Charms Lv2 and the Art of Wand-Waving~

This morning was Charms Class, with Ravenclaw and Gryffindor attending together.

Standing on a stack of books, Professor Flitwick poked his head out from behind the lectern and asked, "Today, we'll be learning the Levitation Charm. Does anyone know its incantation?"

Professor Flitwick looked toward Ted, only to find that Ted seemed a little distracted today.

Of course, Ted was not distracted from lack of sleep. He had rested thoroughly through deep sleep. Though that method could not be used consecutively, staying up late once in a while was nothing.

It was just that Ted had not expected them to be learning the Levitation Charm today.

After all, the Levitation Charm had been involved in plenty of plotlines in the original story.

Seeing that Ted, who usually rushed to answer questions, had not raised his hand today, Professor Flitwick called on Hermione instead.

Hermione earned five points. After sitting down, she kept her eyes on the lectern but tilted her head slightly toward Ted and whispered, "Ted, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine. I just got distracted for a moment," Ted said. "By the way, is tomorrow Halloween?"

Hermione nodded slightly. "That's right. Today is Halloween Eve. I heard the school is preparing a very lavish feast."

Beside them, Harriett eagerly chimed in, "I heard from a 'reliable' source that Dumbledore has invited a famous Skeleton Dance Troupe to perform this year!"

So it really was Halloween! Today was October 31st, Halloween Eve, a traditional Western holiday whose celebrations were generally held at night.

This holiday was mainly popular in Western countries with large populations of Saxon descendants, such as the United States, the British Isles, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

That night, children would dress up in costumes, wear masks, and go door to door collecting candy.

The Western ghost festival, basically.

And in the world of "Harry Potter," something happened every Halloween. It was practically a law of nature.

Now that Hermione obviously would not run off to the bathroom crying because Ron had badmouthed her behind her back, what would happen instead? Would the troll still appear?! Ted's curiosity instantly exploded.

Although Professor Quirrell still acted like the same useless weirdo, based on Ted's private discussions with him about magical bloodlines, the man was clearly an outstanding Ravenclaw student! He was just somewhat specialized, with magical bloodlines being his field of research. Many of his theories were both advanced and extreme. He really was a budding mad scientist.

Ted kept an unusually low profile in Charms Class today, making Professor Flitwick somewhat uncomfortable. Was there something wrong with his teaching plan?! They had been studying Charms for two months now, and Ted's group had been progressing remarkably well.

In total, they had learned:

Lumos, the wand flashlight.

The Signal Charm, which fired red, yellow, and green fireworks from a wand as signals for help or notification.

The Fire-Making Charm, Incendio. At low levels, it was just a lighter; at high levels, it was a Flamethrower.

The Severing Charm. Its main purpose was everyday cutting of cloth, paper, food, and the like, but some people used it in combat to cut off heads directly.

Four spells in two months was very good progress.

Of course, Ted and the others had certainly been studying on their own as well. In fact, that was Hogwarts' teaching philosophy—the school only taught the basics, and if you wanted to improve, you studied by yourself. So-called happy education.

Average students were genuinely happy, while the top students were all obsessive grinders~ Most of Ted's attention throughout the lesson was on Professor Quirrell's "performance" that evening, but with his current foundation in Charms, learning a simple spell like the Levitation Charm was no problem.

He still succeeded on his first try in class.

But there was even a surprise! "Ding~ You have learned a new spell—the Levitation Charm. You have gained 80 experience."

"Ding~ Through long periods of study and practice, you have gained a deeper understanding and exploration of Charms. Charms has leveled up to Lv2."

At that moment, Ted suddenly felt that Charms were incredibly simple. Problems that had once required long periods of thought and research now became clear with a casual pass through his mind.

It was as though his eight extraordinary meridians had been opened in an instant! Ho~ A ray of Spiritual Light surged from the crown of his head! Professor Flitwick would kowtow at the sight, and Dumbledore would submit...

Of course, that was impossible!

After becoming familiar with Professor Flitwick, Ted had found an opportunity to use the Appraisal Technique on him. His Charms level was Lv8. Did they understand the weight of master-level Charms?! It meant that there were practically no ordinary spells he did not know or could not cast!

Whether in the depth of his research or the breadth of his studies, Professor Flitwick surpassed 99% of wizards in the magical world.

Ted had even once accidentally seen documents on his Head of House's desk revealing that Professor Flitwick had been researching Ancient Magic for years.

It could be said that aside from certain secret White Magic and Dark Magic, he could offer guidance on virtually any standard spell.

Put a new spell in front of him, and he could decipher it in a few days at most.

And Ted was only Charms Lv2~ Easy stuff!

Over this period, Ted had also found opportunities to gather data on quite a few students. He had reached several conclusions: students who could earn an Outstanding in a particular O.W.L.s subject in their fifth year were generally Lv3.

Students who could earn an Outstanding in a particular N.E.W.T. subject upon graduating in their seventh year were generally Lv4.

In other words, relatively outstanding adult wizards were probably Lv4 in a few subjects.

Of course, some people continued to improve and level up after graduation. But most wizards would remain at that level for the rest of their lives, and some might even regress. Use it or lose it! That only made the value of Professor Flitwick's Charms Lv8 even clearer.

Although he had not made progress on his quest during class, his Charms skill had leveled up. That was absolutely a good thing.

Seeing Ted succeed again on his first try, Ron and Neville quietly asked him for tips.

They had often received pointers from Ted before. He was good at summarizing experience, so his advice was usually very useful.

The other students, who were completely at a loss, also pricked up their ears to eavesdrop.

This time, perhaps because of Halloween, Ted was a little excited and decided to play a small joke on them.

"Well~ You can't wave your wand too stiffly. You need to pay attention to this: relax, stay fluid, bounce, shake—lightning five consecutive whips~"

"Watch me~ Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather floated up, drifting through the air along with Ted's wand, completely obedient to his commands.

The students immediately felt that they had found the key and began trying it themselves.

Then, with a "boom~," Seamus gave himself another smoke-blackened explosive hairstyle.

Ron swung his wand with even more passion than a conductor's baton, and with one careless move, he could have stabbed through Jerry's head at the desk in front of him.

Jerry's wand twitched wildly, flew out of his hand, and was caught in time by Ted with the Levitation Charm.

In short, the classroom was filled with a joyful atmosphere~...

Today, the Ravenclaw students were all very curious. Gray Lady, whom they normally did not see even once a month, had been staring blankly at Ravenclaw's statue in the Common Room since early that morning.

Although ghosts often stared into space for long periods because of their strange sense of time, they generally did not stay in crowded, noisy places.

Yet Gray Lady had remained there all morning and still had not left by noon.

When Ted and Hermione returned after lunch, they saw Gray Lady there.

At the sight of Ted, Gray Lady's expression changed slightly, but she quickly left without saying anything.

However, Hermione was absolutely Sherlock-level when it came to this sort of thing.

"Do you know each other?" she asked.

"Of course. Gray Lady doesn't appear often, but I've still seen her many times."

"She seemed like she wanted to say something to you just now."

"Mm, maybe what I said to her this morning has been weighing on her mind."

"You said... never mind. I won't ask. You should talk to her. We only have one class this afternoon. Contact me by paper crane." With that, she hugged her textbooks and left.

It had to be said that after two months at school, all the little companions had grown a great deal—not only in knowledge and magic, but also mentally and emotionally.