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Chapter 1290: Different Course Schedules
🕑 Added 2024-11-11 19:47:26 +0000 UTCDuring career counseling last term, Harry had told Professor McGonagall that he wanted to become an Auror.
He thought this profession was great, allowing him to fight against Dark wizards.
Influenced by Sirius Black, Harry was full of longing for this career.
However, after Evan told him about the future he’d seen, he thought carefully about whether to become a professional Quidditch player, like Wood and Krum, which sounded good. He liked flying and Quidditch, and had good skills. Evan had also said that he would be very successful.
Harry was very confused for a while, not sure what to choose, Auror or Quidditch player?
Later, after he received his O.W.L. results and knew that his Potions grade was not "Outstanding" and did not meet the requirements for Auror recruitment, he was somewhat regretful. It seemed that he had no way to become an Auror, yet Professor McGonagall had something to say about that...
"You told me I had to get an ‘Outstanding’ in my Potions O.W.L., Professor, but I only got an ‘Exceeds Expectations’."
“And so you did when Professor Snape was teaching the subject. Professor Slughorn, however, is perfectly happy to accept N.E.W.T students with ‘Exceeds Expectations’ at O.W.L. Do you wish to proceed with Potions?"
“Yes,” said Harry, “but I didn’t buy the books or any ingredients or anything —"
"Don't worry, I’m sure Professor Slughorn will be able to lend you some,” said Professor McGonagall. “Very well, Potter, here is your schedule. Oh, by the way — thirty hopefuls have already put down their names for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I shall pass the list to you in due course and you can fix up trials at your leisure."
After Harry came Ron, whose application Professor McGonagall checked carefully.
Ron's grades were not very good. He’d got O.W.L.s for most of the subjects, but almost all of them were ‘Acceptable’, just passing the line. He’d only got ‘Exceeds Expectations’ in Care of Magical Creatures and Potions.
To be honest, Ron’s results were average, partly due to how much time he spent with Hermione, who was often occupied with Evan. He wasn’t the type to study on his own. In this regard, Ron was even less diligent than Harry. Though Hermione had made study plans for them, Ron found it difficult to follow through without someone monitoring him.
Especially during the time when Hermione left school with Evan and Elaine, which was a very important revision period, Harry could not attend Quidditch practice and had no girlfriend, so he could only stay in the library to study every day. Ron's learning progress was almost stagnant. He had a lot of things to do, including practice, more and more classwork, and spending a lot of time with Lavender. No one urged him to study...
When he had free time, he probably just wanted to sleep!
As a result, his O.W.L.s weren’t as good as Harry’s. Even so, given that his grades were already below Harry’s, getting passing marks in most subjects and ‘Exceeds Expectations' in Potions and Care of Magical Creatures indicated that Hermione’s study plan had indeed been helpful.
Compared to Fred and George, Ron’s grades were actually quite good, which made Mrs. Weasley very pleased for a time.
She had worried that he would be like the twins and only get two or three certificates.
But to be honest, with this score, his options for continuing to N.E.W.T.s were limited. Most professors required an "Exceeds Expectations" for their N.E.W.T. classes, and Strict ones such as Snape would require students to achieve an "Outstanding" to allow them into his class.
So, after some consideration, Ron chose to take just three courses: Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions.
Potions was taught by Professor Slughorn, and the remaining two were taught by other professors.
"Let me see your schedule!" said Ron, taking Harry's schedule. "Our subjects are mostly the same, but Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick are more demanding. I heard from Percy that they both assign a lot of homework in their N.E.W.T. classes. Oh, and you’re taking Defense Against the Dark Arts with Snape? That must be awful — I’m glad I dropped that class."
"Wish I could drop it too, or choose another Defense Against the Dark Arts’ professor..." said Harry.
But no, Defense Against the Dark Arts was the only course taught by only one professor. To continue studying this course, he could only choose Snape, which was the main reason why Snape did not raise the grade requirement for entering his class to "Outstanding", otherwise he would have definitely done so.
"Look on the bright side, Harry. Sixth year is great. Our classes have been reduced by more than half," he said, holding up his schedule for Harry to see. "Look, we’ve got a free period now ... and a free period after break ... and after lunch ... and before dinner … excellent!"
His words probably made Hermione feel uncomfortable, but she said nothing.
She just snorted heavily and dragged Evan to Ancient Runes class.
On the way, Hermione kept saying that Ron's choice was self-degrading and he should study more in school.
But this was the atmosphere at Hogwarts. When students entered the sixth year, the school's management of the students began to become lax, tending to allow students to develop freely and study courses that interested them.
Because the difficulty of N.E.W.T. courses would increase significantly, most students would not choose too many classes. There was no end to any magic, and it was almost impossible to master all of them. After learning the knowledge in the textbooks, they could pursue a particular area for further research and exploration.
If it weren't for the fact that there would be specific requirements for N.E.W.T. certificates in employment, many students might not continue their studies at all.
You should know that in the Wizarding World, most wizards were just O.W.L. level, the Ordinary Wizarding Level.
They only achieved a N.E.W.T level in one or two types of magic they were particularly interested in.
In school, there were only a few people like Evan and Hermione who chose so many courses.
Students like Ron were actually the norm.
This led to a problem. If students didn’t pay attention to their studies, they would have a lot of time for leisure. Fred and George were in this state in their last two years at school. They only took Charms and spent the rest of their time doing their own things and researching those joke products.
Even so, they weren’t confident they’d be able to earn a N.E.W.T. in Charms...
As expected, the Ancient Runes class in the new term turned out to be much more difficult than before. They were now studying a script created by ancient goblins, which was said to still be in use inside Gringotts. That made it necessary to learn, but it was an extremely obscure form of ancient runes and highly challenging — one that even Evan had never encountered before.
When Evan and Hermione returned to the common room with a pile of Ancient Runes homework, Harry and Ron were lounging casually on the sofa, discussing the Quidditch team trials, and there were drinks and sweets on the table next to them.
