Final Exams

Time passed quickly, and exam week had arrived before anyone realized it. Even Sagreles had become unusually busy.

Although setting questions for the upcoming final exams wasn't within his interests, he still put some thought into it, ensuring the questions covered everything taught that school year.

This wasn't difficult for Sagreles. After all, his classes were always filled with all sorts of spells, so remembering that knowledge should have been easy. Of course, the real difficulty lay in applying it flexibly, and that was precisely what the young wizards lacked.

As the weather grew hotter, Hogwarts's young wizards became increasingly irritable. Especially after the teachers handed out special anti-cheating quills, their frustration reached its peak.

After returning from the Forbidden Forest, Harry had been plagued by nightmares. He knew the truth, yet he could do nothing but watch time slip away.

Every night before falling asleep, Harry thought of Voldemort gradually regaining his strength. Maybe one day Snape would steal the Philosopher's Stone and offer it to Voldemort, who waited deep within the Forbidden Forest.

And once Voldemort recovered, the first thing he would probably do was come to Hogwarts and take Harry's life.

Harry's mental state worsened by the day, but because of it, his Gryffindor classmates no longer isolated him, though most of them thought he merely had "exam syndrome."

Hermione and Ron kept comforting him, saying Hogwarts was the safest place in the world. Voldemort wouldn't dare barge in recklessly, and Snape could never get past the trapdoor guarded by Fluffy to steal the Philosopher's Stone.

Amid his anxious waiting, the week-long final exams finally arrived. Sagreles only needed to oversee the sixth- and seventh-year exams, and the content seemed quite simple to him.

"Listen up, everyone. The Charms Theory and Practice exam is very simple—your practical exam is to catch an exam paper, and your theory exam is to complete that paper."

"Professor, I don't understand..." a student asked.

"You'll understand soon enough."

Sagreles tossed the exam papers into the air. The parchment transformed into birds, paper cranes, and insects, darting through the classroom.

"Catch one exam paper within two hours, and you pass the practical exam. There are no restrictions on spells, and I don't care whether it's something I taught you."

"What if we can't catch one, Professor?" another student asked.

"Then you get zero." Sagreles found a chair and sat down, adding casually, "Zero for both theory and practical."

Then he used his wand to conjure a clock on the blackboard. "You now have... one hour and fifty-eight minutes left."

The classroom instantly erupted into chaos.

The animals transformed from the exam papers were exceptionally nimble. They could circle a young wizard several times in seconds. They even loudly mocked students who tried to catch them with their hands: "Idiot, you're a wizard! Idiot, you're a wizard!"

The young wizards drew their wands one after another, and spell-light soon flashed everywhere in the classroom.

Petrificus Totalus, Stupefy, Oppugno, the Freezing Charm, the Binding Charm, the Leg-Locker Curse—every sort of spell was being cast. Many young wizards didn't even bother to check the results; they simply kept casting.

All kinds of spells tangled together, plunging the classroom into complete disorder. At first, with so many exam papers around, quite a few students managed to catch one by sheer luck. Seeing this, some young wizards grew even crazier and began launching indiscriminate attacks.

They used every nasty little curse they knew, aiming only at the densest clusters of exam papers. Some unlucky young wizards were hit by stray spell-light, but they soon discovered that whenever someone was struck by another person's spell, the countdown on the clock lost one minute out of nowhere.

These unreliable young wizards finally calmed down again and began paying attention to their aim.

Sagreles also stepped in to rescue a boy hit by a Stunning Spell, a girl struck by Tarantallegra, two boys hit by Petrification Spells, and a student covered from head to toe in boils after being struck by Furnunculus...

There were fewer and fewer exam papers left in the classroom, making them dramatically harder to catch. Some of the more outstanding students began choosing to work together.

They divided the work clearly. Some drove the flying papers into a corner of the classroom, others used spells to restrict the papers' movements, while still others specialized in using wide-area offensive spells against the targets.

There were a few mistakes at first, but after two failed attempts, their coordination improved noticeably. In the end, the Oppugno cast jointly by eight young wizards was remarkably effective, its range covering nearly half the classroom.

Sagreles was quite pleased. It seemed these underage young wizards had still learned something useful from their previous practical classes.

Of course, there were also some idiots. A few students used fire magic such as Incendio and completely burned up their own exam papers, securing themselves a spot on Sagreles's zero-score list ahead of time.

Yes, he had said there were no restrictions on spells, but using fire magic to capture parchment... it wasn't impossible, but only a professor could probably pull it off.

Several hours passed quickly. Sagreles collected the parchment exam papers that automatically flew back into his hand, rose from his chair, and left the classroom.

Early the next morning, a snow-white eagle owl swooped down into the Owlery. Lady Snow Owl's letter was tucked inside the small cylinder attached to its talons.

To the esteemed Mr. Raven:

Your efficiency and precision put even the most seasoned smugglers of Knockturn Alley to shame. I hereby offer the payment stipulated by our contract, and let this letter bear witness to your impeccable spirit of fulfilling agreements.

The Creeping Darkness has been enclosed with this letter. I hope it will help you unravel the mysteries in your heart and obtain the answers you seek.

I must also say that this collaboration once again proves the industry's high regard for you—if there were a "Hunting Medal," it would certainly belong to you.

As I said before, my private collection room will always reserve its highest-level trading channel for you. Should you need it in the future, the passcode for my encrypted Floo Network is "Eternal Night Rainbow Light."

P.S. I will reserve the Time-Turner for you until the Bronze Feather gathering at the end of July. I sincerely hope you get what you wish for.

Your dear partner

At the eye of a storm in the Norwegian Sea

Sagreles took the manuscript from the envelope. A faint, almost imperceptible howl came from the parchment, sending a chill down his spine.

The room darkened, and he had to use his wand to create light before he could make out the writing on the parchment.

Every line seemed alive, writhing in the dim light. A decayed, dark aura faintly filled the air, quietly resonating with a vague memory in his mind.

Sagreles frowned slightly and tapped his wand. A flash of light flickered, and he temporarily sealed the manuscript to prevent its power from leaking out.

Although he had been looking forward to this manuscript for a long time, now clearly wasn't the time to study it in depth. He would first grade these young wizards' papers; once the holidays began, he would have plenty of time to do his own things.