From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 123 Alternative Exam Questions
“This is unbelievable!” Examiners gathered in the corridor. They all looked very old and may have been doing this job for a long time. “I have never seen such a scene in an OWLs exam, let alone in recent decades.”

The written and practical parts of OWLs and NEWTs are conducted in two separate time periods. The practical content of Defense Against the Dark Arts coincides with the first-year Transfiguration written test.

"What happened?" Professor Sprout asked. "I seemed to hear a loud noise?"

"Oh! Professor Sprout." A wizard with wrinkles on his face and very little hair said, he is Professor Tofty, the examiner of NEWT's Defense Against the Dark Arts, "Please rest assured, no one is injured. Except for the Hinckley Punk as an examination tool."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Professor Sprout. "You just told me the questions?"

In addition to the examiners of OWLs and NEWTs, there were many fifth and seventh grade students waiting in the corridor. After all, these two exams were individual and did not test teamwork.

The students in the corridor looked at each other and began to search for knowledge about this dark magic creature in their heads.

Hinkypunk is a one-legged creature that seems to be made of smoke. It looks quite fragile and harmless, but it hides in the foggy forest and lures travelers into the quagmire. When you see a dim blue light in an uninhabited forest, it is very likely to be a Hinkypunk. In many cases, Muggles call them will-o'-the-wisp.

"Now we have no choice but to use the backup plan!" Professor Tofty said helplessly, "We never expected that a student would blow up a cloud of fog directly."

"Who is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts this year?" Professor Tofty asked Professor Sprout. "That student didn't even move his lips, he just waved his wand and messed up the exam room. Maybe we need to change the exam room."

As he was speaking, several other examiners walked out of the door behind Professor Tofty. They all looked bad. It was obvious that the heat wave and shock wave generated by the close-range explosion were enough to make them suffer, not to mention the noise that could be heard throughout the castle.

"Professor Tofty! Do you know what he told me?" A thin old lady pulled a student out of the examination room. Judging from the badge on his school uniform, he was a Gryffindor. "He said that their entire class knew that spell! Their professor asked them, 'If you are facing a dark magic creature that you can't understand at first, use this spell to blow it up!'"

"This is really...this is really..." The little old lady's lips trembled a few times, and finally she loosened the robe of the seventh-year Gryffindor, shook her head and left. It seemed that the examiners all needed a break.

There were footsteps in the corridor. It was Professor McGonagall who was invigilating the exam in another examination room. I wonder who he has appointed to invigilate for her.

"Professor McGonagall!" As soon as he saw her, Professor Tofty, who had thinning hair, shouted, "I think the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam must be postponed for half an hour... no... preferably an hour. We need to rearrange the exam room and set up backup questions."

"Oh, I see." Professor McGonagall looked into the former examination room and nodded calmly. Then she opened a new waiting room and called the students in the corridor to go in. "Go in and take a rest, children. It seems that our examiner has encountered a little trouble. The examination room will be moved to Room 11 on the first floor. Don't worry, you can all finish the exam today."

"That's right, that's right!" Professor Tofty agreed, "We at the Wizarding Examinations Authority have extensive experience in dealing with emergencies, and we have set up a backup plan. Fortunately, we have a backup plan."

His last words were spoken quietly, but still heard clearly by Professor McGonagall who was standing next to her.

"Goodbye, Professor McGonagall." Professor Tofty said goodbye to Professor McGonagall, "I know where classroom 11 is. We will set up the venue ourselves."

When the last tuft of hair on Professor Tofty's head disappeared into the stairs, Professor McGonagall shook her head and whispered, "I hope you have enough backup plans..." "Minerva," said Professor Sprout, "where is our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor? He would be very happy if he saw this scene."

"It's hard to say." Professor McGonagall smiled. "As far as I know, Professor Victor has always been very strict. Two weeks before the exam, he even led the students to turn over the vegetable garden next to the Forbidden Forest." Professor McGonagall pointed to the messy front examination room. "Use that spell. By the way, he is now on the third floor, invigilating the second-year History of Magic exam."

"Hehe~" Professor Sprout laughed, with big dimples on his round face, "I should go back now. I think I will get a good score in the Transfiguration exam this year."

"Good luck, Minerva," Professor Sprout said before entering.

"You too, Pomona," Professor McGonagall responded.

So an hour later, the Gryffindor trio had an argument on their way to the History of Magic exam.

"Did you listen to what I said?" Hermione asked angrily. After the previous exams, she would try to check the answers with Harry and Ron, so as to let them know how many questions they got wrong. But she did not do so after the Transfiguration exam.

Just because Harry and Ron committed "outrageous, unforgivable, heinous, and blasphemous acts of cheating" in the examination room.

"What are you talking about?" Ron tried to get away with it and quickened his pace. He knew that as soon as they entered the examination room, Hermione would focus all her attention on the test paper.

"Don't cause trouble and don't deduct points from Gryffindor?" Harry added immediately. He and Ron already had a tacit understanding, especially when it came to dealing with Hermione.

"Neither!" Hermione elbowed them in the ribs, causing them to squat at the door of the classroom in pain. "If I see you cheating again, I will report you to Professor McGonagall personally! Do you understand?"

Ron was about to say something while holding his ribs when he felt Harry tugging at his sleeve. He looked up and saw Professor Victor, with an expressionless face, standing at the door of the classroom. It seemed that in just a few words, they had already arrived at the examination room from the stairs.

"I seemed to hear 'cheating'? Miss Granger?" Ivy asked maliciously, trying to scare the three little ones.

"——!" Hermione was startled and said in a pinched voice, "We were just joking... Professor Victor. Can I come in, please?"

Harry and Ron felt Professor Victor's gaze scanning their faces. Before the sweat on their foreheads dripped down, he said slowly, "Come in, three of you."

In the following exams, Harry and Ron were on pins and needles, because every three or five minutes, Professor Victor would walk down from the podium and come around the two of them, either making crisp sounds with his heels on the floor, or staring at their papers for a long time, then shaking his head and sighing imperceptibly.

It was not until all the students in the examination room felt the floor shake that Professor Victor left behind a few movable dummies to patrol on his behalf and turned around to go out to check the situation.

(End of this chapter)