In the Charms classroom.
"Today's lesson will be on the Levitation Charm."
"The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa—swish and flick—and be sure not to mispronounce it, otherwise…"
Professor Flitwick stood atop a stack of books, giving detailed instructions in his high, squeaky voice.
Hermione and Ron had been paired together, much to her reluctance.
There was nothing she could do; Hermione was a student who strictly followed the rules.
Harry and Ron, on the other hand, were like a pair of troublemakers—constantly breaking school rules and earning numerous point deductions for Gryffindor since the start of term.
Especially after Harry received his broom from Professor McGonagall, both he and Ron had grown even more careless about following the rules.
As a result, Hermione had started speaking to them less and less.
She couldn't help but glance in Lucien's direction.
She felt that Lucien was a model student—studious, well-behaved, and far less noisy than the others.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Ron flicked his wand and quickly recited the spell, but the feather only floated slightly before dropping again.
At least his wand wasn't as tattered as before—the Unicorn hair inside no longer poked through.
Lucien had casually repaired it for him a few days earlier, but he had also mentioned that Ron still needed to buy a wand suited specifically to him—after all, using someone else's wand would never feel quite right.
Hearing Ron's repeated attempts and loud incantations, Hermione grew a little impatient.
"It's Wing-GAR-dium Levi-O-sa! The 'Gar' should be longer—you're saying it too short and unclear."
Hermione's slightly bossy tone irritated Ron, but he still tried again.
This time, the feather lifted a few centimeters off the table before quickly falling back down.
Ron silently continued practicing, choosing not to respond to Hermione.
As he worked, he couldn't help glancing toward Lucien. Compared to Lucien's strict teaching and demanding lessons, Hermione's instructions were nothing but splashes of water.
Just thinking about Lucien's rigorous lectures, the piles of homework, and the difficulty of his tests made Ron want to cry.
But fortunately, as Lucien always said, hard work eventually paid off.
Ron could now create simple Alchemy Mechanicals—little hopping frogs or small turtles that could paddle around.
He had even decided to show his mechanical creations to Percy so that his brother could tell their mother he was studying diligently under Lucien and truly learning something from his friend.
Seeing that Ron wasn't responding, Hermione didn't mind and continued practicing the Levitation Charm on her own.
Soon, she managed to make her feather float steadily in midair.
But this didn't earn her any praise or points from Professor Flitwick, because… there was a student who was just.. sigh..
Hermione had already grown somewhat used to—or perhaps numb to—watching Lucien.
The two feathers in front of him were rhythmically dancing the tango!
Professor Flitwick even chuckled and waved his wand to add a bit of musical accompaniment.
In every joint class with Ravenclaw, Lucien was always the first to finish the professor's task, earning points for his house.
No matter the subject!
Hermione was used to it by now. Although she constantly pushed herself to catch up, studying diligently in private, she simply couldn't match Lucien's pace of improvement.
She also kept an eye on the House points board: Gryffindor's score rose and fell like a rollercoaster, Slytherin held the lead as usual, and Hufflepuff stayed comfortably at the bottom—but the little badgers didn't seem to mind, always cheerful and easygoing.
Ravenclaw, however, kept climbing steadily.
Hermione thought this was partly because Ravenclaw had the fewest students, most of whom were studious and rarely lost points.
And, of course, there was Lucien—a relentless point-earning machine who never stopped adding to their total.
Boom!
A loud explosion suddenly echoed through the classroom, interrupting Hermione's thoughts.
Everyone's attention turned to the source of the explosion—a small boy with a soot-stained face and hair standing on end.
Their eyes were wide with shock, though several students were clearly struggling not to laugh.
Lucien, however, remained perfectly calm.
Ah, the explosion genius had arrived.
Seamus Finnigan—truly gifted, or perhaps simply very experienced—when it came to blowing things up.
Really, anyone who could turn a Levitation Charm into a miniature explosion had to be talented in some way.
After his initial fright, Professor Flitwick quickly jumped down from his pile of books to check whether Seamus was hurt.
Ding-a-ling—~~~
The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
The young wizards hurried off in groups toward the Great Hall.
Today was Halloween Eve!
…
Inside the Great Hall.
Huge pumpkins had been hollowed out and carved with eerie faces.
Each one held one or more brightly burning candles in its mouth, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow across the hall.
The pumpkins floating in the air gave off a unique fragrance, bobbing up and down before slowly spinning, as if making faces at the young wizards below.
Magically conjured dark clouds drifted across the Great Hall, and from them emerged flocks of black bats, both large and small.
Lucien sat at the long table, glancing up at the bats.
Hmm… Transfiguration.
They looked like Professor McGonagall's work; if old Dumbledore had done it, the bats would probably be carrying candy jars and showering everyone with sweets—or perhaps they'd just be made entirely of candy themselves.
"Coo!"
A rather ordinary-looking brown owl fluttered down to Lucien, dropping a letter in front of him.
After rubbing affectionately against his hair and accepting a pumpkin pasty, the owl reluctantly took off again.
Lucien unfolded the letter and began to read.
It was indeed from Newt.
Hmm… it was about caring for a Niffler.
He needed to keep an eye out in case it started stealing things at home or from others, and the valuable trinkets he gave it shouldn't all be made of the same metal—the more variety, the better…
Lucien and Newt had been exchanging letters regularly.
When he began researching the Transfiguration of magical creatures later on, he would certainly need a large number of Fantastic Beasts for observation.
And Newt was undoubtedly the most capable person in the world to provide that opportunity.
Indeed, Newt had written in advance, sending a letter by owl that explained how to care for Nifflers and other Fantastic Beasts.
He had also mentioned that Lucien could later borrow some of the creatures for raising and study.
Lucien glanced at the letter while Harry, sitting across from him, rested his head on the table, looking completely exhausted as he muttered, "Three nights a week for Quidditch practice, and so much homework for every class…"
What Harry didn't mention were the assignments, experiments, memorization, exercises, and exams from his extra Potions lessons with Lucien.
He had never been this busy before.
Ron, sitting beside him, was chewing on a fried chicken wing while fiddling with a small green Alchemical mechanical frog on the table.
After a light tap with his wand, infused with a bit of magic, the frog began to croak.
Its jumps were a little uneven, always higher on one side than the other.
With his mouth still full, Ron mumbled,
"If you're tired, I can take your place.. I'll play Quidditch, and you can help me draw the diagrams."
Harry shot Ron an exasperated look.
"Heh heh... take that suggestion and shove it up your.. ehm.."
"..."
Watching the two of them, Hermione couldn't quite understand.
Over the past month, Harry's Potion skills and Ron's Transfiguration techniques had both improved noticeably.
Now Ron was even fiddling with that little contraption of his.
Hermione found it hard to believe that the two of them had suddenly become so diligent. They didn't seem like the kind of students who would take the initiative to study—or chase after professors with questions.
She only occasionally saw them following behind Lucien.
Whenever she spotted Harry and Ron, their moods seemed to swing between enthusiasm and frustration…
Hermione glanced at Lucien—the handsome young man sitting quietly, reading his letter.
Curiosity and doubt flickered in her eyes.
__________
11 Advance Chaps- P@treon/DarkDevil1