"Let's try lifting three feathers." Leon decided and waved his wand, letting a third feather join its brethren in the sky.
He could feel the third feather taking a toll on his mind. Not because of the weight though, Leon felt that he didn't even touch 1 percent of his limit- weight-wise.
He had to concentrate on the three feathers at the same time if he wanted to move them independently. As much as he wanted to manipulate them as freely as he manipulated his hands, he was only connected to them with a wispy, imaginary thread not anything physical like flesh and blood.
A fourth feather wobbly rose into the air before Leon lost concentration causing every feather to fall.
Leon noticed Flitwick merrily smiling at him, standing on the teacher's podium, with a mischievous smirk.
After sending a little glare toward the professor, Leon started brainstorming ideas to see if he was missing something.
If levitating multiple objects absolutely requires adding a new suffix to the spell or pure practice, then Flitwick wouldn't have given him dozens of feathers.
'Maybe he is just messing with me? I don't think Professor Flitwick wastes his student's time.'
Leon glanced at the charms professor before deciding.
'Let's just assume he wants me to find a solution. It's better than assuming he is messing with me and just giving up.'
As Leon was brainstorming ideas, a small effort-filled 'hmph' made him turn his head.
A feather floated 1 foot above the desk making Susan strain herself before it dropped back.
Hermione and Rose were playing some type of game, one feather was chasing the other in the air.
'I think Rose is trying to knock Hermione's feather out of the air,' Leon thought as he watched Rose's feather follow Hermione's closely.
Rose's feather is just an inch behind her Friends.
They gave off a feeling like they were connected, like different compartments of a train.
'Connected! That's it!' A Lumos charm went off in his mind.
"Hope this works!" Leon muttered and cast the spell.
Three feathers rose smoothly rose into the sky forming a circle.
'Awesome! It's working.'
One more feather rose into the air joining the three, turning the circle into a square.
As the feathers imitated an air troop moving like they were one unit, more feathers joined them.
Instead of controlling every feather individually, Leon mixed the threads that connected him to the feathers, letting them form a full circle before controlling a single thread originating from the said circle.
He didn't think of them as three feathers and instead imagined them as a single hoop. He did the same with four feathers.
He arranged the feathers as vertices of a square, and he just moved the square instead of moving every feather.
This method gives up individual control but it more than makes it up by allowing a caster, Leon, to control dozens of objects.
As more feathers joined in the air, the square quickly turned into a cuboid before a bigger cuboid swallowed the smaller one.
As nearly two dozen feathers soared above the professor's desk, Leon suddenly remembered he could comfortably control two feathers individually.
This led to another eight feathers joining the sky, taking the shape of a cuboid.
Time quickly flew as Leon got immersed in creating various formations using the feathers.
UFOs, Rocket's, he even tried making a Chinese dragon. If you ask him, he vehemently denies the accusation that it looked more like a worm than a dragon.
Some may say he is gaining too much attention by showing off his talent, if so, they forgot what he was doing when he died.
Leon is so careless *cough* daring that after he decided to not let his wand gain attention, he forgot to shake it – so that the black mist covers the wand making it look like a normal wand- more than a couple of times.
Especially when he was in class practicing that day's charms.
The wonder of magic made him forget all the paranoid fanfics he read.
The bell rang, indicating the end of the class and snapping him out of his magical reverie.
"Mr. Astraeus, please remain in your seat. It will take just a minute." Professor Flitwick called out.
Susan and Hannah looked at Leon, surprised before walking out of the classroom.
"I am sorry, I couldn't remain true to my word, Leon. Can I call you that?" Flitwick spoke with a rare serious tone.
"Of course, professor. And what is this about not remaining true to your word, professor?"
"I left the feathers in front of you thinking that you would ignore them or maybe control seven feathers, at most." Flitwick shook his head.
"But it seems I underestimated you, you are more talented than I thought."
"I don't think so, professor. I just-"
Professor Flitwick kindly smiled and cut him off.
