Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 193 The second test and the responsible professor

It is a pity that Luna did not successfully summon the patron saint. She is only a first-year freshman and only met the most preliminary requirements for clearance - focusing on recalling the happiest memories she can think of.

But this is enough.

Because this is also a necessary condition for successfully summoning the Patronus, Toby deliberately lowered the requirements considering the difficulty of the Patronus Spell.

Yes, the Patronus Charm is the key to successfully appeasing the flame ball.

Toby acted very exaggeratedly before and deliberately asked the students to attack the fire ball, but this was actually just an indirect reminder - what would happen if the Obscurus was attacked with hostility?

Of course there was a counterattack.

The mental state of the Obscurus is extremely unstable, so how could he allow the students to pass the level in this way?

Moreover, the unstable mental state of the Obscurus is actually a reminder, because Toby has emphasized more than once that the Obscurus is the most similar example to ritual magic. Then students must show the opposite characteristics to be qualified.

Therefore, the Patronus Charm became the key to passing the exam-focus, a positive attitude, and calmness when facing the flaming ball, which were all considered in the process.

Only those who meet these requirements are eligible to learn ritual magic.

That will also be the official course in the third academic year.

Now that Luna has completed the first level of the test, she has also shared her happiest memory with Toby: that was the moment she got Pandora's Notebook.

There were two more tests next, and Luna decided to continue taking part. Toby did not reject her because she was a freshman, but asked her to come to him on Sunday, and then he would arrange subsequent tests for her.

The fact that Luna successfully passed the test was not publicized with much fanfare, so when she casually mentioned it in the Herbology class, Ginny was stunned, and she didn't even notice the devil's ivy that had climbed to her shoulders.

"Ginny Weasley!" Mrs. Sprout hurried over and slapped the vines away. She asked angrily: "What are you thinking about?! How could you be distracted at this time?!"

Ginny said blankly: "Luna passed the exam."

"What exam?"

"Professor Hemmer's Examination."

"Toby?"

Professor Sprout looked around in confusion at the students who had calmed down for some time. She asked, "Is it a magic circle item? It's only April, so it's indeed a bit early - but that doesn't mean you're in a daze."

reasons."

She understands the special nature of the Tobey exam and is unique among professors. She has even considered whether to change the exam time limit for herbal medicine classes so that students can successfully grow a biting cabbage or something.

Ginny gradually came back to her senses. She didn't explain any more. She blushed and lowered her head to turn the soil in the flowerpot.

But when class ended, she and Luna were surrounded by curious students.

"How did you do it so fast?"

"I have read your paper. Have you successfully made anti-monster glasses?"

"Can you tell us the secret?"

Luna looked at them blankly, and Ginny suddenly changed her silent attitude. She shouted angrily: "Please give way! Don't block the way!"

She grabbed Luna's arm and squeezed a way out of the crowd. After she was far away, she continued to complain: "These people are really too much. They are not willing to talk to you usually, but now they ask you questions as soon as they come up."

What secrets do you want? I dare say that among those people there must be guys who hide your shoes. Stay away from them, there is no good person."

Luna stared at Ginny's cynical look. She suddenly let out a short and loud laugh, which looked weird and made Ginny stunned.

They came to the lake together, and just when Ginny wanted to find a place to rest for a while, she found Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting under the beech tree not far away. They were discussing in a low voice with serious faces.

What, Hermione was still writing and drawing with a notebook.

Ginny wanted to change places, but Harry, who was sitting directly opposite her, noticed them. Hermione also saw them. Finally, Ron turned to look over, and the expression on his face immediately became weird.

"What are you doing?" Luna asked, breaking the silence.

"What are you going to use to prepare for the exam?" Hermione said, holding up her notebook, which was full of writing: "What are you going to use to prepare for the exam?"

This is obviously asking about the exam content of the ancient magic course. Only this course will start the exam in advance.

In front of Harry, Ginny became embarrassed to speak again, and the person who answered was still Luna. She said: "I want to make anti-monster glasses, and Ginny plans to make jumping shoes."

They sound like two very novel ideas.

Under Hermione's curious questioning, Ginny explained in a low voice what jumping shoes were - this inspiration came from her new shoes. She originally wanted to make a flying shoe, like flying into the sky.

Broom, but after realizing that the difficulty was too high, I changed it to jumping shoes - the kind that can jump very high once you jump up.

"Sounds really good." Hermione asked with interest, "What about the anti-monster glasses?"

Luna's answer was much weirder.

"Glasses that can identify monsters at a glance." She said seriously.

"Monsters?" Hermione asked curiously: "You mean creatures like vampires and hags?"

"Not exactly." Luna shook her head, and the Gordigan earrings on her ears swayed back and forth: "There are also monsters, annoying and unpredictable monsters."

"Okay." Hermione looked at Ron for help, hoping that he would answer. But Ron was trying hard to hold back his laughter, and his face turned red.

