Ancient Magic: Improvement of Summoning Charm

The girl sat down, and Penelope and Cho Chang stopped practicing magic, turning to size up Wizet and the girl.

"Oh! I tried a few spells at home too." The girl looked a little excited. "Just simple practice. I thought I knew all the magic we'd be learning this year."

"So many strange things happened when I was in school, and only when I got my admission letter did I realize it was magic. As far as I know, Hogwarts is the best school of magic!"

"What I mean is... I've memorized all of this year's textbooks, but I've never seen that spell of yours before. Right! I'm Hermione Granger. What are your names?"

Hermione finished speaking in a rapid-fire burst, then looked a little awkwardly at the others in the compartment.

"She's Cho Chang, and I'm Penelope Clearwater," Penelope introduced them. "Did you just see Wizet casting a spell?"

"Yes!" Hermione nodded repeatedly, her eyes especially bright. "He shouted 'Accio Chocolate Frog!' And then the Chocolate Frog flew from the seat into his hand!"

Penelope asked in disbelief, "You learned the Summoning Charm?"

"I tried it a few times along with you. Just now was the first time it worked." Wizet nodded lightly, thinking back on what exactly had happened just now.

He had been very absorbed in his magic practice earlier. He had subconsciously wanted to tidy up the seat, then habitually recited the spell.

For some reason, he thought of something Luna had once told him: when wizards cast spells, they always needed to have a wish. Only then could their magic become docile...

Penelope leaned closer. "Can you try it again?"

"I'll try!" Wizet did not refuse, aiming his wand at the notebook in Cho Chang's hand.

Following Penelope's notes, he first memorized the notebook's appearance, imagining its specific details as much as possible.

After the notebook's clear image appeared in his mind, he added the inspiration Luna had given him—granting it a wish. He wanted to get the notebook in Cho Chang's hand.

"Accio Notebook!"

Whoosh!

The notebook in Cho Chang's hand was like an arrow loosed from the string, cutting a firm, straight line through the air and plunging into Wizet's hand.

"Merlin's beard! That's fourth-year magic..." Penelope said blankly. "Is there something wrong with my talent for magic?"

"That's fourth-year magic?" Hermione asked urgently. "Did you buy fourth-year textbooks in advance? Have you already mastered all the earlier textbooks?"

Wizet shook his head lightly. "They were practicing over there just now, so I listened in for a bit..."

"Listened in for a bit?" Penelope covered her cheeks, her voice full of frustration. "He's a new student, yet he's already mastered fourth-year magic, while I still fail even when I'm reviewing..."

Cho Chang did not know whether to laugh or cry, and could only comfort her as gently as possible. "You got a Prefect Badge. That's the school's recognition of you, and Professor Flitwick's recognition of you..."

"Could you be too anxious?" Wizet tried to combine it with his exam experiences from his previous life and offered some advice from experience. "After all, the big exams are coming up."

"Actually, things like feeling unsettled are very normal... Miss Clearwater, after making your rounds on the train, did you have lunch?"

"No." Penelope shook her head. "I came to find Cho right after I finished my rounds."

"That's the reason!" Cho Chang's eyes lit up. "Why don't you eat something first? My grandfather once told me—'People rely on food, iron relies on steel; miss a meal and hunger makes you weak.'"

"Miss Clearwater, have this." Wizet handed over a box of Chocolate Frogs. "Replenish some sugar. It can also help ease feelings of depression and anxiety."

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with your notes. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to speed-learn the Summoning Charm in just one afternoon. I practiced step by step according to your experience."

"I don't think this is your problem. It's just that you aren't in a good enough state right now, so you need to adjust a little. At the very least, you should get back to your usual level."

"Is that so? Thank you..." Though Penelope was somewhat doubtful, she still obediently ate a Chocolate Frog.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked in puzzlement. "Why would she listen to you? Those classmates of mine never listen to me."

"Did I do anything?" Wizet shrugged. "I only told her to get some sugar. She just lacked a bit of her usual calm."

"She said earlier that she has to face the O.W.L. exams this school year. Exam anxiety is very normal. It's just that school has only just started... What will she do later?"

"Were you a Muggle before too? Why are you so familiar with exams?" Hermione asked. "I read in books that in order to stay hidden, wizards educate their children themselves and don't arrange for them to go to school."

Only then did she truly take a good look at Wizet.

He had a handsome, refined face, with a sense of steadiness between his brows.

"You're Wizet? The Obscurial who appeared in the Daily Prophet? I'm not saying I'm scared... It's because I've only just come into contact with the wizarding world... You should understand what I mean, right?"

Another rapid-fire speech. Wizet could only nod helplessly. "Maybe you don't need to explain too much. Sometimes the more you say, the more mistakes you make, and it can easily cause misunderstandings."

"Is that so?" Hermione frowned tightly, as if she had thought of some unpleasant experience. "Maybe it really is."

"Accio Notebook!" Penelope suddenly shouted, her tone much more forceful and ringing.

The notebook broke free from Wizet's palm and flew back to its owner.

"That felt completely different from before! I succeeded in one try!" she said excitedly, then placed the notebook in Cho Chang's hand again. "Accio Notebook!"

The notebook returned to her hand once more.

"That's the right feeling! I could do it like this before. How could I suddenly start failing?"

Penelope pulled herself together, looked at Hermione, and asked curiously, "Miss Granger, I remember you were looking for something just now?"

"Right! I need to help Neville find his toad!" Hermione reacted, showing a look of annoyance. "It's Neville's pet. I read in a book that wizards in the past all liked keeping toads."

"I can't stand them, anyway." Penelope shuddered. "Hogwarts itself keeps some toads. If you want to practice magic or test potions, you can apply to the school."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Test potions? On pets?"

Having recovered her spirits, Penelope became quite talkative. "At least in the Middle Ages, wizards' first choice of pet was the toad. They were very convenient for all sorts of tests."

"I remember there was a passage in A History of Magic about Muggles' misunderstanding of wizards. They thought wizards would persecute Muggles and then turn them into toads."

"Magic can indeed do that, but it places very high demands on magical ability. Later, the Ministry of Magic banned the abuse of toads, so fewer and fewer people kept them."

"Miss Clearwater, thank you! You've helped me learn so much, but I promised Neville I'd help him find his toad." As Hermione spoke, she stood up, preparing to leave the compartment.

Wizet spoke up to stop her. "Miss Granger, perhaps I can lend a hand."

When Penelope had been talking about the magical history of toads just now, he had tried fusing the Summoning Charm with Improved Magic and obtained a new page:

<Ancient Magic: Improved Summoning Charm (Basic Creature Retrieval)>: Guides ancient magic to cast the Summoning Charm, increasing the spell's power and allowing it to take effect on living creatures.