"I know how you did that, Leon. Just wanting to imagine the feathers as one object doesn't work for everyone. The magic and intent it requires.." Professor Flitwick trailed off.
"It doesn't matter. I was saying, I cast a spell again to not let your air show disturb others. I don't want my students to leave my class downtrodden after comparing their results with yours." He stared into Leon's eyes as he spoke.
"No sorry necessary, professor. I don't mind." Leon waved his hands as he really didn't mind and also because he somewhat agreed with Flitwick's opinion.
'I noticed Susan's glances at the Tom and Jerry chase, Rose and Hermoine were having and disappointed looks at her feather.'
"No, I want to make it up to you. I noticed you like charms spells, so how about a rare book from my private library."
"Awesome! And I was thinking of asking you about the best book for enchanting."
Conflict warred on the professor's face before he waved his wand, making two books appear.
"A signed first edition of Rise and Fall of Enchanters and this other book 'Breathing Life into Paintings' introduces to you the wonderful charms of 2d illusions and animation for beginners."
"Please, professor. A copy is enough, I don't need a signed first edition."
"Are you sure, Leon? I won't offer it again." Flitwick asked with a little hesitation.
Leon just nodded his head eyeing the books.
"Ok! Then, I will send the books to your room later," he said, his eyes regaining his mischievous twinkle.
"What! Why?"
"I have to break some legal rules and copy these books, Leon. The books are enchanted by a charms master, like me, to not let people mass produce them."
"So, I need some time. After all, I don't want to ruin the books." Flitwick explained.
'Man, he is a great teacher even though he likes these books enough to break laws he was ready to offer them. I wonder how big of a crime copying books is, I mean he said only a charms master can do it without damaging the book. Something tells me charm masters aren't abundant.'
After bidding the charms professor farewell, Leon remembered that he was supposed to be on the lookout for Hermione crying- the premise for the Troll canon event.
'Nah! I think she is friends with Rose and it's not like I can do anything now.' Leon just shrugged and jogged up to his friends who were waiting for him. After all, he was going to go troll-watching with or without her crying in the bathroom.
"What did the professor want?" Susan asked.
'Oh! Damn, now how I should answer this. White lie or honesty?'
"Well, the professor put me under a spell again. So, that my practice won't disturb others as I was playing around with multiple feathers." Without giving time for his friends to properly come to terms with his words, he continued. "Doesn't the professors have too much power in their hands? Nobody will notice if a professor goes bad!"
"Of course not, every adult in Hogwarts is under strict magical contracts," Susan replied like he just said the most bizarre thing she ever heard.
"Contracts that won't let your magic affect children or freeze you if you have bad thoughts?"
"No! If the terms are breached, an alert will be sent to every professor, and some department heads in the Ministry. Why would anyone ever sign something that twists their own magic?" The bizarre look on her face grew more prominent. "That's not normal! Don't sign anything that gives anyone control of your magic. Any contract or artifacts that can do that is super powerful and rare, anyways." Susan trailed off.
"Don't tell me you signed something for some money!" Susan suddenly gasped.
"Is that why you have new clothes? I should owl my aunt, who could have done that?" She started murmuring in a frenzy.
"No, of course, I didn't." Leon stopped her and held her shoulder, trying to reassure her.
Susan quickly gathered herself and shot him a worried look.
"Don't worry, our magic is still in flux. The Ministry can break any type of-"
"No, Susan. The clothes are a gift from Professor Flitwick. I didn't sign anything."
That made her pause.
"Then, what gave you those horrible ideas."
"Active imagination, I guess! By the way what's with our magic being in flux?"
"It is what it means, until we become adults our magic is in a very moldable state. While that means magical contracts or oaths are not permanent if we undertake them, it also has disadvantages. Do you know about Obscurials? When a child's magic gets so twisted by external factors-" Susan frowned and shook her head.
