Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Baka to Test.
Note: Sorry it took me so long to update. To be honest, I totally forgot about this story. Not that I'm very good about updating the stories I remember, either.
Harry arrived at the Defense classroom a few minutes earlier than he usually would, and he wasn't the only one. Everyone was curious about what the new professor had been talking about at the feast, even if most of them dreaded the thought of taking so many tests.
A moment later, the door opened, and the new professor gestured for them to come in, which they did. Harry sat at a desk in the middle of the room next to Neville, who was thankful. Harry's quiet encouragement tended to help with his confidence.
Professor Sakamoto sat idly at his desk until the class officially started. A few stragglers came in, and Harry was surprised to see Hermione among them. She dragged Ron behind her, angry that the redhead had caused her to be late.
"Two points from the Houses of each person who arrived late." Sakamoto said calmly, standing up before anyone (i.e. Ron) could protest. "Now that we're all here, let's get started. Now, I hope that you were all listening to the explanation of the new system last night?" He glanced at them all as if doubting it, eyes lingering on Ron and a few others.
Not that Harry could blame the man.
"The Headmaster did cut my explanation short, but no matter. More on that will be explained next lesson. For now, I have a test for you!" He smirked sadistically as a majority of the class groaned. Even Hermione was horrified that she hadn't been given a chance to study and revise.
"Oh, don't worry too much about this, whatever you score on the test is only a starting point, you will have many opportunities to improve on it." Sakamoto scolded, rolling his eyes, before flicking his wand and charming papers to fly to each person, where they landed upside down.
"Down turn them over until I tell you to." He warned, just as Hermione was about to do so. "This is only part one, the theory and general knowledge part of the exam. If you don't know the answer, skip the question, but for those you do know be thorough. Once you're all finished we'll move on to the practical portion of the test. Does anyone have any questions?"
"Yes, sir." Hermione started, after raising her hand, not waiting to be called on. "What does the practical portion entail?"
"One point from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn; you are not the only one with a question." He gestured to a few others whose hands were raised, all of whom were surprised and pleased that a professor was finally calling the bookworm out on her rudeness. "I will explain that part of the exam when we get to it."
Harry was amused to see that Hermione seemed to be struggling to decide whether to be angry, hurt, or embarrassed. It wasn't often that she was scolded by a teacher, unless Snape counted.
"Anyone else?" Sakamoto asked, seeing that Hermione wasn't going to throw a fit, no matter how tempted she might be to do so. More hands rose, encouraged that they wouldn't be ignored in favor of the school's resident know-it-all.
The man spent the next few minutes answering questions. There were anti-cheating runes carved into the desks, and those who tried would receive a nasty hex. The only enchanted quill allowed was a spell-checking one. Anyone caught talking while taking the test (or while the person they were talking to was still taking it), would have their test torn up and wouldn't have a score.
No, they couldn't use their books or notes on the test. When a few students laughed at the person to ask the question, the professor frowned at them, saying that it wasn't a bad question, as he'd known many teachers who allowed that very thing on occasion.
Ron asked if he could eat a snack while taking the test, regardless of the fact that breakfast was twenty minutes ago. That one got a resounding no from the professor, while the students just wondered (not for the first time) where the redhead stored all that food.
Finally, Professor Sakamoto gave them the go-ahead to start the test. Harry flipped his over, glancing at the format (multiple question, fill in the blank, and a few essay questions) before he wrote his name neatly on the top right-hand corner, with his year, house, and the date beneath.
The questions themselves varied. Quite a few of the multiple choice ones had various versions of a spell, one spelled correctly, and the others close enough to confuse if one didn't pay attention. A few magical creatures were mentioned, such as lycans (werewolves), Veela, acromantulae, and a few rarer beasts like the Cerberus and a basilisk.
Harry privately wondered if the man had heard about his adventures, since he had encountered every single one of these. After a moment's consideration, he decided that he didn't care. After all, it just gave him an advantage.
As he got to the essay questions, things got a bit more difficult. The first one asked his opinion on light and dark magic, something quite controversial in wizarding Britain. Harry played it as safe as he could while being honest: magic is only a tool, it's the user who is light or dark. It wasn't the magic but their intentions that mattered.
He belatedly realized that if he had written that while Umbridge was teaching he'd probably have been thrown in Azkaban, but somehow he didn't feel nervous about the new professor reading it.
The next essay question was about the three Unforgivable Curses, whether or not it was fair to send a person to Azkaban for life (what if they used it purely in self-defense?), what their uses were and what they were originally intended to be used for. Was the killing curse more humane than sentencing a person to life in Azkaban or to be kissed by a dementor?
Harry had an interesting time answering that one, considering all three curses had been used on him at one point or another. The only curse he couldn't find a 'good' use for was the Cruciatus Curse. That one hurt like a bitch.
That had been the last question on the parchment, but Harry was surprised to see that a few more questions appeared and the parchment lengthened itself. Curious, he shrugged, and continued answering questions as best he could, one or two more appearing every time he finished the previous ones.
"Time!" Professor Sakamoto called once an hour had passed. "Quills down." Harry set his down obediently, wondering how he had done. With a flick of the professor's wand, the exams flew towards him.
He pulled a scroll from his desk drawer, and explained that it had the answers to the more basic questions, the multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank ones. He charmed it so that it would compare their answers against the ones on the scroll and record them down, and he would grade the essay responses at a later time.
"Now!" he said, clapping his hands together. "For the practical part of the exam. There are two parts to this one, actually. First, you go through a list of spells I will give you and cast them at one of the five dummies (you'll go five at a time to make this faster) at the back of the room. To pass, you only need to be able to cast the spells, but you'll also receive information after your session on how much power you put behind the spell-maybe too much or too little, your accuracy, speed, and even a few tips on how to improve your casting technique. Any questions so far?" No one raised their hand, so he continued.
"Then let's begin! First up: Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Daphne Greengrass."
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