Gryffindor Needs Talent Like You

The paper was covered with fill-in-the-blank questions. If one had really done the prep work, the difficulty of the paper truly was not too great.

Wizet pointed at the blanks and said, "1754, the English Ministry of Magic's Office for the Improper Use of Magic, Ottoline Gambol, restored the Roman Colosseum after it was accidentally destroyed."

"Mate! You're amazing!" Lee Jordan gave him a thumbs-up and immediately began writing furiously, filling the correct answers into the blanks.

"The Patronus Charm. The spell is spelled 'Expecto Patronum,' and the explanation is 'an ancient and mysterious charm capable of summoning a magical guardian'..."

The blanks on the prep paper were filled in one after another. Cho Chang, who had still been snickering earlier, changed her expression and looked at Wizet in surprise.

Woooooo!

A loud whistle sounded. The Hogwarts Express finally set off.

Outside the window were countless parents waving goodbye, along with quite a few younger children, crying and making a fuss as they chased after the train.

The train moved faster and faster. Those crying, chasing children were left behind and could only keep waving goodbye.

Having truly broken free from their parents' restraints, many children only now showed expressions of relief. They pulled wands from their pockets one after another, and the sounds of laughter and horseplay never stopped throughout the train.

Having finished his homework, Lee Jordan was lively again. "I'm telling you! I met quite a few wizards over in Africa, and I even learned a kind of magic that doesn't need a wand!"

Cho Chang grew interested. "Wandless casting? I've read about it in books. Africa seems to be very good at that."

Lee Jordan waved his hand. "It's not simple wandless casting. It's a kind of magic done through hand gestures! I'll perform... show it to you."

He rolled up his sleeves, fiddled through a whole set of flashy movements, and slapped his palms until they cracked loudly.

But nothing happened. No special light appeared, and nothing unusual occurred.

Cho Chang murmured softly, then asked cautiously, "Are you sure this is magic? What kind of magic is it supposed to be?"

"Er... How about I try again?" Lee Jordan scratched his head, pulled his sleeves straight up to his shoulders, and once again slapped his palms until they cracked.

"Merlin's underpants! Have you been controlled by an African wizard?" a voice said in an exaggerated tone.

Fred slipped in, grabbed Lee Jordan by the shoulders with both hands, and shook him desperately. "Don't let anything happen to you! We're still waiting for your Bag Spider!"

"Hey! Wizet, you're here too!" George followed close behind and waved in greeting. "Oh... and the girl who distracted Cedric."

Cho Chang nodded and said nothing more, though the roots of her ears flushed slightly red.

"Of course nothing happened to me!" Lee Jordan shook off Fred's hands. "Be careful. You might've crushed the Bag Spider to death!"

"Then we'd definitely regret it for the rest of our lives!" George made a praying gesture. "Hurry up and take it out!"

For a moment, all five people's attention was drawn over.

Cho Chang was mainly on guard, afraid that the furry spider would suddenly leap up and jump in front of her.

Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were admiring it, praising how dense the bristles on the Bag Spider's body were.

Wizet cast Magic Eye, scanning the Bag Spider's body back and forth like an X-ray machine.

Aside from its fangs and venom glands, which emitted a deep green glow, none of the other parts of the Bag Spider lit up. They appeared as a dim gray mass.

Wizet focused his attention, concentrating on observing the green light of the fangs and venom glands. There seemed to be a symbol within that green glow.

Only, the symbol was far too blurry. He truly could not make out its specific structure.

A hand suddenly appeared where the fangs were. The Bag Spider did not hesitate in the slightest and directly bit down on that hand, injecting the magic-laced venom into it.

As the venom was fully injected, the green light of the fangs and venom glands immediately dimmed.

That hand belonged to Fred. The place where he had been bitten swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Cho Chang widened her eyes and instinctively pulled out her wand. "Why did you stick your hand over there yourself!"

"Don't panic. It's all a minor problem." George was extremely calm. He rummaged in his pocket and took out something like a suction cup, then stuck it onto the bite with a "pop."

The suction cup seemed to come alive, actually making a "glug-glug" sound.

The magic-laced venom followed the wound and was absorbed by the suction cup, gathering in the little glass bottle at the top.

Fred's hand quickly subsided, leaving behind two wounds the size of rice grains.

Lee Jordan was not idle either. He took out a green leaf, chewed it roughly, and spat it onto the wound.

A few wisps of green smoke slowly dissipated. By the time he brushed the green leaf aside, the wound had already healed completely, though the spot was a little smoother than the surrounding skin.

Only then did Fred bare his teeth in pain and let out a long breath. "This Bag Spider really packs a punch! That hurt like hell!"

"But we got this!" George removed the glass bottle and gently shook the green venom inside. "Ton-Tongue Toffee, here we come!"

Fred smiled. "But you have to remember, next time you're the one getting bitten."

Wizet dispersed Magic Eye and asked curiously, "Excuse me... was that Dittany?"

"An expert!" Lee Jordan puffed out his chest as if showing off and took out a bag filled with green leaves. "I got it in Africa. This whole bag didn't cost a thing!"

"No wonder it healed so quickly. So it was this rare stuff!" Fred clicked his tongue in wonder. "Who knows when we'll be able to earn enough money to take our family traveling."

"Should be soon." George comforted him, then looked at Wizet. "Didn't expect that. You actually recognized Dittany at a glance."

"This mate of mine is seriously amazing!" Lee Jordan slung an arm around Wizet's shoulders and started acting like they were sworn brothers. "When I was waiting for you just now, guess how I finished my homework?"

Fred said, "You must've just guessed randomly. It's only Professor Flitwick's homework, not Professor McGonagall's. No big problem."

"Ahem..." Cho Chang coughed lightly twice, indicating that she, a Ravenclaw, was still present.

"I'm not as irresponsible as Fred," Lee Jordan said with a grin. "With Wizet's help, I finished the preview test."

"Hmm..." George rubbed his chin. "How is that any different from guessing blindly?"

Lee Jordan suggested, "Why don't we check the papers against each other? I trust him anyway, and trust doesn't need a reason."

Fred and George were both men of action. They quickly brought over their own preview tests and checked them word by word, sentence by sentence.

By the end of the check, George still refused to believe it. He even found The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 and went through the corresponding blanks again.

"Merlin's receding hairline! How can they all be right... Some of the mistakes were actually because I was careless and didn't spell the words correctly..."

"See?" Lee Jordan said, extremely pleased with himself. "If I hadn't really cast the Mending Charm, I wouldn't have dared believe it either."

"He's only a first-year, but he actually memorized all of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 just during the time it took to buy books in Diagon Alley. Amazing, right?"

"Interested in coming to Gryffindor?" Fred's expression suddenly turned serious, and he patted Wizet on the shoulder. "We need talent like you!"