Practicing Summoning Charms, Encountering Otter Lady

"That's hard to say. Sorting is decided by the Sorting Ceremony." George flashed a wicked grin. "Trying to get through the Sorting Ceremony... might be a bit difficult."

"Yeah!" Fred blinked, then abruptly shifted tone and said regretfully, "If you want to enroll, you'll have to pass the terrifying Sorting Ceremony!"

Lee Jordan said solemnly, "Mate, I believe in you. It's only a fight to the death—should be no problem for you."

The three of them were perfectly in sync. Each left behind one frightening remark before slipping out of the compartment.

Vizet remained calm. "The Sorting Ceremony... can't be that terrifying, can it?"

"I can't really say either." Cho Chang suppressed a laugh. "We should reach the school by evening. Everything will be revealed then."

The train left London and sped across the wilderness.

The area was sparsely populated, with only herds of cattle and sheep keeping the train company.

Soon, it was noon. Brilliant sunlight streamed into the compartment, while the clatter of trolley wheels echoed down the corridor.

A plump middle-aged woman pushed open the compartment door. "Dear, would you like something to eat? Sweets, cakes, snacks, pies... we have everything."

As she spoke, the woman took out a wide variety of snacks for display.

When Vizet had been at Luna's Home, he had eaten Xenophilius's homemade biscuits, made from Gurdyroot and flour. They were overwhelmingly onion-flavored, with not a trace of fragrance.

Although the meals at the welfare institution in his previous life had been nutritionally balanced, their taste had been indescribable. As a result, he had never been particularly demanding about food; filling his stomach had always been the priority.

Faced with so many choices, he turned to Cho Chang for help. "Do you have any recommendations? I've never seen any of these snacks before."

"It's a little hard to choose. They all have their own specialties..." Cho Chang frowned in thought. "If you want to experience the fun of magical snacks, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Chocolate Frogs are all good choices."

The snacks were incredibly cheap. Vizet bought several of everything Cho Chang had mentioned, and it only cost him fifteen Bronze Knuts.

Vizet sighed. "This is the most magical part."

Converted to the prices of his previous life, all those snacks would have cost around five yuan. It was unbelievably cheap.

What was more, their packaging was bright and colorful, especially eye-catching.

The blue paper box containing the Chocolate Frog in particular had gold trim along its top and bottom, making it look exquisitely crafted.

"Thank you!" Cho Chang accepted the Chocolate Frog Vizet handed her.

She opened one box, and the Chocolate Frog inside suddenly leapt up, tracing a brown arc through the air.

Vizet reacted swiftly and gently pinched the Chocolate Frog between his fingers. Surprise lit up his face. "It can actually move? That's amazing!"

Through the Magic Eye, he saw that magic clung to the Chocolate Frog's surface, along with an equally blurry symbol.

"The card inside is amazing too!" Cho Chang took a card from the box.

The card was likewise covered in a blurry magical symbol. It depicted a white-bearded old man, along with the name—Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled and gave Vizet a slight nod before disappearing from the card.

Vizet hurriedly asked, "Why did he disappear?"

"That's magic!" Cho Chang explained with a smile. "There are quite a few moving pictures in the Magical World. He might have left this picture to visit another one."

"The most valuable things in Chocolate Frog boxes are these cards. If you're interested, you can start collecting them too. The descriptions of the people on them are quite interesting."

"Descriptions?" Vizet turned the card over and began reading the introduction on its back.

"Widely regarded as the greatest wizard... defeated Gellert Grindelwald, leader of the Wizards' Supreme Party, in 1945... achieved remarkable results in Alchemy alongside Nicolas Flamel, creator of the Philosopher's Stone..."

Not only was the card interesting, but the Chocolate Frog was delicious too.

The milky and chocolatey flavors were wonderfully rich. Once it entered his mouth, the Chocolate Frog quickly melted, leaving behind nothing but silky smoothness.

Its perfectly balanced bitterness tempered the cloying sweetness. It deserved the highest praise—barely sweet at all.

"I should send some to Luna... and Mr. Lovegood!" Vizet's eyes lit up, and he hurried into the corridor to find the witch who had been selling snacks earlier...

Cho Chang seemed to be quite popular in Ravenclaw, and students came by to visit from time to time.

Not long after noon, another pretty brown-haired girl came looking for them.

The girl was a fifth-year Ravenclaw student named Penelope Clearwater.

Penelope wrapped her arms around Cho Chang's waist and poured out her troubles. "Cho, I'm feeling so much pressure right now... This Academic Year is the O.W.L. Exam, and I've become a prefect too."

As she spoke, she adjusted the badge on her chest. The blue-and-bronze badge gleamed brightly.

Cho Chang patted Penelope's shoulder and comforted her. "Isn't that a good thing? I heard you have your own bathroom, and it's incredibly luxurious."

"Benefits come with responsibilities." Penelope sighed softly. "For example, patrolling the train. I just switched shifts with Percy Weasley, and I still have a meeting later..."

"I only came over to sit for a while during my break, and to practice some magic while I'm at it... We couldn't cast spells during Summer Vacation, and that put me behind by so much."

With that, she pulled out her wand and handed a notebook to Cho Chang. "Cho, help me check whether I've memorized this correctly. The Summoning Charm—the incantation is Accio..."

"It's a spell that makes a distant target fly toward the caster. Precautions for casting it... You must focus your will, clearly picture the target, and it cannot be used on living creatures..."

She pointed her wand toward Cho Chang. "Accio notebook!"

The notebook flipped a few pages in Cho Chang's hands, then went still.

"I've gotten rusty..." Penelope looked annoyed. "Focus... clearly picture it... Accio notebook..."

Vizet vaguely remembered this spell. He flipped through The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 in his mind and, sure enough, found a description of the Summoning Charm.

The description of the Summoning Charm in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 was so lengthy that Vizet felt a little dizzy reading it.

On the other hand, he understood everything in Penelope's notes, and even felt ready to try it himself.

In fact, when Lee Jordan had been practicing the Mending Charm, Vizet had wanted to give it a try.

But the circumstances had been unusual then, so he had not been able to act on it.

Now, however, was a good time to practice.

He placed the Chocolate Frog across from him, took out his military-dagger-like Wand, and drew it back slightly. "Accio Chocolate Frog!"

The Blue Box containing the Chocolate Frog trembled. As if pulled by a Thread, it shifted twice in his direction.

The learning environment was important. Penelope experimented while summarizing her experience, and Vizet benefited greatly from it as well.

As he repeatedly practiced Accio, the Blue Box moved farther and farther each time.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded in the corridor.

"Have you seen a Toad? Neville's Toad is missing..."

Vizet looked up to see a panting girl standing before him.

The girl had a head of fluffy brown hair, chubby cheeks, and a pair of prominent front teeth. She looked rather like an otter.

Vizet instinctively wanted to pull back the Chocolate Frog, but out of habit, he recited the spell. "Accio Chocolate Frog!"

It worked!

The Blue Box shot into his palm at tremendous speed.

The girl's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief. "What kind of magic was that? Why haven't I seen it in any book?"