When October arrived, Hogwarts was enveloped in a damp chill, causing many students to catch colds.
Astoria was one of them. However, with Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary and Rhys Lint, a master of potions, at her side, her cold was hardly a concern.
After drinking a specially formulated energizing potion from Rhys, two large jets of steam shot out from Astoria's nostrils. The minute-long steam cleared her discomfort, allowing her nasal passages to breathe freely.
With a bit more stamina potion later, she would be fully recovered.
Daphne, on the other hand, benefited from Gryffindor's rigorous training methods. Her daily runs around the Chamber of Secrets had strengthened her immune system, allowing her to fend off this wave of illness.
The damp weather and rain didn't dampen the spirits of the Quidditch team captains. Gryffindor's captain, Wood, and Slytherin's captain, Marcus, seemed to be locked in an arms race, pushing their teams to extreme training sessions, come rain or shine, much to their teammates' misery.
Malfoy, in particular, struggled to keep up with Marcus at first and even tried to resist. However, after a private conversation between them, Malfoy suddenly accepted Marcus's grueling regimen.
No one knew exactly what Marcus had said to him.
Quidditch training, however, had little to do with Rhys. After his sweeping operations against the Secret Society' bases in North Africa, life returned to calm until Halloween approached.
"Last Halloween, a troll was let loose in the castle."
On a stormy Saturday evening, Rhys accompanied Daphne and Astoria to the library until closing. The three walked slowly through the corridors back to their common room.
"Oh, I heard about that! Apparently, the troll ended up dead inside the castle for unknown reasons," replied Astoria, who, though only a first-year, was well-versed in school gossip.
"Your sister killed it."
Astoria fell silent.
Then she was shocked.
She couldn't believe that her sister had single-handedly taken down a troll.
A troll!
Trolls might be ugly, dirty, and incredibly dumb, but they were formidable wizard-killers. It wasn't uncommon for wizards to meet their end when encountering a troll in the wild.
These creatures had physical strength, endurance, explosive speed, and even some magical resistance, making them a nightmare for any wizard who couldn't maintain distance or break through their defenses.
Astoria knew her sister was strong, but she hadn't expected her to be this strong!
"Don't be too surprised. When she was facing the troll at that time—" Rhys began, intending to share the amusing details of Daphne's encounter with the troll so Astoria would realize she and her sister weren't so far apart in strength.
"Look!"
Rhys had barely started when Daphne sensed something amiss. She immediately cut him off, skillfully diverting the conversation. If he kept talking, how could she maintain her sisterly authority?
"Isn't that Harry over there? Why is he still outside so late?"
Rhys and Astoria both turned their attention to where Daphne was pointing, only to feel disappointed: Harry was trudging along, visibly exhausted, carrying his broomstick and walking slowly. Clearly, he had just finished a grueling Quidditch practice.
It was perfectly reasonable, hardly worth getting worked up over.
Rhys caught a flicker of realization—Daphne had a bit of a prideful streak! Glancing at her as she shifted her eyes nervously, he decided to give her a break and not call her out.
"Sis, isn't that Potter the Seeker on the Quidditch team? Isn't it normal for him to be training this late? They're really dedicated, training even in this weather..." Astoria, oblivious to Daphne's intentions, chided her for the unnecessary alarm.
Daphne sneaked a look at Rhys's reaction. Her sister's opinion wasn't too important, but Rhys's was crucial. Luckily, Rhys didn't seem to mind her behavior and didn't pursue the topic of the troll.
"Wait, it looks like Harry's about to get into trouble," Rhys said, noticing that Filch had silently crept up behind Harry.
Sure enough, Harry was taken away by an irate Filch for dirtying the floor.
"Is that really necessary? It's just a dirty floor—a simple cleaning charm could fix it," Astoria muttered, feeling that Filch was making a fuss over nothing.
"He's a Squib," Daphne explained, offering some context on Filch's situation.
He had his own struggles; tasks that were simple for most young wizards took him ten or even a hundred times the effort. Worse yet, after spending most of his life in the magical world, he couldn't be unaware of spells like the cleaning charm.
Knowing the solution but not being able to use it—that was the curse of a Squib.
Filch's harsh treatment of students was likely tied to his Squib status, as it had warped his mindset.
Astoria's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that the caretaker, who was always picking on students, would turn out to be a Squib.
"Squib..." Astoria murmured, repeating the term.
She knew of such people: those born into wizarding families but tragically devoid of magical ability.
For Squibs, the most compassionate thing to do was often to send them to Muggle schools, encouraging them to integrate into Muggle society.
"I heard once that all Muggle-born wizards are actually descendants of Squibs and Muggles," Daphne added, sharing a bit of trivia she knew.
Rhys shook his head; this theory didn't fully align with what they had concluded back in his time.
From his discussions with Ravenclaw, they believed that everyone on Earth had the potential to awaken magical abilities; it was simply that wizarding descendants had a slightly higher chance.
"The difference between Squibs and regular wizards isn't that large," Rhys explained to the Greengrass sisters, offering his own analysis of why Squibs might be unable to use magic.
"Ordinary wizards, even if they don't understand how magic flows, can instinctively use it. Squibs, on the other hand, may be unable to channel magic due to a natural deficiency, blocked magical pathways, insensitivity to the magic in their surroundings, or perhaps simply because their magic is too weak. Whatever the reason, they just can't drive magic the way other wizards can."
Astoria gasped, "So if you teach them how magic flows, could Squibs regain their ability to be wizards?"
"Possibly," Rhys replied nonchalantly.
Astoria and Daphne: "!!!"
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