HP: For a better world

Winster put the crystal ball into his backpack and went to Lupin's office with Harry. Since Harry was caught out, the class turned into pure theory.

Lupin was really worried that Harry would run away regardless of the danger. Ever since James and the others had secretly learned Animagus without telling him just to keep him company as a werewolf, he knew that James and Sirius were best friends, the best brothers... and also reckless Gryffindors.

Harry is James' son, so naturally he looks a lot like him.

"I know you've all been struggling with the final exams lately," Lupin looked at them as he saw them come in, moving his eyes away from his books. "So today is the last class, and I won't say anything more. Summarize and analyze what you're still lacking. This is what we should do in this class."

He said, then looked at Harry.

"Harry's theory is still lacking. You need more practice. When you encounter a Dementor, you must remember to try your best to recall your happiest memories. Be precise and focused." He commented, and read the precautions of the Patronus Charm again. "Harry, you have succeeded once. It won't be difficult to achieve it again."

Harry stared at the Boggart box in his office, which was locked tightly by a pile of chains, and he was eager to try it one last time. Apart from the one time he released a complete Patronus in the match with Ravenclaw, he had never succeeded again, and he didn't even know what his Patronus looked like.

But Lupin had no such intention at all.

He didn't even look in that direction, but turned his head to the side and said gently to Winster, "... Because of your physical condition, you have only studied theory during this period, but have not practiced much. I don't know how your current learning progress is."

"But I know you are also thinking for yourself during the learning process... Winster, tell me your problem. Different methods are suitable for different people. You are good at summarizing and sorting out... Theory is a better way for you to learn."

Winster tightened his jaw, "Yes... I do have some questions, Professor."

He took out his notebook, hesitated for a moment, and handed it over. "I tried everything I remembered... but it still didn't work."

Lupin took the notebook.

"I wrote down every happy thing in my memory in great detail." Winston pursed his lips, "But the best effect I can achieve is... white light, a little brighter than fog, and it always dissipates when it is about to take shape... Professor, maybe I am not firm enough."

Lupin flipped through Winster's notes and pondered for a while. There were a few incomprehensible line drawings on the notebook... maybe they were the small drawings that students would draw while being absent-minded. Lupin didn't pay attention to them. Instead, he looked at the records condensed by Winster in a concise voice: "...The most obvious effect, 'First use of the levitation spell'?"

Lupin's mind suddenly turned and he understood: "Does this mean that this is your first time casting a spell?"

Wins stared at the ground, his ears slightly reddened, and he stammered, "...Yes, it was my first time casting a spell. It left a deep impression on me... I can hardly imagine any memory that would make me happier than this—"

The teacher sitting opposite me...with magic flowing out of his hands, the world becomes wonderful and beautiful, and everything is different.

"That was the first time I was sure that I had become a wizard..." Winster said softly. He was immersed in a fairy tale, and his life embarked on a brand new journey.

He was in a daze.

"That's it," said Winston obediently. "This is what I consider my happiest memory. I'm impressed - but still not good enough." He raised his head and looked at Lupin inquiringly.

Lupin took in Winster's performance: "...Of course, the first time casting a spell is of great significance to many people." He said, "If this is not the happiest memory... maybe you should think back to why you think this memory is the happiest?"

"...Of course it's because I cast a spell successfully for the first time...I am a wizard?" Winston answered hesitantly, confused why Lupin asked this.

Lupin guided him patiently, "What's the deeper reason? What does being a wizard mean to you?"

He looked up, closed Winston's notes and put them aside, then beckoned Harry to come over and listen.

"To cast the Patronus Charm, you need to desperately recall your happiest memories. Harry, what were you thinking about when you succeeded?" Lupin asked with a smile.

Harry dragged himself over to sit on the bench and replied, "I was just thinking about the first time I knew I was a wizard and could come to Hogwarts."

Lupin looked thoughtful. "So what does this memory mean to you?"

Harry answered without hesitation, "—I can leave Privet Drive!"

"So what were you thinking about when this memory happened?"

"As long as I can leave Privet Drive, I will never go back!" Harry answered impatiently, closing his eyes as if he was recalling the scene at that time, with an urgent desire on his face.

Lupin nodded. "Now, Harry, has it come true?"

"Most of it has been achieved." Harry opened his eyes with a little disappointment and answered.

He still has to go back during the holidays.

"You can leave there when you come of age," Lupin said comfortingly.

