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**Chapter 117: Today's Fifth Years**
"Good morning, students. Please place your exam papers and essays on the podium, then find your seats."
As a group of students reached the classroom door, William appeared there with a smile.
Shamefully, after being a professor for so long, this was the first time William had arrived at the classroom before his students—previously, they had always been the ones to arrive early and wait for him.
Honestly, the feeling of waiting in the classroom for students to enter was completely different from having to walk into a room already full of them—the former felt like reaping a harvest, while the latter felt like an exploration.
‘I made a mistake. I should have arrived early for the very first class; that would have significantly eased the nervousness of facing the students.’
William watched the students stream in, smiling all the while.
For him now, this lesson was no longer necessary.
There was still tension in the classroom, but it belonged to the students, not him.
To be precise, there were three main reasons why William was able to arrive at the classroom early and wait for the students.
First, after teaching for a while, he had gradually become familiar with his way around the castle.
Second, his and Adams's mutual mudslinging had aroused the suspicion of the other professors. To prevent their foolishness from being exposed, he had to leave the staff table early.
Third, and most importantly, the fifth-year students were somewhat afraid of his class. The ones who usually arrived early were now staying far away from the classroom before class began, using excuses they hadn't even consciously made.
‘When the professor isn't nervous, the students are. Is this some kind of conservation of nervousness?’
Such a thought suddenly surfaced in William's mind, and he quickly lowered his head, feigning to check the exam papers to hide his smile.
"I need to check on your homework. Please take this time to read ahead in your textbooks. Continuing from our last lesson, read the next ten pages."
As William's voice echoed in the classroom, the rustling of books filled the entire room—after two weeks of exam paper bombardments, these children barely made a sound during class.
‘So-so, barely passing.’
‘Perfect.’
…
William's gaze swept across the densely answered exam papers, focusing on the first and last sentences of the answers, then roughly evaluating the papers based on handwriting and prose.
Theoretically, the students here shouldn't have mastered the ultimate slacker's technique of writing well at the beginning and end but poorly in the middle—but even if they had, William couldn't be bothered to care. He had a clear conscience regarding setting exams, assigning homework, and giving lectures. If students insisted on slacking off, all he could say was that he had done his best.
After spending some time skimming the papers, William breathed a sigh of relief. Based on his quick check, no student had done a shoddy job; they had basically all passed.
Although it was likely some students' work only got a proper review from him once a month, that couldn't be helped; there was still an essay that needed careful grading!
"Alright, I've had a quick look at the exam papers. They're not perfect, but no students tried to slack off. Let's begin today's lesson."
"No exam paper?"
A student instinctively blurted out, immediately drawing glares from the others.
*The professor finally forgot about the exam papers, so why are you being so considerate? It's only September, not even October yet. Can't the thoughtful little helper take a break?*
"Do you like exams that much?"
William chuckled. He smiled at the boy who had accidentally blurted out the question—he could guarantee that if he were to actually go along with it and give a test, the boy would probably be ostracized for a month.
However, exams weren't the goal; they were merely a means to encourage students to better grasp the knowledge.
Although William was currently just cramming information into them so they could pass their O.W.L.s, which made him feel a little guilty saying this, it didn't stop him from slightly changing the class content.
"Alright, no exam today. We'll mainly be studying the fifth-year material. However, today's lesson might move quite quickly, so make sure you take good notes. And—no skipping the after-class essay."
William opened his book and spoke to the students without lifting his head.
Then he heard a remarkably clear sigh of relief, as if everyone in the entire classroom had been holding their breath until then.
‘Look how scared these children are.’
He shook his head, opened the book to the page he was going to teach from, and placed his lesson plan beside it for reference. Only then did he turn to the blackboard and magically command a piece of chalk to begin writing.
‘I need to find time to practice a few more supplementary teaching spells. That way I can cover more in a single class—and have more time for review.’
——
Phew...
