Chapter 334 Evan's History Of Magic Exam
Unlike the Transfiguration exam where he finished first, Evan was the last to submit the paper in the History of Magic exam.
He wrote for two and a half hours. By the end of the day, the young wizards from the entire class looked at him with astonishment. Even Professor Cuthbert Binns was greatly surprised.
They couldn't fathom how Evan could write so much; it was beyond imagination.
He could have finished the entire exam in an hour, but the final essay question on the Witch Burning in the 14th Century piqued Evan's interest.
This had been discussed with Harry during the past summer holidays.
Recent studies of magic passed down from the Middle Ages had provided him with a deeper understanding of this aspect.
Overall, the wizarding community believed that the Witch Burning was futile.
Muggles harbored a particular fear of magic and witchcraft in the Middle Ages.
However, they were not adept at recognizing magic. The rare occasion they caught a real witch or wizard, the burning had no effect whatsoever.
The witch or wizard would perform a Basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to scream in pain while actually enjoying a slight tingling sensation. In fact, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no fewer than forty-seven times in various disguises.
These facts were quoted verbatim from 'A History of Magic', penned by the magical historian Bathilda Bagshot, and also reflected the opinions of the vast majority of people.
As long as this content was included in the exam paper, Evan would secure the highest score.
However, through recent research, he believed Bagshot's argument to be highly biased.
The witch-hunting behavior dominated by the Vatican was not as straightforward as the magical world now imagined. Evan deemed it a conspiracy.
Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, all of Europe plunged into the darkness of the Middle Ages.
Humanity had declined, morals had collapsed, productivity was sluggish, and muggles' fear of the unknown and witchcraft reached its peak in history.
The ancient holy empire split into many countries, and magical power also fragmented. Much heretical magic about ancient witches and wizards in Europe spread.
The perpetual struggle among muggles also allowed magic, especially dark magic, to thrive rapidly. Among them, demonic spells exploring eternal life or summoning dead spirits used by the new dark wizards led by traditional Vatican wizards were the fastest growing.
Based on the clues that had been preserved, these two forms of magic had in common the requirement of a large number of human souls or corpses as a foundation for casting.
Especially the souls and corpses of underage women were the preferred casting materials.
As mentioned earlier, in this scenario, the outbreak of witch hunts did not actually lead to the deaths of many real witches, but muggle women were subject to extensive persecution.
The campaign lasted for hundreds of years and eventually evolved into a terrorist act. Many muggle girls were labeled as witches and sent to religious trial courts.
They were executed, but their souls and corpses were secretly collected by dark wizards.
Ironically, the uncontrolled witch hunt could not harm the true adult wizards, but it had destroyed the underage wizards who had just awakened their powers. Many children born to muggles were brutally killed by their own family members soon after displaying their magical talents. Muggles called it the Power of the Devil.
This had led to a decrease in the number of these wizards over time, and eventually to their disappearance.
More and more ancient magic schools had become extinct because they could not find suitable Heirs. The powerful magic of ancient times was slowly turning to ashes.
The magical world was becoming increasingly bleak, and the status of pure-blood wizarding families was on the rise. Three hundred years after the outbreak of the Witch Hunts, with the rise of colonialism and the introduction of mysterious witchcraft in the New World and the East, this terrorist act gradually ceased.
The International Statute of Secrecy, signed in 1689, was considered a significant milestone in the development of the magical world. Necromancy and demonic black magic became taboo once again and could not be studied. All magic books were destroyed, and wizards went into complete hiding.
They were no longer involved in Muggle wars but had evolved on their own to this day.
Due to the limited exam time, Evan could only outline his own research results and could not carry them out one by one. Still, his response left everyone speechless.
In any case, this was a study of magical history sufficient to completely shake the magical world.
If not for the taboo nature of dark magic, Evan might have even provided his own evidence on the evolution of hundreds of dark magic spells.
Even so, Professor Binns remained stunned for a long time after seeing Evan's paper.
Too excited, his ectoplasmic body notably turned pale pink.
Other young wizards glanced sideways to see what Evan had written on the exam, something that managed to perplex Professor Binns.
Due to its significant research value, Evan finally scored 120 points on the History of Magic exam, with additional points awarded by Professor Binns. This new record at Hogwarts became the most talked-about topic in the castle.
Of course, all that was to happen later. Evan walked with Colin towards the Great Hall.
Unlike before, the third-year students were now very lively and seemed very excited.
Hermione's earlier prediction turned out to be very accurate; indeed, Professor Flitwick had tested them on Cheery Charms.
Evan did not see Harry and Ron. Hermione told him it was because Harry got a little nervous and Ron ended up in fits of hysterical laughter. Professor Flitwick had to take him to his office to calm down before being ready to perform the charm himself.
Midway through lunch, Harry and Ron managed to make it to the Great Hall.
They looked very fatigued; it did not seem like they had undergone the Cheery Charms at all.
"Very bad!" Ron shook his head and said, "Maybe laughing took too much energy out of me. Maybe I was too nervous to cast spells. In short, my Cheery Charm didn't work. Harry just pretended to be happy, Professor Flitwick clearly noticed."
"Don't take it so hard, this magic is very difficult," Harry said weakly, "At that moment, I felt happy, but not so strongly."
Harry's claim was not convincing. At that moment, he did not look happy at all.
"I told you before that when you cast a spell, your wand moves in the wrong direction!" Hermione looked at Ron and said, "Obviously, you didn't listen to me."
"But when I used this Charm before, everything worked. I thought..."
"You should be thankful that Professor Flitwick didn't give you zero points." Hermione took out the Potions book and said sharply, "But if you do the same in the Potions exam tomorrow, I'm sure Snape wouldn't allow it."