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-Ancient Runes Classroom – Exam Day-
"Well Ethan, it looks like you're the last student for today. Ready for your practical exam?" Professor Babbling asked me with an excited smile that always seemed to be on her face when she talked about runes.
"Of course" I said also smiling.
"Perfect" she nodded, going to a small wooden chest that was on top of her desk, "Let's start with a simple lighting rune" she said, taking some items from inside that chest and placing it on top of a small table that was in front of me.
"The runes don't need to follow any rules or order, they just need to work together for this pearl to create some illumination" she continued, showing a beige pearl to me, "And remember, I will be evaluating the usability and practicality of the runes, the strength of light, the amount of magic dispersed, and your creation time"
"Okay, got it" I said nodding, but then I stopped and thought for a while before turning to her, "You said that the runes don't have to follow any rules and that I just need to create light using this pearl, right? " I asked.
"Yes, that's right" Professor Babbling nodded, somewhat confused by my question.
"Great" I said smiling.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're excited," she said, and I just looked at her, still smiling.
Shaking her head slightly with an amused smile she continued, "Well, let's not waste any more time as you still have other exams to do" she said, "And with that, you'll have 20 minutes to finish your rune work"
And seeing me nodding, she went to her desk, where there was an hourglass, which she turned, causing the sand inside to start to fall out.
"And start!" she said, and I immediately set to work, with Professor Babbling paying full attention to my actions.
I knew what I had to do, but as someone who had taken lessons from the greatest living rune master, and who had a knack for creating items, I wasn't going to settle for just a shiny pearl.
And with that in mind, I let a defiant smile creep across my face, picking up the carving knife as I let my magic flow through it, looking at my pearl in full focus.
...
...
...
...
-After 7 minutes-
"Are you sure you should be in third year?" Professor Babbling asked me with a dazed, confused look.
And the reason for her gaze was the seven glowing little balls that floated and swirled around me, totally illuminating the room in a soft and beautiful glow.
I was holding the pearl in my hand, which glowed faintly white with a few golden lines running through it, where the runes I carved were.
And these runes, instead of making the pearl shine, created these seven balls of light that responded to my command, as long as I had the pearl in hand.
I could choose what color the lights would be, and I could also choose the intensity of their light, something very useful depending on the situation, and the most important thing of all, is that keeping the pearl runes active didn't require a lot of magic, so much so that it used ambient magic instead of the magic of the witch or wizard holding it.
"I don't think I've ever seen such detailed and advanced runes made by a student, not even a seventh year." Professor Babbling muttered, and her confusion started to fade away to be replaced by excitement, "This is amazing"
"Eh, I listen to that a lot" I shrugged, but Professor Babbling wasn't paying attention to me.
She then took the pearl from my hands and carried it to her table. She took from a cabinet beside her desk a small object that served as a microscope, which was nothing more than a magically enchanted magnifying glass.
Placing the pearl on a black granite plate under the object's magnifying glass, she walked over and began looking at the runes on the pearl excitedly, muttering to herself.
And seeing this I broke into a sweat with a strange but amused look on my face.
"Err... Teacher?" I called her.
"Yes?" she replied without even looking at me.
"Was that the whole exam or do I have something else to do?" I asked.
"Oh, no, that's all, you can leave now," she said, still looking excitedly through the magnifying glass as she shooed me away with one hand, making my right eye twitch.
"What about my runework? Is it good enough?" I kept asking.
"Of course, this job is perfect!" she replied slightly offended, as if it was wrong to doubt it, "With this runework you're obviously going to get full marks in my class" she continued, and I blinked in surprise, not because I thought I wouldn't get this grade, but because I didn't expect her to tell me about it.
"Hmm, shouldn't you keep this a secret until the day you reveal everyone's grades?" I asked, but she ignored me as she went back to muttering to herself, jotting something down in a little notebook she'd grabbed from who knows where, and I shook my head with a touch of amused exasperation.
And seeing as I had nothing else to do for this exam, I left the room, leaving behind the young professor who was trying to unravel the secrets behind the runes on the pearl.
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-In front of the Entrance Hall-
"I knew all my time studying would be worth it," Hermione said, smiling pleased to see her name ranked first in Gryffindor third years and first overall in other subjects, Arithmancy being one of them.
She then turned to her two best friends, noticing that they were staring at the leaderboard in surprise.
"Did I place in the top 5 in the Care of Magical Creatures class?" Harry asked no one in particular.
"And I got top 3 in the Divination class?!" Ron asked, more shocked than Harry.
"What's so surprising about that?" Hermione asked confused, and Ron turned to her still gaping.
"You might not understand since it's normal for you, but we've never been in the top 5 in any subject," he said.
"I wouldn't put it that way, but he's right" Harry said, "We've been in the top 10 before, but that was because you helped us, but this time it was different."
And seeing how stunned they really were Hermione blinked, "Well then congratulations I guess" she said.
Hermione then looked back at the leaderboard, looking at the top ranked students in all subjects, until her gaze landed on DADA's class.
"Err...Harry" she called.
"What?" the boy with the scar on his head turned to her.
"I guess it wasn't just Care of Magical Creatures that you did well," she said in surprise, and a little proud.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, following her gaze to the board showing the top third year DADA students, "Oh"
"Wow mate" Ron said, patting Harry on the shoulder, "You came second in Defense Against the Dark Arts"
"T-that... I... How?!" he asked.
"Well, you really did very well in Professor Lupin's classes" Hermione started to answer him, "And on top of that, you learned the Patronus Charm, which is a very complex spell that even seventh years can't cast"
"But I only learned the Incorporeal Patronus, that's not all that impressive" Harry said, with a despondent look.
"Yes, right" Ron snorted, "My dad already told me that probably less than 20% of the Aurors in the Ministry know how to cast this spell, and even fewer Aurors can summon a Corporeal Patronus"
"Oh" Harry said openmouthed, only now learning this information.
"See Harry" Hermione said, getting his attention, "What you've done is more than amazing, it's fantastic and magical" she finished, smiling softly at Harry.
Harry looked at her for a few seconds, before turning to Ron, who was nodding in agreement.
He then looked back at his name on the DADA leaderboard, and realizing that what he had done was truly an incredible feat, he began to feel a wave of pride rise in his chest.
And with a small but happy smile appearing on his face, Harry began to realize that being recognized for something he had done felt really good.
'Hmm, it's not so bad being one of the best in a subject... And now I understand why Mione always tries to get the best grades' he thought, but then he stopped, remembering that there was someone else who would like to see his grades.
'Heh, will Sirius be proud of me when he hears about this?' he wondered, smiling as he imagined his godfather congratulating him.
End.
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(End AN: Six chapters for the time without posting anything.)