From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Meanwhile, William and Moody, who had already dried their clothes with magic, returned to the table with Lupin. This prompted several familiar faculty members to start talking, and they quickly came to the conclusion that the sudden rain, which smelled of magic potions, was caused by these three.

However, today a very senior new colleague arrived, and the usual hushed banter was gone. Everyone was quiet, as if they were watching a solemn concert rather than an annual orientation ceremony.

As another student was being sorted into a college, Adams approached.

"Did they use artificial rain again today?"

“Yes, it’s a routine check,” William replied in a low voice.

"You guys are really..."

Adams was just about to shake his head when he saw Professor McGonagall's gaze sweep over him. He quickly shut up and started watching the Sorting Ceremony. It wasn't until the formal meal began that they started discussing the rain problem from that day.

"So, you and Professor Moody both stood Professor Lupin up?"

After William briefly explained why Lupin looked unhappy, Adams laughed.

"You guys are really..."

He was about to say something, but Dumbledore interrupted him.

"This year, we are delighted to welcome a new teacher. Professor Slughorn!"

As Dumbledore finished speaking, Slughorn, who had been exchanging pleasantries with the other professors, stood up and greeted everyone with an extremely amiable smile—though he didn't gain much, most people recognized his absolute professionalism after just one glance at the professor's head.

“He was a former colleague of mine. He agreed to return to his old job as a Potions teacher, responsible for grades five, six, and seven.”

Dumbledore's voice was still ringing out, and Slughorn nodded with a smile, then sat down.

The three grades that were called upon immediately lit up with hopeful smiles—judging from the new professor's smile, his classes should be much easier than Professor Snape's!

Especially the students who had just entered sixth grade, they started whispering among themselves without a care in the world—if it weren't for Professor Snape teaching potions in sixth grade, they might be able to attend advanced classes?

Each professor has their own standards. Previously, Professor Snape only accepted the best students, and due to his temperament, many people gave up on Potions class. But now it's completely different.

The fifth-year students, except for Slytherin, were even happier—as if most of the pressure of the year had disappeared.

But it wasn't over yet. While the students were whispering among themselves, Dumbledore suddenly announced some huge news.

“Meanwhile, Professor Snape,” he raised his voice to drown out the murmurs, “will be teaching Divination to the fifth-year students.”

Chapter 515, First Lesson

"I still can't understand how Snape suddenly became a Divination professor..."

Before the first self-defense class of the new semester, the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs sat in the classroom, all incredibly sleepy, yet too afraid to lie down and sleep, so they could only continue to use the hot topics from last night to keep themselves awake.

Unfortunately, Professor William, the professor of this course, is notoriously strict. No student who has gone through OWLS years dares to say that they passed Professor William's course with ease.

"God knows what he's thinking—I heard he plans to use the divination course as practice to reform his teaching methods... to prove he's no less capable than Professor William..."

Ron spoke mysteriously about the information he had gathered, which made the students around him laugh. Because of Professor Snape's outstanding performance in grades, topics about Snape were very easy to resonate with these students as long as they were not positive.

Just as they were laughing happily, the door was pushed open with a very faint creak.

The students, who had been laughing happily, immediately fell silent, and everyone focused their attention on the podium as Professor William walked quickly up to it with a thick paper bag in his hand.

Good morning, everyone.

William glanced around the classroom at the students. "I think I don't need to introduce myself—we've all gotten to know each other quite well from the monthly exams over the years."

This introduction successfully silenced the classroom, and everyone remembered Professor Lupin's monthly disappearances and the abrupt appearance of something called the monthly exams at Hogwarts.

William patted his paper bag. "Thanks to all the exams over the years, and with a little help from Professor Lupin, I have a general idea of ​​each of your progress. This means that our usual placement test at the beginning of the semester can now be replaced with a more interesting format."

The news was so shocking that everyone was stunned for a moment, and then the classroom was filled with incredulous whispers.

What kind of international joke is this!

Everyone says that Professor William is the professor who is best at giving exams and loves giving exams the most. Some people even say that Professor William has a bookshelf full of all kinds of exam papers. But now, this professor is telling them that they don't need to take the usual placement test at the beginning of the semester.

Merlin's socks, this is even more unbelievable than Snape teaching divination—is the professor under some strange curse?

Aside from a dramatic look of disappointment on Hermione's face, almost everyone stared at William with wide eyes after understanding what he was saying—Professor, you spoke too fast. Could you repeat it so we can feel that sudden happiness?

"Everyone seems quite surprised—how about I go to the office and find a suitable test paper to conduct a test?"

William smiled and spoke in a voice that sounded like the devil to the students.

"No need, Professor!"

"No, please don't!"

...

A jumble of responses erupted, making the classroom quite chaotic for a moment.

“Don’t be so nervous. You’re different from the previous students,” William said, pulling several bound report cards from the paper bag. “Although you didn’t have a structured learning process starting from first grade, Professor Lupin spent two whole years making up for your shortcomings…”

"Without a doubt, Professor Lupin is an excellent professor, and I don't think anyone would disagree with that."

William picked up the report card. "Judging from the monthly exam results, you have a very solid grasp of the knowledge points and have mastered the content covered in the syllabus quite well. This is a very good start. We may be a little more tired this year, but we definitely don't need to do excessive practice to fill in the gaps in your knowledge system like previous students did."

