Chapter 971: Chapter 971: Lucius’s Plan
"I can’t say I did well on the Water-Making Charm exam. I just wrote down everything I knew."
"There really are only a few ways to break the Fear Curse. I don’t know if what I wrote was enough—I could only remember five methods."
"And then there was that question about the Patronus Charm..."
"Hermione!" Ron interrupted her, frowning. "The exam is over. We don’t want to relive it right after finishing. It’s torture."
Harry nodded in agreement.
Listening to Hermione’s answers really was torture. For example, he had only remembered two ways to counter the Fear Curse—how did Hermione manage to come up with five?
If he kept listening, he might actually crack.
"Oh, it’s you three. How did it go?" Kyle arrived at the castle right on time and happened to run into them.
Hermione’s eyes lit up and she quickly walked over.
But before she could say anything, Kyle turned and walked straight past them.
"Professor McGonagall, Hagrid said you were looking for me..."
Hermione stopped in her tracks, her mouth slightly open...
Harry stepped beside her and whispered, "I think he was just saying hi... not really expecting a reply."
"I... okay..." Hermione took a deep breath and swallowed her words.
"But it’s thanks to Kyle we knew how to use the Dreamless Sleep Potion last night—and the proper dosage."
Hermione snapped her head around. "Kyle knew too..."
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I nearly dropped the bottle, and he helped me out."
"No wonder he suggested I drink a cup of hot cocoa." Hermione ran a hand through her hair. "You really shouldn’t have given me the Dreamless Sleep Potion. I could have reviewed one more time..."
"And shown up half-asleep for the exam?" Ron cut in.
"You haven’t slept properly the past few days, not even in class, just staying awake with Awakening Potions. But this is the N.E.W.T.—the strictest wizarding exam there is. Keep this up and it might count as cheating...
"Or do you really want to take the exam with a foggy brain?"
Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but, surprisingly, said nothing.
Because she knew Ron was right. She had been overly anxious these past few days, and she still couldn’t quite accept that she hadn’t managed to revise properly before the exam.
"Yes... sorry..." Hermione’s voice was very quiet.
"What did you say?" Ron blinked, thinking he’d misheard.
"I said... thank you," Hermione replied. "Honestly, today’s the clearest my head has felt in days."
"Oh... well, no need to thank me..."
The three of them chatted as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch... It had been an exam room earlier, but now it had magically returned to its usual dining hall form.
...
In the afternoon, the practical exams resumed.
The students lined up to enter their assigned rooms.
Inside one of the classrooms sat Professor Marchbanks and another examiner, overseeing the practical portion of the exam.
Kyle was also present.
With Snape absent and Professors Sinistra and Trelawney still recovering at St. Mungo’s from injuries sustained in the recent war, Hogwarts was short-staffed.
So Professor McGonagall had sent Kyle over to help.
Luckily, it was a relatively easy job.
The main examiners from the Wizarding Examinations Authority handled the actual tests. Kyle’s job was to manage emergencies—like this one...
"Aguamenti!"
Kyle gave his wand a flick, and a stream of water poured down from above, soaking Padma Patil, a seventh-year Gryffindor, and putting out the flames that had just started on her robes.
That was what he was there for.
Some students insisted on using every last second before the test to practice their spells and wand movements, but nerves made them prone to mistakes.
Just now, Padma Patil had swung her wand too forcefully and accidentally jabbed her robe.
"Wands away!" Kyle waved his wand again, drawing the water into a floating sphere that leapt off Patil and hovered nearby. He warned her, "If crossing this threshold counts as starting the exam, then technically, you’re already done."
Padma Patil flushed crimson and thanked him profusely.
Kyle waved her off. "Go find Professor Tofty—he’s free now."
Patil hurried away.
Next in line was Harry, who looked nervous too, though at least he wasn’t flailing his wand around.
Kyle pointed him toward Professor Marchbanks, and Harry rushed over.
