Will had no idea what was happening in the Gryffindor common room, and simply continued his leisurely and happy days.
Ever since his conflict with Yaxley and the others in the common room, his dormitory had been changed into a single room, and no one would say he was an “undercover agent for Ravenclaw” anymore—at least not openly, and he couldn’t be bothered to fuss over what was going on behind his back.
As for the families behind those people, just as he had thought, they had zero impact on the inside of Hogwarts.
After a certain Charms class, Will sought out Professor Flitwick.
“Will, how is it that Miss Lestrange isn’t seen with you today?” Professor Flitwick joked with Will a little.
The two were already quite familiar with each other, and Professor Flitwick liked this thirst-for-knowledge and polite, modest Young Wizard very much.
“I have some things to consult you about, so I let her go play with her friends first.” Will handed his notebook to Professor Flitwick.
“Professor, I want to know how Runes were transformed into the current spell system.”
Professor Flitwick gave Will a surprised look.
“Will, Runes already involve third-year content; you don’t need to understand these at this stage.”
“Professor, I don’t want to understand Runes; I just want to know why Wizards changed from using Runes to using spells, and how the connection and transformation between the two take place.” Will explained, “This will make it much more convenient for me to understand the current spell system. When you were at my house, you only talked about the connection between emotions and spells.”
“Alright,” Professor Flitwick cast a Levitation Charm on his pile of books, “let’s go to my office.”
Will followed Professor Flitwick to the office.
“Who created Runes and when they were created are no longer known. Some say it was Merlin, some say it was Odin, and others say it was Jesus Christ, but these are all just legends. However, ancient Wizards truly used Runes to cast magic; stacking different Runes in a specific structure could produce incredible effects—emitting light, creating fire, summoning monsters, and even distorting the boundaries of life and death.”
“Moreover, spellcasting with Runes is quite stable, and once proficient, stacking the structures is also very fast, but the only problem is—difficulty.”
“Let me give you an example.” Professor Flitwick used his wand to draw a twisted, complicated pattern in the air.
“Do you recognize it?”
“*sōwilō, the sun, also has the meaning of light and brightness.” Will recited that Rune in a strange, awkward tone that almost sounded like it was hard for a human to pronounce.
“You actually started learning Runes?” Professor Flitwick was surprised at Will’s progress, but he continued explaining, “Every Rune with a primitive structure is very difficult for Wizards to master, because they are not ordinary syllables and words, but special characters that truly contain magic power. That is why ancient Wizards were powerful and rare.”
“So later, under the ‘improvement’ of generations of Wizards, the syllables of Runes were simplified into spells; this is why Wizards need to chant spells when casting magic. As for the structure of Runes…” Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.
Will reacted instantly: “The structural stacking of Runes has turned into the spellcasting gestures of current Wizards!?”
“That’s right. Therefore, when Young Wizards learn spells, I emphasize pronunciation and gestures precisely to enable you to master spells more accurately and quickly.” Professor Flitwick paused.
“A classic case is the Wizard Baruffio, who mispronounced [F] as [S] when casting a Levitation Charm, and ended up finding himself lying on the floor with a buffalo standing on his chest. This was because his pronunciation caused an error in the spell structure; to put it in substitution terms, he used the wrong Rune structure.”
[You have obtained new spell knowledge, Charms XP + 22]
[You have obtained new Rune knowledge, Runes XP + 7]
At that moment, Will understood that he had to choose Runes as an elective.
“Thank you, Professor Flitwick. If possible, could I come to you after class to learn spell knowledge?” Will wasn’t stupid; Professor Flitwick could always let him farm quite a bit of XP every time, so coming to consult him could only be beneficial and harmless.
“Of course you can. If you are willing, once or twice a week, in the afternoon or evening, how does that sound?” Professor Flitwick had always given the green light to students who loved to study.
“Thank you very much, Professor Flitwick.”
…
One afternoon some time later, Neville asked Will for guidance on the Accio once again.
Neville had already initially mastered it, and now there were only some minor flaws.
Soon the two left the Room of Requirement, and parted ways at the entrance of the dining hall.
Will headed straight to the dining hall, while Neville returned to the common room.
This scene was witnessed by Harry and Ron.
“What on earth do you suppose that guy is going to do to Neville for some evil experiment?” In the dining hall, Ron stared at Will, frowning as he asked Harry beside him.
Harry scratched his head.
“Harry, George and the others told me that they always run into this guy when they are wandering at night. Just think about it, a Slytherin who is always wandering at night, what does that mean?” Ron lowered his voice.
“It means he can’t sleep at night?”
“Is it possible that he’s also looking for that thing? You know, that dog Neville and us saw that day, maybe he’s interrogating Neville right now.” Ron had no idea how many loopholes were in his own words.
Harry knew what Ron was talking about—the thing guarded by that terrifying Three-headed dog, the thing beneath that trapdoor.
“Surely… not, right?” Harry’s intuition told him that Will shouldn’t be a bad person, but Snape’s favoritism toward Will also made him harbor a few suspicions about Will.
Afterwards, Harry’s gaze followed Will, and then he saw Will go over to Snape’s side.
The two said something, and suddenly Snape looked over at him, staring right into his eyes.
Harry felt the scar on his forehead throbbing faintly.
He covered his forehead and lowered his head, and Ron anxiously supported Harry.
“What’s wrong, Harry? Is your scar hurting again?”
“It must… it must be Snape’s doing.”
“He found out that we suspect the little Dark Wizard under him, so he targeted you as a warning!!
It must be like this.” Ron quickly thought of the whole story’s “cause and effect” and said it through gritted teeth.
Harry covered his forehead and didn’t speak.
Ron had no choice but to support Harry back to the common room.
From beginning to end, neither of them noticed that at the staff table, a young man wrapped in a large purple turban was watching the two of them.
Will had no idea that he had already been suspected by Harry and Ron.
He had just obtained a note for the Restricted Section, allowing him to check out books related to Runes from the Restricted Section.
“Professor Snape, thank you very much.”