Magic Node

"Did some Rosier say something to you!" Lyria filled in the blanks herself, "I knew she was up to no good! Don't you..."

"No, I haven't even seen her since arriving at school. I guessed it myself."

Yulian interrupted her, "Believe me or not, Lyria, promise me: stay away from Professor Quirrell. Don't go to him alone, and don't tell him any secrets about your family, your bloodline, or the Northlands."

Lyria looked at Yulian's serious expression and fell silent for a moment. She could feel that the concern in his words was genuine.

"Fine," she finally compromised, "I'll be careful. But I still think that even if Professor Quirrell is a bit strange, he couldn't be... he couldn't be a bad person. Otherwise, why would Dumbledore let him be a professor?"

Old Dumbledore? Pfft, that old fox is cunning as they come.

Knowing he couldn't fully convince her right away, Yulian could only sigh. "In any case, caution is best."

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Ravenclaw was having Charms class together with the Slytherin first-years (unlike in the original story). The class was taught by Professor Flitwick, the Head of Ravenclaw.

Professor Flitwick was a short old wizard with a mop of messy white hair. He had to stand on a stack of thick books just so all the students could see him.

He began the lesson in a cheerful and enthusiastic tone: "Good morning, children! Today, we shall learn a very basic, yet extremely important spell—the Levitation Charm!"

"Remember," Professor Flitwick emphasized, "the wrist movement must be fluid, like this—swish and flick! The pronunciation of the incantation is also crucial; the stress should be on the 'o' in 'Leviosa,' not on the 'sa'!"

"Like this," he waved his wand and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa!" A white feather on the podium immediately floated up lightly, spinning gracefully in the air.

"Now, it's your turn."

The classroom was immediately filled with a chaotic chorus of "Wing-ardium Levio-sa" and "Wingardium Le-vi-o-sa."

When Yulian had walked into the classroom earlier, he had spotted Elizabeth Rosier sitting in the front row. She was wearing deep blue robes today, which made her skin look even fairer, and that snake-shaped brooch on her chest shimmered brilliantly. She was looking down at The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, her expression so focused that it seemed as if everything around her was irrelevant.

At this moment, in the row behind Rosier on the Slytherin side, Malfoy was chanting the spell in an arrogant tone; his feather twitched slightly before falling back onto the desk. He glanced toward the Ravenclaw side, a look of disdain curling his lips.

Yulian ignored him. He closed his eyes, recalling the key points from the book Why Does the Feather Always Want to Hit Your Face? in the Magic Resonance Library.

He adjusted his breathing, felt the flow of magic within him, then gave his wrist a nimble swish and flick, chanting clearly: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

His feather immediately rose steadily into mid-air, hovering firmly, and could even move slowly according to his will.

Actually, this was the result of him deliberately controlling it; otherwise, he could have made the feather dance. Like the can-can. Oh, wait, the can-can wouldn't work—it doesn't have legs to split.

"Well done, Mr. Black!" Professor Flitwick called out in surprise, jumping down from his stack of books and hurrying over to Yulian's desk.

This completion rate should be better than that Gryffindor, Hermione; after all, he is a student of our Ravenclaw. "Perfect pronunciation, perfect movement! Five points to Ravenclaw!" Professor Flitwick's voice was exceptionally loud.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a cold, precise voice rang out from the front of the room: "Wingardium Leviosa."

Flitwick turned his head to look; it was Rosier. Her feather had also risen steadily, her movements clean and crisp, without a single wasted motion.

"Splendid, Miss Rosier!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed again, "Five points to Slytherin! It seems we have two gifted students today!"

At this, all the students applauded, except for Malfoy. Malfoy's expression was stiff. He glared at Rosier and Yulian in turn, as if blaming them for stealing his spotlight.

The class continued. Most students were still struggling with their feathers; some feathers only trembled slightly, while others flew uncontrollably to the ceiling, drawing bursts of laughter.

The bell rang, and Professor Flitwick clapped his hands to signal for silence.

"Your homework for today is to write an essay on the Levitation Charm. No length limit. Summarizing helps us further improve our spellcasting, so please complete it diligently."

He paused, then added, "Furthermore, there is no doubt you must continue practicing the Levitation Charm until you can keep a feather steadily hovering for at least ten seconds. Also..." He looked at Yulian and Rosier, "Mr. Black, Miss Rosier, please stay behind. I would like to have a word with you both."

The students in the classroom left one by one; Malfoy gave Yulian a vicious glare before leaving. Yulian felt that this cousin of his wasn't quite right in the head and decided it was best to keep his distance.

Soon, only Yulian, Rosier, and Professor Flitwick remained in the classroom.

"The two of you performed exceptionally well," Professor Flitwick said with a smile, "far beyond your peers. I am curious, had you been exposed to magic before entering school?"

"Not much, Professor." Yulian and Rosier gave the same answer almost simultaneously.

Professor Flitwick nodded, a flash of understanding in his eyes. "Pure talent, how enviable. However, talent also requires proper guidance. I noticed that your magic control while casting was very precise, which is rare. Especially you, Mr. Black; your magic control seems... to have undergone thousands of hours of training."

Yulian felt a chill, but his expression remained calm.

"Well then," Professor Flitwick pulled two thin booklets from his pocket, "these are some notes on fine magic control that I compiled when I was young; perhaps they will be of help to you. Take them, and I hope you make good use of them."

The two accepted the notes and thanked him.

Walking out of the classroom, the corridor was already mostly empty. The two of them flipped through the professor's notes briefly and decided that each would copy one and then swap.

At the moment of parting, Yulian hesitated, then asked, "Rosier, about your family and Lyria's tribe... can you tell me something?"

Rosier's footsteps faltered. She was silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, "I don't know much either. I only know that many years ago, Grindelwald commissioned our family to search for several ancient stone tablets across Europe. Those tablets were said to contain powerful natural magic; I don't know what they were specifically used for. My grandmother's generation... they did do some dishonorable things for this."

She looked up, meeting Yulian's eyes directly, her gaze sincere: "But I can guarantee that those matters have nothing to do with me. I hate that history, which is why I left my family and came to Hogwarts. I don't want to become like them."

Then, Rosier thought for a moment and added, "However, that matter has been over for many years. Since Grindelwald's defeat, I haven't heard of anyone in the family searching for those tablets again. This time, my family only wanted to take me to Durmstrang. After Headmaster Dumbledore negotiated with them, they agreed."

Yulian looked at her and nodded. "Of course I believe you. It's just that the matter of the tablets is likely not as simple as you think. We'll talk about it later; for us, learning is the most important thing, isn't it?"

The two smiled at each other, and the previous barrier seemed to vanish in that moment.

"By the way," Rosier suddenly remembered something, "I once saw an old book in a second-hand shop in Diagon Alley that mentioned the 'Eternal Night Forest,' 'Earth Vein Energy,' and 'Guardian Stone Tablets' or something similar. If you're interested, that book might be helpful to you. I think the title was Magic Nodes."

"Alright, thank you, Miss Rosier."

"Just call me Eliza." She turned and walked toward the Slytherin dungeons.

Suddenly, she rose slightly on her tiptoes, taking a small, light, and bouncy step forward, followed by another, her robe hem swaying happily with her movement.