The Shock of the Silencing Charm, Harry's Trouble

"Help—"

There was a ripping sound.

Along with the sound of fabric tearing, Neville's scream plunged rapidly downward.

Lucien immediately drew his wand, and an instant, silent Levitation Charm shot out, striking Neville in midair.

Neville's chubby body hung briefly in the air, then descended back to the ground at a steady speed.

Lucien walked closer to the window and saw Neville on all fours on the ground. A moment later, he slowly got up and patted down his robes.

Lucien let out a soft breath.

Good thing he had reacted quickly enough and saved him in time.

Sure enough, at critical moments, basic spells that could be cast silently and instantly were often more effective.

When every second counted, even a hair faster was still faster.

Before long, the flying instructor, Madam Hooch, hurried over to Neville.

Neville was trembling all over, his face pale, as if lingering terror still clung to him.

Although Neville said nothing hurt and that he probably had not been injured in the fall, Madam Hooch still was not reassured and took Neville to the hospital wing.

Before leaving, she also reminded the students to pause their practice and wait until she returned.

Lucien watched the whole scene from upstairs in the library.

Although Madam Hooch had failed to save Neville with magic in time, which did not quite fit the standard expected of a teacher, she still seemed to care deeply about her students, choosing to take him to the hospital wing herself.

Mm, then the plot would probably develop the same way.

Harry and Malfoy would ride their brooms and fight over the Remembrall Neville had dropped, and then Professor McGonagall would discover Harry's flying talent, blah blah blah...

Great. Nothing to do with me. Back to studying.

Lucien sat back down, picked up his book, and continued reading.

In the small commotion just now, normally speaking, no one would have noticed Lucien using magic. After all, it had been a quick and concealed silent spell.

But there were exceptions, such as a certain blonde girl who had been watching Lucien the whole time.

She had seen Lucien draw his wand, seen that he had not opened his mouth to chant, and also seen the little chubby boy outside the window freeze in midair.

Daphne's little mouth parted slightly, her eyes somewhat unfocused as she murmured to herself, "A silent spell? Was that a silent spell just now? Lucien didn't seem to chant an incantation, did he?"

"Didn't Mother say silent spells were advanced techniques that weren't taught until sixth year at Hogwarts? Isn't Lucien in the same year as me?"

"..."

After muttering to herself for a while, Daphne finally came back to her senses, but her heart was still deeply shaken.

She looked at Lucien again. The dissatisfaction and gloom she had felt from being ignored had vanished, replaced by disbelief and a profound gravity.

Born into the Sacred Twenty-Eight Greengrass family, a pure-blood family in its proper glory, Daphne had been exposed to magic since childhood, and her understanding and knowledge of magic far exceeded that of her peers.

But she had never heard of anyone being able to use silent spells at this age!

That required not only superb control over magic, but more importantly, a total amount of magic power far beyond what young wizards at this stage could possess.

"Lucien is clearly the same age as me. How can he have such enormous magic power?"

"Pure-blood? No, Grafton... I've never heard of a pure-blood family by that name."

"Is it some reclusive family that stays hidden from the world? But there are hardly any families with that habit in this era, are there?"

"Lucien really is extraordinary. He's different from those people who only know how to flatter me. He's qualified to be my friend!"

Daphne's eyes shone, and she was just about to get up and go speak to Lucien.

Suddenly, a sharp, angry voice rang out behind her.

"Young lady, the library is for reading and studying!"

"Not for chatting with yourself. Please leave!"

Hearing Madam Pince's reprimand, Daphne's face flushed red, then went pale.

She had been so absorbed in her thoughts just now that she had forgotten how strict this librarian was.

"I..."

However, Madam Pince had already raised the feather duster in her hand.

Daphne turned and ran, not daring to argue at all.

In the library, Madam Pince would not care whether you were pure-blood, or whether you belonged to the Sacred Twenty-Eight. She would not allow anyone to ruin the precious books or the library's atmosphere of study.

Daphne dared not even look toward Lucien. It was too embarrassing!

And just as she was being scolded by Madam Pince and fleeing the library, Lucien finally glanced in her direction.

But all he saw was a panicked figure with long, pale-gold hair fleeing into the distance.

Tsk, tsk. Someone else had been driven out. With Madam Pince guarding the library's study environment like this, it was actually a good thing.

Still, that figure had looked a little familiar?

Just as Lucien was trying to remember—

Bang!

It sounded like someone had fallen out of the air and hit the ground.

Then came pained wailing, followed by the chattering uproar of children.

Lucien put down his book and looked out the window.

No, why were they making a fuss? Hadn't I just saved Neville?

Sigh. Was this morning just not suited to reading in the library? I forgot to check the calendar.

Lucien picked up his book, preparing to leave the library.

He had no intention of going to the grounds to watch the commotion. His own studies mattered more.

Besides, once they had time, Harry or Ron would definitely come and talk to him about what had happened just now.

After all, Gryffindor would never pass up a chance to spread the tale of defeating Slytherin, even if it was only two first-years deciding a winner on broomsticks.

A few minutes earlier.

The flying lesson grounds.

"Give me the Remembrall, Malfoy!"

"No. I'm going to hide it and make Longbottom look for it."

As he spoke, Malfoy mounted his broom and flew off.

Naturally, Harry refused to be outdone and chased after him.

The two of them pursued each other for a while before finally stopping in midair.

"Want this, Potter?"

Malfoy tossed the Remembrall up and down with a provoking look on his face.

Harry wanted to charge over, but he did not want to be led around and toyed with.

So he racked his brain for a plan, and suddenly he seemed to think of something.

He fumbled in his clothes pockets with both hands.

With one hand, he pulled out his wand; with the other, a small iron tin.

He twisted off the lid of the tin, revealing a pale-blue solid and a candle wick.

It was none other than the Sleeping Incense Lucien had taught him to refine yesterday.

"...It spreads very quickly. Five seconds is enough to put a wizard to sleep. Use the Spark Charm to ignite it..."

Harry swiftly recalled Lucien's instructions and warnings.

"Spark Charm (Scintilla Spargo)."

After lighting the Sleeping Incense, Harry immediately held his breath and, at the same time, flicked his wrist and threw the small iron tin toward Malfoy.

In an oddly tacit moment, Malfoy also threw the Remembrall in his hand—but he threw it far away.

"If you want it, go get it yourself!"

Harry flew straight toward the Remembrall, while Malfoy, as if possessed, caught the thing Harry had thrown at him.

"Heh, Potter, are you a child? Still throwing thi—"

Malfoy did not finish his taunt before his eyes closed, he let go of his broom, and he dropped straight toward the ground.

On the other side, Harry chased after the Remembrall at high speed and finally caught it in front of a window, pulling off a beautiful turn.

Harry was still smug over his victory and had not noticed that inside the window, an older cat-woman was watching him.

"Ah—"

A loud, pained wail rang out from the grounds and reached this place.

It reached the ears of both Harry and Professor McGonagall, and the latter's expression immediately turned stern.

Harry, meanwhile, went pale, realizing that he seemed to have gotten himself into trouble.