Chapter 94: End of Exams
"Sectumsempra, this spell, like Diffindo, because I know the incantation, I can figure out a rough understanding on my own, but the counter-curse, I really don't know."
Dylan flipped through the small booklet in his hand, glancing left and right. It contained Sectumsempra, including its counter-curse—Vulnera Sanentur.
He already knew quite a few healing spells, such as the Bone-Mending Charm and Episkey.
Vulnera Sanentur, as the counter-curse to Sectumsempra, could heal the lacerations caused by Sectumsempra at an extremely fast rate.
Other healing charms couldn't heal, or would find it very difficult to heal, the damage caused by Sectumsempra.
Compared to other Hexes, Sectumsempra was quite practical for Dylan. One reason was that Sectumsempra didn't require overly malicious or twisted emotions to cast; it only needed the intent to harm the opponent.
—Dylan didn't even need to have such an emotion to cast Sectumsempra.
Another reason was that Sectumsempra, unlike other Hexes, wasn't strictly monitored by the Ministry of Magic.
Although its power was also quite strong, it didn't need to be registered with the Ministry.
As long as it wasn't learned from some wanted dark wizard, there wouldn't be any major problems.
"Hmm, this spell is quite covert to use. If I can directly slit someone's throat, coupled with the fact that I don't need to generate any substantial killing intent, or even use Occlumency, I can directly deal with the opponent."
Of course, when it came to killing, the Killing Curse was always the king of kings.
That went without saying.
But Sectumsempra could be used completely openly.
He couldn't very well, under the gaze of a crowd, when needing to deal with an opponent, directly cast Avada Kedavra. If others saw it, to silence them, he would have to kill everyone around. If there were any loose ends he didn't deal with, he would then go and kill them.
Then he would be seen again, kill another group, then another, and another.
—In the end, the entire wizarding world would be wiped out by him.
That wouldn't end well.
"What are you thinking about?" Professor Snape's low voice suddenly sounded.
Dylan slowly came back to his senses. He had already been using Occlumency before entering Professor Snape's office, so he wasn't worried about Professor Snape directly probing his mind at this moment.
After all, he only briefly skimmed over certain thoughts and wouldn't dwell on them.
Smiling at Professor Snape, Dylan said, "I was thinking that this spell isn't difficult to learn, but its power is quite strong. I wonder who invented it; it's simply amazing!"
Professor Snape narrowed his eyes, looking Dylan up and down before letting out a soft snort. "Is that really what you think?"
"Ah? Of course, Professor. The booklet you gave me records this spell in great detail. I saw in it that only the counter-curse of Sectumsempra can heal the wounds it causes. This alone is enough to show how talented the person who created this spell was!"
Professor Snape seemed quite pleased. He closed his eyes slightly, the muscles in his face subtly twitching upwards, as if he were secretly smiling.
"Get out. I'll still give you a week. Next week, I will examine your results."
Professor Snape waved his hand.
Dylan: ...
He had praised him so much, and he didn't look angry. Why was he still telling him to get out?
Tch!
A proud, dead bat!
"What are you thinking about again?"
"No, nothing. Then I'll go, Professor. See you next week."
Dylan quickly gathered his thoughts, took the booklet and his things, and turned to leave Professor Snape's office.
After he left, Professor Snape took out a potions book and flipped through it, but he didn't turn to a new page for a long time.
"A genius, am I?"
"Hmph, that brat, he only looked at the booklet I gave him for a while, and he already grasped the essence of Sectumsempra. He's probably already learned it and understands it very deeply!"
"It's a pity that such a not-so-stupid student is a Gryffindor lion."
Thinking of this, he suddenly paused.
"However, even with my permission, he dared to attack me and even窥探 my memories. Just now, he even dared to call me that damn nickname in front of me! He really has guts."
The Sorting Hat had a point in putting him in Gryffindor.
...
Dylan didn't know that his slightly fluctuating emotions had directly allowed Professor Snape to see through his thoughts.
If Professor Snape hadn't sensed the genuine admiration Dylan held for the person who had created Sectumsempra, he wouldn't have left Professor Snape's office so easily.
At this moment, Dylan was walking in the corridors of Hogwarts, taking out the small booklet Professor Snape had given him again.
