Chapter 29: Hagrid's Hut
Soon it was time for Charms class. Professor Flitwick was the most well-liked of all the professors, not just because of his adorably cute stature that didn't even reach a person's waist, but also because he was always cheerful and friendly to every young wizard.
As long as you asked him a question, he would always give you a detailed answer. However, any fool who asked the same question several times would find him standing on a stack of books to pull their ear and assign them lines. But then again, fools don't tend to ask questions in the first place.
"Ah! What a beautiful Wand-Lighting Charm!"
Watching Ezio skillfully play with the small ball of light at the tip of his wand, turning it into a work of art, Professor Flitwick said happily, "Professor McGonagall mentioned you to me. You have a great talent for Transfiguration, don't you? But your talent in Charms is also excellent. I have rarely seen a young wizard who can master the advanced variations of a spell through self-study."
"Does that refer to changing the color of the light from the charm, as well as its specific shape?" Ezio asked, extinguishing the sunshine-rainbow-little-white-horse at the tip of his wand and leaning down slightly toward Professor Flitwick.
"That's only part of it." Professor Flitwick drew his own wand, and without a single incantation, an identical sunshine-rainbow-little-white-horse appeared. But unlike the one Ezio had made, which could only hold a pose, this little horse made of colored light was as if it were alive. It could run freely in mid-air and even make the sound of a horse's neigh.
"You could say that we can also imbue a charm with a certain vitality. This is a bit different from live transfiguration. We need to actively control it to make it move. However, this is the most difficult part of the advanced techniques, involving multiple casting skills."
"Controlling a charm to track a target?" Ezio was a little surprised. "I've never read about this technique in any book."
"Because too few people know how to use it. For most people, simply being able to cast a charm is considered a success," Professor Flitwick said with a smile. "Once magical energy leaves a wizard's body, or rather, once a charm is fired from a wand, it is already disconnected from the wizard. It is extremely difficult to control a charm after it has been released. However, for a charm like the Wand-Lighting Charm, which requires a continuous output of magical energy, the difficulty of control is relatively low. As long as you maintain the output of magic, you have an unbroken connection with the charm."
"But to make the Wand-Lighting Charm continuously and precisely controlled by you is a skill that requires a long time to practice and master."
"Alright, five points to Slytherin. I quite like the rainbow pony you made. Would you like to join my Charms Club?" Professor Flitwick didn't spend all his time chatting with Ezio; he extended the invitation.
"Of course. It would be my honor, Professor Flitwick."
"Then it's every Sunday at eight in the morning, in the classroom next to my office."
This was the second club invitation Ezio had received. Transfiguration and Charms were the two skills he had prioritized learning at Hogwarts. Potions, Herbology, and the like could come a bit later.
Ezio no longer needed to learn the first-year magic from scratch in class. Professor Flitwick allowed him to practice advanced training with basic charms during the lesson, and would offer a pointer or two when he passed by. Like Professor McGonagall, he placed great importance on the fundamental theory of magic. A towering skyscraper is built from the ground up; the stability of the foundation determines the height of future achievements. The more basic the knowledge, the more firmly it needs to be remembered, practiced, and analyzed.
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In the blink of an eye, the first week of school was over. After experiencing all the first-year courses at Hogwarts, Ezio had also successfully obtained exemptions from some of them. He had applied to take the exams for Astronomy and History of Magic early. On account of Dumbledore, the Astronomy teacher had agreed to Ezio's request to take the final exam ahead of schedule.
And Professor Binns, who taught History of Magic, was surprisingly easy to deal with. As the only ghost professor at Hogwarts, he was completely indifferent to anything other than lecturing in a sleep-inducing voice. Ezio simply told him about it after class, and he had nodded vaguely and told him to find a copy of last year's paper and just do it.
The exemptions from these two courses saved him four class periods a week. Adding the two Defence Against the Dark Arts periods, Ezio had a full 12 extra hours of free time each week compared to the other first-year students. Ezio had even given up Flying class. He had learned how to use a flying broomstick long ago, as for Quidditch, he had no interest in the game.
Time slipped away to Friday afternoon. After finishing the last Herbology class of the week, Ezio and Harry walked together towards Hagrid's hut.
A huge crossbow and a pair of rubber boots large enough to fit Harry inside were placed by the door of Hagrid's hut. Just as they approached the door, before they could even knock, the sound of barking erupted.
"Fang, back!" Hagrid's voice came from inside the house.
"It's me, Harry!" Harry knocked on the door and shouted, "I brought Ezio with me to see you!"
"Oh, it's you two!" Hagrid opened the door a crack, revealing his large, bearded face. A dog's head tried to squeeze out from behind Hagrid, but was pushed back by his hand.
Hagrid's dog was a Neapolitan Mastiff, with a dark body, strong and powerful, seeming to have an endless supply of energy. Its drooping eyes were cold and gloomy, giving it a chilling appearance. And the one Hagrid kept was even larger, almost the size of a small calf. Normally, this was a fierce and dangerous breed of dog. An attack from one would be a fight to the death. They were among the most ferocious of all fighting dogs.
But… perhaps because its owner was a superman who could grab a multi-meter-tall Forbidden Forest beast by the neck and slap it, or perhaps because an ordinary, non-magical dog like this was at the very bottom of the food chain in the Forbidden Forest, when Ezio met its dark eyes, he saw that Fang was all bark and no bite.
"Come on in," Hagrid said, holding Fang's collar with one hand and opening the door with the other, making way for them.
After the two of them entered, Hagrid let go. Fang leaped forward in a single bound and placed his head on Harry's lap, his fawning eyes seeming to say, 'Quick, quick, pet my head!'
Harry didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he reached out his hand. He had been genuinely scared by Fang for a moment, but only a moment. Fang's fawning had come on too quickly.
Hagrid was pouring them tea, his thick beard hiding his expression, which made him look a bit serious. After making the tea, Hagrid sat down, his eyes looking down at Ezio from a great height.
"So you're the one who led Harry to Slytherin?" Hagrid said with a frown, his face, the size of a millstone, carrying a great sense of pressure.
*****
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