章節 149: Ch. 149 Masteries
Like Dumbledore said, he organized a school wide assembly the very next day to announce what was found.
The entire Great Hall was filled with students, nervous and restless after yesterday's events.
But they all quieted down when they saw the elderly man walk up to the podium.
"Yesterday, a day which was to be celebrated, has now become a day for grim reminders of the problems our times are tackling.
This tournament was meant to encourage the forming of relations between our excellent young wizards and witches and foster and promote magical understanding between one another. But the actions of a few in the shadows have changed things.
We have found troubling truths about the events which had occurred. The Ministry would like for each of us to ignore the signs and the dangers coming at our doors, to believe the world is safe and that nothing can harm you. But it is not fair to decide the truth for others. It should not be permissible to have the events which will impact you, hidden by those too afraid to face them.
And that is why I stand before all of you here today. To announce that Voldemort has truly returned."
That caused nearly everyone listening to gasp and start talking amongst themselves due to the very direct declaration by the Dumbledore, but he continued to speak and people listened.
"He and his servants, used the tournament to get to young mister Potter and try to kill him upon his return.
Many will try to run from this dark and terrible truth. To ignore the turbulent currents and repeating acts of a decade and a half ago.
Voldemort and his men are keen to sow discord amongst us. To divide us and make us fear him once again. And it is natural to feel afraid. To fear what so many do. But it is also an opportunity, for each and everyone of us, to show the world true acts of courage and kindness in the face of that fear.
This is why it is more important then ever to hold onto these bonds we forge between each other and remember that although we come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one.
It is through these bonds we share that we can free ourselves from the shadows trying to worm themselves into our hearts. It is through these bonds that we can find a guiding light in front of what we think is too dark to face.
And so never forget the strength which each and everyone of you hold within yourselves. Because it only takes one brave spark to start the flames which can banish the shadows." And with that, the man finished his speech and let everyone return to their own devices.
Only time will tell if the students would act as the canon. Unfortunately there is no martyr to rally behind this time. No one died as a result of my interference, making events less impactful for students in general. It's obviously a good thing that Cedric is alive and well, but I will have to keep an eye on how things develop from there.
I could already see many Slytherin students having smug looks on their faces. They couldn't possibly understand what it's really like to be under Voldemort. They think it's all about putting people they've been taught are inferior down, but their parents conveniently forget the torture or death their so called lord will give them at any moment he wishes. They don't understand that he doesn't care about your status or your blood at all. Annoying him means death. Disappointment means death. Wanting to quite means death. Not obeying his every order means death. And they can't even fathom the fact that he gave you an impossible task or tell you to kill your parents, after which you would have to do it or die.
That's why it's so frustrating to watch all these young idiots ready to throw their lives away because they were taught to hate. Told they were somehow better. They were never taught true responsibilities of Lordship. Never were they told the whole truth. They only see the glamorous surface they were told about.
Luckily i was able to have proper talks with the entirety of the Ravenclaw house and I had James and Susan capable of talking with the Puffs.
For my house, logic and reason were the best ways to get things across. A solid, fact based breakdown of events to help them understand what happened and what they can do about.
Although some of them were still skeptical and weren't ready to face the most feared man in the last 50 years, the rest were thinking about what to do and how this will affect them.
For kids of Pureblood families my advice was simple. The major thing to do was convince their parents and family of what is to come and make sure they start preparing properly. Activate and fortify their homes wards and defenses. Have them put pressure on the ministry to act or properly fund the Aurors at least. Form alliances with other houses in order to have people to aid you in a crisis.
Half-bloods were a bit tricker. Some had ancestry with older houses which could possibly aid them during troubled times, but others had only a generation or two of magical blood in them. My general advice was for them to not stay in places without any other wizards around. To also try to have their parents pressure the ministry in general because even they have to listen to the people or Fudge would be fucked.
For Muggleborns I already had places to protect them, but I didn't want to reveal my secrets to the public yet so I gave them the means to contact Scott for help in securing themselves and their families. Unfortunately their voices just didn't matter in the wizarding world, so them trying to put pressure on the ministry wouldn't as effective if others didn't pitch in as well, but i am still encouraged them to try.
They were simple solutions but all I could really give them at the moment. No one outside of a few know my real strength and personal promises of protection would be seen as unreliable since I'm too young, even if I am a monstrous student.
James informed me that too many within the Puffs had doubts, even with Dumbledore saying the twit is back, those not wanting to believe it were convincing their groups of friends to not do so as well. It was basically a circle of people blindly following the blind. Only a few from each year was willing to believe in the worst to come and try to prepare for it at least, instead of sticking their heads in the sand and hoping no one sees them.
I knew the Lions were going to pick one side and then just stick to it. Way too stubborn and that'll be Harry's problem in all honesty. Even I don't want to have to deal with all those bullheaded teenagers because they'll believe whatever and stick with it until it's either true or blows up in their faces.
And the stupid members of the Snakes are acting like this is the best thing ever, while people like Tory and Daphne are rallying the actually cunning people of that house and formulating plans to survive what is coming.
It was actually a pleasant change of pace to have exams happening after everything that happened this. My final exams as a Hogwarts student.
I had less than most students for sure, but my mastery tests would more than make for it.
Each test will be overseen by 3 certified masters of the field, require the applicant to present the needed level of proficiency in the field to be a master and show original research fit for the title. So it's kinda like a doctorate, except that depending on the field something might explode.
Good thing I was over-prepared for my masteries. No explosions make the judges happy.
So here I stood in front of three aged masters for the potion mastery.
"So you're the punk who believes he can be a potion master before even being out of Hogwarts?" A grumpy Tommy Lee Jones looking master said after he read my file.
