September Classes

During this time, Skylar's studies did not suffer at all. This semester's Charms focused on Mental Magic, which was Skylar's forte. As Skylar delved into Arbatel Volume I 1 and the Malfoy Family Spells, Mental Magic became second nature to Skylar, and he could wield it with ease and without any difficulty.

During an event at the Charms Club, Skylar published a research paper on using the Cheering Charm to enhance the power of the Patronus Charm. The paper's perspective was so novel that even Professor Flitwick praised it highly. With Skylar's consent, the paper was revised by Professor Flitwick and co-authored by the two and published in <Spell Innovation>.

Unexpectedly, this paper caused a great stir in the academic community— Ulysses Hicks, the president of the Dark Arts Defense League, wrote a letter to Skylar, expressing the alliance's willingness to buy all of Skylar's research notes related to this topic, paying a considerable sum of Galleon, and also granting Skylar honorary membership in the Dark Arts Defense League.

Gulana Cleopatra, the president of the Medieval European Wizards Association, was not to be outdone. She offered an even higher amount of Galleon and also awarded Schelling the "Wizard Scholar Contribution Award." This award not only granted Skylar access to the International Confederation of Wizards's library at its Sardinia headquarters but also a spot in the "All-European Dueling Tournament."

The All-European Dueling Tournament was hosted by a mysterious organization called "Silver Spear," an 18th-century secret Dueling Club supposedly organized by a group of dueling enthusiasts. Coincidentally, the wands of the four Founders were all made of aspen wood, so the early organization had very strict membership requirements; only wizards using aspen wands were eligible.

By the mid-20th century, the Silver Spear had relaxed its membership requirements, offering invitations to anyone who excelled in any international dueling tournament. While the specific benefits of joining the Silver Spear unknown, Skylar knew that many renowned wizards were eager to join, suggesting that there must be unexpected advantages.

After much deliberation, including consulting Professor Flitwick and Lucius on the matter, Skylar ultimately accepted the conditions of the Medieval European Wizards Association. The main Skylar was the chance to compete in the All-European Dueling Tournament, which would save Skylar the tedious process of going through multiple rounds of selection. Furthermore, Professor Flitwick was eagerly anticipating Skylar's performance in the tournament and had even gifted Skylar his own notes on dueling from his youth.

This notebook is full of his own unique spells and dueling techniques, which are obviously very valuable as a former dueling champion.

[Professor Flitwick's Dueling Notes Obtained!]

This semester's Transfiguration focuses on Transfiguration inanimate objects into small animals. Professor McGonagall's task is to transform a teapot into a turtle— Skylar was able to accomplish last semester when he took Merlin's Trial. As a result, Professor McGonagall exempted Skylar from all his homework, only requiring Skylar to attend the Transfiguration Club activities each week.

Incidentally, two more of Skylar's papers were selected for publication in * Transfiguration Today *. The readership of * Transfiguration Today * extends beyond the Britain wizarding community, and Skylar is now gaining some international recognition. Some prominent figures in the field of Transfiguration have also written to him, offering guidance and support to this promising young talent, such as the Chinese Transfiguration Master Zhang He.

Zhang He's ancestor was Zhang Guo, a famous figure in the Tang Dynasty who left behind the mythical legend of "Zhang Guo Lao" in the Muggle world. However, he was actually a wizard, whose specialty was the Transfiguration of turning pieces of paper into living donkeys.

Skylar benefited greatly from his correspondence with him, and the two became close friends despite their age difference through frequent exchanges. Zhang He even gave Skylar a copy of the Transfiguration from the China wizarding world, "The Myriad Transformations Spell." Although the book was written in Chinese characters, Zhang He thoughtfully included English annotations, for which Skylar was very grateful.

[Obtained the "Myriad Transformations Spell"!]

This semester's Potions is quite challenging. Besides the Shrinking Solution in the first week, another interesting Potions is about Confusing Concoction.

The ingredients of the Confusing Concoction are Sneezewort, Scurvy Grass, and Angelica pubescens, all herbs that can cause the brain to heat up. After drinking it, the effect is similar to being under the Confundus Charm, but more effective. In addition to affecting thinking ability, the Confusing Concoction can also affect emotions, making the user reckless and impulsive. If used properly, it can definitely produce miraculous results.

Skylar knew that Snape and his father Lucius had a good personal relationship, and he often sought out Professor Snape to ask profound questions about Potions. For example, he wondered why Neville's Shrinking Solution could regress creatures to a juvenile state, and whether this could be used on humans to maintain youth. He also inquired about the difference between the Confusing Concoction and the Essence of Essence of Insanity, even though both were used to cloud the mind and cause people to make wrong decisions.

Contrary to Snape usual aloof persona, well, although he still had a cold face, at least he patiently explained these profound concepts to Skylar one by one, without expressing any objection to Skylar's advanced learning.

What surprised Skylar the most was that Snape also gave Skylar his Potions written during his student days. These notes were from when he was preparing for the OWL level exams. Although they weren't as impressive as "The Half-Blood Prince's Potions Notes," they were still very useful for Skylar at his current stage.

Skylar even saw many improvements to the Potions -making steps in the textbook. If this knowledge were to spread outside, it would probably cause quite a stir in the Potions world.

Snape had already recognized Skylar's potential back in the Dueling Club last semester, and Lucius, a senior who was on good terms with him, had asked him to look after the Malfoy twins in several letters.

Draco was alright, but Skylar was simply too outstanding. In their first year, McGonagall and Flitwick had already snatched him up as their prized student. Although Draco had also been interested, he was used to maintaining a cool and aloof persona and couldn't bring himself to take the initiative to look after Skylar. Seeing Skylar's increasingly close teacher-student relationship with the two professors, he could only feel anxious. Now that Skylar had taken the initiative to ask him for advice, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

[Snape's Beginner Potions Notes Acquired!]

