Harry was absolutely, positively certain that he had done abysmally on that test.
Not even History of Magic and Potions Class in last year's final exams had given him such a hard time. Don't ask. He hadn't known the answer to a single question.
Harry looked around at the other students in the classroom, especially the boys, and felt slightly reassured. Almost all the boys wore expressions of deep resentment. Clearly, none of them had done well.
Ron beside him, in particular, looked utterly lost, his face practically saying, Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to be doing?
Up at the front, Lockhart looked over the test papers, then appeared deeply disappointed.
Well, Harry felt even more reassured. Apparently, even among the girls, most hadn't been able to answer the questions. What left Harry and Ron utterly speechless, however, was that someone had actually scored a hundred on that test.
There was no question about it. If several students in the class could get full marks, Hermione would inevitably be one of them. If only one student in the class got full marks, it would inevitably be Hermione.
When Lockhart asked who Hermione was, she raised her hand shakily. Harry and Ron bowed their heads deeply. For the first time ever, Harry and Ron suddenly found themselves rather wishing they didn't know Hermione.
"Why do I have a brainless fangirl like that among my friends?" Ron said gloomily.
Even the Ravenclaw girls looked at Hermione with astonishment and disbelief, which showed just how outrageous her achievement was. Lockhart, meanwhile, delightedly awarded Gryffindor ten points on her account.
If Harry and the others had considered the lesson somewhat awful up to this point, then its second half was utterly awful.
After awarding Hermione the points, Lockhart took