A Certain Magical Hogwarts

As June arrived, the days grew stuffy and cloudless.

Everyone just wanted to take a walk outside, armed with a few pints of chilled pumpkin juice, to enjoy romantic moments on the grassy lawns;

Or to play a silly game of throwing stones where the loser had to remove an article of clothing until they were completely stripped;

Or perhaps simply sit by the Black Lake, waiting for the legendary sea serpent to emerge and spray water.

But they couldn't do any of that.

With exams approaching, students were confined within the castle, battling against the summer breeze blowing through the windows, forcing their brains to focus on studying.

Everyone was busy reviewing, except for William, who spent his days idly crafting all sorts of alchemical items.

What's the difference between a top student and a genius?

The one who studies hard all day and scores high is the top student; the one who doesn't study at all and still scores high, now that's a genius.

In everyone's eyes, William was already at genius level.

But William knew he wasn't a genius.

That didn't stop him, though. He planned to play for a month and then get back to studying during the summer holidays.

As for the exams… When your skills far exceed those of graduating students, why would you care about second-year tests?

Hermione, on the other hand, had started planning her revision during Christmas. By Easter, she had gone over all her subjects multiple times. Yet, she was still tirelessly putting in extra effort.

She hoped to achieve perfect scores in every subject, just like William had in his first year.

See? How could such a student not succeed?

William had truly witnessed Hermione's excellence firsthand.

But for such an outstanding child to have so few friends? Hard to believe, right?

The blame lay with Hermione's low emotional intelligence. Otherwise, her meticulous notes alone, which were a strategic resource, would have attracted a horde of admirers.

And Harry and Ron? They showed no awareness of their lack of academic prowess. They spent their time idling, barely looking at their books, and zoning out even when they did.

But then again, if a slacker became self-aware, would they still be a slacker?

In addition to reviewing, Hermione even collected William's first-year exam questions.

Although William told her it was pointless, as topics from previous years rarely reappeared, Hermione stubbornly reviewed them multiple times.

This gave William an idea: after the exams, he planned to sell memory-based test papers for a profit.

He would compile questions from all six years and use them as past papers to sell to students in the future.

Alongside past papers, cheating tools couldn't be left out, of course.

William created numerous self-writing quills, memory spheres, sleeve-sized cheat sheets, and auto-correcting ink.

The students bought them in a frenzy. Cheating was undeniably tempting for many of them.

But these tools offered little more than psychological comfort, as the school heavily guarded against cheating. Every exam paper was enchanted with strict anti-cheating spells.

The professors, seemingly possessing piercing eyes, ensured no one could sneak these tools into the exam rooms.

Soon, exam season began.

As expected, the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was canceled.

This marked the second consecutive year of its cancellation. That meant that, from the perspective of the academy, the quality of students these past years wasn't stellar.

First came the written tests, followed by practical exams.

Professor Flitwick called students into the classroom to perform the Levitation Charm, making keys fly through a complicated obstacle course.

For a time, the entire classroom was filled with floating keys.

Some students treated it as a flying sword competition.

William controlled fourteen keys at once, staging a Quidditch match. Professor Flitwick awarded him full marks on the spot.

For the Transfiguration exam, Professor McGonagall handed out pebbles and asked the students to transform them into tables and chairs.

The prettier the furniture, the higher the score.

William conjured an entire sofa set and even transformed a high-end mahjong table.

Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall didn't know how to play mahjong; otherwise, they could've played a few rounds.

In Potions, students had to recall the steps to brew a Hair Growth Potion.

Marietta, seated behind William, kept whispering questions about how many rat tails to add.

Snape hovered behind them, his presence so cold it was palpable.

The pressure was overwhelming for many, causing some students to crack.

For instance, Hufflepuff's Shabby burst into tears during the exam, sobbing that he was too stupid to deserve to take the test and that Snape's face made him nauseous. He declared he wanted to leave school right away.

Snape's expression darkened further.

Had it not been for his professional restraint as a teacher, Snape might have hung Shabby upside down and brewed him into a potion.

William, however, remained unfazed. He confidently wrote "Basilisk" on his morning test paper, knowing Snape wouldn't dare give him anything less than full marks.

The Astronomy exam took place at midnight, on the tower, where students observed planetary movements.

This year's task was to identify all of Saturn's moons and mark the precise positions of stars and planets on a blank star chart using a telescope.

The final exam was History of Magic.

The content was fairly standard: questions about wand legislation, violations of the Statute of Secrecy, reasons behind the founding of the International Confederation of Wizards, and an explanation of why the wizard from Liechtenstein refused to join.

When Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, the students erupted into cheers.

A week later, Ravenclaw defeated Hufflepuff, claiming the Quidditch Cup after a nine-year drought.

During the match, William performed spectacularly, scoring 200 points single-handedly, though Cedric Diggory ultimately caught the Golden Snitch.

Cho sulked for days over the loss.

Hogwarts' end-of-term feast was as grand as ever, with decorations in Ravenclaw's blue and bronze to celebrate their House Cup victory.

Professor Dumbledore stood up, his beard gleaming in the candlelight.

"Now, as far as I know, we must first award the House Cup," he began.

"The scores are as follows:

Fourth place, Hufflepuff, with 355 points.

Third place, Gryffindor, with 360 points.

Second place, Slytherin, with 426 points.

And in first place, Ravenclaw, with 520 points."

The Ravenclaw table erupted into thunderous cheers and stomping.

This marked their second consecutive championship.

"Well done, very well done indeed," said Dumbledore, "However, a few recent events must also be taken into account."

Clearing his throat, Dumbledore continued.

"First—Mr. Ron Weasley, for his brilliant chess match, I award Gryffindor 50 points."

"Second—Miss Hermione Granger, for solving puzzles and accomplishing what Quirrell could not, I award Gryffindor 50 points."

The Gryffindor table erupted with joy, their total rising by 100 points.

"Third—Mr. Harry Potter…"

The hall fell silent.

"…for showing outstanding courage and bravery, I award Gryffindor 60 points."

The Gryffindor table went wild, their total now matching Ravenclaw's at 520 points.

Cho whispered, "Does this mean we'll share the House Cup with Gryffindor?"

William smiled. "Don't worry, Cho. Remember, I killed the basilisk."

As expected, Dumbledore continued, "Mr. William Stark, he single-handedly defeated the basilisk and saved countless students, securing his second, 'Special Award for Services to the School', for that, I award Ravenclaw 100 points."

The hall erupted in applause, and the Ravenclaw table celebrated once more.

Raising his goblet, William toasted Dumbledore from afar.

Dumbledore winked back, lifting his own goblet.

The two shared a moment of mutual understanding.

Meanwhile, Snape drank alone, mumbling bitterly, "Seven consecutive championships… Seven consecutive championships…"

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