Quiet Days
November remained uneventful.
After Harry was suspended, Ginny took his place as the new Seeker.
Harry was frustrated but helpless, and could only devote himself more diligently to the Dumbledore's Army training. Unfortunately, in order to coordinate with the training schedules of the various Quidditch teams, Dumbledore's Army activities could only be maintained at a frequency of four times a month.
Skylar spent most of his time studying the vast collection of books he possessed. As time went on, his knowledge of magic increased, and he successfully created several new spells, giving him more Killer cards to use in future battles.
However, compared to the past four years of secluded and arduous study, he was undoubtedly much more relaxed. He no longer needed to rush to improve his strength, nor did he need to rely on external aids such as Time-Turner and Invigoration Draught to assist his studies.
Learning has become a pleasure, a form of self-cultivation in the pursuit of truth and self-improvement, rather than a task forced upon us to enhance our abilities.
He even dedicates a significant amount of time each week to socializing.
At the Charms Club, he had become the de facto spiritual leader of the group. Having mastered many advanced spells, he never hesitated to offer any help to his fellow club members, including sharing his insights and secrets about spells. These actions earned him the unanimous favor of everyone.
Even Frobisher of Gryffindor realized that she had held too many prejudices against Slytherin in the past. Not only did she change her opinion of Slytherin, but she also developed a great deal of goodwill towards Skylar, her gentle and helpful senior.
Of course, she didn't dare to have any higher hopes for Skylar, after all, everyone knew that this handsome campus heartthrob already had several female confidantes. She simply enjoyed the time she spent interacting with Skylar in the Charms Club.
Skylar was a frequent sight in the Prefects' Meeting Room. He actively assisted Diggory and Montgomery, the Head Boy, and even took on many student problems that needed to be solved. Cedric already had a good relationship with Skylar, and Montgomery's friendship with Skylar continued to grow. As the three of them continued to cooperate seamlessly, it seemed that a new clique was forming.
The development of the Sleeping Dragon Society has not lagged behind.
This time, Skylar wasn't just a hands-off manager. He moved between the groups, occasionally assisting Daphne in guiding the young wizards on practical combat skills, and sometimes giving Astoria pointers on how to improve production efficiency and success rate in Potions- making.
As he appeared more often, the young wizards of the Sleeping Dragon Society grew increasingly reverent towards him, almost to the point of fanaticism, and considered it an honor to receive even a brief instruction from him.
As the trust between Sazerus Vongola deepened, Skylar had already told him about the Sleeping Dragon Society, but Sazerus did not choose to join, preferring instead to become Skylar's personal ally.
Skylar wasn't too concerned about this matter; after all, having one more friend was better than having one more enemy. Sazerus could provide Skylar with many ideas regarding alchemy, including how to modify the Sleeping Dragon ship to make its magical cannons more lethal.
Conversely, Sazerus also learned a great deal from Skylar, such as political maneuvering and diplomacy, which were indispensable skills for him to take charge of the family later on.
At Akabane Sakura's place, Skylar kept his promise and applied to Snape for a private laboratory. He and Cherry Moon spent a considerable amount of time together each week researching the issue of reverting Magical Creatures' bloodlines to their ancestral forms.
Akabane Sakura never imagined that her painstakingly researched subject would make such rapid progress with Skylar's help.
She had known Skylar for many years, and through correspondence, she had come to know his talent and erudition. However, it was only after this actual meeting and time spent together that she realized Skylar's abilities far exceeded her expectations.
He not only had an astonishing understanding of the refined atavism theory of Magical Creatures bloodlines, but he was also able to put the theory into practice, solving one difficult problem after another with ease. What shocked her even more was that he was able to obtain an independent private laboratory from Snape and use his connections to collect valuable research materials for her.
When Skylar sent two large boxes of research data on the bloodline power of Magical Creatures through his House Elf, Cherry Moon was truly astonished by his abilities.
Looking at the mountain of ancient books, scrolls, and manuscripts before her—each exuding a strong aura of taboo—she saw not only treasures from the Restricted Section of the three great magic schools— Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang —but also many ancient documents that seemed to come from even more secretive sources, including some legendary, long-lost notebooks. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and for a moment she was speechless.
If she were to collect all of this on her own, she probably would never be able to gather so much top-secret information in her lifetime.
This was something no ordinary student could accomplish, not even the most powerful Pure-blood aristocratic families she knew. This showed that the power Skylar wielded far exceeded her imagination. She finally realized that a pen pal she had unintentionally befriended six years ago was actually such an astonishing figure.
She looked at Skylar gratefully, but he simply leaned casually against the lab table with a faint smile on his lips, as if obtaining the data was nothing more than a trivial matter.
Cherry Moon's heart skipped a beat. When they met last year, she had already developed a good impression of her pen pal, Skylar. Now, not only did he remember her research, but he was also going to great lengths for her, which touched her deeply.
As the experiment progressed, the two communicated more and more frequently. Sometimes they buried themselves in books, sometimes they debated around the crucible, and sometimes they even argued over a certain theory, but in the end they found a better solution through each other's reasoning. Skylar's thinking was meticulous, and many problems that Cherry Moon could not solve even after racking her brains were solved by his deductions, which made her admire his talent even more.
Cherry Moon's gaze towards Skylar grew increasingly complex.
This is not Skylar's fault. He went to such lengths not just to fulfill his promise, but because he was genuinely interested in the research.
However, his handsome appearance, coupled with the numerous accolades surrounding him, already possesses immense appeal to any girl; now, he is also displaying his knowledge and strength in front of Akabane Sakura, even revealing his connections and methods, which will undoubtedly make anyone unconsciously develop a liking for him and become even more interested in him.
During these days of research, Cherry Moon's feelings for Skylar grew stronger. Whenever they read books together, analyzed data on the lab bench, or tried new alchemical formulas together, she couldn't help but secretly observe Skylar's profile—his focused gaze, the smooth and precise movement of his fingers on the parchment, and the occasional faint smile that appeared on his face all made her heart race.
She herself was unaware that her mindset had gradually shifted from initial enthusiasm for the research to anticipation of each week's research time. She even thought how wonderful it would be if this research never ended.