Chapter 119: Gift

Amid an atmosphere of longing bordering on prayer, Halloween arrived.

Laughter and joy filled every corner; all the young wizards eagerly anticipated the castle’s fantastical, beautifully decorated halls.

They exchanged gifts with delight, shared candies, and did the same in the Hope Hut.

“Oh, Wizard Sean, I didn’t know you could carry all that.”

Justin’s words carried rare teasing, for when Wizard Sean pushed open the door, everyone had seen him swallowed whole by floating candies.

Wizard Sean calmly placed the candies on a wooden cabinet near the fireplace; three of its six compartments were already full.

Combined with candies from others, all manner of strange snacks had filled more than half the cabinet.

Now Justin was using a levitation charm to move some candies out of the cabinet.

“Try this?”

He held up a blue, jelly-like candy shaped like a mouse.

Soon, everyone heard Neville’s teeth chattering and crunching.

“It’s in my mouth!”

Neville panicked, sticking out his tongue to scrape away the “nonexistent” mouse.

“Neville, I told you before eating—it’s normal.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow, but her eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Try this—”

Justin swallowed a red candy.

“They say Peppermint Imps make wizards breathe fire… Get back!”

“Whoa!”

Watching black smoke puff from Justin’s mouth, flames shooting from his ears and nose, Hermione’s smile widened.

In the cabinet, her compartment held many candies—but all were gifts from friends in the Hope Hut… and thankfully, that was enough.

On the wooden table.

The biting vine, seemingly stimulated by the flames, slowly retracted its tendrils, flipping over the letter Wizard Sean had placed on the table.

Beside the letter sat a small silver cat figurine—unremarkable in appearance, yet crafted with an extremely complex Transfiguration: Multiple Transfiguration.

The principle of this advanced Transfiguration involves applying multiple transformations to a single object, making the Reversal Charm unable to undo the change at once.

It’s like an equation: you only need to find one unknown to solve it; now you must find several.

From this perspective, you understand why its difficulty surged dramatically.

But Wizard Sean’s gift preparations today weren’t limited to this one, so his movements were swift…

A distant cooing sound echoed; a pure white owl perched outside Wizard Sean’s window.

Its feathers were disheveled, its beak clutching a feather from some unknown bird, and the owl stood tall and proud.

After all, it had just defeated ten other owls to land on this very window.

“Oona, thank you for helping.”

Wizard Sean looked up, placing several letters and small parcels beneath its claws, then set down a small tray filled with meat, toast, and salad to treat this diligent messenger.

—As for owl names, Wizard Sean remembered every single one.

“Coo—”

The pure white owl rubbed against Wizard Sean’s fingers, then flew off with the letters in its beak.

At another colorful window, Minerva McGonagall took the owl’s letter, gazing at the silver cat figurine; her eyes, like deep lakes, stirred only with gentle ripples.

On her desk lay countless letters already.

Each bore a return address from Croydon; many were not replies, but the original letters returned by the owls.

Today, however, the return address was no longer Minerva McGonagall, but a woman named Roland.

A woman who had volunteered many times at Holyhead.

Charms classroom.

Professor Flitwick remained energetic, standing atop a stack of towering books, his thin voice ringing out:

“Now, don’t forget the subtle wrist motion we’ve been practicing! A flick and a swirl—remember, a flick and a swirl. Pronouncing the incantation correctly is vital too!”

Nearly half a month had passed since the last levitation charm practice, yet the young wizards still struggled to master it.

But today, the classroom’s transformation left Professor Flitwick stunned.

Last time, Harry and Seamus had flicked and swirled, flicked and swirled, over and over—but the feather remained motionless on the floor.

Even Seamus, in frustration, jabbed his wand at the feather—and it caught fire.

But today, many young wizards seemed to have undergone uniform training: their pronunciation was synchronized, their gestures precise and steady.

As expected, the feathers at least responded; some students even made theirs hover for several seconds.

“Remarkable progress! Gentlemen, ladies!”

Professor Flitwick cried out in his thin voice.

“I never thought a charm could be this simple—just follow your notes—”

Harry heard Ron muttering excitedly to himself, and nodded in full agreement.

“But you’re wrong,”

Harry heard Hermione say bluntly,

“It’s Wingardium Leviosa—the ‘ard’ must be drawn out and clear.”

“Do you think you’re better than Wizard Sean?!”

Ron’s face flushed red.

Wizard Sean beside Hermione:

“?”

“You’ve only got the old version—Wizard Sean’s levitation charm has improved more than you’ve evolved from a troll to a wizard!”

Hermione rolled up her sleeve, waved her wand, and said: “Wingard—ium Leviosa!”

“Oh, well done!”

Professor Flitwick clapped his hands and called out,

“Look, Granger’s levitation charm is exquisite!”

Near the end of class, Professor Flitwick kept Wizard Sean behind, holding a sky-blue notebook with a hint of wonder:

“Ah, a very direct method—fascinating. For beginners, it might even be significant—but my dear Green, the true secrets of charms lie far beyond these superficial details…”

Professor Flitwick praised him briefly, then spoke with solemn concern.

Wizard Sean knew exactly what the professor meant; he gave a quiet nod.

Following the sweet scent of pumpkin, Wizard Sean saw Hermione striding off proudly, and Ron, eyes alight with curiosity.

Ron, desperate for the new notes, would have no time to badmouth Hermione now—and so she’d likely avoid the giant troll in the girls’ bathroom.

Wizard Sean thought.

In the corridor.

Ron’s mood wasn’t bad; he cared more about Wizard Sean’s notes than the annoying Hermione.

He crept quietly among a group of Gryffindor girls:

“Has the Green notebook been updated?”

One Gryffindor girl who shared a room with Hermione snapped irritably:

“Who knows? She says we won’t see it unless we practice seriously with her… Hmph—bookworm!”

"What a pity for Mr. Green; she must have given him some Love Potion..."

“What a pity for Mr. Green—she must’ve slipped him a love potion…”