Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 335: Mars and the temple of darkness

Hermione’s advice to Ron also applied to Harry.

Unless Harry did much better than the others, and was impeccable, he would never be treated fairly by Snape.

Snape wouldn’t miss any chance to give Harry a zero, especially considering his recent mood. Even if he gave all Gryffindor a zero, Evan would not be surprised.

After dinner, the students hurried back to their Common Rooms, not to relax, but to start preparing for the following exams.

The second years had Potions, Herbology, Charms, and Astronomy. The third years and above students had Care for Magical Creatures, Divination, and Muggle Studies along with other courses.

Evan saw Fred and George sitting in the corner in deep thought. They were studying how to use quill pens for cheating in the hope of making a difference.

The following morning, Evan went to take the Charms exam, and Harry went to the Care of Magical Creatures exam presided by Hagrid. Everyone felt pretty good.

Professor Flitwick was a very nice professor. He would give all the young wizards marks that were as high as possible.

Thing were even better with Hagrid; his test was to let everyone take care of Flobberworms. To pass the test, their flobberworms had to still be alive at the end of one hour.

As flobberworms flourished best if left on their own, it was the easiest exam any of them had ever taken.

But in the afternoon Potions class, the situation turned sharply. For all Gryffindor students, it was a disaster.

The second years’ Potions test was about the Cure for Boils, the third years’ was about the Confusing Concoction, and Snape had been hanging around Gryffindor, disregarding the actions of the students from the other three Houses.

It wouldn’t be hard to imagine; students trying their best to recall the recipes and the preparation steps, with Snape, wearing a black robe, standing over their heads like an eagle with a sneer on his face and a gloating look, anticipating their failure.

He would also write on his notebook from time to time, moving the quill pen in a circular motion. How bad it would be? It could only be described in one word: horrible!

Apart from Evan, Snape did not spare any Gryffindor students.

He just glanced at the potion Evan cooked up.

His potion showed a light green colour, and a hazy mist appeared out, and the colour was perfect and impeccable.

Snape didn’t say anything, and turned his head directly to see Colin’s work.

Wednesday morning meant Herbology. The content of the exam was to help Mandrake to squeeze the juice. Everyone did a good job. As long as they were brave enough, they would act as quick as necessary and there would be no problem.

Staying in the greenhouses under a baking-hot sun did not feel comfortable. When they came out, everyone’s back neck was sunburnt.

Then came Astronomy at midnight, all the young wizards below the fifth year took part.

They put on their cloaks, climbed up to the tallest tower, looked up at the night sky, and marked it on their own Astrological map.

Since last year, Mars in the sky had been very bright.

Although Evan could recite all the meanings Mars stood for, he still couldn’t make much sense out of this course.

Like Divination, textbooks were of limited help to this course. The essence of Astrology lied in the ability to summarize the past and comprehend mystery. Astrologers had been giving different meanings through thousands of years of continuous observation.

This also meant that if he wanted to get high marks in this course, he needed to carefully read most of the books in the library.

Moreover, he had to have a great deal of insight to understand the signs of the planets.

This might be easier for the Centaurs. But for human wizards, it was very difficult to do that.

Take the unusual Mars in the last two years as an example. This red planet was linked to different meanings in different historical periods. Needless to say, you have to combine the position of other planets, the changes in the star map, and the energy it emits during the oscillations, and so on.

Evan didn’t know if other people had this ability. He couldn’t do it anyway. He could only rush to draw the position of the planet tonight on the Astrological map.

While they were observing the planets, the Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest were also observing.

“A harbinger from Mars…” The old voice sounded in the depths of the mysterious temple. “War is coming. Can the Centaurs be spared this time?!”

In the open-air room at the top of the temple, the Centaurs’ elder looked up at the stars quietly.

In front of him was a statue of a strange creature. Its huge body was unusually spectacular, most of it was hidden in the darkness, and its exact shape could not be seen clearly.

In the midst of the gloom, it seemed that the huge statue could be discerned vaguely and seemed to split in the middle.

Nobody knew what had happened there. At the top of the statue, a red gem was shining faintly, echoing the bright Mars in the distant night sky.

“Stupid Centaur, I am about to return to the world…” The voice of the elder of the Centaur just fell, and a strange voice sounded. “Cry and tremble, you can’t change anything, pride will destroy you!”

The red light on the statue flashed a few times, and the temple was restored to tranquillity.

By the dim starlight, the wrinkles on the face of the Centaurs’ elder could be seen getting deeper and its sighs echoed in the temple for a long time….

For those not taking Ordinary Wizarding Levels test and Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test, as long as they passed Thursday’s exam, their hardships would end.

For the first- and second-year students, Thursday morning’s Defence Against the Dark Arts exam was to be the last one. Students in the third year or above also needed to prepare for Divination and Arithmancy.

Sirius’s careful preparation obviously impressed everyone. Unlike other courses, Professor Lupin suggested that he take a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun. He prepared a lot of Dark creatures, including Kelpies, Red Caps, a Boggart, etc., a lot more than expected, and it was not clear where he found them.

Depending on their age, students had to face different numbers of Dark creatures.

Sophomores had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a Hinkypunk.

The last thing to face was an old trunk with a Boggart in it. Students of the third year or above had to participate. The young wizards of the first and second years were free to choose.

If they would beat the Boggart, they could get extra points.

“Very good, perfect score!” When Evan climbed out of the trunk, he saw Sirius staring at him with a smile.

Evan did not leave immediately; he was willing to watch the performance of other people.

The third-years exam was next, and he wanted to cheer for Hermione.