Charms Class

A cane floated above the heads of all the first-years.

Then, with a bang, a small creature—or rather, a little man with huge eyes, a huge mouth, and a thoroughly mischievous face—appeared out of thin air. He was clutching the cane. He did not look like a ghost; this little man was brightly dressed, while ghosts were clearly supposed to be monochrome. Yet the way he moved was exactly like that of any ghost or spirit.

That was right: Peeves, the figure at Hogwarts whom most people both hated and found themselves helpless against.

"Oh! First-years!" The moment Peeves appeared, he suddenly swooped toward the new students, startling everyone. But he changed direction in midair, cheerfully humming a strange little song as he hurled the cane hard into the crowd.

Those canes were extremely hard, and the first-years hurriedly covered their heads and dodged.

"Oh! Hinata, duck!" Li Mu saw that Hinata beside him was still blushing and fiddling with her fingers. The other Ravenclaws around them displayed agility entirely at odds with their bookish image and had long since scattered.

He hurriedly yanked Hinata aside. Two canes landed exactly where she had been standing, hitting the floor with a bang.

Only then did Hinata come back to her senses. Seeing Li Mu holding her arm, her little face reddened even further. Then came several more bangs, followed by the cries of pain from Li Mu and Neville behind him.

Li Mu had been too focused on helping Hinata to protect himself. As for Neville... well, that was completely expected.

"Th-thank you..." Hinata finally managed to squeeze out the words, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

When she looked up, she realized that Li Mu had not heard her at all. The black-haired, black-eyed boy had already released her arm. With a bruise on his forehead, he suddenly bent down amid the laughter of the other students and grabbed something.

He snatched a cane off the ground, raised it, and hurled it forward with all his strength. Before everyone's eyes, the cane traced an almost perfect arc through the air.

Bang!

Peeves's singing stopped abruptly. The cane Li Mu had thrown sailed over a hundred meters and struck him squarely in the forehead, knocking his hat crooked.

"Ow..." Peeves shrieked, his eyes widening. But he discovered that Li Mu was even faster, bending down to pick up two more canes as if preparing to throw them. Peeves immediately tugged at his tie in fright and swiftly flew away in another direction.

His shrieks could be heard all along the corridor: "Ouch, they're beating—ghosts! You brainless musclehead, you little Hufflepuff brat..."

Li Mu curled his lip. He could tell that although Peeves was called a "ghost," he was actually corporeal, more like some kind of spirit. He could touch physical objects, so naturally, physical objects could hit him too.

Peeves had run wild at Hogwarts for so many years mainly because no one could hurt him badly enough. His nimble body made him difficult to target. His peculiar physical makeup made him exceptionally tough, and he flew high in the air, so even if someone hit him, it did not hurt much.

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

Li Mu pretended to sprint after him and shouted, "Stop!... Don't let me catch you again, you little troublemaker!"

Hogwarts prohibited students from flying in the corridors, so Li Mu obviously could not catch Peeves.

No matter what, Peeves's prank had been stopped this time.

"Well done." Percy offered a word of praise, though his face was as dark as if he had eaten shit. He shoved through the surrounding first-year brats and hurried away.

The crowd slowly began moving again, 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.

"Don't mind him. He's always like that... Maybe he thinks you stole his thunder." Ron picked up a cane from the ground and weighed it in his hand, immediately deciding that he could never throw the thing very far. "That was awesome just now. How did you do that?"

"It's simple. Just throw more often." Li Mu shrugged. Only then did the places where the canes had struck him begin to throb with pain. He saw Neville, and the two looked at the ridiculous bruises on each other's faces and foreheads before bursting into laughter.

"Come on, we're going to be late!" Hermione frowned. She did not seem to like Li Mu's actions. "I'm telling you, Peeves holds grudges. You'd better watch out for his revenge!"

Before she had even finished speaking, Hermione quickened her pace and walked ahead with her books hugged to her chest.

"She talks like Peeves is her pet..." Ron muttered, but Li Mu smiled and patted his shoulder.

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

The others picked up their pace as well.

Hinata watched their retreating backs, and an involuntary smile appeared on her delicate face. Then she lightly followed after them.

They were still late. Along with more than a dozen students from several other houses, they entered the classroom about a minute late.

Being late on such a large scale for the very first class of the term was probably rare even in Hogwarts's entire history. Fortunately, when Professor Flitwick, who taught Charms, learned that Peeves had been causing trouble, he did not punish them.

The Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, was an extraordinarily short wizard. Li Mu had known that long ago.

But knowing was one thing; actually seeing Flitwick in person still surprised him greatly. After all, words in books and scenes in films could not compare to experiencing it firsthand.

The entire classroom had been arranged as a large lecture hall capable of holding nearly a hundred students from all four houses. However, instead of desks and chairs, each tier held soft cushions. The students sat cross-legged on the cushions and stared toward the center at the lowest level of the classroom, where a large lectern nearly as tall as an adult stood.

"Um..." Professor Flitwick had placed a square table atop the lectern, then stacked a pile of books on top of that. Standing on the books, he looked as though he were standing at the peak of a tall tower. Only that way could the students see him.

He addressed the class. "All students, especially the first-years, should pay close attention to Peeves. No matter what, he can indeed be troublesome. All right, let's begin the roll call—"

Next, Flitwick lowered his head and stared at the class register beneath his feet, reading in his distinctive high-pitched voice. "Hi-na-ta, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley... Um?"

He suddenly stopped halfway through. What he did next made Li Mu suspect that he had developed the same stuttering problem as Hinata.

"...Ha... Ha... Harry Pot... ter!" Professor Flitwick could not control the tremor in his voice. His body swayed, and he plunged headfirst off the lectern.

(End of Chapter)