diff --git a/wizard-work/spark/verify_scratch_analysis.py b/wizard-work/spark/verify_scratch_analysis.py
index 3cda0dd..8f8edfb 100644
--- a/wizard-work/spark/verify_scratch_analysis.py
+++ b/wizard-work/spark/verify_scratch_analysis.py
@@ -3,19 +3,26 @@
 import json
 import sys
 
+
+def _check(cond, msg="check failed"):
+    """Explicit failure path -- survives `python3 -O`, where `assert` is compiled away."""
+    if not cond:
+        raise SystemExit(f"FAIL: {msg}")
+
+
 with open("/root/.hermes/wizard-outputs/spark/scratch_analysis.json") as f:
     data = json.load(f)
 
 # Verify required fields
-assert "total_files" in data, "Missing total_files"
-assert "total_bytes" in data, "Missing total_bytes"
-assert "file_types" in data, "Missing file_types"
-assert "files" in data, "Missing files array"
+_check("total_files" in data, "Missing total_files")
+_check("total_bytes" in data, "Missing total_bytes")
+_check("file_types" in data, "Missing file_types")
+_check("files" in data, "Missing files array")
 
 # Verify counts match
-assert data["total_files"] == len(data["files"]), "File count mismatch"
-assert data["total_files"] == 165, f"Expected 165 files, got {data['total_files']}"
-assert 230000 <= data["total_bytes"] <= 250000, f"Total bytes out of range: {data['total_bytes']}"
+_check(data["total_files"] == len(data["files"]), "File count mismatch")
+_check(data["total_files"] == 165, f"Expected 165 files, got {data['total_files']}")
+_check(230000 <= data["total_bytes"] <= 250000, f"Total bytes out of range: {data['total_bytes']}")
 
 print("VERIFICATION PASSED")
 print(f"Total files: {data['total_files']}")