Chapter 801: O.W.Ls Examinations
Chapter 801: O.W.Ls Examinations
On the day of the O.W.Ls, a heavy atmosphere hung over the Great Hall, with most of the fifth and seventh-year students, who were about to take their exams, remaining silent. The pre-exam jitters even affected students from other grades.
Across from Albert, Hannah was flipping through Achievements in Charms while munching on food, afraid she would forget the key points from the book. To his right, a yawning and distracted Lee Jordan absentmindedly added salt instead of sugar to his pumpkin porridge. Even the usually carefree Fred and George were affected by the exam atmosphere, becoming quiet and losing their appetite.
Only Albert remained unaffected, eating at his usual leisurely pace, unperturbed by the pre-exam jitters.
After breakfast, while students from other grades went to their classrooms for lessons, only the fifth and seventh-year students remained in the entrance hall, aimlessly waiting for their exams to begin.
Yes, that's right. The O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts Charms theory exams would be taken together in the Great Hall, although the seating arrangements would be separate.
Waiting was the most arduous part, and everyone seemed tense. Many students tried to calm themselves by flipping through their books, but more often than not, they would sneak glances towards the Great Hall, as if longing to see something.
Albert was an old hand at this and gave George the remaining half-pack of mints from last time to distribute among their friends, helping to ease their pre-exam jitters.
Of course, such treats were exclusive to their house.
"You've really thought of everything," Hannah said with a mouthful of candy as she found Albert lazily flipping through Achievements in Charms on a stone bench in the courtyard and sat down next to him with a smile.
"Can't help it, I've got plenty of experience," Albert replied, closing his book and asking casually, "Thinking about those exams, the O.W.Ls really aren't that difficult."
"Mhm," Hannah murmured absently, her mind seemingly elsewhere.
Before long, the Gryffindor examinees came out, gathering around Albert with mints in their mouths, chatting incoherently about the exam. The initially tense atmosphere gradually relaxed without anyone noticing.
The O.W.Ls began at ten o'clock, and the professors started ushering students into the exam hall at half-past nine.
The Great Hall had been rearranged by the professors. The four long house tables had been removed and replaced with numerous small individual desks, all facing the staff table at the far end of the hall.
The first Charms theory exam was invigilated by five professors: Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Marchbanks, Professor Tofty, and Professor Griselda Marchbanks.
Before entering the exam hall, students had to undergo an inspection.
Filch stood at the entrance of the Great Hall, wielding two Probity Probes to check if the students had any prohibited items on them. After a cursory inspection, they would proceed with the number they had drawn for their exam seat to find their respective places.
Most students who attempted to cheat wouldn't be stopped by this check, but of course, there were always exceptions.
"It's truly hard to imagine how stupid you could be," Filch said, touching the sleeve of a Hufflepuff boy with the Probity Probe, a cold smile tugging at his lips. "You should be grateful the exam hasn't started yet. If it were up to me, I'd cancel the exams of you sneaky lot."
And so, in addition to the Remembralls, several bottles of Self-Correcting Ink, and a few memory balls on the desk, there were now two detachable cheat-sheet cuffs.
Many students found this interesting, thinking that the would-be cheaters were incredibly foolish. If it were them, they were confident Filch wouldn't have discovered their ruse.
Albert noticed that there were two types of detachable cheat-sheet cuffs: one was a magical version that was invisible to the naked eye but could be detected by the Probity Probe, and the other was a non-magical version that Filch, with his seemingly vast experience, could easily uncover. As he grumbled and handed out the exam numbers, he ultimately succeeded in rescuing a few misguided students.
Albert glanced at his own number plate and quickly located his seat, C7. In front of him was a Ravenclaw boy, and behind him was a Hufflepuff girl—oh, it was Patricia Stinson, the one prone to emotional breakdowns.
After inspecting the spare quills, ink bottles, and parchment on the desk, Albert noticed that Professor Flitwick, who had distributed the exam papers, quietly sat behind them to monitor the entire exam hall.
Once Professor McGonagall had turned over the large hourglass on the table and placed it beside her, she announced to all the examinees, "You may begin."
Albert picked up the exam paper and quickly scanned through all the questions, heaving a sigh of relief.
As expected, the exam covered only the most basic concepts. As long as one had a good grasp of the knowledge from Charms class, there was no need to worry about not achieving an 'Outstanding.' The Charms theory exam consisted of three types of questions:
The first type was fill-in-the-blank.
For example: a) Write out the incantation to make an object fly; b) Describe the wand movement.
The second type was multiple-choice.