He wasn't joking—he had been keeping an eye on Harry's class by their monthly exam scores and had also discussed teaching issues with Lupin quite a bit.

If students trained in this way need an excessive number of practice tests, then the OWLS exam will definitely have problems.

"Of course, don't think it will be too easy—this year is OWLS year, so the pressure of studying will definitely be greater than last year."

“I will reduce the number of daily assessments as appropriate, unless there is a significant change in your grades. I will also reduce the amount of homework and try to only assess key issues. But all of this is on the premise that you can ensure that your grades remain within a certain range.”

He glanced at the somewhat surprised students below, "So, please maintain your good grades, and don't make me give you the amount of homework that last year's students did."

"Next, we will begin a simple assessment. Everyone, come and draw your respective spells according to the list—move your chairs aside and line up!"

In less than three minutes, the classroom was transformed into the space William needed—Lupin had done this so many times that the students were quite familiar with it.

"Harry, what are you standing there for?"

William glanced at Harry standing in the line. "You take the test over here, and I'll take it over here. It'll be faster if we take both tests together!"

As he spoke, he placed a small cloth bag on the table and explained the assessment rules to Harry, who was running over: "Each person will randomly select five spells, record them, and the amount of homework for today will be determined based on the assessment results!"

"You'll just be their opponent—watch your hands, don't end up in the hospital!"

He gave Harry one last piece of advice, then walked confidently to a group of students. "Come on, draw your test questions and then use them in front of me."

"Hannah Abbott!"

The familiar name made William look up – the child was old Tom's granddaughter.

Of course, this Tom is not that Tom; he is the owner of the Leaky Cauldron.

Based on their friendship alone, he had to make sure Hannah passed the OWLS exam excessively—specifically by giving her more homework and targeted practice tests.

Completely unaware of the true nature of the magical society, the girl boldly stepped forward and, under William's encouraging gaze, pulled out the first slip of paper.

[Obstacle Spell.]

William glanced at it, tapped the chalk with his finger, and then transformed it into a shield.

"Attack it."

Hannah took a slight breath, then cast the spell with perfect form—the shield remained unharmed.

"Posture is correct, but the force is too weak. Time is acceptable. Pass normally."

William nodded. "Next test."

"Professor, how do I judge the standards for spells here...?"

Harry had been quietly observing William's actions, but after watching the entire assessment process, he suddenly became speechless—he didn't know the standards at all…

“Oh…I almost forgot…Harry, you could use the Ironclad Charm, or try conjuring a shield.”

Harry quickly cast the Armor Charm, and William casually pointed, the spell lightly striking the Armor Charm's shield and causing a ripple.

“This level of strength is acceptable. If it feels slightly off, it’s a bit weak. If it’s significantly off, it’s a failure… You know the casting time and posture.” William thought for a moment and then added, “Don’t go easy on students you know. If I catch you, all the Gryffindor students will have their homework doubled.”

As soon as William finished speaking, the forced smiles on the faces of the Gryffindors on Harry's side vanished without a trace.

William didn't care about that. He turned to Hannah and said, "Next test."

...

The assessment proceeded smoothly, and the students were happy with it—it was better than doing test papers.

"Next!"

William tapped the parchment, recording the students' grades, and glanced at Harry, who was helping out.

To his surprise, Harry was already able to successfully conjure a shield to replace the Ironclad Charm for testing, and his recording method was also moving in his direction. Although he was still using a wand, he could already record the student's score after a single tap.

'Strange—I didn't teach him any spells in this area, and judging from his initial performance, he really didn't know any… When did his talent for polymorph become so high?'

William was somewhat curious—he knew Harry's talent; this kind of Transfiguration talent, which could be learned through observation and gradual exploration, couldn't possibly be found in Harry…

“Harry,” he stopped the test, called out to Harry, and snapped his fingers with his left hand as Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression, “Try this!”

A flame ignited near his fingers, then transformed into a fiery rope that rapidly wove together in the air, quickly forming a shield resembling a constantly burning vine.

This unfounded requirement left a group of students waiting for the test completely baffled—there were no incantations, no waving of the wand during the spell, and no explanation of the underlying principles; a spell was simply cast randomly, and then the students were expected to learn it.

Is this what the world of OWLS is like?

Is this what the OWLS exam tests?

Take your time, there's no rush.

William smiled at Harry, then looked at the remaining students. "Let's continue the test. This time, try the new shield."

"If you can extinguish it or break it, you will get extra points—the rest of the judging criteria are the same."

But this was clearly an impossible task. Although subsequent students tried more spells after the initial five, the result was exactly the same: all the spells they knew had no effect on the shield.

But Harry was different—he tried to change the shape of the shield every time he cast a spell, and by the time the students had done most of the tests, he could even use objects to shapeshift and weave an ugly shield.

William had just finished his test, and he glanced at Harry's shield. "Protect with all your might, Harry."

"Yes, Professor!"

Harry nodded, then used all his strength to weave a super ugly but incredibly heavy shield. William swung his wand—and the shield shattered.

It's going to work out.

'His magical control has improved as expected, his spell power as expected, his casting speed as expected, but his Transfiguration has shown remarkable progress… Was it Harry who performed the Animagus transformation in the Forbidden Forest?'