In the History of Magic class, only a few students were awake, but none were actually listening. There were those writing love letters, catching up on homework, reading extracurricular books, and then there was Lys, drawing anatomical diagrams of arms.
After sketching one after another, she felt something was off, so she pulled out her book to carefully compare with the photos.
For the moment, she couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
But the bell rang, and Lys had other matters to attend to, so she quickly gathered the scattered parchment, tucked it into her book, and hoisted Gapo to quicken her pace.
Recently, Gapo's weight had increased significantly, but Lys measured repeatedly with a tape measure, confirming that its length and girth hadn't changed. She squeezed Gapo's belly, which remained soft and cool, and its appetite was as good as ever.
Lys checked multiple times and found no issues. Even the old professor in the Care of Magical Creatures class couldn't find anything wrong, assuring her that Gapo was very healthy.
Thus, Lys set aside her suspicion that Gapo might be ill.
Having confirmed Gapo was fine, Lys organized its personal snake items, which Gapo always gathered together to sleep on.
Snake bones, a large stone gifted by Hagrid, a frozen Ashwinder egg, and a spool of yarn with a small stone taken out along with the snake bones. A small stone?
Lys weighed the stone, then examined the upper part of the yarn spool. Something was off; previously, these small stones filled half a cloth bag, but now they seemed to have halved in quantity.
Upon untangling the yarn tied around the spool, Lys grabbed a handful of stones and rubbed them. Thanks to her good memory, she realized they hadn't decreased in number, but had shrunk in size, each stone halving, thus appearing to have lessened in quantity.
Initially, Lys thought these were just minerals, much like her own fondness for shiny objects, Gapo also had a small hobby. But now that these things had undergone a change she didn't understand, it was best to be cautious.
Over the next few days, Lys asked almost every professor about the white stones, but none knew what they were, except Professor Slughorn, who said he had some impression but needed to think further.
Due to the uncertainty, Lys decided to put away the small stones and the large stone of the same type, as Gapo was restless in the dormitory, refusing to sleep properly.
To appease it, Lys exerted considerable effort, having to multitask while reading at night, controlling a quick-quill to take notes, holding her wand in her right hand to play magic ball games with Gapo.
The multitasking left Lys exhausted, especially as Gapo's reaction speed increased, forcing her to sleep six hours a day just to manage.
Now, the Charms class had begun requiring young wizards to use non-verbal spells, posing a challenge to those who always needed to shout their incantations loudly.
They strained until their faces turned red, unable to make the feather before them move even slightly.
"Focus, clear target, feel the magic's presence!" Professor Flitwick glanced around helplessly, unsure if Miranda Goshawk's "Standard Book of Spells" was even the correct textbook.
These children, once removed from the established templates summarized by predecessors, seemed as hopeless as a bunch of Squibs!
It's known that young wizards can instinctively make their magic serve them, with effects varying widely, including but not limited to moving objects, summoning from thin air, or floating above rooftops. There was even an example of a young wizard at age three moving a threatening farm animal ten miles away.
At that time, they probably couldn't even speak clearly, let alone chant spells.
Spells were discovered by older wizards as effective magic, further summarized into a heritage, a heritage not a constraint.
Flitwick shook his head in disappointment. Now these spells, after quickly guiding young wizards into the basics, had become an insurmountable mountain, or rather a collar restricting their magical abilities. Without them, these young wizards lost direction.
Even Starlis Black... hey, where is that child? Flitwick scanned the room again, finally spotting Lys in the corner.
An excellent concealment charm, not quite right, magic fluctuations were off, oh, it's alchemy, similar to that unfortunate Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's.
Ignoring Lys again, Flitwick jumped off the stack of books and began patrolling among the students.
"Don't think about the incantation! Clear target, levitate! Feather! Strong desire!"
"Let the magic serve you, not the spell! Miss Brown, your incantation's volume was heard throughout the classroom!"
The class ended fruitlessly, no young wizard succeeded. Flitwick almost thought this was the worst batch he had ever taught, but recalling last year, he felt the same.
He held his head helplessly, unsure when the board of governors would approve his proposal to remove "Standard Book of Spells" from the main curriculum and make it supplementary.
This was simply too painful for a teacher.
Flitwick believed Britain's magical innovation would stagnate with the generation he was teaching.
On the way out of class, carrying the heavy snake Gapo, Lys managed to pat Snape's arm successfully, signaling him to wait for her.
Following the crowd, Lys invited Snape to duck behind a tapestry.
Lys awkwardly tugged at her lips, attempting a friendly smile, but having rarely smiled, she failed miserably.
"If Miss Black needs me to evaluate whether your facial twitching is aesthetically pleasing, I'm afraid I must decline, as I don't have the time."
His black hair hung beside his face, his impatience growing more pronounced.
"Do me a favor, Snape, accompany me to the Restricted Section?"
Seeing his black eyes narrow slightly, Lys knew there was a chance.
But the opportunity vanished before it even materialized, as in the afternoon, Snape was ambushed by the Marauders and ended up in the hospital wing, unable to leave for several days...
Standing by the bedside, Lys was at a loss for words but managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"Well, forget about that matter, just focus on recovering."
Snape's sallow face turned on the pillow without saying a word.
Lys glanced around, and taking advantage of Madam Pomfrey's absence, quickly cast two controversial healing spells on Snape's face before making her escape.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (30 ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/DarkGolds
Happy reading, everyone!