From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

William tensed up at the sight of the new owl—the previous letter was from Sirius Black, Lupin's best friend outside of school, and this new one…

No matter how much the Ministry of Magic and the school explain, there will always be people who think it's a conspiracy; the magical world isn't as wonderful as it seems.

However, Lupin had stated beforehand that he was prepared for all kinds of personal attacks—since he was determined to go public, he was not afraid of criticism.

However, a short while later, Lupin returned with a letter and a strange expression on his face.

"Professor William, could you please come out for a moment..."

'What's going on? A roaring message? Professor Lupin should be able to handle this himself…'

William, puzzled, followed him out, all the way to Lupin's office, where he finally saw the truth behind the second letter…

It was written by Sirius Black, actually…

"Does he keep a flock of owls?"

William watched as Lupin unfolded the map, covering the entire table, while he grumbled and complained.

It was a huge map, covered with circles of all sizes.

"What is this—a new board game?"

"A treasure map... Bigfoot himself said he suspected those places held the truth about the disappearance of the Muggles from that village..."

"The truth? Hasn't he found those who disappeared yet?"

The plan was made a long time ago, could there have been some deviation?

"No, he said in the letter that he had turned over all the land around the village, but the result was nothing... so..."

Lupin handed the letter directly to William, asking him to see Sirius's line of thought.

"The line of reasoning is sound...it's very likely that something has been hidden..."

William nodded, then examined the map that was covered in scribbles.

"This is all..."

He glanced at it, and the more he looked, the uglier it seemed—"What is this? Who would hide something in a place like that!"

A quill flew up from the left, and William quickly began making annotations on the map.

"This wooded area... is close to a main road. If it hadn't been built later, the other side wouldn't have been able to hide here."

"The terrain here is too low. It's possible to dig a hole to hide treasure, but the Yin Corpse can't be hidden. The workload is too great."

"..."

He eliminated about two-thirds of the locations in one go, all of which were completely unsuitable as treasure troves containing corpses—the conditions for preserving corpses are very demanding, do you really think just any place can keep those guys alive?

Not to mention, some of the marked locations were, in his opinion, completely unsuitable for hiding anything... Places that couldn't even hold temporary goods for smuggling, let alone hide anything? What a joke, impossible...

"Can't it be less?"

Lupin couldn't understand it, but he was greatly shocked. Even so, he still offered ruthless guidance, just like the client.

"It can only be more, not less. In some places, if a group of wizards work together to transform the landscape, they can even store things—but that would compromise secrecy. The other party is hiding it so well, they certainly aren't trying to share it with others."

William clapped his hands, looking at his masterpiece with satisfaction—don't be fooled by how little is left, Sirius will need at least two or three months to finish it.

Finding what other wizards have hidden is no easy task, not to mention the secrecy laws impose a host of restrictions—trying on a few square meters at a time, and the remaining locations would exhaust him to the point of wanting to give up.

'But given Blake's personality... it'll be hard to get him to give up... Once I find the location, I'll go check it out, and see if I can test what I've learned...'

"Professor Lupin, please tell Sirius when you write back that I plan to go with him to see the hidden place after he finds it—of course, not during the summer vacation, but if he's willing, I'll go as soon as possible before the summer vacation."

"No problem, we'll go together. It'll be good to witness the true methods of a dark wizard."

Lupin readily agreed—he knew Sirius too well; all that mattered to the guy was the adventure itself, and being able to share in the adventure was extremely gratifying for him.

-

"Finally... the exam is coming up."

Before the exam, Ron exclaimed – these days have been absolutely unbearable!

The Gryffindors around them nodded in agreement; they shared the sentiment.

You're over there nervously preparing for your exam, while your roommates go out to enjoy the sunshine and their vacation—even if they mean you no harm, it's still unsettling enough, let alone those particularly carefree seventh graders…

After all, they had never experienced Hogsmeade being open to seventh-year students 24/7 before, and these guys had accumulated quite a few Galleons from their internships—once they stormed into Hogsmeade, they were like corporate slaves entering the school store, picking things without even looking at the prices…

Aside from a few exceptional purebreds, how can the pocket money of current students compare to that of soon-to-be graduates earning wages?

These people generously shared their shopping with younger students after a day of shopping. If they were even slightly familiar with someone, they would give them a small bag of treats. But the candy they were given was practically a second blow to the younger students…

"Ron, where are Harry and the others?"

"No exam required..."

Ron responded irritably—he was just one step away from getting the stone sphere, and then he wouldn't have to spend so much time preparing for the self-defense course.

