Filch's Request

Even before Halloween arrived, the festive atmosphere had already taken hold, and the castle was bright and cheerful.

If they could empty their minds and avoid thinking about the assignments Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts had given them, Hogwarts students should have been able to relax and spend a pleasant few days in relatively lighthearted spirits.

Unfortunately, reality was often cruel.

Countless students had yet to finish their assignments on the eve of the holiday.

They could not forget about their homework, yet they could not bring themselves to spend the holiday miserably rushing through it either.

So they decided—to celebrate the holiday nervously, in a state of constant tension!

Yes, homework could never be finished.

But Halloween only came once a year.

Other than a handful of Ravenclaw students, no one was willing to give it up.

Li Wei was still responsible for helping Filch decorate the Great Hall, and he quickly finished his own task.

During this time, Filch struck up a conversation with him again.

"Professor Li Wei—"

His expression was somewhat hesitant as he pulled a pistol with a rather familiar design from his robes.

"I heard this is an alchemical weapon you made?"

"Yes." Li Wei's expression was even colder than usual. "And I believe it does not belong to you."

A flash of disdain crossed Filch's face, but when facing Li Wei, his attitude immediately turned respectful again.

"I know. I confiscated it from a naughty young wizard—you can rest assured, I'm only holding it for a while. Once he reflects on his actions, I'll naturally return it to him."

A male wizard, and someone Filch had managed to catch... was it that fourth-year student who had played Ian?

Li Wei looked at Filch expressionlessly.

"Y-yes, that's right."

Under Li Wei's gaze, Filch seemed somewhat nervous.

He saw some kind of hope in Li Wei, and he was afraid of being rejected.

He carefully chose his words, doing his utmost not to displease Li Wei.

"This alchemical weapon of yours seems capable of directly guiding students to cast a fixed spell? I—I feel like that kind of guidance might be useful to me too, except it requires far too much magic. I can't do it."

Filch stared at Li Wei hopefully.

Li Wei understood what he meant, but he did not say it outright.

When Filch saw that Li Wei was not responding, he was somewhat disappointed, but he continued anyway.

"I hope you can make a simpler alchemical tool for me—the spell it guides should preferably be something very simple. Something like Lumos, perhaps. Would that be possible?"

He looked at Li Wei with an expression that was almost pleading.

"If there is anything I can do, please feel free to order me around. As long as you can help me, I'd even be willing to become your servant!"

"We are colleagues. You need not go that far."

Looking at the old Squib before him, who had yearned for magic for so many years, Li Wei shook his head and stopped his knees from bending.

"I can design an alchemical tool that meets your requirements. You only need to promise me one thing—before today ends, the alchemical toy in your hand must be returned to its owner. Can you do that?"

"Yes! Absolutely! I'm so grateful to you, Professor Li Wei—you don't know—I—I've dreamed of learning magic—"

Filch was already incoherent. His lips trembled violently, his teeth chattered, and he could not speak a complete sentence.

Yet after confirming that Li Wei had agreed, he became anxious again. Before leaving, he could not help asking once more:

"Is it really possible? I've done almost nothing for you."

"There is no need, Filch. If one day you truly can help me, I believe you will."

In response to Filch's unease, Li Wei gave him a mysterious smile.

If Filch really gained the ability to cast spells through this method, it would mean that he had officially become a wizard.

And Li Wei's help would be equivalent to giving him a brand-new life.

Legend had it that in the wizarding world, when one wizard saved another wizard's life, a certain connection formed between them.

Li Wei rather wanted to see whether such a connection was merely coincidence, or truly something ordained by fate.

But if possible, Li Wei hoped he would never have to make use of that connection.

As he watched the pitiful yet hateful middle-aged man leave, another matter came to mind.

If his alchemical weapon could truly allow a Squib like Filch to gain the ability to cast spells, it would probably be equivalent to starting a revolution in the wizarding world.

In the field of alchemy, it should also earn him quite a bit of fame—perhaps it would be a good way to get acquainted with Nicolas Flamel.

Hmm—he had always concealed his identity and lived quietly in order to avoid war, so he was not particularly well known in the wizarding world.

Now that there was no avoiding it, should he consider changing his approach?

But once he chose to do so, the only weekend time he had to devote himself to researching magic would probably be completely taken up.

Besides, Li Wei was still undecided about whether to promote this sort of alchemical weapon.

If this alchemical weapon remained confined to the school, it would merely be a toy for students.

But once it became widespread in society, even Li Wei could not quite predict what consequences it might bring.

Forget it. There was no point thinking so much about it. Everything still depended on whether Filch's Squib condition could truly be cured through this kind of intervention.

On the day of the Halloween feast.

Jiamer reluctantly went out with Qiao Weili, while Cedric followed beside them with a somewhat strained expression.

As for Li Wei, he had little interest in Halloween.

On Halloween, he locked himself in the basement and quietly studied Fiendfyre.

Through their previous research, they had already confirmed the emotional hypothesis concerning Fiendfyre.

To their satisfaction, Fiendfyre's emotions did not depend on its caster. Rather, the spell itself possessed an inherent tendency to spread.

In other words, to use this magic freely, what was needed more than intense emotion was control.

Rather than using Fiendfyre on a large scale to attack, Li Wei wanted more to explore the spell's potential in close combat.

Their primary focus over the past month had been on using Fiendfyre's undying and adhesive properties to achieve the effect of small tracking projectiles.

Rather than igniting a large area, they tried to instantly create a Fiendfyre seed the size of a grain of rice at the tip of a finger or wand.

If they could also add Transfiguration and turn the Fiendfyre seed into a tiny creature, it should greatly increase both the fire's power and its flying speed.

But they were still far from achieving that.

For some reason, transfiguring large-scale Fiendfyre was easy, but small-scale Fiendfyre would not work—likewise, miniature Fiendfyre lost both power and spreading speed.

The result of a month of studying whenever he could find the time was the small flame seed quietly burning in Li Wei's hand.

And the test results were completely contrary to Li Wei's expectations.

Although the flame possessed the trait of spreading, its initial momentum was probably too weak. Neither its spreading speed nor its power was satisfactory.

Other than helping them better understand Fiendfyre's characteristics, this month of research seemed to have yielded nothing.

But that was normal.

Li Wei had long since grown used to it.

If the small tracking projectile was not effective enough, then he would try another approach.