Sunday morning, nine o'clock sharp.
The long-awaited fifth-year practical assessment was finally underway.
In the corridor, following Professor Holmes's instructions, students from all four Houses lined up by House. Hufflepuff boasted nearly twice as many fifth-years as the others. Besides the main participants, a scattering of upper- and lower-year students stood at a respectful distance, eager to watch the show.
Douglas explained the rules:
"This assessment is straightforward. You won't be facing magical creatures or dueling each other.
Instead, together with your seventh-year Prefects, I've set up four spellbreaking corridors. Each one contains spells that have appeared on O.W.L.s over the years—all spells you've already studied…
Don't worry about the power of these spells. As long as you defend yourself properly, most won't do you any serious harm.
Your task is simple: use what you've learned to break each spell as you encounter it.
If you give up or fail, you'll either walk out yourself, or your Prefect will escort you out…"
A Slytherin student raised a hand.
"Professor, what if we run into a spell that's technically a fifth-year topic we haven't covered yet?"
Douglas smiled approvingly.
"Excellent question!
The spells in each passage are arranged in order—from fourth-year material to fifth-year material.
If you end up facing a fifth-year spell you haven't learned… well, that just means you're ahead of the curve.
Bear in mind, you can't pick the spells you're best at. On your O.W.L.s, the spells are random, too.
So, the first person in might get stuck right away—or might break several spells in a row.
Those who follow will continue from where you left off.
If a spell stumps every student in your House, your House's assessment ends there.
Final rankings are twofold:
Individual: whoever breaks the most spells ranks highest.
House: the House that collectively breaks the most spells wins."
A Ravenclaw student piped up:
"Professor, that's not fair! Hufflepuff has way more people. Even if each of them breaks just one spell, they could beat us!"
Douglas blinked, feigning surprise.
"Didn't you catch what I said?
If an entire House is stopped by a spell, their assessment ends immediately. Fewer students means more chances to rotate, so everyone may get a shot. The bigger Houses might have students who never even get a turn…"
He looked around at the murmuring crowd.
"If there are no more questions, you have three minutes to rearrange your order.
Once the assessment begins, the order is set!
And if you come out early, you're not allowed to tell the next person which spell stumped you.
Class Reps, keep your Houses in line!"
Instant chaos erupted.
Douglas watched with amusement as Slytherin's Class Rep and Prefect methodically assigned who would go first and last, with everyone else falling in line. Ravenclaw students, on the other hand, all wanted to be first—none of them doubted their own abilities; at one point, they were practically lined up shoulder to shoulder. Gryffindor was its usual unruly self, the front row devolving into a noisy brawl over who would go first, while a few wise students drifted to the back, grinning at the spectacle.
In contrast, Hufflepuff was almost eerily quiet. Their line barely shifted, and they spent more time craning their necks to watch the other Houses than rearranging themselves. Douglas even caught Hufflepuff's Class Rep high-fiving the Prefect, as if some secret plan had worked.
Once the order was set, the four Houses entered in turn.
Douglas didn't go in himself. Instead, he conjured a comfortable chair, pulled out a book, and sat by the classroom door. Inside, seventh-year students were recording each participant's progress.
This whole spellbreaking corridor setup was something Douglas had picked up during a visit to Bill in Egypt. Back in their school days, Bill had been enthralled by Douglas's tales of tomb raiding, and had always dreamed of that life. During career guidance, he'd learned that Gringotts had a department dedicated to the protective excavation of magical tombs. After graduation, Bill became a full-time Gringotts curse-breaker in Egypt, dealing with all manner of ancient magical traps.
Of course, Bill's work was a world apart from this assessment. Real tomb curse-breakers needed to be masters of Arithmancy. What Douglas had set up was simply a spellbreaking exam—countering various dark spells. In tomb raiding… well, this would be the simplest sort of mechanism.
Barely five minutes in, the classroom door swung open. Douglas was surprised—so soon?
The first Hufflepuff emerged, unharmed. His face showed a hint of regret, but no disappointment. He walked straight to the back of the Hufflepuff line.
Douglas guessed he'd encountered an unfamiliar spell and had chosen to withdraw rather than risk it.
The second Hufflepuff wasted no time heading in.
Students from other Houses began whispering, some with smug, dismissive looks. Douglas had to step in to restore order.
Ten minutes later, another student exited—it was a Gryffindor, hair slightly singed, clearly fresh from an explosion. But he was grinning ear to ear.
"That was easy! I broke eight spells in a row…
The last one, though, I'd never even seen before…"
Douglas coughed pointedly, reminding him not to give away the challenge.
The student lowered his voice.
"Anyway, I feel pretty good about it.
Wait—was I the first one out?"
Just then, the door opened again. A Slytherin emerged, looking immaculate—clearly, he'd chosen to bow out rather than push his luck. He immediately spotted the Gryffindor who'd entered with him, smirked, and tossed his head with a lofty, "Eight!"
The Gryffindor groaned. If only he'd waited another minute—he'd left before the Slytherin, even though they'd both broken the same number of spells.
When the second set of Gryffindor and Slytherin students had barely entered, the door swung open again.
All eyes turned—out came the second Hufflepuff.
The Ravenclaws erupted in applause and cheers!
The poor Hufflepuff looked utterly bewildered. He checked his robes—definitely Hufflepuff…
The assessment continued until half past twelve. Five different Professors stopped by to observe before it finally ended—with the last Ravenclaw failing on their attempt.
Final House rankings:
Ravenclaw: 32 spells broken
Slytherin: 31 spells
Gryffindor: 28 spells
Hufflepuff: 26 spells
In the individual rankings, the top ten included four Ravenclaws, three Slytherins, two Gryffindors, and one Hufflepuff. First and third place went to Ravenclaw, second to Gryffindor.
Despite the inconsistent quality of Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching over the years, Ravenclaw students clearly excelled at independent study.
Still, it was a bit disappointing—almost no House managed to break through all the fourth-year level spells. Even the well-read Ravenclaws were stumped by an obscure charm.
In closing, Douglas announced that this practical classroom would remain open to all fifth-years every Sunday for the next year.
He added, "If anyone manages to break more than sixty percent of the spells solo, I'll teach you an advanced spell in private—one I guarantee will help you ace your O.W.L.s."
Finally, he had the students post the day's results on the Hogwarts notice board for all to see.
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