Over a month of secluded, intensive training was no joke. Combined with his now unprecedented talent and the boost from the Time Room, Wayne had almost fully comprehended the Dragon King inheritance in his possession during this month.
His insights into both magic and the path of creation (star-forging) had greatly improved.
During this period, he visited the Department of Mysteries several more times and finally confirmed that the archway was not in its complete state; it should be a twin, or even multiple, entity. The other half was probably in another world.
If he forcibly destroyed it, the archway would regenerate on Earth, but he couldn't control where it would appear.
This indirectly proved that the world on the other side wasn't too far from their main plane; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sense that faint, elusive feeling of extension.
"You mean... Slytherin?" Newt hesitated.
"I'm not entirely sure," Wayne shook his head. "Anyway, staying at Hogwarts is the safest. If you hadn't come to me, I was planning to have you bring Jacob and the others to Britain."
There's a saying in the divination world: if you can predict it, it's not a big deal; if you can't predict anything, that's when things are serious.
Wayne tried using the Qimen domain to deduce the future of the magical world, but it was all rolling dark clouds.
"What about Hagrid?" Newt knew Wayne wouldn't use this method to keep him there and instead asked about his arrangements for Hagrid.
"Starting next year, Care of Magical Creatures will become compulsory. You'll be responsible for years one to four, and Hagrid will take over from year five," Wayne said.
Hagrid's knowledge of magical creatures was unquestionable, but his rough teaching style really wasn't suitable for young wizards. Older students, after being influenced by Newt for a few years, might be able to handle it. This arrangement made the best use of everyone's abilities.
Newt thought it over until the end of class before agreeing.
Actually, Hagrid hadn't been idle lately.
During the battle when dark creatures invaded Hogwarts, the giant clan was almost completely wiped out. Hagrid fought desperately to save a few female giants, all for the sake of his brother, Grawp.
Recently, Grawp had been both suffering and happy. As the only remaining male giant of his kind, the responsibility of propagating the race fell entirely on him.
Hagrid watched him every day, not allowing him to rest until the task was done, and even asked Wayne for plenty of potions, almost turning him into a second-rate Potions Master.
"Wayne! Hermione! Over 'ere!"
Hmm?
Wayne turned around and saw Hagrid happily waving at him from the doorway of his hut.
The two walked over, and Hagrid, unable to contain his joy, blurted out the reason for his happiness before they could even ask. "Rhexa's pregnant, she is."
Wayne knew Rhexa was the name of a female giant, but he didn't care which one specifically, and simply congratulated Hagrid, "Hagrid, you're going to be an uncle."
"Hahaha!" the half-giant laughed heartily. "It's still early. Giant pregnancies last a lot longer'n humans'—takes eighteen months, it does."
"It'll be over in the blink of an eye, it will."
Hagrid waved cheerfully. "How 'bout yeh help pick a name when the time comes, eh?"
"No problem," Wayne readily agreed.
Hagrid grew even happier and got to the main reason he'd called Wayne over. "Firenze asked me ter check if yeh still got any o' tha' potion yeh gave 'em las' time? They're willin' ter trade all sorts o' medicinal herbs fer it."
"Hmm..." Wayne pondered for a moment. "I'll go talk with them after my exams are finished."
"Alright, I'll let Firenze know, I will."
After declining Hagrid's invitation to try his family's traditional rock cakes, Wayne and Hermione returned to the castle.
Remembering how delighted Hagrid had looked earlier, Hermione thought of another question.
"Is Madame Delacour also expecting a baby?"
"She's already given birth," Wayne couldn't help smiling. "Just a few days ago - a lovely little girl."
"Really? Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione looked at him with delighted surprise.
Wayne rolled his eyes. "You've been so obsessed with revision these past few days, I didn't dare disturb you."
"Oh! Do you have any photos?" Ignoring Wayne's teasing, Hermione grabbed his sleeve and looked at him eagerly.
"I only saw her during a video call with Fleur. No photos yet, I'm afraid."
Wayne shook his head, then added when he saw Hermione's disappointed expression: "If you want to see her, you could just come to France with me this summer. I'm planning to go there right after term ends."
They hadn't travelled together before, and this holiday would be the perfect opportunity to accompany her while he took care of business.
Hermione naturally wouldn't refuse, and if it weren't for her final Arithmancy exam tomorrow, she would have already started planning their travel itinerary.
...
The next afternoon, all OWL examination components were completed. Fifth and seventh year students completely let loose - the Weasley twins put all their textbooks into a fireworks box and blasted them into the sky. Many found this so inspiring that fireworks sales skyrocketed instantly.
By evening, the ban on alcohol for underage students became practically meaningless, with every Common Room table laden with drinks and snacks.
Wayne celebrated with the badgers for a while, but when many started getting drunk and rowdy, he quietly left the castle and headed to the Centaur tribe in the Forbidden Forest.
This time, the Centaurs' attitude was much warmer. With their tribe's reproduction crisis resolved, Wayne was their great benefactor.
They wanted more potions to breed more foals, but this time Wayne didn't fulfil their full request, agreeing to only one-third of the quantity.
He firmly believed humans were the masters of this world. While Centaurs and Hogwarts currently coexist peacefully, allowing their tribe to expand uncontrollably would inevitably lead to future conflicts.
