Chapter 670: O.W.L. Examination (Part 1) (Edited)

The O.W.L. exams will last for fifteen days. The theoretical exams are held in the morning, the practical exams in the afternoon, and the practical exams for Astronomy at night.

The first exam was the Theory of Spells, scheduled for Monday morning.

On Sunday, the atmosphere at Hogwarts had become even more anxious, with Hermione clutching a book wherever she went.

Fish was the only one different, still lazing around, happy to be on a trip, not caring at all about the upcoming O.W.L. exams.

"Fish is so good, why should he worry about his exam results, meow?"

(?ω?)

When Hermione asked, Fish responded like this and looked at Hermione suspiciously, "Don't you always get good grades? Why are you so insecure? And haven't you always loved exams?"

With this reminder from Fish, Hermione remained slightly nervous, but she was finally not as worried as before, and she even took some time to play with Fish.

At dinner time, Dumbledore had led a small group of senior wizards and witches through the Great Hall to the staff common room.

"Oh my, whispered Hermione, watching their backs, "Are they the examiners?"

After witnessing the arrival of the members of the Wizarding Examinations Authority, she was originally relaxed but suddenly became nervous again.

It had been a very uncomfortable evening. Everyone (except Fish) tried to make use of the last minute to study, but no one seemed to make much progress.

Fish wanted to leave, but Professor McGonagall warned him not to wander off, and when she asked Hermione to keep an eye on him, she pushed him superficially, so Fish had to return to bed soon.

The next day, during breakfast, the fifth-years didn't talk much. Parvati practiced her spell without talking to anyone, the salt shaker in front of her spinning rapidly. Hermione was reviewing "Achievement in Spells," reading so quickly that her eyes blurred. Neville dropped his knife and fork and spilled jam.

After breakfast, the rest of the class went to their lessons, and the fifth and seventh years wandered in the entrance hall. At half-past nine, they were called to the classroom in order.

The classroom had been redecorated, and the four house tables had been removed and replaced with several individual desks, all facing the teacher's table at the end of the room, with Professor McGonagall standing in front of them.

Once everyone was seated and silent, Professor McGonagall said, "We may begin." She turned over a huge hourglass on the table, where spare quills, ink bottles, and rolls of parchment were also placed.

Fish opened the paper in front of him and skimmed through the questions...

"It's not that difficult, isn't it like the old exams? Why are they so scared?"

(?ω?)

Fish scratched his head curiously and asked aloud.

"Silence!" Professor McGonagall gave Fish a stern look.

"Ow~"

(`O´)

Fish pouted, then swayed from side to side as if he had fleas, while writing on his paper.

After about an hour, Fish threw the quill onto the table and raised his arms.

"Minerva, Fish is done!"

(≧≦)

"Go when you're finished and don't disturb others." Professor McGonagall waved her hand dismissively, sending Fish out.

Except for Fish, no one else handed in their exams early, even though they had already filled them out, so it wasn't until the two hours of the exam were over that Fish, who was playing with his tail outside, saw the others leaving the Great Hall.

"Hermione~!"

?●ω●?

Fish let go of his tail and pounced on Hermione.

Then he heard Hermione babbling, "Fish, how did you answer the Happy Spell question? Did you write the spell to cure hiccups? I'm not sure if I should write it or not, it seems like I've written too much... and question twenty-three..."

"Hermione, wake up nya, even if I tell you the answer now, you can't change it."

(?ω?)

Fish looked at her gloomily, then reached out and covered her mouth.

"Uhhhhhhh..."

Hermione, still babbling, let out some strange grunts and finally snapped out of it.

After a short break in the castle's outdoor clearing, the group returned to the entrance hall to join the rest of the school for lunch (the four house tables reappeared for mealtime), and then lined up in the small room adjacent to the entrance hall, waiting to be called for their practical exams.

A small group of students was called in alphabetical order, and those who remained murmured incantations and practiced wand movements, occasionally accidentally stabbing people in the back or eye.

Hermione, whose last name started with G, and Seamus, whose last name started with F, were the first to be called and did not return after their exams, so they didn't know exactly what the practical exams consisted of and had to keep practicing as much as possible.

"Morag McDowell - Ernie McMillan - Draco Malfoy - Fish McGonagall." After a while, Professor Flitwick, standing by the door, called out.

Fish stood up and approached the other three whose names had been called.

"Professor Marchbanks is available, Fish." Professor Flitwick patted Fish on the shoulder and pointed to a small, hunchbacked witch in the Great Hall.

"Fish McGonagall," Professor Marchbanks said with a smile as she looked at the cat-eared boy who had approached her. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Hello nya!"

(ΦωΦ)

Fish greeted her confidently.

"Let's see how well you've learned your levitation spell," Professor Marchbanks pointed to a wine glass on the table. "Make it levitate and do a few flips."

It was not a difficult task for Fish, who pulled out his wand and, instead of the standard wand movement, randomly struck the glass, causing it to fly into the air and perform all sorts of acrobatics at Fish's command.

"A silent spell!" exclaimed Professor Marchbanks, making the other examiners look in their direction, but the other candidates seemed accustomed to it.

At that moment, Harry, Pansy, and the Patil sisters entered, and Harry went straight to the oldest and baldest-looking examiner standing next to Fish.

"Harry, you're here nya." Fish greeted Harry with a wave.

(ΦωΦ)

In his moment of distraction, the glass in the air immediately slipped from his grip and fell from above. Without even looking, Fish reached out his hand and the glass landed firmly in his grasp.

After placing the glass back on the table, Fish wiggled his ears and asked, "Is that all?"

"Of course, you've exceeded expectations!" exclaimed Professor Marchbanks, and then, with a hint of anticipation, she asked, "Can you do it without a wand?"

Fish tilted his head. "I don't know, Fish will try nya." He put the wand aside and moved his fingers towards the glass.

The glass shook vigorously on the table and then floated up shakily and unstably.

Fish moved his finger again, and the glass swayed in the air several times, returning to its unstable state.

"That's enough, I suppose," Fish shrugged as the glass fell back onto the table.

"Alright then!" Professor Marchbanks applauded, then she pulled out a mouse from under the table and said, "Next, we'll test the color-changing spell."

Professor Marchbanks proceeded to test Fish with several more spells, but none of them proved difficult for him. Not only did he perform them all perfectly, but he also didn't recite the incantation at all. When Fish finished, all the examiners, led by Professor Marchbanks, applauded him.