A Busy New Semester

Wes immediately reached out, eager to take the Egyptian Book of the Dead from Dumbledore's hands. Just as his fingers were about to touch the book, Dumbledore flicked his wrist and swiftly withdrew it.

That reaction speed did not look like that of a man over a hundred years old at all.

Wes blankly pulled back his outstretched hand and looked at Dumbledore somewhat awkwardly.

Dumbledore did not respond to Wes's gaze. Instead, he turned to the bookshelf and took down several books. They were:

History of Egyptian Magic

Introduction to Ancient Egyptian

Egyptian Mythology

Egypt###.

"Headmaster, what do you mean by this?"

Looking at the books on the desk, which were completely unrelated to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Wes thought Dumbledore was going back on his word.

"Do you know Ancient Egyptian, Wes?" Dumbledore asked slowly with a smile.

Wes shook his head. He had never come into contact with knowledge of ancient Egypt and knew nothing about Ancient Egyptian.

"Do you understand Egyptian mythology?" Seeing Wes's utter lack of knowledge, Dumbledore continued to press him.

Faced with Dumbledore's two consecutive questions, Wes suddenly understood.

Dumbledore caught Wes's expression and knew that he had understood his intentions. He told Wes, "If you want to understand the Egyptian Book of the Dead, you must first learn Ancient Egyptian and Egyptian mythology."

Wes nodded cooperatively, then gathered up the books on the desk. At that moment, he could hardly wait to devour them all in one go and learn Ancient Egyptian as quickly as possible.

But reality was far more difficult than he had imagined. Ancient Egyptian was obscure and hard to understand. He spent several days on it, yet had not even managed to get started.

As for Voldemort's Diary, Wes simply had no time to deal with it at the moment.

He believed that, as the first Horcrux Voldemort had created, it had been made when Voldemort was still just a student. He most likely had not mastered any particularly profound magical knowledge then.

Its greatest value lay in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk. But how could those compare to the Egyptian Book of the Dead?

Wes remained busy until Friday afternoon of the first week of the new term—his first class.

When he arrived at the classroom door and reached for the handle, his mind was still occupied with those books on ancient Egypt.

However, the moment he opened the classroom door, the sight before him left him stunned. "Wow... Did I walk into the wrong classroom?"

There were nearly twice as many students in the classroom as last year. The entire room was especially lively and even somewhat crowded.

Wes saw Harry, Ron, Malfoy, and the Weasley family's twin brothers, as well as several unfamiliar faces.

Everyone had their own reasons for choosing this course. With different expectations and goals, they had gathered in this classroom.

With Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had chosen this elective in her first year, the trio was finally complete.

Harry's reason for choosing the course was simple. Last year in the Forbidden Forest, he had seen Wes fight the Dark Lord. Wes's immense strength had opened his eyes and also made Harry curious about him.

He longed to learn some powerful magical knowledge from this course.

As for Ron, it was entirely because both of his friends had chosen the course. He felt that if he did not choose it too, he would somehow be abandoned. He did not want to leave his best friends, so he chose the course as well.

Like Harry, Malfoy was full of curiosity about Wes. On top of that, his father had assigned him a task: to investigate whether anything strange was happening around Wes.

The Weasley family's twin brothers, meanwhile, were very interested in alchemy and had chosen this course on Professor McGonagall's recommendation.

Most of the other students had chosen the elective for the credits, and because they had heard that the course came with very little homework.

After all, herding one sheep was the same as herding a flock.

Wes did not care either way.

After the first class ended, Wes assigned no homework. He merely told the students who had only chosen the course this year to borrow notes from the older students.

The students were all delighted. They thought a class with no homework was simply wonderful.

Only Hermione was unhappy. She had always insisted that Wes assigned far too little homework.

As Wes was preparing to leave the classroom, the twin brothers approached him.

"Professor Erwin~" Fred said, a brilliant smile on his face.

"Professor McGonagall said you're skilled at alchemy," George cut in.

"We have a lot of questions," Fred added, his tone full of eagerness.

"Could we ask you for guidance?" George supplemented sincerely.

The twin brothers were so in sync that it was as though one person were speaking.

"The Weasley brothers?" Wes studied the twins but could not tell which was which.

They looked far too alike, making them difficult to distinguish.

"I'm Fred," said the one on the left, a mischievous smile appearing on his face.

"I'm George," replied the one on the right.

"Alright." Only then did Wes barely manage to tell the twins apart. "May I see your report cards?"

"Here."

The two spoke in unison.

Seeing the two report cards before him, Wes knew the brothers had come prepared.

Wes took the report cards and looked them over, discovering that the brothers' grades were extremely lopsided. They had several P's (Poor) in subjects like Divination and History of Magic, but earned O's (Outstanding) in practical subjects such as Transfiguration and Charms.

Their grades showed that Fred and George were remarkably talented. Otherwise, they would not have earned so many O's.

"Your strengths and weaknesses are rather extreme."

Wes frowned slightly, feeling a little concerned about their severely unbalanced grades.

"We're not bookworms."

"Nor do we want to be prefects."

"We just want to focus our energy on subjects that interest us."

The twin brothers spoke in unison.

Wes had a headache. Students like the twins were the hardest to handle.

They had minds of their own and were highly proactive. Who knew when they might suddenly create some huge spectacle and give everyone a fright?

But Professor McGonagall had recommended them. Back when he had been a student, Wes had received a great deal of care from Professor McGonagall.

Wes did not want to disappoint this vice-principal who cared so deeply for her students.

"All right," Wes said. "I can make time every Wednesday evening. If you have any questions, come to my office."

The twin brothers happily high-fived in celebration.

"Wonderful."

"Thank you, Professor."

The two brothers ran excitedly out of the classroom. After that, every Wednesday, the twins came to Wes with questions about alchemy.

Wes also discovered that the twins possessed extraordinary talent in alchemy. Their imaginative ideas often gave Wes inspiration.

Wes taught the two brothers alchemy with all his heart, far beyond the bounds of an ordinary teacher-student relationship.

The Hogwarts students noticed that the most mischievous twins had unexpectedly become diligent and eager to learn. They could often be seen in the library looking something up.

When asked, they refused to answer, only saying that they would definitely leave everyone astonished.

Percy Weasley was very pleased by his brothers' change, believing it had happened under the influence of himself, their outstanding elder brother.

Ron, however, scoffed at the idea, convinced that the twins must be plotting something big.

Yet until Halloween, the two brothers did not cause any sort of commotion.