Doubling the Centaur population would require corresponding increases in food and territory, ultimately encroaching on the ecological space of other magical creatures.
Everything requires balance.
Wise Centaurs like Firenze, Magorian, and Ronan understood Wayne's concerns. After giving him deep looks, they wisely changed the subject.
Returning laden with piles of medicinal herbs, Wayne received Madam Marchbanks in the Headmaster's office the next day.
"Lawrence, this year's examinations have been quite eye-opening," the old woman said, her face full of smiles. "A full half of the candidates can cast the Patronus Charm - that's an unprecedented record."
"Potter and Granger's Patronuses are fully corporeal, too. Truly outstanding."
The old woman had devoted her entire life to education, and nothing brought her greater joy than witnessing outstanding students.
She had a premonition that this year's OWL results would likely be the best in decades.
"In the future, the Patronus Charm will become one of the most fundamental spells," Wayne explained with a smile about his plans. "This will also help students stabilise their minds and reduce the likelihood of Dark Wizards emerging."
"I'll be watching with great interest." Madam Marchbanks nodded. "Lawrence, do you have concrete ideas about the reforms you mentioned earlier?"
Two hours later, Madam Marchbanks directly used the fireplace in the Headmaster's Office to return to her residence.
When she left, her expression was grave, as if she was hesitating about something.
No one knew what the two had actually discussed. Even the portraits of former headmasters on the walls had been concealed by curtains and forced into dormancy.
After Marchbanks departed, Wayne wrote several letters and sent them out separately before leaving the Headmaster's Office to enjoy the final leisurely days of the term.
Two Quidditch matches were held in succession, and Hufflepuff ultimately won the Quidditch Cup this year with an impressive record of five victories and one defeat, thanks to their strong overall team.
Grindelwald had little interest in Quidditch, but he nevertheless demanded that Durmstrang students should participate next year as well.
The man was practically trying to relocate the entire school to Britain, determined to compete with Hogwarts in every aspect.
At the end-of-year feast, the Great Hall was decorated in the same bright yellow colours as previous years, filled throughout with Hufflepuff elements.
This marked Hufflepuff's fifth consecutive victory in the House Cup, and it was highly likely that the badgers would remain the ultimate winners for several more years to come.
After all, their current Headmaster still had two years left before graduation.
The Hufflepuff of today was completely different from before. Where they used to be scattered, individual badgers, they had now become a united group of honey badgers - who would dare provoke them?
Hadn't everyone noticed how much more 'fair and friendly' Snape had become when dealing with Hufflepuff these days?
Dumbledore might tolerate Snape's overt and covert targeting of Gryffindor, but if he tried the same with Wayne, he'd be taking an extended sick leave by the next day.
Speaking of Dumbledore, the young wizards kept unconsciously glancing toward the staff table during the feast.
Dumbledore had attended today as well, sitting right beside Wayne. The two were discussing something, with Dumbledore looking rather anxious while Wayne kept shaking his head.
Even the professors were straining to eavesdrop, but they could only catch fragments of the conversation.
"Wayne, perhaps you should be the one to make the announcement."
"Absolutely not, you're the Minister for Magic. What does this have to do with me?"
"Nothing to do with you? Would you dare swear that to Merlin?"
"What's Merlin to me? Bring him back to life so we can discuss it properly. Why should I swear anything to him?"
Dumbledore: "..."
Finally, the feast concluded. As Wayne stood up, the plates cleared themselves, leaving them empty and gleaming.
Without unnecessary preamble, he announced the House Cup results and declared two additional point awards.
"In the war against Voldemort, every student contributed their own strength. Therefore, each house will receive two hundred additional points."
"And since Harry Potter played an absolutely crucial role in these events, Gryffindor will receive an extra two hundred points."
The gemstone hourglass surged violently, with Gryffindor making the most dramatic gains. It frantically climbed from last place until it overtook the original second-place Slytherin before finally stopping.
There's still about a fifty-point gap from Hufflepuff.
They had fallen too far behind earlier; otherwise, they might truly have surpassed them.
Professor McGonagall cast a stern look towards the Weasley twins – these two were absolutely the main culprits for point deductions. Fortunately, it was finally over, and she actually felt a weary relief.
Thunderous applause erupted in the Great Hall. No one suspected that Wayne had only given Harry two hundred points to ensure Hufflepuff's victory.
If one really calculated it, considering his contribution in killing Voldemort, even ten thousand points wouldn't be excessive.
After speaking, Wayne sat down and stared directly at Dumbledore. Grindelwald also wore an amused smile at the corner of his mouth, as if watching some entertaining drama.
Facing everyone's gaze, Dumbledore stood up helplessly.
"Students, I am here on behalf of the Ministry of Magic to announce a change."
"In light of Mr Lawrence's slaying of Voldemort, and his signing of a treaty with Mr Grindelwald, thereby safeguarding the peace and stability of the wizarding world... his numerous contributions extend far beyond this."
Dumbledore began stacking buffs for Wayne.
Everyone assumed Dumbledore was here to award the Order of Merlin, and without a doubt, it would be First Class.
However, Dumbledore's next words made everyone's jaws drop.
"Following confirmation by the International Confederation of Wizards and a unanimous vote by the entire Wizengamot, in the future, besides the Order of Merlin, a brand new supreme honour of the magical world will be established – the Lawrence Medal!"
The entire hall fell silent.