Chapter 335: Mars and the Dark Temple

Hermione's advice to Ron also applied to Harry.

Unless Harry did much better than the others, and was impeccable, he would never be treated fairly by Snape.

Snape would not miss an opportunity to give Harry a zero, especially considering his recent state of mind. Even if he gave all of Gryffindor a zero, Ivan would not be surprised.

After dinner, the students hurried back to their Common Rooms, not to relax, but to begin preparing for the upcoming exams.

Second years had Potions, Herbology, Charms, and Astronomy. Third years and up had Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Muggle Studies along with other courses.

Ivan saw Fred and George sitting in the corner in deep thought. They were studying how to use feathers to cheat in hopes of making a difference.

The next morning, Ivan went to take the Charms exam, and Harry went to the Care of Magical Creatures exam presided over by Hagrid. They all felt very good.

Professor Flitwick was a very nice teacher. He gave all the young wizards marks as high as possible.

Things were even better with Hagrid, his test was to let everyone deal with the Worms.

To pass the test, his worms had to be alive after an hour.

Since earthworms flourish best if left alone, it was the easiest test any of them had ever taken.

But in the afternoon Potions class, the situation changed abruptly. For all the Gryffindor students, it was a disaster.

The second year's Potions test was on the Boil Cure Potion, the third year's was on the Confusion Filter, and Snape had been hanging around the Gryffindor students, disregarding the actions of students from the other three Houses.

It wouldn't be hard to imagine; students doing their best to remember recipes and preparation steps, with Snape, dressed in a black robe, standing above their heads like an eagle with a sneer on his face and a look of glee, anticipating their failure.

He also wrote in his notebook from time to time, moving the quill in a circular motion.

How bad would it be? It could only be described in one word: awful!

Apart from Ivan, Snape did not spare any Gryffindor student.

He just took a look at the potion Ivan brewed.

His potion showed a light green color, and a hazy mist appeared, and the color was perfect and flawless.

Snape said nothing, and turned his head directly to look at Colin's work.

Wednesday morning was Herbology. The content of the exam was to help the Mandrakes squeeze their juice. They all did a good job. As long as they were brave enough, they would act as fast as necessary and there would be no problem.

Being in the greenhouses under a blazing sun was not comfortable. When they came out, the backs of everyone's necks were sunburned.

Then came Astronomy at midnight, in which all the young wizards who were in less than fifth year participated.

They donned their cloaks, climbed the highest tower, looked up at the night sky and marked it on their own astrological map.

Since last year, Mars in the sky had been very bright.

Although Ivan could recite all the meanings that Mars represented, it still didn't make much sense in this course.

Like divination, the textbooks were of limited help for this course. The essence of Astrology lies in the ability to summarize the past and understand the mystery. Astrologers have been giving different meanings through thousands of years of continuous observation.

This also meant that, if I wanted to get high grades in this course, I needed to carefully read most of the books in the library.

In addition, I had to have great insight to understand the signs of the planets.

This might be easier for centaurs. But for human magicians, it was very difficult to do that.

Take for example the unusual Mars in the last two years. This red planet was linked to different meanings in different historical periods. Needless to say, you have to combine the position of other planets, changes in the star map, the energy it emits during oscillations, and so on.

Ivan did not know if other people had this ability. He could not do it anyway. He could only hurry to draw the position of the planet tonight on the astrological map.

As they watched the planets, the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest also watched.

"An omen of Mars..." An old voice rang out from the depths of the mysterious temple. "War is coming, can the centaurs be spared this time?"

In the open-air room at the top of the temple, the centaur elder looked up at the stars in silence.

In front of him was a statue of a strange creature. Its huge body was unusually spectacular, most of it was hidden in darkness, and its exact shape could not be clearly seen.

In the midst of the darkness, it seemed that the huge statue was vaguely distinguishable and seemed to split in the middle.

No one knew what had happened there. At the top of the statue, a red gem glowed faintly, echoing the bright Mars in the distant night sky.

"Stupid Centaur, I'm about to return to the world..." The elder Centaur's voice just fell, and a strange voice rang out. "Weep and tremble, you can't change anything, pride will destroy you!"

The red light of the statue flashed several times, and the temple was restored to tranquility.

In the dim starlight, the wrinkles on the centaur elder's face deepened and his sighs echoed in the temple for a long time....

For those who do not take the T.I.M.O (Ordinary Mage Level) and E.X.T.A.S.S.I.S (Terrible Examination of High Wisdom and Secret Invocations), as long as they pass the Thursday exam, their difficulties will end.

For first and second year students, Thursday morning's Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was to be their last. Students in the third year and above also needed to prepare for Divination and Arithmancy.

Sirius's careful preparation obviously impressed everyone. Unlike other courses, Professor Lupin suggested he do a sort of obstacle course in the sun. He prepared a lot of Dark creatures, including Kelpies, Red Hat, a Boggart, etc. Much more than expected, and it wasn't clear where he found them.

Depending on their age, the students had to face different numbers of dark creatures.

Sophomores had to cross a deep pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes filled with red caps, squish their way through a swampy area while ignoring the misleading instructions of a Hinkypunk.

The last thing they faced was an old trunk with a Boggart inside. Third-year students and above had to participate. Young wizards in the first and second years were free to choose.

If they defeated the Boggart, they could get bonus points.

"Alright, perfect score!" When Ivan finished with the trunk, he saw Sirius staring at him with a smile.

Ivan didn't leave immediately; he was ready to watch other people's performance.

The third year exam was next, and he wanted to cheer Hermione up.