Most Promising Newcomer Award

That evening, the party in the Hufflepuff Common Room continued until the early hours of the morning.

Furthermore, due to their victory, several Hufflepuff students made surprising progress at the Patronus Charm Club at the end of the month.

Before the club event ended, Kanna summoned the complete Patronus.

Unsurprisingly, her Patronus was a butterfly.

It was beautiful; with the flapping of its wings, it scattered a silvery light across the Great Hall, like countless stars, dazzling and radiant.

Professor McGonagall looked at the silver butterfly in the sky above the Great Hall and was genuinely happy for Kanna.

She felt this was the most suitable Patronus for Kanna.

Professor McGonagall still remembers how she looked when she first enrolled: nervous, shy, and silent... She was almost always alone and never took the initiative to communicate with anyone else.

However, Kanna is now not only cheerful and confident, but she has also gained genuine friendships.

She truly transformed herself, like a butterfly, little by little.

"What a pity, such a good child isn't in Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall sighed silently to herself, suddenly feeling a pang of envy for Professor Sprout.

Perhaps spurred on by Kanna, a few minutes later, the silver mist in front of Cedric began to solidify.

The next second, a wild goose appeared in the sky above the Great Hall.

Cedric, wand in hand, jumped and shouted with excitement.

"Well done," Professor Lupin said with a smile. "You've really given me a big surprise. I always thought that students below the sixth grade wouldn't succeed until the end of the school year. It seems I underestimated you."

"As a reward, Hufflepuff get fifty points... fifty points each!"

With the 100 points added by Professor Lupin, plus the bonus points for the Quidditch champion, Hufflepuff's ranking jumped to first place, more than 80 points ahead of Slytherin in second place.

There's only one month left until the end of the school year.

It's a pity Kyle's Patronus didn't add any points, otherwise they could have been even more stable.

With the House Cup just around the corner, Hufflepuff's good mood lasted for a long time, and even the weather seemed to be celebrating.

As June approached, the days became incredibly sunny and hot.

This kind of weather is perfect for bringing a few pints of chilled Pumpkin Juice, chatting and fishing by the Black Lake, or playing a few rounds of Exploding Snap.

But that wouldn't work. With exams approaching, the students couldn't roam freely outside; they had to stay in the castle and force themselves to memorize the contents of those books.

Even Fred and George, who usually love excitement, started studying hard and would go to the library whenever they had free time.

Fifth graders will be taking the OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Whether they will be able to freely research Weasley jokes in the future depends on their results.

Kyle wasn't having an easy time either.

It wasn't because of the exam, but because the paper he wrote for "Today's Transfiguration" during his vacation had finally come to a conclusion.

After such a long delay, Kyle had initially thought his paper hadn't passed.

But after one of his Transfiguration Class, Professor McGonagall revealed that his final assessment was scheduled for the exam day.

If it passes, his paper will be published in the latest issue of "Today's Transfiguration".

So recently, Kyle has been reading books related to Transfiguration.

In this tense atmosphere, a month quickly passed.

During exam week, the castle was unusually quiet. At lunchtime, many people complained that the exams were too difficult.

Especially during the Transfiguration exam, Professor McGonagall actually asked them to turn a tortoise into a rabbit...

"The rabbits I conjure up can't run at all, how terrifying..."

"Yours is actually quite good; mine still has the shell on, which will definitely get me penalized."

After everyone finished lunch, they immediately went back upstairs to take the spell test.

However, Kyle had just reached the second floor when Professor McGonagall called him back; she seemed somewhat agitated.

"The professors have agreed that you don't need to take the upcoming Charms and Herbology Class exams," Professor McGonagall said. "Come with me; you have more important things to do now."

"Are the people from <Today's Transfiguration> here?" Kyle asked as he walked.

"That's right," Professor McGonagall said. "The fifth and seventh grade exams don't start until 3 p. m., so they have time now."

"How are you feeling? Nervous?"

