Chapter 397: Exam in Progress
The difficulty of the theoretical exam of Owls's spells is not high. Most of them are about the taboos of using various spells and the reactions that will occur under various specific conditions.
For example, when using the flying spell, you need to read the name of the object you want to make fly very clearly and at the same time conceive the specific image of the object in your mind, and you also need to wave the wand accurately.
The first two of the above three points are relatively good. If you do it wrong, it will only result in the failure of the release of the flying spell.
But the last one is different. If there is an error in the amplitude of waving the wand, the summoned object is likely to be out of control.
The consequences of losing control are quite terrible. Several well-known wizards in history were killed because of mistakes in using the flying spell, which caused the summoned objects to be too fast.
In addition, when using lethal beam spells such as the petrification spell, you must ensure that you are in an open environment. Otherwise, if the launched wand does not hit the target, it is very likely to bounce back in a small environment, thereby accidentally injuring others.
These things were what Professor Flitwick repeatedly emphasized in class. They were the kind of things that you could thoroughly master as long as you took notes and memorized them carefully. So to be honest, as the first exam of OWLS this year, strictly speaking, the officials of the Ministry of Magic's wizard examination department had given Hogwarts a face and deliberately lowered the difficulty of the exam.
These things were naturally nothing to Mike, who had excellent grades in the spells class. He completed the exam almost smoothly and handed in the test paper without stopping.
"Oh? Have you finished it?"
The white-bearded wizard at the top took Mike's test paper with an indifferent look.
Generally speaking, few people would hand in their papers in advance for such an important exam. Even if they had finished it in advance, the candidates would use the remaining time to check it repeatedly.
You know, this exam will affect the rest of their lives!
But there are also people who hand in their papers in advance. I think this white-bearded wizard has seen quite a few.
And without exception, these students who handed in their papers in advance either gave up on themselves or underestimated the importance of this exam.
As for the remaining students who are extremely confident and capable, he really has never seen any of them.
What a joke? Where do so many geniuses come from in this world?
Thinking of this, the white-bearded wizard looked at Mike with a little more contempt and pity. In his opinion, Mike should be the stupid students in the first two.
"That's right." Mike said with a smile, "Excuse me, can I leave?"
"The exit is over there. Please keep quiet when you leave."
Mike nodded and left the hall under the envious eyes of the Ravenclaws.
It was not until Mike walked away that the white-bearded wizard sneered, shook his head and looked down at Mike's test paper.
But just by looking at it, he was shocked.
The reason was that the test paper submitted by Mike was filled with answers, and as one of the test setters of this exam, the white-bearded wizard glanced and saw that most of the questions on this test paper were answered correctly!
The white-bearded wizard almost immediately raised his head and looked at the wizard who was in charge of invigilating Mike's area.
The latter had also been paying attention to the situation on the Whitebeard wizard's side, and immediately came forward to inquire about the situation.
But after asking about the situation, he slowly said:
"I was watching him during the exam just now, and I can guarantee that he didn't cheat."
The Whitebeard wizard exhaled a long breath, thinking about Mike's test paper and nodding continuously.
He didn't have the stupid idea that Mike must have cheated. You know, this auditorium now uses the most advanced anti-cheating facilities in the world today. He is more willing to believe that Mike is really a genius student.
And even if Mike really cheated, they would still recognize his results.
Otherwise, when they questioned Mike's test results, they would have denied their own abilities as invigilators.
The invigilator on the side seemed to emphasize the accuracy of his words. After thinking for a while, he leaned into Whitebeard's ear and whispered:
"The student just now is called Mike Townley. He seems to be Mr. Flitwick's last disciple."
Whitebeard raised his eyebrows and smiled immediately.
"I see, this is indeed a good student." Whitebeard said, "Mr. Flitwick is so lucky to find such an outstanding student."
The invigilator heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Whitebeard had no intention of continuing to question him, and the two of them chatted again. At
this time, Mike was looking helplessly at Professor Flitwick who was blocking him.
Professor Flitwick looked very panicked at this time. He had been waiting outside the door since the exam began, ready to be the first to greet his student after the exam.
This is what he does every year, and this year is no exception.
However, this year's accompanying exam activity seemed to have some accidents, because his favorite student, Mike, actually came out early!
"Mike, why did you hand in your paper early!"
Looking at Professor Flitwick who looked a little panicked, Mike smiled and said:
"Yes, I think those questions are very simple."
"Then you shouldn't hand in your paper early! Wouldn't it be better to check it a few more times?" Professor Flitwick grabbed Mike's arm and was about to push open the door of the auditorium, "Come on, I'll take you in again, and you check it carefully a few more times!"
Mike was confused, and it took him a while to react, and he hurriedly said:
"Forget it, professor. The invigilators will not agree, and I think I did well, otherwise you can check the questions with me!"
Hearing this, Professor Flitwick's steps stopped, and he thought for a while before finally agreeing to this proposal.
Because Professor Flitwick had to wait for other students to come out, the two did not leave the auditorium too far, but chose an open space not far away to start checking the questions.
To be honest, Mike actually hated checking the questions, because in his opinion, checking the questions after the exam was meaningless. After all, the exam was over, so what if you knew your approximate score in advance?
If your grades are OK, then everyone is happy, but what if your grades are not ideal?
Wouldn't that just add to the trouble?
But compared to his aversion to the questions, Mike enjoyed the process of getting along with Professor Flitwick more.
When they were only halfway through the questions, the smile on Professor Flitwick's face was already beyond words, because judging by the results of the questions, Mike's grades would definitely not be bad!
At this time, the door of the auditorium was opened again, and this time all the students who took the exam came out.
The written exam for Owls in Charms was officially over.
