Chapter 52: The Professor Arrives

“What a beautiful Levitation Charm.”

Ernie, short and stout, stared fixedly at the floating feather.

As a pure-blood wizard’s son, he naturally understood the skill required—especially for a wizard who had never touched magic before.

“If it were Mr. Green… no? How is it Finley?!”

Only when Hannah moved her braided head aside did Ernie recognize the small badger by Professor Flitwick’s voice.

“Merlin’s beard, Finley couldn’t even levitate a feather last class…”

This was not only his doubt, but also the doubt of the circle of young wizards around him.

Especially for those Hufflepuffs who knew Justin well, it was like discovering their poor friend was secretly a trust fund kid.

“It seems you haven’t wasted that classroom, then?”

Professor Flitwick descended from the book ladder, walked up to Justin, and tucked away his wand with quiet satisfaction.

“I suppose I ought to come see for myself… but not now—Hufflepuff, three points!”

…

As soon as class ended,

Justin was surrounded by enthusiastic Hufflepuffs.

“Oh oh, how did you do it, Mr. Finley?”

The speaker was Hannah, freckled and shy.

“Really… Finley, you hid such a huge improvement from us!”

Ernie crossed his arms and lifted his chin high.

“I think we must punish this Hufflepuff for betraying the ‘Never Go Hungry’ Club—unless you tell us how you did it.”

His words drew nods from the group; at least six Hufflepuffs glared at Justin with fierce determination.

Wizard Sean glanced at the noisy crowd, then picked up his book and left the classroom—the brownish-yellow volume was Standard Spellwork: Level One.

If Professor Flitwick was coming to their classroom,

Wizard Sean thought,

could he find a suitable moment to ask about learning the Smoke Charm and the Knockback Charm?

At the same time, Wizard Sean knew,

professors were usually busy, and private instruction was not common.

Only for their favorite students—like later, Hermione—

could she often obtain firsthand exam information, even exclusive leaks, from Professor Flitwick.

Now, Wizard Sean was unsure whether he qualified.

The Charms classroom was packed with Hufflepuffs, while outside, the lazy evening breeze stirred again.

Friday’s leisure always wrapped the ancient castle in a warm charm,

and in the corridors, several Hufflepuff students leaned against window sills, watching the Black Black Lake shimmer with golden ripples under the setting sun.

Their laughter grew soft, like drifting dandelion fluff.

A suit of armor in the corner trembled slightly, emitting faint metallic scraping.

Beside the armor, while Justin was popular, few dared approach Wizard Sean.

Except—

“That Levitation Charm was awesome! I bet it’s connected to you, Wizard Sean?”

Michael emerged from behind an unexpected portrait, revealing a deep hidden passage behind him,

“Oh, but you don’t have to tell me—I think this will be a fascinating mystery! More interesting than castle passages or strange magical artifacts!”

With that, his eyes gleamed, his feet moved swiftly, and he vanished in seconds.

Leaving Wizard Sean, who hadn’t heard a word.

Had someone just spoken?

Wizard Sean had just closed Standard Spellwork: Level One, and quietly opened it again.

Ascending the spiral staircase,

Wizard Sean tapped in a fixed rhythm to awaken the sleeping Mr. Owl,

who seemed unusually excited today:

“Young wizard! Clever young wizard! Answer my question!”

Wizard Sean waited silently.

“A simple question, a difficult question…

I observed a fraud—his inner desire was to be revered, noticed, the center of attention; his wisdom helped him achieve it;

I observed a troublemaker—her inner desire was to stir chaos with words; her wisdom enabled her to do it;

Their wisdom always followed only their own hearts…”

Mr. Owl gripped a parchment scroll, circling endlessly within the portrait,

“Oh, tell me—is that wisdom, or madness?”

Wizard Sean thought for a few seconds:

“It’s a fool.”

Mr. Owl froze in place, turning the parchment over and over, growing stiff, yet his mouth never stopped:

“Young wizard! Greedy young wizard! Ambitious young wizard! Truly, Lady Ravenclaw…”

His final words were unintelligible; at the same time, the sky-blue door slowly appeared.

Wizard Sean, still thinking, opened the door.

Ambitious?

Actually, no.

Greedy?

Wizard Sean considered that a clear bias.

Inside the classroom,

three magical lanterns cast warm arcs of light; three chairs were padded with soft black-and-yellow cushions.

In the center, a cream-colored small sofa leaned against a tiny wooden table,

upon which lay countless candies and biscuits, though mostly various kinds of pudding—

Yorkshire pudding, strawberry mochi pudding, mint pudding, even chili sauce pudding…

On the sofa, Justin was handing Hermione a cup of pumpkin soda; the little witch took it automatically, looking slightly dazed.

All in all,

a single Hufflepuff had turned this place into a real secret base in just a few days.

Yes, that diligent badger was Justin,

Justin?!

Wizard Sean was surprised—he wasn’t surrounded just now?

“Oh, Wizard Sean, we need to talk…”

Wizard Sean had barely reached the sofa when Justin hurried over; Hermione didn’t even notice someone had left her side.

“Did you see? I mean Hermione—she’s hiding something from us…”

At that moment, knocking echoed from behind the sky-blue door,

a paper airplane drifted in through the crack, then dissolved into glowing words:

【Are you there, children?】

“Oh! It’s Professor Flitwick!”

“—Professor Flitwick!”

Hermione’s sudden reaction startled Justin,

seeing Justin’s hesitant expression, Wizard Sean silently walked over and opened the door.

Meanwhile, Justin sat down beside Hermione, slightly worried:

“If you want to speak, we’re listening—always—

Mother said, that’s why friends exist.”

Hermione slowly lifted her head and met those pale gray eyes—sincere, with just the right touch of concern—for several seconds:

“Alright, I’m silly. How could I forget you two…”

Her voice regained its usual strength.

“Oh, children?”

Professor Flitwick’s voice was heard, but his figure remained unseen.

Justin, who had just smiled, looked confused again,

dared not speak, and could only look helplessly at Wizard Sean.

Suddenly, several books appeared out of thin air, landed on the floor, and grew larger; only then did Professor Flitwick’s figure emerge from behind the sofa:

“Mr. Finley, excellent progress. And Mr. Green, Miss Granger?”