More than half of September had already passed.
According to Sean's agreement with Dumbledore, if he could pass the final examinations for the second-year courses on Monday of the last week of September—September 24th—then he would be exempt from attending those classes for the rest of the year.
Charms, Astronomy, Herbology, Transfiguration, and History of Magic.
All five subjects had to be tested in a single day.
For ordinary students, this was nothing short of a nightmare—the kind that could wake someone up in a cold sweat just thinking about it.
Even for top students, it was practically hell mode.
Normally, exams were arranged two subjects per day. Finishing five in one day would exhaust even the most talented student mentally.
For Sean, it wasn't exactly easy either.
He had to stay fully focused. Whether it was the written tests or the practical magical assessments, he couldn't afford to relax for even a moment.
If he lost points because of carelessness, his entire semester would be ruined.
The exam began at eight in the morning.
Sean started with Charms theory and practical spellcasting. After that came the Astronomy test paper and the Herbology test.
Fortunately, Sean wrote quickly. Otherwise, he might not even have made it to lunch.
"How did it go? How many did you finish this morning?"
At the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, Cassius asked eagerly, looking more nervous than if he had taken the exam himself.
Students from the other houses were also glancing over curiously.
"Three. Nothing too difficult."
Sean took a large gulp of creamy mushroom soup. After a whole morning without water, his throat felt like it was on fire.
Chris said, "Looks like you won't be attending classes with us again this year."
Sean shook his head.
"I'll still attend Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions."
One was taught by his Head of House.
The other was taught by a professor he still found suspicious.
Neither could be skipped.
Besides, Professor Morisse did have real skill. Even if there was something wrong with him, Sean could at least learn a few useful things first.
Sean completed the afternoon exams for Transfiguration and History of Magic quickly.
The second-year Transfiguration written test was simple. The practical portion was even easier for Sean.
In first year, the task had been transforming an object into an animal.
In second year, it was the reverse—turning a living creature into an object.
Sean's test was to transform an owl into a medieval knight's helmet.
He completed the spell in three seconds.
As for History of Magic…
That was truly a tedious subject.
Except for the final essay question, the entire test was nothing but memorization.
Even Sean could only review it occasionally in his spare time to avoid mixing up historical dates.
At three thirty in the afternoon, Sean handed in his final paper early.
The five exams were finished.
By tomorrow afternoon, the professors would finish grading and report the results to Dumbledore.
Whether he passed would be announced by the following evening.
But Sean felt confident.
The exam content covered normal second-year material. Achieving five "Outstanding" grades shouldn't be a problem.
Now he could focus his free time on practicing the Flying Charm and the Patronus Charm.
The next afternoon, after classes ended, Snape sent a student to summon Sean from the Slytherin common room.
"Grylls. Congratulations. You passed the test."
Snape delivered the news directly, without any buildup.
But from his tone, it hardly sounded like a congratulation.
"That's great."
Sean's expression barely changed. It was exactly what he had expected.
"Is Headmaster Dumbledore not here?" Sean asked curiously. "I thought he said he would inform me personally."
Snape replied calmly, "The Headmaster went to the Ministry of Magic. There are final permissions to arrange. The representatives from the other three schools will arrive in a few days."
In just one week, the other three teams would arrive at Hogwarts.
Sean and the others would also stop their training and give up the practice grounds.
With those five classes removed from his schedule, Sean suddenly had plenty of free time again.
That evening at the end of September, Sean was sitting in the Slytherin common room—being dragged around by Jerry.
Fortunately, Chris arrived to rescue him.
Jerry lay lazily in her arms, enjoying a full-body massage while Sean looked at him with obvious disdain.
"The other school teams will arrive tomorrow," Chris said. "The school is hosting a welcoming banquet. My grandfather told me a few days ago that he'll be attending as well."
Barty Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Sean thought.
He appeared even during the Triwizard Tournament. Of course he would attend something like the Four-School Friendship Tournament.
It had been almost a month since Sean last absorbed the Wizard's Heart.
Earlier that day, he had tried again.
But his "container" had not grown since the last time.
His magical capacity still couldn't increase.
For now, the Wizard's Heart could only function as a magical battery, restoring his magic after exhaustion.
"I heard that in Brazil's Castelobruxo, students are sorted by wands. Is that true?" Cassius asked.
Sean nodded.
When he first heard the professors talk about that ceremony, he had also been surprised.
During Castelobruxo's sorting ceremony, each new student must grasp six different wands.
These were the Sorting Wands.
When a wand responded with magical resonance, the student would be sorted into the house associated with that wand.
The cores of those six wands came from six magical creatures—each representing one of the school's six houses.
For example, if ten new students were chosen by the wand representing the Jungle Serpent, the school would craft ten wands with Jungle Serpent nerve cores.
Yes.
They would literally hunt a Jungle Serpent, extract its nerve, and use it to make wand cores.
This concept of standardized wands for new students amazed Sean.
He had never imagined such a system.
The advantage of identical wand cores was that when wizards cast spells together, the magical power could be amplified.
When Professor McGonagall explained this before, Sean immediately thought about the twin-core wands shared by Voldemort and Harry.
But he had never expected that an entire school used something similar as standard equipment.
"That's basically cheating," Cassius complained.
Sean shook his head.
"Not necessarily. Just having the same wand core doesn't guarantee a power boost. The casters still need to be in perfect harmony."
Magic relied on three fundamental elements: magical frameworks, mental focus, and incantations.
When two people cast spells together, synchronization of their mental focus was especially important.
If one person lost concentration, the amplification effect would disappear.
Some advanced combination spells even required both casters to synchronize their mental focus and magical framework construction perfectly.
Otherwise, the spell wouldn't work at all.
Sean had learned many fascinating details about the magical world from the professors during training.
It also sparked his curiosity about other countries' magical societies.
After all, when it came to the British magical world, he already knew most of its secrets.
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