In the Charms classroom.
"This lesson, we will be learning the Levitation Charm."
"The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa, a flick and swish, and you must not mispronounce the spell, otherwise…"
Professor Flitwick stood on a pile of books, giving detailed instructions in his high-pitched voice.
Hermione and Ron were paired together, and she was a little reluctant.
There was nothing she could do; Hermione herself was a very rule-abiding student.
Harry and Ron, on the other hand, were like two troublemakers, constantly breaking rules and racking up many lost points for Gryffindor since the start of term.
Especially after Harry received the broom from Professor McGonagall, Harry and Ron became even more disregardful of school rules.
As a result, Hermione spoke to them less and less.
Hermione couldn't help but look in Lucien's direction.
She felt that Lucien was a good student who loved to study and followed rules, and he wasn't as boisterous as his peers.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Ron flicked his wand, quickly chanting the spell, but the feather only lifted a tiny bit.
His wand was no longer ragged; at least the Unicorn hair wasn't exposed.
Lucien had casually repaired it for him a few days ago, but Lucien had also mentioned that he still needed to buy a wand that was most suitable for him, as another's wand would always feel a bit off.
Hearing Ron's repeated attempts and loud incantations, Hermione also grew a little impatient,
"It's Wing-GAR-dium Levi-O-sa, the 'Gar' should be pronounced longer; you're saying it too short and too blurry."
Hermione's somewhat bossy tone displeased Ron, but he still gave it a try.
This time, the feather lifted a few centimeters from the table, but quickly fell back down.
Ron then silently continued to practice, not speaking to Hermione.
As he practiced, Ron couldn't help but look in Lucien's direction; compared to this 'teacher's' strict instruction and diligent requirements, Hermione's efforts were merely splashing water.
The thought of Lucien's rigorous lectures, the large amount of homework, and the difficulty of his exams made Ron want to cry.
But fortunately, just as Lucien said, hard work would eventually pay off.
Ron could already create very simple Alchemy Mechanicals, such as hopping little frogs or small turtles that could paddle.
Ron had also decided that he would show the mechanical animals he made to Percy, so Percy could tell his mother that he was studying diligently with Lucien and had truly learned things from his friend!
Seeing that Ron wasn't speaking, Hermione didn't mind and tried the Levitation Charm on her own.
She quickly made the feather float, steady in the air.
But this didn't earn her praise or points from Professor Flitwick, because…
Hermione was already somewhat used to, or perhaps numb to, looking at Lucien.
The two feathers in front of Lucien were already rhythmically dancing the tango!
Professor Flitwick even chuckled and waved his wand, adding musical accompaniment.
Anyway, every time they had class with Ravenclaw, Lucien was always the first to complete the Professor's task, earning points for his house.
No matter the subject!
Hermione was already accustomed to this; although she constantly tried to catch up, studying diligently in private, she just couldn't match Lucien's pace of improvement.
Hermione also kept an eye on the House points board; Gryffindor's points went up and down like a rollercoaster, Slytherin consistently held the lead, Hufflepuff perpetually stayed at the bottom, but those little badgers weren't in a hurry, being quite easygoing.
Ravenclaw, however, maintained a steady upward trend.
Hermione thought that, on one hand, Ravenclaw had the fewest students, and most of them were focused on studying, leading to fewer opportunities for point deductions.
And then there was Lucien, a ruthless point-scoring machine, constantly adding points!
"Boom!"
A rather loud explosion echoed in the classroom, interrupting Hermione's thoughts.
Everyone's attention was drawn to the perpetrator of the explosion, a small boy with a scorched face and hair standing on end.
Their eyes were wide with fright, but their mouths were desperately trying to suppress laughter.
Lucien, however, appeared quite calm.
Oh, the explosion genius has arrived.
Seamus Finnigan, truly gifted, or rather, very experienced, when it came to explosions.
Haha, someone who could turn the Levitation Charm into a thunderous explosion, how could he not be talented?
After being startled, Professor Flitwick quickly jumped off the books to check if Seamus was injured.
Ding-a-ling—
The bell rang for the end of class.
The young Wizards hurried to the Great Hall in twos and threes.
Today was Halloween Eve!
…
Inside the Great Hall.
Large pumpkins had their insides scooped out and were carved with spooky faces.
Each had one or several brightly burning candles inside its mouth, casting varying light and shadow.
The pumpkins suspended in the air emitted a unique fragrance, bobbing up and down, then slowly rotating, as if making faces at every young Wizard.
Magically created dark clouds drifted through the Great Hall, from which many black bats, large and small, would emerge.
Lucien sat at the long table, glancing at the bats.
Hmm, Transfiguration.
They looked more like Professor McGonagall's handiwork; if old Dumbledore had done it, they'd probably be carrying candy jars and scattering sweets everywhere, or perhaps they'd simply be bats made of candy and sweets.
"Coo!"
A very ordinary-looking brown owl flew to Lucien, delivering a letter to him.
After rubbing against Lucien's hair and being fed a pumpkin pasty, the owl reluctantly departed.
He opened the letter and began to read.
It was indeed a letter from Newt.
Hmm, it was about Niffler care.
He needed to watch if it stole items from home or others, and the valuable items given to it shouldn't be just a single type of metal, the more variety the better, right…
Lucien had been in regular correspondence with Newt.
When he started researching the Transfiguration of magical creatures later, he would definitely need a large number of Fantastic Beasts to observe.
And Newt was the most capable person in this world to provide that condition.
Indeed, Newt had written a letter and sent it via owl, explaining in advance the care methods for Nifflers and other Fantastic Beasts.
He would also be able to borrow some Fantastic Beasts from him later for rearing and observation.
Lucien looked at the letter, while Harry, sitting opposite him, rested his head on the table, looking utterly dejected as he mumbled:
"Three nights a week for Quidditch practice, and so much homework for all the classes…"
What Harry didn't mention were the tasks, practicals, memorization, exercises, and exams from studying Potions with Lucien…
He had never been so busy before.
Ron, beside him, was eating a fried chicken wing, while his other hand adjusted a little green Alchemy Mechanical frog on the table.
After a light tap with his wand, filled with magic, the frog began to croak.
Its jumps were a bit odd, always higher on one side than the other.
Ron said indistinctly with his mouth full:
"If you're tired, I can switch with you."
"I'll play Quidditch, and you can help me draw diagrams."
Harry gave Ron an exasperated glance,
"Heh heh."
Looking at these two troublemakers, Hermione actually didn't understand.
It felt like, over the past month, Harry's Potion skills and Ron's Transfiguration techniques had both improved significantly.
Now Ron was even tinkering with that little gadget.
Hermione didn't quite believe that these two would spontaneously put in effort to study; they weren't the type of students who would chase after Professors with questions.
She only occasionally saw them appearing behind Lucien.
Every time Hermione saw Harry and Ron, they were sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes sullen…
Hermione looked at Lucien, the handsome young man quietly reading his letter.
Curiosity and doubt suddenly arose in her eyes.
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