Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 795 Questions and Answers on the History of Magic

"One more hour..."

"Forty minutes left..."

"Thirty minutes left..."

"Why isn't it time to hand in the exam yet...?"

Babling strolled along the exam hallway with steady, even steps, inspecting the exam hall. Every now and then, she would slightly turn her head and glance at the clock in the corner of the classroom. She was curious about what Loren had written in his final translation answer, but unfortunately, he had his hands folded and sat upright, so he couldn't see the paper at all.

In theory, it is permissible to submit papers early for purely written exams.

Even if some students finish the exam early and have checked it several times, they will still check it repeatedly with a cautious attitude until the bell rings. Loren is obviously not that kind of student. He had handed in his written exam early in the previous exams, but he did not hand in his rune exam early.

Babling suspected that this person did it on purpose!

This kind of student should be repeatedly confined, forced to work for the professor on weekends for free, translating documents, searching for information, and even mailing and retrieving letters...

She should have insisted on persuading him to take the runic course and then used Miss Granger to blackmail him into translating ancient runes for her. In four years of elective courses, he could have translated a few stone inscriptions. Thinking about the academic achievements she might have missed in the past few years, she felt regretful, and the waiting time for the exams to end was even more unbearable.

Looking at the clock in the corner, there were still twenty minutes left until the end of the exam.

"..."

Babuling sighed inwardly, wandering around the classroom. Before she knew it, she was behind Loren again, glancing instinctively at his test paper. Her eyes widened immediately—

A crack was peeking out from the corner of the exam paper!

Babling held her breath and carefully examined the words, noticing something like "Completed".

"Could it be...?"

Babling's eyes lit up slightly with some surprise. This inscription has been passed down for thousands of years, and many scholars in the field of runes have tried to translate it, including several translations that contain the word "completed".

Did that world-renowned alchemist also agree with the above translation?

Babling's emotions were clearly fluctuating, and she inadvertently relaxed her guard. Her breathing was immediately noticed, and the arm next to her moved over again, blocking the answer once more.

"..."

Babling frowned, her mood suddenly soured, and she even had the urge to confiscate the exam paper immediately; her fingers trembled slightly.

Slowing her breathing, she repeatedly reminded herself that she was a professor at Hogwarts, which helped her suppress her impulsive thoughts.

Having received no answer, her curiosity, once piqued, was quickly extinguished, leaving her slightly irritated. Not wanting to stand there any longer and suffer any more, Babling turned and walked towards Hermione, wanting to try from another angle.

Unfortunately, Miss Know-It-All's answer was just average and nothing surprising.

"well……"

Babling turned to look at the corner of the wall. The pendulum of the clock swung slowly and steadily, and the hands seemed to remain unchanged. The remaining ten minutes seemed even more unbearable.

"Ring ring—"

The end bell rang.

Before Babling could even smile, she saw many students who had been waiting for the exam to finish all stand up at the same time, shoveling their exam papers at the proctor on the podium and pouring out of the classroom in a single file.

In the blink of an eye, Loren had disappeared.

The invigilator deftly organized the exam papers. The Education Department's exam process didn't involve exam numbers or any particular order; the papers were simply stacked neatly and then placed into a sealed bag. Seeing that he was about to finish his final task, Barbling immediately stepped forward, pretending to help organize them.

Full of anticipation, Babling pulled out Loren's exam paper. Slightly excited, she turned the page directly to the last translation question and then fell silent.

"..."

The invigilator, also somewhat curious, took the exam paper and saw neatly written words:

"Complete your own academic research."

……

Two o'clock in the afternoon, in the history exam room.

The rightmost seat in the front row.

Hermione placed her hands on the desk, looking straight ahead, and glanced at the exam information written on the blackboard.

"Exam subject: History of Magic."

Exam duration: two and a half hours.

Professor: Cuthbert Binns (The Ghost)

Invigilator: Gersylda Marchban

The History of Magic exam was set as the final exam, in accordance with the tradition of the annual exams. Hermione did not recall the numerous historical events at this moment. The exam room was too quiet, and this profound silence seemed to be leaving a mark on her memory.

She only gradually came to her senses when the bell rang.

Ms. Marchban distributed the exam papers to the examinees.

