Chapter 426: The Most Promising Newcomer Award
Chapter 426: The Most Promising Newcomer Award
That night, the Hufflepuff Common Room's banquet lasted until the early hours of the morning.
Furthermore, due to their championship victory, several Hufflepuff students made surprising progress at the end of the month's Patronus Club.
Before the club ended, Conna directly summoned a complete Patronus.
As expected, her Patronus was a butterfly.
It was beautiful; as its wings fluttered, it scattered silver light across the hall, like a constellation of stars, dazzling and brilliant.
Professor McGonagall looked at the silver butterfly floating in the hall and genuinely felt happy for Conna.
She felt that this was the most suitable Patronus for Conna.
Professor McGonagall still remembered how Conna was when she first enrolled—timid, shy, and silent... Whenever she saw her, she was almost always alone, never proactively interacting with anyone else.
However, the current Conna was not only cheerful and confident but had also gained sincere friendships.
She was truly like a butterfly, gradually completing her metamorphosis.
"What a pity that such a good child is not in Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall sighed inwardly, suddenly feeling a bit envious of Professor Sprout.
Perhaps stimulated by Conna, a few minutes later, the silver cloud in front of Cedric gradually began to solidify.
The next second, a goose appeared in the hall.
Cedric, holding his wand, excitedly shouted and jumped.
"Well done," Professor Lupin said with a smile, "You've given me a big surprise. I thought that students below the sixth year would have to wait until the end of the school year for someone to succeed. It seems I underestimated you."
"Then, as a reward, Hufflepuff gets fifty points... fifty points each!"
With the additional fifty points from Professor Lupin, combined with the reward points for winning the Quidditch Championship, Hufflepuff's ranking directly became first place, and they were over eighty points ahead of Slytherin.
And now, there was only one month left until the end of the school year.
It was a pity that Kyle's Patronus didn't earn extra points; otherwise, they would have been even more secure.
The House Cup was within reach, and Hufflepuff's good mood lasted for a long time, even the weather seemed to be celebrating.
As June approached, the days became exceptionally clear and hot.
This weather was perfect for bringing a few pints of chilled pumpkin juice to the Black Lake for a chat and fishing or playing a few rounds of Snapchips.
But it wasn't possible; with the exams approaching, the students couldn't roam freely outside. They had to stay in the castle, forcing themselves to memorize the contents of countless books.
Even Fred and George, who loved excitement, started studying hard, rushing to the library whenever they had time.
The fifth-year students were about to take the Ordinary Wizarding Level Exams (O.W.Ls), and their future freedom to research Weasley's creations depended on this exam.
Kyle wasn't any more relaxed than the others.
It wasn't because of the exams but because the paper he wrote for Transfiguration Today during the holidays had finally received a response.
After such a long wait, Kyle initially thought his paper hadn't passed.
However, after a Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall revealed that his final assessment would be on the exam day.
As long as he passed, his paper would be published in the latest issue of Transfiguration Today.
So, recently, Kyle had been reading books related to Transfiguration.
Under this tense atmosphere, a month passed quickly.
During the exam week, the castle was unusually quiet. At lunch, many complained that the exams were too difficult.
Especially the Transfiguration exam, Professor McGonagall actually asked them to turn turtles into rabbits...
"The rabbit I transfigured can't run at all; how terrifying..."
"Yours is still better; mine still has its shell, and I'm sure I'll lose points for that."
Then, after lunch, everyone immediately returned upstairs to take the Charms exam.
However, just as Kyle reached the second floor, Professor McGonagall stopped him. She looked somewhat excited.
"The professors have agreed that you won't need to take the upcoming Charms and Herbology exams," Professor McGonagall said, "Follow me; you have something more important to do now."
"Right," Professor McGonagall said, "The fifth and seventh-year exams won't start until three in the afternoon, so they have time now."
"How about it? Are you nervous?"
Kyle shook his head.
He had prepared for a month, and as long as those people didn't deliberately make things difficult, there was nothing to be nervous about.
