Draw Your Wand

'Unable to recycle.'

'Unable to recycle.'

'Unable to recycle.'

'Recyclable item: Sweeping Three Stars Flying Broomstick. Recycling price: twenty Galleons and ten Sickles.'

'Recyclable item: Moon Dream Flying Broomstick. Recycling price: thirty Galleons.'

'Unable to recycle.'

After making a rough circuit of the hall, Gemini had gained quite a lot. Although he had not found another Horcrux, he had sold nearly ten thousand Galleons' worth of junk in one trip, pushing his total savings past seven hundred thousand Pounds Sterling.

That night, Gemini naturally stayed in the Room of Requirement again. Compared to the Slytherin dormitory, he still preferred this place.

"For a wizard, what is the most important thing?" Professor Flitwick, barely over a meter tall, stood atop a tall stack of books and asked in a shrill voice, "Naturally, it is a wand!"

"And what is a wand used for?" Professor Flitwick continued. "That's right, casting spells."

Gemini propped up his chin, curiously studying the half-goblin professor on the podium as he asked and answered his own questions.

"So, what spells do you all know?" Professor Flitwick asked, looking around the room.

Draco raised his hand, and Professor Flitwick happily called on him.

"Apparition."

After speaking, Draco glanced around smugly, seemingly intoxicated by the attention. In truth, no one was paying attention to him.

"Ha... that's right, Apparition. It is a rather difficult spell that allows you to vanish from one place and appear in another instantly."

Professor Flitwick nodded. "Who else knows something?"

A blond boy raised his hand. It was Hufflepuff's Ernie Macmillan, Justin's new friend from the boat ride with Gemini earlier.

"Scourgify! It's the spell my mother uses most when cleaning the house."

"That's right, excellent."

Professor Flitwick clapped his hands, looked around, and finally settled his curious gaze on Gemini. "Mr. Fox, are there any spells you know?"

"Um..." Gemini pinched his chin and thought for a moment. "Avada—"

"NO!!!" The instant Gemini spoke, Professor Flitwick let out a shriek and frantically waved both arms, trying to stop him.

Gemini did not continue. He blinked, then gave an awkward laugh.

He had only wanted to make a little joke, but Professor Flitwick's reaction was unexpectedly intense. Apparently, that sort of joke was not very welcome in the Wizarding World...

In the end, he was still an outsider. He had not realized how serious that spell was. In his previous life, waving chopsticks around had been one thing, but in the Wizarding World, a joke like that could genuinely scare people.

Seeing Professor Flitwick clutching his chest and gasping for breath, Gemini apologized. "I'm very sorry, Professor. I was only trying to make a joke."

Professor Flitwick waved a hand. "Oh... it's all right. You had not been exposed to the Wizarding World before, but you must be more careful in the future."

Beside Gemini, Draco had gone pale and silently moved farther away. The other Little Wizards also looked terrified.

For the rest of the lesson, Professor Flitwick stopped asking what spells they knew and only taught everyone one spell: Lumos.

Gemini softly recited the incantation once and successfully cast the spell. Professor Flitwick immediately awarded him five points and expressed his hope that Gemini would put his energy into these commonly used spells.

When class ended, Professor Flitwick nervously escorted Gemini out of the classroom and repeatedly warned him that even if he knew that spell, he could not casually say it aloud, or points would be deducted next time.

Soon afterward, news that Gemini had recited an Unforgivable Curse in Charms class spread throughout the school. Gemini, already like a tiger on a silent street, now had an even fiercer reputation than before.

Then Snape summoned him to his office again.

Dressed in black robes, Snape wore a long face as he paced back and forth before Gemini.

"Excellent. It seems our house has acquired a little genius, someone who taught himself one of the Unforgivable Curses, the Killing Curse, before even enrolling..."

"You flatter me, Professor. Actually, I can't cast it."

"You think—I am—complimenting you?!"

Snape's face twitched. He rolled up a sheet of parchment from the nearby desk and smacked Gemini on the head with it.

Tossing the parchment aside, Snape sat back behind his desk and asked slowly, "You... where did you learn about that spell?"

"Uh... Dark Magic: A Defensive Guide has detailed descriptions of the Unforgivable Curses, as well as ways to deal with them."

"But that is after page three hundred..."

"I read all of it." Gemini smiled gently. "At least... I have more or less mastered the Defense Against the Dark Arts that should be learned before fifth year."

Snape looked Gemini over and could not help sneering. "With that scrawny little body of yours, at eleven years old, how much magic could you possibly have? Mastered? I highly doubt you can even successfully cast a spell—"

As he spoke, Snape suddenly paused, seemingly recalling something.

Whether magical power was strong or weak depended on the strength of the body and soul. A powerful wizard was bound to possess a powerful physique and soul.