Hermione looked down at the clearly marked test paper, still carrying the distinctive ink scent of the stationery store in Diagon Alley. Instead of answering the questions immediately, she quickly glanced through it.

The entire test paper had 51 questions, and most of the answers were directly from the textbook. The history questions tested memory, and as the school's well-known know-it-all, she felt that they were basically not difficult.

Except for the last question, which was a material analysis question.

Hermione filled in the candidate information, turned the exam paper back to the first page, and began to write down her answers.

In Hogwarts' curriculum, History of Magic is a compulsory subject, ranking alongside Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts as a top-tier course. Classes are primarily held in the morning to emphasize its importance. All students are required to take it before Year 5, and even students who meet the academic requirements rarely choose to take the advanced History of Magic course after Year 5.

In the students' minds, the history of magic has become a miscellaneous subject for catching up on sleep, doing homework, and chatting.

This is mainly because the history of magic lacks practical application; its content consists entirely of textbook illustrations and text, making it dull, empty, and uninteresting. Not to mention, the professor is a slow-thinking ghost, making the classes monotonous and devoid of any interactive experience. In this ultimate wizarding level exam, not many students registered for the history of magic exam, so the questions were relatively simple, mainly testing memorization and understanding of the textbook. Even without attending advanced classes, as long as one carefully reads the textbook, one can generally get a passing grade.

The previous questions were not difficult at all. Hermione swished her quill and quickly answered the last question.

51. Read the material and complete the following requirements.

Material 1: The goblin rebellion was a series of rebellions launched by goblins against the discrimination and prejudice against them by wizards. Goblin rebellions were quite common in the 17th and 18th centuries, and according to the Daily Prophet, even today there are goblin overthrow groups opposing the rule of the Ministry of Magic. Historical goblin rebellions are often described as "bloody and terrifying."

The goblin rebellion of 1612 occurred near Hogsmeade Village, where a small tavern was used as the wizards' headquarters. The wizards successfully defeated the goblin army, negotiated with the goblin kingdom's royal family, and quickly reached an agreement. The Wand Act, signed by both parties, became a model that was cited by countries around the world, after which all goblins were prohibited from using wands.

Another fairy rebellion occurred in the 18th century, and it was quite famous. The slovenly fairy Lala participated in this rebellion and thus appeared on the Chocolate Frog picture cards.

[Image: Lala, the scruffy girl holding a magic wand]

Material 2: From the early 15th century, Muggle persecution of wizarding families began throughout Europe. Many wizards were arrested, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for engaging in witchcraft (supernatural abilities considered evil by Muggles). While most wizards escaped using magic, such as Lisette de Lapin in 1422, some were not so fortunate. Sir Nicholas de Minsie-Popington in 1492 was deprived of his wand and imprisoned in the dungeon, thus unable to use magic to escape execution. This turbulent period resulted in the loss of hundreds of wizarding families with their children, as the children, unable to control their magic, frequently attracted the attention of Muggles hunting wizards and were powerless to resist. Hogwarts' enrollment rate plummeted.

Wizards abandoned the traditional concept of helping Muggles passed down from the age of classical magic, believing that using magic to help their Muggle neighbors was tantamount to adding fuel to a fire that was burning themselves.

As the persecution of underage wizards by Muggles intensified and expanded, more and more Muggle lords forced wizards to use magic for them, and cases of Muggles being wrongly accused of witchcraft and burned also increased. By the 17th century, relations between wizards and Muggles had reached their lowest point. The newly established British Ministry of Magic sent a special delegation of twelve wizards to the Muggle palace to negotiate with Muggle monarchs William III and Mary II, hoping that Muggle law would recognize and protect wizards. This attempt to gain official recognition and protection ultimately failed, forcing wizards to voluntarily move in the opposite direction—concealing their identities and keeping secrets.

The International Law of Secrecy, signed in 1689, required wizards to conceal their identities by putting away their wands and avoiding contact with Muggles as much as possible. Wizarding society became isolated from Muggle society, gradually forming wizarding communities. Many small villages attracted a few wizarding families, who then banded together, helping and protecting each other. Dingworth in Cornwall, Upper Frigley in Yorkshire, Autry St. Catchbourne in Devon, and the Godric's Hollow in southwest England—from *A History of Magic*, by Bathilda Bagshot.

