minor conflict

Half an hour later, all the students were drenched in sweat, their faces flushed with the intensity of exercise, panting heavily, lying on the soft ground like puddles of mud, completely drained of energy.

Wands were casually discarded at their sides, and they had no strength left to pick them up again.

If they could do it over, they would definitely choose to lie on the ground first rather than actually engage in combat with the professor.

Because in this battle, the professor didn't hesitate to start using curses!

Stunning spells, petrification curses, dancing charms, tickling hexes, and more, all the spells they had learned over the past three years were played with infinite variations by the professor.

Their footwork, spellcasting skills, teamwork, and everything else they had practiced over the year seemed to have no effect, always getting accurately hit by the professor's magic.

As a result, every student had danced at least once, laughing hysterically (thanks to the tickling hex) for over five minutes!

The professor claimed that this was to assess their counter-curse abilities.

 They realized why the exam would only end when they couldn't lift their wands anymore.

Such an exam could literally exhaust a person to death!

But Professor Tewell was content to dispel the magic around him and, at the same time, waved his wand at the limp students—"Levitation Charm"—sending them back to their seats.

The Slytherins and Ravenclaws, who were still enthusiastically discussing the exam, were stunned to see this scene.

"What just happened to you guys? Why are you so exhausted?" Cedric quickly asked Davies next to him.

Davies weakly flashed an excited smile.

"It was too thrilling, too wonderful. I feel like this was the most fun exam I've ever had in my life."

Cedric looked at him blankly, noticing the sweat dripping from his forehead and the pale lips from exhaustion. This didn't seem like a situation that would arise from a fun exam!

As if inspired by Davies, the students, using every bit of strength they had just accumulated, unanimously began to boast about how interesting the exam was.

"It's unbelievable! The professor showed off some amazing magical skills!"

"Have you ever seen magic that can turn a few corners? The professor did it!"

"With just a wave of his wand, the professor shot out three beams of light, it was simply awesome!"

Seeing their excited expressions, the remaining students approached the smiling professor tentatively—

ready to experience their own exclusive exam.

...

Such practical exams were only conducted for third-year students and above, as they were the only ones with enough strength to battle the professor.

As for first and second-year students, they were better off playing with the Golden Snitch!

So, with his high efficiency, Tewell managed to complete all the exams for the students in just two and a half days, the fastest of all subjects.

Tewell then spent another day and a half marking all the students' papers and reviewing the contents of the practical exams, giving each student a comprehensive grade.

Looking at the report cards, more than half of them had the highest grades of O and E, while the rest mostly had the passing grade of A, with only a few glaring failures.

Although the previous exam scores couldn't be taken as true, compared to the students' performances a year ago—or six months ago for the older students—their progress was more than satisfactory for Tewell.

With this in hand, he could confidently discuss a raise with Headmaster Dumbledore.

After putting away the report cards, it wasn't time to announce them to the students yet. He had to wait until all the grades from each subject were out, then distribute the textbooks for the new school year.

It was still early, and Tewell, who was on an early break, now had quite a bit of free time.

But since this time wasn't quite enough for researching Horcruxes, he decided to wander around the library.

The restricted section of the school library had quite a few good things, although there were no books on the Four Elements, there were many on souls!

He encountered several books just on actively exploring the mind. However, this time, he came across an unexpected scene.

Or rather, a small group of people.

" I'm just practicing magic, you know. Professor Fawley praised me at the end of the exam, saying my magical skills were excellent," Malfoy said proudly, tilting his little head back, followed by his lackeys, Goyle and Crabbe.

On the other side were Harry's trio and Neville. However, Neville's legs seemed glued to the ground, unable to stand steadily.

"Give it up," Hermione stepped forward, "Harry's score is better than yours!"

Malfoy's smile faltered. "It's only two points higher than mine. Who knows, maybe my theory score is even better?"

"Can your theory score be as good as Hermione's?" Ron laughed loudly, not caring that it wasn't his score being discussed.

Malfoy's fair face darkened slightly, and he glanced helplessly at his two lackeys behind him.

Well, the combined scores of those two might not even match Hermione's.

But Snape came to his rescue.

"What are you all doing blocking the library door? Don't you need to prepare for the Potions exam?" Snape glanced at Harry and his friends.

"Or do you plan to take home T's (Troll - dreadful)?"

His gaze lingered on Harry's face, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "Of course, even if someone prepares diligently, their talent can only help them achieve such grades."

"I wonder who you're talking about? Harry?" Tewell smiled as he walked up from behind Harry, warmly putting his arm around him.

"If my mother didn't remember wrongly, she told me Harry's mother was very good at Potions."

"As long as he inherits a bit of his mother's talent, he should have no trouble passing the Potions exam, right, Professor Snape?"

Snape's smile disappeared instantly.

He stared at Tewell's eyes with a gloomy expression for a while before speaking slowly. "I don't know what your mother told you, but please don't spread unconfirmed rumors on campus."

Then he leaned forward and whispered softly in Tewell's ear, "Otherwise, even Dumbledore won't be able to protect you!"

With that, he didn't even look at the surprised expressions of the others and waved his robes as he left the scene.

Tewell knew what he meant, simply not wanting his complicated relationship with Harry to be exposed.

Plus, Dumbledore might have his own reasons for it, so Tewell wouldn't really expose these things.

It was just occasional teasing of Snape, but why did it feel a bit unscrupulous?

It seemed he should refrain from doing such things in the future, or Snape might really come after him...