From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

She's very skilled with the relevant magic, but regarding the definition... Hmm, why does this view seem problematic, but I don't know where the problem lies?

After hesitating for a moment, the rustling sound of answers in her ears made her decide. Yes, it was wrong. This definition was a trick and had a flaw!

But that's not all the traps. In the later questions, there are definitional traps every few questions. The commonly used ones are fine, but the less commonly used spells require her to spend a lot of effort to judge them.

……

'Phew...finally, it's done.'

Doris hesitated before handing over the paper—the papers next door were already being reviewed.

“Great, all correct.”

The professor's smile made Doris want to punch him—for some reason, she was a little angry now.

But her paper was reviewed quickly. Although she hesitated a bit, she still glanced around—several tables had already finished the question-and-answer session and started exchanging ideas independently.

“Great, all correct.”

While she was lost in thought, the professor finished reviewing the document.

'Very good…'

The thought crossed her mind, and she prepared to ask.

"Alright, now that we have a deeper understanding, let's start with a challenging test!"

???

Are you xxxx?!

A classic insult involuntarily popped into Doris's mind.

But it was too late; the exam papers were already on the table, and the student next to me had already started answering them.

She forced back her curses and began to scrutinize the questions—she had just managed to answer them with a combination of skill and luck, and she dared not be careless now.

But clearly, she was overthinking it.

'xxxx! Why is this still happening?'

"Holy crap, which one is it?!"

The judgment question was changed to a multiple-choice question, which increased the difficulty. But what's even more challenging is that she understood every single word in the questions, but when she put them together, all the words below seemed correct...

'Have I really mastered this magic?'

The Disarming Charm is clearly one of the most basic dueling spells. In theory, she is very familiar with it, and in practice, she is not weak at all. So why, why is there such a question?

Doris was bewildered.

She even started listening to the sound of her old rival's quill pen next door (even though he had always been number one), trying to find inspiration for her progress from there.

However, the rustling sound from the other end began to come out intermittently, clearly indicating that the problem wasn't just her own.

Normally, she might have gloated, but now she had no interest in it at all…

She practically struggled to finish all the questions, even resorting to guessing techniques she had never used before—but there was no way around it, the sounds of answering questions next door had stopped long ago, and the professor was reviewing the papers.

That's fine then.

She resigned herself to her fate and handed in her paper, eagerly awaiting her old rival's score.

However, the despicable professor, who made everyone want to duel him with their wands, did not announce the results. Instead, he took her paper and looked at it—it looked somewhat pleasing to the eye at first, but now Doris just wanted to smash his head in.

"Very good, hmm, this is barely an 'o', and this is an 'e', ​​excellent—"

The professor said this, and then pulled out two more exam papers.

"Let's give them some more challenging tests!"

Chapter 326 Surprises Abound in Life

"What did those two honest kids write...?"

William sat across the table, reviewing the papers, and was stunned by the long, drawn-out answers.

He had heard stories before about a game where someone leaked official tank data due to dissatisfaction with British tank data, and he was amazed. But he never expected to encounter it in person today. As the difficulty of the questions increased, the two children's answers showed a clear and systematic approach. Judging from their age, it was obviously not something they could have figured out on their own.

'Outrageous…'

William couldn't help but look at the two children answering the questions—it would be impossible for an ordinary wizard to understand them so thoroughly; only top students from each grade could perfectly present those systems and patterns in words on the exam paper.

However, the two of them were clearly unaware of the problem and were racking their brains over the new test paper.

Compared to the test paper William had, the test paper they had was much more difficult. William had tried to use it as a job guidance question for seventh graders, and judging from the results, it was so difficult that there was no need to calculate the pass rate.

'If that answer were perfect... I reckon the professors at Durmstrang would challenge me to a duel...'

While it may sound a bit far-fetched, the core of a school's education system is actually quite simple: determine the direction of student development and the general goals to be achieved, and then use the curriculum to guide students' growth.

While spells may look cool, aside from a few core spells, the focus of the other spells is not significantly affected. Most spells can be replaced by other spells with similar effects.

Take William's old profession, potion making, for example. It's not so important which potion he learns; what's important is to master the basic rules of potion making and be able to apply them flexibly by learning from simple to complex potions.

Once you understand the core principles, the methods for preparing most of the medicines are almost identical. Just like Gobarlot's Third Law for antidotes, the antidote for a mixture of poisons is greater than the sum of the antidotes of each individual ingredient. Once you understand this principle, those specific antidotes will simply be a way to reduce costs for you, and it won't matter if you can't remember them.

If a student can only learn one potion by teaching one potion, then they can probably only pass the OWLs exam and become a failing potion master, making it almost impossible for them to continue their career.

But here's the problem: because neither of the two children is mediocre at all, they received an almost perfect education under the Durmstrang system, answering questions fluently and logically. It can only be said that the school's management is too strict and its secrecy too good. Although they are both studying dark magic, they have not yet had any formal contact with the dark side of magical society.

'As expected... that swindler who stole all the money from the prison cell should stay in Azkaban...'

For no apparent reason, William thought of the swindler he had taught a lesson to.

While rambling on, he carefully put away the test paper and watched the two continue working on the questions—because of the long hours spent answering questions, the other professors had already finished their questioning and discussion, and were acknowledging Durmstrang's educational level, while they were still continuing.

