Shawn sat upright on the sofa, reasonably satisfied with the young wizards' performance.
He swept his gaze over them. Those stealing strange looks at him quickly lowered their heads and studied even more quietly and diligently. Only the rustle of writing and turning pages filled the Common Room.
He also noticed one Little Witch trembling, as though she were terrified of him.
Shawn was baffled. His gaze had clearly been very gentle.
Never mind. It was better not to guess what little girls were thinking.
He then lowered his head and began reading the stack of documents Alice had submitted, all detailing the students' mastery of spells.
After reading for a while, he realized how little attention he had paid before. The young wizards had indeed made rapid progress over the past year.
If the older Young Wizards were taken outside and pitted against ordinary adult wizards, every one of them could win hands down.
Leaving other spells aside, mastery of the Disarming Charm was practically universal, excluding the first-years.
The Shield Charm was also widely mastered among students in their fourth year and above.
Their mastery of other offensive, defensive, and disruptive spells was more uneven.
Still, it gave him a rough idea of who was better suited to attacking and who to defending.
Shawn also noticed that two Little Witches in the first year had particularly impressive spell results.
Astoria: Disarming Charm, level two; Petrificus Totalus, level two; Dancing Charm, level two; could already transfigure objects into small animals. Ginny: Disarming Charm, level two; Bat-Bogey Hex, level three; Impediment Jinx, level two; Slug-Vomiting Charm, level two, along with other minor jinxes.
Of these two Little Witches, one might have owed her remarkable talent for Transfiguration to her Blood Curse, unfortunate though it was.
As for the