Unaware of anything that had happened back in the Gryffindor common room, Will continued on with his easy, unhurried routine.
Ever since the incident with Yaxley and the others, his room had become a single, and nobody called him “Ravenclaw’s spy” anymore, not out loud, anyway.
Whatever was still being said behind his back, he didn’t waste time chasing it down.
As for the families backing Yaxley and the rest, things played out exactly as he’d expected.
None of it carried any real weight inside Hogwarts itself.
One afternoon after Charms, Will lingered behind to speak with Professor Flitwick.
“Will, I don’t think I’ve seen Miss Lestrange with you today,” Flitwick said, an amused note in his voice.
The two of them had grown comfortable with each other by now, and Flitwick had a clear soft spot for a student this eager, this polite, and this genuinely humble about his own ability.
“I had a few questions, so I sent her off to spend time with her friends instead.” Will handed over his notebook.
“Professor, I wanted to understand how runes evolved into the spell system we use now.”
Flitwick’s eyebrows rose.
“Will, runes aren’t covered until third year.
There’s no real need to get into that yet.”
“I’m not trying to learn runes themselves, Professor.
I just want to understand why wizards moved away from runes toward spells in the first place, and how the two connect,” Will explained.
“It would help me make sense of the current system as a whole.
When you visited my house, you only really touched on how emotion ties into spellcasting.”
“Fair enough.” Flitwick cast a quick Levitation Charm on his stack of books.
“Let’s continue this in my office.”
Will followed him down the corridor.
“Nobody really knows who first created runes, or when.
Some credit Merlin.
Others say Odin, or even Christ himself, though none of that rises above legend.
What we do know for certain is that ancient wizards genuinely cast spells through runes, stacking specific combinations together to produce extraordinary effects: conjuring light, summoning fire, calling creatures forward, even bending the line between life and death itself.
Rune-based casting was remarkably stable, too, and once mastered, stacking the structures moved quite fast.
The real obstacle was simply how difficult they were to learn in the first place.”
“Take this, for example.” Flitwick traced an intricate symbol in the air with his wand.
“Recognize it?”
“Sowilo.
The sun.
Also carries meanings of light, or brightness.” Will pronounced it carefully, in a strange, deliberate cadence that barely resembled normal speech.
“You’ve already begun studying runes?” Flitwick looked genuinely surprised at how far Will had already gotten, though he pressed on with the explanation regardless.
“Each original rune structure resists easy mastery because these aren’t ordinary sounds or symbols. This story is hosted at g.com.
They carry real magic embedded directly within them.
That scarcity is exactly why the old wizards who mastered them were so formidable, and so rare.”
“Over generations, wizards gradually simplified those runic sounds down into spoken incantations, which is why modern casting relies on chanted words.
And the physical structures themselves…”
Realization struck Will mid-sentence.
“The layered rune structures became the wand movements we use today?”
“Precisely.
That’s exactly why I stress pronunciation and gesture so heavily with new students, accuracy there speeds up mastery considerably.” Flitwick paused.
“Take the wizard Balfour as a cautionary example.
Attempting the Levitation Charm, he mispronounced the F sound as an S, and ended up flat on the floor with a full-grown bison standing on his chest.
His pronunciation error corrupted the underlying rune structure entirely, essentially casting the wrong spell altogether.”
[You have gained new knowledge of spells.
Spells Experience +22]
[You have gained new knowledge of runes.
Runes Experience +7]
Right then, Will decided runes would need to become part of his curriculum, one way or another.
“Thank you, Professor Flitwick.
Would it be alright if I came to you for extra help with spellwork after classes sometimes?” Will wasn’t naive about it, either.
Flitwick’s lessons consistently paid out generous experience, so the arrangement clearly benefited him.
“Of course.
Shall we say once or twice a week, afternoons or evenings?” Flitwick rarely turned down a student this hungry to learn.
“Thank you, Professor.
Really.”
…
Some days later, Neville sought Will out again for another round of Summoning Charm practice.
He’d gotten the basics down solidly by now, with only small errors left to iron out.
The two of them left the Room of Requirement together and split up near the entrance to the Great Hall, Will heading in for dinner, Neville turning back toward Gryffindor Tower.
Harry and Ron happened to catch the exchange from across the hall.
“What’s he even doing with Neville?
Some kind of twisted experiment?” Ron frowned at Will from across the Gryffindor table.
“I don’t know, honestly.
Feels like he’s actually helping him, though.”
“Harry, George and Fred keep saying they run into him wandering around at night.
Think about it, a Slytherin, out and about after curfew, constantly.
What does that tell you?” Ron dropped his voice low.
“Maybe he just can’t sleep?”
“Or maybe he’s after the same thing we are.
That dog Neville ran into with us, remember?
Maybe he’s been pumping Neville for information this whole time.” Ron seemed entirely oblivious to the gaps in his own logic.
Harry knew exactly what dog Ron meant, the massive three-headed one guarding whatever sat beneath that trapdoor.
“I don’t think that’s it…” Harry’s gut told him Will wasn’t the type.
Still, the way Snape kept favoring him left a nagging doubt.
Then Harry’s eyes drifted toward Will again, just in time to watch him approach Snape’s side of the hall.
The two exchanged a few words, and Snape’s gaze suddenly snapped up, locking directly onto Harry from across the room.
Pain flared instantly across his scar.
Harry pressed a hand to his forehead and doubled over slightly.
Ron caught his arm at once, alarmed.
“Harry?
Is it your scar again?”
“It has to be…
Snape.
It has to be him.”
“He must’ve figured out we’re onto his little pet dark wizard, and now he’s sending a message straight to you!
That has to be it.” Ron connected the dots with total confidence, jaw tight.
Harry stayed quiet, still holding his forehead, as Ron helped him back toward the common room.
Neither of them noticed the man in the oversized purple turban watching the whole exchange carefully from the staff table.
Will, for his part, had no idea Harry and Ron had started viewing him with suspicion.
He’d just walked away with a signed note granting him access to the Restricted Section, specifically for rune research.
“Thank you very much, Professor Snape.”