Waking up in the morning and seeing the ceiling adorned with stars and the moon, Vid was stunned for a few seconds before he realized—he was already at school.
Today is Wednesday, and Ravenclaw only has one Herbology class in the morning, and it's not the first class.
Vid got up and, after breakfast, still went to the Room of Requirement.
He transformed the room into what was needed for alchemy practice, arranged the Peeping Mirror and Detector bought from the general store around, placed items like the damaged Two-Sided Mirror on the shelf, and then still came to the Disappearing Cabinet.
Before the holiday, Vid had already repaired most of the Disappearing Cabinet.
Some parts he never understood, he also consulted with Newt Scamander and gained a lot.
The water in Newt's suitcase connects to the outside Loch Ness, which is almost the same principle as the Disappearing Cabinet.
The difference is that Newt set up a barrier at the connection point, allowing only objects he permits (usually seawater and small marine creatures) to pass through.
While there's no barrier between the Disappearing Cabinets, the action of opening and closing the door can start a two-way transit.
The problem that troubled Vid for a long time was merely basic magic knowledge for Newt.
He easily solved the issue, and even proposed an improved plan to make the transmission more stable and safer.
In the last few days of the summer vacation, Vid finished the repair design of the Disappearing Cabinet at home. And now, it was time to verify if it was correct.
He gazed intently at the Disappearing Cabinet, seemingly with a faint golden hue in the depths of his eyes.
At the tip of the magic wand, a golden arc of light also seemed to appear.
...
"What's wrong, didn't sleep well?"
Michael couldn't help but ask when he saw Vid yawning for the third time.
Vid, looking tired, said, "A bit tired."
Focusing to use his eyes and magic power is quite consuming, even when sitting still.
The good news is the Disappearing Cabinet is fixed.
As far as Vid could see, the magic pattern circuits were smooth and natural, without any defects.
All that's left is multiple experiments to ensure safety, and then he can truly come and go as he pleases.
They walked across the lawn towards the greenhouse, and as they left the castle, they ran into Slytherin students heading to the greenhouse as well.
Surrounded by many companions, Draco Malfoy saw Vid and suddenly raised his voice:
"The Nimbus 2001 is the best flying broomstick now, much faster than the Nimbus 2000 and with better defensive mechanisms, just came out last month..."
When Malfoy was speaking, Pansy was always the one to cheer the loudest.
She asked in amazement, "That must be really expensive, Draco?"
"Of course!" Malfoy said in a boastful tone, "My dad told them—we're buying seven Nimbus 2001s, everyone in the shop was stunned."
Seven of the latest model of flying broomsticks, even students from wealthy families were taken aback by this number.
Ravenclaw's Terry Boot, who also had good relationships with Slytherins, directly asked, "Malfoy, why are you buying so many brooms?"
"Interesting question, Butt." Malfoy squinted his eyes, "Guess why it's exactly seven?"
There's no need to guess.
Butt asked in surprise, "You joined the team?"
Malfoy smiled mysteriously and said, "The broomstick shop doesn't even have that many Nimbus 2001s, they're working overtime to meet the demand! It will be shipped to me by the weekend..."
Malfoy dragged his voice, looking meaningfully at Vid at the back of the crowd, and said:
"I heard some people are still using antiques from decades ago! Comet 140, tsk tsk tsk...so pathetic. When my new broom arrives, I wouldn't mind letting him admire it a bit."
Vid rode his broom to and from Ravenclaw Tower every day, and many students saw it, so Malfoy naturally knew.
The Comet 140 was the broom Vid rode every day.
But Vid was still preoccupied with the Disappearing Cabinet and wasn't even aware that he was being mocked until Michael spoke up.
"Malfoy, I heard you tore up your Friendship Book?"
Michael pretended to be shocked, "No way... Are you still using a pet owl to communicate with your family?"
Upon hearing this, Ravenclaw and some Slytherin students chuckled quietly.
Using pet owls is quite normal, after all, the Friendship Book can't convey things prepared by their families over the air.
Every breakfast, the hall was still bustling with busy pet owls flying around.
But the funny thing about this was, whether Malfoy refrained from using the Friendship Book to maintain his dignity, or secretly used it after taking back his harsh words...
Both appeared quite amusing.
Either stupid or embarrassing, he had to choose one terrible option.
In fact, all of the students in the same dorm knew that Malfoy regretted it the night he tore it up.
He only held out for one day.
The next night, he wrote to his parents, and by the third day, Mrs. Malfoy sent him several new Friendship Books.
Malfoy flushed with anger and immediately yelled, "Some people are like lapdogs, following others around, it's really disgust... uh..."
Before he finished his words, his tongue and palate stuck together, and he couldn't speak a word.
"Draco!" Pansy exclaimed, turning to stare angrily at Vid, "What did you do to him? Undo it now!"
"If you can't speak properly, then don't speak."
Vid withdrew his wand and said coldly, "Malfoy, I guess you can't tell the difference between friends and lapdogs. Because in your heart, you've never treated others as real friends, right?"
This sentence hit the nail on the head, and even Pansy couldn't help but glance back at Malfoy.
Everyone was all too aware of the attitude this young master usually had towards his followers.
Malfoy huffed in anger, pointing his wand at Vid, eyes turning red with frustration, only managing to produce a few sparks from the tip.
He looked around.
Goyle and Crabbe did pull out their wands, but they were just foolishly waiting for his command.
—Could they really not tell he couldn't speak, or did they think Vid was right, pretending to humor him?
Pansy stood by his side, not daring to take action, nor needed to mention the other Slytherin students.
Not only because many Ravenclaws also drew their wands, but because after Vid acted, these particularly perceptive Slytherins immediately realized a fact—
He didn't speak a word while casting the spell!
Nonverbal spell... that's something only sixth years would learn.
The little snakes instinctively chose silence and avoidance, while the Ravenclaws, who originally had smiles on their faces, also turned indifferent.
Vid was always a loner, but Michael was not; he got along well with students from all houses.
Just when Malfoy was stuck between a rock and a hard place, someone arrived to break the deadlock.