HP: Professor From Azkaban

In fifteen minutes, or perhaps even less.

The faint sound of writing in the classroom began to die down intermittently. William lifted his head from his lesson plan, his interest piqued as he started paying attention to the students.

Unlike the cheerful expressions they had when entering the classroom, most students now wore obvious signs of anxiety. Those who had been the most confident when the test papers were handed out were now breaking out in cold sweat; even though it was only September.

William began to walk slowly around the classroom, his gaze sweeping over the students' test papers. Whenever he came across a student who had written more answers, he would silently note their name and appearance.

After spending ten minutes reviewing everyone's papers, the atmosphere in the classroom had grown unbearably oppressive.

The sound of quills scratching on parchment had completely vanished, replaced only occasionally by the rustling of someone flipping through their test paper, trying to reread a question. Yet, even as they picked up their quills again, they would pause mid-motion and place them back down without writing anything.

The better the student, the greater the frustration they felt when faced with this exam paper. After all their hard work, confronting a genuine OWLs exam question paper made them feel as if they hadn't learned a thing.

By the time the exam had been going on for half an hour, the entire classroom had entered what could only be described as dead time.

All the students had given up on answering the questions. Some of the more short-tempered ones had even started plucking at the fine feathers on their quills, like desperate writers nearing a deadline. They frantically pulled at the feathers, as if that act alone could spark some sort of inspiration and allow them to miraculously finish the cursed test in front of them.

"Clap, clap!"

Standing on the platform, William clapped his hands.

"Half an hour has passed. It seems everyone has given up on answering the questions. Shall we collect the papers early and go over them together, or should I give you another half hour to continue the exam?"

Almost everyone let out a long sigh of relief. A few bold students seemed ready to voice dissent, but the strange looks from those sitting nearby made them think twice, and they obediently refrained from saying anything.

"Alright then, everyone pass your papers forward. The students in the first row, please collect the test papers and bring them to me. After that, take out your textbooks and read the first twenty pages."

Orders that would typically provoke an uproar were carried out today with unusual compliance. The students handed over their test papers as if they were passing on a scorching hot potato.

A thick stack of papers was placed neatly on William's desk, while the students below sat in silence, as if they'd just been hit by frost.

It wasn't until William began grading the test papers that whispers started to ripple through the classroom.

"How did you do?"

"Utter disaster. I managed to answer a bit at the start, but I couldn't even make sense of the rest. What about you?"

"Same here. Though I did manage to answer one question toward the end, it feels like most of the material wasn't even covered. Are these really questions from past exams?"

"I don't know. The professor wouldn't lie to us, would he?"

"..."

"Hey, Nancy is crying. Did you see that?"

"Yeah, I saw. Keep your voice down. Do you want to be ostracized?"

"..."

On the platform, William was rapidly grading the test papers. Out of the thick stack of papers, very few had substantial written answers. Even for the few bold students who attempted the questions, the errors were glaringly obvious from the start. In cases where only a few questions needed grading per paper, the thick stack of test papers was sorted into three piles at a speed not much slower than stamping documents.

By the time the final paper landed in the thickest pile, only five minutes had passed since the hour-long exam had begun.

***

After taking five minutes to record the grades, William stood up and surveyed the entire class.

"The grading is done. I suppose no one wants me to read the results aloud, right?"

No one responded; these were fifth-year students, and they all knew exactly how their answers would translate into grades.

"Alright, let's proceed with distributing the papers by name."

In full view of the class, William mixed the three piles of papers together and then shuffled them thoroughly before calling out names.

After handing out the final paper, he returned to the platform and spoke in a deliberately pained tone…

"Poor, very poor, utterly terrible. That's my only evaluation of this exam's results."

"The best grade was a P. However, even this was only achieved by three students."

"Nancy Warren and Guy Walker from Ravenclaw, and Lenna Eddy from Hufflepuff; Each of these students has earned five points for their house as a reward for achieving the highest scores. But everyone else, no applause."

"This is not an achievement to be proud of. In fact, with grades like these, you wouldn't even qualify for the advanced classes in past years, let alone think about obtaining a N.E.W.T. certificate."

"I understand. Some of you might be dissatisfied. So, let's go over the test paper briefly."

William picked up his lesson plan and flipped to the pages containing the exam questions.

"Question one. The fifth question from the 1990 OWLs exam; original question."

"Question two. The eleventh question from the 1979 OWLs exam; original question."

"..."

"…"

"The final question. The eighth question from the 1975 exam; original question with one restriction removed."

William set the lesson plan down and scanned the classroom, his gaze sweeping over every student.

"All the questions, except for three where I slightly adjusted the constraints, are original questions from the past twenty years."

"In case some of you have doubts about me choosing exam questions older than you, let me share something in advance."

"The Wizarding Examinations Authority, the organization responsible for O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s; is led by Professor Griselda Marchbanks. She once served as Headmaster Dumbledore's chief examiner. In my opinion, Professor Marchbanks is likely to remain the head of the Authority for at least another thirty years. Therefore, these decades' worth of past exams are our most valuable references."

"That can't be true, Professor!"

"Headmaster Dumbledore's chief examiner? Is that real, Professor?"

"It's absolutely true; just as true as the fact that most of you practically handed in blank papers." William let out a snort, and with one sentence, he brought the slightly lively students back to silence.

It wasn't surprising that the students found this shocking. Even William himself had been startled while researching the Wizarding Examinations Authority; Dumbledore's examiner!

It was akin to finding a youthful, awkward picture of a famous figure, sparking an irresistible curiosity. Unfortunately, the topic of this class wasn't exploration.

"I can't imagine seeing a group of students turning in papers like these for their O.W.L.s a year from now. I'm sure none of you want that either."

William turned to the blackboard. As he began writing furiously, a bit of the smugness he had tried to suppress slipped out.

"Remedial lessons, improvement, and preparation!"

The three words appeared clearly on the blackboard.

"I wanted to keep things as enjoyable as possible for everyone, but unfortunately, your foundational knowledge is truly lacking." William's face showed genuine regret. "Over the next year, we're going to have to work hard."

...

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