A magical journey that begins in Azkaban.

Chapter 578 OWLs Exam
"Who could have expected that after Voldemort disappeared, Bella would still be obsessed with reviving the pure-blood ideal." Minerva stared at Dumbledore's face, which was as old as her own... or as young as hers, with curiosity flashing in her eyes: "Has the wand been solved?"

Dumbledore's blue eyes flashed with a complicated light. He pondered for a moment and said in a firm tone: "It has been dismantled. It will never appear again."

In fact, the wand is still in Mr. Ollivander's wand shop.

Dumbledore once discussed this matter with Garrick and explained the dangers of the laurel wand.

However, Ollivander insisted that it was lent to him by other guests and that it must not be damaged in any way without the other party's consent.

Seeing Ollivander's insistence, Dumbledore had to give in temporarily. He originally wanted to talk to the real owner of the wand, but Ollivander refused to reveal the other party's name.

The positioning magic he secretly left behind showed that the wand had not moved and remained in Ollivander's hand.

It seems that the other party does not know... or does not value the ability of the laurel wand to balance vitality.

The two chatted about school matters, and the topic inevitably turned to the Potions professor: Severus Snape.

"Snape seems unable to accept the reality that 'Lily' is Petunia." Dumbledore's tone was somewhat distressed. "He is now staying at home in Spinner's End and refuses to meet anyone."

"I'll trouble you to look after the Slytherin students during this time."

"Regarding Harry and Neville, I suggest you give them extra tutoring. Their destinies may be more closely linked than we think."

Professor McGonagall couldn't help but frowned. She hurriedly asked, "Albus, did something unexpected happen?"

"Tom may be dead, but I can't be sure." Albus's eyes became deep and worried. "However, the soul fragment in Harry Potter's scar has not been removed yet."

Professor McGonagall whispered, "Is Tom really dead?"

"However, there is good news. Petunia is still alive. Her existence allows the protective spell in Harry's body to continue to be effective. At least before Harry reaches adulthood, we don't have to worry about Tom being reborn from Harry's body."

"If something unexpected happens, Neville will become the child of the prophecy. He will personally..." Dumbledore's tone became somewhat painful, "personally kill Harry Potter."

Professor McGonagall looked shocked. She had not expected the prophecy to deteriorate to this extent.

"No, Albus! As long as I live, I will never allow this to happen! These two boys have already lost too much, we can't let them suffer any more!"

Dumbledore looked at her, a trace of relief and emotion flashing in his eyes: "You are right, Minerva. We will find a way to solve it."

"This matter must be kept strictly confidential, otherwise people will sacrifice Harry without hesitation for the sake of peace."

Roger, who had returned to Slytherin, had no idea that his file was lying on the headmaster's desk, let alone their discussion.

In the common room, a group of students gathered around the fireplace, discussing the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. Draco stood in the middle, holding a newspaper in his hand, with obvious disdain on his face.

"The headmaster is too partial to Harry!" he said indignantly, pointing to the photo of Harry Potter on the front page of the newspaper. "He is obviously a reckless Gryffindor, but they say he found the trace of the mysterious man and laid the foundation for victory. It's simply nonsense!"

"Humph, I doubt they are related," Pansy agreed.

"Relatives? Probably not, but neighbors are possible. Don't forget, the headmaster used to live in Godric's Hollow, the same place as the Potters."

Roger couldn't help but smile as he listened to these discussions.

At the same time, he couldn't help gossiping in his heart: "From the hair color, Lily has red hair and James has blond hair. The two of them together actually gave birth to Harry with black hair. How interesting!"

"If I remember correctly, the Black family mainly has black hair. Oh, and teacher Snape also has black hair."

Considering Lily's relationship with them, Roger thought Sirius was more likely. After all, James and Sirius were half brothers.

Maybe they had "accidentally" gotten together after getting drunk. He had doubted more than once whether Sirius was Harry's godfather or his biological father.

"Just wait and see. One day, everyone will find that Potter doesn't deserve so much praise at all." Draco clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with confidence. "In this year's Quidditch game, I will definitely defeat them miserably."

A group of people happily carried brooms and headed for the court. Roger greeted them with a smile, then sat back on the sofa and began to read the letters he had just received.

He read the contents of the letter carefully, with a satisfied look on his face. The fairy wand made with mimosa as the wand core seemed to have a good response, at least among the fairies, and it could meet their daily spellcasting needs.

"You can tell mother this good news. It will help pass the bill that prohibits goblins from owning wands."

"A wand that cannot cast spells on wizards is acceptable to all parties, although not completely satisfied."

"After all, the Yellowstone volcano has been erupting for a month. If no action is taken, London will be turned into Pompeii by volcanic ash."

