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Soon, news that Erwin had joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch team spread throughout all four houses.
Gryffindor wasn't particularly surprised, after all, their own Savior had also joined the Quidditch team.
Hufflepuff continued living their lives peacefully and said nothing.
As for Slytherin, Malfoy complained sourly that the head of his house actually followed school rules; otherwise, he could have joined the team in his first year as well.
Rumor had it that Malfoy had even reported the matter to Professor Snape, only to be scared away by the professor's withering glare.
Ravenclaw was the happiest house.
Their Quidditch performance had been lackluster in recent years, but Erwin was so talented that he would surely lead Ravenclaw to victory in the House Cup.
To that end, several senior girls formed a cheerleading squad, declaring they would support Erwin at every match.
Many young witches joined, including girls from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
Roger Davies was a bit envious.
'I'm the Quidditch captain. Why don't I have my own cheerleaders?'
Erwin paid little attention to this development.
He scheduled his time carefully each day.
After classes, he would head to the library to read and complete homework with Hermione.
Following the flying class incident, the little witch had avoided him for a while, fleeing immediately after every class and refusing to communicate with him at all.
But after a week, things had returned to normal.
She'd even apparently joined his cheerleading squad.
'Girls' minds are impossible to understand.'
Erwin didn't grasp the reasoning, but at least Hermione was speaking to him again.
This meant he could reference Hermione's homework.
That's right, Erwin was simply too lazy to write those tediously long essays himself, so he'd consult Hermione's work under the guise of seeking guidance.
Hermione had her doubts about this.
After all, Erwin's classroom performance spoke for itself; he'd already earned over one hundred points for Ravenclaw.
Most of Erwin's time was devoted to studying Ancient Runes.
He'd made tremendous progress and had mastered numerous runes.
For instance, "fire," "wind," and "water", these basic runes he'd already studied in depth.
Without a wand, he could already perform some simple wandless magic.
As his research deepened, Erwin believed he could eventually cast any magic without a wand.
'When I encounter Voldemort, I'll be able to blast him apart without even drawing my wand.'
Besides the library, Erwin also accompanied Cho to Quidditch training.
He'd wanted to lend Cho the Nimbus 2000.
After all, he was a Beater and didn't require exceptional speed.
Cho needed the superior broom far more.
But Cho had considered the offer and refused.
Her reasoning matched his own; the broom had been given to Erwin by Professor Flitwick, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to use it.
Besides, she genuinely liked her Cleansweep Seven.
Left with no choice, Erwin could only give up.
'I'll wait until Christmas. Then Cho can receive the Nimbus 2000 I give her. She'll only miss one match. That's acceptable.'
In the blink of an eye, it was October.
On this particular day, Erwin was having lunch with Cho as usual.
Suddenly, a paper crane flew through the air and landed on his dining table.
Erwin stared at it in surprise, then opened the origami crane and read:
"Mr. Gaunt, the first Transfiguration Club meeting of the term will take place this Saturday afternoon in the staff lounge next to my office.
Since you are entering the Transfiguration Club for the first time, there will be a practical assessment to demonstrate your Transfiguration abilities.
Professor McGonagall."
After reading the message, Erwin realized it was from Professor McGonagall.
'What a shame,' he muttered under his breath. 'I thought some witch had invented a creative new method of sending love letters.'
The paper crane perched neatly in his palm, its wings twitching as though offended.
Cho, who was sitting beside him, leaned over curiously, her dark eyes sparkling with interest.
"What's that?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
Seeing her eager expression, Erwin handed the paper crane to her.
She grabbed it and scanned the elegant handwriting.
"The legendary Transfiguration Club," Cho murmured, a hint of envy in her tone.
"We only have two sixth-year Ravenclaws in it, and they only joined last year."
Her own gift for Transfiguration was, unfortunately, nothing exceptional.
She could barely keep pace with the curriculum, though her Charms work was excellent; Professor Flitwick had praised her more than once.
So, while McGonagall's club was out of reach, the Charms Club was certainly something worth aiming for.
"Actually," Erwin said, sounding far too casual, "there's nothing special about it. As long as you can transform an object into an animal, even if it doesn't move and only has the proper shape, that's enough."
Cho shot him an annoyed look, her lips pressing into a pout.
He made it sound easy, as if Transfiguration were nothing more than folding paper into shapes. She hadn't even mastered turning one inanimate object into another, let alone creating something that looked alive.
But Cho didn't dwell on it.
Their first Quidditch match was only a month away, and she was already staying late after every training session.
Between studying and extra practice, she had little energy left to argue with Erwin about magical theory.
Saturday arrived before long.
The castle was hushed that afternoon, sunlight slanting through the high windows as Erwin made his way toward the staff lounge beside Professor McGonagall's office.
His robes swished softly against the stone floor. A faint sense of anticipation stirred in his chest; his first Transfiguration Club meeting was about to begin.