Perhaps because of the recent war between Voldemort and Hogwarts, nearly all the seventh-years who had stayed had been injured in some way, so the N.E.W.T. content this year had been noticeably easier than last year’s.
The Charms practical exam only included the Summoning Charm and the Colour-Changing Charm. Honestly, these were so basic they would barely have been considered difficult even on the O.W.L.
The Transfiguration practical scheduled for the next day involved nothing more than the Bird-Conjuring Charm.
"Frankly, when they chose to stay at Hogwarts and be ready to face Death Eaters at any moment, they no longer needed some piece of paper to prove their abilities," Professor Marchbanks said over dinner, answering Kyle’s earlier question.
"So as I see it, this exam is just a formality. Keeping it simple means more students can get their certificates."
"But what about the ones who didn’t stay?"
"They’re the minority, aren’t they?" Marchbanks smiled, slicing into a piece of steak. Then, casually, she added, "I did think there were too many questions about dark magic in the written exam—but Bones didn’t see a problem with it."
Dark magic...
Kyle blinked and understood.
Obviously, there wouldn’t be any test questions involving the use of dark magic—only how to counter it.
And in the recent war, there had been no shortage of dark magic. In a way, everyone who’d fought had already rehearsed this N.E.W.T. written exam.
And the experience had left a deep impression...
Kyle smiled to himself and said nothing more.
It was all just speculation anyway. The exam wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular...
...
Next came the Herbology exam, but this time Kyle didn’t go to help. Instead, he accompanied Professor Marchbanks to the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts.
There, he saw someone.
Draco Malfoy—Professor McGonagall was there as well.
It had been a while since they’d last met, and Draco looked far more haggard than before. His once striking platinum blond hair now hung limp against his head. If this kept up much longer, he might end up with the same hairstyle as Snape.
"Professor Marchbanks, I believe Bones should have already spoken to you," Professor McGonagall said as she walked over.
"Mm." Marchbanks nodded, her expression stern. "So this is the student who can’t take the exam with the others?"
"Yes," Professor McGonagall replied in a low voice. "He made some mistakes. Although he corrected them in time, not everyone is ready to forgive him so soon."
"What does that have to do with the exam?" Marchbanks frowned. "You should be speaking with Bones and the Wizengamot."
"You’re right," McGonagall said. "But his father, Lucius Malfoy, believes he should sit the N.E.W.T. exams. Dumbledore had once agreed to allow him to return to Hogwarts."
"I’ve already discussed this with Bones."
Indeed, Professor McGonagall had spoken with Amelia Bones about the matter, right after the last hearing.
Bones had agreed.
Rumor had it Lucius Malfoy had made a sizable donation—enough to solve a current issue at the Ministry. His intent wasn’t to dodge responsibility, but to make amends. Mentioning Draco taking the exams was more of an afterthought.
Since it was merely about taking the exams, Bones had no reason to refuse.
"All right, I understand." Marchbanks stepped up to Draco Malfoy and studied his weary appearance.
"Are you sure you’re up for this?" she asked with a frown. "You could come back tomorrow."
"No, I’m fine." Draco patted his cheeks and took out his wand.
Because he couldn’t sit the exam with the other students—and due to a few other reasons—Draco Malfoy had been taking his written exams here for the past few days.
Even during others’ rest periods, he kept going.
While the rest had only completed two subjects, he had already finished all the written portions, with Professor McGonagall serving as his chief examiner.
She had suggested he take a break and resume the practical exams later, but Malfoy insisted on continuing.
So she brought in Professor Marchbanks and Kyle.
"I need to head to the Ministry right away to prepare for Severus’s second hearing," McGonagall told Kyle. "Could I trouble you to assist Professor Marchbanks here?"
"Of course. No problem." Kyle agreed without hesitation.
"Thank you." McGonagall rubbed her forehead.
With Hogwarts exams and the hearing overlapping, the pressure on her lately had been immense.