The second letter came from Ollivanders. Roger slowly opened it when he saw that there was no one around. There was a long wooden box inside the huge parchment envelope.

"Is this Tiago's wand?" he whispered to himself, slowly opening the wooden box.

An exquisitely crafted cherry wood wand came into view, exuding a powerful and mysterious aura.

According to the letter, the story of chopping down cherry trees with an axe was popular in America at that time. So Tiago was inspired by this and chopped down the cherry tree of his neighbor's house and used it to make the shell of the magic wand.

As soon as he got the wand, he felt an indescribable sense of lightness, like goose feathers. As he waved it gently, he could feel the magic power quickly condensing in his body.

"It's so comfortable." Roger looked at the wand in his hand carefully and couldn't help but praise: "Thiago is indeed a genius."

Simply by stealing, robbing, and cheating, one can create a wand that is no less beautiful than Ollivander's.

Out of curiosity about the craftsmanship of the wand, Roger decided to study the structure of the wand carefully. Moreover, this was also a gift from Ollivander.

"The Divine Edge is Shadowless!"

He didn't hesitate at all, a flash of red light appeared, and the outer shell of the wand was cut open instantly. The core of the wand showed a stunning blue and red color, shining brightly under the dim light of the lounge.

His eyes lit up with joy, he took out a long knife, and slowly pried open the shell along the gap.

When the wand core came out, the entire public lounge was interwoven with sapphire blue and chicken blood red, which was dazzling.

“It’s actually alive.”

The hair-thin core of the staff quickly unfolded after being freed from the outer shell. The slender branches gradually became thicker, about half the thickness of a little finger.

The inconspicuous thorns turned into bright red leaves. A strange flame suddenly bloomed at the top of the staff core: the outer flame was blazing red, while the inner flame was a cold blue.

Such a perfect work of art made Rogge mesmerized for a moment.

"It's very strong but very brittle, like a glass cannon. I feel like the leaf will break if I pinch it with my fingertips." He quickly withdrew his hand and protected it with a glass cover.

Then he took out the parchment and made careful observations and records.

Measurements: 15 inches (38 cm) long when fully expanded, 0.2 inches (0.5 cm) in diameter;
Flame properties: can burn objects and freeze their interior or suppress magic power;
……

Conclusion: The River Rose Wand Core is a treasure with both artistic and magical abilities. It is high energy and fragile, and extremely sensitive to external energy. It requires additional protection and is not suitable for close combat (or any magic duel).

"It plays a role in the shape." Roger sighed helplessly and turned his attention back to the cherry shell. "There are some problems with this structure. The shell is almost solid and there is no buffer space at all. No wonder Tiago's wand has not been passed down."

Wizards use wands not only to cast spells, but sometimes also to engage in close-range magical duels.

Using a completely hard shell to protect the fragile core of the staff would definitely cause irreversible damage in the event of a violent collision. There was almost no other possibility except shattering.

After careful consideration, Roger decided to design a brand new wand structure based on Mr. Ollivander's wand-making theory, integrating several other wand-making techniques and adding his own innovative ideas.

"This wand can be used for close-range combat as well as long-range casting of complex spells." In the following days, Roger carefully designed his new wand while preparing for the most important exam of the year.

Although he was passionate about wand making, academic pressure forced him to put it on hold.

The atmosphere at Hogwarts was becoming increasingly tense. Professors no longer assigned homework, and all class time was spent preparing for OWLs.

Students study hard, trying to memorize what their professors think is most likely to appear on the exam.

“Highlighting the key points” is indeed something that all teachers will do.

Snape has not returned yet, and he seems to be immersed in grief. I heard that Madam Pince went to see him, but it was obviously not effective.

Roger tried writing several letters, but Snape did not respond.

Finally, a week before the OWLs exams began, Professor Snape finally returned to his loyal dungeon classroom.

Although he looked a little tired and had obvious dark circles under his eyes, his aura was still strong.

"Take your heads out of your ears and let them air out. Can't you tell the difference between real and fake brain stimulants? And dragon claw powder, huh..." He stood on the desk and taunted with his signature voice, "You should put your little heads under the dragon claws, so that your noses may be able to smell that it is fox feces."

"Close your books, now!" He looked around the classroom with a sharp gaze, "We are going to review some really important content."

"If you fail the OWLs exam, that will be good news for me. Because this will be the last time you will hear about this precious potion knowledge."

……

Although Snape's words were still sharp, a sense of relief rose in the students' hearts.

Putting aside the professor's venomous nature, at least his knowledge and understanding of Potions was several orders of magnitude higher than that of Madam Pomfrey.

As long as you follow Snape's pace, it would be difficult to fail the Potions exam.

