Chapter 91: Spell Study Plan
Sunday.
In the classroom.
Shawn heard the Hogwarts bells toll and, almost without thinking, closed his notes and picked up his Nimbus 2000.
He knew the flight test had begun. His flying proficiency was already at Proficient, and alongside his Expert‑level Levitation Charm and Proficient Transfiguration, it formed the highest tier of magic he currently had.
Even so, a thin thread of nerves ran through him. There was only one chance.
He had been at Hogwarts a good while now, and he had made headway in every major branch of magic.
Proficient Transfiguration. One Expert‑level spell and five Entry‑level ones. And Finite, waiting to be learned.
To be safe, Shawn intended to grind Finite all the way up to the Expert level.
As for the longer‑term goals, like Protego or Apparition, he doubted Professor Flitwick would teach him those any time soon.
His Charms title was still only Novice. He planned to pick three spells to push to Expert. With a higher title boosting him, learning the harder spells would be much quicker.
Transfiguration, his speciality, was not far off, Expert either.
He opened his panel.
[Name: Shawn Green]
[Status: Wizard]
[Titles: Charms Novice, Transfiguration Adept]
[Proficiencies]
[Levitation Charm: Expert (200/9000)]
[Lumos: Entry‑level (600/900)]
[Advance: Six Proficient‑level spells or three Expert‑level spells will unlock the Charms Proficient title.]
Three Expert‑level spells, then?
Aside from Finite, he needed one more.
He thought for a few seconds. Between Transfiguration and Flipendo, he had offensive magic covered. Once he learned Finite, he would have a reliable defence. What he lacked was a way to vanish from sight. A Disillusionment Charm would do nicely.
He had not checked the panel for some time and scrolled down.
[Transfiguration: Proficient (6100/9000)]
[Advance: Expert Transfiguration will unlock the Transfiguration Expert title.]
[Innate Talents]
[Potions: Green]
[Herbology: Green]
[Charms: Blue]
[Transfiguration: Purple]
[Dark Arts: Gold]
[Flying: Gold]
Compared to his days before Hogwarts, it was night and day.
That Sunday afternoon was bright and cold.
Shawn carried his Nimbus 2000 to the changing room. He pulled on a fresh set of school robes – about all he had to keep the wind off.
At the same time, in the Gryffindor changing room, Harry and the rest of the team were shrugging into scarlet Quidditch robes.
Shawn heard a familiar voice.
Wood cleared his throat for silence.
"All right, lads," he said.
"And lasses," a clear female voice added.
"And lasses," Wood agreed. "It is time."
"We are here for important practice," a voice that was not Wood's announced.
Shawn, passing behind a flapping curtain, peeked in. Fred Weasley was talking.
"Every practice is for the moment we have all been waiting for," George continued smoothly.
"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred and George told a weary‑looking Harry. "We were on the team last year."
"Shut it, you two," Wood snapped. "This is the best team Gryffindor has had in years. We are going to train properly and make the most of our chance."
He glared around at them, as if to say that anyone slacking would regret it.
"We know," Fred muttered, much more quietly. As Wood turned away, he leaned towards Harry again. "You are the best Seeker out there."
"No one your age flies like you," George put in.
"And you have the newest Nimbus 2000. Merlin, you are the only one in the whole House who does," Fred said, staring at Harry's broom with open envy, which only made Harry blush harder.
"Enough. Look at the board. Once that first year's test is done, it is our turn," Wood called.
Shawn picked up his pace.
Madam Hooch was already waiting on the pitch. She produced an iron ball and said,
"The test is simple. You will chase down the Quaffles and avoid the Bludgers. You have fifteen minutes. Catch three Quaffles and dodge every Bludger, and you pass."
She rattled off the rules in her usual brisk way, then looked him up and down and relented a fraction.
"Do not be afraid of getting truly walloped. I will be watching the whole time. But if I have to intervene, you fail. Now, Mr Green, what are you waiting for? Mount your broom and get some warm‑up laps in."
Shawn pushed his nerves down and swung onto the broom, a flicker of excitement rising in their place.
The moment his feet left the grass, his mind went quiet. He circled the pitch twice, then ran through a few simple turns, cutting around the goalposts.
By the time his flying had settled into a smooth rhythm, two furtive figures had appeared on the stands.
"Justin, are you sure this is the right time?" Hermione scanned the pitch, seeing only blurred shapes whipping through the air. The pitch had not yet been cleared.
"I see him," Justin said sharply.
Hermione squinted. All she found was a streak moving far too fast.
Justin handed her a pair of binoculars. Through the lenses, Hermione finally caught Shawn's face.
"How did you see him without these?" she demanded. "And where did you get binoculars from—"
Justin lightly waved his second identical pair. "They came together. Mother thinks of everything."
"All right, Mr Green!"
Madam Hooch was waving both arms overhead. "Watch closely. I am releasing the Bludgers. Just like we practised – get out of their way!"
She tossed the ball high. It shot toward him like a bullet.
Bludgers were enchanted balls used in Quidditch. They did not care about teams. They chased any player they saw, and they hit hard.
Once, they had been carved from stone. The trouble with this was simple: fifteenth‑century Beaters, with their magic‑charged bats, smashed them to bits. After that, everyone on the pitch had to contend with clouds of stone shards instead.
Agatha Chubb, noted expert on ancient magical artefacts, had written, "They are Bludgers, not cannonballs."
Left to themselves, Bludgers struck at the nearest Quidditch player. That was why Beaters existed – to drive the balls as far from their own side as possible.
Shawn, of course, had no Beaters of his own.