

Until the day the year-end exams arrived, Adam remained hopelessly absorbed in huffing his own Animagus form. Especially when he dragged Kero and Suppi in with him—three fluffy creatures rolling around in a heap was practically heavenly bliss for a plushie lover. And one of them was himself, no less.

By the time Adam entered the examination room, he still wore a blissful smile, which Professor Flitwick apparently interpreted as confidence.

"I know this isn't difficult for you, but I hope to see something surprising~"

Professor Flitwick smiled, winked at his top student, and announced that year's test question:

"See this pear? Just make it tap-dance across the desk."

The Dancing Feet Spell itself was not difficult, but making a pear dance obviously required a little extra control, especially if it had to keep going from one end of the desk to the other.

But that was clearly no problem for Adam. In high spirits, he gave his wand a light wave, and a whole plate of pears began performing a tap dance across the desk hand in hand, while a tea set in the corner of the desk provided the accompaniment.

After finishing a rendition of "Riverdance," the pears bowed to the audience. Professor Flitwick gave them a round of applause and awarded Adam a big O—Outstanding.

The Transfiguration Class exam required them to turn a mouse into a snuffbox. Adam's snuffbox had a warm, fine texture, decorated with four cats batting at butterflies. In one corner, a Maine Coon was dozing, with a butterfly perched on its nose.

Professor McGonagall studied the snuffbox for a long time and sighed that she truly regretted being unable to buy it. Then she wrote an O in the grade column as well.

As one exam after another ended, the young wizards all had different moods. One could practically tell their final grades from their expressions.

"Looks like everyone did pretty well?"

After finishing History of Magic and returning to the dormitory, they found the atmosphere peaceful. Clearly, everyone in Adam's dormitory was at least a student who did not need to worry about failing.

"Mhm~ The only one I'm not completely sure about is History of Magic. I barely listened in class, and I don't know whether I made any mistakes cramming it all in beforehand... But most of it should be right, and at least I filled every page!"

Klon put his hands on his hips and proudly lifted his chin.

He might have looked rather miserable while catching up on homework, but when it came to grades, he had nothing to fear!

"From now until the results come out, it's all holiday. What are you all planning to do?"

Bernard looked around curiously.

"Fishing."

Eugene somehow pulled out a fishing gear bag.

Ever since the Black Lake thawed, he had wanted to go fishing. However, his grades were not good enough for him to be absolutely confident, so he had endured it until the exams were over.

"I don't know. I'll catch up on sleep properly. I've been seriously sleep-deprived these past few days..."

Uther stretched lazily from his spot on the sofa, looking as though he was ready to fall asleep at any moment.

"Huh? You're all taking it that easy... The Quidditch matches aren't over yet. Is no one going to watch training with me?"

Klon looked at Bernard and Adam.

"Mm, I'm planning to take advantage of having nothing to do and have a proper look around Hogwarts."

Bernard's eyes flickered as he looked at Adam.

"What about you, Adam?"

"Me..."

Adam narrowed his eyes, holding Kero in his left arm and Suppi in his right, his fingers buried in the soft fur on their bellies.

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll stay in the dorm like Uther..."

Then curl up with Kero and Suppi for a nap~

He had studied for an entire year, after all. What was wrong with enjoying himself for a few days?

"Ahem, since you haven't decided yet..."

Bernard cleared his throat and leaned closer to Adam.

"Would you be interested in going on an adventure with me?"