"Yes I am." I answered calmly.
"And why should we consider a snot-nosed brat like you to even be capable of being a potions master?" He then asked with narrowed.
"I publish a certified book detailing the improvements of 59 existing potions and a complete list of changes which occur depending on what kind of improvement is done. I've had 14 potions accepted into Breaking Grounds specialty list. I am the one who created the Werewolf suppressant which has gained approval from 8 different magical ministries. And finally, I forced Severus Snape to give me Outstanding with distinction in every work I've handed in since my first year." I replied with confidence.
"And why should that brat giving you good grades matter here? It is known that he heavily favors his house." He dismissively replied as he tried to find something to make me nervous with.
"Because I wasn't in Slytherin." I answered with a calm smile as I looked at them.
"Well then, you might be worth something after all then." He finally admitted with a cough.
After that I was asked to show my research paper and brew a variety of difficult potions which can be done in a short amount of time.
They couldn't find a single fault and even had to ask for clarifications on various actions and written directions during my tests.
That was the most time consuming mastery simply because one has to brew many potions perfectly after defending your research.
The next one on my schedule was Herbology.
The first part of any mastery is pretty much the same for each one; theoretical knowledge test and research defense.
The second part is the practical application. For that I took the masters panel to the Bones family garden I had created with Susan, and let's just say that they just didn't want to leave after noticing the supposedly impossible to grow plants everywhere. Mother isn't really interested so she never really knew about the insane stuff I was growing which would make any Herbologist cream their pants, so it was nice getting such a reaction from masters.
The next day was probably my most magically taxing one, having charms and transfiguration masteries back to back.
The practical test for the former involved the casting of dozens of charms, with questions following various applications of each one. After that I could cast my own original spell, which was my Iustus Patronus. If they think a full-bodied patronus was difficult, then my advance version designed to take the spell even further was beyond them. They couldn't believe the strength of the spell and when they heard it had the ability to kill a dementor they were gobsmacked.
The Transfiguration testing was a bit easier overall since I was a registered animagus, already showing the ability and knowledge need to achieve a high level in the art. What really secured my spot was when I transfigured a statue into a very realistic dragon with defensive runes built into it to make very hard to take down.
The following day was different since they decided to mix my Runes and Wards exams due to their intrinsically linked nature.
The testing revolves around using runes on specific objects to achieve the required results, but I went about three steps further using my own rune language and created objects they would need a month of careful work in minutes. One of the judges almost fainted because he felt like he wasted his life.
'So that's how it feels like to be one of those monstrous prodigies in Wuxia novels.' I thought with a smile as I watched the judges.
The warding test was pretty fun. I made a Ward with a ward, within a ward, within ward, with the only thought in my mind being wardception. Then i created an interconnected system capable of stopping pretty much anyone that wasn't keyed in to enter or notice the protected area. And I finished with my House-elf blocking ward, something which got mixed responses since wizards look down on them too much and only a few would realize that this is the only method in existence right now which can stop any random elf from coming and going as they please.
My next masteries were to be in Arithmancy and Healing.
The Arithmancy masters didn't even test me when I got there. They immediately took out my books on the subject and began asking me question after question on my thought process and minute details they couldn't figure out from just the book themselves. It was more like I was the master during this one and they loved being able to see all the modified spell theory in action as I began casting the spells and explaining how each section of the math changed what aspects of the spells.
For the healing one, I was taken to St. Mungo's and spent the rest of the day dealing with emergency, long-term care and minor patients, while also doing a few check-ups and some potion prescriptions. Let's just say the matrons were really surprised when the few long-term care patients I was assigned started becoming not so long-term after I had a proper look at them. They even made me stay an extra three hours to check patients they had given up hopes on curing. Unfortunately I am not capable of curing everyone. If it is a physical problem then I am confident in healing pretty much anything. Missing limbs? I can grow those back. Certain parts are paralyzed? I can get a paraplegic to walk again. But insanity, mental deficiencies, memory tampering and degradation aren't my area of expertise. Good thing I have a wifey which is probably the best in the world when it comes to the brain and is very determined to be a healer.
Needless to say it was a tiring day, but I knew I passed for sure. It was also fulfilling talking with curious people and helping others.
But my last day was supposed to be the most physically demanding: Defense against the dark arts and Dueling.
Those testing me for DADA weren't exactly nice either, they decided to throw me into a gauntlet of traps, creatures and even a few dark wizards they brought out from Azkaban for a bit. They even had smirks on their faces when a dementor was let loose against me. It was satisfying to see the look of absolute shock when i killed it right then and there.
The test would be very challenging for pretty much all wizards, but I was just better on all fronts so it wasn't a particular problem. It did make me work up a sweat though and I was wondering if I should make something similar but harder to train in the future. Didn't even have to show them Protego Sanctum.
My final practical test, the one for my dueling mastery, was a simulation of how a tournament would function but on fast forward. I would fight progressively stronger duelers one after another until I reached the 'champion' which was one of the masters.
Only the master lasted more than then moves. He stood in front of me for twelve. The performance shocked them and then they remembered I went through another mastery test before this and got downright nervous about the amount of power and skill I had.
But I was happy to be able to finish the mastery tests I wished to undertake and do the NEWT's for History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Astronomy. I think I can safely say I got the most out of Hogwarts and more than finished my education.
創作者的想法 
Alexander_the_grey
Alexander_the_grey I feel really self-conscious about my Dumbledore speech. Hard to get his mix of vague advice and truth right. Also I had to include that little bit from the movie speech.
Not really going to talk about the NEWT’s because it’s way bellow him at this point. Got through the masteries with a bit of fun too.
Next is graduation, emotional times.
Enjoy.
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