Hogwarts: I graduated before the system came

The Gryffindor players greeted the Hufflepuff team with smiles on their faces and praised their performance on the field.

Only Harry, because of his age, stood aside and looked very out of place.

Cedric, who was usually quiet, took the initiative to step forward and said with a smile:

"Hello, Harry, my name is Cedric Diggory, and you really do have a great talent!"

Angelina, Alya, and Katie, the female Gryffindor team members, suddenly started giggling and whispered about something.

Harry was bewildered by Cedric and thought he was being mocked.

Without waiting for him to say anything, Cedric continued with a smile:

"If my broom wasn't faster than yours, you would have caught the Snitch."

Looking at that sincere face, Harry was sure that the other party was not here to mock him, and quickly said politely:

"No, you fly great too. I mean, you're an excellent Seeker!"

Oliver Wood, the captain of Gryffindor, looked at the height difference between the two and said:

"Diggory, you are indeed an excellent Seeker. I think you will be surprised by Harry's progress next year. After all, he is only in his second year."

George and Fred were whispering to each other.

"Oliver must be very sad right now, Wood, who is forcing a smile."

"There's only next year left..."

The weather is getting hotter and the exam is getting closer.

The learning atmosphere on campus became more intense, and some students even saw the sky at Hogwarts at four in the morning for the first time.

The irritable Harry had to temporarily give up his training plan and devote himself to reviewing, which made Hermione feel relieved.

She didn't expect that Harry was really talented in those spells. He could successfully cast the Eye-Blight Curse, the Shield Charm and the Enemy-Subduing Trap in his second year.

Fortunately, the exams were coming up soon and then summer vacation would begin, otherwise she didn't know how long Harry could study the remaining spells.

June 1st is the final exam week for all grades, as well as the O.L. and T. exam week.

The final exams for each grade are set and supervised by the Hogwarts professors themselves, while the O.L. and T. exams are held by the Wizarding Examinations Authority.

When Douglas arrived at the auditorium, he saw a group of elderly wizards and witches standing together.

Dumbledore was chatting loudly with one of the witches, a hunched-over witch with a face covered in spiderweb-like wrinkles.

Douglas hurried forward and greeted the professors sent by the Wizarding Examination Authority.

"Professor Marchbank, Professor Tofty... Long time no see, I am Douglas Holmes..."

Before he could finish introducing himself, the hunchbacked witch, old Professor Griselda Marchbanks, said loudly:

"Holmes, I remember you. When you took the T. exam, I personally tested you on Transfiguration and Charms. The tricks you played with your wand were even more interesting than those of Dumbledore back then..."

Douglas glanced at Dumbledore beside him and smiled awkwardly.

Because her voice was so loud, many people sitting at the long table in the auditorium who were trying to find out about the exam heard what she said.

So everyone began to wonder what Professor Holmes did during the exam to be able to beat Dumbledore.

Professor Tofty, who was standing by, also said to Holmes in an old voice:

"Haha, when I first heard you were going to Hogwarts, I thought you were going to be the Transfiguration professor!"

Before Douglas could say anything, another professor who had tested Douglas T. on Defense Against the Dark Arts interrupted him dissatisfiedly:

"Don't forget, Tofty, he was also very good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, especially in combat. There were two promising students in that class, but neither of them entered the Auror Office. Alastor (Alastor Moody, former Head of the Auror Office, now retired) even got into trouble with me several times because of this. Fortunately, he retired that year."

At this point, the professor said to Douglas:

"I was very happy to hear that you became the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. I'm looking forward to your students' performance. I hope you can provide some talented students to the Auror Office this time. Otherwise, Scrimgeour (Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office) will definitely come to me to make trouble. They haven't had any new talents for two years..."

Chapter 136: Seven Years of NEWT and Five Years of OWL

While chatting with the people from the Wizarding Examinations Authority, Douglas keenly discovered that these professors were revealing a message intentionally or unintentionally that the Ministry of Magic had great opinions about Hogwarts' education.

Despite this, the people at the Wizarding Examinations Authority don't seem to care much about the Ministry of Magic's opinions.

Douglas suddenly had an idea, but he had to find time to communicate this idea with Professor Dumbledore.

In addition to people from the Wizarding Examinations Authority, those who participated in the Hogwarts exams outside the school also included reporters and photographers arranged by the Daily Prophet.

This reporter came almost every year during the O.L. and T. exam week. Douglas took a look and didn't recognize him.

