Lily's Notes

After arranging to visit Hagrid again over the weekend, Anduin left Hagrid's Hut and returned to Hogwarts Castle.

As Anduin crossed Clock Square, he heard a series of loud bangs coming from the direction of the Astronomy Tower.

Anduin thought, Looks like those two groups have started fighting. I wonder how Charles is doing, and whether he's involved. But Anduin had no intention of rushing over and getting caught up in it. If he went up there, both sides might mistake him for an enemy.

With that, he gave a mocking smile, ignored the commotion at the Astronomy Tower, and headed straight back to the Slytherin common room.

Back in his room, Anduin felt full of energy. It seemed that Hogwarts's wild boars, as Magical Creatures, could strengthen the body, too. Delighted, he did a set of Tai Chi to help digest his meal.

Afterward, Anduin resumed his study plan. This time, he opened his Potions textbook first. Alongside his studies of spells, he planned to spend some time looking into Potions, to see if he could learn to brew a few useful ones—and whether brewing Potions might help him recoup some of his expenses.

Meanwhile, up in the Astronomy Tower, Gryffindor and Slytherin had officially come to blows. It marked the end of peace at Hogwarts.

The next day, after his morning run, Anduin went to the Great Hall. As soon as he entered, he sensed that something was off. There were far fewer students at the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables. Usually, at this time, the Hall wasn't completely full, but at least seventy or eighty percent of the students would be eating. Now, the two Houses had noticeably fewer people than the other two.

Many of those seated at the tables glared at one another, looking ready to start a fight at the slightest provocation. Anduin spotted Charles at the Gryffindor table. He didn't seem to have been affected. When Charles saw Anduin come in, he gave him a calm nod.

"Oh, Anduin, did you hear what happened at school yesterday? I've got the inside scoop. Want to hear it?" As soon as Anduin sat down, Vivian leaned toward him, eyeing him with a mysterious look as if daring him to ask.

"No, and I don't want to know. You don't have to tell me." Anduin looked at Vivian calmly. I know exactly what happened. I even heard it yesterday. But what's it got to do with me?

"Anduin, you're no fun." Seeing that he wasn't taking the bait, Vivian deflated. Still, she launched into everything she'd heard. Keeping her mouth shut was harder for her than dying.

"Yesterday, someone in our House found out that Gryffindor planned to sneak out at night and have a gathering in the Astronomy Tower. So those Pure-blood family brats banded together, planning to teach Gryffindor a lesson.

"They were going to wait until Gryffindor's gathering, throw in a few Stink Bombs, ambush a few people with jinxes, and then block the entrance to the Astronomy Tower. They figured the Gryffindors would be thoroughly disgusted." Vivian told the story in such vivid detail, you'd have thought she'd been there herself.

"But guess what happened? Their people had only just sneaked into the Astronomy Tower when Gryffindor spotted them. What was supposed to be a prank turned into a full-blown battle between the two Houses. I heard several students on both sides were injured.

"Then they saw Professor McGonagall and Filch coming, so they scattered and ran. Only a few managed to get away; almost everyone else at the scene was caught. The injured were sent to the Hospital Wing, and the others are supposedly getting a month or two of detention." Vivian looked gleeful. You'd never have guessed she was a Slytherin.

Vivian then nodded toward Vanessa and said, "Gryffindor and Slytherin each lost at least a hundred points. Vanessa was furious. It's not even been two months since term started, and things are already like this. We probably don't stand a chance at the House Cup this year, either."

Anduin was impressed by Vivian's knack for getting the details. At the same time, he looked down on those weaklings. They'd gone looking for trouble in the middle of the night, and all they'd wanted was to play a prank?

They really are a bunch of kids with no sense of the bigger picture. I shouldn't waste my time on these little wizards.

With that, he stopped paying attention to the farce.

Soon it was time for another Spell Club meeting. Anduin arrived early at the meeting place and found a copy of Magical Defense Theory on the bottom shelf behind the lectern, just as he'd expected. He took the book and tucked it away, then found a seat and opened it. Several sheets of parchment covered in writing were tucked inside, and the book also contained many notes in Lily's hand. It seemed the book had belonged to her.

He flipped through it briefly. It mainly covered defensive spells and counter-curses for Dark Magic, and even explained how to develop a counter-curse for a spell. However, a lot of the material involved Ancient Runes, which Anduin couldn't understand yet.

"Ancient Runes is an elective for third-years. I'll have to find a way to study it early," Anduin thought.

Before long, the Spell Club meeting began. Anduin put the book aside and focused on the club.

It was clear that no matter the subject, getting results quickly was difficult. The members had little to show for their discussions, and Professor Flitwick, their instructor, mostly just answered their questions. Quirrell, the older student who had developed the Amplifying Hearing Spell, seemed to be making swift progress, though. He specialized in developing Sonic Spells, and in his latest demonstration, his Amplifying Hearing Spell let everyone in the room hear the portraits outside chatting. The sound was still muddled, but the spell's ability to carry sound had improved considerably.

Anduin was practically invisible at the Spell Club. He mostly watched and listened without offering any opinions. The older students simply assumed Professor Flitwick had invited him to sit in as a favor to the new student; none expected him to understand much.

Anduin was content with that. Quirrell's research into the Amplifying Charm had broadened his horizons and given him some new ideas about developing spells.

Developing a New Spell took a great deal of time spent on Rune Research, which also involved Ancient Runes. To invent a spell, one first needed a Base Rune, like preparing a canvas before painting.

Then Applied Runes were added to the Base Magical Script and combined in various ways. The stability of the runes had to be considered during the process, since some runes repelled each other. For example, "water" and "fire" could be combined without issue, but casting a spell with such an unstable Rune Structure would definitely cause an explosion.