September is a season of harvest—and of planting new hopes.
The diligent gardener—namely, Douglas Holmes—not only reaped a bountiful crop this month,
but also sowed an extraordinary seed within the ancient halls of Hogwarts...
September 30th, 1992. Wednesday. 23:59:59.
[Scholar Development System]
[Thursday's Schedule: Not Conducted...]
...
[Total Points]
Student Satisfaction
— 95 classes rated above 9 points: 180 points
— 60 classes rated 6–9 points: 60 points
— 8 classes rated below 6 points: 4 points
Assignment Completion
— 50 classes rated above 9 points: 100 points
— 80 classes rated 6–9 points: 80 points
— 33 classes rated below 6 points: 16.5 points
Student Progress
— 70 classes rated above 9 points: 140 points
— 60 classes rated 6–9 points: 60 points
— 33 classes rated below 6 points: 16.5 points
Classroom Engagement
— 114 classes rated above 9 points: 200 points
— 45 classes rated 6–9 points: 40 points
— 4 classes rated below 6 points: 2 points
Comprehensive Teacher Evaluation for the Month: 9.02 points — awarded 1,000 points.
(A monthly score above 9 earns 1,000 points; 6–9 earns 500; below 5 deducts 300.
The monthly score includes: Teaching Routine 1 (max 1), Teaching Methods 0.8 (max 1), Teaching Effectiveness 5.22 (max 6), Teacher Quality 1 (max 1), Attendance 1 (max 1).)
Academic Year Exam Results
Outstanding: 0 students — 0 points
Pass (including Good, Acceptable): 0 students — 0 points
Fail (including Poor, Dreadful, Troll): 0 students — 0 points
(*Outstanding: 1,000 points per student; Pass: 500 points; Fail: -300 points.)
[When total points reach 10,000, the Shop will unlock.]
[Due to an unknown curse afflicting the host, set to activate in one year, you may spend 10,000 points to remove it!]
Douglas: ???
It was the first time he realized just how meticulous the system's calculations really were.
Teaching effectiveness, it turned out, was the percentage of all classes scoring above 6 points.
So close!
He'd nearly missed out on that 1,000-point bonus.
Seeing those decimal places at the end made Douglas's heart skip a beat.
It felt like clocking in early every day, only to punch the timecard in the very last second on the final day.
Was it just a one-second difference?
No—it was the difference between earning the perfect attendance bonus or not...
After a quick calculation, he found he'd already racked up 1,899 points.
At this rate, he wouldn't even need to wait until the end of term. As long as he kept pushing himself,
improving his teaching quality, he could collect enough points to lift the curse in just four more months.
—
October arrived.
A damp chill settled over the Scottish Highlands, seeping into the castle's ancient stones. Even Hogwarts felt less warm than usual.
Colds began to spread among staff and students alike.
Madam Pomfrey often spotted Douglas leading new batches of students on their morning runs,
and would scold him sternly, as if he were single-handedly increasing her workload.
But, ironically, those who stuck with Douglas's running group seemed healthier than ever.
It's worth mentioning the very first couple who'd been assigned detention.
Their punishment ended after just two weeks, but they'd grown addicted to the morning runs. Even when detention ended, they kept joining Douglas every day—eventually becoming the male and female captains of the morning running club.
Soon, several other couples joined in voluntarily.
So, of the twenty students in the morning running group, sixteen were there by choice, and only four were actual detainees.
After their 7 a.m. run, once Douglas left,
they'd pair up—never in threes, always in twos—and stroll around the castle together.
This made the genuine detention students... rather uncomfortable.
—
What made life even harder for the rest of Hogwarts was the looming Defence Against the Dark Arts monthly exam.
For first- through third-years, the exam content was set to match Ravenclaw's top-tier progress.
That meant every spare moment was spent memorizing textbook entries about dark magical creatures.
The worst part? Ravenclaw had already finished all required content for every year group.
Only those who passed the monthly exam would be allowed into the next round of practical lessons.
Rumor had it Holmes was bringing in fourth-year practical content ahead of schedule.
Those who failed would be stuck on the sidelines, forced to keep memorizing while their classmates battled dark creatures.
Fourth-years faced a trimmed-down version of the O.W.L.s written exam, but those who'd already cleared the practical classroom didn't need to repeat the practical—so it was relatively easy for them.
And fifth-years?
When weren't fifth-years taking some sort of test? The curse-breaking leaderboard had already been updated several times.
Last week, Slytherin finally knocked Ravenclaw from the top spot in the House rankings. The individual top three were: Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor.
Hufflepuff's best student came in fifth.
The easiest time, perhaps, belonged to the sixth- and seventh-years. They barely had to worry about theory—just practicals.
Sixth-years faced the same practical classroom content as before. But Professor Holmes made it clear:
Anyone who still couldn't pass the first stage
would have to join his morning runs, get some proper exercise, and then go wrestle with Inferi.
Those who'd once scoffed at the idea fell silent after witnessing Douglas effortlessly boot an Inferius back into the lake.
Practicing spells suddenly seemed much more appealing.
And it wasn't easy: barely anyone had cleared the Inferi stage so far.
They joked these weren't Inferi at all, but cunning old monsters.
With all of Douglas's magical enhancements, the Inferi's only real weakness was a sensitivity to light—fire spells were useless in the water.
Even freezing the lake to walk across didn't help.
The Inferi always attacked from unexpected angles.
In one class, Professor Holmes announced that the Inferi had "leveled up" again.
Now, not only would any movement on the lake surface alert them—casting spells aloud on the shore would do it, too.
That forced everyone to practice nonverbal spells with new urgency.
Especially the Shield Charm, which they'd somehow missed in fifth year—apparently, Professor Quirrell had forgotten to cover it.
So, this month, everyone had to learn it from scratch, and master it as a nonverbal spell.
The only consolation? These Inferi had been specially treated and weren't actually poisonous.
Still, students were grateful Professor Holmes was willing to share some of his exclusive spell techniques.
But that particular spell was fiendishly difficult.
It required channeling powerful positive emotions throughout one's body and infusing them into the Light Charm.
Other Houses managed a little—their Light Charms had some effect.
But Slytherin students? They were utterly stumped.
If Professor Holmes hadn't added a stern warning:
"This spell is banned anywhere outside Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Anyone caught breaking this rule could be expelled!"
The forbidden nature of the spell only made it more enticing.
After all, some of the Dark Arts they'd studied in secret might land them in Azkaban.
But this spell seemed to be their natural enemy—almost impossible to cast.
Of course, students who advanced to the second stage—the Mist—didn't have it easy either. There were other things lurking in the fog.
According to Professor Holmes, the mist was imported Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.
Step inside, and you're plunged into total darkness—even Lumos is useless. Only the special Light Charm he'd taught them offered any hope.
None of them realized the spell's true name was Light of Righteousness.
Nor did they know that Douglas was subtly shaping their hearts and minds.
By comparison, seventh-year exams were simple: just duel Professor Holmes once.
—
All in all, it was a frantic week for every student—especially those suffering from colds,
forced to rely on Madam Pomfrey's Pepperup Potion just to keep up with their studies.
~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~
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