Harry on the side finally managed to choke out a sentence: "Elusive monsters? I really wish I could see anti-monster glasses earlier - do you need any help? I mean, after all, we have passed the first grade.

It’s time for the exam.”

Luna joined them happily, and Ginny was also pulled over.

Ron stared at Harry suspiciously, and then at Ginny, whose cheeks were red. He somewhat doubted whether the two people had made an appointment to meet here in advance.

At this time, it was Luna again. She glanced at Hermione's notebook and said immediately: "No, your method is wrong. Even if you use fishing nets to catch all the flame balls, you will only get a pass at most."

That's not appeasement."

Hermione showed some disapproval. This was an exam content that was only given to the second graders and had nothing to do with the first graders.

As a result, Luna said again: "Only by following the direction of learning the Patronus Charm can you pass the exam."

Harry had been paying attention to what Luna said, and he asked doubtfully: "What is the Patronus Charm?"

Hermione quietly raised her ears. She didn't expect Luna to already know about the Patronus, nor did she expect that her subsequent explanation would be so reasonable.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked in surprise, startling the absent-minded Ron and almost falling into the lake.

Harry was holding Ron's arm tightly to prevent him from falling. He suddenly heard Luna say: "Because I have passed your test, I will take the next test at the weekend."

Harry was stunned, and then heard a splash——

Ginny said blankly: "Ron fell into the lake, he can't swim! Hurry! Rescue him quickly!"

Ten minutes later, Ron, who kept sneezing, returned to the shore. He shook his arms tightly and said with bright eyes: "Patron Saint? Did I hear it right? We are going to get rich! Unexpectedly, one day

I can also take away Fred and George's business, which will make us a lot of money!"

"Ron!" Hermione reminded, holding up her soaked shoes: "It's not you who is going to get rich, it's Luna! It was all her idea, and I never expected that you would be the first to guess it.

A freshman!”

"Is this okay?" Harry asked hesitantly, "Is it really okay to tell us the answer directly?"

"It doesn't matter." Luna said nonchalantly: "Professor Heimer doesn't care, and I don't think it's a big deal."

Now that Luna said this, Harry was completely relieved. Hermione couldn't wait to go to the library. Ron, who was full of complaints, was also taken away by them and warned him repeatedly not to try to make money with the answers.

That doesn't belong to him.

"But it's only one Galleung short" when Ron frowned.

After returning to the common room and changing their clothes, the trio hurried to the library. While checking out books related to the Patronus Charm, they happened to meet Fred and George who were also studying hard. They really

Don't want to miss every opportunity to make money.

"Stop looking for it." Ron directed all his complaints to them: "The key lies in the Patronus Charm. Hurry up and learn the Patronus Charm. Also, don't expect to make money with this answer. This is what Luna told us.

She was the first student to pass the exam."

He repeated what Harry and Hermione had said, and before the proud expression on his face faded, he was kicked out of the library by Mrs. Pince who heard the commotion.

"Don't make noise in the library!" she warned sternly, just like a vulture hunting for prey.

The news spread from one to two, then to four, and from four to eight. It didn’t take long for the news of a gifted student in Ravenclaw to spread throughout the school. This person was just a new student, and his selfless answers even spread.

Come and ask for no reward.

Careful students discovered that Ravenclaw House's funnel was a lot higher, a full fifty points.

Suddenly, Luna became the benefactor of all the students except the first-year students, and her momentum even surpassed that of Harry, the genius Quidditch player!

In any case, Harry only contributed a wonderful game and contributed honor to Gryffindor.

But Luna saved almost everyone's life!

The biggest advantage of this incident is that once Professor Heimer learned that the news had spread throughout the campus, he no longer forced any students to take the exam.

Because that's not important anymore.

When the standard answer comes out, Toby doesn't need to give them any hints.

Luna became popular all of a sudden. After getting up one morning, she found that all the shoes she had lost before had returned by themselves.

She shared the good news with Ginny as soon as possible.

Ginny sighed and said, "You really need a pair of anti-monster glasses so you can see clearly who are monsters with ulterior motives."

Luna's eyes suddenly lit up: "How did you guess the true function of the anti-monster glasses?"

In any case, influenced by the ancient magic class, a craze for learning the Patronus Charm immediately started among the students.

Professor Lockhart also became popular because the Patronus Charm was part of the Defense Against the Dark Arts course.

But suddenly, the students found that Lockhart was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a long report in the "College Magazine" - the number of serializations of ancient magical warriors suddenly increased a lot.

This is a series of stories that revolve around great ancient magic warriors and various dark creatures. It contains a lot of interesting ancient magic knowledge and has gradually become the top report of "The Quibbler".

Deep in the tunnel, Al stared at the data that sales were rising again and burst out laughing. Lockhart, who was hiding here, looked at the blank manuscript paper in front of him and was worried. He really didn't know how to continue writing.

What happened, but I couldn't go back to my office, otherwise the office would be overcrowded by the students who came to visit me.

Could this be part of Professor Heimer's plan?

