Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Visitors to the Court of Magical Examinations (Edited)
In an atmosphere of anxiety and panic, June has arrived. Exams are just around the corner. During this time, teachers of all subjects stopped giving homework to 5th and 7th graders and, instead of teaching new material, devoted all class time to review. The 5th and 7th graders spend almost all their time in the library. Review took up all their time after class; even Wood cut back on his Quidditch practice.
Good thing the Quidditch Cup had been decided before exams started; otherwise, Wood would have faced the hardest decision of his life.
Gradually, the students' chatter turned to daily reviews and gossip.
Percy seemed to be a bit of a maniac and habitually asked the others how long they were studying, and if he discovered that they were studying more than he was, he became anxious and decided to study for an extra hour in the afternoon. Of course, he also wanted to dispel any rumors about exams. For example, if you were friends with the examiners at the Magical Examinations Court, you could get them to "give you a hand."
Tom, as a teacher, was also busy summarizing points, betting on questions, drafting warm-up papers, and....
"Meyer! Hand over what you've got." Tom stopped two furtive students in the hallway. When they called his name, Gus Meyer panicked and tried to hide a jar, but Tom snatched it away with a summoning spell.
"What did he tell you this was?" Tom looked at another student, a fifth-year Hufflepuff boy, as he remembered.
"Dragon Claw Powder, Professor," he said, tilting his head, "You said in class that this powder improves memory and makes the mind extra sharp for a few hours."
Gus Meyer also sneered that last year he'd gotten eight honors on the selectivity exams precisely because he'd taken the memory-enhancing powder when he reviewed.
Tom nodded, introduced this magic powder.
Tom glanced at the jar of powder, made a disgusted face, and said to the prospective candidate, "Then you should have the most basic ability to distinguish, and you should be able to tell that this is the dried excrement of foxes. Although it is not poisonous, but I don't think you can strengthen your memory by eating it."
Candidate: ???
The anger in his eyes almost turned to substance.
Tom confiscated the jar of powder and dumped it down the drain.
It was just a small detail of his daily routine.
The day before the exams, the examiners from the Court of Magical Examinations also arrived at Hogwarts before dinner.
Dumbledore led all the professors out of Hogwarts to greet the examiners, who were on average over eighty years old. They had arrived on brooms. At the head of the group was a small, hunchbacked witch, with wrinkles like cobwebs, like an old witch from a fairy tale.
Dumbledore smiled kindly as he saw her, "Griselda, welcome back to Hogwarts! Did you have a good trip?"
Professor Marchbanks seemed a bit deaf, as she answered Dumbledore in a surprisingly loud voice.
"It's been a good trip!" She said with a smile, "It's been a long time, Albus, it seems like only yesterday you were taking exams!".
She then proceeded to tell her colleagues about the time when Dumbledore had sat for exams N.E.W.T. Back then, when Dumbledore had taken his final exams, she was the examiner for Transfiguration and Charms, and Dumbledore had done things with the wand that she had never seen
Tom wondered on the sidelines, Dumbledore was born in July 1881, he was 17 when he took the exam in 1898, it was now 1993, Griselda Marchbanks was at least 113 years old, and if you take into account the special nature of her position as an examiner, she was most likely over 120 years old! And she has been with the Court of Magical Examinations for over a hundred years.
A hundred years!
Who can last in a job for a hundred years? over a century! When she joined the Magical Examining Board, there was Czarist Russia, and now that the Soviet Union, heir to Czarist Russia, is dead, she's still working for the Examining Board!
Later in the conversation, Tom also learned that this Marchbanks was also a high-ranking member of the Wizengamot. The Wizengamot had existed before the Ministry of Magic, a combination of court and parliament.
After seeing Professor Marchbanks, Tom suddenly understood why the magical world was so at odds with the non-magical world: the magical world itself was slow-paced, with long-lived wizards like Griselda still retaining their early 20th century ways, while at the same time Muggle technology was advancing at a breakneck pace, pitting Muggles and wizards against each other. This separated Muggles and witches within a generation.
Who would have thought that in just fifty years technology would have advanced so much?
Fifty years ago, who would have thought that people could talk long distance through two disconnected boxes?
Griselda Marchbanks was interrupted by a Wizengamot senator, Tiberius Ogden, who, along with his friend Professor Tofty, shouted, "Griselda! Don't you repeat that phrase every year you see Dumbledore? We've heard it dozens of times."
Griselda took no offense at the interruption and followed Dumbledore into the school.
Professor Tofty quickly caught up with Tom and shook his hand. As he introduced himself, Tom learned that he was the examiner for this year's practical exams in Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Astronomy.
"I hear you're this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" He gave Tom a critical look, "I've seen your papers in the Office, they're interesting; I hear you also have a self-combat Alchemy puppet."
Tom chatted very patiently with this interesting old man. When they entered the Great Hall, dinner had just begun. The Great Hall was silent, everyone was eating quietly, and everyone walked to the staff table, attracting the attention of most.
Tonight, countless young wizards had stayed up all night. They were all trying to make the most of their last hours of revision, hugging Merlin's feet in the hope that Master Merlin would bless them, but no one seemed able to win Merlin's favor.
Finally, one by one, the young wizards drifted off to sleep in a state of anxiety.
After breakfast the next day, the little wizards from other grades went to class as usual, the fifth and seventh graders stayed in the hall, and after a while, they would go to the examination room.
