Chapter 43 — The First Charms Lesson
It was an Undetectable Extension Charm bag—essentially a miniature pocket dimension. Clearly, it had been made for him to store potions. A quick inspection told Russell the interior space was nearly the size of his bedroom.
Still, he wasn't foolish enough to put all his eggs in one basket. He stored most of the potions inside the enchanted pouch and hid the rest elsewhere.
Then he penned a reply to Wednesday, thanking her for the potions and telling her he could hardly wait for the Addams family Christmas gathering.
---
That afternoon, he attended his very first Charms class of the term, taught by his Head of House—Professor Filius Flitwick—who had also taken him shopping in Diagon Alley.
Because of his height, Professor Flitwick had to stand atop a stack of thick textbooks just to reach the lectern. But all the young wizards adored him—his teaching was humorous, lively, and, compared to Professor McGonagall, rather gentle.
Their first lesson was the Levitation Charm.
After giving a lengthy and enthusiastic lecture on theory, Professor Flitwick handed each student a feather and told them to practice.
Russell didn't bother to hold back. With his Levitation Charm already at proficiency level four, he made the feather rise smoothly and steadily on his first try.
At the same moment, he noticed—out of the corner of his eye—another feather drifting upward.
It was Fawley. Chin raised high, he cast Russell a smug, provocative look.
"Someone succeeded—and we have a second!"
Professor Flitwick clapped excitedly. As he prepared to step down from the lectern, he saw two feathers floating in the air.
"Ravenclaw, five points!"
He leaned forward to see which students had managed it so quickly. When he spotted Russell, his smile widened even further. But then he saw Fawley—and the smile vanished instantly.
It wasn't favoritism. Flitwick had perfectly good reason for the shift.
Fawley's behavior had been… trying, to say the least.
His thoughtless outburst during the Sorting Ceremony had caused unnecessary tension between himself and Professor Snape. Though Dumbledore had later smoothed things over, Fawley's image in Flitwick's heart had plummeted.
And then, only a few days into the school year, Fawley caused yet another disaster—barreling into the Forbidden Forest on a broomstick. According to him, the broom malfunctioned on its own. But after inspecting the shattered remains, no such issue was found.
For that, Ravenclaw had been docked fifty points.
Flitwick had nearly fainted.
He already knew that with Snape's shameless and unpredictable point-giving methods, Ravenclaw had little hope of winning the House Cup. But last place? That was something he absolutely refused to accept.
Russell's classmates had already seen him cast the Levitation Charm during flying lessons, so his success didn't surprise them. What did surprise them was that Fawley managed to pull it off as well.
Because of Fawley's behavior, most Ravenclaws weren't eager to socialize with him. But after seeing him successfully levitate his feather, a few curious students approached.
"Fawley, can you teach me how to cast the Levitation Charm? I've tried forever but I still can't get it right."
"Of course."
Fawley nodded, looking rather pleased with himself.
But when he turned and saw a crowd forming around Russell instead, that pleased expression instantly vanished—replaced by thick, simmering jealousy.
"Fawley? What's wrong?"
The student in front of him snapped him out of his glare.
"Nothing. Let's start."
Naturally, once one student came, another followed—and soon a ring of Ravenclaws gathered around Fawley as well. It almost became a silent competition:
Which group could teach their classmates the Levitation Charm faster?
Professor Flitwick saw the two clusters forming and, rather than stopping them, looked quite pleased. Peer instruction, in his opinion, was sometimes even better than practicing alone.
In the end, Russell's group still came out ahead.
Cho Chang was the third student—after Russell and Fawley—to successfully levitate her feather. But this time, Flitwick didn't award any additional points, to Russell's mild disappointment.
If it had been Professor Snape, Russell thought, Cho would've gotten five extra points for sure.
Fawley, meanwhile, only saw another feather rising from Russell's side—and not the person who cast it. His mood soured further.
He looked at the eager faces of the students surrounding him and cursed silently:
Useless… all of you. How are you losing to them?
Lost in his irritation, he didn't notice his wand hand tighten. When he demonstrated the spell again, he jabbed a student a bit too forcefully.
Young wizards often struggled to control their magic—especially when stirred by emotion. Magical surges were not uncommon. Just look at Harry Potter inflating his aunt.
Otherwise, it made no sense how Fawley's Levitation Charm managed to fling a full-grown student straight up to the ceiling—
—and keep them spinning like a human propeller, screaming wildly through the entire classroom.
"Oh my goodness!"
Professor Flitwick rushed over, wand raised.
"Arresto Momentum!"
The spinning student immediately stopped—and dropped like a stone. Flitwick barely managed to transfigure a desk into a soft cushion, preventing a trip to the Hospital Wing.
"Mr. Fawley," Flitwick said, anger showing on his face for the first time that day, "what exactly were you doing?"
"Sorry, Professor. My wand slipped. I'll apologize to him."
Fawley said this with a carelessness that made every student in the room resent him.
He turned toward the pale, trembling boy.
"Sorry. Didn't mean it."
Even a blind man could see it was insincere.
"Mr. Fawley, I do not want this to happen again. Now take responsibility and escort him to the Hospital Wing."
"No problem, Professor. I know the way well."
Fawley waved casually, almost proud of the fact—only enraging his classmates further. The slight goodwill he'd earned earlier evaporated instantly.
The old Fawley is back, Russell thought with a sigh.
---
After dinner, Russell declined his roommates' invitation to play chess and headed alone toward Professor Corvey's office.
Two mummies stood guard on either side of the door—identical to the one he had seen in class. As Russell approached to knock, both mummies suddenly turned their bandaged heads toward him, shifting as though alive.
"I—I'm here to see Professor Corvey," Russell said quickly..