No one really enjoyed the Care of Magical Creatures. After the exciting first lesson, the class became incredibly boring. Hagrid seemed to lose confidence. Now, they spent lesson after lesson learning how to care for the Flobberworm.

The Flobberworm is a 10-inch-long, toothless, brown worm. This creature prefers lettuce, but in fact it eats almost any plant. Feeding them is completely pointless, as they prefer solitude, do nothing, and require little care; overfeeding will only lead to overeating and death.

Not only were the Slytherin Little Snakes groaning in distress, but even Ron, who was on good terms with Hagrid, frequently complained.

This semester's Herbology focuses on caring for Puffapod, a magical plant that produces plump, pink Puffapod on its branches. The young wizards' task is to peel open the pink pods, extract the shiny beans inside, and place them in a wooden bucket. These beans are very sensitive; they will immediately bloom if they come into contact with a solid object.

During this process, Skylar discovered that his strength and agility did not bring him much advantage; rather, the ability to maintain a stable, unshaking gesture for an extended period of time was more important.

In this respect, girls have an advantage. Morrie shared her secret with Skylar: she loved embroidery, knitting, and painting, so she could use her wrists skillfully without accidentally dropping the beans. Under Morrie's guidance, Skylar, Daphne, and Meredith gradually grasped the key points as well.

The careless Goyle and Crabbe ended up in trouble—the two of them repeatedly scattered beans on the greenhouse floor, and the beans on the ground instantly blossomed before their eyes. Although the blossoms were very bright and beautiful, Professor Sprout's face turned red with anger, which was not a pleasant sight. Not only did Slytherin lose points, but Goyle and Crabbe also had to be put in solitary confinement.

Skylar's performance in Defense Against the Dark Arts was also remarkable. Professor Lupin dared not underestimate this student who could stand up to two Dementor head-on, and Skylar lived up to expectations by demonstrating his outstanding abilities in class.

The first lesson of the Defense Against the Dark Arts was the Boggart, Skylar easily turned into a smiling Boggart; the second lesson was the Red Cap, Skylar had dealt with countless of in the Forbidden Forest; the third lesson was the Japan Kappa, also known as the Kappa, a reptile that lives in water and looks like a monkey with scales and webbed hands. It likes to hide in ponds and strangle unsuspecting people wading across.

This was no problem for Skylar. Like the Red Cap, the Kappa could only pose a danger when the wizard was off guard. So, as long as a "Trace Revealing Charm" spell was used to detect the Kappa's presence before entering the water, and a Drying Charm was used to dry the water on the Kappa's skull, it would be enough to scare it away. The Kappa's power came from the water on its skull, and losing that water would make it weak.

Skylar's favorite course was Alchemy Class. Professor Burke was a retired alchemist from the ancient Burke Family. He had a very solid and extensive knowledge of alchemy and also had a scientist-like eccentric temperament. He taught in a very serious and methodical manner.

He agreed to teach this time only after Lucius did a great deal of favor, and he specified that he would only teach Skylar's grade, unlike other professors who were responsible for teaching seven grades.

Due to the small number of students, the Alchemy Class is taught together by all four houses.

Perhaps because Professor Burke was brought by Lucius, the Alchemy Class was primarily attended by Slytherin; at Skylar's urging, all third-year Slytherin took the course. Hufflepuff had only two students, Ernie Macmillan and Susan Bones; while Ravenclaw had four students: Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Morrie MacDougal, and Lisa Turpin.

There were no Gryffindor students at all. It was rumored that the connection between Alchemy Class and the House of Malfoy had already spread within Gryffindor, so most people weren't interested—perhaps Hermione, who was eager to learn, was an exception, but she resolutely chose to give up the course to consider her friend Ron's feelings. In fact, she was already overwhelmed with 12 courses, which was one of the reasons she gave up Alchemy Class.

The alchemy course was not as exciting as one might imagine; students had neither the opportunity to practice alchemy nor the chance to handle those legendary alchemical items.

In contrast, Professor Burke's teachings on alchemy consisted of very basic theories—starting with Ancient Egyptian Alchemy Theory, which required not only a deep understanding of celestial phenomena and geology, but also rote memorization of the properties of various magical substances and metals; then it extended to the theory of the transformation of matter and magic proposed by Europe alchemists in the Middle Ages. This theory held that certain texts possessed magical power, and that the effect of alchemy could be further achieved by inscribing Ancient Runic Magic Symbols on alchemical items.

This knowledge sounded dry and seemingly useless, but it was just right for Skylar.

Skylar himself learned alchemy directly from Nicolas Flamel, one of the greatest alchemists of the centuries. Unfortunately, Flamel was not a good teacher; his knowledge was too profound, so much so that Skylar had to ponder for a long time before he could understand the underlying principles behind a single sentence or statement.

Not to mention, the legacy Nico left to Skylar —the alchemical notes in the Flamel's Notebook —were Nico's casual jottings, never systematically organized, and appeared very scattered and disorganized. Much of the content left Skylar completely bewildered, requiring him to consult Nicolas Flamel multiple times before he could barely understand it.

The alchemy course at Hogwarts made up for Skylar's weak foundation. By systematically reviewing the basics of alchemy, many things that were previously unclear became clear.

Skylar didn't forget his promise to Daphne. Whenever he had free time, he would tutor Astoria and give her some academic help, which made Astoria the most outstanding student in the first year. Skylar and Astoria's relationship gradually became more familiar.