Chapter 802: A Right Mistake
Chapter 802: A Right Mistake
With the experience of the exams from the past two days, everyone now had a fairly intuitive impression of the O.W.Ls.
Wednesday's Herbology written exam, like the previous two, focused primarily on the magical properties and applications of magical plants and fungi. Similar to the exam in Curse Theory, it consisted of a hundred questions, most of which were derived from the book "A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi."
So, to excel in the Herbology written exam, one needed to have memorized this book thoroughly.
The practical exam in the afternoon took place in Greenhouse Three, where candidates had to enter individually to face the Venomous Tentacula and collect a certain number of its fangs.
The key to achieving a high score lay in avoiding being bitten by the Venomous Tentacula as much as possible. The proctors would assess the students' performance based on the correctness of their collection methods and whether they sustained any bites.
Even with dragon-hide gloves, Fred was bitten multiple times by the Venomous Tentacula. His attempt at harvesting the fangs was a complete mess, whereas George seemed to handle the plant with ease.
"Finally, I can be rid of this class," Fred muttered as he inspected his wounds during dinner. "I don't have much patience for tending to those things. If I can barely pass, I'll be content. Anyway, I don't plan to continue with this subject."
"You'll definitely need a lot of magical plants for making prank items," Albert reminded him.
"That's what George is for," Fred shrugged. "We discussed it, one of us will study Transfiguration, and the other Herbology. It's a division of labor."
"What about Potion-making, then?" Lee Jordan asked with a smile.
"That's what Albert is for," Fred said nonchalantly. "Besides, we can brew basic potions ourselves. As for the particularly tricky ones, we'll leave them to Albert."
"Tomorrow is the Dark Arts Defense exam," George suddenly said, hoping to excel in this subject, as it was their only chance to possibly attain an 'Outstanding'.
"I don't think it'll be too difficult. Remember how Albert tutored so many people recently? I bet the Dark Arts Defense professor next semester will be surprised to find so many students performing at a 'Good' level," Lee Jordan's confidence in the upcoming exam grew. Written tests were all about memorizing key points, and with a little extra effort, one could easily ace them.
As for the practical exam, it was a breeze, especially since Albert had specifically taught them about curse-breaking and defensive spells.
He had to remove a curse from a cursed mouse and repel a Boggart that emerged from a small box.
"Your greatest fear is rather unique, isn't it?" Professor Tofty remarked, blinking as he watched Albert flawlessly demonstrate a Boggart-Banishing Spell.
"That's what everyone says," Albert replied, having banished the Boggart as soon as it appeared.
"If you'd like to show something more extraordinary, I can give you extra points," Professor Tofty offered with a smile.
Extra points held no significance for Albert, but he didn't bother to point out the professor's ulterior motive. Instead, he raised his wand, gave it a slight shake, and five silvery orbs shot out from its tip, circling around Professor Tofty. To everyone's surprise, they even spoke in Albert's voice: "How's this?"
"Of course, excellent! Your mastery of Patronuses has reached an incredibly high level. I dare say very few can achieve this," Professor Tofty was generous with his praise and applause. Albert always managed to bring him unexpected surprises.
Summoning a Patronus was already a difficult task for ordinary wizards, let alone hiding its form like Albert, and summoning multiple Patronuses at once, each speaking with his voice—this was far beyond the capability of an ordinary wizard.
Even in the entire British magical community, the number of wizards who could perform at this level could be counted on one hand.
The other professors, noticing the silvery orbs that had melted into a mist above Professor Tofty's head, wondered what he was thinking.
Albert had smoothly secured his fourth 'Outstanding'.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan also passed the Dark Arts Defense exam with ease and believed they had a chance to attain an 'Outstanding'.
During dinner, several fifth-year students approached Albert to express their gratitude for his help in tutoring them for the Dark Arts Defense O.W.L. The written exam had been a breeze thanks to his guidance, and the practical exam in the afternoon had been equally manageable, especially with his focused training on curse-breaking and defensive spells, not to mention the specialized training on Boggarts. There was no reason for them not to excel.
The Dark Arts Defense professor for the next semester would undoubtedly be in for a pleasant surprise.
That evening, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were in high spirits, as they now had three whole days to prepare for their upcoming exams.
Albert, on the other hand, had two more exams the next day—Ancient Runes written and Muggle Studies written. Normally, there would be one exam per day, but since both of these subjects had written exams, they were combined.
However, the number of students taking the Ancient Runes exam was exceptionally low. Even when including the seventh-year students, there were barely over twenty participants.
Albert glanced at the Ancient Runes exam paper and felt a sense of deja vu from his past life's English exams, albeit a much simpler version, reminiscent of primary school English tests.
It took Albert just about ten minutes to complete the exam, with time to spare for a quick review.
Then, he dozed off on the desk, leaving Katrina, who sat behind him, questioning her life choices. Albert had essentially slept through the entire exam.
The Muggle Studies written exam in the afternoon was even more ridiculous. After reading the exam paper, Albert wondered if the wizard who set the exam had ever actually lived in the Muggle world. The entire paper felt like it had been plagiarized from the book "British Muggle Lifestyle and Social Habits."
Of course, this was to be expected from a Hogwarts exam, but Albert found it amusing.
For example, one question described the etiquette that Muggles followed when meeting guests for the first time:
Another question asked: a) Briefly explain why electricity is necessary in Muggle life, and b) What items require the use of electricity.
Among the wide range of electrical appliances, one could identify the plug and switch, as these two items were mentioned in "British Muggle Lifestyle and Social Habits" as requiring electricity.
In the end, Albert didn't bother overthinking it. All he needed was an 'Outstanding', and the rest didn't matter much.
Whether the correct answer was truly correct or not held little significance to him.
(End of Chapter)
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