Chapter 727 - 727: 0727 Exam Weeks

At dinnertime on the day before the O.W.L. exams, the atmosphere in the Great Hall at Hogwarts grew exceptionally oppressive.

Along the long dining tables, most of the students sat in silence, leaving only the crisp clatter of cutlery against plates.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Harry and Ron were hardly speaking.

However, having buried themselves in their studies all day, they were completely exhausted, so they ate with great relish. The mashed potatoes on their plates were quickly half-gone.

Hermione, on the other hand, was restless and anxious.

Her hands rubbed continuously against the tablecloth. Every so often, she would put down her knife and fork, bending over to duck under the table and dig into her schoolbag.

She would then pull out a thick reference book, flip rapidly to a specific page to verify a number or a piece of trivia, all while muttering under her breath, "No, the pronunciation of that spell should go like this..."

Seeing this, Harry was just about to advise her to eat properly.

Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to sleep from hunger that night, which would affect her condition for the exam the next day.

Right at that moment, an owl with glossy feathers flapped its wings, swooped down through the high vaulted ceiling of the Great Hall, and landed on the dining table in front of them. It was Watson!

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked curiously toward Sherlock.

Sherlock was in the middle of cutting the steak on his plate. Seeing Watson touch down, he slowly set aside his knife and fork, reached out, and untied the roll of parchment from the bird's leg.

Naturally, Sherlock wasn't restless and anxious like Hermione; he was eating properly.

Seeing Watson return, he removed the parchment from its leg.

Unrolling it, the handwriting on it was flamboyant and cursive, but it consisted of only a single word:

"Received!"

Sherlock shrugged nonchalantly and, meeting the curious gazes of his three companions, handed the note over.

Harry took the note, read it over twice, and then looked up at Dumbledore, who was smiling at him from the staff table. He asked, slightly puzzled, "Received? Just like that?"

Harry looked toward Dumbledore at the staff table. "Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Sherlock picked up his knife and fork again, cut a piece of steak, put it in his mouth, and said in a flat tone:

"The message has been delivered. We've done all we can, and the rest has nothing to do with us. From here on, we just need to focus on our exams."

Hearing Sherlock's words while flipping through her book, Hermione nodded in agreement and said earnestly,

"Yes, they can't expect a group of students who haven't even graduated to deal with—"

She stopped halfway through her sentence.

Not only that, but the colour instantly drained from her face, and the fork in her hand slipped powerlessly from her fingers, clattering into her plate with a crisp ding.

"Oh, come on, Hermione..."

Ron was about to complain that she was making a fuss over nothing, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by Hermione's urgent gaze.

"Oh, my god, is that them? Are those the examiners?"

Hermione's voice carried a barely detectable tremor, her eyes were fixed tightly on the doors of the Great Hall.

Following Hermione's gaze, they saw Dumbledore, Mad-Eye Moody, and Umbridge standing at the entrance of the Great Hall with a small group of elderly witches and wizards.

Most of these wizards wore dark robes, bore stern expressions, and swept their sharp eyes over the students in the hall.

Whether it was an illusion or not, they seemed to exude an unquestionable aura of authority.

Seeing this, Ron immediately jabbed Neville, who was sitting next to him, with his elbow and asked in a hushed voice.

"Neville, is Professor Marchbanks in there? The one who's a friend of your gran's!"

Neville looked in the direction Ron was pointing. After studying them carefully for a moment, he whispered, "That little old lady with a bit of a hunchback is her."

Her hair was white, she wore small round glasses, and she looked quite severe.

"She does look very strict..."

Hermione whispered back, a hint of nervousness in her eyes—her biggest fear was encountering an overly harsh examiner.

Harry, however, noticed a detail. Squinting his eyes, he said, "Umbridge seems very nervous."

"No need to pay too much attention to her."

Sherlock chuckled lightly and said under the surprised gazes of his friends:

"Exercise well, study well, play well, eat well, rest well. Be a happy, interesting person, full of energy."

As this day came to an end, the highly anticipated O.W.L.s exam week finally arrived.

It was called an exam week, but it was actually going to last for three whole weeks.

This was naturally because there were twelve subjects in total, combining core and elective classes.

