Professor Flitwick glanced over and said:
"Oh, what a clever guiding technique—although it's a shortcut, it can indeed help you grasp the spell faster. Wade, this must have been your idea."
Wade lowered his eyes and smiled brightly.
Even Professor Flitwick, who had been serious, smiled in response. He waved his wand and made ten copies of the parchment, giving each group a copy, and added:
"This is a reference, but you must truly master the spell. I will collect the parchments in ten minutes. By then, I hope you have all mastered the Levitation Charm!
For those who have already managed to make the feather float—why don't you try making it spin in the air?"
The students in the classroom resumed their practice as Professor Flitwick walked around giving guidance.
Wade directed his feather to draw circles and squares in the air, then began to compose verses. Anthony watched enviously but did not get discouraged; instead, he continued to practice the Levitation Charm repeatedly.
After class, Gryffindors hurried off to their History of Magic lesson, while the Ravenclaws had no more classes for the morning.
Wade, as usual, headed to the library. Michael, who had planned to accompany him, was intercepted before he could leave.
"Hey, Michael." His roommate Terry draped an arm around his neck and asked:
"I haven't seen you around after class lately; you've been studying with Wade, haven't you? I heard Gryffindor's Granger and Longbottom are with you too?"
A circle of eager-eyed little Eagles looked at him.
Michael raised his hand in a surrender gesture: "Yes, that's right, and I haven't been hiding it from you! What's with the inquisition?"
"So Longbottom has managed to master the Levitation Charm, thanks to your study sessions?" Lisa asked quickly. "I thought you were just working on homework together."
"Michael, could you spare some time to teach me too?" Padma asked. "I'm still not very good at Fire-Making Charm (Incendio)."
Padma is a beautiful Indian girl whom Michael has always been fascinated by, but when it comes to spell learning, Michael will not take credit for others' achievements.
"Although I'd be happy to teach you the spells I've mastered, Padma, it's Wade who's really good at teaching, not me—we're all learning from Wade," Michael said honestly.
"Wade, huh—"
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
In their eyes, Wade Grey is exceptionally aloof, handsome but unsmiling, and exceptionally talented yet distant from the crowd.
Despite being the same age, Wade never jokes around, plays games, attends parties, or even talks about Quidditch. He disappears right after class and only returns to the tower at curfew.
While other students are accustomed to chatting and doing homework in the common room, Wade rarely appears in the public lounge, making the little Eagles feel as though they have been unilaterally isolated by him.
In short, he is a person with a strong sense of distance.
This is also why very few people actively approach Wade to talk... because the little wizards are a bit afraid of him.
---
The library was quiet and empty, with Madam Pince not keeping a close watch on the students but slowly turning the pages of a book. When she saw Wade enter, she merely glanced at him before looking back at her book.
In the two months since school started, Madam Pince had become familiar with all the first-year students who frequented the library. She knew which students could be trusted to stay quiet, and who needed constant supervision to prevent noise, damage to books, or even fights.
And Wade is the type of student she can fully trust.
Wade navigated to the section of the library dedicated to alchemy books—he had recently started setting aside time to study alchemy.
Alchemy studies the composition, structure, and magical properties of the four basic elements, as well as material transformations. It is closely related to Potions, Charms, Ancient Runes, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
At Hogwarts, only students who achieve "Acceptable" or higher in these subjects on their Ordinary Wizarding Level (OWL) exams can take Alchemy as an elective, making it a highly challenging subject.
For younger students without the necessary background knowledge, mastering the subject through self-study is quite difficult.
Yet, alchemy's influence is pervasive in their lives—candles that never extinguish in the Great Hall, the 142 moving staircases in the castle, seemingly alive portraits on the walls, door knockers that pose different questions, and even items like flying broomsticks, the Golden Snitch, the Sorting Hat, Wizard's Chess, Memory Balls, and more.
Basic alchemy isn't that hard to get into; it's just that alchemists tend to use obscure terminology, obscure expressions, and exaggerated fantasy, which indirectly raises the difficulty of learning.
Wade's reading comprehension skills had been cultivated and trained for over twenty years in his previous life, and he had a sufficient vocabulary and knowledge base.
So, despite the difficulty, he managed to work his way through the alchemy books one by one.
Recently, he had been reading books published by Nicolas Flamel years ago—"An Introduction to Alchemy" and "An Analysis of Alchemy". Lately, Wade had started reading "The Secrets of Nature: The Fifth Element".
This book, written by the 12th-century alchemist Raymond, discusses the so-called fifth element, the Philosopher's Stone.
"This book is actually a bit outdated because Nicolas Flamel succeeded in creating the Philosopher's Stone and proved that many of the theories in this book deviate from reality."
A voice suddenly came from beside him, and Wade looked up in surprise to see the Weasley twins standing nearby. It was George Weasley who spoke.
"You're a first-year student?" Fred Weasley said, pulling out a chair and sitting down opposite Wade. "It's a bit early for you to be studying this."
"But I have to say, you have great taste! Alchemy is one of the most fascinating subjects in magic! — Muffliato," George said, waving his wand to prevent Madam Pince from coming over.
"But Hogwarts doesn't offer alchemy until the sixth year—"
"That's a really stupid decision. Why not offer alchemy from the first year?"
"Most students wouldn't even dare go home for the summer holidays because they're bound to get a 'T' (Troll) in their final exams." Fred said, feigning seriousness.
"Except for us—"
"—We're naturally good at this"
"So we've been self-studying for a year now!" George said.
"As a senior, here's a tip for you, little Ravenclaw: you should start with 'An Introduction to Alchemy'! Nicolas Flamel is the greatest living alchemist! His book is worth studying."
Wade shrugged. "But I've already finished that book."
"Wow!" Fred raised an eyebrow. "How about An Analysis of Alchemy?"
"Read it."
"Then—On the Diversity of Species?" George asked.
"Thomas Aquinas from the 12th century?" Wade hesitated. "I've seen it, but didn't read it in detail, as it seems to not cover magical applications."
George said, "Actually, that's because of the limitations of the environment at the time. He had to publish the book with Muggles and wrote the magical content very obscurely.
Of course, we recommend the 18th-century revised version by Esnel Vargas. He added over 200 magical creatures and thousands of magical materials, making it more comprehensive and accurate."
Weasleys twins had read at least twenty to thirty books on alchemy and studied them deeply, speaking as if they were experts.
Wade was thrilled and quickly took out a piece of parchment to jot down notes. If he didn't have classes in the afternoon, he wouldn't have wanted to let them leave.
The conversation was so enjoyable that they didn't even notice when they parted ways—neither asked the other's name.
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