Here's a bonus chapter for you all! Thank you so much for waiting. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and I hope you have a wonderful time reading!
With a wave of Snape's wand, all the desks and chairs in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom neatly flew to both sides and stacked up, leaving a large space for the young wizards' exam.
Snape walked to the farthest end from the students, took out a piece of parchment from his robes, and said: "Very well, the exam will now begin. When I call your name, come forward quickly - my time is very precious, and after the exam, I may need to treat severely injured wizards and collect bodies of those who died accidentally."
At Snape's cold words, many young witches with weaker psychological resilience actually collapsed to the ground, sobbing.
Ron's face was pale as he mumbled an unknown song: "Goodbye mother, today I must sail away~"
Harry was dumbfounded - he never imagined Snape would pull this move. He really was determined to kill him here!
Yes! That's it! If I die during this exam, he can claim it was an accidental death! That's his plan!
He wants to silence me! Then no one will know about his theft!
No, I can't die! The Philosopher's Stone needs my protection.
Harry, believing himself near death, became fired up, completely forgetting his good friend Ron also knew about Snape's plan to steal the Stone.
Harry felt his destiny as the Chosen One!
(Not really)
Standing at the back of the crowd, Glenn showed no reaction, but the little girl beside him was somewhat nervous - she had never directly faced Professor Snape before.
She anxiously grabbed Glenn's hand. Sensing Hermione's anxiety, he comforted her: "Snape will only use the spell you cast, Hermione. Just like our daily training - respond normally, no need to worry, but take it seriously."
"I know, but facing Professor Snape still makes me nervous."
Glenn kissed her cheek.
"Feel better?" According to Glenn's experience, when the little girl kissed him he felt happy and peaceful, so if he kissed Hermione, she should feel less anxious too.
The little girl's face instantly turned red. She nervously glanced around, realizing they were at the very back and other young wizards' attention was all on Snape - no one had noticed Glenn's action.
She shyly hit Glenn, lowering her voice in embarrassment: "What are you doing?!"
Glenn said seriously: "I thought this would reduce your anxiety."
She punched him again, huffing: "That was too sudden! You should at least warn me!"
Glenn expressed innocence, asking dryly: "So do you feel better?"
Hermione couldn't help laughing - this guy, how could he make a sneak attack sound so righteous, with such a pitiful expression? Though she did feel less nervous now.
Looking at Glenn standing so properly due to her pretend anger, with that innocent look, affection welled up in her heart.
Ahhh, how can this guy be so cute!
Resisting the urge to hug and squeeze Glenn, Hermione crossed her arms and replied tsundere-style: "Much better." Seeing Glenn still standing properly waiting for her criticism, she finally couldn't help giggling softly.
"Alright alright, I'm not mad at you. I know you did it to help me, and I'm not nervous anymore."
The little girl waved her hand, patting Glenn's equally fluffy head as she smiled at him.
Glenn sighed in relief - good that the little girl wasn't angry. He thought he'd done something wrong. Since Hermione wasn't mad and indicated his action was effective...
...Then keep it up!
Glenn decided that whenever Hermione was nervous in the future, he'd use this method.
Definitely not because he wanted to kiss Hermione.
Mm-hmm.
While Glenn and Hermione were flirting, Snape on stage was ready to start calling people up for the exam.
"First up, hmph, let's have our Chosen One - Harry Potter!"
As expected, Harry was first. Anyone with eyes could see how Snape targeted Harry in Potions class.
The Gryffindor young wizards silently prayed for Harry, while the Slytherin snakes watched coldly. They had no intention of jeering, all focusing intently on the first exam - they wanted to observe well before their turn to get higher scores from their Head of House.
Harry walked up with an ashen face but wasn't panicked, clearly having expected to be called first.
Holding his wand, standing opposite Snape, Harry began recalling what spells he knew.
Think, think, Harry, what spells do I actually know?
If he had a powerful spell, maybe he could defeat Snape before Snape could strike!
Even if he couldn't win and couldn't dodge...
At least he could die with dignity.
Harry kept trying to remember any powerful spells he knew.
But he realized.
He didn't know any damn powerful spells - his mind was blank except for a few jinxes for pranks, no other offensive spells.
Memory Charm! I must have been hit with a Memory Charm! Damn it, it must be Snape - when did he do it?!
Harry angrily imagined this non-existent scenario, realizing he truly hadn't mastered even one spell for a decent attack.
