A new chapter is up.
Come in, get comfortable, and let’s see what kind of trouble waits this time ❤️ ✦ News that Edmund had joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch team spread through all four Houses.
Gryffindor could hardly object when Harry had received the same exception.
Hufflepuff accepted the news without much fuss.
In Slytherin, Malfoy complained that his own Head of House respected school rules too much to place a first-year on the team.
He reportedly tried to raise the matter with Snape and abandoned the complaint after receiving a single cold look.
Ravenclaw was delighted.
The House had struggled in recent Quidditch seasons, and many students decided that Edmund would be the one to change its fortunes.
Several senior witches formed a cheering section for him.
Before long, girls from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had joined as well.
Roger Davies regarded the entire development with open envy.
He was the captain.
Where was his personal cheering section?
Edmund paid little attention to it.
His days were already full.
After class, he usually went to the library to study and finish his assignments with Hermione.
She had avoided him for several days after the flying accident, vanishing almost as soon as each lesson ended.
A week later, she began behaving normally again.
Edmund had even heard that she had joined the students planning to cheer for him.
He did not pretend to understand her reasoning.
He was simply glad she had returned, especially because it restored his access to her essays.
Edmund had no desire to invent three feet of filler for every assignment.
He borrowed Hermione’s work under the respectable pretense of reviewing it, then used her structure to shorten his own labor.
Hermione never suspected him.
His classroom performance had already earned Ravenclaw nearly a hundred points.
Most of the time he saved went into Ancient Runes.
He had made substantial progress with foundational runes associated with fire, wind, and water.
Their structure was becoming familiar enough that he could produce simple magical effects without a wand.
The deeper he went, the more certain he became that any spell could eventually be cast wandlessly.
Perhaps one day he could face Voldemort and return the Killing Curse without so much as raising a wand.
The thought was deeply satisfying.
His remaining free time belonged to Quidditch practice with Cho.
Edmund offered her the Nimbus 2000 since a Beater had less need for pure speed than a Seeker.
She refused for the same reason he had not given it to her outright: it was a gift from Professor Flitwick.
Besides, Cho was fond of her Cleansweep Seven.
Edmund did not press the matter.
Christmas was not far away, and missing one match with the Nimbus would do her no harm.
…
October arrived.
Edmund was having lunch with Cho when a paper bird glided through the Great Hall and landed before him.
He unfolded it.
Mr.
Gaunt, The first meeting of the Transfiguration Club this term will take place on Saturday afternoon in the staff common room beside my office.
As this is your first meeting, you will be asked to complete a short assessment demonstrating your current level of Transfiguration.
Professor McGonagall Edmund looked up from the note.
For a moment, he had wondered whether someone had devised a more elaborate way to send him a love letter.
Cho leaned closer, curiosity written across her face.
He handed her the message.
“The Transfiguration Club,” she said.
“Only two Ravenclaws are members, both sixth-years.
They didn’t get in until last year.” Transfiguration was not Cho’s strongest subject.
She kept pace with the lessons, but her real talent lay in Charms.
Professor Flitwick’s club was a far more realistic ambition for her.
“The entrance standard isn’t that terrible,” Edmund said.
“You only need to turn an object into an animal.
It doesn’t even have to move, as long as the form is convincing.” Cho gave him a flat look.
She was still refining transformations between inanimate objects.
An animal, moving or otherwise, was well beyond her current reach.
She let the matter go.
Ravenclaw’s first Quidditch match was the following month, and Cho already stayed late after each practice to train.
She had neither the time nor the energy to compete with Edmund’s definition of easy.
Saturday soon arrived.
Edmund made his way to the staff common room beside McGonagall’s office for his first meeting of the Transfiguration Club.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS AuroraVale Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you a little deeper into the story.
Stay close, because things are only getting more interesting.