Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts (TL)

Chapter 670: Final Exams (2 in 1)

June weather at Hogwarts is bright and sunny, but for the young wizards of Hogwarts, June means exams.

As the whole system of ancient runes became more and more refined, the corresponding system of assessments also became well established. Felix believes that the third and fourth-year students are still in the stage of training their basic skills and developing their interests, so the assessments that are set for them should not be too difficult, nor should they be as heavily focused on practicals as the senior years, and rather they should have an equal emphasis on both theoretical and practical ancient runes.

For example, this year’s third-year theoretical exams will not only include the usual translation of sentences, but also a one-foot essay writing in the ancient rune language on the topic of ‘a day to remember’; the practical exam will consist of a fun-like golem performance. Students could either choose to demonstrate their manipulative skills alone or find the right partner to make the golems engage in a glorious fight, or even form a drama team.

Felix deliberately arranged for the Year 3 practical exams to take place in the great hall, and many students of other age groups came out to watch with great interest. Judging by the envious expressions of the young first and second-year wizards in the audience, part of his purpose had been achieved.

Snape asked him in a snarky voice if he was trying to get the parents of the students to vote for him in the Wizard Weekly ‘Most Charming Smile Award’.

“You just timely reminded me of that, Severus.” Felix flashed a charming smile as a few professors next to them looked at him oddly.

The round arena in front of them had just finished a spectacular golem duel, and when the applause died down, Felix waved his hand and the arena was restored to its original state with flaming scorch marks, ice, and scratched cracks all disappeared, and the next second, half a dozen students rushed forward from the corner with various props and began to build the stage’s background setting.

It could be seen from a single glance that the one leading the group is a young Hufflepuff girl, “Eleanor?” A boy said nervously, and the girl, clenching her fist and waving it twice in the air as if to cheer herself up, then she stepped forward and said loudly.

“Profess- Professor, we are going to perform ‘Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump’ play.”

Felix nodded towards her, “Miss Branstone, you can begin.”

Eleanor Branstone cleared her throat and introduced the background of the story with great emotion, “A long time ago, in a land far far away, a king decided to keep all the magic in the world for himself. In order to get all the magic, he needed to gather all the witches and wizards in the world, so he formed the Brigade of Witch-Hunters, armed with packs of wild dogs. But first, he needed to learn how to use magic, so he posted a notice in every city, town, and village to call for someone with magical abilities to teach him, but he had no idea that the washerwoman responsible for cleaning the clothes in the palace was a witch …”

“On one particular day, a charlatan appeared at the palace, claiming to be the highly skilled wizard that the king was looking for.”

While she was narrating, several young wizards went on with their own tasks, manipulating golems that were dressed up in different theatrical costumes, ranging from a pot-bellied king ( his clothes seemed to be stuffed with cotton), a comical-looking charlatan (who looked like Peeves), a white-haired washerwoman (with a flattened toothpick in her hand) and some palace guards (who were replaced by chocolate frog cards and wizard cards).

“I need gold! And big, big rubies!” A boy beautifully impersonated a charlatan speech, “And I also need a silver goblet to brew my potions in!” As he spoke, he directed the character of the play to turn on his heel.

Even the senior students watched with great interest, and Harry heard more than one of them want to try it when the exams are over.

“These little kids are quite imaginative.” Ron said with a big grin.

“I hope you can be this imaginative for our test tomorrow too.” Hermione said, happy to have a day of rest and adjustment at leisure as they had just finished their Charms test. Even though the Potions test would be tomorrow, they had agreed to take some time out to relax their tense nerves.

Harry saw a number of familiar faces around them, and he guessed that these people held the same thoughts as they did. He tried his best not to look at the figure of Dumbledore and Grindelwald in the crowd – he still wasn’t used to the whole thing. Even Hermione wasn’t that active in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class anymore.

“You are making me watch something this childish?” Grindelwald whispered.

“Don’t say it like that, I’ve only just finished up my annotations for The Tales of Beedle the Bard.” Dumbledore said in a cheerful tone, “Sometimes I think Professor Dippet’s decision was a little hasty, there is one less major entertainment in the school since the total ban on theatrical performances.”

Grindelwald’s expression became one of elusiveness, his lips quirking and curling together to make a thin line of sound.

“We were on the verge of ripping this book apart back then, what prompted you to read this book again after all this time? Or maybe … you have gathered all three pieces of the Deathly Hallows? The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the unidentifiable Cloak of Invisibility … I was pursuing a lead that cut off in Godric’s Hollow-” He stopped talking abruptly.

“It’s the Deathly Hallows.” Dumbledore corrected.

“When did you start to refute that common conclusion?”

“I have always had my suspicions, except that I compromised and accepted your claim at the time, blinded by false hope.” Dumbledore said in the same whispered voice, and they fell silent as, finally, the drama reached its climactic part.

