great-warnovel Chapter 238 School Opening and Elective Courses
Chapter 238 School Opening and Elective Courses
Chapter 238 School Opening and Elective Courses
When I returned to the castle, the school had become quite lively.
The opening banquet was to be held that evening, and many students had already returned to school early. There were also many new students who had been picked up from far away by the professors. They all looked at the completely different Hogwarts with curiosity.
Clusters of beautiful, enormous crystal pillars grow on the campus, shrouded in a faint glow, like a layer of bright blue mist. Xenon and argon are within the barrier, and even without the sealing spell, they cannot be clearly seen from the outside.
"The Green Flame Party's strength is quite weak this year; we've hardly lost any freshmen to them!" Professor McGonagall reported to Dumbledore with a delighted expression.
"I originally thought there wouldn't be many new students in places like Malfoyburg this year, but Quirinas told me that when he went there, not only did all the parents of eligible new students bring their children, but even those who were a year too young were asking if they could enroll early."
"This year's first graders might exceed 80!"
Dumbledore and Hermione exchanged a glance, which meant that their previous assessment of Malfoy Castle was correct; their power struggle had become so severe that it was affecting the lives of the residents within the settlement.
Even though they were worried about the safety of Hogwarts heading north, the settlement itself might be even more unstable. They had no idea what was happening in the inner city, but many noble shops in the outer city had been attacked and blown up, and pure-blood nobles were being cursed to death without warning while walking on the streets. These things were causing widespread panic, and ordinary wizarding families preferred to send their children to Hogwarts.
"We can have them count the number of children. If necessary, preserving the wizarding fire is also Hogwarts' responsibility," Dumbledore said after a moment's thought.
Although he didn't think the struggle in Malfoyburg would ultimately go too far, he was willing to do it if it could improve the school's image, especially in the eyes of the general public.
McGonagall nodded, pursing her lips. "The nobles are fighting amongst themselves, so they don't have the energy to create obstacles for us." She wasn't very happy when she said this, because these nobles had also been her students.
This year may be the busiest year for Hogwarts. The students spent the summer at Malfoy Castle, but in the end they still dutifully sent all the students to the castle. The number of new students broke records again, making the first and second years the most populous year in the entire school. Professor McGonagall had to reinstate the sorting system, with only two houses teaching each class together, which greatly increased the workload of the professors.
"Perhaps we should hire more professors, like we did fifty years ago, with multiple professors responsible for each course."
In addition to the increase in students, there are also more adults.
Apart from members like Mrs. Molly who had to take care of the settlement, the other members of the Order of the Phoenix stayed at the school. There was a tower specifically for them to live and rest in, right next to the perfumer's staff dormitory. Many people, including Moody, Tonks, Sirius, Lupin, the Longbottoms, Kingsley, Mundungus, and Bill, lived there. James, however, couldn't stay there permanently because he had to take care of his work on Cliffside.
These Order of the Phoenix members then patrolled the school area daily on broomsticks, and based on the intelligence McGonagall had gathered over the summer, they systematically eliminated any threats that arose along the way.
"They also have their own families, but they are all willing to make sacrifices for Hogwarts. We must remember their contributions," Dumbledore said with emotion.
Like the Longbottoms, they didn't let Neville's grandmother return to Malfoy. Instead, they sold their house and property in the city, packed up their belongings, and moved to White Mountain Village. The couple even lived at the school, which also allowed them to see their son more often.
Tonks had a huge fight with her mother and ran away from home to live in the tower (Hermione later learned that her mother, Lady Andromeda, came from the Black family and was a rebellious girl in her youth who ran away from New Paris and fell in love with and married the Muggle wizard Ted Tonks).
Leaving aside the adults' affairs, Hermione met up with her friends again after returning. Everyone was very concerned about her and Dumbledore's battle record, so she simply extracted the memory of that battle and put it in the Pensieve, allowing everyone to take turns experiencing it. Such opportunities to face a top-level wizard directly are rare.
To her slight surprise, during the week she was away, Harry and his friends quietly eliminated the corrupted tree spirit beneath Stoneville.
