A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 588: Motivation for the Exam
"Are you Barty Crouch Jr.?"

After Charles beat the man up, he felt something was off; the man wasn't Grindelwald, nor was he Moody.

If it were Grindelwald, he would have anticipated retaliation and would have run away beforehand, otherwise he would have attracted Dumbledore's attention.

If it were Moody, he would at least ask why the action was taken and summon Dumbledore to find out what happened, instead of remaining silent.

Then, there is only one truth.

Little Barty lay on the carpet, his prosthetic leg long since removed with a Summoning Charm. Charles had just teleported to his side and punched him, sending his Evil Eye flying and rolling under the cabinet. Now he could only gasp for breath.

“I am Alastor Moody…” he said weakly, “You… Gryffindor… oh…”

If he wants to continue acting, he will naturally have points deducted from his college according to school rules.

Charles, naturally, wouldn't let him lose points. He stuffed his mouth with his prosthetic leg and said, "Don't forget, I was rescued from Gringotts by Voldemort."

After saying that, he kicked Barty's left hand, right next to the Dark Mark.

He deliberately left his sentence unfinished, hoping to mislead the other party into thinking he was connected to Voldemort and to prevent them from causing him trouble until they understood the situation.

It seems that Barty Jr. is a deep-sea spy and wouldn't easily contact Voldemort. By the time he figured it out, he was already on vacation. If he's so capable, let him go and take revenge on the old man.

Little Barty's eyes widened, and he thought to himself, "It's over. There's no way to get this back. If anyone asks, they'll have to say he used his spell beautifully."

Charles figured the Death Eaters wouldn't bother signing him up for the regular wizarding exams for no reason; it must have been Grindelwald who did it. He ignored Barty and turned to go have dinner.

He suddenly realized that he felt much better after beating up Barty, and that he could kick Grindelwald less when he saw him.

Little Barty spent the whole night trying to figure out why Charles wanted to beat him up.

The next morning, Professor Sprout saw Charles looking helpless among the Gryffindor candidates. He was startled at first, then asked in a low voice, "Did Minerva force you to take the exam?"

She was furious. She had considered McGonagall her best friend for so many years, and now, in order for her to treat everyone to a meal, she had actually forced Charles to skip a grade in the exam.

Charles said helplessly, "It was Moody who signed me up."

"It's Alastor?" Professor Sprout was quite surprised, this was unexpected. "Well, he has a good eye for people, he probably thinks you've reached the level of a fifth-year student."

Charles shrugged and said, "Fortunately, he doesn't think I'm good enough to take the ultimate wizard exam."

To everyone's surprise, Professor Sprout said seriously, "If you work hard next school year, you might be able to take the ultimate wizard exam next year. I believe you can do it."

Charles smiled and said, "Thank you."

As the two were talking, Professor Flitwick also came over.

Today is the Charms exam. Professor Flitwick told Charles, "Don't worry about the written exam. I think you've definitely read through all seven grades' textbooks. As long as you don't get confused by the word tricks on the exam questions, you won't make any mistakes."

"I don't think the practical exam will be a problem. As long as the same effect is achieved, it doesn't matter what kind of magic spell is used."

"Finally, the examiner will ask if you want to take on a small challenge. This is an extra question where you can showcase your creative ideas, which can earn you a lot of extra points."

These were things he had told the test takers in class. He only found out now that the fourth-year student who had registered for the exam as a substitute was Charles, so he explained these things to him.

Charles listened attentively, felt a slight sense of relief, and then thanked him for his guidance.

Soon after, the exams began, and Charles entered the exam hall with the fifth-year students. The long tables in the dining hall had been replaced with small desks, and he sat in the last seat of Gryffindor, where there were spare quills, ink bottles, and rolls of parchment.

The two-hour exam period passed quickly, and Charles and the candidates left the exam room, returning shortly afterward for lunch.

Harry and his friends had their final exams in the classroom this morning. Their expressions varied, and it was easy to tell whether they did well or not.

Hermione noticed that Charles had arrived at the table earlier than the others and was about to ask him why he hadn't taken the exam that morning. However, as soon as she sat down next to him, she immediately forgot about it and asked, "The question about the exorcism spell..."

Harry also wanted to ask Charles why he hadn't taken the exam, so he sat down on the other side of him and immediately complained, "Hermione, the exam is over, let's have lunch!"

Charles ignored the two of them, finished his lunch undisturbed, and returned in the afternoon to take the practical exam.

"Oh, a perfect Confusion Charm!"

Professor Marchban, the examiner, nodded slightly when he saw Charles sitting in front of him.

Charles scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. He didn't want Harry and the others to ask him why he hadn't taken the final exams, so he cast a Confusion Charm on himself and forgot to remove it.

After he breaks the spell, pull the chair out a little and sit down. Otherwise, the wand will be too long to use properly, and if you knock the examiner unconscious, you'll have to retake the exam.

Professor Machiban didn't move his mouth, but his voice came into his ears: "You are just as good as your grandfather. I look forward to your performance and hope you can do even better than him."

Charles was taken aback for a moment, then immediately realized that she was one of the wizards who knew the old man's true identity.

Before he could speak, Professor Marchban's voice rang out again: "After all the exams are over, I'd like to invite you to my home so we can have a good chat about him and Minerva."

Professor Marchban's eyes blazed with gossip, leaving Charles speechless.

The students next to me had already started their exam; the target of the spell was an eggshell.

But when Professor Marchban placed the eggshell in front of Charles, he suddenly slapped it to pieces.

“Let’s restore it first.” She smiled at Charles.

The repair spell was no problem for Charles. He simply pointed his wand and, without chanting a spell, the broken eggshells immediately flew up and gathered back to their original state before they were smashed.

“Oh, silent spellcasting!” Professor Marchban looked at Charles in surprise. “I can’t believe you could do that in fourth grade!”

She then transmitted her voice, saying, "I can assure you that your grandfather absolutely could not have done that when he was in fourth grade."

After saying that, a sly smile appeared on her face.

Charles thought she made a lot of sense, because the old man only started learning magic at Hogwarts when he was in fifth grade.

When I get home, I can brag to the old man and he'll be speechless.

It seems there are some benefits to taking this exam.

Charles was immediately motivated and decided that he would tell the old man that Grindelwald had instigated him to take the exam and that he could settle the score with him.

Somewhere, Grindelwald suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

(End of this chapter)