Listening to Mr. Snape's sarcasm, Roger's mouth curled up easily. He was very happy, and the professor collected his mood and returned to work.

As long as Snape can get out of his own psychological shadow, he will find that the world without Potter is so beautiful.

Soon, in the Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall announced the exam time and specific arrangements to the students.

"The exams will last for two weeks," she said. "Written exams will be held in the morning and practical exams will be held in the afternoon. However, due to the impact of volcanic ash, the practical exam for astronomy had to be cancelled."

Students exchanged nervous glances, but some were relieved that the astronomy practical exam was cancelled.

"Please remember that any form of cheating is strictly prohibited." Professor McGonagall solemnly reminded all students: "Do not try to bring items such as automatic answering quills, memory balls or error correction ink. Once discovered, the consequences will be very serious."

"I don't want you to be kicked out of school for cheating."

Everyone carefully wrote down every detail and did not dare to slack off in the slightest.

In the following days, the whole Hogwarts was shrouded in a tense and exciting atmosphere. Students seized every minute to review, and the library and common room were always full of students who were studying hard.

At the same time, major events were taking place elsewhere in the wizarding world.

The Travis family successfully registered a patent for the goblin wand, and after verification, the Ministry of Magic agreed that some goblins could own the wand.

Bellinrum then led a contingent of goblins to America with the wizards, working together to calm the wrath of the land.

However, a new legend began to spread among the wizarding world. People were talking about a walking skeleton.

In the shadows of the forest, it is covered with dried human skin. It is said to be as elusive as a thestral, always appearing around the dead and bringing misfortune to people.

Some say he is a servant of the god of death, others say he is a herder of the Thestrals...

"It feels a bit like a lich." Roger stood in a small room outside the auditorium, waiting for the practical test of the Transfiguration spell.

There is no way, the first letter of the surname does not have an advantage and is always ranked last.

The written test in the morning was not difficult at all. He couldn't find another adjective to describe it except perfect.

"However, I remember that the real lich is completely different from the description in the newspaper." He whispered to himself, recalling the conditions for making a lich: "A wizard who is willing to convert, an undead life potion, the creation of a magic item, necromancy, and a lot of gold coins."

"…Roger Travis," Flitwick called out to the last of the group, interrupting his thoughts.

Roger took a deep breath, checked his clothes, and focused on the test. He held his wand tightly, smiled, and walked into the room.

The first test question requires the egg cup to perform a side flip.

This was a basic application of the levitation spell. Out of respect for the exam, Roger recited the spell clearly.

With his skillful waving and pointing, the egg cup seemed to come alive, jumping happily and completing the task perfectly.

The examiners behind the table nodded in satisfaction. Compared to the other nervous candidates, Rogge's spell syllables and rhythms were clear and beautiful, and his wand-waving movements were calm and powerful.

Without a doubt, the practical score is O (perfect).

After the exam, Roger sat in the auditorium, his thoughts returning to the mysterious skeleton.

"Could it be a modified version of a lich?" He muttered to himself, "With the means of the God of Death, creating strange objects is a piece of cake. Necromancer is even more instinctive to him."

"The biggest difficulty for him may be money. After all, he and Voldemort are both paupers, with only their souls left."

Tuesday is the Charms exam, Conversion Spell, Vanishing Spell... I can't say that it's exactly the same as Professor Flitwick's key points, I can only say that they are all subsets.

Although Roger mastered the Patronus, the examiners did not seem to want him to perform.

"Haha, I knew it was an extra arrangement." He chuckled a few times, feeling quite ashamed of the act of giving Harry Potter a back door.

However, this world is not fair. As a savior, what's wrong with opening a backdoor? When Lily killed Voldemort, she had already suffered all the hardships in Harry's life.

In the herbal exam on Wednesday, Roger used his precise manipulation to overwhelm the examiners, who walked down from the podium and gathered around the potion table.

While carefully observing Roger's technique in handling materials, he also studied how he kept track of time without an hourglass.

"Use your heartbeat to count the time." Roger added the salamander liver to the crucible and explained softly, "There is also a stupid way. Don't speak for a year and count the seconds silently."

Thursday was the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam... followed by two electives.

Whether in written tests or practical operations, Rogge's performance in all subjects was excellent, and could only be described as perfect.

He also didn't need the examiners to give him slack, backdoors, or favors when assessing his grades. As long as he was objective and rational, that was enough.

Hermione, who had taken most of the courses, was the last to finish her exam. Hermione still looked worried and kept looking for Roger to check the answers.

Then, she was bullied by Roger. Even at the end, Hermione was even crazier.

"That guy looks like Voldemort." Draco pointed to the newspaper, which had a picture of a thin-skinned skeleton.

(End of this chapter)