All exams followed the same format: a written exam in the morning and a practical exam in the afternoon. Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn't until Thursday. The Magic Study Room had been packed to the brim these past few days, with Professors McGonagall and Flitwick practically in the room as soon as class was over to guide the fifth and seventh years.

The professors from the Wizarding Administration gave different comments after visiting the magic study room.

Some professors believe that hanging motivational banners in study rooms can indeed help encourage students to study independently.

Some professors believe that wizards rely on talent. No matter how hard they try, without talent, they still cannot become an outstanding wizard.

After the first day of the Herbology exam, Douglas found Professor McGonagall and went to the headmaster's office together, and told them his thoughts.

"From today's conversation with the professors of the Wizarding Examinations Authority, I received information that the Ministry of Magic has some opinions about Hogwarts.

The Ministry of Magic seems to think that Hogwarts has become Professor Dumbledore's personal territory, and because of his influence, few outstanding graduates in recent years have chosen to be loyal to the Ministry of Magic."

In fact, the reality is not that serious. Every year, many outstanding graduates choose the Ministry of Magic.

After all, in the wizarding world, working in the Ministry of Magic is arguably the best choice.

However, Minister of Magic Fudge needed some young wizards who were loyal to him to slowly replace some of the old wizards in the ministry. This would help him get rid of Dumbledore's influence, so he secretly found some problems with Dumbledore.

According to the professors from the Ministry, Fudge had complained privately many times that Dumbledore was getting old and the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor he hired was becoming less and less competent.

Although Dumbledore didn't care what Fudge said, Douglas couldn't help but care.

Considering that Dumbledore and Fudge are still in their honeymoon period, some slanderous remarks were not made.

After hearing Douglas's words, Dumbledore blinked and said with a smile:

"I think every wizard who graduates from Hogwarts has the freedom to choose his or her own future."

Douglas shrugged and said helplessly:

"That's why the Ministry of Magic feels that there's something wrong with Hogwarts' education.

I suspect they will likely look for opportunities to place their own people at Hogwarts and train students who align with their own ideas, and they might even want to have one of their own become the headmaster of Hogwarts, thereby putting Hogwarts in the hands of the Ministry of Magic."

Professor McGonagall snorted coldly and said:

"Dirty politicians' thinking. Hogwarts is a place for young wizards to learn. Not just anyone can be elected as the headmaster."

Then Professor McGonagall frowned and looked at Douglas:

"I don't remember you ever being at the Ministry of Magic. Why would you have such conspiracy theories about politicians?"

Douglas looked at the ceiling and sighed deeply:

“Where there are people, there is politics!”

Dumbledore thought Douglas's behavior was very interesting, but he still said comfortingly:

"From what I understand, Fudge wouldn't do that. When it comes to dealing with the basilisk, he also said that since this is Hogwarts, the Aurors will follow Hogwarts's arrangements."

Douglas was speechless, not knowing whether Dumbledore was too confident in his abilities or Fudge was too good at pleasing him.

He felt that it was most likely the latter, and he even suspected that the reason Fudge came to power was probably because Dumbledore was backing him behind the scenes.

After all, he wrote to Dumbledore every few days to ask for advice and help, and so blatantly relied on Dumbledore's prestige and influence. If it weren't for Dumbledore's tacit approval, Fudge would not have been able to sit on the post of Minister of Magic for more than a decade.

Thinking of this, Douglas didn't intend to beat around the bush and directly expressed his thoughts:

"Actually, I want all the professors at Hogwarts to work with the Wizarding Examinations Authority to publish a set of 'Seven Years...T. Five Years O.L.'"

Looking at the two puzzled people, Douglas explained:

"'Seven Years of T.C. and Five Years of O.L.' will include eight compulsory courses at Hogwarts, six elective courses, and several years of T.C. and O.L. exams. The exams will include not only theoretical sections but also practical exam requirements.

With this set of questions, our fifth and seventh graders will have a targeted review before the exams.”

Professor McGonagall looked unhappy and said dissatisfiedly:

"Douglas, what's the difference between your behavior and cheating? The exam content is in the textbook. As long as they honestly memorize every detail in the textbook and practice every spell taught by the professor, the exam will be no problem for them."

Douglas asked:

"Professor McGonagall, Hogwarts has implemented the monthly examination system for a semester. What do you think of its effectiveness?"

