The end-of-year exams loomed over the castle like a stormcloud.
But for Luminari?
Those were nothing.
Their real exam — the one only they knew existed — waited behind Hogwarts, located within a glade of the Forbidden forest officially outside the school grounds.
At the archway serving as an entrance into a stone wall standing before them Remus and Snape were seeing for the first time that morning.
"This," Remus breathed, "is not the entrance we helped you design."
Snape's eye twitched so violently it was basically Morse code. "Cassius. What did you do."
Cassius folded his arms. "Final improvements."
"Final—?" Remus began.
Snape cut him off, voice clipped. "Define improvements."
Cassius cleared his throat. "I… may have expanded the layout. Adjusted the trap difficulty. Enhanced the environmental hazards. Added two additional sublevels. And—"
"Sublevels?" Snape barked.
Ginny leaned toward Daphne. "I told you he'd overdo it."
"Even still, i think this is going to be fun!" Daphne whispered back.
Cassius pointed sharply at both of them.
"No whispering. Everything is safe. I calibrated the threat level so no one will be able to die."
Hearing this statement the six girls all instinctively took a collective gulp, being seriously injured and dead are far from one another when one is talking about Cassius afterall.
He stepped forward, turning to the eight assembled as he stood at their head.
Luminari.
Six witches.
Two professors.
And him.
"Before we begin," Cassius said, "one change. Luminari… who will be challenginge this final exam are not just the six of you."
The girls blinked.
Remus frowned.
Snape stiffened.
Cassius continued, "You'll be participating alongside the Professor here."
Snape stared at him. "…Absolutely not."
"Yes," Cassius countered.
Remus blinked, surprised — but slowly smiled.
"Why?" Cho asked.
Cassius met their gazes one by one.
"Because if the point of Luminari is that we stand together… then our teachers should stand with us. We can't treat them like the more powerful who will come to our rescue should trouble happen. We treat them like part of the team. Our equals"
Hermione's eyes softened. "Cassius…"
Astoria practically bounced. "So they're part of the party now!"
Snape looked horrified. "Party?"
Ginny clapped him on the back so hard he flinched. "Congrats, Professor. You're officially one of us."
Snape looked at the handprint on his sleeve as if it were cursed.
Remus, on the other hand, smiled openly. "You're including us. That means something."
"It means you're expected to pull your weight," Cassius said.
Snape rubbed his eyes. "We are going to die."
Remus clapped a hand on Snape's shoulder. "We won't die, Severus."
"We will," Snape muttered darkly, "and it will be in a dungeon made by a teenager."
Cassius ignored both of them.
Snape glared. "You dare—"
"Good," Cassius said, cutting him off. "Let's begin."
Tapping his wand on the stone archways door, bringing forth a grundling sound as the stones retracted opening the way and presenting a dimly lit corridor beyond.
The girls shivered with excitement.
Remus straightened.
Snape held his wand tighter, he knew how deadly the dungeon was when he's assisted in its creation but now Cassius had gone and overwrote probably everything they'd put together making this 'test' orders of magnitude greater.
Cassius stepped aside.
"Your exam," he said, "is simple."
He conjured a shimmering map of the dungeon in midair — only to flick his wand and scatter it into dust.
"No map," he said. "No instructions. Work together. Survive the traps. Reach the final chamber."
"And then?" Daphne asked.
Cassius smiled slowly — the kind of smile that made everyone go still.
"You fight me."
Eight pairs of eyes widened.
"You—?" Remus began.
Snape's expression flickered between horror and reluctant intrigue. "He's serious."
Cassius inclined his head. "The final boss. Me."
Luna whispered, "Boss fights are my favorite part." having been introduced to games by Hermione as they bridged the gap between magical and muggle worlds following Cassius's desires.
Astoria cracked her knuckles. "We'll take him."
Cassius warned. "You'll need everyone. Including Lupin and Snape."
"Professor Snape," Snape hissed.
"Father," Cassius corrected calmly.
