On the day before the holiday, the grades finally came out, and Kael, with a perfect score, undisputedly became the top of the year.
This result surprised many people, as they had previously thought Kael didn't do well on the exam.
Not only them, even Kael himself was surprised.
Snape actually gave him perfect marks again?
Kael had thought before, last year Snape gave him a perfect score probably because he saved Conna from Oren's hands.
After all, they are family, a life-saving grace always has to be acknowledged.
But why this year? Because he saved Harry?
That doesn't make sense, Harry doesn't have that much influence... if it were Harley, that might have been more likely.
Kael was utterly baffled.
It couldn't possibly be that Snape had a change of heart and was determined to become an outstanding Wizard Professor, could it?
That would be too far-fetched; Kael would rather believe Voldemort is a hidden agent for the Muggle Intelligence Bureau... at least that has some possibility.
But some people thought these grades were just normal.
Fred and George had previously stated clearly in the common room:
"This is the funniest joke I've heard this year."
"Seriously, I'd rather believe our little brother Ron can become Prefect than believe Kael would fail an exam."
Conna was the same, she never believed Professor McGonagall shook her head because she discovered Kael didn't do well, but firmly believed there must be another reason.
And the facts proved she was right.
Some young wizards, unable to suppress their confusion, went to ask Professor McGonagall, only to be scolded in return.
Professor McGonagall stated that her head shaking was merely because she was a bit disappointed by the huge gap between others and Kael.
Of course, that's just the official explanation; no one knows what Professor McGonagall really thinks.
But anyway, the school year has finally ended.
The notification of the prohibition of magic use during the holiday was sent to everyone, and people were either taking carriages or ferries leaving Hogwarts, boarding the train back to King's Cross Station.
...
"Hermione, you really don't need to compete with Kael, after all, he's the youngest member of the Merlin Knight Order."
In a compartment, Harry looked at a visibly annoyed Hermione and comforted her: "You've done very well, and you are the top of the year too..."
"But I didn't get a perfect score!" Hermione lamented, clutching her tangled hair.
"It's only that your Magic Potion score lost some points." Harry thought and said quietly, "It's Snape... no matter how perfect your potion is, if you're not Slytherin, he'll find a way to deduct points."
"But Kael isn't Slytherin either." Hermione frowned: "And yet he still got a perfect score; it means others can achieve that too.
I must have done something wrong... maybe it was the heating time, the book says twenty seconds, but I forgot extinguishing the flame also takes time.
And the Valerian branches too, I feel the ones I chose were too long..."
Hermione kept recalling the steps she took to make the Forgetfulness Potion, and each time she did, she seemed to find new errors.
Harry and Ron's faces grew more awkward; it was apparent they didn't want to discuss this topic.
The holiday had just started... on this wonderful day, they really didn't want to hear anything about grades, exams, especially the Magic Potion exam.
Ron was bothered, and he turned to look outside at the corridor, trying to shift his focus.
At that moment, Kael happened to pass by their compartment.
Having just received the Merlin Order Medal, he was surrounded by a large group of young wizards.
Each of them wanted to chat with Kael for a moment, making the corridor very lively.
"How impressive..." Ron murmured to himself: "If only I could receive both the Merlin Medal and a perfect grade report, Mom would be very... oh, no!"
It seemed Ron had thought of something, his face instantaneously turned pale.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked in confusion beside him: "Are you hungry? I have some snacks here."
"No, Harry!"
Ron said bitterly: "Remember I told you? Our family and Kael are neighbors."
"Of course I remember."
Harry's voice carried a hint of envy.
A wizard village where neighbors are Hogwarts classmates, that's practically the life he's dreamed of.
"Mom must already know…" Ron's voice carried a hint of a whimper: "I'm doomed!"
He thought his grades were pretty decent, at least all passing, but compared to Kael's, his report card now seemed painfully lacking.
Oh, and Percy too...
His brother is the top of the fifth year, and his neighbor is the top of the second year... Ron could already imagine what he'd go through next.
Last summer, Fred and George's screams scared away half the goblins.
At the time, he even came up with a resounding group name for Fred and George in his mind.
"Goblin Dispelling Helpers•Weasley Choir"
Yet this year, he might have to join them.
Looking at the rambling Ron, Harry silently patted his shoulder, and the trace of envy and jealousy in his eyes disappeared in an instant.
Having an outstanding neighbor isn't entirely positive.
Luckily, he doesn't have this kind of worry.
The Dursleys wouldn't care about his grades at all; even if he brought back a zero score report, he wouldn't have to worry about being scolded.
No wait... if he indeed got a zero, his uncle and aunt might be happy and give him an extra piece of dry bread Dudley didn't want for breakfast.
Not having to compare with others, not having to worry about poor grades, it's probably the only advantage of the Dursley family.
Harry wanted to laugh a couple of times, but his mouth felt like it was glued shut, making it impossible to laugh.
Beside him, Hermione didn't continue recalling the exam process.
She watched despondent Ron, opened her mouth, but said nothing.
Honestly, she found it hard to empathize with Ron's current feelings, and didn't know how to comfort him.
"If only I could be like Kael..." Ron sighed, speaking softly.
...
Meanwhile, not far from them in another compartment, Kael was nervously asking: "How is it, no one followed us, right..."
"It's safe!"
Cedric peered down the corridor for a couple of glances, then closed the compartment door, adding a curtain with his wand.
"Phew... finally shook them off."
Kael pulled off his Invisibility Cloak and exhaled a long breath.
No one would have expected, hardly ever using the Invisibility Cloak for night tours in the castle, he ended up needing it on the train ride back.
Those people were a bit overly enthusiastic; had he not used the Invisibility Cloak, he might still be surrounded by them.