The frenzied chalk on the blackboard finally snapped and fell, its diligent work ceasing.
‘Don't tell me even the chalk finds the professor's workload too exhausting and decided to go on strike?’
The thought suddenly popped into the mind of Nancy, who had barely managed to keep up with her notes by using a Quick-Quotes Quill and writing by hand.
‘You need to learn to be content, Nancy. At least there are no maddening exam papers today!’
The girl tried to persuade herself not to be greedy—although the class was tiring, it was nothing compared to those insane exam papers.
‘It's just a pity there are no exam papers. No way to earn extra points.’
She closed her notebook as the thought surfaced, then immediately shook her head hard to fling it from her mind.
Missing exam papers—how was that any different from that idiot Dickie who asked the professor if there was no exam paper?
She quickly emptied the thought from her mind. By then, a fresh piece of chalk was on the blackboard, tirelessly scribbling away.
Fortunately, Nancy had prepared well for the class and was still able to keep up.
However, this didn't mean she felt much relief. By the time the break in the lecture came, as the professor closed his textbook, Nancy, like many other students, slumped onto her desk.
"Alright, everyone, take a break. We've certainly covered things a bit quickly. It's the usual rule: to ensure you understand, a two-thousand-word essay."
The professor's voice rang out, but many people didn't even have the strength to complain.
"Was it that serious?"
Nancy now really wanted to cast a spell on the professor—*How is it not that serious?!*
"Hmm, isn't anyone curious what we'll do next, having finished the planned review content in half the class time?"
‘What's next? Who knows? Usually, it's an exam. Is today going to be different—lecture first, then exam?’
Such a terrifying thought surfaced in Nancy's mind—*Professor, are you a demon?*
But just as she was silently complaining, a tremendous cheer suddenly erupted in the classroom. The students immediately became energetic, as if they had been given some strange potion.
‘What happened?’
Just as she was still wondering, her best friend had already left her seat and hugged her tightly. "Nancy, practical class, practical class!"
(end of chapter)
"Good morning, students. Please place your exam papers and essays on the podium, then find your seats."
As a group of students reached the classroom door, William appeared there with a smile.
Shamefully, after being a professor for so long, this was the first time William had arrived at the classroom before his students—previously, they had always been the ones to arrive early and wait for him.
Honestly, the feeling of waiting in the classroom for students to enter was completely different from having to walk into a room already full of them—the former felt like reaping a harvest, while the latter felt like an exploration.
‘I made a mistake. I should have arrived early for the very first class; that would have significantly eased the nervousness of facing the students.’
William watched the students stream in, smiling all the while.
For him now, this lesson was no longer necessary.
There was still tension in the classroom, but it belonged to the students, not him.
To be precise, there were three main reasons why William was able to arrive at the classroom early and wait for the students.
First, after teaching for a while, he had gradually become familiar with his way around the castle.
Second, his and Adams's mutual mudslinging had aroused the suspicion of the other professors. To prevent their foolishness from being exposed, he had to leave the staff table early.
Third, and most importantly, the fifth-year students were somewhat afraid of his class. The ones who usually arrived early were now staying far away from the classroom before class began, using excuses they hadn't even consciously made.
‘When the professor isn't nervous, the students are. Is this some kind of conservation of nervousness?’
Such a thought suddenly surfaced in William's mind, and he quickly lowered his head, feigning to check the exam papers to hide his smile.
"I need to check on your homework. Please take this time to read ahead in your textbooks. Continuing from our last lesson, read the next ten pages."
As William's voice echoed in the classroom, the rustling of books filled the entire room—after two weeks of exam paper bombardments, these children barely made a sound during class.
‘So-so, barely passing.’
‘Perfect.’
…
William's gaze swept across the densely answered exam papers, focusing on the first and last sentences of the answers, then roughly evaluating the papers based on handwriting and prose.