Generally speaking, adult wizards were stronger than students! A child's soul strength and physical condition simply could not produce that much magic.

Moreover, the soul and body were best kept in a certain balance. If one's Soul Power was too strong during adolescence and the body was not strong enough to bear so much magic, excessive accumulated magic would deteriorate into an Obscurus.

So, judging from the current situation...

It was hard to say whether Gemini's soul was strong, but that brat's physique was fucking unparalleled!

Looking at Gemini, who did not even reach his chest when standing, Snape suddenly had an absurd thought.

Could this brat really have taught himself all the Defense Against the Dark Arts from first through fifth year?

Although that class changed teachers every year and often changed textbooks, that did not mean one textbook could only be used for a single year. Take Potions Class, for example. There were only three textbooks for all seven years, especially the sixth- and seventh-year books, which had remained unchanged from when Snape attended school until Harry did.

So, if Gemini had thoroughly mastered that Defensive Guide, then as long as he had enough magic and decent talent, learning dozens of Defense Against the Dark Arts spells in a short time did not seem impossible.

Snape stared at Gemini for a long moment, then stepped forward and somewhat roughly grabbed Gemini's arm, leading him all the way to an empty classroom.

Then he walked to the other end of the room, pulled out his wand, and slowly spoke as he looked at Gemini.

"Now, draw your wand!"

Gemini: "???"

"I said—draw your wand!" Snape impatiently shook the wand in his hand.

Gemini hurriedly drew his wand and looked at Snape blankly, unable to guess what he intended to do.

"Use every Defense Against the Dark Arts spell you have mastered and attack me," Snape said.

"Is that really appropriate?" Gemini hesitated. Attacking a teacher... would this guy use it as an excuse to expel him?

Snape grew impatient and flicked his wand, sending a spell flying at Gemini.

"Protego!"

Gemini keenly noticed Snape's movement and raised his wand before him. With Gemini's reaction speed and dynamic vision, Snape's movements looked like slow motion to him.

Clang—

Like the toll of a bell, Gemini swept his wand. "Flock of Birds!"

Chirp chirp chirp...

Dozens of birds appeared out of thin air, fluttering in the air behind Gemini. Then Gemini pointed his wand at Snape. "Vipera Evanesca!"

As the words fell, dozens of birds charged at Snape from every direction. Snape circled his wand around himself, and a blazing ring of fire spread outward, burning all the birds to ashes.

"Is that all you have?" A mocking smile curled Snape's lips. "Look at that, Flock of Birds. You'll learn that spell in Charms class in two months."

Gemini thought for a moment and lightly flicked his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa."

The smile on Snape's face deepened. "Not bad. Are you planning to use your brute strength to pick up a blackboard and beat me to death with it?"

A hint of cunning flashed through Gemini's eyes as he smiled gently. "I prefer using wisdom, Professor."

The instant he finished speaking, a deafening boom rang out. Snape abruptly dropped flat, narrowly avoiding the large blackboard slamming toward him from behind.

The blackboard continued flying toward Gemini. Gemini reached out one hand and lifted the huge blackboard with a single arm.

Snape looked up just in time to see Gemini holding the enormous blackboard one-handed and bringing it crashing down on him.

"Of course, when wisdom is not enough to change the situation, that is when brute force should be used, Professor."

Hearing the howling wind raised by the blackboard, Snape's eye twitched. He rolled across the floor to evade the descending blackboard, which slammed into the ground with a boom and shattered into pieces.

Then, in the instant Snape dodged the blackboard...

"Disarming Charm!"

Whoosh...

Snape's wand spun through the air and landed in Gemini's hand.

The battle was over.

Snape stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes. His gaze settled on Gemini's face, his expression unreadable.

"Very good, Mr. Fox..." Snape extended a hand, and Gemini returned his wand.

To be fair, this time he was sincerely praising Gemini, even if his tone did not sound particularly friendly.

In fact, Snape had never been stingy with praise for capable Slytherins, unless the other person was a Gryffindor...

"You flatter me, Professor." Gemini smiled gently. "Aside from that first spell, you never actively attacked me. I merely had more strength and took advantage of the situation."

"It is rather beyond my expectations that you can remain humble. It seems you are not entirely useless after all." Snape calmly tucked his wand into his robes and turned to leave.

Snape was quite satisfied with Gemini's performance this time.

There was no angry humiliation, nor did Snape lose face over being disarmed by Gemini.

He had seen Gemini's strength before. Being caught off guard and taken advantage of by such a freak was nothing shameful.

Though he could not treat every student equally, Snape's professional standards as a teacher were actually quite high in other respects.

I nearly forgot to update, hahaha. What time do you all think would be best for daily updates? I think it would be best to set a fixed update time, wah wah wah~