“-You shall erect a statue of Babbitty! In memory of your poor washerwoman, so that you will never forget your foolish actions!” The little wizard pretending to be a tree stump said in a pinched, jarring voice. Then out of the stump, a fat old rabbit leaped out, and after a puff of smoke, the washerwoman appeared.

“And so the statue fully made of gold of the washerwoman remained erected on top of the stump, and the foolish king was taught a lesson and dared not persecute the wizards in the kingdom anymore.” Eleanor Branstone ended the story with an excited trailing voice, her cheeks slightly flushed as she bowed with her partners. Thunderous applause sounded throughout the great hall.

Dumbledore applauded enthusiastically as well, and Grindelwald reluctantly followed suit with a couple of claps.

“I need to talk to you, Dumbledore …”

When the noises in the great hall subsided, Grindelwald continued in a whisper, “According to your philosophy, a one-man leader is prone to achieve a strongman rule, two men are prone to division, and only three people can maintain the balance. Don’t say you expect something from the current female minister, that boy on the other side could crush her with one finger.”

Dumbledore raised his head and looked at the boy on the other side – Felix, who had just been slandered, had just finished marking the students and seemed to sense that someone was observing him, he looked back and followed the line of sight to find it was Dumbledore who nodded expressionlessly from behind.

“Next group step up to the stage.”

After the exam was over, everyone dispersed with as much joy as they could carry, talking and laughing all the way. That’s when Snape, who was next to Felix, and Grindelwald, who was next to Dumbledore, both disappeared, and the two men came together.

“Are there any requirements regarding Transferring the Spell …?” Felix asked.

“Requirements.” Dumbledore repeated softly as he looked at the bouncing Luna, the giggling Parvati sisters who had walked away, and the Peeves who had poked his head out from the ceiling in a sneaky way, and after a long moment, he answered.

“The curse afflicted person must be rendered unconscious, otherwise it will be difficult for him to pretend that nothing has happened … so it is important to look for the right time.”

Felix mulled over the meaning of those words twice.

“In short, need to knock him out? Are you going to do it or should I?”

Dumbledore gave him a reproachful look.

“Oh yes, we must not raise any suspicions, we must make everything seem logical.” Felix rolled his eyes and gave it a moment’s thought in his mind, “I see! Wait for the day he leaves the school to go back to his castle and-” Knock Grindelwald out under the pretext of shifting locations. By the time he woke up again, it would all be over for him.

Dumbledore nodded his head with a grim look.

“And during this period of time, I will keep giving him hope that he can continue to stay at the school.”

…

The exams continued the next day and when the fourth-year exams also came to an end, Felix had little to do for the next two days in a row, so he followed Professor McGonagall and received the group of examiners from the Wizard Examination Authority.

The leader of the group is still Professor Marchbanks, her back arched out of shape and her face wrinkled, but she is hale and hearty, and her voice is surprisingly loud.

The arrival of the examiners meant that the leisurely days (which weren’t really that relaxed) of the fifth and seventh years are finally over, and they are about to take a two-week period of intense exams that are, in the words of the students who have been through it, ” nothing but a hell of a time, but you can finally see the hope of relief.”

“Actually no,” Harry reassured the moody Ginny, who is preparing for her O.W.Ls, “the sixth year curriculum is even sicker, just look at Ron -” Ginny turned her head to the side, and she couldn’t stifle her laughter “Haha”. Ron was staring sadly at the notes he had borrowed from Hermione for the Transfiguration test, and at some point, there were a few clear ink marks that started to appear all over his face.

“If I only knew Animagus, I wouldn’t have to worry about this,” Ron said listlessly, “the theory is very confusing, and the practice is barely interesting, I just hope I could at least score a passing grade.” His words drew a chorus of agreement.

“The weather is so pleasant outside, yet we have to spend our time studying for exams. My eyes are going blind.” Dean was equally full of complaints.

At that moment Hermione walked in from outside, she had just finished her Arithmancy exam and her next exam would be the same as theirs. ” You have a dirty patch on your face, Ron.” She said cheerfully, as she pulled the Advanced Transfiguration book out of her book bag.

“Just let it stay. I’ll remember to wash it off the next day.” Ron muttered.

Harry spent the next few hours reviewing with Ginny until late at night when she was too sleepy to keep her eyes open and went back to bed after Harry urged her to do so. Before long Hermione was gone too, leaving only a few lights in the common room, and Ron stared at his Transfiguration notes for a couple of minutes, finally resigning himself to the fact that he hadn’t actually read a word of it, and then followed Harry back to their dormitory.

He and Harry were tiptoeing around in the darkness and changing into their pyjamas through the light of the moon when Neville’s muffled voice came out from a corner of the room.

“Harry, Ron, do you know when Professor Bagshot is leaving the school? I’d like to see him off.”

Harry’s spirits lifted, and he looked to the dark shadow where Ron was, and Ron’s movements stiffened. “Well-” Harry racked his brain trying to come up with an excuse when Ron abruptly said, “I’m so sorry Neville, we don’t know either.”

