The start of the annual exams wasn't a big surprise or any kind of problem for me. Unlike most students, who had recently been focusing more on their own conflicts rather than their studies, preparing for exams wasn't a particular issue for me.
"Thanks to mental magic," I simply smiled, having realized a couple of months ago that I could pass the exams with an "Exceeds Expectations" without straining myself too much. After all, there was nothing beyond the school curriculum in the exams, and I had always studied with utmost diligence and responsibility. Largely due to my own reluctance to yield to anyone in absolutely anything.
But even without that, it was impossible to call me a lagging student. I actually liked magic and everything connected to it. Because of this, in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, I had long gone far ahead of the curriculum.
I was also doing well in Care of Magical Creatures and Potions, as I studied the theory diligently, almost always immersing myself thoroughly in supplementary literature. True, I didn't have that much practice in these subjects, no more than the others. But it was still enough for good grades.
Because of this, the only subjects I might have problems with were Ancient Runes and Herbology. Runes were simply quite difficult, and I hadn't paid them proper attention. I just didn't like Herbology, which meant I still had to brush up on my knowledge of this subject...
For dessert, there were only History of Magic and Astronomy left, to which I paid absolutely no attention, but a single reading of the textbook was quite enough to calmly pass the exams. A gradually improving memory and the habit of using Speculum-lis, a special spell for short-term enhancement of brain function, allowed me not to worry about passing purely theoretical subjects.
So I didn't worry, even though I intended to give it my all during the exams, but I wasn't going to run around like a headless chicken trying to cram tons of study material into my head... On the contrary, my training continued at the same pace. I even started paying a little more attention to trying to further empower my own spells, having noticed some progress in this area.
"Damn it, Moony, stop playing around with Lumos! My blood is already ringing in my ears without you!" James whined angrily, having been reading a thick Potions treatise for about twenty minutes. "If I get anything below 'Outstanding' in Potions again, my father will definitely kill me..."
"And is that exactly why you are poisoning your own body with Memory Potions?" I asked with a strain, not stopping my "playing" with the intensity and brightness of Lumos. The beam of light at the tip of my wand would either almost completely fade or, conversely, illuminate almost our entire room.
Which, by the way, even if it looked like a simple game from the outside... In reality, I was spending almost all my available concentration for such banal manipulations. The barely perceptible sensation of magic, thanks to which I managed to play with the simplest spell in this way, kept trying to fail me, despite all my efforts...
Because of this, the Lumos light had already gone out three times, and once it flared up with such force that my eyes watered for another ten minutes. Fortunately, this happened before James and Peter returned to the room. Otherwise, I would definitely have had to fend off a couple of angry teenagers.
"How else am I supposed to remember all these compatibility tables?!.. Honestly, they make me sick," Potter grumbled meanwhile, having genuinely overdone it with the Memory Potions.
"Well, there's nothing complicated about these tables. The main thing is to memorize a couple of basic interactions and understand the principle..." I began to explain, but was interrupted by Black literally flying into our room.
"Marauders! Assemble!" the guy shouted, making James wince even more displeasedly, and Peter jump in fright in his own bed.
"Well, what happened this time?" I asked lazily, trying to probe my friend's superficial thoughts using mental magic... But not really achieving anything, because I was still quite an amateur at Legilimency.
"Our Evans and Vance got into a fight with Jessie Wood and Lou Young!" Black answered fervently.
"Ravenclaws?" Potter asked dryly. "Nothing new, those little helpers of the Slytherins are constantly clashing with our people. Besides, we shouldn't get involved in a girls' squabble."
"Too late to think about that! Our girls already gave those arrogant bitches a good beating. But Logan Taft intervened, sending Evans to the hospital wing and cursing Vance with something," Sirius finally voiced the core of the problem, making our whole group tense up.
"Damn, I don't want to deal with all this right before the exams, but we'll have to take revenge for the girls... Otherwise, the Ravens seem to have forgotten that guys have no business interfering in women's fights," I grimaced angrily, being the first to throw on my house robes.
"Perhaps the only thing I won't miss during the holidays is these school showdowns," I grumbled discontentedly in my thoughts, heading out to settle scores with Ravenclaw this time.
Which, truthfully, ended almost peacefully this time. Mainly because the offender of our girls hid in his house common room, and the Ravenclaw prefect, having learned the details of what happened, swore an oath to send the idiot to a hospital bed himself...
At which point, in general, the conflict exhausted itself, because we still didn't want to storm another house's common room with six guys—a couple of fourth-year guys had joined our foursome. The proximity of the exams stopped hotheads from taking overly reckless actions. Especially since the Ravenclaw prefect kept his promise. Logan Taft went to the hospital wing the very next morning after inhaling some toxic fumes from an experimental potion.
Well, the Gryffindor girls were discharged from the hospital wing right around that time, sent off to continue preparing for their exams... Which, as it happened, affected me as well. Not in the sense that I suddenly had to run and study something extra. No, just two girls who had only just returned from the hospital wing decided to burden me with their own problems.
