A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts
Chapter 599: The Real Dream - (2)

After Harry emerged from the tunnel, he glanced back at the portrait of Fat Lady as expected. Underneath her portrait, there were some wine bottles piled up. She looked flushed and seemed unaware that someone had come out, muttering to herself.

"... I just can't figure out why there's a Niffler inside and standing so conspicuously..."

"Professor?" When Harry saw the person at the entrance, he exclaimed in surprise.

Felix nodded at him. "Come with me, Harry."

Harry followed the professor somewhat nervously, racking his brain to figure out if he had made any serious mistakes that would prompt the usually lazy Professor Hagrid to come looking for him. He guessed there might be some serious matter at hand. They reached a dark corridor, and the professor leading the way stopped.

"Your performance today shocked the examiners," Felix said with a smile. "The intensity of that Patronus far exceeded their expectations."

"Um..." Harry didn't know how to respond.

"I need your help," Felix said straightforwardly.

"Alright." Harry nodded. "What do you need?"

"For some reason, I want to gather some emotions, your emotions," Felix tilted his head at him. "Specifically, I want you to summon your unique Patronus, but make sure not to let the magic burst out like during the day. Quietly summon it, and leave the rest to me."

When Harry returned to the common room, the shock on his face had not yet subsided.

"What's wrong? You look like you failed an exam," Ron said.

"That's Hermione," Harry instinctively retorted.

Hermione raised her eyebrows and stared at him. Harry quickly corrected himself, "Slip of the tongue." Ginny and Ron burst into laughter.

"It was Professor Hagrid looking for me," Harry explained after they settled down. "He said he needs my Patronus..."

After quietly listening to the story, Ron incredulously said, "Are you saying Professor Hagrid put your Patronus in a glass jar?"

"Hush." Harry hurriedly said, "Keep it down."

"He didn't tell you the reason?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. "No. He just said it's confidential."

"That's strange," she massaged her temples with one hand, "given the professor's personality, if it were some magical experiment, he would gladly explain the details to you and maybe even involve you in the research, unless it's absolutely necessary to keep it a secret."

"That's exactly what he told me," Harry immediately said, "temporarily confidential."

"Maybe he doesn't want us to be distracted, considering we have exams tomorrow," Ron speculated.

"But he asked me to come to his office every night for the next few days and summon my Patronus for him," Harry said. Under normal circumstances, if he canceled the magic voluntarily, the Patronus would dissipate on its own. However, the professor used some method Harry couldn't understand to preserve both the emotion and magic—Harry guessed it might be something like a Dementor capture cage. The thought of his Patronus lined up in the professor's office in a few days felt strange.

"If that's the case, it must be something serious and urgent," Hermione affirmed.

They spent some time speculating on the reasons for the professor's actions, but the clues were too few.

"Could it be related to... that person whose name we can't mention?" Ginny whispered.

Harry's heart pounded, but there was no basis for such speculation. In the end, they resumed their tedious review. Harry yawned while flipping through Hermione's Transfiguration notes. Originally, witnessing Professor Hagrid using a wide-mouthed bottle to capture his own Patronus had brought clarity to his muddled mind.

After the Transfiguration exam, the third-day assessment covered Herbology, followed by Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sirius stood at the door, cheering for everyone. "What if we don't do well?" a student nervously asked after a high-five with Sirius. "Don't worry, by the time you get your grades, I won't be your professor anymore," Sirius grinned, "you don't have to worry about me haunting you."

After the Ancient Runes exam on Friday, Harry and Ron chatted privately. Both believed they would at least get two 'Outstandings'—one in Defense Against the Dark Arts and the other in Ancient Runes.

"It's a good start. I'm sure you'll feel more confident for next week's exams," Hermione calmly flipped through her books.

While Harry and Ron were playing wizard chess, borrowed from the Weasley twins, modified with additional features, Harry cast a Disarming Charm, and an illusionary red light knocked Ron's knight armor off.

Taking advantage of Ron drawing cards, Harry leaned forward to grab the exam schedule from the table. "Let me check next week's schedule—Monday, Potion; Tuesday, Care of Magical Creatures; Wednesday, well, that day is a bit tough, the morning is Astronomy theory, and the afternoon is Divination exam. And that's not all... at 11 p.m., there's an Astronomy practical exam."

"I've always wondered why you guys haven't given up on Divination. Even if Professor Trelawney can make a prophecy under extremely rare circumstances, it's undeniable that what she usually teaches is rubbish," Hermione sharply questioned.

"Listen, Hermione—oh, Hurricane Hex, Harry, you lost." Ron silently savored the taste of victory, saying, "We made up three years of nonsense just to get a ticket to the Divination O.W.Ls exam—"

Seeing Hermione about to interject, he quickly continued, "If you're lucky, this subject might add an O.W.Ls certificate to your collection—even if you don't know anything. I'm serious!"

Harry didn't expect Ron to come up with such reasoning. He thought about it seriously. The reason he continued with Divination was mostly out of inertia, with a small part being the hope that he might hear another true prophecy. But if there were another chance, he hoped Trelawney could be more precise, like giving the exact date of Voldemort's demise...

As days passed, students finally arrived at the last exam.

Harry opened the History of Magic paper on the single desk. Following his habit, he quickly skimmed through the questions. His head immediately started spinning. The knowledge from the stack of History of Magic notes borrowed from Hermione in the morning was desperately slipping away from his mind. Ignoring the later content, he wanted to write more on the front while those convoluted names and intricate dates were still fresh in his memory.

He stared at the fourth question: "In your opinion, did the Wand Ban contribute to or aid in better controlling the Goblin Rebellions of the 18th century?"

Harry tried to wake up his numb brain. Professor Binns was sitting lazily on the podium, appearing to be absentmindedly lost in thought.

'Today is indeed a good day for slacking off,' Harry thought bitterly.

After about fifteen seconds, realizing he hadn't written a single word, he quickly lowered his head to answer. As Harry had anticipated, he faced trouble with the time and historical names—especially the names of giants, fairies, trolls, and centaurs. They were both tongue-twisting and lengthy. Harry suspected that the historians of that time were lazy and directly translated them based on their grunting sounds.

For almost two hours, Harry struggled against drows

iness.

When the elderly Professor Tofty, who was already very old, informed them that there were thirty minutes left, Harry sighed resignedly. He gave up thinking about what entanglement occurred between Liechtenstein and giants, focusing on the front of the paper where a few questions were still blank.

He stared at the fourth question: "In your opinion, did the Wand Ban contribute to or aid in better controlling the Goblin Rebellions of the 18th century?"

Harry tried to make his numb brain work. The sand in the hourglass on the platform was slowly slipping away, and the sun outside was shining brightly. It was a pleasant June weather, but he had to sit in the hot auditorium and contemplate the Goblin Rebellions... Harry's consciousness became increasingly blurred, and his head uncontrollably drooped toward the table, leaving suspicious damp marks on the edge... He found himself looking at the face of Professor Dumbledore. The face was no longer gentle, and behind the half-moon spectacles, there were no sparks of joy as usual. He looked serious, waving his wand with abandon. The power of the spells made Harry's heart pound. Rows of stones, accompanied by large patches of grass and soil, rushed towards him as if the entire earth was being dragged towards him.

But Harry wasn't afraid.

Dazzling green light poured out from the wand he held, with ghostly shadows within the green brilliance. He could feel his face contorting into a grim smile, speaking in an excited tone, "The taste of curses isn't pleasant, is it, Dumbledore?"

"What else can you do? Otherwise, you're doomed today!"

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