Chapter 154: Rest and Neville

The Great Hall.

A fire lizard at the edge suddenly shot into the air, spinning wildly around the room, crackling with sparks and accompanied by several loud bangs.

Percy hoarsely scolded Fred and George fiercely. Orange-red stars erupted from the fire lizard's mouth, creating a beautiful and spectacular sight.

Amidst a series of explosions, it fled into the fireplace. All of this made Wizard Sean's already pleasant and relaxed mood even more leisurely.

He planned to give himself a day off, though Professor McGonagall had insisted he walk around various parts of Hogwarts.

The professor had sternly warned him that if young wizards trained their magical abilities too aggressively, counterproductive effects could occur.

The professor demanded he get a good night's sleep and relax his tense mind; balancing work and rest never goes out of style anywhere.

At the entrance to the Great Hall, two pairs of eyes were fixed on Wizard Sean:

"Jia Jia Siting, are you sure this will work?"

Hermione tilted her head back; otherwise, she couldn't possibly see Jia Jia Siting from behind the mountain of books piled high.

"Of course it will work. Have you forgotten what that knight said? He wears a knight's medal from King Arthur's era. You know, knights never lie."

Jia Jia Siting walked forward with full confidence.

Beneath the enchanted ceiling (which was a cloudy gray that afternoon), the four house tables were laden with bowls of porridge, platters of pickled herring, mountains of meat chops, and dishes of pudding.

Hermione and Jia Jia Siting sat down beside Wizard Sean, with Hermione's Intermediate Transfiguration textbook spread open atop a milk jug.

"Um, Wizard Sean, I mean, it's the weekend, and I'm afraid I need a little help..."

Jia Jia Siting spoke with a hint of embarrassment.

Wizard Sean, pondering what it meant to maintain an excellent level of magic, nodded silently.

"I need notes for History of Magic..."

"I just finished supplementing the section on King Arthur's era. The recent History of Magic assignment starts on page sixty-five."

"And also for Herbology, Astronomy, and Potions..."

"Hmm, but you'll have to practice the specific details yourself; the notes contain the detailed procedures."

"Oh—I forgot to mention, I also need..."

Wizard Sean paused for a second, looking helplessly at Jia Jia Siting.

"The Charms notes are with Hermione, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts notes are with you."

"You're too clumsy! You've been caught—"

Hermione's face turned slightly red.

"That doesn't matter, Hermione."

Jia Jia Siting's smile grew warmer.

"You and I both know that without notes, Wizard Sean can only rest."

Just as they were discussing in hushed tones,

Michael nearby widened his eyes and immediately began shaking Anthony:

"Look, look! So this is what friends are like—friends who can save your life during a deadly weekend!

Hey! Can't you two try to be a bit more impressive!"

Young wizards were always noisy. In a noisy corner of the long table, Neville ate the toast in his hand, occasionally glancing at the quarreling crowd before lowering his head again.

Suddenly, Michael grabbed him in a headlock:

"Hey, I'm saying, Neville, I contributed a whole week's worth of pudding. Did you actually get into that place or not?"

Neville shrank back timidly, only then remembering that every one of Wizard Sean's guidance sessions had ended in the second corridor.

It seemed he had never seen that place. His breathing grew heavy, and he was so anxious his lips trembled:

"No..."

"Merlin's pants—"

Michael's eyes widened even further.

Evening.

Nightfall blurred in from the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

Wizard Sean walked slowly, holding a magical lantern that illuminated the stone path beneath his feet.

Before the "Lumos" charm was invented, wizards had always used magical lanterns for illumination.

Wizard Sean could sense the spell matrix inside it—a lighting charm combination different from "Lumos," appearing more powerful but also consuming more energy.

If the brightness of Lumos was one, with a maximum brightness of seven,

then the minimum brightness of the magical lantern was three, and its maximum exceeded twenty.

This stemmed from its internal, more ancient spell matrix, which seemed to be inscribed with runes.

There was a vague saying in the magical world that the older something was, the more powerful it became. This didn't mean magic itself hadn't progressed, but rather that compared to the simple and easy-to-use Standard Book of Spells, ancient magic was extremely crude.

Everyday spells like "Open Sesame" possessed considerable power and were often used by young wizards for duels, resulting in many casualties.

The casting time for ancient magic was incredibly long. Records show this was particularly evident in the International Wizarding Dueling Championship:

Wizards often pursued magical power, only to be defeated because their casting speed was too slow.

For instance, there was once a wizard who attempted to cast a spell requiring an extremely long channeling time. Had he succeeded, he could have conjured a mountain to crush his opponent, but the opponent simply used Expelliarmus to knock him out of the competition.

Modern magic has undergone simplification over more than ten centuries in the magical world. This results in modern spells being cast incredibly quickly but possessing far less power than ancient ones, and their primary uses may also differ vastly: for example, the Severing Charm, which in ancient times was typically used for executions.

However, for Wizard Sean, once his proficiency advanced to a certain stage, standard spells would eventually fail to satisfy him.

This also led Wizard Sean to a realization: no wonder so many powerful wizards, after reaching a certain stage in their studies, would proactively learn runes and study more ancient magic. There was an issue of an upper limit involved.

Deep contemplation of magic had become integrated into Wizard Sean's life; in a leisurely state, this actually served as a form of relaxation for him.

Just as he took out Headmaster Dumbledore's letter, pondering how to keep lingering at Hogwarts,

he spotted a figure pacing back and forth on the stairs, trying to hide itself in a corner.

"Wizard Sean—"

Neville shouted, having summoned nearly all his courage.

Wizard Sean stopped. When he turned around, Neville also turned away, as if he hadn't been the one calling out.

This made Jia Jia Siting, who was peeking from the classroom doorway, burst into laughter.

Inside the classroom, Hermione was practicing the Levitation Charm.

Her desk was covered with various notes, and several books borrowed from the library that hadn't yet been returned were buried under newly borrowed ones.

Wizard Sean's desk was slightly different; he generally memorized trivial books, while important ones remained with him even after memorization.

Just like that copy of Magical Theory. Consequently, his desktop was neat and orderly; apart from the occasional appearance of delicious desserts, everything else followed a traceable pattern.

"An excellent level of magic clearly encompasses both practice and theory, and practical ability is the sole standard for testing theory..."

The Quick-Quotes Quill hovered over light blue notes, recording:

"A wizard's magical level is typically manifested in practice through charms and transfiguration; potions can also be counted among them..."

Headmaster Dumbledore's requirements aligned perfectly with Wizard Sean's current goals. He was already making preparations to deal with potential dangers at Hogwarts (such as trolls, or those "pure-bloods" who discriminated against Muggle-born wizards).

Thus, while planning his objectives for after Monday, he walked closer to Neville.