Easter vacation was over, and the atmosphere within Hogwarts suddenly became tense. Two and a half months later, the OWLS and NEWTS exams, which to a certain extent could determine the fate of most witches and wizards, were about to begin.
Harry had already spent nearly three years at Hogwarts, but in his first and second year he hadn't really felt the tension that surrounded the run-up to the OWLS and NEWTS. This year was different, though. All three of Ron's brothers, Fred, George and Percy, were facing these important exams for the first time, so Harry felt a certain amount of tension as well.
Sirius Black has also been under a great deal of stress recently, as Defense Against the Dark Arts is one of the most important components of these two exams. And apart from the half-year when Professor Breen and Professor Lupin were teaching, the quality of instruction in this subject at Hogwarts has been visibly poor.
Sirius is not the kind of person who likes to sit idly by, so although he has taken up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor only to help Dumbledore, he is obviously unwilling to have a reputation for incompetence.
Especially during meals, there was always an unfriendly colleague at the staff dining table, who would express concerns about this year's exam results for a particular class in a seemingly offhand but pointed manner.
This made Sirius particularly frustrated, so he spent a lot of time preparing materials and plans to help fifth and seventh-year witches pass the exams. This caused him to be almost unavailable for private conversations with Harry and their friends in recent times.
In the end, Percy and Peyton never made it. This information came from Ginny, who told them that she had seen Percy and Peyton pass each other in the corridor one day on her way down to the Great Hall after a Transfiguration lesson with McGonagall. Both their faces were very pale and they avoided eye contact, without even saying hello.
Moreover, Percy has not appeared at Professor Breen's PE class since that day.
This made Hermione extremely angry. One night, after they had finished observing the planetary orbit and were walking down Hogwarts' tallest building, the astronomy tower, Hermione huffed,
"Percy -- I can't believe he's taking advantage of Professor Breen? Just because he didn't get a recommendation letter from him, he's giving up the class?"
"He's been under a lot of pressure lately..."
Ron summoned the courage to defy Hermione's furious gaze,
"If Professor Breen won't write him a recommendation, then it's all up to him to get into the Ministry now. That's always been his goal; Percy has been planning for this almost since he started at Hogwarts."
"But that doesn't mean he can --"
Hermione wanted to criticize Percy, but Ron's comment silenced her.
"-- Besides, he's just gone through a breakup -- I mean, he's exhausted, and Professor Breen's PE class is currently the most useful for burning off our excess energy."
Harry wanted to remind Ron that the word "we" wasn't entirely accurate, as Ron had abandoned that class for two weeks.
"Two weeks!" Harry exclaimed, almost causing Neville to tumble down the stairs ahead of him.
"What?" Neville asked, supporting the wall and rubbing his sprained ankle, looking puzzled.
Harry looked at Hermione and Ron, who were both staring at him in confusion.
"Did you forget?" Harry explained quickly. "Two weeks have passed, I mean, Breen's PE class. It's been a month now, and he said that the first phase would last for a month and then there'd be new changes!"
"That means --"
Hermione's face flushed with excitement, revealing the truth of her thoughts. "We don't have to."
Hermione's words stopped halfway, as she noticed Ron smiling at her.
"I think it's quite good to keep going," said Neville, lingering before the portrait of Madam Pince, turning his head to look at them wistfully.
"No one is stopping you from keeping going, Neville," Ron said with a face twisted, "Excuse me, I guess you must have forgotten the password again."
In fact, Neville was right. Over the past few days, even Harry began to feel that Professor Breen's class wasn't completely useless.
After adjusting to the class, he felt a clear improvement in his energy, or rather, his vitality. Now, he wasn't as prone to drowsiness, and even during Snape's Potions class and Professor Bins' lectures, he could resist the urge to doze off and listen for a while.
As he closed his eyes, Harry looked forward to the arrival of the next day, although he was no longer as resistant to muggle PE classes. However, he still looked forward to some new changes in Professor Breen's class.
Unknown to Harry, rumors spread that the professor had gone to purchase fertilized eggs from Zocho's Joke Shop for teaching purposes. The next day, the number of students who continued with Professor Breen's class dropped by one-fifth. Now, two weeks later, the original group of over a hundred students had dwindled to less than a third.
As the time entered April, the morning breeze that wandered through the field had lost its chill, bringing a pleasant coolness that swept over the hair.
Harry squinted his eyes to look at the faint green dawn, silently adjusting his breathing. This was a technique he had discovered during this time, a suitable breathing rhythm could alleviate fatigue during prolonged exercise.
"Let's get started --"
Professor Breen still arrived at the playground on time, seemingly unaware that a month had passed. Dressed in one of the several sportswear outfits he usually wore, he ordered in a calm tone.
Harry's expression couldn't help but reveal his disappointment. He looked around and noticed that the expressions of the other young witches were all the same.
"Professor Breen --"
Hermione is not one to hide her problems, and she raised her hand with a furrowed brow,
"Yes, Professor Breen," Hermione took a deep breath and stared at Professor Breen with bright eyes,
"Did you say that our stage practice would last for a month, and then we would have some new changes in our class?"
"Thank you for the reminder, Miss Granger," Professor Breen nodded slightly, "Yes, that was the plan. Our PE class is about to enter the next phase. This morning will be your last early morning run."
Looking around at the excited young witches, Amortost smiled slightly and decided to leave them in high spirits for the time being.
"Starting today, we will move into the second phase of the course. The class will be scheduled between 8 and 9 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, in that maze classroom."
The Maze Room is the same classroom where Professor Breen's class fought against the corporeal creatures in the second semester of Harry's second year. The fun "canoe race" held in the second half of last semester was also held in that unused classroom.
Hearing that the next lesson would be held in that classroom, the young witches became even more excited. They had endured the Breen's classes for so long, and finally, Professor Breen was willing to let them see something interesting!
The news that Professor Breen's PE class might become interesting had already spread throughout the castle by lunchtime, and many young witches expressed great curiosity. However, those who had previously qualified for the class but gave up their spot seemed rather unhappy about it.
Harry and his friends finished their magical history paper in a hurry after dinner, which took them an hour. Then, under Ron's gloomy eyes, they hurried out of the common room and went to the special classroom where Professor Breen was teaching.
Phew...
At eight o'clock, the young witches and wizards who had gathered in the corridor couldn't wait to push open the door of the classroom and rush in one after another. As everyone squeezed in, the newly installed torches around the walls that were four-fifths of a mile long flickered alight all at once.
And under the sudden bright light of the torches, the objects arranged on three walls began to click clack in a crisp sound.
"These are..."
Hannah Abbot, a Gryffindor, gazed at the things that were polished to a shine, reflecting the glaring light of the torches, and quietly opened her mouth.
"The armors in the corridors!"
Neville exclaimed in horror.
(Chapter ends)
