Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 128 Prophecy

June arrived quickly, and with exam week approaching, Hogwarts was filled with a tense atmosphere.

Monday morning was the Transfiguration exam, which consisted of theory followed by practical exercises. The theoretical knowledge was relatively easy; as long as you memorized it diligently, it was easy to get a high score.

But in practice, it's a different story.

Transforming one object into another is a first-grade concept; transforming a small creature into an inanimate object is a second-grade test point. This year, the difficulty has increased to transforming an inanimate object into a moving, living thing.

Only then can one truly say that they've taken one foot into the door of Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall asked everyone to turn a teapot into a turtle, but very few people succeeded. The vast majority of the turtles they produced still bore obvious traces of the teapot; either the shell was a lid or the tail was still shaped like a handle.

After the exams, Stewart and Anthony were devastated. Having been trained by Roger for a whole year, they had spent far less time studying.

Anthony's turtle shell had a handle and teapot patterns on it, while Stuart was even worse off, only having the shape of a turtle.

"Oh no, I'm probably going to get a T this time!" Stewart said in frustration.

"Don't worry, Professor McGonagall never give students a D," Terry reassured her. "It's just a D, it's nothing."

The afternoon was the spell exam, and everyone did fairly well this time. Stuart's face lit up with a smile again. The Happy Charm wasn't a particularly difficult spell; he even thought he'd get an E.

On the morning of the second day, Ike had to take three exams simultaneously: Magical Creatures Conservation, Arithmetic Divination, and Muggle Studies. None of them were particularly difficult, and Hagrid even gave him a problem that would likely guarantee everyone an O: take care of Flobber Caterpillars and keep them alive for an hour.

There's no need to worry about these somewhat disgusting insects; the Flobber caterpillars thrive best when left to their own devices. The arithmetic divination on the other side is a little more complicated. Ike has been given a piece of paper covered in writing, and he needs to use arithmetic divination to write down the omens given in the text.

This required a lot of calculations, and several people were driven to the brink of collapse.

The difficulty of the Muggle research was similar to that of the Fantastic Beasts Conservation course; it was easy to finish and hand in the paper, with no difficulty whatsoever.

The afternoon session was Defense Against the Dark Arts, with no written exam. Lupin set up a field where students had to solve Grindylow, Red Hat, Hinkpunk, and Boggart in turn. These were all topics he had covered in class this year, and the vast majority passed smoothly, differing only in the time it took.

Wednesday morning was Snape's Potions exam. After completing a long exam paper, he also needed to successfully brew a Confusion Potion. This was no challenge for Ike, who had been practicing potions for almost a year. Snape didn't even glance at it before kicking Ike out.

The same thing happened with the ancient runes class in the afternoon; Professor Bassheda didn't even look at Ike's exam paper before marking it with an "O." Herbalism at the same time wasn't difficult either; simple repotting was easily done by wearing dragon-skin gloves.

The astronomy at night was a bit of a problem, though; the sky was overcast, obscuring a large portion of the starry sky. Ike had to cast an Eagle Vision spell on himself to allow his vision to penetrate the clouds.

History of Magic has always been the easiest exam at Hogwarts; Professor Binns almost exclusively tests students on major historical events. In the afternoon, Ike finally faced his last subject: Divination.

Everyone stood outside Trelawney's wooden door and went in one by one to take the exam; Ike was the last to go in.

"Look at this crystal ball and tell me what you see?" Professor Trelawney looked tired, perhaps from repeating the question too many times.

Ike nodded, sat down opposite Trelawney, gently placed his hands on the crystal ball, and slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a blurry image appeared inside.

"A shadowy figure, a constantly shifting shadowy figure..."

"So, what do you think it resembles, and what is it trying to tell you?"

"People, many people, different people..." Ike suddenly had a flash of insight, and a sentence slipped out uncontrollably:

"A curse brings hope;"

The misunderstanding continues;

Hope shines with a white light;

Dispel the darkness that blots out the sun;

note!

They're barely surviving in the swamp!

On a night when the stars are nowhere to be seen;

Evil will return!

Professor Trelawney stared intently at the crystal ball emitting a faint blue light, and couldn't help but clap her hands.

"Mr. Strand, congratulations, you've made a true prophecy. Congratulations on getting an O!"

Ike snapped out of his daze, still clearly remembering everything that had just been said, his expression a little complicated.

"Thank you, Professor..."

Suddenly, Ike pulled out his wand, and the tip of the wand shone brightly.

"Forget everything, and all is emptiness!"

Seeing Professor Trelawney's bewildered expression, Ike silently put away the blue-glowing crystal ball, shrank it to the size of a marble, and replaced it with a new one.

"Professor, Professor!"

Professor Trelawney snapped out of her reverie at Ike's call. She glanced blankly at Ike and the transparent crystal ball before her attention returned to the report card in her hand.

"May I leave now?"

"Ah...oh! Yes, Mr. Stradt." After Ike left, Professor Trelawney sat quietly in her chair for a long time.

He scratched his head and muttered, "Did I drink too much sherry...?"

As Ike walked out of the divination classroom, he quietly crushed the marbles in his pocket.

As Trelawney said, it was a true prophecy, and Ike, who already understood what it meant, couldn't let anyone else know. Destroying the crystal ball was for this reason, and casting the Oblivion Curse on Trelawney was also for this reason.

This time, Ike was very confident that his LV6 Oblivion Spell would be enough to make Trelawney forget what had just happened.

Back in the common room, everyone looked relieved, chatting in small groups about the exams they had taken over the past few days. Stuart, however, seemed somewhat devastated; according to his estimation, he had barely gotten an O in any subject, a much worse score than last year.

In fact, all the players' performance had declined due to Quidditch training, and they were well aware of this even before the results were in. But the Ravenclaws were never worried about their performance; they were never afraid in this regard.

Something that can be obtained with just a little effort is utterly worthless compared to a Quidditch championship!

Ike smiled and leaned closer, beckoning over a paper bag, pulling out a pastry and popping it into his mouth. He enjoyed the current tranquility and purity; everyone displayed their troubles and joys openly, and before being overwhelmed by the anxieties of growing up, everyone was as innocent as a blank sheet of paper.

The dinner on the day the exams ended was a little more lavish than usual, and everyone was celebrating, especially the fifth and seventh graders; some even cried.

Those who haven't experienced the OWLs and NEWTs exams can't understand this feeling of surviving a catastrophe, but Ike can understand it a little.

Just like how students often have a night of fun after the college entrance exam, this is a crazy release of long-term pressure.

Amidst the laughter, Ike glanced at the empty seat on the professor's bench and quietly left.

He donned the illusion spell and emerged from the castle like a ghost. Dark clouds filled the sky, and the Man-Beating Willow in the east was faintly visible.

(End of this chapter)