After the Troll Incident, Charlie felt like he had become a rare animal at Hogwarts.
Wherever he went, he always attracted a large number of eyes.
In the corridors, the students who had been whispering would immediately fall silent when he passed, secretly sizing him up with looks of admiration and curiosity.
The source of this trend was naturally the pair of big-mouthed brothers from Gryffindor, Harry and Ron.
Thanks to their publicity, the story of Charlie bravely fighting the Troll had spread throughout all four houses, spawning countless outrageous versions.
That afternoon, when Charlie stepped into Charms Class, the previously noisy room instantly fell silent.
Everyone turned to look at him in unison.
Charlie walked to his seat expressionlessly, ignoring the gazes around him.
He sat down and, unusually, did not lie down to sleep. Instead, he straightened his back and spread open his textbook.
Professor Flitwick stood on a stack of books so he could see over the lectern.
When he saw Charlie sitting upright with clear eyes, he nearly fell off the stack.
Was this really Charlie? He was actually awake!
Had the sun risen in the west?
Professor Flitwick was moved to tears.
"Students, today we'll be learning the Lumos Spell!"
Professor Flitwick's voice was exceptionally loud, filled with passion.
He felt full of energy. He had to perform exceptionally well in this lesson to live up to Charlie's seriousness.
And Charlie was indeed very serious—serious about not falling asleep. After all, he needed a favor from Professor Flitwick, and sleeping would have been too much.
When the bell rang, the students packed up and left.
Charlie stayed behind and took the initiative to walk toward the lectern.
"Professor."
Professor Flitwick was organizing his lesson plans. When he heard Charlie's voice, a brilliant smile immediately blossomed across his face.
"Mr. White! You listened very attentively in class today. I'm very pleased! Do you have a question?"
"Professor, I'd like to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"Do you know any Goblins?"
The moment he finished speaking, the smile on Professor Flitwick's face froze.
The enthusiasm in his large eyes quickly faded, replaced by wariness and complicated emotions.
The air in the office seemed to grow heavy.
Although he was a highly respected Charms professor at Hogwarts, that one-thousandth Goblin heritage had always been a thorn buried deep in his heart.
Several decades ago, Pure-blood Supremacy had still been popular in the Wizarding world.
It went without saying how much trouble his Goblin heritage had caused him.
What he feared most was that a student he admired would form a different opinion of him because of it.
"Why do you ask, Mr. White?" His voice became somewhat hoarse.
Charlie keenly sensed the change in atmosphere and immediately explained, "Professor, you know that I want to use Troll hide to make a suit of armor."
"I heard that Goblins are the best craftsmen, so I thought..."
Professor Flitwick's tense body relaxed.
He let out a sigh of relief. The stiff atmosphere vanished, and his smile returned.
"I see."
"Yes, armor and weapons made by Goblins really are the best. As it happens, I know a highly skilled blacksmith, though he has a somewhat strange temper."
"That's wonderful!" Charlie's eyes lit up.
"If you're in a hurry, I can take you there tonight."
Charlie looked a little embarrassed.
"Well, Professor, I'm afraid I can't make it tonight."
"Oh? Is there something important?"
"I have to serve detention with Professor McGonagall."
Professor Flitwick froze for a moment, then shook his head helplessly.
"All right. That's what you get for always causing trouble. How about tomorrow night?"
Charlie looked even more embarrassed.
"Tomorrow night, I have to serve detention with Professor Snape."
Professor Flitwick: "..."
Standing atop that stack of books, his tiny body was filled with enormous confusion.
"Mr. White." Professor Flitwick asked in his high-pitched voice, with profound sorrow, "Could you tell me which day you don't have detention?"
In the end, the two of them could only settle on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon, Charlie knocked on the door of Professor Flitwick's office right on time.
The office was warm and comfortable. Various medals and certificates covered the walls, while the bookshelves were crammed with thick spellbooks.
Professor Flitwick was standing on a tall stool, watering a pot of dancing daffodils.
When he saw Charlie enter, he happily jumped down from the stool and took a piece of honey cake that looked delicious from a drawer, handing it to Charlie.
"Here, have something to fill your stomach first. It's a bit of a journey."
Charlie accepted the cake and thanked him.
The two of them came to the fireplace in the office, and Professor Flitwick grabbed a handful of glittering powder.
"Have you used Floo Powder before?"
Charlie shook his head.
"Hold on tight, don't let go, and then clearly call out the place we're going." Professor Flitwick demonstrated.
"Step into the fireplace."
Charlie stepped into the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, and shouted as loudly as Professor Flitwick had.
"The Leaky Cauldron!"
The world spun around him, and green flames enveloped him.
The next second, he staggered out of the fireplace in The Leaky Cauldron.
Professor Flitwick followed close behind, emerging gracefully without a speck of dust on him.
Instead of taking Charlie through the bar's main hall, he led him into the small courtyard at the back.
"Hold on to my arm, Mr. White," Professor Flitwick said seriously.
"The sensation that follows may be a little... unusual, like being stuffed into a very tight tube."
The moment Charlie grabbed his arm, he felt the entire world around him suddenly compress. The air was sucked from his lungs, and his internal organs seemed to shift out of place.
The sensation lasted only an instant.
When he could breathe again, he was already standing in a dense forest.
The light here was dim. Towering trees blocked out the sky, and the air was filled with the smell of damp soil and rotting leaves. It was so quiet that he could hear only his own heartbeat.
"We're here."
Charlie crouched halfway down, feeling extremely nauseous from what had just happened.
Professor Flitwick handed him a cup of honey water.
"Drink this. You'll feel better. That's what Apparition is like the first time. You'll get used to it."
Charlie drank the honey water and said with difficulty, "Is this spell called Apparition, Professor?"
"Oh, yes, that's right."
Charlie called out to the system in his heart.
"Little System, blacklist this spell for me! I'm absolutely not drawing it!"
[...]
Professor Flitwick pointed toward a path deep in the forest.
"That blacksmith lives here. He doesn't like being disturbed."
The two of them followed the weed-choked path inward. The trees around them grew increasingly ancient, and the atmosphere grew darker and more secluded.
After walking for about ten minutes, a small clearing appeared ahead.
At the center of the clearing stood a small cabin built from logs, its chimney sending wisps of smoke into the air.
In front of the cabin, a short but exceptionally sturdy figure was striking the metal on an anvil with a hammer.
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