The days passed by, and with this undiminished enthusiasm, it was finally Sunday when the second test began.

Hermione, who came into the tunnel with great joy, looked around in shock.

Standing on her left is Luna with messy hair.

Standing on her right was a worried-looking Cedric.

There were only three of their students standing in the entire tunnel.

Three empty students.

"So few?" She said in disbelief: "How is this possible?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Toby came from deeper in the tunnel, and he regretted: "Look, under the leadership of the great Dumbledore, the Patronus Charm has become such a difficult magic. Just focus on it.

Trying to recall the happiest memories has stumped a large number of students. It’s time for Hogwarts to change, and it’s in my hands in the near future.”

Luna acted as if she hadn't heard, and Hermione was frightened unsurprisingly. Cedric was still wondering whether Professor Hemmer had forgotten his assistant, and why didn't he see Mr. Al?

Could it have really forgotten itself?

"follow me."

Toby turned around and said, leading the three of them to the crossroads room originally used for special training.

Hermione noticed that the books that were originally piled high were gone. As for the Bludgers, they were moved to other places due to exams. The armor needed to guard the exam room 24 hours a day to record the students' performance.

.

But only those two skeletons did not disappear. These were also the skeletons Ron faced during the special training. He also complained that his happiest memory was buying a wand of his own, but this memory has not yet arrived.

, which will cause him to be unable to pass the exam now.

The familiar skeletons intensified Hermione's guess about the mice. Fortunately, they did not hold intimidating wide wooden swords in their hands. Instead, they each held a long feather that looked a bit like a rooster's.

The feathers are enlarged.

Toby stood among the skeletons, and the black mist under his hood turned to the three of them.

"This is the second test you are about to face."

"You have successfully passed the first exam, and now you all know that the key to the answer lies in the Patronus Charm. I deliberately lowered the difficulty in that exam. You only need to be able to complete the prerequisites for summoning the Patronus.

to pass the exam.”

"The second level will continue the test of the first level. I know very well how difficult it is for you to summon the physical patron saint. Even among adult wizards, very few people can do this. So I am

The difficulty of your next goal will still be reduced. It does not require a physical patron saint, but only a non-physical one - smoke to be precise. Summon a ball of white gas or smoke from the top of the wand."

Toby did not use his magic wand to demonstrate, but controlled the magic ball to simulate a small illusion, allowing the three of them to see clearly what his request was.

"But of course this alone is not enough."

Then Toby suddenly changed his tone and seemed particularly malicious.

"Don't be nervous, Miss Granger. I have no intention of asking you to duel with skeletons. That would have been out of date a long time ago. However, you need to dodge, just like dodge the bludger - forget it, no matter how much I say, it is better to let you

Take a look with your own eyes, Mr. Diggory, come up and give a demonstration first. As a Quidditch player, I believe you have sufficient experience in dodging Bludgers."

Cedric walked nervously in front of the two skeletons. The skulls' heads all turned to him, which reminded Cedric of the day when he first discovered that the skeletons were strange. He mustered up the courage to stretch out a hand and shake it left and right.

, said hello. The skeletons responded slowly.

"A good start." Toby said with satisfaction: "What you have to do now is to try to summon the patron saint while trying to avoid it - but it doesn't matter even if you don't succeed, because the skeleton assistant can also help you.

"

"Okay, let's get started."

Cedric had some difficulty understanding what Professor Heimer said, but he could at least understand the first two words.

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately raised his wand, and while recalling the first time he successfully imprinted a magic circle on the wand, he shouted loudly: "Calling God to protect——"

Before he could finish reciting the spell, the skeletons suddenly moved at a strange speed, so fast that it was impossible to see clearly - neither he nor Hermione had ever imagined that they were so fast.

People were deceived by their previous slow speed.

But then the skeletons behaved a little strangely - they came to Cedric's side one by one, quickly stretched out the feathers in their hands, and flapped them up and down.

Hermione was stunned. What kind of test is this?

But just then——

"Puch!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"Quick! Stop!"

“Calling the gods to protect you—hahahahaha!”

She watched helplessly as Cedric twisted left and right, and even tried to escape, but he couldn't leave the range of the feathers.

At the end, Cedric was lying on the ground as if he had springs all over his body, jumping up and down, howling hysterically: "Ah-hahahaha! Ah-calling for the protection of the gods-ahhh-haha

Haha! No! No way! Hahahaha! Ah——!!!”

Hermione's face suddenly turned pale, and she couldn't help but take a step back, wanting to turn her head to see Luna's reaction, but found that Luna was further back than she was, and was almost to the door.

At this time, Toby suddenly walked past quickly. He put his palms on their shoulders and pushed them back to their original positions little by little.

At the same time, an extremely friendly voice came from under the hood.

"Using happiness to help you successfully summon the Patronus, I think there is no more touching act than this. The principal should have handed over Hogwarts to me a long time ago——"

"Where can I find a more responsible professor than me?"

——

Happy New Year!