For example: What is the correct incantation for the Fire-Making Spell?
a) Flame Ablaze, b) Ablaze Flame, c) Swiftly Blaze, d) Blaze to Ashes The third type was curse-breaking.
For example: Please write the counter-curse for the Hiccoughing Hex.
The exam content was indeed extremely simple. The only issue was that there were quite a lot of questions—a hundred in total—and some students might not have enough time to complete them all.
However, for Albert, this exam was a breeze. With the boost from the interface, his memory had far surpassed that of ordinary people, and he answered the questions swiftly without having to think.
Just then, Albert suddenly heard a sharp alarm: Cheating, cheating! He lifted his eyes from the exam paper, startled, and looked towards the front, from where the sound was coming.
Not only Albert but everyone else in the Great Hall was startled by the sound and cast curious glances in that direction.
Someone was cheating?
Had the anti-cheating mechanism been triggered? The students were intrigued, as this was their first encounter with such a situation.
The Ravenclaw student looked a little lost, as the stern-faced Professor McGonagall had quickly descended from the staff table, dragged out the unlucky student, and silenced the alarm.
"Quiet, no need to gawk around. Continue with your exam," Professor Flitwick's sharp voice rang out, his face also grim. After all, the student was from his house.
After the exam ended, the cheating incident quickly caused a stir among the students.
The news was soon uncovered. Apparently, the unlucky student who had been dragged out had secretly taken dragon claw powder during the exam, triggering the anti-cheating mechanism.
"He made the dragon claw powder into pills and kept them in his mouth," Lee Jordan said. "It was probably that jerk Kenneth who gave him the idea. He's the only one selling dragon claw powder in the whole school. He really screwed that guy over. I heard that not only was his Charms exam canceled, but Professor McGonagall will also send a letter to his family about this. If he cheats again, he'll be held back a year."
"How did they detect it, though?" George asked, puzzled.
"No wonder no one has successfully cheated," Fred said, a little fearful. He had actually considered doing something similar but had been warned off by Albert and ultimately gave up on the idea.
"The Ministry of Magic must have safeguards against dragon claw powder and the Wit-Sharpening Potion. Those two are the easiest to get your hands on. If you knew Legilimency, I dare say no one would be able to detect your cheating."
"How did you do?" Hannah asked, trying to borrow Albert's exam paper. "I saw you dozing off at the end there."
"Should be full marks," Albert replied.
"I didn't do so well on a few questions.
"Shan'na seemed a little glum.
"Would you two shut up?" Fred complained, covering his ears. "It's bad enough having to take the exam, but now I have to listen to you discuss the answers. It's making me feel sick."
During lunch, the Great Hall was restored to its original state, and the four house tables reappeared. The Gryffindor fifth-years gathered around Albert, listening to his predictions about what the practical exam in the afternoon might entail.
After all, Albert's predictions from that morning had mostly come true.
The practical exam for Charms began at two o'clock in the afternoon. All the candidates were required to arrive early and wait in a small room next to the Great Hall, where they would be called in alphabetical order by surname to take the practical exam.
Albert was among the first to enter, accompanied by two other students.
"You'll be with Professor Marchbanks, Anderson," said Professor Flitwick, who was standing at the entrance, assigning examiners to the students as they entered.
"Very well, let's begin, Mr. Anderson," Professor Marchbanks said with a kind smile. "I believe this exam will be quite simple for you. Please make this glass cup run across the table and then jump into the air to perform a few side flips. Of course, you don't have to do it all in one go."
In other words, performing it all in one go would result in a higher score.
Albert easily accomplished this with the basic movement charm and the levitation charm. The glass cup performed like an elegant athlete, completing all the actions seamlessly.
"Perfect," Professor Marchbanks praised.
Her words had barely left her mouth when the sound of shattering glass reverberated through the Great Hall, followed by the sight of broken glass pieces on the floor.
Albert looked down at his own glass cup, then turned to glance at the unfortunate student at a distance who had failed miserably at the side flip, before finally averting his gaze back to his old friend.
Professor Marchbanks smiled at Albert and pointed to a rat that had been taken out of a nearby cage. "Please turn it green and enlarge it to the size of a plate."
"Color-change charm and Engorgio," Albert said.
With a gentle wave of his wand, the rat immediately turned green and began to slowly expand until it reached the desired size.
"Perfect," Professor Marchbanks indicated that he could leave.
Albert was very satisfied with the difficulty level of today's O.W.Ls. This meant that he could easily achieve an 'Outstanding,' fulfilling his goal of obtaining twelve Outstanding grades.