A chorus of envious, jealous, and resentful voices arose around them. Everyone started complaining about why they hadn't worked harder on the previous tests. If they had actually done well, they wouldn't have had to worry about taking the final exam.

Although the level of stress can't compare to OWLS, at least someone will look at my final grades when I get home...

But their regret didn't last long before they saw Lupin, the professor who had been embroiled in the werewolf controversy. He didn't look like any of the legendary werewolves at all and appeared as kind as ever.

"Alright, let's get ready for the exam. I'm sure everyone has been preparing for a long time."

Lupin distributed the exam papers to the first row and had them pass them down.

Less than three minutes later, someone noticed that something was wrong.

"topic…"

He rubbed his eyes curiously, then glanced at the test paper again—why were the questions so easy?

There are quite a few students who enjoy analyzing exam questions. Before long, nearly half of the test takers either discovered it themselves or found out after hearing the exclamations of those around them and then checking their own papers. They all realized that this exam paper was as easy as if the test had been given free rein...

"Are you kidding me..."

Ron was also among the astonished crowd; the question was so simple that he felt guilty for borrowing Hermione's notebook...

"Yes, the scores from this third-grade exam and the last test will be split 50/50, and the total score will be calculated later."

Lupin announced this with a smile.

"Long live!"

The Gryffindor students were the first to cheer, followed by the students from other houses who couldn't contain their excitement—they would be doing themselves a disservice if they didn't get an O on this test, and with the two scores combined, passing was a sure thing!

'Change the grading system to 30/70 for fourth grade, and that will guarantee those daring students a chance of passing…'

As Lupin looked at the students with a smile, he recalled William's subtle advice: be stricter during the semester, be more lenient at the end of the semester, punish when necessary and reward when appropriate...

"Answer the questions carefully. If your mistakes lead to any irreparable consequences, I will not change your score."

"Yes, Professor!"

The third-grade students responded loudly—what werewolf or not? If Professor Lupin isn't allowed to come, are we supposed to have Professor William preside over the exam?

-

"take an exam!"

Hermione was jolted awake from her dream and instinctively wanted to turn on the Time-Turner to get herself to the exam hall as quickly as possible.

But after being shocked for a while, she remembered that because of her perfect score, the professor exempted her from the final exam and defaulted to a grade of 0.

"If it weren't for the exemption... I'd have to use the converter again, right?"

She pulled out the small converter and stared at it in a daze.

In her investigation of Lupin's case, she even used this tool, and as a result, her findings were widely circulated in the newspapers…

"Because of this... I almost embarrassed myself in the maze and didn't get a perfect score... It wasn't just a fluke..."

Hermione recalled her perfect score—she would never have made such a basic mistake if everything had gone smoothly.

'Do I really need to use it?'

She began to seriously confront her own doubts—just like that futile and nerve-wracking investigation… Was it really necessary?

'No... I am who I am. I couldn't learn so many subjects without it, but I'm still number one without it... I've made a mess of myself by worrying about unnecessary subjects...'

After hesitating for a long time, she finally made up her mind and took the time converter off her neck.

"Even without you, I'm still number one."

She took one last look at it, held it in her hand, and left Sussex, heading towards Professor McGonagall's office.

Just as they were passing by the portrait of the Fat Lady, the Weasley brothers were also sneaking by.

Hermione...aren't you taking exams?

Fred asked cautiously.

"The exam is over, and I came in first."

Hermione smiled, then slipped through the tunnel, leaving the two brothers looking completely bewildered.

Chapter 366 Before the Holiday

"How's the grade adjustment going?"

At the dinner table, William added peanut butter to his bread while quietly asking Lupin a question.

"There's one more thing. Calculating second-grade grades is a bit complicated... no matter how you calculate it, there are always kids who fail..."

After the final exams, the next step is to give the students who have spent the entire school year a break, while the professors compile the grades and report them to Professor McGonagall, who will then compile and release the results from the school.

Then comes the summer vacation that professors and students look forward to. Hogwarts has a long and uninterrupted vacation period, with no such thing as a make-up vacation. The semester starts on the second weekend of June and continues until September 1st, with no school ever starting early.

After a busy academic year, the holidays are the best reward for hard work.

"You're not ready yet?"

Adams, standing to William's left, asked curiously, then said with no small amount of pride, "I handed in my grades to Professor Sprout yesterday, and now I have a month-long vacation!"

"How come it's only been a month?"

Lupin asked curiously, "From my experience as a student, Hogwarts' holidays have never been shortened, have they?"

“I have to come back to take care of the greenhouse, and also let Professor Sprout go on vacation. Those precious plants won’t just grow well if you leave them there—they will really die right before your eyes.”