Frobisher

Skylar arrived alone at the hidden classroom leading to the Charms Club. At the end of the corridor, an ancient witch statue stood silently, as if watching everything in silence. Its stone eyes gleamed with a faint magical light, awaiting the right incantation to awaken them.

A girl stood in front of the statue, pacing nervously. She was wearing Gryffindor robe, and a red and gold scarf hung loosely around her neck, looking somewhat flustered.

Her chestnut curls were slightly disheveled, clearly from some recent ordeal. She gripped her wand tightly, muttering something under her breath, trying to break the spell on the statue. However, the statue remained unresponsive. She bit her lip, clearly panicked.

Skylar approached steadily. The girl noticed his approach and immediately turned around, her face filled with unease. When she saw who it was, her expression became even more complicated.

"You are—" She hesitated for a moment, then realized what she meant and her eyes widened, "Malfoy?"

Skylar smiled slightly, his tone gentle and polite. "To be precise, it's Skylar Malfoy." He stopped in front of the statue and nodded slightly. "Is this... your first time attending the Charms Club?"

The girl seemed a little reserved. She nodded, her voice slightly unnatural, and said, "Yes, I'm Vicky Frobisher, fourth year... uh, Gryffindor." She hesitated for a moment, then added, "I just received Flitwick's invitation yesterday."

Her tone held barely concealed excitement and anticipation, but also a hint of nervousness. "I was so happy, but..." She looked at the witch statue, her brow furrowing slightly, "This door won't let me in. I tried the spell several times, but it didn't work."

Skylar raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on the statue. "Flitwick gave you the universal incantation, didn't he?"

"Hmm..." Vicky pursed her lips, a hint of frustration flashing in her eyes, "I remember the spell, but I might... have mispronounced the last syllable."

Skylar gave a thoughtful smile, "Let me guess, you pronounced the last syllable of 'Aperio Veritatem' as 'temm'?"

Vicky looked up abruptly, staring at him in shock. "How did you know?"

"Because this is the most common mistake most people make when casting this spell for the first time." Skylar chuckled, his voice gentle yet firm. "The final 'Veritatem' should rise slightly, emphasizing the vibration of the 'm,' otherwise the statue will assume the spell is incomplete."

Vicky blinked, then looked annoyed. "No wonder... I tried several times and thought my magic wasn't enough."

"Whether the magic is enough or not, this door won't care." Skylar smiled slightly, raised his wand, pointed it at the statue's forehead, and said in a calm and confident tone, "Aperio Veritatem."

The statue's stone eyes suddenly lit up, and a soft silver light flowed from its outline. Then, the statue slowly split open to the sides, revealing a deep entrance leading to the Charms Club, from which the faint sounds of wizards talking could be heard.

Vicky watched this scene, a hint of surprise and admiration flashing in her eyes. She couldn't help but exhale, a relieved smile appearing on her face, "So that's how it is... Thanks."

"It's nothing," Skylar said with a smile, gesturing for them to come in. "Let's go in together."

Vicky hesitated for a moment, then followed. She had assumed that Skylar Malfoy, like other Slytherin, would harbor some kind of stereotypical hostility towards Gryffindor students, or at least display an arrogant attitude.

But to her surprise, he was not only gentle and polite, but also extended a friendly hand to her.

She unconsciously relaxed a lot, and a kind of inexplicable feeling of affection quietly grew in her heart.

Upon entering the classroom, Skylar noticed that there were already quite a few students inside. Flitwick was standing in the center, waiting for everyone to arrive. When he saw Skylar and Vicki enter, he smiled and nodded, then cleared his throat, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

"First of all, welcome to our newest member." Flitwick's gaze fell on Vicky, and he said kindly, "This is Vicky Frobisher, a fourth-year Gryffindor student. Let's welcome her."

A round of polite applause rang out in the classroom, and Vicky nodded somewhat awkwardly in response.

The members of the Charms Club seemed to be dwindling. Including Skylar and Vicki, there were only eight students left, with Skylar being the only one from Slytherin. After nodding to Elusi Montgomery and Cedric Diggory, whom he had spoken with on the train, he sat down next to Cho Chang.

