The Professor Who Doubts Life in a Spellcasting Class (Seeking Collections, Seeking Recommendations)

Ryan was doing a bit better; he had switched from a bad connection to a strobe-light mode, and the frequency was becoming increasingly stable. It looked like he wasn't far from success.

Mikel, however, was a different story. The light on his wand was incredibly erratic; at its brightest, it was as blinding as a searchlight, while at its weakest, it was barely brighter than a firefly, flickering as if it might extinguish at any moment.

The more this happened, the more anxious he became, and the more anxious he grew, the less he could control it, creating a vicious cycle.

"Hey, you..."

Kyle wanted to help him, but just as he opened his mouth, he saw Mikel take a sudden, deep breath and jerk his wand-wielding hand upward.

For no apparent reason, a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in Kyle's heart, as if something terrible were about to happen.

The feeling hit so suddenly that Kyle had no time to think; acting purely on instinct, he turned, ducked, and squeezed his eyes shut.

Almost at the same instant, a blinding, intense light—like an exploding flashbang—instantly engulfed the entire Charms classroom.

Although the sudden glare vanished after a second, the aftermath was catastrophic.

Many young wizards, caught completely unprepared, were hit square in the face by the brilliance. The next second, wails erupted from all directions. The students clutched their eyes, screaming and shoving as they tried to flee the room, throwing the classroom into total chaos.

Even Professor Flitwick had been caught, but as a professor who had weathered many storms, he wasn't as panicked as the students. He endured the discomfort while shrilly trying to reassure everyone.

"It's alright, everyone, don't panic! Calm down, you'll be able to see again in a moment."

Despite Professor Flitwick's best efforts, the results were minimal; the classroom remained in a state of utter pandemonium.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought Voldemort had broken into Hogwarts.

Furthermore, he was facing the wrong way; throughout the entire ordeal, he had been shouting at the wall behind him, his back turned to the students.

The four wizards in the paintings found this utterly pathetic. Although they had been startled, they weren't living beings, so they weren't affected by the lingering effects of the light.

To them, Professor Flitwick's performance looked just as foolish as a Tebo Warthog that had bumped its head.

At this moment, the only ones in the Charms classroom who remained composed were Kyle, who had anticipated the risk, and a few other lucky souls.

They had no other way to help, so they could only do their best to comfort their companions and help up the students who had fallen to prevent a stampede.

It wasn't until several minutes later that the aftereffects of the intense light slowly faded, and the students regained their vision.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, this is truly a disaster."

Professor Flitwick rubbed his eyes and shakily climbed down from behind his desk.

He had intended to climb down earlier to soothe the students, but because he hadn't realized he was facing the wrong way, he had missed his footing and taken a tumble.

Professor Flitwick was furious.

He had been in the profession for decades and had experienced countless emergencies, large and small. He had seen Summoning Charms hit people, Levitation Charms summon cows, or Locking Spells blow locks off doors—he had seen it all and never felt surprised.

Because those were within his expectations... they were first-years, after all; it was normal for them to have trouble mastering magic and run into a few issues.

However, he had never, in his wildest dreams, imagined that a simple Lumos charm could cause such an accident.

With the resentment and anticipation of all the students behind him, Professor Flitwick marched toward the culprit.

Mikel was slumped motionless over his desk. Professor Flitwick called his name several times, but there was no response; he remained peacefully sprawled there.

Professor Flitwick sensed something was wrong, hurried to Mikel's side to check on him, and quickly reached a conclusion.

"He's still alive. It appears to be a faint caused by magical exhaustion..."

Hearing this, Kyle let out a sigh of relief.

Magical exhaustion here didn't mean his mana bar was empty, but rather that he had no energy left—much like an ordinary person who hadn't slept for two days and two nights.

Professor Flitwick's gaze was somewhat unfocused.

Magical exhaustion? From a Lumos charm?

In the span of just a few minutes, this was the second time he had questioned his life. He even began to wonder if he had stayed at Hogwarts for too long and had become somewhat ignorant of the world.

Because in the thousand-year history of the wizarding world, he had never heard of anyone fainting from exhaustion after casting a simple lighting spell.

"Professor, should I take him to Madam Pomfrey?"

Seeing Professor Flitwick standing there in a daze, Kyle tentatively suggested, "He can't just stay slumped here like this; it would be better to have him checked out."

"Right... yes, he needs to be checked. Go on, take him."

Having received Professor Flitwick's permission, Kyle quickly cast a Levitation Charm on Mikel and carried him out of the classroom.

Given Professor Flitwick's personality, he would usually have awarded points for such an act, but now... it was a blessing enough that he hadn't deducted any; one couldn't ask for more.

Not long after leaving the classroom, Kyle saw a cat sitting at the corner—not a cat-girl, but a real cat, its two amber eyes staring at him unblinkingly.

"Mrs. Norris? Thank goodness."

Kyle said quickly, "A student is injured, and I need to get to Madam Pomfrey, but I don't know the way. Could you help lead me there?"

Although the map Cedric had given him marked the location of the hospital wing, he had never been there and wasn't familiar with the specific route.

But this cat was different; having followed Filch around for years, it was intimately familiar with Hogwarts and surely knew the fastest way to get there.

If it were willing to help, that would be for the best.

Mrs. Norris tilted her head to look at Kyle and the floating Mikel behind him, then stood up without a word and headed toward the staircase on the right.

Was this an agreement?

Kyle hurried to follow.

The two of them and the cat wove through various staircases, even taking a shortcut through a secret passage hidden behind a stone statue, and within a few minutes, they arrived at a courtyard outside the Great Hall.

A massive grandfather clock stood here, which was why it was known as the Pendulum Courtyard.

By the time Kyle arrived, Mrs. Norris was already sitting beside the grandfather clock, using her tail to point at the staircase behind it, signaling for him to go up.

"Thanks, I'll bring you some dried fish."

Kyle reached out, wanting to rub Mrs. Norris's head, but she nimbly dodged his hand.

Mrs. Norris flattened her ears, shot Kyle a warning glare, and turned to leave, disappearing from sight in an instant.

"Heh, tsundere."

Kyle sighed helplessly, retracted his hand, and led Mikel up the stairs.

As long as they kept going up from here, they would reach the Hospital Wing, and since this staircase was fixed, there was no need to worry about it shifting somewhere else halfway through.