Professor Flitwick wore a warm, encouraging smile as he looked at Robert.
"Don't hold back, Robert," he said cheerfully. "Any spell you want—as long as it's within my abilities—I'll help you complete it."
"This is your well-earned reward," he added confidently. "Whether you'd like a dazzling fireworks spell—one that writes your name across the sky—or a convenient charm for daily life, or even a powerful combat spell that can give you an edge in duels, I'm at your service. I know young wizards your age tend to love that sort of magic…"
He chuckled and added, "And don't be fooled by my size. I was once a dueling champion, you know. You can trust me."
To his surprise, however, Robert didn't seem very excited by the suggestions. Instead, he pulled a thick notebook from inside his robes.
"I already have a preliminary concept for a spell, Professor," Robert said seriously. "Would you please take a look and see if you can help me finish it?"
Professor Flitwick's eyebrows lifted in surprise as he took the heavy notebook. It was clear Robert had come prepared. Had he been this confident about earning a top score on the final test?
Intrigued, Flitwick opened the notebook and began reading.
His expression changed subtly as he flipped through the pages.
He frowned in thought, paused, then nodded slightly, only to frown again. Finally, after a few more moments of study, he closed the notebook.
"I believe I understand the kind of spell you want," he said.
Robert looked tense, for once showing a trace of nervousness. "Professor, is it possible?"
Robert's idea was to modify the Lumos spell—to make it adjustable in frequency. This was crucial for his magical plant cultivation. Just as Muggle plants responded differently to various wavelengths of light, Robert suspected magical plants did too. If Lumos could emit different frequencies of light tailored to specific magical plants, he might be able to speed up their growth significantly.
He knew it was a bold and perhaps unprecedented idea.
Professor Flitwick's face grew serious.
"I can't say for sure," he admitted. "I've never tried anything quite like this. You see, original magical research tends to be… complicated."
Robert's heart began to sink. But then Flitwick gave a sudden mischievous wink.
"So, I'll need about two weeks."
He grinned. "Come see me in my office two Saturdays from now. You'll have your spell by then."
Robert almost laughed in disbelief.
Good grief.
Flitwick's sense of humor had completely fooled him—he genuinely thought for a moment that the professor would refuse. But of course, Flitwick was the Charms Master of Hogwarts for a reason.
Two weeks wasn't long at all. Robert exhaled in relief.
He could wait.
In fact, he still had something else to test in the meantime—his Extinguisher device.
After Charms class, word quickly spread among the students about the results of the Lumos final test. It was revealed that several Slytherin students had enhanced their spells using potions.
This caused a huge uproar, especially among the Gryffindors, who were fuming with anger.
"Despicable!"
"Shameless!"
"This is cheating!"
"I knew there had to be some reason Crabbe and Goyle were so good at casting Lumos!"
"So they used potions to cheat their way through it?"
"This is outrageous. Their rankings should be nullified, and they should lose points!"
But the Slytherins were quick to respond.
"What's wrong with using potions? That's a valid skill too."
"If you had the brains to brew a Phosphorescence Potion, then you could've used it too. There's no rule from the Ministry of Magic banning it."
"Besides, even without the potion, do you really think you'd have outperformed us?"
"If you're so confident, we can do a rematch anytime."
Malfoy, in particular, was absolutely livid that he had lost to Robert.
His face flushed red with frustration as he ranted, "There's no way he beat me fairly. He must've cheated too!"
"He doesn't have any real talent. Professor Sprout probably gave him some kind of magical plant to help him. Otherwise, how could he possibly outperform me?"
This baseless accusation stirred up the usually calm and mild Hufflepuffs.
While they normally avoided confrontation, this was too much. Malfoy had insulted Robert—a fellow Hufflepuff who had clearly earned his achievements through hard work and cleverness.
The tension between the houses didn't fade even as the day went on. By dinnertime, the atmosphere in the Great Hall was thick with hostility. Slytherins glared across the tables at students from other houses, who returned the glares with equal intensity.
It looked like they'd rather eat each other than what was on their plates.
Yet the central figure in all this chaos—Robert—was completely unaware of the controversy. Or, more accurately, he didn't really care.
He had already received his bonus points and the valuable results he wanted from the test. What use were words and arguments when he could be doing something productive instead?
Better to go plant another tree.
At this moment, Robert was inside an abandoned warehouse near the Quidditch pitch. But he wasn't trimming broomsticks like before.
This time, he was preparing for a new experiment involving the Extinguisher—a magical device he had modified to capture and store the Lumos spell.
He needed to test its usefulness in his magical plant cultivation efforts, and for that, a completely dark environment was essential. The warehouse was the perfect place to exclude all other light sources.
Robert stood in the dark, repeatedly casting Lumos.
"Lumos!"
"Lumos!"
With each spell, he pressed the Extinguisher. The light produced by the spell would condense into a sphere, then vanish into the device with a satisfying click.
Click. Click. Click.
The stored spheres of light accumulated inside.
When Robert judged that he had gathered enough, he looked down at the device in his hand with anticipation and made his way toward the greenhouse.
In the experimental plot, the previous batch of Luminous Mushrooms had already been harvested. He had recently replanted a new batch of their mycelium.
At this early stage, the young mushrooms required plenty of light—especially magical light.
Originally, Robert had planned to stay in the greenhouse all night, casting Lumos repeatedly to support their growth. But now, with the Extinguisher in hand, he had a better idea.
In the quiet greenhouse, Robert clicked the Extinguisher.
Tiny glowing spheres floated into the air, forming a gentle canopy of light above the mushroom beds. The brightness they gave off was almost identical to a freshly cast Lumos—warm, radiant, and magical.
The effect was immediate.
The mushroom mycelium in the soil responded visibly, twisting and curling in delight. The tiny light spheres above them grew brighter, as if absorbing the joy of the dancing fungi.
Robert's eyes lit up.
It worked.
The Extinguisher could replicate stored Lumos spells with almost no degradation. That meant Robert no longer had to spend his evenings tirelessly casting the spell—he could stockpile it during the day and let the device do the rest overnight.
This freed up hours of his time.
As he stood there watching the mushrooms glow and sway under the magical light, another thought crept into his mind.
Maybe… I could try cultivating another magical plant.
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