Before Halloween arrived, Charles received an unexpected piece of good news — Dumbledore had finally destroyed Ravenclaw's Diadem.
During this time, Dumbledore had sought the help of several masters of alchemy — primarily Nicolas Flamel — in an attempt to restore the damaged relic. Yet even for the creator of the Philosopher's Stone, the dark corruption of a Horcrux exceeded all expectations.
Even Flamel could not purify or repair the Diadem. In the end, Dumbledore used Fiendfyre to burn it into ash — all under the watchful eyes of Charles and the Grey Lady.
The Grey Lady, ghost of Ravenclaw House and daughter of one of Hogwarts' founders, Lady Rowena Ravenclaw herself, was once a woman deceived by Tom Riddle's handsome face and false charm — a victim of her own trusting heart.
Charles, however, was not interested in her story. What truly caught his attention was the reward the system granted him for the destruction of the Horcrux — two levels up, the Levitate Ability, and new intelligence concerning the Legendary Pokémon that embodied wisdom — Uxie.
Uxie, a member of the Sinnoh Region's Lake Guardians, was one of the "Three Lake Trio" — the yellow, mushroom-like being representing wisdom. Its power was immense. Charles hadn't expected that simply destroying one of Voldemort's Horcruxes would yield such a generous reward.
[Uxie, the Pokémon that embodies wisdom, sleeps within a lake as clear as a mirror. Those who bear the Proof of Wisdom may awaken it.]
Though the information was vague — what "a mirror-like lake" and "Proof of Wisdom" meant remained a mystery — Charles wasn't bothered. After all, even if Uxie truly appeared before him, he doubted he had the strength to capture it yet.
What pleased him more were his two new upgrades: the level increase and the Levitate Ability.
In this world, a person's "level" was akin to a wizard's magical power — the higher it climbed, the harder it was to advance. Early on, during a wizard's developmental years, their level would naturally rise even without effort.
However, every wizard's innate talent imposed a ceiling on that natural growth.
Charles's talent was extraordinary, but even so, relying on natural growth alone, he might reach Level 60 before turning thirty — and only approach Dumbledore's level after a full century of life.
Even with his system granting him experience through battles, progress was painstakingly slow — because the required experience points skyrocketed geometrically at higher levels.
For example, Charles could train newly hatched Pokémon to Level 30 within a month, but despite having his system for quite some time, only his Charizard had surpassed Level 50.
And now, just by destroying a single Horcrux, he'd jumped straight to Level 57 — saving himself several years of effort.
For a moment, Charles found himself looking at Harry Potter in a rather peculiar way.
Harry Potter?
No…
That boy was practically a walking bundle of experience points!
Thankfully, Charles still had enough self-control. After all, Harry would eventually destroy every Horcrux anyway. Charles only needed to wait patiently.
The new Levitate Ability delighted him as well.
Flight had always been one of humanity's most romantic dreams — yet even among wizards, few could fly without a broomstick. Only Voldemort had managed to invent a spell that allowed him to soar unaided.
Now, Charles could finally achieve true flight without a broom or magical tools. Without hesitation, he lifted off within the Nature Reserve — soaring freely through the sky, diving, rolling, and looping with sheer exhilaration.
Nearby, a Pidgeot spotted Charles flying under his own power. It froze in surprise for a moment — then flapped its massive wings and joined in, clearly intent on racing him.
"All right, let's see who's faster then!" Charles laughed, competitive spirit ignited.
The moment he accepted, Pidgeot screeched excitedly and surged ahead, quickly pulling away from him. Charles gave chase with all his might — but the gap only widened.
"My speed still can't compare to a real Flying-type Pokémon," he sighed in defeat. "But I suppose I'm about even with a Nimbus 2000."
Among all Pokémon with Levitate, few could rival natural flyers like Pidgeot. Perhaps only Flygon or the Eon siblings, Latios and Latias, could match that kind of speed.
Their incredible flight wasn't just due to Abilities, but also anatomy — Flygon's wings weren't for show; their high-frequency vibrations generated tremendous thrust. The Eon twins' streamlined bodies resembled jet aircraft — naturally built for speed.
After playing around for a while, Charles descended back to the ground.
Halloween was just a few days away. Nearly two months had passed since the start of term, and Charles felt it was time for the young wizards to experience something hands-on — a Pokémon Battle: Wizard Edition.
In this variant, much like the Pokémon Adventures manga, the Trainer would also take part directly in combat. It was essentially the Pokémon counterpart to a wizard's duel.
Anyone who had witnessed Charles's fights against pure-bloods or Aurors three months ago would already have a deep understanding of how terrifyingly effective that hybrid battle style could be — textbook perfection in motion.
To prepare, Charles had captured several lower-level Pokémon, planning to lend them temporarily to the students for practice.
Creating a battle arena was simple enough — one quick Transfiguration spell, and the field was ready.
"Perhaps I could start a Pokémon Battle Club," Charles mused aloud.
Back in Harry's second year, Lockhart had started a Dueling Club. Other professors also had their own extracurricular groups — a Transfiguration Club, even a Slug Club, and so on.
Charles figured he could start one too. After all, his Pokémon Mastery class was limited in number, leaving little time for students to truly practice battle strategy.
When he proposed the idea to Dumbledore, the headmaster was, of course, delighted.
The very next morning, a notice was posted on the bulletin boards of all four Houses.
Harry and Ron squeezed through the crowd to read it — and their jaws nearly dropped.
"Professor Gold is founding a Pokémon Master Club? Students from all seven years can join?" Harry read aloud in disbelief.
"Does that mean we'll get to interact with Pokémon again?" Fred exclaimed excitedly.
"I think you're thinking what I'm thinking — that's so cool!" George whooped in delight.
These two pranksters were the very same ones who had tried to mess with Charles during his first class. Fred had even tried to pluck a tuft from a Pyroar's flaming mane — nearly getting himself roasted by a Flamethrower in return.
If Charles hadn't intervened in time, those two might have ended up as burnt crisps on the spot.
(End of Chapter)