Kyle shook his head.

He's been preparing for a month, so as long as those people don't deliberately make things difficult for him, there's nothing to be nervous about.

"That's good." Professor McGonagall quickened her pace. "As long as you perform normally, there won't be any problems."

She led Kyle to a classroom next to the library on the second floor, then pushed open the door.

Inside the room, three people were sitting there chatting and laughing.

Two middle-aged male wizards in their fifties, and between them sat an elderly witch with a hunched back.

The witch was very old, her face was full of wrinkles, but she looked to be in good spirits.

After the door opened, she glanced at Professor McGonagall first, then quickly shifted her gaze to Kyle beside her. "Minerva, I think this must be Kyle, right?"

"You're right, Professor Marchbanks." Professor McGonagall turned and said, "Kyle, this is Professor Griselda Marchbanks from the Wizarding Examinations Authority ..."

"Wrong, Minerva, wrong!" Marchbanks said with a laugh, "The fourth-grade exams aren't my responsibility. My role for this hour is the editor-in-chief of <Today's Transfiguration>."

She then looked at Kyle and said, "Minerva should have already told you why you were called here, right?"

"Yes," Kyle said, "The assessment for the Most Promising Newcomer Award in * Today's Transfiguration *."

"That's right," Professor Marchbanks said. "No need to be nervous. If you really wrote that paper, this assessment will be very simple, and it could be over in ten minutes if you're quick..."

"But before that, I must explain something," she said, pausing before continuing, "We've been busy with another very important matter for the past few months, so the assessment originally scheduled for Christmas had to be postponed until now."

Kyle nodded in understanding.

Moreover, if she really comes during the Christmas holidays, it will probably be a wasted trip.

He was at Nicolas's house at that time; most people couldn't find him there.

Professor Marchbanks didn't engage in much small talk; after a brief explanation, he went straight to the point.

She took a thick stack of parchment from a box on the table.

"First, you need to restate the main core of the paper."

"The difference between partial Transfiguration and multiple Transfiguration stages..." Kyle blurted out.

About a few minutes later...

"Very good." Professor Marchbanks nodded, pointing to a teacup on the table. "Now, please Transfiguration this teacup three times... This is to determine if you are truly capable of completing those experimental demonstrations."

"No problem." Kyle took out his wand and pointed it at the teacup.

The teacup first became a stemmed wine glass, then a slipper... a teapot... a quill pen... parchment.

There were five Transfiguration in total, two more than Professor Marchbanks had requested. Although the final parchment was somewhat distorted and looked more like a hard wooden board, it was still enough to surprise everyone else.

The two middle-aged male wizards even stood up.

"Are you really just a fourth-grade student?" one of them asked in surprise.

"I can assure you of that, Audley," Professor McGonagall stepped forward and said.

"That's amazing," another person exclaimed. "I dare say that even most outstanding graduates couldn't manage five Transfiguration."

While they were talking, Professor Marchbanks had already put the parchment back into the box.

"Congratulations, child, you passed the test." She said with a smile, "Go take the test now, there should still be time."

Kyle was a little surprised. It hadn't even been ten minutes, and it was already over?

But as long as he got through, he didn't say much. After thanking them, he turned and walked towards the door.

Marchbanks watched Kyle's retreating figure, then seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly said, "Wait..."

Kyle had already reached the door, turned around.

"You'll be in fifth grade next year, right? Can you tell me what month your birthday is?" Professor Marchbanks asked.

"Late July," Kyle said.

Professor Marchbanks nodded and said nothing more.

After Kyle left the room, he looked to the other side and asked, "Audley, what was their Age Line again? Seventeen?"

"No decision has been made yet."

Audley thought for a moment. "Most people prefer sixteen, but last week, someone suggested that fifteen would also be fine, and that got some support as well. Now they're hesitating."

"Oh, it's been changed again? Who suggested it...?"

"Chris," Audley said, "Is the deputy director of the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."