“Oh, yeah well. I was thinking about …,” Neville mumbled a few vague words, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

Harry lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, and found himself sleepless. His mind was filled with the question he had just been asked, Neville still didn’t know the identity of Professor Bagshot yet … would this secret be kept? If Neville didn’t get an answer from them, he might ask the professor directly, or he might not … maybe Neville wanted to surprise him in person.

Harry knew the reason Neville is so attached to him: only a handful of professors has ever invited him privately to their offices.

But that was Grindelwald the Dark Wizard.

Some of the memories he had seen in the Pensieve became part of his dreams and messed with his mind. The figure of Voldemort also appeared from time to time, seeming to treat him as if he was Dumbledore and Professor Hap, cursing him in many different ways. Harry had to convince himself with a stubborn will that he had exams tomorrow morning and that he had to get enough sleep so that he would have the energy to remember those difficult theories of Transfiguration.

The Occlumency magic kicked in and everything died down. Harry let out a deep yawn and fell into dreamland.

“What’s next is setting up various types of anti-apparition charms?” Felix, who was still working hard overtime, asked around the same time.

Dumbledore looked around the Chamber of Secrets with interest.

“Yeah, that’s the last step.” He said.

This place no longer looked like it had before at all, they were currently standing in a jungle with some rune creatures passing in front of them, raising their heads every now and then to size up the two men and the huge ouroboros snake above their heads.

That’s right, Voldemort had been moved here from Classroom Seven, and when Dumbledore had come to Felix to discuss the location of the decisive meeting, Felix had instantly thought of this place. Salazar Slytherin had used this place as a secret classroom and a place to study bloodline magic and had arranged quite a bit of protective magic.

The most crucial thing is that it wouldn’t harm anything even if this place is destroyed. Unlike Classroom Seven, which housed a number of the Professor’s memory bodies and recently had two new ‘people’ move in.

“This is a wonderful environment,” Dumbledore said admiringly as he looked at the sky overhead and the surrounding entertainment venues, “but how did you come up with the idea of converting the Chamber of Secrets into a playground?”

The average wizard shouldn’t have this kind of line of thinking.

Felix shook his head.

“It was Tom Riddle who inspired me.”

“Voldemort?” Dumbledore was slightly surprised, then snapped to realization, “It was that other personality?”

“Well, when I found out that Riddle was still inevitably aware that he is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin and set out to investigate the location of the Chamber of Secrets, I simply invited him to accompany me here – there are quite a few ideas here that he has come up with.”

Three afternoons later, the sixth year’s practical test in Ancient Rune drew near an end.

These students knew what the test would involve more than a month in advance, but they still had to complete their work within the time limit. For three whole hours, the students fought for a time, and the closer they got to the end, the more cautious they became, fearing that they might accidentally mess up. As soon as Hermione raised her hand first and handed in a solidified rune firebird ornament, the rest of the students completed their work one by one, with a variety of strange creations, many of which blew Felix’s mind.

Harry handed in a rune broom that looked pretty decent, with seven levitation rune circuits embedded in it, which not only made the broom hover in mid-air but also allowed it to carry some weight. When Harry sat on it to demonstrate, however, the middle of the broom immediately sunk in, resembling a strangely designed flying carpet rather than a broom. “Connection problems, Potter, don’t underestimate the usefulness of meaningless individual runes, they’re responsible for bridging the magic.”

Ron in his turn handed over a foot-long wizard’s chess piece, there was no way he could continue to compress the size of the piece. “It also has a connection problem, Weasley, but you must have put a lot of emotion into making it, it makes it look more alive.”

Ron lowered his head and stared at the Knight piece he is holding, which looked east and west, and the Knight’s face looked very hideous to him. He wondered if the professor was saying the opposite.

“Appearance is not part of the assessment evaluation.” Felix said accordingly.

Quite a few of the young wizards chose animals, but of course, the Hidden Difficulty is in fact a lot higher. Susan Bones’ bunny nimbly ran around them twice before a sneeze broke itself apart. Her mouth hung open, dazed, her eyes watering, and her expression dying down.

“Good, Miss Bones, you need to pay attention to the fine part of details.”

Susan breathed a sigh of relief at this and gathered her things and walked out of the classroom with a brisk step.

“That’s why I scored it on the spot – I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to bring it back in time.” Felix muttered in a small voice.

He is very perceptive and quick on his feet. Always appearing in front of the students who most desperately needed him, to catch a glimpse of the creations just before the series of accidents happened – such as the peacock tossing its wings away, the flame slug burning itself to ashes along with the desk, the winged notebook flying out of the window, etc – and giving them the score before their hard work fly away.

When the last student left the exam room, Felix’s forehead was slightly sweaty. This also proved to be a test for him too.

…

That evening, a group of people arrived at Hogsmeade. They came from the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards.

—————–

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