This exam, which could already be considered the first held by the United Magical Kingdom, would last two weeks.
The exam format included both written and practical exams. Aside from the Astronomy practical exam, which was scheduled for the evening, all the others would be completed during the day.
As always, all the exam papers had been placed under the strictest anti-cheating spells. Auto-answering quills were strictly forbidden from being brought into the examination hall, as were Remembralls, detachable cribbing cuffs, and auto-correcting ink. What was different was that the Wizarding World's most popular handheld televisions, magical phones, and badges capable of transmitting messages had been listed as new prohibited items and were not allowed into the exam room.
Once breakfast and the subsequent career consultation sessions ended, the students from the other years went to class, while the seventh- and fifth-years wandered aimlessly around the Entrance Hall. Everyone wanted to seize the final moments to revise, but no one seemed to be getting anywhere.
The first subject for the N.E.W.T.s was Herbology, and the seventh-year wizards taking part streamed out of Hogwarts Castle toward the Greenhouse.
Unlike the old, familiar grouping system, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were now often arranged together. They were assigned to Greenhouse Two, while Ravenclaw and Slytherin were assigned to Greenhouse Three, where they would complete the entirety of their Herbology exam.
Although the exam content was actually the same, compared to the other greenhouses, the plants in Greenhouse Three were more interesting and also more dangerous. Over their long school careers, the young wizards had already developed the habit of not casually touching the plants in the greenhouses. Some of the strange plants and fungi inside were enough to pose a fatal threat to wizards.
The smell of damp soil and fertilizer rushed at them,