He thought for a moment before speaking carefully. "We usually use the same memory to cast the Patronus Charm, except for the happiest memories, those filled with love and hope. Likewise, the Patronus Charm has long been associated with wizards who fight for noble causes..."

"I think you can try to find your own goals, dreams... or something else. Think about why the memory of your first time casting the levitation spell touched you so much." Lupin said bluntly, "You may have to start from this aspect."

He explained:

"Because there are very few wizards with strong will and faith, in order to lower the threshold, the happiest memory is usually the one that fits a person's most desired existence. But if you set your ambition, it may be much better than simply looking for happy memories."

But what Lupin didn't say was that the concept of fighting for a noble cause and the inner beliefs of those wizards was too broad. Not just any ambition would do. It had to come from the heart, which was why the ancient Patronus Charm was becoming increasingly rare.

……

As the exam month approached, Winston and Hermione became increasingly busy and were rarely seen all day and all night.

But the model of Buckbeak in the abandoned classroom was becoming more and more perfect day by day. Harry and Ron could hardly help. They could only rack their brains to observe the defects of the model they made, write them down on notes, and wait for them to see them the next time they appeared in the abandoned classroom.

Luo and the others were so busy that they forgot to look for the mouse Banban.

The rat plague in Hogwarts was like a bubble, it only appeared briefly that time and then disappeared, and no one could figure out what had happened.

Aragog breathed a sigh of relief. Hiding in Hagrid's house all day, not moving or talking and pretending to be dead is a skill that requires a lot of skill.

Although it did not eat any mice during the months of hibernation, the rat plague should have nothing to do with it.

But there was that secret worry. Plus Hagrid sighed all day for Buckbeak, and Aragog had to comfort him.

All of a sudden everyone became busy.

Except for Filch who was still concerned about the rats that occasionally ran through the castle, everyone focused on the exam.

Snape also took over the task of delivering medicine, and urged that dangerous factors on campus be eliminated.

Hagrid's note was also brought back from outside the castle by Summer.

"The time is set at 6th. Just as Carl inquired, there is also an executioner coming with him." Winster said, putting the information he had inquired about on the table.

"Then can we just split the model's head in two halves in advance?" Hermione asked.

"He will definitely have doubts, but it doesn't matter. As long as our transfiguration is not lifted, let him guess!" Winster said confidently.

"Why is the Minister of Magic here too?" Harry asked in surprise. "Is he really that free? He was the same person I saw in Diagon Alley last time."

"Maybe it's because of Black." Ron picked up the information and looked at it from left to right, trying to find a little more possibility of success. "...You know, Harry, you are a precious pearl in the eyes of those adults."

"Yeah, defeating Voldemort..." Harry rolled his eyes.

Winston and Hermione looked calm, but Ron shuddered and shouted angrily, "Harry!"

If there was any additional effect from the busy gatherings over the past few days, it was this. Winston and Hermione had no feelings about calling Voldemort's name directly, and after Harry accidentally called it several times, only Ron reacted strongly.

"Just think of it as desensitization," said Hermione.

Winster had no fear at all, and sang Voldemort's name like a song with a pout.

Ron would lose his patience and yell, "Voldemort's name is magical..."

"But there's nothing he can do right now," Hermione said, and beckoned them to continue refining the model.

"Then let's go to Hagrid's together after the Divination exam, Harry. Remember to bring your Invisibility Cloak."

Harry agreed and used Winston's Disillusionment Charm to secretly retrieve the Invisibility Cloak.

……

Exam week started as planned. Winster and Hermione began to take turns going to the exam room. Winster even put down the potion experiment in his hand, leaving only the latest improved potion slowly brewing.

The castle was filled with a tense atmosphere, and no student could relax. The third graders first took Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration test, which required them to turn a teapot into a turtle.

Ron came out and asked Harry again and again, "My turtle still has a willow-leaf-patterned hard shell. Do you think this will deduct points from me?"

Harry was annoyed. "My turtle is still breathing water vapor... I sincerely hope Professor McGonagall didn't see that."

Winster was the calmest. Although he still failed to conjure a back for the turtle, he turned the lid of the teapot into a turtle shell. Professor McGonagall didn't open it to take a closer look, so she couldn't see the internal organs entangled under the shell.

He decided to keep the secret until next semester.

Professor Flitwick asked them to work in pairs and cast a happiness spell on each other.