Vicky, on the other hand, sat on the Gryffindor side.

"Alright, today's topic is the Tracking Charm." Flitwick waved his wand, and several scribbled magical symbols immediately appeared on the blackboard. "The Tracking Charm's effect is to rewind time to events that happened not long ago and restore the truth. It's a practical spell, suitable for investigation, finding lost items, and even, to some extent, helping to solve mysteries."

He waved his wand gently, and a silver quill appeared on the table in the center of the classroom.

"For example, if someone picked up this pen half an hour ago, we can use a tracking spell to see who touched it."

He raised his wand and uttered, "Trace Revealing Charm!"

In an instant, a faint silver light emerged from the quill pen, slowly extending into the air and outlining a blurry image—the hand of a fifth-grade student, who was picking up the quill pen and writing something on parchment.

"This is the basic application of the Tracking Charm," Flitwick explained. "Next, you can work in pairs and try to track the items your partner has just touched."

The students sprang into action, while Skylar simply smiled, picked up a piece of parchment, closed his eyes, and flicked his wand. "Trace Revealing Charm!"

A flash of silver light appeared, and faint traces of light emerged on the parchment, quickly outlining the shape of a hand. Skylar immediately recognized it as the hand of a Ravenclaw student, indicating that he had touched the parchment not long ago.

Flitwick noticed Skylar's ease and nodded with a smile, "Excellent, Skylar."

However, Skylar fell into deep thought.

He suddenly looked up and asked, "Professor, can the Tracking Charm be enhanced through some medium, such as—someone else's skin, hair, or nails?"

Flitwick paused for a moment, then his expression turned serious. "That goes beyond the scope of a normal tracking spell; it involves the realm of Dark Arts."

The classroom fell silent for a moment, with many students quietly pricking up their ears, seemingly very interested in the topic of Dark Arts.

Flitwick continued, "In Southeast Asia countries, such black magic does exist. These practices can use hair, blood, or even fingernail fragments to track a target's location, and in some extreme cases, even to cast curses."

Skylar nodded slightly, not delving further, but instead changing the subject. "So, is there a safer alternative, such as tracking by name?"

A hint of appreciation flashed in Flitwick's eyes. "A very good question. In fact, there is a kind of magic inspired by the owl's ability to sense names."

He waved his wand on the blackboard and wrote down several new magical symbols.

"Owls can pinpoint their targets precisely by name, and this magic is based on this characteristic. We call it name- Tracking Magic."

Skylar nodded thoughtfully. Name Tracking Magic was closely related to the "Homonculous Charm" he was researching. If he could learn more about name Tracking Magic from Flitwick, then creating the Marauder's Map would be just around the corner.

It was already evening when I left the Charms Club.

When Skylar walked out of the classroom in the Charms Club, only silence and flickering candlelight remained in the corridor.

He didn't leave with the others; he was delayed because he asked Flitwick some questions about name- Tracking Magic. By the time he finished packing and was ready to leave, all the club members had already dispersed.

He glanced at his watch; the hands pointed precisely to dinner time, while another set of smaller hands indicated that Daphne and the others were still in the Slytherin Common Room, furiously working on their mountain of assignments. He sighed softly, knowing he would have to eat alone in the Great Hall tonight.

However, just as he stepped out of the classroom, he paused slightly.

Cho Chang stood there.

She leaned against the wall not far away, arms crossed, seemingly having been waiting for a while. When she saw Skylar come out, she shifted slightly, as if hesitating whether she should speak first.

The corridor was quiet; only the two of them were there.

They hadn't spoken a word to each other since that day, and now the situation was rather awkward.

Skylar tried to break the silence, a slight smile playing on his lips, his tone casual yet natural. "It's so late, haven't you eaten yet? Shall we go to the Great Hall together?"

Cho Chang didn't answer immediately. She looked at Skylar with a complex expression, her fingers slightly clenching as if she were making a decision. Finally, she took a deep breath, raised her head, and looked directly into Skylar's eyes. "Skylar... what exactly are your feelings for me?"

Skylar's smile faltered slightly.

He paused for a moment, sighed, and said calmly and gently, "Cho Chang, you're a very good girl, really. I like you very much too." He paused, his gaze deep, and his voice lowered, "But the problem is, you know, I already have too many girlfriends."