Sectumsempra was developed by Professor Snape, and he had created it when he was quite young—during his student years.
It had high lethality, was easy to learn, easy to master, easy to use, and could only be effectively countered and healed with its counter-curse.
So many advantages were enough to show how high Professor Snape's talent was.
Compared to that, his seemingly extremely high dark magic talent, even mastering the three Unforgivable Curses in his first year, was all fake talent!
"Hmm, I've reached the proficiency level to unlock spell refinement," Dylan smiled, closing the booklet.
Originally, knowing the incantation of Sectumsempra, he had a preliminary grasp of the spell. Now, with the personal notes of Professor Snape, the person who created the spell, explaining all the details of Sectumsempra in detail,
His proficiency directly reached level seven, with a faint tendency to break through to level eight.
After realizing that Professor Snape didn't seem angry about his actions, Dylan had relaxed a lot recently.
The time for exams was also gradually approaching.
The cold air gradually turned into sultry heat, and it became very stuffy in the classrooms.
Especially on the day of the exams.
The Great Hall was so hot that people couldn't stop sweating.
Dylan and Harry had to take the exams with the first-year students from the other three houses.
—This was indeed time-saving and labor-saving.
Dylan completed the written exam very easily.
Hermione was the same.
Harry and Ron, however, scratched their heads and looked anxious, but fortunately, thanks to Hermione's intense tutoring beforehand, the two of them passed the written part without any major mishaps.
Next was the practical part of each subject.
For Herbology, Professor Sprout took Dylan and the others to the greenhouses. Everyone had to repot Mandrakes.
This exam required students to know how to correctly use earmuffs to protect themselves and not damage the Mandrake's roots.
—Mandrakes had strong magical properties and would scream. If one wasn't careful, it could cause dizziness.
Neville was clearly very experienced in this. His speed and completion were even faster than Dylan's.
Harry and Ron, however, were just average. After all, this wasn't a very difficult subject.
The practical part of Astronomy was in the Astronomy Tower. Students needed to identify specific constellations, planets, and other celestial bodies through telescopes.
Professor Sinistra's requirements weren't high. As long as one could identify Orion and the Big Dipper, they could complete the exam.
Almost no one failed this subject.
And the practical part of Charms required students to make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk—Dylan himself wasn't very good at dancing.
However, his control of the Levitation Charm was barely proficient. With his precise use of the incantation and meticulous control of magic, he still got full marks in this exam.
—Dylan turned the desk into a small dance floor, which made his tap-dancing, although not very skillful, quite pleasing to watch.
It was just that Seamus's pineapple caught fire for some reason.
Setting something on fire while controlling the Levitation Charm was quite something.
The Transfiguration part was very simple—young wizards needed to turn a rat into a snuffbox. This mainly tested students' understanding of the Switching Spell.
It not only required mastering how to transform the rat's features into the shape and material of a snuffbox but also tested the students' understanding of magic.
For a group of first-year kids, this was definitely not an easy task.
But Dylan simply waved his hand, completing the transformation. The rat's body gradually shrank, its rough gray fur receding, replaced by a layer of iridescent glass material that shimmered with rainbow hues.
The box took on an elegant oval shape with smooth lines, and intricate, beautiful patterns were engraved on it—constellation designs outlined in pure gold.
At the joint between the lid and the box, a circle of tiny diamonds was inlaid as embellishment. Opening the lid revealed a smooth, mirror-like black ebony interior, forming a stark contrast with the ornate exterior.
Taking a careful sniff, a faint fragrance reminiscent of an ancient forest emanated from the box, lingering in the surroundings.
Ron and Harry stared, dumbfounded.
Neville looked over with an expression of admiration—as expected of Dylan!
Hermione frowned, continuing to try to transfigure the rat in front of her.
Soon, she also completed the transformation, but compared to the snuffbox Dylan had produced, they looked like two completely different things.
Professor McGonagall's supervision was quite strict, and Ron tried for a long time without success, becoming somewhat dazed.
He wanted to ask Dylan for help, but every time he looked up, Professor McGonagall would appear beside him, her eyes fixed on him, scaring Ron into quickly lowering his head and waving his wand.
However, the more flustered he became, the harder it was for him to calm down and think about the shape of the snuffbox.