"Potter, hurry up, Potter. The flowers have wilted while I wait - shall I pour you a cappuccino?" Across from him, Snape grew impatient seeing Harry's delay, tapping his right foot on the floor making thudding sounds.
The sound was like a hammer, each beat striking Harry's heart, making him extremely uncomfortable.
Feeling the complex gazes from those around him, Harry gritted his teeth and raised his wand.
"Tarantallegra!" He shouted the incantation, white light gathering at his wand tip before shooting toward Snape.
Snape sneered, casually deflecting the jinx. "Can't even cast a proper spell? Just like you, Potter."
"Tarantallegra." Snape's wand didn't pause as the same spell shot quickly from it.
Harry only managed to raise his wand before being hit directly, breaking into a strange dance on the spot.
"Well, your grade in this course is quite clear now. You may go." Snape waved his hand dismissively, shooing Harry off stage like a fly.
The exam continued as Snape called: "Next! Ron Weasley..."
Ron went up with a miserable expression.
The exam proceeded, with young wizards going up one after another, but almost none showed any impressive performance.
It couldn't be helped - this exam was truly too difficult for first-year students, their knowledge was far too limited.
But "almost" was the key word.
As Snape expected, Neville and Draco performed well - their offensive spells were quite proper, making Snape take them slightly seriously, and they successfully dodged his counterattacks.
Only an idiot would try to block Snape's spells directly! The correct approach was obviously to dodge!
They weren't freaks like Glenn!
Hermione's exam also went smoothly - instead of casting directly at Snape, she used the Fire-Making Spell to ignite the floor under his feet, catching him off guard and forcing him to quickly extinguish it with the counter-spell.
Snape's face darkened slightly as he cast Incendio back. Hermione neither dodged nor blocked - since she knew in advance Snape would only counter with the Fire-Making Spell, she dissolved it mid-air with the counter-spell, becoming the first and only young wizard to defend against Snape's counter without dodging.
Hermione's elegant spellcasting and defense earned applause from everyone below, even the Slytherins.
"No wonder Glenn chose her," the Slytherin snakes thought privately, though still feeling envious and jealous.
Hermione's performance was most excellent, followed by Neville and Draco. The others' performances were basically all hard to describe.
What? You ask about Glenn?
Glenn didn't go up to duel Snape.
When Snape called Glenn's name, he glanced at Glenn holding Hermione's hand and said expressionlessly: "Hawthorne, you don't need to take the exam."
"That's not fair!"
Harry and Ron immediately protested - Snape was openly helping Glenn cheat!
Glenn must have told Snape everything about the Philosopher's Stone and how to get past the three-headed dog Fluffy, so...
So he could be exempt from the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam! He must have known early on that Snape would be the examiner!
Yes, Professor Quirrell's disappearance definitely had to do with Snape, and Glenn as Snape's lackey surely knew about it.
It all connects! It all connects!
Harry and Ron believed they had discovered the truth.
The two were indignant, rallying their friends to curse Snape for favoritism.
In the Slytherin camp, Draco watched the rowdy Gryffindors with amusement, already imagining how his godfather would punish them later.
Point deductions right? Gryffindor would miss out on the House Cup again this year!
Neville stood beside Harry and the others with a complex expression, unsure whether to stop them from courting death.
Was this favoritism? Obviously not.
Snape watched the commotion from the Gryffindors below, a sinister smile appearing at his lips.
Never mind that Glenn could surely block his counter-spell - with Glenn's serious nature, he would definitely use his current strongest and most powerful spell. If something went wrong, the Defense classroom would explode - what then?
So Snape certainly wouldn't let Glenn up on stage. Moreover, he could use this to let those impulsive foolish lions make a fuss, giving him an excuse to deduct Gryffindor points!
Snape: Everything is under control.
"Hawthorne is visually impaired," Snape casually gave an excuse that even he wanted to laugh at, immediately silencing the shouting Gryffindor students.
Glenn was happy to stay idle and said nothing.
Snape's ice-cold voice rang through the classroom: "Additionally, for questioning a professor's decision and slandering a professor, you will each lose ten points from Gryffindor."
The dagger hidden in the map finally revealed its blade, shocking Harry and the others.
Damn, they fell right into that old snake Snape's trap!
Beside them, Hermione, who had just been secretly laughing at how terrible Snape's excuse was, suddenly froze, her face falling like a sad kitten.
You can even find an opportunity to deduct points from this?!
Hermione was going crazy.