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After three days and nights of hard work, the Weasley twins lived up to expectations and finally handed over a stack of essays that satisfied Lynn.
The stack of parchment stood half a person tall, with neat handwriting, clear arguments, and citations and page numbers all clearly marked.
Lynn flipped through them and nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad."
He pulled two bags of Galleons from his pocket and tossed them to the twins.
"The final payment."
Fred caught the money bag, weighed it, and his eyes lit up instantly.
"This much?"
Lynn fished out two smaller bags from his pocket and threw those over as well.
"Extra, for your hard work."
George took the bag, opened it, and gasped.
He looked up at Lynn, his eyes turning red.
"Lynn..."
"Hmm?"
"Are you Saint Nicholas reincarnated?"
Fred nodded vigorously and chimed in, "Right, right, right! You're like a second parent to us brothers!"
Lynn waved his hand dismissively.
"Alright, alright, stop being cheeky and head back."
Clutching their money bags, the twins left with a thousand thanks.
At the door, Fred turned back with a look of pure sincerity. "Lynn, if there's more work like this in the future, call us anytime!"
"Yeah!" George added. "We're at your beck and call!"
Lynn smiled and waved them off.
The door closed.
He looked down at the stack of essays, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
This money had been well spent.
——
A few days later.
In the Hufflepuff dormitory.
Sunlight spilled through the window, casting a warm patch of light on the floor. Lynn leaned back in an armchair by the window, cradling the Niffler in his arms and stroking it every so often.
The Niffler squinted its eyes comfortably, making a purring sound, its little paws kicking now and then—it was hard to tell whether it was dreaming or simply in a state of pure bliss.
Lynn's expression was the picture of contentment.
Nearby, Edgar sat at the desk with seven or eight books and a large pile of parchment spread out in front of him, a quill in hand, but not a single word written.
He looked at Lynn, then at the never-ending pile of homework before him, and clicked his teeth in envy.
"Sigh."
Lynn ignored him.
"Sigh!"
Lynn still ignored him.
"Siiiiigh..."
This one was long and drawn out.
William, buried in his own essay, finally couldn't take it anymore.
He picked up a book near his hand and, without even looking back, threw it with pinpoint accuracy.
"Ouch—!"
Edgar clutched the back of his head, jumping up from his chair and glaring at William.
"What was that for?!"
William pushed up his glasses, his expression perfectly calm. "Finished your homework? All you're doing is sighing over here."
Edgar's face instantly slumped.
He pointed at the pile of parchment in front of him, his tone full of grief and indignation.
"There's so much of it! How is anyone supposed to finish? I seriously suspect the professors never intended for us to finish!"
He grew more worked up as he spoke, waving his arms and spraying spit everywhere.
"And look at this assignment Mad-Eye gave us—he expects us to be able to skillfully dodge the spells he fires once term starts! That's just impossible! That's Mad-Eye! The Mad-Eye who spent his whole life catching Dark wizards! How am I supposed to dodge his spells?!"
William opened his mouth to argue but realized he couldn't.
This assignment really wasn't easy to pull off.
"So what do you plan to do?"
Edgar slumped back into his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"I don't know... just wait for death, I guess..."
Just then, a crisp snap came from the side.
Ollie put down his quill.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was strikingly clear in the quiet dormitory.
Edgar and William both looked at him.
Ollie, expressionless, spat out a single word: "Practice."
Edgar blinked.
"Practice? How? With whom..."
He stopped mid-sentence, wishing he could slap his own mouth.
He slowly turned his head.
Lynn had put down the Niffler at some point and was rising from his chair, looking at them with a beaming smile.
That smile—
How to put it?
It was bright, harmless, even warm, one could say.
But in Edgar's eyes, it looked exactly like seeing You-Know-Who standing right there.
Edgar: Gulp.
William: Gulp.
Ollie: Gulp.
All three swallowed hard at the same moment.
——
Inside the trunk.
In an open area surrounded by grass, with a simulated sky overhead, the light was soft and bright.
Lynn and the other three stood at four different positions.
"The training rules are simple," Lynn began. "I attack, and you three defend. Whoever gets hit by me has to do an extra hour of practice. We keep going until you can dodge."
Edgar's face fell instantly.
"Why do you get to attack while we defend?!"
William pushed up his glasses, offering a rare protest: "This isn't fair. It's a one-sided attack."
Ollie didn't speak, but nodded vigorously.
Lynn blinked. "Then how do you want to practice?"
The three looked at each other and said, in unison, "A free-for-all!"
Lynn laughed. "Are you sure?"
"Positive!"
Edgar puffed out his chest, sounding righteous. "Three against one—now that's more like it!"
William added, "This way we can train both dodging and attacking. It's more comprehensive."
Ollie kept nodding.
Lynn looked at them, the smile on his lips deepening.
"Fine, have it your way."
He took a few steps back and stood in the center of the area.
"Then—a free-for-all it is."
The three immediately spread out, surrounding him in a triangle.
Edgar gripped his wand tightly, his eyes fixed on Lynn, calculating in his mind: with three of us attacking at once, no matter how good he is, he won't be able to dodge all of it, right?
Ollie stood at the edge of the area and raised a hand.
"Three, two, one—start!"
The moment the words fell—
Three spells shot toward Lynn from three different directions at once!
Edgar's Stupefy, William's Expelliarmus, and Ollie's Binding Spell—their coordination was seamless, the angles tricky, leaving Lynn almost no room to maneuver.
But Lynn only tilted his body slightly.
The first spell grazed past his shoulder.
The second spell passed under his arm.
As for the third—he raised his wand and gave it a casual flick.
The Binding Spell seemed to strike something, instantly deflecting and shooting off into the empty space nearby.
Edgar's eyes widened.
"What kind of reaction speed is that?!"
Lynn didn't answer.
He just smiled, and then—
he moved.
His figure darted rapidly across the field, left and right, forward and back, moving so fast it was dizzying to watch. The three fired spell after spell, but not a single one touched him.
Edgar grew anxious.
He gritted his teeth and picked up his casting pace, firing Stupefy spells one after another, determined to turn Lynn into a sieve.
But it was useless.
Lynn seemed to predict the future, dodging every time at an impossible angle just as a spell was about to hit.
"Don't just dodge if you've got the guts!" Edgar shouted.
Lynn paused for a moment; some people really do ask for it.
"You said it!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth—
a thick fog suddenly surged into the area.
The mist appeared without warning, and within moments the entire space was shrouded so thickly that one couldn't see a hand in front of one's own face.
Edgar gripped his wand nervously, looking around.
He could see nothing.
Just a vast expanse of white.
An ominous feeling welled up in his chest.
Knowing Lynn, he'd definitely come for him first.
He gripped his wand, ears pricked, listening intently for any movement nearby.
Then—
he saw a glimmer of light.
Very faint, flashing through the mist to his front-left.
A spell!
Edgar didn't have time to think; he instinctively jumped to the right—and tripped over something.
A step had appeared on the ground at some point, not high, but just enough to trip him.
With an "Ouch," Edgar pitched forward, taking a face-first tumble.
By the time he scrambled up, his wand was gone.
Lynn's voice drifted through the mist, tinged with amusement.
"Fooled by such a simple feint... you're really not cut out for this, are you?"
Edgar clutched his aching knee, looking defiant.
"You cheated!"
Lynn's voice rang out again, this time right beside him.
"Who talks about rules on a battlefield?"
Edgar opened his mouth to retort, but Lynn didn't give him the chance.
"Dead men can't talk."
That left Edgar speechless and frustrated.
Just then, not far away, Ollie was waving his wand vigorously, and a gust of wind howled out. The mist billowed and receded, and the view cleared instantly.
Lynn didn't even hesitate.
He reached out, grabbed Edgar's collar, hauled him up off the ground, and shoved him out in front.
Before Edgar could realize what was happening, he'd been turned into a human shield, facing Ollie's direction.
"Lynn, you—!"
He didn't get to finish.
Because Ollie had already raised his hand.
A Knockback Jinx shot from the tip of Ollie's wand, heading straight for Lynn—or more precisely, straight for Edgar.
Lynn: "..."
This kid Ollie... he really had no sense of sportsmanship!
Lynn had assumed Ollie would hesitate, wary of hitting Edgar. Instead, Ollie hadn't hesitated at all—he'd fired immediately.
Lynn waved his wand repeatedly, and a Shield Charm instantly enveloped him and Edgar. A translucent barrier expanded in front of them, glowing with a faint silvery light.
Then—the Knockback Jinx exploded into a ball of light half a meter from the Shield Charm, bright enough to make one's eyes ache.
Ollie instinctively closed his eyes.
But the moment he closed them, he knew something was wrong.
Ollie snapped his eyes open, forcing them to adjust through the blinding afterglow—
and then he saw Edgar flying straight at him.
Edgar flailed in the air, his face filled with terror, mouth wide open, letting out an "AAAAAHHHH."
Ollie didn't have time to dodge.
Thud!
The two collided head-on.
Edgar slammed into Ollie, and Ollie was knocked backward. The two rolled into a heap, tumbling several times before coming to a stop.
"Ouch!" ×2
The two lay sprawled on the ground, limbs tangled—one pinning a leg, the other cushioning an arm—looking utterly pathetic.
William was stunned.
He looked at the two heaps on the ground, then at Lynn, standing nearby dusting off his hands. He opened his mouth, and after a long pause, managed to squeeze out a sentence:
"Um... can you go a little easier?"
Lynn pretended to think it over for a moment, then shook his head.
"No."
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