Snape inhaled murderously.
Lupin, amused, nudged him. "Come on, Severus. We've faced worse."
Snape glared. "Name one worse than a magically enhanced neglected son left with near infinite reasrouces to create a test of skill."
Luna raised her hand. "Voldemort."
Snape froze. "…Fair."
Cassius clapped his hands. "Get going. I want this to be done by night."
~
Level One — The Hall of Arrows
The moment they stepped inside, the torches flared to life.
A long stone hallway stretched before them, the walls carved with lion heads whose open mouths dripped faint traces of silver dust.
Seeing just the hallway before them and the sealed entranceway behind them.
Snape's groan was almost spiritual.
Astoria took one step—
FWIP FWIP FWIP FWIP—
A volley of shimmering arrows blasted from the walls.
Hermione threw up a shield.
Daphne countered the second wave.
Ginny dove forward, sliding under the third.
Remus stunned several midair.
Snape flicked a silent slicing charm, cutting the last volley apart mid-flight.
Luna giggled. "This is fun."
"Keep your guard up." Snape snapped scolding the girl for having fun in a life or death situation.
~
Eventually they managed to make their way through the entire first floor finding a staircase leading down into the earth, reaching the bottom it was very clear the air itself was very different here.
And not just because it was underground.
The air was filled with hints of magic, though even the professor were puzzled with worry over just what this magical power they were sensing in the air was.
Entering the first room, the party was greeted with a new type of challenge.
Magic the likes of which they had never faced before.
Custom creations of Cassius's building off his fantasy knowledge from his previous life.
A tornado of wind spiraled through the center.
Geysers erupted like angry fountains.
Stone fists burst from the walls.
Flames rushed along the edges of the room from enchanted braziers.
Hermione shouted, "Spread out!"
Daphne countered the flames with freezing charms.
Astoria leapt onto a stone hand, rode it upward, and launched herself off it with a gleeful yell.
Ginny blasted apart the geysers with explosive counters.
Cho redirected wind, steady enough for Luna to surf on a gust like it was a breeze-board.
Remus tanked a stone blow with a shield charm so strong Snape actually blinked in surprise.
Snape, meanwhile, kept shouting personal insults endlessly toward Cassius within his head.
They cleared the room in eight minutes.
Faster than he expected.
He felt a flicker of pride, their training had clearly been more rewarding than he'd seen.
~
Having cleared the elemental floor, the party descended down to the third floor which was a simple massive room.
Only this room held rows of tall mirrors.
Mirrors lined the walls, the ceiling even the floor.
To the point just looking forwards was enough to cause you a sense of nausea as if you had entered an infinite paradoxical space.
Only as the eight of them stepped further into the room they came to realize that from these infinite reflections there were eight that weren't simple reflections.
They were enemies.
Copies of each witch, Remus, and Snape
Ginny cursed. "Oh brilliant."
Their mirror-doubles attacked instantly not giving the party even a moment to think.
Hermione clashed with her own copy, spells identical and precise — until real Hermione feinted with a move Cassius had drilled into her.
Daphne dueled her mirrored self like a dance of light and shadow.
Luna twirled with her copy, both giggling, spells bouncing unpredictably.
Astoria dropkicked her mirror-self.
Twice.
Cho fought sharply, efficiently — until mirror-Cho tripped over her own feet and faceplanted. Real Cho stared. "… That's not accurate."
Only for a cry came from Ginny "Sorry!"
Her leg locker curse had gone wide of her target, happily striking an opponent and not an ally in the process.
Remus faced a feral version of himself.
Snape fought a smug version of himself and became visibly offended.
But Cassius watched all of it unfold with calm satisfaction through a crystal ball as if he were watching live camera footage.
The girls werent perfect, but they were certainly good enough.
Finally the final reflection was shattered opening the pathway down to the final level.
The boss room, with a transfigured more than intricately cared massive door barring their way.
Even a simple riddle preventing access until they all worked together to open the door preventing their access.