After the exam, Albert returned to his dormitory to get himself a bottle of iced butterbeer to cool off in the sweltering weather. Then, he leisurely made his way to the library to review for the next day's Transfiguration exam.
During dinner, everyone gathered in small groups to discuss the day's Charms exam.
"I felt it was quite simple. I should at least get an 'Exceeds Expectations,'" one student said.
"If only the Transfiguration exam tomorrow could be this easy," Fred added.
Noticing the slightly dejected Shan'na, Albert asked, "Are you alright?"
"My rat inflated like a balloon and floated away when I wasn't paying attention," Shan'na pouted.
"Don't worry, with your grades, you should still be able to get an 'Exceeds Expectations' at the very least," Albert consoled her casually, although it was clear that Shan'na hoped for a better grade than that.
Suddenly, a loud voice reverberated through the Great Hall, shaking the dust from the ceiling.
The unlucky Ravenclaw became the center of attention, but his luck was better than that of the previous shouting incidents, as everyone's minds were elsewhere.
After dinner, the students returned to their respective common rooms to prepare for the next day's exams.
The Gryffindors gathered around Albert to listen to his analysis of the upcoming Transfiguration exam, flipping through past exam papers as they did so. After all, the exam content didn't change much from year to year.
After the previous day's incident, no student dared to attempt cheating again, and the issue of smuggling items into the exam also disappeared.
Albert flipped through the exam paper and found that the Transfiguration exam, as expected, focused on testing their theoretical knowledge.
The practical exam for Transfiguration in the afternoon was the Vanishing Spell, and once again, Albert had the honor of being among the first batch of examinees. He was required to make a cute snow fox disappear under the watchful eye of Professor Tofty.
The Vanishing Spell was the most important spell learned in the fifth-year Transfiguration class, and it was also the most challenging spell in Transfiguration at the moment. The larger the volume of the object, the more difficult it was to use the spell to make it disappear.
Albert thought that some students would be in trouble, as the largest object they had practiced the spell on was a big rat, and even making the rat disappear had stumped a lot of students, let alone a snow fox, which was much bigger.
"Very well, let's begin, Mr. Anderson," Professor Tofty smiled. "You need to use the Vanishing Spell to make it disappear."
"Hmm, it looks quite cute," Albert said, reaching out to pat the snow fox's head before tapping his wand lightly on its forehead.
"Evanesco."
A flash of light later, the snow fox vanished into thin air.
"Perfect," Professor Tofty smiled as he reached for his wand on the table, preparing to bring the snow fox back. However, Albert was quicker, and with a series of popping sounds, the snow fox reappeared.
"It seems this exam is indeed too easy for you," Professor Tofty winked at Albert. "If you can give me an extra performance, I can give you some extra points."
In fact, whether or not he received the extra points, Albert was confident he would achieve an Outstanding grade. Nonetheless, he didn't refuse. He pointed his wand at the snow fox and transformed it into an eagle. Just as the eagle was about to spread its wings and take flight, it transformed into a snake, then into a badger, and finally into a massive lion.
A lion's roar reverberated through the Great Hall, and Albert swiftly changed the lion back into a snow fox, picking it up and placing it in front of Professor Tofty.
"Well done, excellent! You may leave now," Professor Tofty was delighted to see something new and interesting. It wasn't easy to transform a creature into a lion, especially one of such large stature. The greater the difference in size between the original and transformed creature, the more challenging the transfiguration.
However, the other professors were less than pleased, as the creatures they had prepared for the students to transform were now running amok due to the lion's roar.
The culprit, of course, had already made a swift exit.
"So, that lion's roar was your doing," Fred, George, and Lee Jordan laughed so hard their sides ached as they discussed the practical exam.
"What happened?" Albert asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You might not know this, but quite a few students were practicing spells in the waiting room, and your lion's roar startled them. It caused quite a commotion," Lee Jordan explained.
Everyone looked like they were about to burst out laughing. Apparently, some interesting things had happened, and Lee Jordan continued, "A Hufflepuff boy had chives growing out of his butt, two Slytherins' robes caught fire, Alicia nearly got poked in the eye by a wand, and a Ravenclaw almost ended up in the hospital wing."
"Did Professor Tofty give you extra points?" Shan'na asked, more interested in this topic.
"Maybe it's because he's quite familiar with me," Albert joked.
"You must have gotten an 'Outstanding' in Transfiguration again!" Shan'na was only able to make her frill-necked lizard disappear with great difficulty. Some students had even tried several times before succeeding. George was in a less-than-happy mood because Fred had done quite well in the Transfiguration exam, achieving a score that he believed would get him at least an 'Exceeds Expectations.' (End of Chapter)
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