46 Exam

In the blink of an eye, time flew by, and summer had arrived.

There were only twenty-seven members in the Sherlock Club, including Sherlock himself.

Students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw had all successfully answered the questions and joined the Sherlock Club. Each test paper had a time limit: it had to be completed within three days. If the answers were incorrect, the magic on the paper would replace the questions with new ones of the same difficulty.

Compared with the other three houses, Ravenclaw had the most students join, while Slytherin had the fewest of all four houses. For a time, Slytherin students did not even dare speak loudly during Snape's classes, and Snape's face was livid.

After all, their Head of House had been the first person to answer the questions correctly, yet the students in his own house were so foolish.

Lupo and Fimiya had also joined the Sherlock Club, but Sherlock had clearly gone easy on them. For a while, Fimiya had constantly pestered Sherlock, using every trick she had to act cute and coquettish, until Sherlock gave each of them a test paper with the absolute lowest difficulty.

After all, if too few Slytherin House students joined, even Sherlock, as a Slytherin himself, would find it awkward.

July in summer would bring the day students hated most and yet looked forward to most eagerly: Hogwarts' final exams.

On that day, the students would endure the same agonizing ordeal as students in the Muggle world. But once it was over, they would welcome a long two-month summer holiday.

Some imaginative young wizards had already begun planning the trips they would take and the things they would do over the summer. Fimiya had been pestering Sherlock, asking whether he could spare a week during the holiday.

The elders of the Prince Family were taking Fimiya on a trip to Rome. If Sherlock could spare a week, she would invite him as well. The Prince Family elders would probably be delighted that their family's outstanding girl had such a close relationship with Sherlock, the Prince of Charms.

Of course, there was no need to spell out the implications. Sometimes, those powerful and influential figures were the most shameless people in the world.

"Uh... I'm sorry, Fimiya. I think I already have plans for this summer. Even if I can spare a week, it might not line up with the time you're going to Rome," Sherlock declined tactfully.

The pretty girl said somewhat bashfully, "But that's fine. Whichever week you're free, we'll go then."

Sherlock opened his mouth, not knowing how to respond. Although Fimiya was very pretty, she was only a twelve-year-old girl. If she were the more mature Fimiya of the future, Sherlock certainly would not refuse. But traveling with a twelve-year-old girl and her parents... Sherlock thought about it and decided to forget it.

"Hahaha... Mr. Sherlock, she just wants to spend time with you! How is this some casual invitation? It was clearly premeditated from the start. Still, I advise you not to go to Rome with Miss Fimiya. I've seen the way she looks at you when she thinks no one is watching—it's like a banshee spotting prey. You'll be in great danger if you go to Rome with her."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Lupo's teasing immediately drew a burst of laughter from the other little snakes in the Slytherin common room.

Only Dandeni and Kirk did not laugh at Fimiya among those present. They did not dare to, and unlike Lupo, they had learned their lesson. Of everyone there, the person Fimiya had disciplined the most was Lupo.

Shaking his head, Sherlock returned to his dormitory. Lupo wanted to follow him upstairs, but then discovered that someone had firmly grabbed hold of his clothes.

As though recalling the terror of a certain girl, the little snakes all shut their mouths and no longer dared to laugh.

Lupo, too, quickly remembered the fear of being violently dominated by Fimiya several times before.

"Bastard... it's all because of you and that big mouth of yours! Otherwise, I would've convinced Mr. Sherlock to go with me!"

Fimiya mercilessly punched and kicked Lupo.

Dandeni and Kirk, however, believed that Sherlock had never intended to agree in the first place. Whether Lupo had been there or not, Fimiya could never have convinced Sherlock to go with her.

But neither of them, nor any of the Slytherin little snakes, dared step forward to plead for Lupo.

At last, the final exams came to an end.

When the results were announced, Sherlock's grades were the best among the first-years. He was practically confirmed as first place.

Hogwarts did not announce each student's exact score in every subject.

Instead, grades were shown through letters denoting passing and failing levels.

They were:

Passing Grades

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

Sherlock received an O in every subject. No one else in the first year had reached that standard.

Therefore, Sherlock was undoubtedly first in the entire first-year class.

Kirk came next. His overall grades across all subjects were E.

Dandeni received A's, reaching the passing standard in every subject, which was fairly good.

Fimiya and Lupo both received overall P grades, meaning that both of them had failed.

Yet on the last day before leaving school, Sherlock could clearly see sparks of rivalry in their eyes. It was as though neither of them was willing to accept that they had failed to defeat the other in the exams.

Sherlock found this utterly speechless. They were both terrible students, yet they were taking it this seriously.

"Next year... next year will be my second year studying at Hogwarts. Once I enter second year... that will also be Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts!"

Sherlock muttered to himself. Once these two months of summer holiday were over, it would be time for Harry Potter to enroll. Two months remained until the Philosopher's Stone incident began.

Meanwhile, through certain channels, he also learned that Snape had once again failed in his bid for the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

The reason was that a very intelligent young man had arrived and earned Dumbledore's appreciation.

It was said that before taking up the post of Hogwarts professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Quirrell had planned to spend some time traveling abroad to gain practical experience in defending against the Dark Arts.

But Sherlock knew that Quirrell had instead gone straight to the forests of Albania—and had the misfortune of encountering Voldemort in his weakened state.

"Tom Riddle! Come to think of it, the two of us met when I had just been born!"

Sherlock smiled as he watched Hogwarts Castle gradually recede into the distance through the train window.

[Volume One · End]