Theoretically, the students here shouldn't have mastered the ultimate slacker's technique of writing well at the beginning and end but poorly in the middle—but even if they had, William couldn't be bothered to care. He had a clear conscience regarding setting exams, assigning homework, and giving lectures. If students insisted on slacking off, all he could say was that he had done his best.
After spending some time skimming the papers, William breathed a sigh of relief. Based on his quick check, no student had done a shoddy job; they had basically all passed.
Although it was likely some students' work only got a proper review from him once a month, that couldn't be helped; there was still an essay that needed careful grading!
"Alright, I've had a quick look at the exam papers. They're not perfect, but no students tried to slack off. Let's begin today's lesson."
"No exam paper?"
A student instinctively blurted out, immediately drawing glares from the others.
*The professor finally forgot about the exam papers, so why are you being so considerate? It's only September, not even October yet. Can't the thoughtful little helper take a break?*
"Do you like exams that much?"
William chuckled. He smiled at the boy who had accidentally blurted out the question—he could guarantee that if he were to actually go along with it and give a test, the boy would probably be ostracized for a month.
However, exams weren't the goal; they were merely a means to encourage students to better grasp the knowledge.
Although William was currently just cramming information into them so they could pass their O.W.L.s, which made him feel a little guilty saying this, it didn't stop him from slightly changing the class content.
"Alright, no exam today. We'll mainly be studying the fifth-year material. However, today's lesson might move quite quickly, so make sure you take good notes. And—no skipping the after-class essay."
William opened his book and spoke to the students without lifting his head.
Then he heard a remarkably clear sigh of relief, as if everyone in the entire classroom had been holding their breath until then.
‘Look how scared these children are.’
He shook his head, opened the book to the page he was going to teach from, and placed his lesson plan beside it for reference. Only then did he turn to the blackboard and magically command a piece of chalk to begin writing.
‘I need to find time to practice a few more supplementary teaching spells. That way I can cover more in a single class—and have more time for review.’
——
Phew...
The frenzied chalk on the blackboard finally snapped and fell, its diligent work ceasing.
‘Don't tell me even the chalk finds the professor's workload too exhausting and decided to go on strike?’
The thought suddenly popped into the mind of Nancy, who had barely managed to keep up with her notes by using a Quick-Quotes Quill and writing by hand.
‘You need to learn to be content, Nancy. At least there are no maddening exam papers today!’
The girl tried to persuade herself not to be greedy—although the class was tiring, it was nothing compared to those insane exam papers.
‘It's just a pity there are no exam papers. No way to earn extra points.’
She closed her notebook as the thought surfaced, then immediately shook her head hard to fling it from her mind.
Missing exam papers—how was that any different from that idiot Dickie who asked the professor if there was no exam paper?
She quickly emptied the thought from her mind. By then, a fresh piece of chalk was on the blackboard, tirelessly scribbling away.
Fortunately, Nancy had prepared well for the class and was still able to keep up.
However, this didn't mean she felt much relief. By the time the break in the lecture came, as the professor closed his textbook, Nancy, like many other students, slumped onto her desk.
"Alright, everyone, take a break. We've certainly covered things a bit quickly. It's the usual rule: to ensure you understand, a two-thousand-word essay."
The professor's voice rang out, but many people didn't even have the strength to complain.
"Was it that serious?"
Nancy now really wanted to cast a spell on the professor—*How is it not that serious?!*
"Hmm, isn't anyone curious what we'll do next, having finished the planned review content in half the class time?"
‘What's next? Who knows? Usually, it's an exam. Is today going to be different—lecture first, then exam?’
Such a terrifying thought surfaced in Nancy's mind—*Professor, are you a demon?*
But just as she was silently complaining, a tremendous cheer suddenly erupted in the classroom. The students immediately became energetic, as if they had been given some strange potion.
‘What happened?’
Just as she was still wondering, her best friend had already left her seat and hugged her tightly. "Nancy, practical class, practical class!"
(end of chapter)
