"Excellent! Mr. Green, circle a few more times—up! Make your broom rise!"
Madam Hooch's eagle-like eyes instantly locked on Sean. While helping a frightened student who had fallen from their broom to stand back on the ground, she passionately called out instructions to Sean, something she hadn't done in a long time.
"Keep your body leaning forward, lift your legs slightly back, and finally—look up!"
Sean shot across the sky like a meteor. His speed wasn't particularly fast, but his movements were smooth and practiced, like a Quidditch player who had trained for years on the pitch.
The young Hufflepuffs still practicing below subconsciously raised their heads to watch the agile "eagle" above.
Then they looked back at their own uncooperative brooms with a sense of frustration.
Flying class soon ended. Sean descended to the grass, his face pale.
His stamina had already reached its limit, but every time he got to that point, a faint warmth would well up inside his body, supporting him as he savored this hard-won freedom.
When he checked his panel, he froze for a moment:
[Name: Sean Green]
[Title: Reserve Flier]
[Slightly increases sensitivity to broomstick magic; slightly improves flying talent]
[Wizard Sean — Flying Talent: Gold. (Note: Ordinary wizards are Green)]
[Advancement: Beginner-level flying skills unlocked; access to flying domain beginner title]
[Evaluation: You are a one-in-a-million genius in the realm of flying. In your hands, a broom is as obedient as a little dog. With your proud and unyielding will, you are destined to become the greatest Quidditch player of the century.]
Gold… Gold?!
Sean held his breath.
Wait…
Proud will… what does that mean?
"All right, everyone can leave the pitch now. And those reckless little wizards—remember today's lesson!"
Madam Hooch swept her gaze across the field. The students all nodded timidly.
Seeing her crooked robe and messy hair, some of the students blushed with embarrassment at the thought of their earlier mistakes.
"Mr. Green, you stay."
Lost in thought, Sean was suddenly called out. He instinctively nodded.
"Oh, child…"
Once the others left, Madam Hooch quickly approached him.
"You have many questions, don't you?"
"Yes, Madam Hooch. I'd like to know—does a wizard's will determine their flying talent?"
Sean carefully voiced his question.
"Clever little eagle. Yes. Most wizards simply ride their brooms. But a small number of them…"
She suddenly raised her hand, and a broom flew instantly into her grasp.
"They command their brooms."
…
After leaving the pitch, Madam Hooch's crisp words still echoed in Sean's mind:
"If you observe Quidditch players carefully, you'll notice that most of them are tall and strong. Some believe only big, tall wizards can get on the field—but that's not entirely true.
When stimulated, a wizard's magical energy becomes more active. Most of the time, this is a positive effect—it improves the wizard's physical condition."
Madam Hooch had said this with a meaningful look, then patted Sean's shoulder and left the field.
What could be more thrilling than soaring through the sky on a broomstick?
Sean thought, It's like how playing basketball can make you grow taller.
So now, Sean had one more thing to add to his to-do list: flying practice—even if just to improve his physique.
…
Flying lessons and Quidditch had always been endlessly popular topics among young wizards, and today, they had one more name to talk about: a newly emerged prodigy.
"Sean, they're saying you're basically a reserve Quidditch player," Justin said, laughing halfway through his sentence.
"But you've never even been part of the wizarding world before. Oh, I bet Ernie must've fallen off his broom and hit his head to forget that part."
In the Charms classroom, Michael had somehow seated himself to Sean's right.
"Sean, if I become your apprentice, can you teach me how to fly? Mas—"
"Brooms are powered by enchantments. Once you can sense the different spells inside a broom, you can use a bit of your own magic to guide them…"
Sean cut off Michael's exaggerated plea and began explaining his understanding seriously.
But Michael and the group of students eavesdropping nearby quickly went blank after his second sentence, as if listening to a foreign language. Their eyes grew vacant.
Michael, Justin, and the others who were used to this had already prepared their quills to take notes.
The rest gave up entirely when they heard: "Use magic even weaker than weak to guide the turning charm, and magic slightly stronger than weak to guide the braking charm…"
Only Michael kept scribbling and muttered, "Sensing spells, guiding weak magic—it sounds like some kind of mysterious alchemy…"
That made Sean stop mid-sentence. Not just because Professor Flitwick had entered the room, but because his mind was buzzing with thoughts.
If magical awakening improves a wizard's body, then wouldn't a frail body also affect magical awakening—or even its growth?
Maybe the reason he struggled so much with spells and potion-making was that his magical power level was too low.
Just like Barty Crouch Jr. once said:
"The Killing Curse requires powerful magical energy as a base… With your pathetic level, the worst you'd do to me is make my nose bleed."
Sean might be the same. His magical power wasn't at a normal level, which was why he needed better techniques and higher mental focus to compensate.
His talent fell below average because his magic reserves were simply too low. Even strong will alone couldn't make spellcasting easy for him.
And what about Transfiguration?
Sean guessed that a wizard's will was also a critical part of magic.
Transfiguration, as the branch of magic that best reflects a wizard's will, relies on willpower even more strongly— a factor that magical power alone cannot overcome.
Finally, there was flying.
Flying required almost no magical strength—just guidance.
Understanding his strengths brought a clear shift in his mindset.
His expectations became firmer, and he found new directions to pursue.
"All right, all right, I know flying is thrilling," Professor Flitwick's voice had a kind of magical quality. When he spoke, every young wizard turned toward him with respect and focus—even the Slytherins weren't exceptions.
"If you haven't forgotten your Levitation Charm techniques, then why not make the feather in front of you rise up—and spin twice in the air, like riding a broom?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Justin swished his wand and spoke the incantation.
The feather before him floated up immediately, as if to make up for the flying session earlier, not only rising quickly but also twirling beautifully in midair.
"Mr. Finch-Fletchley, marvelous progress!"
Everyone heard Professor Flitwick's high-pitched cheer.