"Good," Professor McGonagall quickened her pace, "as long as you perform as usual, there shouldn't be any problems."
She led Kyle to a classroom next to the second-floor library and pushed open the door.
Inside, three people were sitting and chatting merrily.
Two middle-aged male wizards in their fifties, and in between them, an elderly, hunched female witch.
The witch was very old, her face full of wrinkles, but she seemed quite spirited.
After the door was opened, she first glanced at Professor McGonagall, then her gaze quickly shifted to Kyle beside her, "Millicent, I believe this must be Kyle, right?"
"That's correct, Professor Marchbanks," Professor McGonagall turned and said, "Kyle, this is Professor Gwendolyn Marchbanks from the Ministry of Magic's Office of Wizard Examinations..."
"Wrong, Millicent, wrong!" Professor Marchbanks laughed, "The fourth-year exams are not under my jurisdiction. For this hour, I'm here as the editor-in-chief of 'Transfiguration Today'."
Then she turned to Kyle and said, "The reason you were called here, Millicent should have already told you."
"Yes," Kyle replied, "The assessment for the 'Transfiguration Today' Most Promising Newcomer Award."
"That's right," Professor Marchbanks said, "There's no need to be nervous. If that paper was indeed written by you, this assessment will be quite simple, and it should be over in just a few minutes..."
"However, before that, I must explain something." She paused, then continued, "In the past few months, we've been busy with another very important matter, so the assessment originally scheduled for Christmas had to be postponed until now."
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Kyle nodded, indicating his understanding.
Moreover, if she had really come during the Christmas break, he would have made a wasted trip.
At that time, he was at Nico's house, and ordinary people wouldn't be able to find him.
...
Professor Marchbanks didn't engage in much small talk and, after a brief explanation, got straight to the point.
She took out a thick stack of parchment from a box on the table.
"First, you need to recite the main core of the paper."
"The difference between partial transfiguration and multiple transfigurations..." Kyle began to speak.
About a few minutes later...
"Very good," Professor Marchbanks nodded, pointing to a teapot on the table, "Then, please perform three transfigurations on this... This is to confirm whether you truly have the ability to complete those experimental proofs."
"No problem," Kyle took out his wand and pointed it at the teapot.
The teapot first transformed into a goblet, then into a slipper... a teapot... a quill... and finally, parchment.
He performed a total of five transfigurations, more than what Professor Marchbanks had asked for, although the final parchment was a bit distorted and looked more like a piece of hardwood, but it was still impressive enough to surprise the others.
The two middle-aged male wizards even stood up.
"Are you really just a fourth-year student?" one of them asked in surprise.
"I can guarantee that, Alder," Professor McGonagall stepped forward and said.
"Amazing," the other person exclaimed, "I dare say that even most outstanding wizards would be unable to perform five transfigurations."
As they spoke, Professor Marchbanks put the parchment back into the box.
"Congratulations, you've passed the assessment," she said with a smile, "Go ahead and take your exam now, you should still be in time."
Kyle was a bit surprised, was it over already, in less than ten minutes?
But as long as he passed, he didn't say much more, thanked her, and turned to walk out the door.
Professor Marchbanks watched Kyle's departing figure, as if suddenly remembering something, she opened her mouth, "Wait..."
Kyle, who had already reached the door, turned around.
"You'll be in your fifth year next year, right? Can you tell me your birthday month?" Professor Marchbanks asked.
"The end of July," Kyle replied.
Professor Marchbanks nodded and said no more.
After Kyle left the room, she turned to the other side and asked, "Alder, what was the age limit they set? Seventeen years old?"
"It hasn't been decided yet."
Alder thought for a moment, "Most people lean towards sixteen, but last week, someone suggested that fifteen years old would also be fine, and it gained support from some. Now they're hesitating."
"Oh, changed again? Who proposed it..."
"Chris," Alder said, "The deputy head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."
...
(End of Chapter)
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