Ryan was doing a little better. He had moved from a faulty-connection effect to a flashing-light mode, and the flashes were getting less frequent. It looked like he was close to succeeding.
But Mikel was another story. The light on his wand was extremely unstable. At its brightest, it was as dazzling as a searchlight; at its dimmest, it barely outshone a firefly. It seemed ready to go out at any moment.
But the worse it got, the more anxious he became, and the more anxious he became, the less control he had. He was caught in a vicious cycle.
"Um, you..."
Kyle wanted to help him, but as soon as he started to speak, he saw Mikel suddenly take a deep breath and jerk the hand holding his wand upward.
For no apparent reason, a sudden sense of foreboding welled up inside Kyle, as if something terrible were about to happen.
The feeling came on so suddenly that Kyle had no time to think. Almost instinctively, he turned around, ducked, and closed his eyes.
At almost the same moment, a blinding flash exploded like a flashbang, instantly engulfing the entire Charms classroom.
The sudden burst of light vanished after just a second, but its effects were disastrous.
Caught completely unprepared, many young wizards were struck full in the face by the flash. The next moment, cries of pain rang out from every direction. The young wizards clutched at their eyes, screaming and shoving as they tried to flee. The classroom descended into chaos.
Even Professor Flitwick was caught in it. But as a professor who had weathered many storms, he didn't panic like the young wizards. He endured the discomfort and shrilled reassurances to everyone.
"It's all right, there's no need to panic. Calm down, and you'll be able to see again in a little while."
Professor Flitwick tried hard, but to little effect. The classroom was still in complete disarray.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought Voldemort had stormed Hogwarts.
And he was facing the wrong way, too. Throughout the whole incident, he'd had his back to the young wizards and had been shouting at the wall behind him.
The four wizards in the painting found this absolutely ridiculous. They had been startled too, but since they were portraits rather than living people, they hadn't suffered any aftereffects.
So to them, Flitwick looked as foolish as a Tebo Warthog with a bashed-in head.
At that moment, the only ones in the Charms classroom who had stayed calm were Kyle, who had dodged the danger in advance, and a handful of lucky students.
There was little else they could do. They could only try to comfort their friends and help up those who had fallen, preventing anyone from being trampled.
It was several minutes before the aftereffects of the flash slowly wore off and the young wizards regained their sight.
"Oh, Merlin's beard, what a disaster."
Rubbing his eyes, Professor Flitwick shakily climbed down from behind the lectern.
He had been trying to come down and calm the young wizards, but he hadn't noticed that he was facing the wrong way. He'd stepped into empty space and fallen.
Professor Flitwick was furious.
He'd been teaching for decades and had experienced countless emergencies, big and small. He'd seen things like a Summoning Charm hitting someone, a Levitation Charm bringing in a cow, or an Unlocking Charm blowing up a lock, and none of it had surprised him.
Those things were all within his expectations... New students weren't familiar with magic yet, so mishaps were perfectly normal.
But he had never imagined that even a harmless Wand-Lighting Charm could go wrong.
With the resentment and anticipation of the entire class behind him, Professor Flitwick made his way to the culprit.
Mikel lay motionless across his desk. Professor Flitwick called his name several times, but he didn't react at all, continuing to lie there peacefully.
Professor Flitwick sensed that something was wrong. He hurried over to check Mikel and quickly reached a conclusion.
"He's alive. He must have passed out from magical exhaustion..."
Hearing that, Kyle breathed a sigh of relief.
Magical exhaustion here didn't mean that his magic had run out, but that he had no energy left. It was like an ordinary person staying awake for two days and two nights.
Professor Flitwick's gaze grew unfocused.
Magical exhaustion? From a Wand-Lighting Charm?
In just a few short minutes, this was the second time he'd questioned his entire understanding of life. He was even starting to wonder if he'd spent too long at Hogwarts and become embarrassingly out of touch.
After all, in the thousand-year history of the Wizarding World, he'd never heard of anyone exhausting himself to the point of collapse by casting a Wand-Lighting Charm.
"Professor, should I take him to Madam Pomfrey?"
Seeing Professor Flitwick standing there in silence, Kyle ventured, "He can't stay slumped over like this. It'd be better to have him checked out."
"Right... He should be checked. Take him there quickly."
With Professor Flitwick's permission, Kyle quickly cast a Levitation Charm on Mikel and took him out of the classroom.
Normally, Professor Flitwick would have awarded points for that. But right now... not losing points was already a blessing. What more could he ask for?
Not long after leaving the classroom, Kyle saw a cat sitting at the corner. It wasn't a catgirl; it was an actual cat, staring at him with two unblinking amber eyes.
"Mrs. Norris? Perfect."
Kyle spoke quickly. "A young wizard is hurt, and I need to take him to Madam Pomfrey, but I don't know the way. Could you show me?"
Cedric's map had marked the Hospital Wing, but Kyle had never been there and didn't know the exact route.
But this cat was different. She followed Filch around all the time and knew Hogwarts inside out. She had to know the quickest way.
It would be perfect if she was willing to help.
Mrs. Norris tilted her head as she looked at Kyle and the floating Mikel behind him. Without a word, she stood up and headed toward the stairs on the right.
Was that a yes?
Kyle hurried after her.
The two boys and the cat made their way among the staircases. Along the way, they took a shortcut through a hidden passage behind a statue, and in just a few minutes they reached a courtyard outside the Great Hall.
A huge grandfather clock stood there, which was why the courtyard was called Pendulum Courtyard.
When Kyle arrived, Mrs. Norris was sitting beside the clock. She pointed her tail at the staircase behind her, signaling for him to go up.
"Thanks. I'll bring you some fish treats."
Kyle reached out, hoping to give Mrs. Norris a rub on the head, but she nimbly dodged him.
Mrs. Norris flattened her ears and glared at Kyle in warning before turning and walking away. She soon disappeared from sight.
"Honestly, such a tsundere."
Kyle could only withdraw his hand with a rueful smile and take Mikel up the stairs.
All he had to do was follow the stairs straight up to the Hospital Wing. Besides, this staircase was stationary, so there was no need to worry about it going somewhere else along the way.
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