From that day on, Hagrid’s hut became the group’s regular place to play.
Meanwhile, Fel’s training continued steadily.
Recently, he felt that both his magical ability and physical reflexes had improved tremendously.
Even his magic power had grown considerably through constant spell practice and the enhancement from his talent.
Professor McGonagall even praised him, saying that his magic power was already stronger than that of many fourth year students.
Time flew by, and before long it was Halloween Eve.
The moment Fel woke up, he caught the sweet aroma of roasted pumpkins.
Everyone had gotten up unusually early.
Of course, they had all been awakened by the delicious smell of roasted pumpkin.
The group headed downstairs together.
Ron said excitedly, “We’re so lucky. We only have Charms and History of Magic this morning. We can spend the whole afternoon having fun.”
However, Fel had a vague feeling that something was wrong.
It seemed like someone was going to cause trouble today.
He remembered Quirrell releasing a troll to create chaos so he could steal the Philosopher’s Stone.
But Fel couldn’t remember whether it happened on Halloween or Christmas.
Although he had deliberately avoided provoking Quirrell during his first year so he could focus on developing himself, many things had already changed because of the butterfly effect he had created.
No matter what, he had to stay with Hermione today to prevent any accidents.
Charms class was shared with Hufflepuff.
That was great.
At least he didn’t have to look at Malfoy’s punchable face.
Speaking of which, Malfoy had been surprisingly well behaved lately.
Maybe it was because he had gotten beaten up.
Or maybe he was secretly plotting something.
Fel didn’t care.
As usual, he sat beside Hermione.
Ron and Harry sat on Hermione’s right, while Neville sat on Fel’s left.
Fel suspected Professor Flitwick had arranged it that way on purpose, hoping the two top students would help take care of the struggling student.
The kind who started struggling the moment class began.
“Children, today we’re going to learn the Levitation Charm.”
Professor Flitwick’s voice was as high pitched as ever.
“The Levitation Charm is one of the most fundamental spells every wizard must master.”
“It is the simplest spell used to make an object fly.”
“Many of the spells you’ll learn in the future, such as the Summoning Charm, all build upon the experience you gain from learning the Levitation Charm.”
Fel and Hermione had already taught themselves the Levitation Charm.
Their success rate was one hundred percent.
Even so, a teacher’s detailed explanation always helped deepen their understanding.
For example, this was the first time Fel had heard this theory.
Thinking about it, it actually made perfect sense.
Although every spell had different incantations, the way magic power was guided while casting felt different.
Fel could clearly sense those differences.
To him, it felt like different frequencies.
If he compared them to music, they were like different melodies.
Similar spells shared similar magical frequencies, although some were simple while others were much more complex.
So…
If he became exceptionally good at the Fire Making Charm, would that help him learn Exploding Charm more easily in the future?
Although he hadn’t learned Exploding Charm yet…
Seamus already had.
As soon as Professor Flitwick finished explaining the casting technique and allowed everyone to practice on their own…
“Boom!”
The burst of flames startled Hermione so badly that she leaned backward with her eyes wide open.
Seamus’s face had turned completely black, and his hair looked as though it had been blown up by joke fireworks.
The poor feather had completely disappeared without a trace.
As expected of you, explosion genius!
“Oh, my child, you mispronounced the incantation.”
“Everyone, please be careful.”
“There was once a wizard who mispronounced a single syllable, and the next thing he knew, a cow was standing on his chest.”
Ron, however, was even more amusing.
He patiently repeated the incantation several times, yet the feather didn’t move even a single inch.
Growing anxious, he waved his wand so quickly that it left afterimages.
Watching him, Fel almost thought Ron was trying to shake water off the tip of his wand.
“Stop, stop!”
Hermione finally couldn’t stand it anymore and began correcting him.
“You almost poked someone’s eye out.”
“And you’re pronouncing it wrong.”
“The emphasis is LevioSA, not LevioSAR.”
“Fine, fine.”
“You and Fel are always so clever.”
“I hate that.”
Their friendship had formed much earlier than it had in the original timeline.
So Ron merely pouted and grumbled a little.
He wasn’t about to make things difficult for himself.
Who would dare offend Miss Know It All?
Did he still want to copy homework or not?
