Finding an Item

Lucien and the others all looked toward the chubby little boy who had suddenly appeared in the doorway, then exchanged glances.

"Is that your pet? Did you lose it on the train?"

The one who asked was Hermione.

Although Miss Granger always spoke with a confident, arrogant air, she was still warmhearted enough and willing to help others.

However, when he heard Hermione's question, the plump boy did not answer right away.

It was as if he had not reacted. After a few sluggish seconds, he said slowly, "I—I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom. Trevor is my pet toad."

"I remember, I remember..."

Neville tugged at his blond hair in distress, his round face scrunching up completely.

"Sorry, I can't really remember."

"I think I saw Trevor when I got on the train..."

As he spoke, Neville's voice grew quieter and quieter, until he finally lowered his head.

His memory was too poor. He was always forgetting things, and now he had not even managed to keep an eye on his own pet.

Hearing Neville's explanation, Hermione was also rather helpless.

Hermione wanted to help, but Neville was simply too slow and wooden. He could not even remember when his pet had gone missing.

Across from them, Ron spread both hands, trying to show that there was nothing he could do.

Harry was willing to help Neville look for the toad, but he did not want to be the first to suggest it. He first turned to look at the others, waiting to see what they would decide.

Harry saw that Lucien had already taken out a silver-black wand. His head was lowered, his eyes downcast, as though he was thinking about something.

Lucien gently twirled his wand, thoughts racing.

Neville, huh. The future sword saint of Gryffindor.

His memory really was no good. Losing the toad was not a big deal either; later on, it would come back by itself.

If he wanted to find something, what methods could he use?

Whenever he ran into a problem, no matter how difficult or easy, Lucien habitually thought through a solution.

Keeping the mind active at all times was the foundation of learning.

Lucien's first reaction was the Summoning Charm, Accio.

It was almost too convenient for finding things, especially one's own lost belongings.

Given the strong connection between an owner and an object, as long as the spell succeeded, one could basically sit back and wait for the item to fly back on its own.

But...

Lucien glanced at Neville and did not think the boy had already mastered the Summoning Charm.

If I cast it, I need to clearly know that toad's appearance and features. That would increase the success rate.

Uh, with Neville's memory, can he really tell me what Trevor looks like?

With the mindset that there was no harm in trying, Lucien still asked, "Ahem, Neville, can you describe Trevor's appearance?"

When he heard Lucien's question, Neville's eyes lit up. He felt that this classmate was going to help him find his toad.

"Trevor, Trevor's eyes are very big and round. He has yellowish-brown skin, and his back is covered in bumps."

Lucien smiled, and his smile was utterly relieved.

There was nothing wrong with what he said, but every toad in the world looked like that!

If things went badly, one Summoning Charm might call over some other student's pet toad instead. That would be awkward.

Mm, if appearance doesn't work, then while casting the spell, I'll emphasize that it's the toad that belongs only to Neville.

Magic in this world was very much shaped by the mind. It basically worked on the principle of "if I think it works, then it works."

As long as a wizard's conviction was firm enough and their emotions were abundant, the power of many spells would increase by a large margin out of thin air.

I'll try it. In any case, it's a chance to practice a spell.

Since he had an idea that needed verification and the ability to put it into practice, Lucien would naturally try.

Practice brought true knowledge. Without practicing, how could one claim to have truly mastered knowledge?

As the thought turned in his mind, Lucien's wand had already moved according to his will.

"Accio Trevor."

Lucien's voice had only just fallen.

A few fragmented words came from outside the compartment.

"Merlin's beard, there's a flying toad!"

"Ah, a flying toad? Is it a magical creature?"

"..."

"Croak!"

With a loud cry, a tawny toad flew straight into the compartment, finally stopping in front of Lucien's wand.

Glancing at Laikebao as it slowly spun in midair, Lucien asked Neville, "Take a look. Is this your Trevor?"

Neville hurried forward, his face almost pressed against the toad's belly.

"Trevor?"

"Croak."

"Trevor, Trevor?"

"Croak, croak."

Neville looked thrilled as he reached out and cradled the toad in his hands.

"Yes, yes, this is Trevor!"

After witnessing Neville and Trevor's exchange, Harry and the others felt as if their eyes had truly been opened.

Lucien couldn't help grumbling inwardly.

Why does it even come with voice-activated unlocking?

Holding Trevor in his hands, Neville looked at Lucien with gratitude filling his eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you for helping me find Trevor."

"May I ask your name?"

Lucien put away his wand.

"No need to be so polite. Just think of it as practice with the Summoning Charm."

"My name is Lucien Grafton."

Neville nodded again and again, his tone excited.

"Oh, oh, Lucien, thank you. I'll definitely remember you!"

Neville didn't dare imagine what would have happened if Lucien hadn't helped him and he hadn't found Trevor. If his grandmother found out he had lost his pet, who knew how harshly she would scold him.

"Right, your Summoning Charm was amazing!"

"My grandmother said that using the Summoning Charm to summon your own things is very easy, but it's very difficult with objects you aren't familiar with or haven't seen before."

Neville scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"Grandmother taught me the Summoning Charm, but I've never been able to learn it. And I had to trouble you for help, Lucien..."

Lucien waved a hand, stopping Neville from thanking him any further.

"Don't worry about it. You just need to practice spells more."

Neville rambled on for a while longer, and in the end, he even bowed to Lucien.

Once Neville had left, Hermione and the other two suddenly stared at Lucien with shining eyes.

Hermione finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Lucien, how did you do that Summoning Charm just now?"

"And also, did you learn spells like that by reading books on your own?"

But before Lucien could answer, Ron interrupted Hermione's questions.

"Ahem, Granger, it's very hard to learn spells just by reading books. And self-study definitely wouldn't get you to the level of proficiency Lucien showed just now."

"I'm sure Lucien must have excellent wizarding elders teaching him at home."

Faced with Ron's rude interruption, Hermione glared at him and lifted her chin slightly.

"Hmph. Who says it's hard to learn spells from books?"

As she spoke, Hermione drew her wand, aimed it at Harry, who was standing by and watching the show, and tapped lightly.

"Reparo."

Harry was still confused when he saw Hermione cast magic on him.

"I..."

Harry instinctively wanted to dodge, only to discover that the crack on his glasses had actually vanished!

Harry took off his glasses in surprise and carefully ran his fingers over them, confirming that they really had been repaired.

Lucien watched Hermione's performance from the side and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

As expected of Miss Know-It-All. The top-student persona is firmly established.

Hermione came from a purely Muggle family and had mastered spells through self-study. Her talent and hard work were indeed worthy of praise.

Reparo really is useful. If something breaks, just wave your wand and it's good as new right away.

Now that I think about it, don't wizarding families repair all their belongings like this? Get one pot and pass it down for three generations—the person is gone, but the pot remains.

If things never wear out, there's no need to buy new ones, and no transactions are created.

Ha. No wonder economic development in the wizarding world is so slow...