Professor Flitwick greeted them with a smile on his face, enthusiastically greeted his students, hugged and celebrated with those students who looked excited, and sincerely encouraged those students who were obviously not in a good mood.
Mike smiled and looked at Professor Flitwick in the crowd not far away. No matter from which angle, Professor Flitwick is definitely an excellent professor!
"Mike!"
A familiar voice sounded from the side. Mike looked over and saw that Harry and Ron had already appeared beside him.
Harry and Ron both looked quite excited, and it seemed that they performed well.
But what surprised Mike was that Hermione beside them hung her head, looking unhappy.
"Hello."
"Very good indeed!" Ron answered quickly, "I feel I did well in the exam. I answered most of the questions correctly. It seems that I should be able to get the OLWS certificate for Charms."
Harry beside him laughed and said,
"This is all thanks to Hermione and Professor Flitwick. The questions they predicted the two days ago were very accurate!"
Mike smiled and congratulated her, then looked at Hermione beside him and said,
"Hermione, what's wrong with you? Did you do badly in the exam?"
"I feel terrible. I'm not sure if I got the last question right." Hermione's eyes were red, and even her voice was crying. "If I really got that question wrong, then I won't get full marks!"
Mike was speechless for a while, and Harry and Ron beside him also looked embarrassed.
They had imagined many reasons why Hermione was upset, but they never thought that Hermione was upset because she might not get full marks.
How could Harry and Ron, who were still excited about their high probability of passing the exam, live?
"Haha...haha, don't talk about this, let's go eat." Mike forced a laugh and said, "There is a practical exam for Charms in the afternoon. Let's go to rest and replenish our energy after eating."
Harry and Ron, who were in an awkward situation, hurriedly agreed, so everyone dragged Hermione, who was still sad, to the temporary restaurant.
I don't know if it was because of the visit of the leaders of the Ministry of Magic, but the food at Hogwarts was particularly rich today. Although it was not as good as the level of Christmas dinner in previous years, it was not much different.
Compared with the morning, the atmosphere in the restaurant was much more relaxed. Many students took the opportunity of lunch to review the questions with their classmates, including Hermione.
The officials of the wizard examination department in the faculty seats were chatting and laughing with the professors of Hogwarts.
They stayed in Hogwarts for two weeks almost every year, and had long been familiar with the professors of Hogwarts.
As for Umbridge, although she also wanted to join in the heated banquet, she had no choice but to ignore her except for a few young people in the wizard examination department who had ulterior motives. Almost all the older officials were willing to pay attention to her.
After lunch break, Owls' practical exam in Charms was scheduled to be held in the large-scale Charms training ground dedicated to the Charms class.
As for Newl's practical exam in Charms, it was held in the arena used for the Hogwarts dueling competition. It was spacious enough and far away from Hogwarts, allowing the graduates to freely display their magic.
The officials who supervised the exam for Mike and others were still the same ones in the morning, but the difference from the morning was that they all changed into neat protective gear this time.
And Mike also found that their eyes would always fall on him from time to time, and there was kindness in their eyes. Mike knew that it must be Professor Flitwick who greeted them, so he smiled and responded to their eyes.
Smiling at Mike again in a friendly way, the white-bearded wizard said:
"Students, this time our exam is divided into two parts. The first part requires you to skillfully use spells such as 'Burning Flames', 'Thunder Explosion' and 'Fainting' to hit the target."
Whitebeard pointed to the puppet targets about 20 meters away and continued:
"The second part requires you to use spells such as the Flying Spell. Of course, due to limited time, each of you only needs to use two spells, but the spells to be used need to be drawn, understand?"
Hearing this, most of the students who were originally very nervous breathed a sigh of relief. The practical exam of spell learning was much less difficult than they had originally expected.
However, Mike was not surprised by this. You must know that the OWLS exam is only the lowest level of academic qualifications in the wizarding society. This exam is mainly to select wizards who are qualified to study newl advanced courses, and the difficulty must not be too high.
Seeing that the students' expressions were relaxed, the white-bearded wizard nodded with satisfaction, and then ordered the drawing of lots.
The lottery was drawn in a huge white cloth bag, which contained countless slips of paper. These slips were enchanted and would move irregularly in the bag until they were caught. In order to ensure the fairness of the lottery, the huge cloth bag was made of fire dragon leather. The strong anti-magic property of fire dragon leather prevented most cheating methods.
It was not known whether it was lucky or unfortunate, but when Mike took the slip of paper out of the cloth bag, he was surprised to find that there was an I clearly written on it in black ink, which meant that he was the first person to take the exam. Seeing this,
many people cast sympathetic eyes on him. Being the first to take the exam in such an exam would undoubtedly be under great pressure.
Mike did not care too much about this, after all, he had absolute confidence in his spell.
It would be better to say that taking the first exam was what he wanted, because in this way he could be the first to leave the exam room and would not have to endure the long waiting time.
"Come on, Mike." The white-bearded wizard said kindly, "Your test is to use the fire spell to hit the target over there and use the flying spell to summon the parchment in my hand. I will give you a minute to prepare. You can use this time to observe the parchment in my hand carefully so that you can remember its appearance completely."
"No, sir." Mike said confidently, "I'm ready and can start at any time."
Hearing this, Whitebeard was stunned, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation.
Mike chuckled and took out his wand. These two tests were not difficult for him at all, so he was ready to do something.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Mike didn't even chant spells or wave his wand. He just pointed at the target in the distance.
The next moment, a miniature fireball appeared in the air and flew towards the target in the distance at an extremely slow speed.
Seeing this, many people instinctively took a step back. You know, Mike's fire spell is famous. No one thought that the extremely slow and even shaky fireball in front of them would be as weak as it looked. Many people
were even ready to face the huge explosion.
However, when the fireball really came into contact with the target, everyone was stunned.