A New Charm Title

"Slytherin. Rumor had it that he came from the marshes of eastern Ireland, though this was never fully confirmed.

Now, if you think carefully, you can work out where Lady Ravenclaw came from."

Sean paused and waited for a moment.

"England, Wales, Ireland..."

While Justin racked his brains, Hermione's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Scotland!

The four founders of Hogwarts came from the four parts of the British Isles:

Scotland, Wales, England, and Ireland!"

"That's right."

Sean confirmed it.

"Remember the Sorting Hat's Song? 'Fair Ravenclaw, from glen.'"

Sean recited the line.

"Here, 'glen' is defined as a Scottish term for a mountain valley."

"Sean, you must be a walking book of stories!"

Justin cried softly, while Hermione lifted her chin and nodded.

Sean hummed, picked up his wand, and walked to the back of the classroom.

There, several books with brittle yellowed pages lay scattered across the floor.

"S-cour-g-ify—"

Sean flicked his wand, tracing a smooth S-shape. In the end, even the dust-covered books were spotless.

You practiced Scourgify once at the novice standard. Proficiency +3

Novice-level Scourgify unlocked

New Charm Domain Title unlocked. Please check it

Sean was in no hurry to check. Instead, he picked up the books and returned them to the shelves.

Then he looked around the classroom—

The desks and chairs, once covered in cobwebs, had become clean again, neatly arranged by Justin and Hermione.

Though the enormous bookshelf was still crooked, every book had been returned, and Sean had cleaned it thoroughly inside and out.

The strange-looking instruments piled in another corner had also been stacked and sorted by the three of them.

All in all, the place truly looked like a classroom in use now, rather than an antique relic from a thousand years ago.

Sean opened the System Panel.

Title: Charm Novice

Slightly increases perception of charms; greatly enhances Charm Talent

Greatly?

Filled with anticipation, Sean continued reading.

Wizard Sean, Charm Talent: Blue (boosted by the Charm Novice Title; original talent was White)
Note: Normal wizards are Green

I... can barely count as half a charm genius now, right?

Sean thought.

Talent made a noticeable difference.

The gap between White Talent and Blue Talent was like the difference between an ordinary snake and a Basilisk.

Sean had wanted to learn the four spells taught in Defense Against the Dark Arts for a long time.

Yet he had made little progress. Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1 contained no descriptions of them, while Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection remained vague and unclear.

It seemed he needed a professor's guidance.

But relying on Professor Quirrell was less realistic than expecting Professor Snape to throw open the Dungeon doors for him.

So Sean tried teaching himself.

To his surprise, after only a short time,

guided by some mysterious intuition, he unlocked Red spark and Green spark.

Just ten times.

Only ten times.

It even made the Young Wizard wonder whether his former White Talent had counted as some kind of defect in the Magical World.

As for those two spells—Red spark and Green spark—

they looked pretty pathetic, but they had two uses in actual combat:

First, they could serve as emergency distress signals. Sean remembered them being used during the third task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Second, they could be used as low-level offensive spells in battle.

During Harry's first year, Ron had said:

Harry and Malfoy had only been in class for a few days. At most, they could shoot sparks at each other with their wands.

Those sparks referred to Red spark and Green spark.

As Sean left the classroom, he could occasionally hear Mrs. Norris crying out in the corridor.

And—

"Sir Cadogan, a bet is a bet. You need to go to the Fat Friar's portrait and fetch me a bottle of fine liquor—"

Sure enough, a lady's voice came from the wall beside him. Sean looked up.

He saw a portrait of a plump witch in a white gown, smiling as she spoke to the portrait next to hers.

That portrait contained a short, stout knight carrying an overly long sword, his knees covered in grass stains.

He let out a long sigh.

"Merlin's beard—my dear Green, how could you not care about Quidditch?

You spent all your time hiding in the Library,

and came back so late!

See? Now another bottle of wine from my share is gone!"

Sean knew at once that Sir Cadogan and Lady Violet had made another bet.

This sort of thing was especially common.

Condemned to hang on walls with nothing to do until eternity, portraits naturally found amusement in whatever happened around them—

such as secretly betting on Hogwarts students.

Just as wizards might idly guess which raindrop on a window would fall faster,

these portraits would quietly hold contests involving students.

A common one was seeing who could reach their destination first by navigating the Moving Staircases.

(Of course, neutral portraits would follow along to act as judges.)

Sean did not answer Sir Cadogan. Otherwise, the knight would chatter alongside him all the way to the Common Room.

Giving him his name last time had already been enough to make Sean regret it.

The man had somehow made five or six jokes out of a single name:

"Sean Green decided to become a painter, but he failed because he had only ever seen one color. Do you know why?

Because he only—

Seen Green! Hahahahaha—"

Sean Green did not find that funny at all.

So he casually moved the Fat Friar's portrait to a hidden spot for a while.

Night passed quickly.

Hogwarts was about to welcome a new week.

And Monday, the first day of it, was the only day that could stir such strong emotions in Sean.

Perhaps it was also the most nerve-racking day for all new Ravenclaw students.

Because this morning, they were going to have their second Potions class.

Sean had gone over the procedure three times the night before and repeatedly reviewed his notes on Scurvy Paste.

In fact, for today's brewing,

he had only finished his Potions essay yesterday.

All so that his understanding of potions would be in peak condition.

Amid silence,

the Dungeon doors burst open with a bang—

Professor Snape's broad black robes billowed around him, making his sallow face seem even gloomier.

Though his movements were elegant enough, the Young Wizards still felt an overwhelming, powerful pressure bearing down on them.

"—The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff alliance. Heh—"

His voice was dark and forceful.

"A week has passed. If I find that certain people are still stubbornly maintaining—an astonishing deficit in intelligence and practical ability—"

Before he could even finish, the Young Wizards below were already trembling, some of them pale-faced.