Chapter 138: Professor Terra
The secret passage was pitch black, as any self-respecting secret passage should be.
"Passage Thirteen, leads to the Alchemy office and the third-floor girls' bathroom..." Fred announced with a flourish, quickening his pace.
"I think I get it," George whispered, his face twitching slightly. "Professor Terra isn't in any of the books. She hates fame, doesn't she?"
"Alright, we're here. Quiet now. Just wait," Fred warned, pulling a spool of thin string from his bag.
"Our latest masterpiece. Still haven't named it, but it works like a charm," George said, tossing the end of the string onto the floor. It snaked away into the darkness, turning a corner at the end of the passage.
"Professor Terra teaches on Mondays and Wednesdays. You won't see her any other time – she's incredibly busy. She vanishes right after class. If you miss her today, you'll have to wait a week. But on Mondays, she grades papers... somewhere. Oh, and she usually takes a walk in the corridor afterwards... but we never know where she's grading, so we need this!"
The string twitched. Fred muttered, "Not in that classroom, not there... Aha! Passage Five!"
Following the twins, Sean stepped out from behind a large portrait, then ducked into another passage that required six rhythmic taps to open.
"Lumos!"
"Lumos!"
Fred and George lit their wands.
"We'll wait here," Fred whispered. "When we give the signal, you go out there, clutching all your Alchemy books, and have an 'accidental' encounter with Professor Terra. With luck, you'll get to talk to her. Without luck, you'll run headfirst into her. Remember to keep your notebook on top..."
Sean nodded, though he found the strategy a bit aggressive. But after hearing the Weasleys admit they had collided with the professor seven times before succeeding, he kept his doubts to himself.
"Lumos!"
He lit his own wand and opened A History of Modern Magic to the section on Uagadou.
Uagadou School of Magic, located in Africa, has existed for at least a thousand years. While there are smaller magical schools across the continent, only Uagadou has stood the test of time and achieved an enviable international reputation. Its students are particularly skilled in Astronomy, Alchemy, and Self-Transfiguration.
At a recent International Symposium of Animagi, the Uagadou delegation nearly caused a riot when their team of fourteen-year-olds synchronized their transformation into elephants and cheetahs, attracting considerable media attention and making many older, experienced witches and wizards feel distinctly threatened.
Furthermore, they cast magic using hand gestures, as wands are a European invention. Consequently, they were frequently accused of breaching the Statute of Secrecy in the early days, a charge they often evaded by claiming, "I was simply waving; I never intended for his jaw to fall off." This infuriated the Ministry into revising the regulations overnight.
"Now! Go!" Fred hissed, giving Sean a shove.
Sean stumbled out of the passage just as a silver-robed professor with striking white hair strode by, clutching a stack of parchment. She radiated an aura of intense displeasure.
With a flick of her finger – no wand in sight – the parchments leaped into a bin that materialized out of thin air, and then bin and paper vanished together.
Flora Terra's expression was stony. Alchemy had been in session for over two months, yet those dunderheads still couldn't distinguish Feoh from F – merely regional variations of the same rune!
The silver-haired professor glanced at the thin string in the corner. Two sheets of the vanished parchment reappeared. A quill hopped out of her office, scribbled furiously on them, and the parchments folded themselves into owls and flew away.
Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, Pamela Peyton and a Gryffindor student were bonked on the head by falling scrolls.
Sean watched the magical display, his attention fixed on the vanishing bin.
"Vanishing Spell, Disillusionment Charm, Revealing Charm, and... Transfiguration..." he murmured.
"Not bad. Sharp intuition," Professor Terra said, raising an eyebrow. Her voice was quiet, but loud enough for the Weasleys to hear, though Sean remained oblivious.
"We have to help him—" Fred whispered, pacing in circles.
"He's a true Alchemy prodigy!" George agreed.
Unbeknownst to them, a spark of interest had lit in Professor Terra's eyes. She waved a hand. A loud CRACK erupted near the Weasleys' ears. Their Extendable Ear was being chewed up by a wastepaper basket – the same one that had vanished earlier.
"Busted! Run!" The twins vanished instantly.
In the sunlit corridor, the stained-glass windows cast colorful patterns on Professor Terra's silver hair.
"An Easy Introduction to Ancient Runes, Rune Dictionary, Spellman's Syllabary... how far have you got?" she asked.
"I just finished memorizing them..." Sean admitted honestly.
"Acceptable..." The silver-robed professor dismissed the feat casually, though her expression softened upon seeing such a young student. "You're interested in Alchemy?"
"Yes, Professor."
Sean produced his Levitating Quill.
"A Levitating Quill... decent runic array..." Her interest piqued, she took the quill. When she let go, it remained hovering perfectly. "A practice piece. Not a masterpiece, but excellent for a beginner..." Her cool eyes warmed with appreciation. She had mastered basic runic arrays in her second year – the rote memorization wasn't that hard. But she hadn't attempted to create an alchemical object so soon... The recklessness learned from those two mischievous Weasleys was understandable.
"When did you start studying Alchemy, child?" she asked, her tone now genuinely curious.
"A month ago, Professor."
"A month... wait, a month?!"
(End of Chapter)
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