Question:

(1) In the eyes of some fairies, the Wand Treaty is an illegitimate treaty and should be abolished. Analyze whether the Wand Legislation promoted or suppressed the fairy rebellion in the 18th century.

(2) Does the Secret Law belong to the Wand Treaty which restricts wizards? Is it still applicable in the present day, and why?

(3) Can wizards use war to force Muggles to abandon or suspend technological development, thus curbing the harm technology inflicts on various magical creatures? Why?

The materials and questions took up an entire page, leaving the remaining page blank for the answer area.

Hermione's eyes gleamed as she fell into deep thought.

The materials were content that had appeared repeatedly in the textbook, but the depth of the questions was completely different from before, and even deviated from the purpose of the history of magic exams for decades.

The questioning progressed step by step, relentlessly pressing for answers.

The occurrence of this unusual situation can only mean that Loren and Ms. Jockins' conversation has been relayed to the higher-ups of the Ministry of Magic, and even the entire Wizengamot Wizarding Order has participated in the discussion. Perhaps they have already made a decision, or perhaps they are still wavering and hesitant.

Choose the war that will inevitably come, conquer the Muggles like you conquer the goblins, or choose the path Loren offers.

Whether these test questions were a kind of test by the Education Department's question setters or a way for officials to solicit opinions because they couldn't make a decision themselves, these questions all corresponded to the issues Hermione had been pondering since learning about the plan.

Place the quill pen into the ink bottle, wait a moment for the quill to absorb enough ink, and gradually organize your thoughts in your mind.

Hermione looked down at the blank page, as if it were the future waiting for them to write, and began to put pen to paper.

She had already scored enough points on the basic section to get an excellent certificate, so she didn't care much about the scores on these few questions. There was no correct answer to this question, or rather, the correct answer would need to be judged by a wizard thousands of years later. Therefore, zero points and full points were meaningless. She didn't answer the leading questions and went straight to stating her own views.

"Wizards cannot stop technological advancements, just as they cannot halt the progress of Muggles. Ever since dark wizards of the Classical Magic era unearthed the Unforgivable Curse from the dustbin of history, the Killing Curse has become the preferred choice for wizard murders, remaining stagnant for thousands of years until Voldemort broke the single-target casting limitation of the Killing Curse. This innovative and optimized magic has not survived, and probably no normal wizard would regret it. On the other hand, Muggles, wielding technological wands, have improved and innovated more and more murder magic. Firearms achieved a breakthrough in efficiency in the last century, and this Killing Curse has no limitations; even preschool children can easily pull the trigger and murder a group of wizards with flesh and blood. Admittedly, there are other magics such as Disintegration, Fiendfyre, and Thunderclap, and Muggles have created corresponding shells, white phosphorus incendiary bombs, and even biological and nuclear weapons."

"If wizards and Muggles were to engage in a direct war, there would be almost no hope of victory. If the self-proclaimed righteous wizards could learn the methods of the Death Eaters and other dark wizards, they might achieve some good results. Both sides would suffer heavy losses, and the outcome of the war would still be unpredictable."

"In addition, we need to consider another issue: the magical world is not just the magical world of wizards, but also has many humanoid magical creatures. How should they choose?"

"We can make the right choices, venture into the vast starry sky, and create a better future."

The handwriting is slightly connected, but it is still neat and elegant. The entire answer is extremely fluent, without any stumbles or ink blots.

Hermione regretted not having filled the entire page with her own writing; she wished she had answered the first two questions first, at least she would have gotten a higher score.

Hermione put down her quill and made no changes, nor did she want to go back and check the sentences. She simply flipped over the test paper and looked at the questions at the beginning.

Thirty minutes later, the bell rang.

Hermione checked the candidate information one last time and was about to get up to hand in her paper when she suddenly seemed to notice something. She turned around and saw that the elderly proctor was already standing next to her.

"Ms. Machiban."

Hermione nodded in greeting.

Ms. Marchan looked at her gently: "I was on my way to inspect the exam and saw you working on the last question. It touched me a bit. You're getting old and your mind isn't what it used to be. You were lost in thought... It's alright, go hand in your paper."

"..."

Hermione pursed her lips, asked nothing, and went to hand in her paper and leave the exam room.

(End of this chapter)