Besides, he knew very well what kind of relationship Fel and Hermione had.
He had no interest in getting punched.
History of Magic was much livelier than usual.
Although Professor Binns’s lecture remained just as dry and monotonous as ever, with absolutely no change in tone…
Its ability to put people to sleep was first class.
But because the Halloween feast would be held that afternoon, everyone was excited, whispering among themselves throughout the lesson.
“Honestly, every other ghost speaks normally.”
“So why is Professor Binns the only one who talks in such a flat voice?”
Fel chatted quietly with the others.
Neville, sitting behind them, leaned forward and whispered, “I heard Professor Binns was already teaching History of Magic before he died.”
“Then one day he forgot to bring his body to class and became a ghost.”
Hermione replied, “Then I guess he spoke exactly the same way when he was alive.”
“Even if his classes are boring, Hogwarts is lucky to have a ghost teaching History of Magic.”
Fel thought Professor Binns was practically a living fossil.
Well…
A ghostly fossil.
And ghosts never died.
That meant Professor Binns would forever remain the witness to Hogwarts’ history, past, present, and future.
Harry asked curiously, “How old do you think Professor Binns is?”
“I mean, how long has he existed?”
“Who knows?”
“My dad was his student.”
“My grandfather was too.”
“My great grandfather as well.”
“My dad even said Professor Binns might have personally known Godric Gryffindor!”
Ron answered without much concern.
No matter what, class finally came to an end.
After lunch break, Fel and Hermione arrived at the Great Hall.
The professors were already decorating it for the Halloween feast.
Professor McGonagall flicked her wand repeatedly, conjuring countless bats that fluttered through the air beneath the ceiling.
Professor Flitwick used some unknown spell to create clusters of low hanging dark clouds.
Several prefects were also helping hang colorful streamers.
“Fel, Hermione, step aside.”
“Something might fall on you.”
A rough voice came from behind them while they were still watching everything in amazement.
He was carrying so many decorations that he looked like a walking display shelf.
The two of them quickly stepped aside.
“Hagrid, let us help too.”
Hermione offered enthusiastically.
“Oh, thanks.”
“You can head over to my hut.”
“There are lots of pumpkins that need transporting.”
“You both know the Levitation Charm, right?”
“The Great Hall and every corridor in the castle need pumpkin lanterns.”
“Sounds like hard work.”
“But I’d be happy to help.”
Fel didn’t mind.
He could treat it as spell practice.
“That’s fine.”
“Move as many as you like.”
“I’ll be carrying some too.”
Hagrid added.
The two of them walked to the pumpkin patch beside Hagrid’s hut.
The enormous pumpkins glowed with a vibrant orange color, and several wooden crates were waiting nearby to hold them.
They immediately drew their wands and began using the Levitation Charm to place the giant pumpkins into the crates one by one.
After loading five or six pumpkins, Fel tried casting the Levitation Charm on the entire crate.
It was rather heavy, but still manageable.
“That should be enough.”
“Making too many trips back and forth won’t be easy.”
Fel and Hermione each floated one crate toward the castle.
By the time they finished helping, dusk had already arrived.
“Whew…”
“I… I can’t do this anymore.”
“I need to rest.”
On the second floor corridor, Hermione leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
“I think we’ve already done more than enough.”
Fel was exhausted too.
Hermione walked toward the girls’ bathroom behind them.
“I’m going to wash my hands.”
“Then let’s head downstairs for dinner.”
Meanwhile, Fel became interested in one of the pumpkin lanterns at his feet.
He raised his wand and began carving it.
When Hermione returned, she saw Fel carving a face onto the pumpkin.
Those two huge front teeth were obviously modeled after her.
“Hmph!”
“You’re not allowed to carve the big front teeth!”
Miss Beaver became furious and rushed over to snatch Fel’s wand.
The two of them immediately started fooling around.
While they were laughing and playing, Fel suddenly caught a whiff of an awful stench.
He quickly pinched his nose.
“Ugh.”
“The girls’ bathroom smells terrible.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
Hermione looked puzzled.
“It doesn’t.”
“They sprayed air freshener.”
“It smells like violets.”
Fel froze.
Then…
Where was that horrible smell coming from?