Chapter 333 The School Year Exams
Unlike Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, Cho was a sentimental girl.
Besides magic and Quidditch, she worried about many things, just like a common Muggle girl, not like a witch.
She expressed a lot to Evan, words Hermione would never say.
This sentiment was truly special. It deeply impressed Evan, causing him to grow fond of the lovely girl.
But Cho only visited him once. Hagrid visited often. Due to the Acromantula incident, he had been in a bad state recently. He looked worn out and always cried uncontrollably. He had returned to his state prior to Buckbeak's trial.
So far, he was the only one insisting that Aragog was harmless.
In Hagrid's words, Aragog was different from other Acromantulas. The attack was not his intention, but his offspring acted on their own.
Evan didn't know how to comfort Hagrid, but he simply fulfilled his promise to deliver it. Without dark energy, this old spider wouldn't live much longer anyway.
After seeing Aragog in the bottle, Hagrid cried again with Evan in his arms, endlessly thanking him for saving his "friend".
Dumbledore had told Hagrid that Aragog's lair had completely collapsed.
He thought Aragog had died inside and didn't expect Evan to retrieve it.
To thank Evan, Hagrid went to the school hospital many times afterward, bringing him the latest news about Aragog, along with homemade rock cakes.
What these cakes had in common was that they were as hard as stones.
Evan would never touch them at all, as he wasn't trying to lose his teeth.
In fact, he no longer cared about Aragog and the Acromantulas. After this incident, the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest were also severely damaged.
The number of surviving spiders was very small, and Evan estimated they wouldn't recover their losses in the next ten years.
Due to his increased magic, Evan stayed at school for a long time.
With the help of the peculiar ability contained in Slytherin's locket, his current magic level was very similar to Sirius' and Snape's.
Considering only his magic and practical skills, he could easily graduate from Hogwarts.
According to Dumbledore, besides Tom Riddle, Evan was already the best student at Hogwarts in the past centuries. Dumbledore allowed Evan to leave the hospital after ensuring there were no issues and repeatedly warned him to use his power carefully.
By then, it was already June.
Now, the days were becoming clear and stifling, and all anyone wanted was to stroll the grounds and sprawl on the grass with several jugs of chilled pumpkin juice, perhaps engage in an informal game of Gobstones or watch the giant squid lazily glide across the surface of the lake.
But they couldn't. Exams were looming over them, and instead of lazing outside, the students were forced to stay inside the castle, trying to coax their brains into focus while seductive breezes of summer air wafted in through the windows.
The welcome party for Evan outside the hospital was also much smaller than expected. They all had a few glasses of juice in the Common Room and were ejected by Percy.
Percy was preparing to take his OWLs, the highest qualification Hogwarts offered.
Everyone knew he wanted to enter the Ministry of Magic.
Hence, he needed excellent grades. He was becoming increasingly irritable, handing out severe punishments to anyone disturbing the Common Room peace at night.
Due to the upcoming end-of-year exams, everyone was nervous and busy. Even Fred and George didn't have time for their pranks; the research of new products was put on hold. They were seen only studying; they were about to take their OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels).
Driven by Hermione, Evan, freshly discharged from the hospital, swiftly immersed himself into a state of intense studiousness.
He was surrounded by Harry, Ron, Colin, and others wearing the same mournful expressions.
The exam week began, and an unnatural silence seized the castle.
The first exam for second and third years was Transfiguration. The third-years started first. Their task was to turn a teapot into a turtle.
Upon arriving at the Transfiguration classroom, Evan saw the third-year students exiting, disheartened and pallid-faced.
They were comparing results and lamenting the difficulty of the assigned tasks.
"Well, Hermione?" Evan saw Hermione emerging from within.
"Not so well, my turtle ended up looking more like a water turtle!" she exclaimed, "Professor McGonagall will surely deduct points from me..."
"You're already very skilled, Hermione!" Harry remarked weakly, "At least, you have a turtle. If I could achieve the same, I'd be content. Mine still had a beak for a tail, what a nightmare..."
"Was the turtle supposed to emit steam?" Ron asked hopefully.
"Unless Professor McGonagall is under some confusing spell, she probably won't see it that way," Hermione gestured towards Evan. "See you later at the Great Hall. Let's tackle the Charms exam."
After bidding farewell to Hermione, Evan entered the classroom with the other second-year students.
Professor McGonagall stood solemnly beside the lectern, exuding an invisible pressure. She frowned and instructed everyone to transfigure the beetles on the table into buttons.
It was also first-year Transfiguration content, much simpler than turning a teapot into a turtle.
Simply concentrate, wave your wand gently, and envision what you wish to create in your mind. Evan finished just as Professor McGonagall's voice trailed off.
He transformed the black beetle in front of him into a delicate bronze button with intricate decorative patterns.
"Well done, Mr. Mason!" Professor McGonagall's face displayed an uncommon smile, brimming with pride for her student. "Full marks, without a doubt."
The young wizards looked enviously at Evan and the button in front of him before waving their wands. No one could match what Evan had accomplished. Transfiguration was the most challenging subject for all first-year classes.
Colin spent a long time there, solely focused on the beetle exercise.
The beetle scurried around the table, evading the wand, and he couldn't pin it down.
A Hufflepuff student had even worse luck. In his attempt to catch the scampering beetle, he accidentally squashed it.
Professor McGonagall was displeased and had to request another.
At that moment, many truly began to admire Evan's outstanding skill.
With time remaining, Evan, with nothing to do, pulled out the history of magic book and perused it for a while. His second exam was History of Magic.
Professor Binns' questions were always very challenging. Even Hermione, who knew the entire book by heart, wasn't confident of achieving the highest score.