"Remus, hi, are you very busy?" two witches found me in the library. Lily Evans—a red-haired, green-eyed, short, and overall quite pretty teenage girl. Who even now looked quite pretty and even attractive, standing out very favorably against the background of her plump and awkward friend, Chelsea Vance.
"It's not for nothing that Potter keeps staring at her, even if he doesn't realize his own feelings yet," I mentally snorted, easily assessing the Gryffindor girls standing in front of me. With whom I hadn't exactly communicated often before.
"Lily, Chelsea," I calmly nodded to the witches who had suddenly appeared in front of me. "Do you need something?"
"Um... yes, we do," Lily hesitated slightly, quickly exchanging a glance with her friend. "Our first exam this year will be Transfiguration, and you are kind of the best in our year at it... And you don't seem to be busy preparing for the exams..."
"Just because I'm not running around like crazy trying to learn the study material for the whole school year doesn't mean I'm not busy... Besides, it's better to turn to the senior students with such questions," I looked seriously at the Gryffindor girls, not particularly wanting to waste my time on them.
"That's true, but we don't have any good acquaintances among the fourth years, the fifth years are even busier than us, and the girls from the sixth year..." Lily stumbled once again, looking away.
"They charge so much that no pocket money would be enough," Chelsea completed her friend's sentence.
"I see... Well, then my tutoring will indeed be cheaper for you," I nodded, watching how the facial expressions of the two young witches rapidly changed. "Or did you expect me to help you for free?.. By the way, what exactly do you need help with? Practice or theory?"
"Practice, we've already sorted out the theory thanks to the Memory Potions... As for money... we don't have any," the red-haired cutie dragged out her words in embarrassment, making me stare intently at the two fidgeting figures in front of me.
"I don't sense any lies, which means the girls really came to me hoping that their classmate wouldn't take Galleons for his help... If they had a choice, they probably would have gone to someone more reliable and experienced in Transfiguration," I reasoned with slight displeasure, though I didn't refuse the Gryffindors. After all, we study in the same house, and I could still get my own benefit out of this tutoring.
"Well, that's sad... But if there are no Galleons, it doesn't mean we can't come to an agreement," I smiled barely noticeably. "I'm ready to help you with your Transfiguration practice, and in exchange, you will spread rumors that I turned out to be an excellent tutor."
"Uhm, that's not hard," Chelsea, the main gossip of the house, nodded quickly. "Are you planning to become a tutor?"
"Yeah, right now is a good moment to start my career," I smiled mockingly. "All the senior students are busy anyway, and starting next year, I'll be a senior student myself for the first three years."
"Are you only going to help the kids with Transfiguration?" Lily immediately asked, instantly dropping her unnecessary embarrassment and becoming more than serious.
"No, also with Charms and DADA. I'm doing just great with those subjects," I answered simply, shamelessly catching the red-haired witch's gaze. "Why, were you also thinking about a similar part-time job?"
"Mhm, there are almost no sixth and seventh years left right now anyway, the niche is almost free..." the Muggle-born girl shrank a little under my gaze. "Though I only wanted to help with Potions and Charms..."
"So that's how it is, it turns out I wasn't the only one who came to such obvious conclusions," I smiled freely, not wanting to make my conversational partners unnecessarily nervous. "Then, if anything, we'll sort out the division of 'spheres of influence' next year. Still, without the senior students, the competition in this business isn't all that serious."
"Alright!" Lily immediately brightened up, glad that she wouldn't have to argue with her classmate right now. "Then, let's get to Transfiguration?"
"No problem, but you'll have to find a place to practice yourselves... Meanwhile, I'll finish reading what you so treacherously distracted me from," I laughed jokingly, buying myself a little time to finish deciphering a few runic chains.
"Okay, then we'll meet two hours before dinner in the Great Hall," Chelsea shouted out, easily agreeing to my condition... Immediately rushing out of the main abode of knowledge in Hogwarts, rightfully fearing the wrath of the school librarian.
I remained sitting at my table, preparing for the upcoming Runes exam and thinking about the handiest way to realize my own plan of becoming a tutor within the walls of the ancient castle.
"I didn't expect such a lucky opportunity to turn up right at the end of the year... For the sake of gaining first experience and an initial reputation, it's not a sin to slack off on preparing for some exams," I was already mentally rubbing my hands, not doubting my own abilities in the slightest.
After all, I knew the material for my year just perfectly, and I even had some experience working as a tutor from my past life. During my student years, I worked as almost anything just to make ends meet...
"And now this experience will be more useful to me than ever, because living the whole next year on what my father provides for pocket money is an idea far below average," I grimaced, once again remembering the impending necessity of meeting with Lyall Lupin—the biological father of this body.
To whom, on the one hand, I was grateful for the education and some sort of financial support... But on the other hand, it was Lyall who had bullied his son into such a state that some of his complexes had left their mark even on me. Because of this, I haven't expected anything good from a personal meeting with my father for a long time now. And yet, this meeting is getting closer and closer.