The rat's chattering was even making him see stars.
Seeing this, while Professor McGonagall was inspecting his finished product, even admiring the glass snuffbox, Dylan turned to leave the classroom.
Passing Ron, he lowered his voice and said, "Calm down. Whatever level you manage to complete is fine."
As he spoke, he added a bit of special magic, allowing Ron's flustered state of mind to slowly calm down, and his head became much clearer.
Ron was taken aback, looking at Dylan in surprise.
The latter smiled at him and winked slightly.
Ron immediately cast a grateful look.
After calming down, Ron recalled the practice sessions he had with Harry and Hermione earlier and began to cast the spell on the rat again.
Finally, he also completed the transformation.
—Although the shape of the snuffbox was very ugly, the once smooth box was now covered in strange wrinkles, like the wrinkled skin of a rat.
The thin whiskers of the rat still remained on the mouth of the box.
But no matter what, he could finally pass.
After that was the Potions exam—a batch of Forgetfulness Potion.
Professor Snape's supervision was also very strict—towards Gryffindor.
Even during the stage when these little lions were preparing their potion ingredients, Professor Snape almost stood beside the Gryffindor students, pacing back and forth.
—Of course, the Potions exam itself included identifying and processing potion ingredients, so even if Professor Snape was strict, no one dared to say anything.
In any case, as long as they could brew the Forgetfulness Potion properly, Professor Snape, even if he didn't give them full marks, wouldn't fail them.
Dylan still finished his exam easily and went out.
Leaving Harry and Ron to brew the potion in front of them with trepidation.
After taking almost all the exams, most students didn't feel much pressure for the last one, History of Magic.
Even Ron completed the exam easily.
Dylan took out a large mug, his wand twirling gently, and a stream of ice-cold, fizzy cola flowed from the tip of his wand.
This was a new spell he had researched after the milk tea last time.
—This spell was deeply loved by Professor McGonagall.
Every time Dylan went to Professor McGonagall for extra lessons, Professor McGonagall would ask Dylan to pour her a full cup first.
—Professor McGonagall would also conjure a lot of ice cubes to put in it before taking a big gulp.
And then...
A sound of admiration, "Ah!"
"Dylan, get me one too!" Ron looked at Dylan's large mug and leaned over.
Dylan naturally didn't refuse, but took out a cup for Harry and Ron, then raised his wand.
Fzzzz
Black, slightly transparent liquid flowed from the tip of his wand, filling all the cups.
Hermione and Neville took their cups and immediately took a big sip.
Ron tilted his head back, his throat bobbing. The moment the bubbles touched his tongue, his whole body shivered.
"Ah!"
The bubbles burst in his mouth, and Ron looked satisfied.
"Good heavens, Dylan, what exactly is this stuff? It tastes so good every time I drink it, I can never get tired of it!"
Dylan smiled. "This is called 'happy water.' Of course you won't get tired of it."
"Huh? Dylan, didn't you say last time this was called cola?" Harry also took a gulp and blinked.
"Alias, alias."
Hermione's expression became much more reserved. After taking a few sips, she looked at Harry. "Dylan researched this. He can call it whatever he wants."
"Okay," Harry scratched his head and took another sip. "I really can't believe I completed all these exams successfully!"
Ron also gulped down several large mouthfuls, then squinted, pursed his lips, and waited for the bubbles on his teeth to dissipate before letting out a long breath. "Yeah! I really thought I would do terribly in the exams, especially Transfiguration! That was way too hard!"
"Luckily Dylan helped me, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to deal with that damn stinky rat even by the end of the exam!"
Saying this, Ron snorted softly. "Those rats wouldn't cooperate with me at all. My Scabbers is still cuter."
"By the way, haven't seen your Scabbers lately?" Harry glanced at him.
Ron paused, then couldn't help but pout. "I don't know what's been wrong with him lately. Scabbers always seems uncomfortable, groaning in pain every now and then, not even able to squeak. So I put him in the little box bedroom I prepared for him."
"Huh? He hasn't gotten better after so long?" Harry was taken aback.
He had been very busy lately and hadn't paid any attention to Ron's rat at all.
Now that he had some free time, he finally had a chance to ask.
(End of chapter)
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