The person Winster was assigned happened to be Jenny, and since their first letters were close, they just happened to become partners.

As a partner who knew that Winster was prone to overdoing it, Janet had the foresight to put an extra layer of cardboard around herself.

But Winster also deliberately slowed down his movements, causing the duration of the happy spell to be just three minutes as required by the professor. It almost failed.

The next day, Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures exam began. The return of the Filob caterpillar shocked every student.

But a few clumsy idiots still choked the philoboler to death.

They secretly put the dead caterpillars into their pockets and prepared to throw them to the captive chickens in the hunting ground after the exam.

Snape's exams were much stricter, and he would severely deduct a few points from the score column for every deviation in the steps. Even Winster was almost deducted - he required everyone to brew according to the steps in the book, and Winster knew a lot of extra tricks and couldn't help wanting to use them.

Before leaving the examination room, Winster saw Snape standing in front of the dusty Harry with a malicious look, staring at his pot of messy potion.

Visibly finished.

By the time of the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam on Thursday, Lupin's innovative obstacle course cross-country exam made every student excited. Although they still sighed after failing, the whole process of the exam won their favor.

The students must wade across a pond filled with grindyrows, navigate a series of potholes filled with red hats, squeak through a swamp, ignore misguided instructions from a hinkypunk, and climb into an old box to fight a new boggart.[1]

The box contained Harry and Winster's old monster. Harry passed the test perfectly.

As for Winster, maybe it had learned its lesson. Harry did not see any part of the wall surrounded by Professor Lupin collapse, but he heard a dull explosion inside the wall, just like a cauldron blown up in a potion class.

Then Winster came out with a dark face, and went straight to his potions as soon as the exam was over.

Hermione, who was taking the exam right after him, walked out with a strange expression on her face.

"What's wrong Hermione?" Harry asked curiously, "Did you have a bad test?"

"Uh... no, I didn't." Hermione hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you know who took the test before me? Why would my fear be that Professor McGonagall, who was tied up, would say that I failed?"

Harry: Pfft.

Ron laughed so hard that he fainted.

By the time Winston returned angrily from the cauldron, Lupin had already discovered the problem with the Boggart and removed the rope from the box.

They walked back to the castle together and met Minister of Magic Fudge, who had come to witness the execution.

They were curious about why Fudge came to Buckbeak's appeal, but Harry was the only one who had talked to him, and the others were reluctant to speak.

"Mr. Fudge?" Harry looked at him with some surprise and the executioner in the file beside him. "Why are you here?"

Fudge seemed to have noticed them and turned slightly, no longer blocking the entrance to the corridor. "Is that Harry?" He took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face. "It's a nice day, isn't it?"

Harry echoed awkwardly.

"Unfortunately, I'm here on an unpleasant mission. The Dangerous Creatures Committee asked me to testify in the sentencing of a mad magical creature," he muttered. "I happened to be here to talk about Black's matter, so I agreed."

"So, Buckbeak may not be sentenced?" Ron couldn't help but stand up and ask.

Fudge saw a little wizard ask him rashly, and was so surprised that he forgot to wipe the sweat off his face. "I'm sorry, kid, who are you--?"

Ron looked back nervously at Winston and Hermione who hadn't stopped him, and cleared his throat, "I am..."

"Oh, you are the Weasley kid, right?" Fudge stared at his conspicuous red hair and said suddenly.

"Magical creatures that go crazy should be put to death," he said disapprovingly. "That's undeniable."

"But..." Ron wanted to say something, but Winston and Hermione, who had guessed his next move, covered his mouth and dragged him back.

Fudge didn't pay any attention to them. He just said a few more words of concern to Harry, telling him not to take the pressure of the exam to heart, and then left with the judge of the Dangerous Creatures Committee who came to see him.

"Why are you dragging me here?" Ron said angrily. "He's the Minister of Magic and he's here to testify, but he's biased from the start! They never intended to let the appeal succeed. This isn't fair!"

Hermione pulled him and asked him to speak more quietly. "But we didn't even plan to appeal." She said, "When they sentenced Buckbeak, I realized that Malfoy couldn't bribe so many people on the committee without the support of the Minister of Magic."

"You mean he sided with the Slytherins?" Ron opened his mouth wide. "But... but without Dumbledore's support, he wouldn't have been able to get to where he is now, right?"

"Who knows?" Winster said. "Maybe he's just tired of hearing that."

Harry looked disappointed.