Professor Baker had glanced in this direction several times, clearly dissatisfied with each and every set of exam papers.

He could even imagine Professor Baker's inner turmoil—one set of papers wasn't enough? Were the professors at Hogwarts so unwilling to admit defeat? What was the point of having a few more sets of papers?

Seeing that the professor was about to lose his temper, William had no choice but to interrupt the two students who were struggling to add more answers.

"Alright, adding more information won't necessarily make the answer better. I think we'll end the assessment here for today."

-

"...Let's stop here."

The professor opposite her uttered a voice that sounded like heavenly music—just before Doris was about to suffocate, a spell, like a savior, severed the rope that was choking her.

If she had heard those words in the first place, she definitely wouldn't have done it this way.

But as my feet sank deeper and deeper into that quagmire called the exam paper, and my lungs were so compressed I couldn't breathe, I simply couldn't accept the next sentence, "Let's have some more challenging exam papers."

The previous test had exhausted her, and she didn't even dare to listen to the results. As for this one, even without a result, she was well aware that even a failing grade like a P was something she could only dream of.

If Professor Baker hadn't been there, and if Durmstrang's consistently high-pressure school rules hadn't been in place, she would have wanted to collapse on the spot and celebrate the end of her nightmare with some special gesture.

'The first one next door should be…'

The thought crossed her mind, and then she heard barely audible gasps.

'So you can be this disheveled too…'

Such a thought involuntarily surfaced, only to be interrupted by a sudden sound.

“Professor William,” Professor Baker’s voice was very distinctive, even in English. Doris couldn’t help but tense up and subconsciously resumed her usual expression.

"Thank you for your patient testing. I think they will appreciate this exchange."

Professor Baker said sincerely, "But how are their grades? Well, they're all in the top ten of fifth grade, which is pretty good, isn't it?"

'You should be at the Ministry of Magic instead of staying at Durmstrang as a professor… You can fool even the biggest con artists in Azkaban…'

While inwardly criticizing, William replied amicably, "Overall, they have a fairly solid foundation in dark magic and dueling—but I can't comment on your school's war magic... Hmm, two very talented children."

-

How are you all feeling?

After Professor Baker and the students left, Professor Corey asked with a smile.

"Without a doubt, the top students were selected—and who knows what preparations were made, the questions were extremely tricky."

"Yes, compared to those students, our own preparations are rather lacking. It seems our friends have done a lot of preparation work; what a warm welcome they've given us."

"If I'm not mistaken, they probably want to embarrass us. I think this list could easily be used as a backup for the Warriors in next year's Triwizard Tournament."

"Yes, but Professor William is ruthless—five exam papers, or six?"

“Five,” William replied tactfully. “A very friendly test. The other party is fluent in English, which saved me a lot of work—it would have been a real hassle if we had to communicate in German.”

“German will be used quite a bit,” Professor Corey waved his hand. “Out of the principle of friendly exchange, the library will definitely be open for a few days. After all, they’re going to Hogwarts next year and they’re waiting for us to open up too.”

Sure enough, just as Professor Corey had predicted, Professor Baker came over shortly after the exchange to inform everyone that, "Because of this friendly exchange, the school library is now open. Professors who are interested can go there and see Durmstrang's valuable collection."

Of course, according to Professor Baker, some of the older books and those involving dark magic and bloodshed are banned even at Durmstrang, so they cannot be accessed for the time being. The professors at Hogwarts need to understand this.

“They’re so stingy,” Professor Corey shook his head. “They’ve always been like this, unlike Hogwarts, where the restricted section is truly restricted.”

...

Don't make fun of the second brother like that...

“Finally, we’re seeing the benefits of the visit,” Adams whispered to William. “Although Professor Corey has been rambling on, Durmstrang’s library is quite nice, with a number of rare books. William, which ones would you like to see? I might be able to help—I’m pretty good at German on my own.”

“That would be great,” William said sincerely. Although he had undergone intensive training for a period of time, his spoken English was still stammering and his handwriting was far from good, so it would really take some effort for him to find the information on his own.

"Books related to war magic, especially those that are a bit dirty—" Although the books are preserved with magic, it only delays their deterioration; the traces of use are still there.

"Anything related to black magic that has an evil or unusual name is fine, but anything too dirty is not acceptable."

He didn't quite understand the system of war magic, so he naturally preferred the more basic kind. As for black magic, he preferred the more advanced kind—probably because of the discrimination he faced, people who studied black magic would become even more… well, have a strong desire to perform once they had the opportunity to show it off.

Chapter 327 Magic and the Differences Between Magic

While William urged the quills to work diligently in Durmstrang while no one was watching, the Quidditch pitch on the Hogwarts campus was already filled with cheerful laughter.

If there's anything more exciting than receiving a Firebolt, it's getting a broom and suddenly discovering you have the entire Quidditch field to use during the holidays, free to fly around as you please.

And when this joy is shared with friends, it doesn't just not dissipate, it expands like an enlargement spell, taking over every corner of your body.

That's what Harry thinks right now. At this moment, the Quidditch pitch is almost entirely red – George, Fred, Ron, Ginny, and almost all the Weasley kids who stayed at school are here.