Sirius raised a finger and tapped twice on the table.
"Standing here today, I represent the Academic Affairs Office in announcing two pieces of news."
"One good, and one bad."
Everyone in the Great Hall held their breath.
Sirius savored the students' tension with great satisfaction.
"Let's start with the bad news. The content of this year's start-of-term exam has changed completely."
Low sobs spread through the Great Hall.
A sixth-year Ravenclaw beside Harry actually groaned, buried their head deep in their arms, and trembled all over.
This reaction was only natural.
After all, over the summer, nearly half the students had thrown themselves into a frenzy of practice questions.
They had memorized every question type that had appeared in Hogwarts' start-of-term exams over the previous two years. Some had even learned every punctuation mark of every obscure question Douglas had mentioned by heart, intending to astonish everyone in today's exam.
To cast off the shame of the White List once and for all and make it onto the Red List.
Sirius swept his gaze around those grief-stricken faces, and the exhaustion of staying up late night after night instantly vanished. He felt wonderfully refreshed.
Actually, he need not have gone out of his way to tell the students in this particular manner. Simply handing out the exam papers would have had the same effect.
But he desperately needed a little amusement to lift his spirits.
"Director, this isn't fair."
One bold student could not help protesting.
"We spent the entire summer studying ahead and reviewing."
Of course, the student was also clever enough not to say outright, "Oh, we spent the summer memorizing the question bank."
Sirius chuckled softly, clearly enjoying this reaction.
"Of course. I'm fully aware of that. That's precisely the point of the bad news. Relying