"To be honest, when it comes to pranks, I think the Gryffindor twins are much more skillful than you." She commented on Ian's actions with a bit of helplessness.
"I'm helping William gain confidence. Just look at how confident he looks now." Ian and Aurora walked into the examination hall, looking at the seemingly confident William.
Perhaps.
There really seemed to be a mysterious confidence hidden behind those four words.
...
The first exam was actually just a theoretical one, or more simply, a written test. The first-year students from the four colleges were mixed up and divided into two classrooms to answer the test papers.
In order to prevent anyone from attempting to use magic pens to cheat, the exam prohibited anyone from bringing their own feather pens and ink, and they were only allowed to use the stationery provided by the school.
This point had been repeatedly mentioned by all the professors before the exams. A sign was even set up at the exam hall entrance, with a large prohibition symbol, referencing Ian's creation.
Answering pen.
This was a product Ian started selling a month before the exams after some improvements. The ban led to much lamentation among the Gryffindor little wizards.
However, Ian's mood was not greatly affected. He didn't need to rely on cheating methods to answer questions, and he already sold most of the answering pens he could.
There was no refund service. Ian planned to sell the remaining stock when school started next year, targeting rich Harry and the new Slytherin students to clear the inventory.
"I'm really such a bad guy!"
Ian skillfully answered the questions while reflecting on himself inwardly. By the time he finished reflecting, he had completed all the pages of the test.
Seeing as he couldn't submit it early and leave, Ian idly played with his pen. The pen and ink he used were the exam-specific supplies distributed earlier by Professor Flitwick.
It was a feather pen that effectively prevented cheating. Writing with it was slightly harder than with a regular feather pen, but fortunately, Hogwarts allotted ample answering time to the little wizards—more than enough to make high-stakes exam candidates from his previous life shed tears at such ample time.
"What a delightful scene to behold."
Seeing the other students still scribbling away, Ian spun his feather pen with the speed akin to an engine, catching Professor Flitwick's attention.
"Keep your magic in check, Mr. Prince. If you've finished the test, double-check your answers a few times over, and don't distract other students from thinking and answering."
It's only natural that in different worlds, invigilators behave the same. Of course, the examinees might be very similar too, and no matter how stringent the anti-cheat measures, some candidates would still take risks.
There were those who wrote crib notes inside their clothes, some daringly wrote on their hands, and others, whom Ian thought used Braille-like methods, carved cheats inside their mouths.
Ian noticed a Gryffindor student who, while answering, continuously moved their tongue wildly in their mouth. He couldn't help but marvel at how Gryffindor College consistently produced such ingenious minds.
Among them, someone always came up with unexpected ideas. Ian, having finished his test early, witnessed a spectacle of mischief, but the invigilating Professor Flitwick merely stopped him from playing with the feather pen.
As for the cheating students.
Professor Flitwick chose to turn a blind eye, calmly grooming his nose hair with a mirror on the podium for an entire morning. Ian suspected he might be carving some miniature sculpture on it.
As the exam time ended, everyone handed in their papers harmoniously, each with different expressions on their faces; some were elated, while others smug.
And then there were those who knew they had bombed the exam, looking utterly dejected.
"Very well, everyone did quite nicely."
Professor Flitwick sharply appraised, and while organizing the papers, he lightly waved his magic wand over them, causing seventeen or eight exam papers to float out from the stack.
"I must remind you, cheating is only cheating when it goes unnoticed. Getting caught just means being stupid." Professor Flitwick didn't care which subjects these papers pertained to either.
He simply waved his hand, marking all the extracted papers with a large 'T', representing the lowest grading for the exam results.
"Especially Miss Airel, although I'm not your Transformation Class professor, I also hope you can respect my eyesight. During next year's cheating, don't be so blatant."
"Of course, your trick of turning your crib notes into a bracelet and tying it on your wrist was pretty clever, but obviously, we're not in a Transformation Technique practice and application exam."
"As for Miss Daphne Greengrass, although you stayed earnest and focused throughout the exam, I hope you can sit in your own exam room to take your exam next time."
"Honestly, sacrificing your own exam score to use Polyjuice Potion for Mr. Roger Skelant is not a wise and right decision."
"Think about it, how much of the reward you got from Mr. Roger Skelant will be left after you've paid off the loan from buying the potion from some mysterious forces in the school?"
...
It was obvious that Professor Flitwick not only had a clear view of all the cheating activities happening in the exam hall, but he was also well aware of some recent events and trades happening within the school.