According to the schedule, there was a written exam in the morning and a practical exam in the afternoon.
At nine o'clock, Tom and Professor Flitwick were in the foyer for their final pre-test check.
Chapter 203: Chapter 203: End of the course (1) (Edited)
"Gilderoy, we must check carefully and there must be no omissions!" warned Professor Flitwick. Every year during the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams, there were always some little wizards who tried to cheat by any means possible.
The reason why cheating is so common in the magical world is that the punishments for cheating are not strong enough. If a mage is caught cheating, he or she will only be disqualified from the subject and can still take the exam. If a Muggle is caught cheating on an exam, their results are invalidated and they are suspended for one to three years. The penalty for illegal use of listening or photographic devices is up to two years imprisonment, detention or control.
Both penalties are very different.
In addition, grades for each subject in the magical world are calculated independently. If a Muggle has a grade taken away from a subject, it screws up the exam: someone gets a perfect 750, you get a perfect 600, what the hell. Unlike the wizarding world, if they take away your History of Magic grade, so be it, and you can find a job that doesn't require a History of Magic certificate.
However, so far, no Hogwarts wizard has ever been caught cheating on exams, because Hogwarts professors are so good at countering cheating that wizards are caught before they even start cheating, without missing a beat, which is just called attempted cheating, and the dean will just look at it closely and confiscate the tools to commit the crime.
The way to combat cheating is also very simple: young wizards are forbidden to use their own quills and ink during exams.
It's as simple as that. But it worked well.
Without electronic devices, the only way to cheat was with ink and quills; the other options of magic potions, bandages and charms never crossed the professors' minds.
Potions? Most likely to cause only psychological suggestion and food poisoning. cheat sheet? An "accio" before entering the place will solve it. As for charms, is there really any being that can bless a magician? In the magical world, there is no such thing.
Flitwick stood in front of the students and pulled out his wand, "Children, get out your quills and ink, memory balls are not allowed in the exam classroom, and I remind you that all O.W.L. papers have a particularly severe anti-cheating spell that even I can't break."
The last statement was a lie, of course Professor Flitwick could break it, he just needs a little movement.
A few small wizards moved and handed Professor Flitwick the quills and vials of ink. Professor Flitwick didn't even bother to look, he could have guessed with his own fingernails that the quills and ink were mature stationery and could answer the questions themselves.
How fragile is trust between people?
[Did you see the TV remote control?]
[No!]
[Move your ass!]
How fragile is trust between magicians?
"Have they given it all away?"
"Yes."
"Accio!" Professor Flitwick broke the trust between wizards, using the summoning spell to find several novel props for cheating on exams: an improved version of the loose sleeve cheat sheet (which can do keyword searches); a motion replicator bracelet (which can replicate a classmate's hand movements); telescoping Goggles (can see farther)....
Professor Flitwick put all these objects away, one by one, expressionless, and then subtracted points from their owners based on their academic record, as well as assigning them punishment time. After all this, it was time for exams.
The Great Hall had been redecorated and the long tables of the four Houses had been replaced by small tables with quills, ink bottles and rolls of parchment. Professor McGonagall stood at the faculty table, a huge hourglass in her hand. The young wizards dutifully entered the Great Hall and found their seats, and when the last one was seated, Professor McGonagall turned the hourglass over.
"You may now begin answering questions."
Outside the Great Hall, Professor Flitwick fiddled with the confiscated items and exclaimed, "These cheating toys are getting really creative! Especially the inventor of the motion replica bracelet, what a genius! How did he come up with such an idea?".
The O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams were held at the same time and shared the same location, lasting a total of two weeks.
The first week is devoted to Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Ancient Runes. These are mainly written exams in the morning and practical exams in the afternoon.
The second week is devoted to Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, Divination, Arithmancy and History of Magic. Astronomy practical exams are in the afternoon.
The fifth and seventh graders Tom taught did well and got results commensurate with their efforts.
Everything was going well.
On the afternoon of the History of Magic exams, Hogwarts was in full swing as the fifth and seventh year students, relieved of their burdens, began a frenzy of celebrations, ignoring the fact that young wizards from other years were still studying hard.
They just wanted to blow off some steam!
On this crazy night, Professor Lockhart, who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, knocked on the door of Dumbledore's office....
The next day was Saturday. At breakfast time, Professor Lockhart's place at the cloister table was empty again, but the young wizards were used to it: Professor Lockhart had missed breakfast many times during the school year, and it was perfectly normal.
The unusual thing was that Professor Dumbledore stood up when the Great Hall was almost full, and Professor McGonagall, at his side, tapped her silver spoon against the goblet to silence everyone.
"To all Hogwarts students and staff, I apologize for disturbing you while you eat, but I need to make this sad announcement before you leave."
The young wizards stopped swallowing and looked silently at Professor Dumbledore, waiting for his next words.
"Our beloved Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, left us last night...".
The young wizards stood confused for a moment, many of them not reacting: what was going on? How was it possible that Professor Lockhart was alive yesterday morning and this morning he had gone to see Merlin?
Not only the students, but also the professors were stunned: not even a full year had passed yet! Could the curse happen earlier?
Even some of the young witches were on the verge of tears, but fortunately Dumbledore didn't dwell on it for long: "...he sent me his letter of resignation last night and now he's left Hogwarts."
It wasn't as scary as the first half of the sentence, but it was strong enough to make the young wizards almost jump at the news.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment