Chapter 25 - 25: 25: Dangerous Professor’s Midterm Mayhem

Time quickly reached Wednesday, the first practical lesson where two years and all four Houses participated together, and a large number of Young Wizards came to class. Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout were all present. It was especially rare that Snape also attended, although in Sagres's view, he was likely there to see what kind of trouble he would cause. Despite the large number of Young Wizards, they all behaved very obediently. After all, this was at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and each student had their respective Head of House closely watching them, so they all appeared quite well-behaved. "I know you may have some questions, but I'm sorry, I cannot reveal the specific content of this practical lesson to you," Sagres began. "I have been teaching you for almost five months, and now I want to see some practical results. Therefore, this practical lesson will count as a test, mainly to assess your ability to react on the spot. The spells needed for this process have all been taught in class. And please rest assured, I have already cast protective magic on every one of you, so you will absolutely not suffer any real harm." After calming the slightly excited Young Wizards, Sagres continued, "Before the test begins, you can form groups freely." "Three groups of students will enter the test area at a time. Remember, your goal is to find a crystal bottle covered with runes. As long as you successfully take it out of the test area, you will have completed the challenge." "To ensure the accuracy of the test, I will not cast 'Mechanical Mind' on you this time, but I sincerely hope you can still remain calm and rational." Then Sagres gave the Young Wizards half an hour to form groups freely. In the end, they formed more than twenty groups, large and small. The largest group had over thirty people, while the smallest had only two. "Begin! All the spells you need to use have already been taught." Sagres announced the start, and three teams immediately disappeared. The thirty-person Slytherin team was transported to the Troll area, the five-person Gryffindor team was transported to the Forest Troll area, and the two-person Ravenclaw team was transported to the Swamp Troll area. ... "Hmm.. let's not lose to other students!" The thirty-person team was composed of all seventh-year students from Slytherin House. After passing through the entrance, they arrived in a rugged mountainous area covered with boulders. The students quickly dispersed and began searching for the crystal bottle. "Accio, crystal bottle!" a student tried to use the Summoning Charm, but as expected, it had no effect. "Revelio!" another student attempted a revealing spell to uncover hidden items. "I found it—it's embedded in the stone!" A Slytherin student shouted loudly. Half of the crystal bottle was embedded in a boulder in front of him. He tried "Relashio" several times without success. "Let me try." Another student stepped forward. He whispered a few incantations, and a flash of light flickered from the tip of his wand. The stone around the crystal bottle began to vibrate slightly, eventually loosening. "Success?" the surrounding students gathered around, watching curiously. "Not yet. I think we have to work together to get it out," the student with the wand said, turning to the others. "Confringo!" A girl cast a Blasting Curse directly at the boulder, which immediately cracked in several places as small stone chips flew out. "Stop, you'll break the bottle!" "Use your brain—do you really think the bottle would break that easily?" "Together, use the Blasting Curse to destroy the stone." The students gathered, wands pointed at the stone, and chanted in unison, "Confringo!" As the spell rang out, the boulder shattered into pieces. The runes on the crystal bottle began to flash, and a powerful force suddenly surged from within, forcing the students to retreat. "What is that?" someone shrieked in horror. Through the crystal bottle, everyone saw a massive figure breaking free nearby—it was a Mountain Troll! The Troll roared, its huge fist smashing into the ground and sending stones flying. "Fuck!" The students scrambled to dodge; some cast defensive spells, while others tried to flee. "Stay calm!" Walter, the Slytherin prefect, shouted. "Use the Impediment Jinx—don't let it get close!" The students responded quickly, lights from their wands weaving together to form a barrier, attempting to block the Troll's advance. "Professor Greengrass said to aim for the head!" "Professor said to avoid it first…" "Idiot, how can we avoid it with so many of us?" "Take it down! The exit is behind it…" "Impedimenta!" "Bombarda!" More than thirty people used magic together to deal with a single Troll. Under such a barrage, many spell lights hit the Troll's head, but the Alpine Rock Troll's skull was covered with a thick layer of rocky skin, making it highly resistant to magic. "No, this is an Alpine Rock Troll—its head is protected by a hard shell!" "Use the Conjunctivitis Curse!—Ugh—" As soon as Flen said this, he was swatted off a boulder by the Troll. The remaining twenty-something students saw him turn into a flash of white light and vanish from the air. This startled the Young Wizards. Some began trying to use the Disillusionment Charm to avoid the front lines, attempting to sneak toward the exit Portkey—only to find it unusable. "Diffindo!" A white spell shot toward the Troll's head, shattering its ramming horn, but the spell didn't bring it down; instead, it enraged it completely. The Alpine Rock Troll grabbed massive stones from the ground and hurled them toward the densest group of students. The boulders crashed into the crowd with a thunderous roar, and several unlucky Young Wizards struck by them instantly turned into white light and disappeared. "Rictusempra!" In a moment of desperation, a student used his best minor jinx, but missed his aim, and the spell hit another teammate instead. "Ugh—what have you gehehehe done hehehehehe~~~" The girl who was struck immediately clutched her stomach and burst into uncontrollable laughter. The Troll stepped forward and, using its broken ramming horn, sent her flying—she vanished in a flash of white light. "Idiot! What have you done?" "You can't blame me—she ran too fast!" Another student used Transfiguration to turn a rock into a pile of large white rabbits. The rabbits scattered immediately, drawing the Troll's attention. Seeing this, other students waved their wands one after another. Amidst the flashing glow of Transfiguration spells, colorful small animals leapt through the smoke. The Troll's dull yellow eyes rolled around, and it suddenly slammed the massive stone in its hand onto the ground. As shards of rock flew everywhere, two Slytherins fleeing in panic were struck and turned into phantoms as they disappeared in white light. Some Young Wizards who tried to escape during the chaos were also caught in the blast, disappearing under the whistling, flying boulders. In just over ten minutes, the thirty-person team had been scattered by the Troll's charge, with only about ten remaining. However, nearly all of the remaining students had used the Disillusionment Charm, and the Troll finally calmed down. The students stumbled toward the exit, and this time, they successfully teleported away using the Portkey. ... Meanwhile, the five-person Gryffindor team quickly settled on a tactic after encountering a Forest Troll in the dense woods. Instead of hiding with the Disillusionment Charm, they chose to cast "Incendio" to ignite the nearby trees. Flames were deliberately directed toward the tree canopy, and the tall fir trees turned into towering torches over ten meters high. The Forest Troll retreated in a panic, and its back—covered in glowing moss—was set ablaze, forcing it to retreat completely. "Fuck yeah mate!" "That was bloody brilliant!" ... The Ravenclaw duo was not so lucky. As soon as their crystal bottle touched the swamp, a three-meter-tall Mud Troll rose from the corrosive water. The two were startled. Milenda, who reacted first, immediately cast "Glacius," but her wand was knocked into a flash of white light by the Troll as soon as it touched the water. "Uh? W-What happened..?" The other student reacted more slowly. She clearly panicked after seeing her companion disappear. Although she also cast "Glacius" and successfully froze the Troll, the crystal bottle was also frozen, and she could only give up reluctantly in the end. Snape stood there like a black statue. Whenever a student from another House made a mistake, his sneer caused the air temperature to plummet: "It seems Ravenclaw's famed wisdom isn't all that impressive either..." "But they didn't perform too badly, did they?" Professor McGonagall's lips pressed into a thin line, and her Transfiguration textbook was crumpled in her hand—until she saw the Gryffindor students trap the Troll with fire. Then she loosened her white-knuckled grip, revealing a fleeting smile. "But is this really okay?" "This is exactly what they're being tested on, Minerva," Professor Flitwick interjected. "They need to learn to think and act under pressure. After all, there aren't many places as safe as Hogwarts..." Sagres waved his hand, restoring all the testing grounds to their original state, and then sealed the Trolls back into the small crystal bottles. Next, more groups entered the test area. Every group encountered some issues, but a few students performed remarkably well. Jofrin, a sixth-year Ravenclaw student, used Trenching Three Feet transfiguration to dig a trap, successfully trapping the unintelligent Mountain Troll. Coopers, a seventh-year Hufflepuff student, used the Levitation Charm to position a stone over the Swamp Troll's head, then used Sonorus to irritate the troll to look above, controlled the stone and smashed it onto the Troll's head, directly stunning it. Paean, a seventh-year Slytherin student, used the Swamp Curse to trap a Forest Troll, easily passing the assessment. Grace, a sixth-year Gryffindor student, used Bombarda Maxima and collapsed the Ground to bring down the Troll, then followed up with a Boulder impact to strike its head. Some students used the Disillusionment Charm to avoid the Troll entirely. Others employed a Multi-Shot Spell to directly stun a Forest Troll. Some used Glisseo to cause a Mountain Troll to slip and fall, others used the Drying Charm to weaken a River Troll, and a few used Transfiguration to alter the terrain to their advantage. "Ahahah~~ Brilliant! These children have more dueling potential than I imagined," Professor Flitwick clapped and laughed. "But it's not easy to make them proficient in these spells—and I know that better than anyone." Professor Sprout also nodded. "Indeed, it seems Professor Sagres's teaching methods are effective." Finally, when the last group of students emerged from the test area holding the crystal bottle, a cheer erupted across the edge of the Forbidden Forest!! ______ Read 12 chaps ahead: P@treon/DarkDevil1