Of course, not everyone was aiming for twelve certificates.

Even the recognized top student of the fifth year, the reigning point-scorer for five years running, Miss Know-It-All Hermione Granger, had dropped Divination and Muggle Studies, choosing to take only ten exams.

"Sherlock, Harry, are you taking all the exams?"

Parvati asked curiously while packing up the quills and parchment she would need for he tests:

"As far as I know, you two are the only fifth-year students who elected to take every single subject."

Harry sighed and shook his head somewhat helplessly.

"Parvati, you think too highly of me. I simply don't have the energy to study so many subjects; the pressure is just too great.

Like Hermione, I'm only taking ten exams."

"Oh, which two did you drop?" Ron, who had Lavender hanging on his arm, asked curiously.

"Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Runes."

Harry threw up his hands, a look of distress was on his face: "They're just too hard. I can't seem to memorize those complex formulas and obscure symbols no matter what I do. Even if I barely memorized them, I wouldn't know how to apply them."

"They are indeed difficult."

Ron nodded in deep agreement, a look of relief was appearing on his face.

These two courses were generally recognized as the most difficult. Many people chose them as electives in their third year, only to give them up by their fourth year.

Harry dropping them at this stage was clearly a move out of necessity, too.

"What about you, Sherlock?"

After hearing Harry's answer, Ron turned to Sherlock:

"Taking them all, or dropping some?"

"I bet he's definitely taking them all," Neville muttered softly. "After all, nothing ever stumps you."

"Not taking Divination," Sherlock said concisely.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, not surprised in the least.

Professor Trelawney did have genuine ability. But her genuine ability was precisely what couldn't be taught to others.

What she taught everyone was just mystical humbug, completely unlike the sort of thing Sherlock would like.

Harry even shrugged and smiled, saying, "I don't have high expectations for this subject either."

"Even if I pass, I don't plan to continue studying this subject next term," Ron said even more bluntly.

"Won-Won!"

Lavender, who was hugging Ron's arm, wriggled in dissatisfaction.

"Sorry, Lavender," Ron's expression hesitated for a moment before he said firmly, "This is the one thing I absolutely won't compromise on."

He really didn't want to have to make up how he was going to die every time he went to class.

Not even with Lavender's help!

For the next three weeks, only the tense atmosphere of exams remained in Hogwarts Castle.

Every fifth-year student gave their all for the O.W.L.s.

In the library, the common rooms, and even the corners of the corridors, one could see figures burying themselves in books or reviewing nervously.

Except for Sherlock Holmes.

He still maintained a regular daily routine.

He went for morning jogs alone—Harry and Neville had temporarily given them up.

He walked into the examination room with a calm expression, and he walked out just as composed.

It was as if those extremely difficult exam questions were just a piece of cake for him.

But seeing the Lion King like this, everyone no longer found it strange—after all, he had always been exceptional.

Just as everyone didn't find it strange that Hermione continued to chatter endlessly after every exam ended.

"You know, I daren't say I performed to my usual standard on the Cheering Charm.

I just used up all the exam time and wrote three full pages. I don't know if the examiner will think I was too verbose.

Did you write out the counter-curse for hiccups? I wasn't sure if I should include the specific spell-casting steps; I think I might have written too much. And the twenty-third question about the origins of ancient charms, did I mix up the timeline?

Oh no, I mistranslated ehwaz. It means partnership, not defence.

I confused it with eihwaz. I'm definitely going to lose marks for that.

And Dragon Claw powder, people say it's incredibly magical and can boost your spirits, but it's really just dried Doxy droppings—"

Without a doubt, other than Sherlock, no one could tolerate Hermione's endless self-analysis and complaining.

Even Harry and Ron, as well as her roommates Parvati and Lavender, found it somewhat hard to handle and could only nod perfunctorily as they listened.

From this point alone, everyone truly felt that Sherlock and Hermione were a perfect match.

Fortunately, when the Arithmancy exam ended, she finally stopped complaining.

Instead, a rare smile appeared on her face, and her tone carried a trace of excitement.

"I think I did quite well on Arithmancy. I got all those formulas right, and the final deduction was very smooth. I should be able to get a good grade."