Professor McGonagall thought for a moment and said:

"The results are very good. After almost every test, they can accurately know where their weaknesses are, and can also promptly identify which students have not fully mastered a certain sex change technique.

I think at least there shouldn't be any low-level magical errors in this OLS exam. Both Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout have praised this method to me.

But the problem now is that just setting questions takes up a lot of professors’ time.”

Douglas said:

"That's why I thought of cooperating with the Wizarding Examination Authority. They have a ready-made question bank, and we professors will mainly serve as lecturers.

Because they have been using the old question bank, they need to come up with a new set of questions every year, so that the questions of "Seven Years...T. Five Years O...L." will be updated every year.

The most important point is that each of these professors of the Wizarding Examination Authority has another identity in the wizarding world. They can come up with questions that are in line with the current situation of the wizarding world.

We professors also pay attention to the latest news in the wizarding world, but we may still have some shortcomings in applying it in practical work.

Of course, the most important point is that we won’t have to come up with our own questions in the future.”

Dumbledore glanced at Professor McGonagall who was in deep thought, then picked up a candy, put it in his mouth, and winked at Douglas.

Douglas smiled awkwardly. He found that it would be better to go directly to Professor McGonagall for such matters. Dumbledore didn't care much about teaching.

Professor McGonagall came back to her senses and asked:

"I think the professors at Hogwarts won't refuse this, but how can you be sure that the Wizarding Examinations Authority will agree to it?"

Douglas chuckled. Isn't that the point?

"This requires the advice of Headmaster Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic. I believe Minister Fudge will certainly agree with the Headmaster's suggestion."

Dumbledore nodded, and although he had candy in his mouth, his voice was still clear:

"I will suggest this to Fudge, and we respect their choice. If they don't want to..."

Douglas quickly said, "Then let's forget about this. I will only use this method in Defense Against the Dark Arts classes from now on!"

Professor McGonagall glared at him in dissatisfaction, as if the other professors were lazy, but she also understood Douglas's good intentions.

The teaching level of some courses at Hogwarts has indeed declined significantly in recent years, which has led to the magic level of many employees of the Ministry of Magic becoming lower and lower. This is not the first time that the Ministry of Magic has complained about this. If it were not for Dumbledore, perhaps the Ministry of Magic would have intervened in the management of Hogwarts long ago.

The purpose of Douglas's proposal this time was very simple. Since the Ministry of Magic wanted to interfere in the management of Hogwarts, it would be better to open a loophole within them.

Because "Seven Years...T. Five Years...O.L." is equivalent to an internal teaching material inserted by the Ministry of Magic into the Hogwarts education, and it is completely under the control of the Ministry of Magic, they can take the opportunity to mix their own ideas into it.

However, every policy has its own countermeasures, and the right to interpret the test questions lies in the hands of the Hogwarts professors.

Moreover, doing so would only backfire and make students disgusted with certain actions of the Ministry of Magic.

Another reason is to let them focus their attention on the Wizarding Examinations Authority within the Ministry of Magic. Maybe in the future there will not be the disgusting Hogwarts Senior Inquisitor incident, but something like the Senior Inquisitor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority.

In short, the Wizarding Examinations Authority is used as a buffer zone between Hogwarts and the Minister of Magic.

The only variable is the attitude of the Ministry of Magic after Voldemort's resurrection. However, this matter still has two years to go, so we can slowly find a solution.

Chapter 137 Harry: I Have a Plan

During the Defense Against the Dark Arts OLS exam on Thursday, Douglas took time out to go to the exam room to see how his students performed.

Because the magic practice content all depends on oneself and there is no possibility of cheating, the people from the Wizarding Examinations Authority generously let Douglas sit next to the invigilator.

The student who came in later happened to be Shirley, a student from Ravenclaude. When she came in and saw Douglas, she was stunned for a moment, then quickly adjusted her state.

Then, he skillfully manipulated various breaking spells and defensive spells, and Professor Tofty smiled and said to Douglas:

"I've found that the students this year are quite good, especially in breaking spells. As soon as we put forward a requirement, the students can basically quickly release the corresponding counter-spell.

I heard from the students that you set up a practical classroom for breaking spells, and even set up corresponding practical classrooms for each grade?"

The practical classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts is different from the magic study room. It is Douglas's private project, so neither he nor the school specifically opens it to these wizards from the Ministry of Magic.

Douglas responded with a smile: