As Easter approaches, the academic pressure on Hogwarts students becomes greater and greater, and the professors always remind them in class that the final exams are getting closer.
What's worse is that professors seem to not trust their students to study hard for the final exams, and assign them a lot of homework before the Easter holiday.
Most students are so busy dealing with their Easter holiday homework that they simply cannot spare any extra time to review for the final exams.
Most fifth-grade students can feel the pressure brought by the approaching O.W.L.S exams. They have been going to the library more frequently than before, and often have to go to the library early to reserve a seat right after class.
The pressure brought by the O.W.Ls exams has caused many students who are about to take the exams to have some minor problems.
When everyone was doing their homework in the library, Patricia Stinson from Hufflepuff suddenly fainted, causing a commotion.
"Honestly, I want to faint too." Fred looked at Patricia Stinson who was sent to the school hospital with envy, and whispered to George beside him: "How about we use that thing and pretend to faint?"
George didn't like Fred's bad idea and said angrily, "Don't be silly, you will never get away with holiday homework unless you want to be put in detention right after the Easter holiday."
"I was just saying it casually." Fred sighed as he looked at the paper he had just started writing. He turned his head to look at Lee Jordan who had just sat down and said jokingly, "Are you having diarrhea? Why did you take so long?"
"I met Kenneth on the way. He no longer sells Bafe's Brain Stimulant, but Dragon's Claw Powder instead." Lee Jordan told the Weasley twins that he met Kenneth on the road while he was doing black market transactions.
"Dragon claw powder, is that stuff really reliable?" George joked, "Don't tell me Kenneth cut his nails and ground them into powder and sold it to other people?"
"He doesn't have that many nails to cut and grind."
"Why not just find a few more?" Fred didn't have any expectations for Kenneth's character. That guy might have mixed other things into the dragon claw powder.
"I just tried some, and it's really effective. Many seventh-grade students come to him to buy dragon's claw powder." Lee Jordan actually wanted to ask Kenneth for some. After taking a small amount of dragon's claw powder, he felt refreshed and his brain worked especially well.
"Forget it. It's easy to get caught using dragon claw powder in an exam. I might even have to repeat the grade. I'd rather get lower scores in my O.W.Ls than be repeated in school." Fred threw down the paper and started copying holiday homework.
"It doesn't have to be used to cheat on tests," Lee Jordan muttered.
"Do you dare to believe this?" George secretly put a candy in his mouth and reminded vaguely, "The price of dragon claw powder is not cheap?"
"I remember Albert bought it last time. It seemed to be ten Galleons a pint. It must be more expensive on the black market," Fred added.
Lee Jordan never mentioned the incident again.
Yes, dragon claw powder is not cheap, and he doesn't have enough Galleons in his pocket to buy that stuff.
"If you want, you can go find Albert. I remember last time he said he was going to make some candies that would make people smarter," Fred recalled.
"Don't be silly. The intelligence-enhancing candy is still on the parchment." George said without raising his head. "But I think Albert should have extra intelligence-enhancing drugs. You can ask him for a bottle."
"What's intelligence candy?" Ron, who was sitting next to them, interrupted and asked.
"A candy that makes people smarter for a short period of time," George explained.
"There are such good things." Harry felt that he might need one too. The pile of holiday homework in front of him was making him bored.
"It's still under development. If you want it, you'll probably have to wait a few more years. Most of Albert's magical candy series are still on parchment waiting to be developed."
Of course, George would not tell them that the thing was actually a very expensive candy that Albert was developing to make money from pure-blood wizards.
"If you have time to chat over there, come and help me look up some information. I'm just short of the final piece of information for the paper Snape wants." Angelina was getting a little impatient with the whispers of several people.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan looked at each other. They were too embarrassed to admit that they were actually planning to borrow from Albert's paper.
After all, Albert still had to write his Potions thesis. In Snape's words: Even if you win the Potions Championship, don't think I will exempt you from the Potions thesis.
"I'm more curious why the professors didn't tell us the key points?" George changed the subject stiffly.
"I think if all professors could explain the exam key points to us like Albert did, and then study hard for two months, we would definitely be able to pass the O.W.Ls with excellent results."
"They will do that, but not until the end of May." Shanna put down her quill, blew on the potion paper in her hand, and said to everyone, "I once asked the current sixth-year students, and they said that the professors will not stop all classes until June, so that we can spend all our time on review."
"It will be too late if we wait until June." George felt that the professors were not very reliable.
"So, don't expect to study hard then," Shanna said. "The professors will actually check for any gaps you may have missed during your review so that you don't miss any exam points."
"I envy Albert. He never has to worry about O.W.Ls."
"Is there a time limit for the next party?" Angelina asked Sana. "By the way, where is Albert? Why can't I see him?"
"I don't know. He's been missing a lot lately." George said in a low voice, "Maybe he's going out on a date. His girlfriend is about to graduate from school."
"Their relationship has always been stable." Shanna envied their relationship.
"Yes, they're very stable. I heard that they once went on vacation abroad together. Maybe in a few years, you will receive their wedding invitation." Fred joked.
He found that the surroundings suddenly fell into deathly silence.
"Oh, there's something I almost forgot to ask." Alia changed the subject. "Why did the secret room we went to last time disappear? There's now a secret passage behind the portrait."
"What are you doing there?" Lee Jordan asked.
"Go over there and review your lessons. Haven't you noticed that the library has been getting more and more crowded lately?"
"That secret room only appears when we have a party." George said mysteriously, "Also, it's best not to let other irrelevant people know about its existence. You don't want to be disturbed when you are having a party!"
"It only appears at a specific time?" Alia obviously didn't believe this nonsense.
"There are still many unknown secrets waiting to be discovered in Hogwarts Castle." George handed the Herbology paper to Fred and muttered, "I really hope Albert can put some effort into the holiday homework so that we can have an easier time."
"All he said was that I had to do my homework myself." Lee Jordan stuffed a candy into his mouth and began to copy his homework.
"You can look for information together and do your holiday homework together." Albert appeared behind them without warning and put his hands on their shoulders. "Hasn't this method been used before?"
"Could you please stop being so scary?"
"When should we start the party?" Sana asked. "I think the Easter holiday is a good time. Everyone will be free, so we can have a closer party."
"I think so too," Angelina agreed.
Albert pulled a half-finished paper from his backpack and said, "Don't forget, we still have a lot of homework to do."
"It's us, not you," Angelina corrected.
"If you want to have a party, you'd better hurry up and finish your holiday homework so that you have enough time to attend the party." Albert flipped through his notes to see how much holiday homework the professors had assigned them during the Easter holidays.
"What party?" Ron appeared out of nowhere again.
"In Albert's words, it's the O.W.L. Defense Against the Dark Arts exam remedial class." Fred said to Ron, "The purpose of the party is to help everyone get high scores in the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. If you are interested, you can come and participate."
"Sorry to bother you." Ron pulled his head back again. The O.W.L.S exam was still a long way off for Ron, and he was now overwhelmed by a pile of homework.
"Can I join in?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, if you want to join the Defense Association, you can keep an eye out for the next meeting time."
"Defense Association?"
"It's just a name, don't worry about it. Albert calls it the Defense Against the Dark Arts Remedial Class." George explained with a smile, "As long as they don't cause trouble, anyone can attend."
"You have more holiday homework than any of us, and you still have time to join the club?" Ron thought Hermione was crazy.
"It won't hurt to learn about the O.W.Ls now. We'll have to take them someday," said Hermione calmly.
"Slytherin House can also participate?" Harry asked curiously.
"Of course, anyone can go."
"What if they cause trouble at the party?" Harry asked again.
"We'll work together to throw the troublemakers out." Fred said without hesitation, "In fact, we're all looking forward to having Slytherins as our practice targets."
At this moment, Kenneth Toler walked over quickly with a package in his hand. He placed the package, which was shaking violently, in front of Albert and said, "Your package, and a letter."
"Why is this package moving?"
"Don't ask me, I don't know either." Kenneth Toller shrugged.
Everyone focused their attention on the package that was shaking gently, curious about what was inside.