It wasn't until the morning of the next day that Link and Emily, who had spent the entire night together at the top of the Astronomy Tower, finally said goodbye to each other and went off to their own exam halls to take this year's OWL exams.
The OWL exam and the NEWT exam are carried out step by step.
According to past custom, although both exams were also held at Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic would usually send officials from the Department of Magical Education specifically to Hogwarts to act as exam proctors.
But because Dumbledore had already completely sealed off Hogwarts, this time the OWL and NEWT exam proctors had been changed to Hogwarts' own professors.
Of course, the reason the Ministry agreed to let Hogwarts do this, aside from Dumbledore's influence, was mainly because all of these exam proctors had to sign an unbreakable vow in advance with the highest-ranking Ministry official currently stationed at Hogwarts, old Barty Crouch, to ensure that favoritism or cheating would be utterly impossible.
Besides that, all the items to be used during the exam, including test papers, quills, ink, scrap parchment, and practical materials, were all high-grade supplies specially delivered by the Ministry to Hogwarts.
These items weren't just of the highest quality; they were also imbued with numerous anti-cheating spells.
Such a massive process, combined with the sheer number of OWL and NEWT subjects, made the entire exam schedule extremely long.
According to the notice posted on the board in Hogwarts' entrance hall, this round of exams would last at least ten days, with one subject per day, written test in the morning, practical exam in the afternoon.
Link's first subject was Potions.
When he arrived at the corridor outside the Potions classroom, a large crowd of students had already gathered there.
It seemed they had really taken in Link's "last-minute cramming" advice from yesterday. Even now, at the final hour, most of them were holding notes with solemn expressions, frantically reviewing nonstop.
Link wasn't the type to study at such a moment. He rubbed the arm Emily had slept on until it went numb the night before and naturally turned his gaze out the window.
It was only then that he noticed the bad weather from last night had carried over into the present. Massive clouds hung low over the castle, making the atmosphere in the corridor even more oppressive.
After all, it was the OWL exams, which determined the future. Even if everyone usually hated Snape and often said foolish things like, "Who cares, I'll just wing it," when the moment actually came, how many people could really treat it casually?
Link shook his head with some emotion.
Just then, a cheerful voice suddenly came from his side.
"Hey! Link! You look a bit worn out, I never thought you'd be nervous too!" It was John speaking.
Right now, he was smiling with ease, his relaxed face standing in sharp contrast to the tense and prepared expressions of the students around him.
Link, whose thoughts had been interrupted, shot him an annoyed glance but said nothing.
John was clearly one of those very few people who truly didn't care about the exam.
This guy's determination was even stronger than Link and Cedric had imagined. Even after Professor Sprout's "friendly persuasion," he still clung firmly to his dream of becoming a professional Quidditch player.
To pass the trials for professional Quidditch, all you really needed was a good NEWT result in Flying and strong performance in the Hogwarts Cup.
As for Potions, completely useless. So naturally, he had abandoned NEWT Potions, and whatever happened with OWL Potions didn't matter to him in the slightest.
Seeing that Link wasn't responding, John wanted to keep chatting. But at that moment, the closed classroom doors suddenly swung open.
"First group for the Potions written exam, enter."
Snape's cold voice rang through the corridor and into everyone's ears.
John shuddered instantly and stopped talking to Link.
It wasn't that he didn't care about his Potions grade, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid of Snape.
Link and John followed the crowd into the classroom. All the desks had been set up in strict rows, and each desk already had quills, ink, and exam papers laid out.
Snape didn't waste a single word on the students. Once everyone was seated, he silently flipped over a large hourglass to signal the official start of the exam.
Immediately, the scratching of quills on parchment filled the room.
For Link, this exam was utterly boring.
Having been privately tutored by Snape for four years, already learning NEWT-level Potions, and studying from the Slytherin Codex, the OWL Potions paper posed no challenge at all.
He finished the entire exam in just one hour.
But since OWL rules didn't allow early submissions, he boredly laid his head on the desk to nap.
To ensure fairness, two other professors were assigned to patrol the exam room alongside Snape.
Yet all of them, Snape included, completely ignored Link's seemingly disdainful attitude.
They all knew Link's ability. If it weren't for the rules, they wouldn't have bothered to glance his way even once.
And so, this dull exam experience carried on into the afternoon's Potions practical, as well as the following days' OWLs in Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Care of Magical Creatures.
Under absolute academic dominance, the exams that others regarded as formidable enemies were, to Link, as easy as eating or drinking water.
Even when the petty Professor Moody deliberately increased the difficulty of the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical because he couldn't stand Link reporting him to Dumbledore before, Link still handled it perfectly.
Out of all the exams, Link shone the brightest in Charms.
For the Charms practical, the Ministry's chosen test was "target shooting."
Students stood behind a line and, in sequence, used spells like the Banishing Charm, Disarming Charm, and Stunning Spell to shoot at three stationary targets, four slow-moving targets, and two fast-moving targets, for a maximum of ten shots.
