The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 41 Exam
The day after their discussion in the library, Harry and Ron received detention notices.

That night, Ryan and Hermione were practicing Transfiguration at the table, when Harry and Ron rushed in from outside, sat down, and before they could catch their breath, they began to tell what he and Ron had encountered in the Forbidden Forest at night.

As expected, they encountered Voldemort sucking blood. But since no one disturbed them this time, Harry and his friends met the unicorn a little earlier than in the original book. Although the unicorn was seriously injured, it still survived and is now recovering in the centaur tribe. In addition, the centaur also gave an ominous prophecy.

"The Centaurs' prophecy said that Voldemort would come back. They saw it all in the stars." Harry said excitedly. "I thought Snape just wanted to get rich with the Philosopher's Stone, but he wanted to give the Philosopher's Stone to Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest to help him come back."

"Please, don't say that name." Ron said tremblingly.

But Harry continued excitedly: "When Voldemort gets the Philosopher's Stone and rushes into the castle to kill me, then this prophecy will be fully fulfilled."

"Harry!" Ryan raised his voice and interrupted Harry's chatter. "As far as I know, all prophecies are vague and have multiple interpretations. You definitely shouldn't come up with an answer that's too clear. Not to mention that Dumbledore is also in the castle. I don't think anyone can rush in and kill you. There's less than a week left before the exam. I think the most important thing is to go to bed early and stay in good shape for tomorrow. It's no use thinking about these things now."

Harry seemed to choke for a moment, and then they climbed the stairs back to the dormitory with Ryan to rest.

Time will not go slower just because someone is worried about Voldemort's movements. As a week passed, Ryan's final exams for his first year at Hogwarts began.

Examinations are what students hate and fear the most, but they are an indispensable part of student life. This has always been the case in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad, and even the magical school of magic, Hogwarts, is no exception.

Fortunately, Ryan came from a country that was good at exams and took exams frequently. The pre-exam review for the first year at Hogwarts was much easier than the weekly baseline tests and monthly exams before the college entrance examination.

So when he sat in the examination room, holding his new quill that had been spelled against cheating, he felt confident.

The biggest difference between the exams in the ordinary world and those in the ordinary people's world is that the Hogwarts exams also include practical magic operations.

Each teacher had different requirements. For example, Professor Flitwick asked them to go into the classroom one by one to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. When Ryan read this part of the novel, he was always wondering how a pineapple could tap-dance without legs. Later, after watching the students in front of him do it, he realized that all he had to do was let the pineapple twist and bounce across the desk at the same frequency. This was much simpler than giving the pineapple two legs as Ryan had imagined.

Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuff box - the more exquisite the box, the higher the score; if the box still had mouse whiskers, points would be deducted. Ryan conjured a steampunk-style box full of tiny gears and reeds, and the gears on it could mesh with each other. This was a technique he mastered after mastering the Winter Home Industrial Manual. Ryan saw Professor McGonagall nod approvingly at his work.

In the basement potion classroom, Ryan prepared the forgetfulness potion in a proper manner. Fortunately, Harry completely attracted Snape's attention. Otherwise, if the professor stared at him from behind his neck, he would be scared out of his wits.

Harry looked terrible these days. He seemed to suffer from the same test phobia as Neville. But everyone else was fine. They had reviewed thoroughly and seriously. So at least Ron and Hermione had some confidence when they went to the exam room. The last exam was History of Magic. As long as they could hold on for another hour and answer which weird old wizards invented the automatic stirring cauldron, they would be free and could have fun for a whole week until the exam results were announced. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up the parchment with their answers, Ryan couldn't help but cheer with the other students.

"It was easier than I thought," Hermione said as they followed the crowd out into the sunny grounds. "I didn't have to remember the 'Werewolf Code of Conduct of 1637' and the Goblin Rebellion."

"I told you when we were reviewing, but you didn't believe me." Ryan said, "Those events involved complex historical and political games, and even affected the distribution of power in the wizarding world today. Such complex questions will not be used to test us first-year students."

Hermione began to review the exam content non-stop, which reminded Ryan of his fear in his previous life when facing a top student. Finally, after Ryan's repeated reminders, Hermione finally shut up.

They walked slowly down a gentle slope and plopped down at the edge of the lake, under a tree where a giant squid lay sunning itself in the warm shallow water while the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan gently played with its tentacles.

"I've never understood why squids live in freshwater lakes like this, what do you think?" Hermione nudged Ryan with her elbow.

"Maybe it's because it has the bloodline of a magical creature, like the Kraken. But to be honest, every time I see this, I always think of grilled squid or stir-fried squid. But I think such a big squid must be very old, and it is only suitable for making meatballs after it is broken into pieces. My mother's specialty is squid meatballs."

"Oh, I remember now. The squid balls your mother made last time were really delicious." Hermione, who had tasted Mrs. Sally's cooking in elementary school and at certain community events, continued.

Just as Ryan and Hermione were letting their thoughts run wild, Harry's annoyed voice suddenly rang out: "My scar has been hurting - it has hurt before, but never as often as it is now."

"Let's go check on Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.

"I'm not sick," Harry said. "I think it's a warning that danger is coming."

"But Professor Dumbledore is here, and Hagrid won't betray Professor Dumbledore. No one can get past Fluffy's guards, so you don't have to worry. Your scar might be because you're too nervous."

"Yeah," Hermione followed up, "It's all because of the exams. I woke up last night and was busy reviewing my Transfiguration notes, and then I suddenly remembered that we had already taken the exam for that class."

Harry sat there without saying a word, as if thinking about something. Suddenly, he jumped up, and Ryan and the others were a little worried about Harry's condition, so they followed him and ran towards the castle.

(End of this chapter)