Cho Chang felt as if something had tugged at her heart.

"I don't want to hold other girls back." Skylar looked at her earnestly, a complex emotion in his eyes. "You deserve better, you deserve someone who truly loves you wholeheartedly, not someone like me, who knows I can't give you a commitment, yet still lets you get involved."

"So," he softened his voice, a hint of helplessness in his tone, "Don't waste your time on me, Cho Chang. You should go find your own happiness."

The air fell silent for a moment.

Then, Cho Chang suddenly took a step forward.

Her eyes held a hint of stubbornness, and a deep-seated emotion. Before Skylar could react, her soft lips had already covered his.

This time, her kiss was more urgent and more frantic than that day, as if it carried a desperate, all-or-nothing courage. She tightly wrapped her arms around Skylar's neck, pressing her whole body against him, desperately trying to close the distance between them, not even giving him any chance to break free.

Skylar instinctively tried to push her away, but her strength was more determined than he had imagined. Her petite and slender body burst forth with astonishing power, and Skylar's back slammed directly against the wall, forced to endure her overwhelming passion.

When Skylar saw the glistening tears hanging from the corners of Cho Chang's closed eyes, his heart felt as if it had been stabbed. His fingers, which were resting on Cho Chang's shoulder, trembled slightly, but he ultimately couldn't bring himself to push her away.

He felt a surge of magical power surging within him, and an uncontrollable desire gradually overwhelmed his reason. His resistance gradually turned into compromise, and compromise ultimately turned into a response.

He slowly raised his hand, put it around Cho Chang's waist, and returned the kiss.

Cho Chang could barely breathe, but she stubbornly refused to let go of Skylar, as if she was afraid that if she let go, he would back down again and reject her.

However, she suddenly sensed Skylar's response.

He, who had initially been passively receiving kisses, finally began to return them.

His hand landed on her waist, gently tightening, his fingertips carrying a subtle warmth. This small movement sent a shiver down her spine; she could hardly believe it— Skylar hadn't pushed her away?

After what seemed like an eternity, until both were slightly out of breath, Cho Chang finally released her grip. But instead of backing away, she remained very close, her forehead gently resting on Skylar's shoulder, and asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Are you going to push me away again?"

Skylar didn't answer immediately. He looked down at the girl in his arms. Cho Chang's eyes were slightly red, her lips were especially red from the kiss, and there was still a hint of stubbornness and unwillingness in her eyes.

He sighed helplessly, "Cho Chang..."

"You clearly like me, don't you?" she persisted.

Skylar closed his eyes briefly, as if restraining something. After a moment, he finally whispered, "Yes."

Cho Chang held her breath.

Her heart was pounding as if it would burst out of her chest, and a complex emotion surged in her eyes, a mixture of joy and disbelief.

"Then why...?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you," Skylar said softly, a bitter smile in his voice. "I already have too many girlfriends. I'm not a good man, Cho Chang. You have no idea what being with me means."

"That's my problem, not yours," Cho Chang interrupted him firmly. "I know what I want."

Skylar was silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out and gently pinched the tip of her nose, his tone both helpless and indulgent. "You..."

Cho Chang frowned in dissatisfaction, and was about to retort when Skylar leaned down and kissed her again.

This time, he was the one who took the initiative.

Cho Chang's eyes widened, and in the next second she was completely captivated.

His kiss was no longer the initial passive and hesitant one, but rather carried an undisguised tenderness and possessiveness, as if declaring something, or accepting something. Cho Chang's heartbeat was completely out of rhythm; she couldn't even think, and could only let herself be enveloped by his presence.

After a long silence, their lips parted, Skylar pressed his forehead against hers, whispering, "Fine... you were the one who jumped in here."

Cho Chang's lips curled up slightly, her eyes brimming with undisguised joy. "I'm not a casual person."

Skylar smiled, "Yes, I know."

He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, his voice low and husky. "But I'm glad you're an exception for me."

Cho Chang blushed and gently put her arm around his waist.

The candlelight flickered gently in the corridor; the night was still, and only the shadows of the two people overlapped.