Soon after, Professor McGonagall left the Astronomy Tower. Once Marchbanks understood the situation, she said nothing more and got straight to the exam.
Since Draco was the only candidate, there was no queue, and everything moved much faster.
Within just a few hours, he had completed most of the exam and was already starting on potion brewing.
Kyle conjured a chair for himself and sat down, watching as Draco vigorously ground lionfish bone powder.
He couldn’t help but wonder why Lucius was so insistent on Draco taking the N.E.W.T. exams.
Did he really need those certificates?
Though the Malfoys had lost a lot to Voldemort, a dead camel is still bigger than a horse—as evidenced by Lucius’s ability to make donations to the Ministry.
The Malfoy family still had savings, and quite a lot of them—more than enough for Draco to squander.
Could it be that Lucius felt a donation alone wasn’t enough and simply added this one small request?
The moment the thought surfaced, Kyle shook his head.
No way. Lucius Malfoy wouldn’t bother with something that petty.
"He might be the first..." Professor Marchbanks suddenly said, pulling Kyle from his thoughts.
"The first what?" he asked.
"The first student to be expelled from Hogwarts and still take the N.E.W.T. exams." Marchbanks wore a strange expression.
"Not many students have been expelled from Hogwarts, especially since Albus became headmaster. The number of students he’s expelled is even lower—just one."
"A full-fledged Death Eater returning to Hogwarts as a student to take the exams... It’s rather remarkable, isn’t it?"
A student...
Kyle suddenly looked up.
He had a feeling he’d figured out what Lucius was thinking.
Draco had once been expelled. Even though he’d later returned to Hogwarts for a time, that didn’t change his status as a dropout.
But taking the N.E.W.T. exams changed everything.
The certificate bore the Hogwarts crest. As long as Draco could obtain even one, he could shed the label of a dropout.
It might not seem like much—there were plenty of dropouts across Britain—but it would allow Draco to completely cast off the identity of a Death Eater.
In the future, if anyone brought up his past, he could throw the certificate in their face and say,
"Look, even Hogwarts accepted me back and let me take my graduation exams. Why are you still clinging to the past?"
At that thought, Kyle tugged at the corner of his mouth.
What had taken Snape two hearings to achieve, Draco Malfoy could do with a single exam.
How else could you put it? This was classic Malfoy—cunning through and through...
Still, letting Draco return to school had been something Dumbledore promised.
...
By around noon, Malfoy finally completed his Potions exam and handed a bottle filled with Elixir to Induce Euphoria to Professor Marchbanks.
...At least, it was supposed to be Elixir to Induce Euphoria. The color looked off, but that was the assignment.
The two of them left the Astronomy Tower together.
Kyle followed behind.
Malfoy didn’t stay with them long. He seemed to have other matters to attend to—and knowing he wasn’t exactly welcomed, he took another path out of the school after leaving the tower.
Professor Marchbanks also needed to take his exam papers back for filing, so Kyle was the only one heading to the Great Hall for lunch.
By now, lunch should have already started. Kyle couldn’t help but quicken his pace.
But just as he reached the courtyard...
"So this is Hogwarts? An old castle with hideous decorations... Honestly, it’s nothing impressive."
An elderly witch stood in front of a stone statue. She wore an elegant dark blue gown, her gray hair immaculately styled into a bun—yet her voice carried an unmistakable tone of disdain.
Kyle stopped in his tracks.
"Vinda Rosier!"
"Yes, it’s me." Rosier turned and smiled. "Don’t look at me like that. If it weren’t for his request, I wouldn’t have come to this..."
She cast a glance at the crack running along the stone statue and frowned slightly. "Seriously, doesn’t Hogwarts even have enough money to replace its decorations? I always thought this place would be on par with Beauxbatons."
"This is a thousand-year-old antique. A true treasure. Not something you can buy with a few Galleons," Kyle shot back.
He had no idea when these statues were actually put up at Hogwarts, but that didn’t stop him from saying it.
After all, Vinda Rosier didn’t know either.