Charms Class

A cane floated above the heads of all the new students.

Then, with a "bang," a small imp with large eyes and a mischievous face appeared, holding the cane in his hand—he didn't seem like a ghost; this imp was dressed in bright colors, while ghosts were obviously monochrome, but his manner of movement was clearly the same as all ghosts.

That's right, Peeves, a character in Hogwarts that most people both hated and were helpless against.

"Oh! New students!" As soon as Peeves appeared, he suddenly pounced on the new students, startling them all. However, he changed direction in mid-air, humming strange songs with great interest, only throwing the cane hard into the crowd.

Those canes were very hard, and the new students quickly covered their heads to avoid them.

"Oh! Hinata, dodge quickly!" Li Mu saw that Hinata beside him was still blushing and fiddling with her fingers—the other Ravenclaws around her showed an agility completely inconsistent with their nerdy attributes, and had already scattered.

He quickly pulled Hinata, and two canes landed exactly where she had been standing, with a "bang."

Hinata came back to her senses, realizing that Li Mu was holding her arm, and her small face became even redder, followed by several "bangs," and the screams of Li Mu and Neville behind him sounded at the same time.

Li Mu was only focused on helping Hinata and didn't have time to protect himself. Neville was... well, completely expected.

"Th... thank you..." Hinata blushed and finally squeezed out these words, her voice as thin as a mosquito's.

She looked up and realized that Li Mu hadn't heard her at all. The black-haired, black-eyed boy had already released her arm, and with a bruise on his forehead, he suddenly bent down and grabbed something amidst the laughter of the other students.

He picked up a cane from the ground, raised it, and threw it forward with all his might. The cane drew a perfect arc in the air in front of everyone.

"Bang!"

Peeves' singing stopped abruptly, and the cane thrown by Li Mu flew over a hundred meters, hitting him squarely on the forehead, even knocking his hat askew.

"Ouch..." Peeves cried out strangely, his eyes widened, but he found that Li Mu was even faster, bending down and picking up two more canes, pretending to throw them again. Peeves was immediately frightened, tugged at his tie, and quickly changed direction and flew away.

His screams could be heard all along the corridor: "Ouch, hitting—ghosts—ah. All brawn and no brains, little Hufflepuff rascals..."

Li Mu curled his lips. He could tell—although called a "ghost," Peeves was actually a physical entity, more like some kind of elf. He could touch objects and could naturally be hit by them.

Peeves had been able to run rampant in Hogwarts for many years mainly because no one could hit him hard enough. His agile figure made it difficult for others to aim at him. His body structure was special, very sturdy, and he flew high in the air, so even if he was hit, it wouldn't hurt.

But now, Peeves tasted the pain again. He quickly floated to the end of the corridor, turned his face, stuck out his tongue, and made a face at Li Mu: "Goodbye, strong muscle man!"

Li Mu pretended to chase after him, shouting, "Stop! ...Don't let me see you again, you rascal!"

Hogwarts forbade students from flying in the corridors, and Li Mu obviously couldn't catch up with Peeves.

In any case, Peeves' prank was stopped this time.

"Well done," Percy praised, but his face was as black as if he had eaten shit. He squeezed past the surrounding first-year little devils and left in a hurry.

The crowd also slowly moved, and Harry and the others caught up from behind.

"What's wrong with your Prefect brother?" Li Mu noticed Percy's expression and asked Ron.

"Never mind him, he's always like this... probably thinks his limelight was stolen." Ron also picked up a cane from the ground and weighed it, immediately determining that he could never throw this thing far. "That was so cool just now, how did you do that?"

"It's simple, just throw it a few more times." Li Mu shrugged, and at this time, the wound from being hit by the cane faintly throbbed. He saw Neville, and they stared at each other's ridiculous bruises on their faces and foreheads, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, we're going to be late!" Hermione frowned. She didn't seem to like Li Mu's behavior. "I'm telling you, Peeves holds grudges, you better be careful of his revenge!"

Without finishing her words, Hermione quickened her pace, holding her books and walking ahead.

"Talking as if Peeves is his pet..." Ron muttered, but Li Mu smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Let's go. She's right, we're going to be late."

The others quickened their pace as well.

Hinata watched their backs, a gentle smile involuntarily appearing on her delicate face, and then she followed along briskly.

They were still late, along with more than a dozen students from the other houses, entering the classroom about a minute behind schedule.

A widespread tardiness on the first class of the semester was probably rare in the entire history of Hogwarts. Fortunately, Professor Flitwick, who taught Charms, did not punish them after hearing that Peeves was the culprit.

The Charms professor, Professor Flitwick, was an unusually short wizard. Li Mu already knew this.

But knowing was one thing, and actually seeing Flitwick in person was quite another, after all, written words and movie scenes couldn't compare to experiencing it firsthand.

The entire classroom was arranged into a large lecture hall capable of accommodating nearly a hundred students from all four houses, except that each step was not furnished with desks and chairs, but with soft cushions. The students sat cross-legged on the cushions, gazing intently at the center of the classroom at the bottom, where a large podium almost as tall as an adult was placed.

"Um..." Professor Flitwick also set up a square table on the podium, and a stack of books was piled on the table, and he stood on the books, as if standing on the tip of a tower. Only in this way could the students see him.

He said to the whole class, "All students, especially the first years, should pay special attention to Peeves. In any case, he can be quite troublesome. Alright, let's start the roll call—"

Next, Flitwick lowered his head, stared at the roster at his feet, and read in his unique, high-pitched voice: "Hinata, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley... Hmm?"

He stopped suddenly halfway through, and then his next performance made Li Mu suspect that he had developed the same stutter as Hinata.

"...Ha... Ha... Harry Pot...ter!" Professor Flitwick couldn't control his trembling tone, his body swayed, and he fell headfirst off the podium.

(End of this chapter)