Grades would be decided by Professor Flitwick, based on accuracy, spell effect, and casting speed.
All in all, though it looked simple, this test was actually a comprehensive assessment of the students' application of Charms, extremely precise and rigorous.
This left many students struggling.
In fact, John, who was right before Link, even cracked under the pressure and ended up firing blanks, leaving Flitwick and the other professors shaking their heads and sighing that Hogwarts students just weren't what they used to be.
Only when Link stepped forward did the professors regain their excitement.
Everyone was looking forward to what this recognized genius would do.
And Link didn't disappoint them.
With a few quick spells, he cleanly hit every target, without even using up all ten shots.
Not only that, he even showed off multiple advanced techniques during the process, silent casting, rapid casting, split-casting, and emotional casting, dazzling the professors so much that they momentarily forgot to even mark his scores.
Link boldly predicted afterward that for these subjects, he could basically expect all O's (Outstanding).
But for the following exams, he wasn't as relaxed.
Just as Professor Sprout had said, Link's grades were seriously lopsided.
For subjects like History of Magic and Arithmancy, aside from some early effort, he had basically treated them as filler classes, never taking them seriously.
The professors didn't dare scold him either.
But this time's OWLs gave them the perfect chance to get revenge for all the times Link had "bullied" them.
Sprout was an exception. Link had always respected her, and the kind old woman naturally didn't make things difficult.
His Herbology exam wasn't as smooth as the others, but still decent. At least an E (Exceeds Expectations) seemed guaranteed.
The other professors were different.
The two menopausal professors of Astronomy and Arithmancy had clearly plotted together and stuck to Link throughout the exams.
They stood by him the whole time, watching with wary, almost gleeful eyes.
Whenever he slowed even slightly, they let out mocking chuckles, completely throwing him off his rhythm.
In truth, Link actually welcomed this childish revenge.
Because once results came out, he could blame any poor grades on their interference.
The final OWL subject was History of Magic.
There was no practical exam, just the written theory test in the morning, after which the OWLs officially ended.
Most importantly, except for the perfectionists, hardly anyone cared about their History of Magic results.
So leaving it for the last day was the Ministry's one act of kindness, letting students relax early.
In past years, even the Ministry proctors who usually looked stern would smile on this day.
And by the usual rules, History of Magic should've been overseen by the ghost Professor Binns.
And everyone knew what he was like both teaching and proctoring. Enough said.
But this year's students had no chance of seeing smiling proctors.
Because when Link and the others entered the exam hall, they were stunned to find that the proctors were none other than Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.
"You all don't look too pleased to see me," Snape said with a faint, mocking smile.
At once, many faces turned pale.
No one wanted to be under Snape's eye, especially at such a crucial moment.
Students could only force out smiles uglier than tears while muttering denials.
Finally, McGonagall gave the order for everyone to take their seats, releasing them from Snape's grip.
But Snape clearly hadn't finished tormenting them.
Throughout the exam, he patrolled nonstop, nitpicking with lines like, "Your posture's crooked, trying to cheat?" or "It's been so long and you've only written that much?"
Even when some students gave up and scribbled nonsense, he still lashed them with his sharp tongue. After all, unlike normal exams, OWLs carried the Ministry's authority, slacking off could even mean disqualification.
And so, what should have been an easy exam turned into hell. Even if they couldn't answer, every student scratched their heads and pretended to work hard.
Of course, Snape wasn't doing this to help them score better.
He simply enjoyed watching students suffer.
And he knew very well that students like Link, who didn't fear him, weren't worth bothering with, he just ignored them completely.
But that didn't mean Link got off easy.
Because Professor McGonagall was there too, the picture of responsibility.
Since Snape wouldn't harass Link, she took it upon herself to stand right in front of him, glaring.
"Hmph!"
With a helpless sigh, Link finally picked up his quill and began to write seriously.
By the end of the long morning, Snape finally gave a cold snort, ordered everyone to put down their quills, and declared the exam over.
The instant his words fell, the students bolted from their seats like wound-up toy cars, bursting out of the classroom. Moments later, waves of cheering roared through every corner of the castle.
This wasn't just from Link's exam hall. It was the work of every student, from first-years to seventh-years.
Because Snape's announcement wasn't just the end of this test, but the end of all OWLs, NEWTs, and final exams.
After ten long days under crushing pressure, the students were finally free.
Now they could not only look forward to a carefree summer holiday, but also to the upcoming Triwizard Tournament final, a match they were almost certain to win.
Even Professor McGonagall, who usually never smiled, couldn't help but show a faint grin at the students' cheering.
But while the air was filled with laughter, Link's eyes turned to the window.
There was still a tough battle waiting for him.
Smack!
A large hand landed firmly on Link's shoulder.
Link turned suddenly and saw it was Snape.
"Don't worry. We will win."
Link blinked in surprise, then smiled and replied, "Ah, of course we'll win!"
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