Chapter 236

Wizard Sean’s progress in Astronomy was as slow as his earlier study of spells, but he didn’t care.

On the contrary, he was immensely curious about what effects would unlock after the title of Divination Magic was acquired.

This was Divination—even among all magic, one of the deepest and most mysterious branches.

Its mystery and depth were sufficient to be linked with the word “fate.”

Another night with high visibility arrived; Wizard Sean was about to leave the castle when he saw Mr. Filch walking by, holding that cleaning broom.

Wizard Sean noticed the cleaning broom seemed restless in Filch’s hands; though it could clean the floor, it inevitably left behind fine debris.

At such moments, Filch himself would clear away the debris.

This situation was notably evident among a group of Hogwarts students returning from muddy grounds.

The cleaning broom could remove most of the mud, but it seemed to ignore individual, tiny specks of dirt.

Before Wizard Sean, the students casually scattered mud along the corridor while cheerfully saying:

“Have you heard? Lavender, oh my goodness—the shop at Diagon Alley 93 is finally opening! This summer—”

She was a Gryffindor with large, bright eyes, long black hair, and delicate features.

“Parvati, of course—I can’t wait to buy some Spirit Cat biscuits. Do you think they’ll help us find the castle Spirit Cat?”

“Oh—it’s the night messenger of Christmas, the castle Spirit Cat who commands good fortune… The grand castle is its ears, the turning staircases its breath…”

Lavender was a tall witch, murmuring softly and devoutly.

It sounded almost like sacred scripture from some religion.

They walked past like that…

Wizard Sean suddenly remembered that the Weasleys had been begging him days ago to speed up production—they couldn’t wait any longer.

Was this the reason?

Setting that aside, Wizard Sean turned his gaze toward the much more relaxed caretaker.

“Mr. Filch, may I see the cleaning broom?”

Wizard Sean asked.

“Green—re-really glad to see you here—of course, take a look—”

Filch handed Wizard Sean his most prized possession without hesitation.

Wizard Sean pressed his wand against the broom; soon he understood where the problem lay.

Objects made for wizards and those made for non-magical people were always different.

When used by a wizard, his will could easily control the entire cleaning broom—it would be perfectly obedient.

But when used by Filch, it was not so. His inner magic was insufficient to master the broom fully, so he could only use it crudely.

Wizard Sean also began to understand why his own cleaning broom had been stuck at the [Skilled] level—the runic array combination wasn’t refined enough.

As he frowned in thought, a loud voice sounded in his ear.

“Great Green—the Trick Shop is opening.”

Fred shouted.

“This summer!”

George added eagerly.

“We’ll all be there—three of us—not one missing!”

Fred declared loudly.

“You’re the true major shareholder of Weasley’s Trick Shop—how could you not be there?”

George blinked his eyes.

Before Wizard Sean could answer, they picked him up—broom and all—and carried him off.

Only when he was lifted did Wizard Sean realize:

“Do you know how much money we made? Merlin— it’s a number so big you’d swallow your tongue!”

Fred nearly cheered.

“You have to come with us, Great Green—even if you have a mission to save the world, you can’t escape—”

George twirled his hand, making a superhero gesture.

“Ah—what’s this?”

Fred yelped as the broom in Wizard Sean’s hand jabbed his waist; he looked down at it.

“Not bad—very good—but too crude…”

George also inspected it, then said:

“Strange—too strange… It looks like a super-genius made it with a powerful ritual and premium materials, but I bet he’s studied runes for no more than three years…”

Both of them were instantly absorbed in the cleaning broom:

“Brilliant craftsmanship—but why is the foundation so crude?”

Fred asked George.

“His control over refined magic is nearly nonexistent—only a genius who rushes ahead would have this problem.”

George turned to Wizard Sean,

“Great Green, where did you get this strange thing? The Alchemy Assembly?”

Wizard Sean had too many things to say and fell silent for a moment.

“Fred, George—just call me Wizard Sean. I made this.”

Fred let out an “Aha!” and extended his left hand:

“I knew it!”

“Exactly what I thought!”

George and Fred clapped hands.

“We’ll help you improve it—but you have to come with us to the Burrow!”

Fred dashed off in a flash.

“Trust me—you’ll learn some great techniques from Mum. Refinement is always the essence of household magic!”

George shouted, running while tilting his head back.

The Burrow?

Wizard Sean thought of it, then walked toward the castle’s exit.

Time slipped by, and several more days passed.

Perhaps due to the tense atmosphere of exams, rumors once again spread wildly through Hogwarts.

First, Professor Quirrell missed his Defense Against the Dark Arts class; after he left, everyone realized whether a professor was there or not made no difference.

Only Jia Jia Siting’s Defense Against the Dark Arts notes sold better and better—until Professor Snape substituted for Quirrell.

The little wizards who had originally been uninterested in what happened to Quirrell now wanted to dig up the castle three feet deep to unearth him.

The little wizards spent their days anxiously inquiring about Quirrell; after Wizard Sean learned from the careless Luo En that the professor was in the hospital wing, he always found various blessings on Quirrell’s desk.

But without exception, they all wished for the professor to recover quickly—they didn’t want four high-pressure classes a week.

Meanwhile, Professor Snape visibly grew more haggard, yet his spirit improved day by day.

This even fueled more rumors among the little wizards.

For instance, Professor Snape had secretly attacked Quirrell out of envy for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.

No one knew who started the rumor, but the next day, the person who spread it lost ten points for accidentally stirring a potion with his left hand.

At the same time, another rumor was sweeping through Hogwarts.

One more chapter coming later—the Deer has recovered. Two chapters tomorrow morning, three tonight.