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Chapter 73 - Hurry and Invite Buddha Lewis

Although Lurue and Daisy both hoped he would return often,

Lewis did not go back to the Forbidden Forest frequently after returning to Hogwarts.

Because less than half a month later—

final exams began.

Exams, exams—the teacher's ultimate weapon.

Grades, grades—the student's lifeline.

As exam season arrived alongside summer, the little wizards all became sluggish and miserable.

It was hard to tell whether it was the heat—

or the exams crushing their souls.

The written tests alone were enough to give anyone a headache.

Special quills enchanted against cheating were handed out,

making even sneaking a glance impossible.

And if struggling to finish the last inch of homework in the library was painful—

then racking your brain in the exam hall to fill that final inch of parchment, without any books,

was pure torture.

But when the students saw the practical exams—

they realized the written tests had been merciful.

For Charms, the task was to make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk.

Not too hard. Most students managed it.

Lewis, however… almost caused a disaster.

He thoughtfully gave the pineapple limbs and dancing shoes—

then proceeded to make it perform an extremely enthusiastic dance.

The moves—

clearly inspired by certain MMD routines.

At one point, it was dangerously close to becoming inappropriate.

It was just a pineapple—

yet it nearly made the watching students nosebleed.

Before the performance even finished, Professor Flitwick said with a dark expression:

"Mr. Lewis Green—full marks. Excellent work. Please never do that again."

And promptly had him removed from the exam room.

Transfiguration was simple in theory, difficult in execution:

turn a mouse into a snuffbox.

The more refined the box, the higher the score.

Leave behind whiskers or a tail—points deducted.

For first-years, the entire year's curriculum boiled down to two things:

transforming objects into objects,

and transforming living things into objects.

For Lewis, turning the mouse into a box was easy.

But making it elegant?

That was harder.

Not because of skill—

but because he had barely seen a snuffbox before.

So he improvised.

A box is just a small container, right?

He transformed the mouse into a black wooden box, carved with intricate dragon and phoenix patterns,

lined with golden accents,

and even added a rectangular slot on the front—

perfect for a plaque or photo.

When he handed it in, Professor McGonagall was quite satisfied.

After all, this was Transfiguration, not design class.

Still… something about it felt off.

Passing by, Cho Chang nearly burst out laughing.

Someone had actually submitted…

an urn.

Still, Lewis's "urn" was excellent compared to others:

Ron's box still had a tail.

Neville's still had ears.

Seamus's… was only about seventy percent done.

Transfiguration truly lived up to its reputation as the hardest subject.

Only a handful of students completed it perfectly.

If those exams were merely difficult—

Potions was downright devastating.

Snape prowled the room like a walking Dementor.

Wherever he passed, students felt their happiness drain away.

Under that pressure, many performed terribly—

especially Gryffindor.

Except Hermione.

The task was to brew a Forgetfulness Potion.

Ironically, many students seemed to have already drunk one—

judging by their mistakes.

Lewis, however, handled it effortlessly.

He completed the potion in forty minutes and earned another Outstanding.

The remaining exams were even easier.

Herbology involved preparing dittany.

Lewis secretly enhanced his sample with a bit of druid magic—

causing Professor Sprout to nearly drop her jaw at the purity.

Flying was the easiest.

Just staying airborne properly earned high marks.

For Lewis, a recognized Quidditch expert,

a casual lap meant full marks.

Astronomy required charting the stars through a telescope.

Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic—

were equally dull.

Pure memorization.

Quirrell had somehow turned DADA into something as boring as History of Magic.

Finally, when Professor Binns instructed them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment—

the students erupted into cheers.

Exams were over.

Freedom had arrived.

They now had an entire week to relax before results came out.

While most students were enjoying themselves,

Harry dragged Ron and Hermione to find Hagrid.

"Don't you think it's strange?" Harry said.

"Hagrid always wanted a dragon, and suddenly a stranger just happens to have a dragon egg?"

"How many people carry dragon eggs around? That's illegal!"

"And that stranger just happened to find Hagrid?"

From Hagrid, they learned something worse—

he had told that stranger how to get past Fluffy.

Panic.

They rushed to find Dumbledore—

only to learn he had just left for the Ministry.

A trap.

Harry was certain of it.

After his encounter with Voldemort in the forest, his scar had been hurting constantly.

He believed Voldemort was returning.

"We have to get the Philosopher's Stone first," Harry said.

"But how?" Ron panicked.

"We'll be expelled if we're caught!" Hermione added.

Harry's eyes lit up.

"In times like this… there's only one person who can help us."

Harry: "To the Ravenclaw Tower—go invite Buddha Lewis!"

And so—

outside the Ravenclaw common room,

a very confused Lewis found himself facing three Gryffindors.

"So let me get this straight…"

"You want me to join your dungeon-crawling adventure—

and beat Voldemort to the Philosopher's Stone?"

Lewis stared at them.

Speechless.

Seriously—

he had already decided to stay away from trouble.

So why—

was trouble coming straight to him?

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