Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Ryan was doing better, having switched from poor contact to flash mode, and the frequency was decreasing. It looked like he was close to success.
But Mikel's wand's light was highly unstable. At its brightest, it was as blinding as a searchlight, while at its weakest, it was barely brighter than a firefly, seemingly poised to go out at any moment.
The more this happened, the more anxious he became, and the more anxious he became, the less control he felt. It became a vicious cycle.
"Um, you..."
Kyle wanted to help, but just as he opened his mouth, he saw Mikel suddenly take a deep breath and raise his wand hand sharply.
For no apparent reason, Kyle felt a sudden sense of foreboding, as if something terrible was about to happen.
The feeling was so sudden that Kyle didn't have time to think. Almost instinctively, he turned around, lowered his head, and closed his eyes.
Almost instantly, a blinding flash of light, like a flashbang, instantly enveloped the entire Charms classroom.
Though the sudden glare faded after a second, its impact was devastating.
Many young wizards, caught completely unawares, were blinded by the glare. The next second, wailing erupted from all directions. Young wizards covered their eyes, screaming, shoving, and shoving, trying to escape. The classroom was in turmoil.
Even Professor Flitwick was affected, but he was a seasoned professor, not as panicked as the young wizards. He suppressed his discomfort and shrilled soothing words.
"It's okay, everyone, calm down. You'll be able to see soon."
Despite Professor Flitwick's best efforts, the classroom remained in turmoil. One might have thought Voldemort had broken into Hogwarts.
Furthermore, he was facing the wrong direction; the entire time, he had his back to the young wizards, shouting at the wall behind him.
This filled the four wizards in the painting with disgust. While they were also startled, the portraits weren't living beings, so they weren't affected by the aftermath.
So, in their view, Flitwick's behavior was as foolish as a tebo warthog with a bruised head.
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In the Charms classroom, the only ones who remained normal were Kyle, who had avoided the danger beforehand, and a few lucky ones.
But there was nothing they could do. They could only try to comfort their companions and help up any fallen wizards to prevent a stampede.
After several minutes, the aftereffects of the bright light gradually faded, and the young wizards regained their sight.
"Oh, Merlin's beard! This is a disaster!"
Professor Flitwick rubbed his eyes and staggered down from behind the desk.
He had intended to come down to comfort the young wizard, but, not noticing he'd gone the wrong way, missed a step, and fell.
Professor Flitwick was furious.
He'd been practicing for decades and had experienced countless emergencies, big and small. A Spell hitting someone, a Levitation Charm summoning a cow, or a Lock-Opening Charm blowing a lock apart—he'd seen it all, and he wasn't surprised at all.
This was all within his expectations... first-years weren't familiar with magic, so it was normal for things to go wrong.
However, he had never imagined that something as safe as the Illumination Charm could go awry.
Professor Flitwick, accompanied by the young wizards' fury and anticipation, led the team to the culprit.
Mikel lay motionless on the table. Professor Flitwick called out to him several times, but he didn't respond, remaining peacefully still.
Flitwick noticed something was amiss and quickly came to Mikel's side, examining him. He quickly came to a conclusion.
"He's still alive. He's probably unconscious from a magical exhaustion..."
Hearing this, Kyle breathed a sigh of relief.
"Magical exhaustion" here didn't mean an empty bar, but rather a lack of energy, like someone who hasn't slept for two days and two nights.
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Professor Flitwick's eyes glazed over.
Magical exhaustion? Just because of an Illumination spell?
This was the second time in just a few minutes that he'd questioned his life. He even began to wonder if he'd been at Hogwarts too long, leaving him somewhat out of touch.
After all, in all the thousands of years of wizarding history, he'd never heard of anyone fainting from exhaustion while casting an Illumination spell.
"Professor, how about I take him to Madam Pomfrey?"
Seeing Professor Flitwick frozen in silence, Kyle said tentatively, "It's no use lying there all the time. We'd better get him checked out."
"Yes... we do. Take him there."
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After getting Professor Flitwick's permission, Kyle quickly cast a Levitation Charm on Mikel and led him out of the classroom.
Normally, Professor Flitwick would have given him extra points for this, but now... he was lucky not to lose any points.
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Not long after leaving the classroom, Kyle saw a cat squatting in the corner... not a catgirl, but a real cat, its amber eyes fixed on him unblinkingly.
"Mrs. Norris? Great,"
Kyle said quickly. "A little wizard is injured, and I need to go to Madam Pomfrey's, but I don't know the way. Could you show me the way?"
Although the map Cedric had given him marked the hospital wing, he had never been there and wasn't familiar with the specific route.
But this cat was different. It had been with Filch all year and was familiar with Hogwarts. It would definitely know the fastest way to get there.
If it would help, it would be great.
Mrs. Norris tilted her head to look at Kyle, and then at Mikel floating behind him. Without a word, she stood up and headed for the stairs on the right.
Was that an agreement?
Kyle hurriedly followed.
The two of them and the cat crisscrossed the staircases, taking a shortcut through a secret passage hidden behind a stone statue. In a few minutes, they arrived at a courtyard outside the auditorium.
A large grandfather clock stood there, hence the name "Clock Tower Courtyard."
When Kyle arrived, Mrs. Norris was crouched beside the clock, her tail pointing at the stairs behind her, signaling him to go up.
"Thank you, I'll bring you some dried fish."
Kyle reached out, intending to rub Mrs. Norris's head, but she dodged nimbly.
Mrs. Norris folded her ears, glared at Kyle with a warning look, then turned and walked away, quickly disappearing.
"Oh, you're so arrogant,"
Kyle said, helplessly, withdrawing his hand and leading Mikel up the stairs.
All they had to do was keep going up here to the school hospital. The staircase was fixed, so there was no need to worry about it changing direction.
[End of the chapter]