Harry's Transfiguration skills improved significantly after his breakthrough. While Draco distracted the tree spirit with Bloodthorn, Ron blocked the terrible charge head-on. Neville helped him cut through the overwhelming flames. He used a wide-range terrain manipulation to trap the giant tree spirit, then unleashed a barrage of attacks on its rear, finally defeating it.
However, with the end of summer vacation, the children's carefree playtime also came to an end, and before the opening banquet...
Percy then brought the elective course schedule that Professor McGonagall had given him.
To meet graduation requirements, each student must take at least two courses in their third year, with no limit on the number of courses they can take.
"Aside from flying lessons, Hogwarts offers a total of 13 formal courses. Apart from alchemy, which doesn't require exams, of the other 12, 7 are compulsory and 5 are electives," Percy explained to Hermione and the others.
"Bill, for example, took all the courses and ended up getting a 0 on them all."
Ron pointed to the densely packed class schedule and exclaimed, "How is this possible! So many classes! How can a person possibly finish them all in a lifetime!"
Percy looked at him expressionlessly: "So students who take all the courses don't have weekends; they have to shuttle between different classrooms from morning till night every day."
"Of course, it's said that fifty years ago, the Ministry of Magic would approve the use of a Time-Turner for children who took all courses, but that's ridiculous, I don't believe it." He curled his lip in disdain.
"However, there is another way—to get an exemption certificate from other professors. Bill got his Charms exemption certificate from Professor Flitwick, which greatly reduced his burden. He only needed to take the final exam each year, and as long as the professor deemed him qualified, he could skip classes and homework for the entire year."
As he said this, Hermione scratched her head sheepishly: "Because I completed Animagus, Professor McGonagall gave me an early exemption from Transfiguration—"
"Wow! Then I need to hurry up and finish my animal transformation too!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, with a leaf in his mouth.
"Dad and the others must be so regretful! They hid their animal transformation abilities from school, and the price they paid is having to attend classes at 8 AM! And they even had to write a paper on transformation!"
"No, no! We have to hurry! It would be so embarrassing if only the two of us went to Gryffindor class!" Ron grabbed Neville and shook him hard.
"However, exemption from classes doesn't mean you don't need to study. You still have to study the courses on your own. It's just that the fixed class time has been replaced with more flexible self-study. This is only suitable for the smartest top students," Percy reminded him.
"Don't be so proud that you only enjoy it for a year before having to lose your exemption certificate because you failed the exam."
"Harry, actually, you'd be better off trying to get an exemption from Potions than Transfiguration, since the professor is your mother," George suggested.
"Come on, Mom will only give me a retake certificate. She'll always think I'm lacking something!" Harry puffed out his cheeks angrily.
"It's okay, we're not planning on taking too many courses anyway, so it's fine if we don't get exemptions." Ron pulled Neville along as they read the course descriptions one by one.
"How's the Muggle Research and Aberration Class?"
"Professor Figg, who teaches Muggle studies, is said to be very easy to talk to, and almost no one fails her classes. The Aberration class, on the other hand, allows you to see all sorts of dangerous animals. Hagrid, who just came back, said that he and Professor Kettleburn brought back a lot of ferocious magical creatures."
"My advice is that ancient runes are very important," Hermione said, offering some kind advice to the boys while quickly ticking off all the course materials.
"But that's difficult. Many students have to ask their professors to change their electives after just two classes," Percy said, frowning.
"Hey bro, we agreed to add an elective course this year to try and activate our third eye!" The twins were also considering adding an elective course.
"Then why not choose arithmetic divination? Bill says it's much more reliable than staring at a crystal ball and making up stories!"
Ron couldn't help but say again, "You guys are too much! And Hermione, even if you get an exemption, you still won't be able to keep up with so many classes."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, it's the Three Doors." Hermione smirked.
"Because I took up the position of teaching assistant for the Defense Department, I was automatically exempted from the Anti-Wizard Technology Defense course."
"And because I published three papers in the top journal 'Postwar Studies in Charms,' Professor Flitwick also approved my application for exemption from Charms class."
Everyone in the lounge gasped, causing the alarming ground temperature to rise slightly.