After two days of research in the library, Anthony had to admit in frustration that necromancy had been buried in the long history of magic. Even with materials found in the Hogwarts library, he could hardly be certain whether they were apocryphal.
He'd also asked Professor Binns. The ghost professor had received him but wasn't pleased to answer his questions about necromancers.
"I study facts, not myths and legends." He said stiffly.
"But, Professor Binns, necromancy should have still existed during your lifetime." Anthony said. He clearly remembered necromancy's disappearance came after Hogwarts' founding, and Professor Binns had been History of Magic professor since Hogwarts' very beginning.
Professor Binns rebutted angrily, "Can you remember everything from this era, Professor Anthony? Don't you need to rely on records?"
He stared sternly at Anthony, like examining a student who'd asked a foolish question. As if that question had brought him back to the past, when necromancy was still a branch of Dark Magic. The "eloquent" quality recorded in school history shone through this ancient ghost professor's translucent body. Then he suddenly sighed, his movements slowing again.
"I'm not clear. I'm not a necromancer." He said flatly, eyes half-closed, becoming that dull and boring History of Magic professor students spoke of.
...
Anthony had to temporarily set aside his magical history questions and practice necromancy according to the notebook's contents.
Now besides preparing lessons and teaching, he rarely went out. But this morning he'd made a trip to Honeydukes and bought some coconut ice. He'd arranged a quiz for third years this afternoon, so he needed some prizes. He'd remembered the coconut ice Professor Burbage had praised at afternoon tea.
"If you come back in a few days, you'll see our new Halloween products, sir." The clerk said casually while packing his coconut ice into a bag.
"Halloween? Releasing new products this early?" Anthony said in surprise.
"Not early—it's almost October." The clerk said. "Your coconut ice and receipt, sir. May your life be as sweet as Honeydukes' candy!"
Anthony stood on Hogsmeade's street and calculated—the first month of term was indeed about to pass.
A month ago, he'd been wrestling with fifth-year textbooks at the Leaky Cauldron. Now he was immersed day and night in the necromancy notebook. The brand-new magical world had appeared abruptly in his ordinary life, yet had now become part of his daily routine.
He shook the faintly glowing pink confection in his hand, admired it against the sunlight for a moment, then returned to school.
...
During the afternoon class, all students discovered a bag of coconut ice on the podium.
"Don't look over there yet." Anthony said with amusement. "Those are prizes. We're having a quiz this class."
Students let out groans, though not fierce ones.
Anthony smiled at them and distributed the test papers. "Not difficult—just checking your comprehension."
This quiz was completely on a whim. Recently he'd been obsessed with studying necromancy and didn't have energy to prepare lessons for two year levels and four classes. So he'd decided to give a test. To compensate students, he'd made the paper very simple—all basic content copied directly from his lesson plans.
Surely no one could get this wrong? Anthony thought uncertainly.
...
"Hey, George." Fred whispered. "Question three."
"Elevator, right?" George said. "The Ministry has one. Shouldn't be Muggle. What about question six?"
"Alright." Fred decisively circled an answer on his paper. "I think it's metal. I haven't seen the other options."
"Good job, brother." George said.
The classmate sitting in front of them couldn't bear it any longer. He leaned back and said through gritted teeth without moving his lips, "Question three is aeroplane. That thing doesn't carry people. Question six is rubber."
"Really? I remember we spent a whole class talking about aeroplanes." George asked doubtfully.
His classmate rolled his eyes. "Don't believe me then. Just keep your discussion quieter. You're bothering me."
Anthony leaned against the wall, not planning to remind them he'd already heard. If this could help the Weasley twins remember what rubber was, he didn't much mind.
"Question eleven?" The twin brothers looked at each other and sighed. Fred nudged Angelina beside him with his elbow. "Angelina! Which is the correct dress?"
Angelina pushed her paper toward him, complaining quietly, "If you'd just paid attention in class!"
"Aren't we attentive enough?" Fred protested.
"We're working very hard to complete the paper." George affirmed.
After a while, Angelina asked quietly, "Hey, Fred, which is question fifteen?"
"It's water gun." Fred said with certainty.
Angelina hesitated, then frowned and chose water gun. "Alright." She said.
...
When Anthony announced time was up, everyone had finished. As he collected papers one by one, he said, "You know formal exams have Anti-Cheating Quills, right?"
Students looked at him with grins. Anthony shook his head.
"This is a quiz, and I didn't give advance notice, so I won't pursue it. But you can't do this on formal exams—the consequences are serious." He said, spreading the papers on the podium.
All multiple choice—Anthony could see right from wrong at a glance. Though it was a simple basic quiz, the results were dismal. Students were severely polarized—among just over ten people, four or five got everything right, while six or seven failed.
"You copied and still got it wrong. Don't you have any judgment?" He said helplessly. "I've noted your scores. To save you some face, I won't write them on the papers. Come up and take your papers back yourselves."
As students came to collect papers, Anthony called out those with perfect scores. "Take some coconut ice, Stinson. Well done. Perfect score."
The girl who'd said in the first class she wanted to communicate with her grandmother blushed with happiness, grabbed a large handful excitedly, and returned to her seat to share with her deskmate. Her deskmate stuffed one in her mouth and snatched her paper to check answers.
After all papers were distributed, Anthony asked, "Was the quiz difficult?"
Students silently shook their heads. Even those who couldn't answer could feel the paper wasn't hard.
"Difficult." Fred said righteously.
Anthony shook his head. "Weasley, the Ministry's lift is a magically modified Muggle elevator. Surprising?" He didn't mention this modification project required Mr. Weasley's approval for annual maintenance.
The classmate in front of them slapped his desk loudly and said triumphantly, "I told you!"
"Looking at your answers, I think I actually only needed to ask one question on the paper." Anthony sighed. "Am I teaching that badly?"
As soon as these words came out, the originally lively atmosphere suddenly froze. Students who knew they'd done poorly all fell silent.
"No, Professor!" A student shouted. Anthony remembered he hadn't passed either.
"Thank you, Toller." Anthony took a deep breath. "Forget it. Let's go over the paper."
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