68 Chapter 65
Wizards' Ordinary Magic and Basic Aptitude Test.
A test; a surprise test; by the Ministry! While Harry knew that while he was smarter than most people in the room, even he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about this test.
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Score the highest in the WOMBAT!
Rewards,
1000 exp
25 house points
Failure,
Loss of reputation in Ravenclaw
YES/NO?
Harry pressed YES.
"Now fear not," Professor Sinistra assured the nervous students, "The test will only ask questions about the basic knowledge of the Wizarding world and the very basics of the subjects you have covered at Hogwarts in the past two weeks. Think hard before answering and do not guess your answer. A wrong answer will have a negative marking of 1 mark, a right one will get you 4 marks and an unanswered question will get you none. Do. Not. Cheat. This exam will affect your end of the year grade, so be careful."
"And as an added incentive, since this exam is being conducted much earlier than usual this year, the highest three scorers will earn 25 points each for their house." Professor Vector added with a smirk, "You have five minutes to prepare yourself, you will be provided with quills and answer sheets so please put all your belongings in your bags."
There was a shuffle as students rushed to put everything away. Professor Vector waved a wand and all the students' bags flew and piled onto Professor Sinistra's desk. Another wave and any bits of paper or anything in the students' pockets came flying out. They were pretty strict on the no cheating policy.
A final wave and the exam papers appeared on the students' desks.
"Good Luck. There are 15 questions and 30 minutes. Begin."
Harry quickly flipped to the first question.
Part One - Magical Law
Which Ministry of Magic department(s) and/or committee(s) would you contact to resolve each of the following dilemmas? (Questions 1-3)
1. Your neighbour is concealing a stash of flying carpets, some of which he is allowing to fly loose around his back garden.
This one Harry knew. He quickly wrote down 'Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office'.
2. Your friend C possesses a Muggle Penny Farthing (old bicycle) that has been enchanted to skim an inch above the ground, achieving speeds of over 100mph. C did not personally enchant the Penny Farthing, never rides it and merely wishes to keep it 'for sentimental reasons' as it was her grandmother's. Do you report her?
"The Obliviator people might get involved if a Muggle sees them, but if C isn't going to ride it and only wants to keep it for sentiment, no Muggles will probably see it," Harry muttered before writing down no. There was a chance that this could be a wrong answer, but he had to follow his gut.
The next one was a multiple choice.
3. Which of the following should be most SEVERELY punished by the Wizengamot?
a. The injury of three Muggles due to a poorly performed Forgetfulness Charm
b. The death of a chicken due to a poorly aimed Bat-Bogey Hex
c. The use of the Cruciatus Curse on a shark about to attack a Muggle
d. The use of the Imperius Curse on a Muggle mugger
Harry promptly dismissed (a) and (b). The others involved Unforgivables. Unsure of the comparison between cursing an animal and cursing in self-defense, Harry guessed (d) and moved on to the next one.
4. Which of the following does NOT require a Ministry of Magic license?
a. Crup ownership
b. Sale of magical artifacts
c. House-elf ownership
d. Apparition
Harry knew Apparition did and rationalized that there must be some sort of trade license in the wizarding world. Tossing a mental coin between (a) and (c), he chose (c).
5. Which of the following wizarding laws, in your view, stands in most urgent need of change?
a. The detection of underage magic in all-magic households (currently impossible)
b. The ban on goblin possession of wands (ought to be lifted)
c. The re-classification of centaurs and merpeople (ought to take their views into account)
d. The guidelines on house-elf welfare (need to be enforced)
e. Definitions of 'Muggle-baiting' (needs to be made less stringent)
'Oh.'
Harry suddenly realized what this was.
The ministry diplomats (Harry was willing to bet that Malfoy Sr. was one) were using these tests to vet upcoming young aspiring politicians and their views. Furthermore, they knew Harry Potter was going to be giving the test, so they wanted to know what he thought about the Wizarding world and how aware he was of it. They wanted information on him so that they would know what buttons to push when he'd enter the political arena.
Harry could bet that his answer to this question was going to be read at the ministry more times and by more people than any other.
"Smart, but about as subtle as a bull in a china shop," Harry muttered and put in the answer they'd expect an eleven years old to put. Option (a) was bubbled.
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Mislead the people at the Ministry who think they can spy on you! The NERVE of those people!
Rewards,
1000 exp
Failure,
Death
WARNING: This quest's acceptance renders Quest: 'Score high in the WOMBAT' null and void.
YES/NO?
That was a yes for sure.
After that Harry carefully nitpicked his answers, doing everything to make it look like an answer sheet written by a ten-year-old muggleborn child who didn't know anything about the wizarding world. He did answer all the factual questions correctly though. He had to make sure not to sound too childlike, so he made sure to match the Ravenclaw stereotype of memorizing everything.
When he was done, the answer sheet had all the factual questions correct and most of the 'insightful wizarding knowledge' questions entirely wrong. Any outsider who read it would only see it as the answers of a first year Ravenclaw, nothing special.
Answering 'the Kneazle is known to have the ability to detect suspicious or unsavory characters' at number 14 and 'Mercury' to an Astronomy question at number 15, he submitted the answer sheet, which rolled up, magically scored him at 47/60, and flew off to Professor Sinistra, who was collecting and writing down the scores against the student's names.
Just like that his first magical test was done.
Ping!
Quest Completed!
Mislead the people at the Ministry who think they can spy on you! The NERVE of those people!
Rewards,
1000 exp
And just as Harry was reading the message, Professor Sinistra looked up from where she was noting down the scores.
"25 points each to Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy and Terry Boot for the top three scores."
Harry smiled. This was going to be an interesting game. The Ministry had made a move, and Harry had countered and disguised his own attack as a feint. Now all that was left to be done was wait and watch.
Everything returned to normal; or at least what passed for normal at Hogwarts; after that interesting little class. On Friday after finishing up his work and leaving Hedwig to sleep on his bed, Harry left at midnight to go explore the castle.
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