That night, the party in the Hufflepuff common room lasted until the early hours of the morning.
And because of their victory, several Hufflepuff students made surprising progress in the Patronus Charm Club at the end of the month.
Before the club ended, Conna even managed to summon a complete Patronus.
Unsurprisingly, her Patronus was a butterfly.
It was beautiful, and as its wings fluttered, it sprinkled silver light in the auditorium like a starry night, dazzling and brilliant.
Professor McGonagall watched the silver butterfly flying over the auditorium, genuinely feeling happy for Conna.
She felt that it was the most suitable Patronus for Conna.
Professor McGonagall still remembered what she looked like when she first enrolled: anxious, shy, silent... She was almost always alone and never initiated communication with anyone.
But now Conna was not only cheerful and confident but also gained true friendships.
She really completed her transformation, much like a butterfly.
"It's a pity such a good child isn't in Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall sighed silently, suddenly feeling a bit envious of Professor Sprout.
Perhaps inspired by Conna, a few minutes later, the silver mist in front of Cedric also began to solidify.
The next second, a swan appeared in the air above the auditorium.
Cedric held his wand, jumping and shouting excitedly.
"Well done," Professor Lupin said with a smile. "You've really surprised me; I always thought students below sixth grade wouldn't succeed until the end of the school year. It seems I underestimated you.
"So, as a reward, Hufflepuff gets fifty points... per person!"
With the hundred points added by Professor Lupin, plus the reward points for the Quidditch championship, Hufflepuff's ranking jumped to first place, and they were ahead of second place Slytherin by more than eighty points.
And now, there's only one month left until the end of the school year.
It's a pity Kael's Patronus didn't add any points; otherwise, they'd be even steadier.
The House Cup is within reach, and Hufflepuff's good mood persisted for a long time, as even the weather seemed to be celebrating.
Approaching June, the days became exceptionally bright and warm.
This weather was perfect for taking a few pints of chilled pumpkin juice to chat and fish by the Black Lake, or play a few rounds of Exploding Snap.
But they couldn't, as exams were approaching; students couldn't leisurely enjoy the outdoors. They had to stay in the castle, forcing themselves to memorize the contents of those books.
Even Fred and George, who loved noise the most, started working hard, running to the library whenever they had time.
Fifth years had to take the O.W.Ls (Ordinary Wizarding Level Exams); whether they could freely research Weasley joke products in the future depended on the results of this exam.
Kael wasn't having an easy time either.
Not because of exams, but because the paper he wrote for "Today's Transfiguration" during the holidays finally had results.
It had been delayed so long that Kael initially thought his paper hadn't passed.
But after a Transfiguration class ended, Professor McGonagall revealed that his final assessment was scheduled for exam day.
If he passed, his paper could be published in the latest issue of "Today's Transfiguration."
So recently, Kael had been reading books related to Transfiguration.
Amidst such tension, a month passed quickly.
During exam week, the castle was unusually quiet; at lunch, many complained about how difficult the exams were.
Especially the Transfiguration exam, where Professor McGonagall actually required them to turn turtles into rabbits...
"The rabbit I transformed wouldn't run at all, how terrifying..."
"You're lucky; mine still had a shell, which will definitely cause me to lose points."
Then, after lunch, everyone went back upstairs to take the charm exams.
But as Kael walked to the second floor, he was stopped by Professor McGonagall, who seemed somewhat excited.
"The professors have agreed that you don't need to attend the upcoming Charm and Herbology exams," Professor McGonagall said. "Come with me, you have something more important now."
"Are the people from 'Today's Transfiguration' here?" Kael asked as he walked.
"That's right," Professor McGonagall said. "The fifth and seventh-grade exams are scheduled to start at three in the afternoon, so they have time now."
"How do you feel, are you nervous?"
Kael shook his head.
He's been preparing for a month, as long as those people don't deliberately make things difficult, there's nothing to be nervous about.
"That's good," Professor McGonagall quickened her pace. "As long as you perform normally, there won't be any problem."
She led Kael to a classroom beside the library on the second floor and then opened the door.
Inside the room, three people were sitting there, talking and laughing.
Two middle-aged wizards in their fifties, and sitting between them, an old witch with a hunched figure.
The witch was very old, her face full of wrinkles, but she appeared to be in good spirits.
After the door was opened, she first glanced at Professor McGonagall, then swiftly shifted her gaze to Kael beside her. "Minerva, I suppose this must be Kael, right?"
"You're correct, Professor Marchbank," Professor McGonagall turned and said, "Kael, this is Professor Geselda Marchbanks from the Wizard Examination Board..."
"Wrong, Minerva, wrong!" Marchbank laughed and said, "This hour I am the editor-in-chief of 'Today's Transfiguration,' not the one in charge of fourth-grade exams."
Then she looked at Kael and said, "You should have heard from Minerva why you were called here."
"Yes," Kael said, "for the assessment of 'Today's Transfiguration's' Most Promising Newcomer Award."
"That's right," said Professor Marchbank. "No need to be nervous; if you truly wrote that paper, the content of this assessment will be simple, and if it goes quickly, it might be over in ten minutes...
"However, before we proceed, I must explain something." She paused before continuing, "We've been busy with another important matter over the past few months, so the originally scheduled Christmas assessment was delayed until now."
Kael nodded, showing his understanding.
Moreover, if she had come during the Christmas holidays, she might have wasted her time.
At that time, he was at Nicolas's house, unreachable by ordinary people.
...
Professor Marchbank didn't make too much small talk, offering a brief explanation before getting straight to the point.
She took out a thick stack of parchment from the box on the table.
"First, you need to recite the main core of your paper."
"The phase differences between partial transformation and multiple transformations..." Kael blurted out.
A few minutes later...
"Very good," Professor Marchbank nodded and pointed to a teacup on the table, "Now, please perform a triple transformation on this teacup... This is to ensure you truly have the ability to complete those experimental propositions."
"No problem," Kael drew his wand, aiming at the teacup.
The teacup first transformed into a goblet, then a slipper... teapot... quill... parchment.
A total of five transformations, two more than Professor Marchbank had asked for, although the final parchment was somewhat distorted, looking more like a hard wooden board, it was enough to amaze others.
One of the middle-aged wizards even stood up directly.
"You're really just a fourth-year student?" one of them asked in shock.
"That, I can guarantee, Audley," Professor McGonagall stepped forward and said.
"Truly remarkable," the other person marveled, "I dare say most outstanding graduates couldn't achieve five transformations."
As they spoke, Professor Marchbank had already returned the parchment in her hand to the box.
"Congratulations, child, you've passed the assessment," she smiled and said. "Hurry to your exams, you should still have time."
Kael was somewhat surprised; wasn't it less than ten minutes? It was already over?
But since he passed, he didn't say much more, thanked them, and turned to leave.
Professor Marchbank watched Kael's back, seeming to suddenly remember something, and hurriedly spoke, "Wait..."
Kael, who had reached the door, turned around.
"Next year you'll be a fifth year, right? Can you tell me what month your birthday is?" Professor Marchbank asked.
"End of July," Kael said.
Professor Marchbank nodded, saying no more.
After Kael left the room, she turned to the other side and asked, "Audley, what age limit did they set, was it seventeen?"
"No decision yet."
Audley thought for a moment, "Most people tend toward sixteen, but last week someone proposed that fifteen was fine too, and that also received support from some. Now they're hesitating."
"Oh, changed again? Who proposed it..."
"Chris," Audley said, "the Deputy Minister of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."
...