Magic never opens itself to wizards without talent, but even those with some talent were not always clever.
Sean quietly put away the quill-lollipop, while Hermione remained silent, looking somewhat bewildered.
When Sean placed a real quill on the desk, he turned and saw Hermione glaring at Justin, who was trying hard not to laugh, as if any smile from him would instantly turn him into a skunk.
'Then laugh if you want,' Sean sighed.
"Hahaha—Sean, Hermione, I mean, you're not actually treating that as a real quill, are you? This is the second funniest joke I've heard today…"
Justin laughed so hard he couldn't straighten his back.
"Ju—stin!" Hermione puffed her cheeks.
Hearing that, Justin immediately stopped laughing:
"Oh, Hermione, teach me. I've been practicing the Summoning Charm recently, but I can't get it to work. Do you think it's my wand movement?"
"…You're too hesitant with your wand,"
Hermione calmed the unexpected surge of embarrassment and anger, turning to seriously guide Justin.
Sean, meanwhile, focused his attention back on the quill.
He took out a broken quill from his bag. One of the quill's features was durability,
but for Sean, that wasn't the case.
Even though he had cleverly shaved the quill's stiff shaft with a small knife to extend its life,
things that were meant to break would eventually break. The worn portion of the quill could never return.
"Accio—Quill!"
He spoke the incantation precisely. The quill trembled violently, then lightly flew into his hand.
[You practiced the Summoning Charm with Apprentice Level Skill. Proficiency +1]
At that moment, Sean froze.
Summoning Charm?
The panel used this name.
Why wasn't it called Accio?
In the magical world, coincidences were rare, Sean thought carefully.
"Because the strength of a spell is determined by the wizard. The wizard's will acts upon the object, producing the Summoning Charm. Accio—Quill!"
As soon as Sean spoke, all the quills in the classroom trembled and flew toward him.
[You practiced the Summoning Charm with Beginner Level Skill. Proficiency +3]
And it wasn't only quills that landed before Sean.
Justin, holding a quill, staggered and eventually fell onto the wooden desk in front of Sean.
As Sean calmly considered whether to help him, he heard Hermione stifle a laugh, then, trying to hide it, ask:
"Looks good, is this your new dance move?"
Soon, Sean saw Justin blush.
…
Sean roughly understood the nature of the Summoning Charm.
As Hermione had said, when summoning an unknown object, a wizard doesn't need to know its exact name, but must know one of its properties.
For example, Hermione might not know a book's title, but she knew it was a book about the Summoning Charm.
When she couldn't speak the book's name due to her limited knowledge, she simply identified its property in her mind (a book about the Summoning Charm), locked a range (the school), and any object within that range matching her intent would fly to her.
However, the energy expended increased dramatically.
If it were possible to summon living creatures, the spell's power would be terrifying.
But obviously, it could not.
Harry had once tried to summon Hagrid, and of course, it failed.
Sean thought that failure might actually be a good thing—otherwise, Hagrid flying toward him…
Of course, Sean also thought that no matter what Harry muttered, Ginny wouldn't come flying.
As Sean's understanding of the Summoning Charm became clearer, his progress improved:
[You practiced the Summoning Charm with Beginner Level Skill. Proficiency +3]
[You practiced the Summoning Charm with Experienced Level Skill. Proficiency +10]
[Summoning Charm unlocked]
Exhausted, Sean put away his wand and turned to see Hermione and Justin, equally worn out.
Justin, however, recovered quickly, once again producing three steaming cups of honey-jasmine tea from Sean's blind spot.
To this day, Sean still didn't know where Justin got the food from.
He only knew the honey-jasmine tea tasted wonderful.
…
As dusk settled over the castle, Sean set off for the dungeons.
The corridor was sliced into contrasting patches of light and shadow by the setting sun, and the portraits on the walls entered the busiest yet most leisurely moment of the day.
The Fat Lady appeared beside her good friend, Mrs. Violet. She seemed slightly tipsy, leaning elegantly against the frame, humming a tuneless little song:
"Look, it's Sean Green, Sir Cadogan, your 'mischief ace.'" She spoke with a teasing tone.
Hogwarts' portraits were never just paintings—they liked to amuse themselves.
The characters in these portraits could move into other portraits, issue passwords, offer life advice, or provoke students into duels…
Privately, they also schemed all sorts of tricks.
Among these schemes, the most important was the young wizard known as the "mischief ace."
It didn't sound flattering, but it genuinely expressed a portrait's fondness for a young wizard.
"In the name of knights, Fat Lady, ten centuries of experience is rarely wrong. Little Green here will make a name for himself in the wizarding world, I promise."
Sir Cadogan's words drew the Fat Lady's attention repeatedly, as a knight never lies.
There was no sense of time in the dungeons.
Severus Snape had been there for who knew how long,
until the storm finally ceased.
The dungeons remained cold and isolated.
The scent of potions lingered, and piles of parchment still towered like mountains.
Severus Snape stood there like a statue merged with the shadows of the dungeon, motionless for a long time.
A note unfolded in his hand. If Sean were there, he would have recognized it as hidden knowledge from Master Libatius Borage's book.
But unlike Sean's own note, this one bore a faint "1."
"Click—"
Sean pushed open the door, breaking the silence.
When he saw Professor Snape, a flash of delight appeared in his emerald eyes.
He quickly walked to his cauldron, set down his notes, and went to the specimen cabinet to take out ingredients.
Sean was slightly excited. Today, he carried two tasks that would thrill any wizard:
The first was to test how much Master Libatius Borage's improved ritual could enhance potion quality.
Potion quality, after all, increased effect rapidly with each level, and of course, sold for higher prices.
The second task
was to verify his conjecture from flying class: whether a wizard's will could finely regulate potion reactions.
However, he clearly did not notice Professor Snape's gaze, which was far more complex than it seemed.