Hearing Hermione say this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

And when it was time for the final exam, History of Magic, all the fifth-year students let out a long breath.

A weary yet expectant look appeared on everyone's faces—it was finally about to end!

Because History of Magic was entirely theoretical with no practical component, the O.W.L. for this subject was scheduled for two o'clock in the afternoon. "I just want to get a good sleep after the exam, sleep until the world goes dark. Nobody wakes me up."

Before officially entering the exam hall, Ron couldn't help but yawn.

He rubbed his bloodshot eyes, his tone was full of exhaustion.

His words won the agreement of a large portion of the students—they had really expended too much energy for these exams.

Harry, on the other hand, shook his head with a hint of yearning in his eyes: "I want to get on my Firebolt and go for a proper fly."

Obviously, he wanted to enjoy that feeling of absolute freedom after escaping the revisions.

"What about you, Hermione?" Parvati asked curiously.

"You even need to ask? She's definitely going to drag Holmes off to check answers."

Lavender said as she affectionately hugged Ron's arm tighter, a sweet smile on her face.

"Won-Won, you can't go to sleep. You promised me you'd spend time with me after the exams!"

Ron: "..."

Being stared at by the people around him with suggestive looks, Ron didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest.

He puffed out his chest, raised his chin, and even smugly raised an eyebrow at Harry.

Harry secretly sighed and held back from mentioning that he was going flying with Cho Chang.

Hermione ignored the ambiguous gazes of the crowd, pulled Sherlock aside, and asked, "Sherlock, how are things going with that matter?"

After all, it was the final subject, and since it was pure theoretical History of Magic, it didn't require much on-the-spot improvisation.

So, at this point, Hermione's mindset completely relaxed, and she finally started to consider matters outside of the O.W.L.s. Sherlock naturally knew which matter she was referring to.

The message Lucius Malfoy had sent back via his son, Draco Malfoy.

Voldemort was going to make a major move soon.

Due to insufficient clues, even Sherlock had no way of confirming the accuracy of this news.

However, even so, he still made the most factual deduction based on the known information.

If Voldemort really was going to make a move, the optimal choice right now would be Azkaban.

Because not only did it house the Death Eaters who had just recently been caught, but it also held the batch of Death Eaters from over a decade ago who possessed extreme loyalty to Voldemort.

Once Azkaban was breached, it would instantly resolve Voldemort's current predicament of being short-staffed.

Not only that, but Voldemort could also take the opportunity to win over the Dementors and bend them to his will.

"Dumbledore said that the Ministry of Magic has reinforced the security at Azkaban, dispatching quite a few more Aurors to stand guard."

Sherlock said mildly.

"As for the process of cutting ties with the Dementors, it's still proceeding slowly. The efficiency of those bureaucrats is as low as ever. They always drag things out until the very last moment before taking action."

"The efficiency of those bureaucrats is as low as ever." Hermione couldn't help but sigh upon hearing this.

At this moment, the two of them coincidentally thought of what Ron had said earlier.

The Ministry of Magic's four stages of responding to incidents.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes.

Even if they had pushed everything they could possibly do to the absolute limit, the final outcome was still not for them to decide.

All they could do was wait and prepare.

Now, they could only hope that the adults would actually pull their weight.

The History of Magic exam quickly concluded.

Almost everyone had a crestfallen appearance.

This was also to be expected.

The content of History of Magic was dry and dull to begin with, and to make matters worse, Professor Binns's lectures were no different from hypnosis. Therefore, every time this class ended, everyone's eyes held a pristine clarity unpolluted by knowledge.

Now that it came to the O.W.L.s, all the various names and dates made the young wizards' heads spin.

Who on earth would know what Wand Legislation had to do with the eighteenth-century Goblin Rebellions!

And who would know why the magical community of Liechtenstein objected to the appointment of the first Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards! But regardless, after this exam ended, the fifth-year students were finally completely liberated.

The emotions that had been suppressed for three whole weeks burst forth instantly, and laughter and chatter returned among them once again.

Some people excitedly threw away the books in their hands, some hugged each other in celebration, and others were already planning post-exam relaxation activities. The entire Hogwarts castle overflowed with a relaxed and joyful atmosphere.

However, this hard-won joy lasted for merely a single night.

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