Chapter 76: Choice

"I'm sorry, Mr. Filch."

Wizard Sean spoke sincerely in a low voice.

Wizard Sean did not despise or resent Mr. Filch as other young wizards did,

and he believed the caretaker’s actions were understandable.

Just as he wouldn’t hold Professor Snape responsible for this, the fault lay only in his own slow progress—he shouldn’t have waited until now.

Still, Wizard Sean felt a pang of disappointment; having worked nearly a month only to fail at the final step was bitter indeed.

Wizard Sean saw that after a moment of stunned silence, Mr. Filch angrily returned to writing his report.

This gave Wizard Sean a sudden glimmer of hope.

It was well known that Hogwarts’ rules were enforced with considerable flexibility—for example, nighttime wandering.

Professor McGonagall would harshly deduct points and assign detention under severe circumstances, such as when Harry and his friends deceived Neville and Malfoy about their nighttime outing (as she believed at the time).

Back then, she had loomed towering over the three of them, and Harry thought the professor was more likely to breathe fire than Norbert.

But under normal circumstances, she never detained students;

as for Professor Flitwick, Wizard Sean felt that with a proper explanation, the professor wouldn’t detain him;

let alone Professor Sprout—even if Hufflepuffs went out to fight, she’d only scold them, yet still secretly slipped them a box of coconut ice cream; this headmistress had always been like winter’s warm sun.

Thinking this way, as long as he wasn’t reported to Professor Snape, Wizard Sean wouldn’t be dragged off by the potions master for “practicing potions” detention.

After all, Professor Snape was already deeply dissatisfied with Wizard Sean’s recent “laziness…”

No!

Wizard Sean suddenly felt a flicker of suspicion—was his forced nighttime wandering part of Professor Snape’s plan?

Wizard Sean remembered that Professor Snape seemed to have a good relationship with Mr. Filch; in the original story, it was Filch who treated Snape’s bite wound.

Could he… have been set up by the professor…?

Wizard Sean didn’t know this was still a scheme within a scheme.

Well, verifying this was simple—just see who Mr. Filch intended to report to.

As Wizard Sean fretted, a loud crash came from the ceiling, shaking the oil lamp so it rattled.

“Peeves!”

Mr. Filch roared, and in a fit of rage, hurled his quill aside,

“This time, I won’t let you off!”

Seizing the moment, Wizard Sean quickly leaned over to examine the half-filled form.

The form bore a large initial S, and Wizard Sean sighed silently.

But on the desk lay another object: a plump purple envelope, stamped with silver lettering.

Wizard Sean could only ponder how likely he was to practice spells in the dungeons, and sighed again, deeply.

At that moment, a cold wind blew through the window, threatening to carry off the letter; Wizard Sean swiftly caught it, and on the purple envelope were written bold characters:

【Invitation to the Correspondence Course: Introduction to Rapid Incantation Magic】.

Wizard Sean roughly knew what this letter was, and his emerald eyes brightened again.

He remembered that in the original story, Harry had discovered this letter—and then Mr. Filch let him go.

He hadn’t expected Mr. Filch to have already seen it so early…

While Wizard Sean was lost in thought, a lithe figure darted into the room and gracefully leapt onto the wooden desk.

It was Mrs. Norris—her claws tore open the envelope:

【Do you feel left behind by the pace of the modern magical world?

Do you find yourself making excuses to avoid performing simple spells?

Have you been mocked for your clumsy wandwork?

The answer is here! Rapid Incantation is a foolproof, instantly effective, and easy-to-learn new course.

Hundreds of wizards have already benefited from Rapid Incantation!

Mrs. Topp of Toppsham wrote:

“I couldn’t remember spells, and my potions were laughed at by my whole family! Now, after completing one Rapid Incantation course, I’ve become the center of attention at parties, and friends beg me for the recipe for Sparkle Potion!”

The troublemaking wizard of Ditzbury said:

“My wife used to mock my poor magic, but after studying at your marvelous Rapid Incantation class for a month, I successfully turned her into a yak! Thank you, Rapid Incantation!”】

Watching Mrs. Norris’s tail sweep across the letter, then hear her “meow” at the wall,

Wizard Sean immediately understood the clever lady’s meaning.

“S—cour—g—ify! (Scourgify!)”

Wizard Sean waved his wand, and a patch of grime vanished from the wall; his wand tip glowed continuously, and the stains on the wall gradually disappeared.

At the same time, Wizard Sean kindly used a Levitation Charm to tidy the messy room, stacking up fallen heavy objects.

When everything was done, Wizard Sean breathed heavily again.

Mrs. Norris leapt onto Wizard Sean’s shoulder and nuzzled his cheek affectionately.

Under the dim oil lamp, one boy and one cat leaned gently together.

“You made that noise upstairs, didn’t you, Madame… Excellent cooperation.”

Wizard Sean felt his cheek itch slightly—Mrs. Norris’s tail had somehow risen.

“Purr—”

【You earned the affection of the magical creature Catliz (Mrs. Norris) at a skilled level—Proficiency +10】

…

“Did you—did you see—?”

Mr. Filch stammered, seeing the scene inside the room; another gust of wind blew, and the already flimsy letter landed in Wizard Sean’s hand.

Wizard Sean and Mr. Filch stared silently at each other.

Mr. Filch immediately twisted his bony hands together:

“Oh… actually, I, no, this isn’t mine… I got it for a friend… anyway… but…”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to look—but I won’t say a word, sir.”

Wizard Sean’s words rang clear.

“Good… good… then go, go…”

Mr. Filch seemed drained of all strength, staring blankly at the now-cleaned room beside his desk,

“An accident… an accident… You think we can trust him too, don’t you, my dear Madame?”

Mrs. Norris pressed close to Mr. Filch, resting against his shoulder, her eyes flickering with human-like agreement.

…

The night grew deep.

In the shadows of the corridor, low voices murmured.

“Ah—birth doesn’t matter; what matters is what kind of person one becomes,

and what determines who we become is not our abilities, but our choices—”

The old wizard with long, white beard smiled kindly, his deep blue eyes vast and distant,

“Anger is the easiest choice—but that child didn’t choose it, did he?”

“Do you truly believe… this is reasonable, Dumbledore?”

Professor McGonagall dropped a cold remark and turned away.

“To understand a person’s true nature, observe how they treat those beneath them… Forgive me, Minerva.”

Dumbledore’s figure also dissolved into the darkness.

Ravenclaw dormitory.

Wizard Sean was flipping through “Standard Spells: Level Seven,” which contained content on silent spells; he had gained some insight on this.

He planned to ask Professor Flitwick after completing Transfiguration tomorrow.

He clearly hadn’t noticed the two pairs of eyes watching from the corridor’s shadows.

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