"Anyway, are you excited for Halloween, Hannah here is used to be afraid of the dark. Still is, I guess." Susan nudged her friend who was following them silently.
"Of course not, I know Lumos Maxima now. Darkness runs away from me," Hannah waved her wand around, puffing her chest.
Leon smiled at her.
"So, without a wand is Hannah a big baby who is afraid of darkness?" He teased her without much heat behind his words.
"Hey!" Hannah protested and pouted.
Susan gave her one arm hug and mockingly patted her back.
"Go away!" She pushed Susan and started running, making her friend chase her, giggling.
'Man, a simple distraction drudged so many things up. I am guessing Susan's Aunt won't like the goblet of fire then,' He thought watching Susan catch her friend and tickle her.
...
The time for the Halloween feast arrived.
The first year Hufflepuffs were herded to the great hall by the prefects. The remaining students were conspicuously occupying the badger's common room watching their youngest leave.
A curtain of black smoke obstructed the great hall's entrance, which was always open. The smoke slowly drifted around making sizzling sounds whenever it touched the floor or the walls.
The Hufflepuff firsties warily stared at the smoke curtain, stopping in front of it.
"Go on! It harmless." The Female prefect of the Hufflepuff house nudged the group of firsties.
Gently shaking his hand from Hannah's tight grip, Leon walked into the smoke.
'When did she grab my hand?' Leon wondered as he walked in before the sight of the great hall blew his mind away.
Instead of a night sky, the great hall's roof now housed countless bats. Thousands of red eyes stared at the entrance like they were waiting for their next meal.
No one was present in the great hall except for the professors who occupied their seats at their table.
Two seven-foot-tall humanoid scarecrows with pumpkin heads stood at each side of the professor's table, glaring at Leon, flames burning in their hollowed eyes.
The great hall's corners were filled with carved pumpkins watching the entrance with frenzied expressions on their carved faces. They looked ready to pounce on the little wizards and sink their serrated teeth in.
The remaining Hufflepuffs quickly joined Leon in gaping at the great hall.
Hannah clutched Susan's hand like her life depended on it and timidly surveyed the great hall.
A head-sized pumpkin fell in front of Hufflepuff's making them jump back in fright.
The pumpkin grinned at the puffs, showing off its sharp, carved, teeth that glinted like they were made of metal.
The black fire that acted as its eyes flickered as it surveyed the firsties with a cruel grin.
It suddenly pounced towards the firsties morphing into a giant pumpkin, baring its gleaming teeth, trying to swallow them all in one gulp.
Amid the screams of the badgers, it went through them like it was made of smoke, dropping some of them onto their knees in fright.
Susan and Hannah hid behind Leon as he instinctively flexed his arm to retrieve his wand from its sheath without success.
Only his fellow muggle-born was faring better.
Smith was on his knees; his legs had given out. Justin supported Ernie as the latter's legs faltered.
The pumpkin head quickly resumed its normal size and departed to join its kin near the walls after smirking at the firsties.
'So cool!' Leon looked away from the departing pumpkin and observed the great hall.
Professor Flitwick and their house head waved at the firsties with a smile.
Ignoring the chittering and predatory eyes of the bats, the first-year Hufflepuffs walked toward their table under the ghostly light cast by the hovering candles.
Their table too had a theme, sinister-looking vines with thorns covered every inch of their table. The vines slowly slithered around the table like a python choking its prey, making their table and benches creak.
"Take your seats, don't worry. The thorns won't hurt you." Professor Sprout arrived before them and nudged the students.
Smith walked forward and touched the vine that was on the sitting bench. It parted, and he glanced at Leon like he was challenging him before sitting down.
The Hufflepuffs quickly settled down after that. The vine parted around the students and started slithering over them after they sat down.
'Fluffy and very light,' Leon noted poking the vines and thorns, they both got indented like he was poking a pillow.
Their house head departed from the Hufflepuff's table after instructing them to watch the great hall's entrance.
A group of Ravenclaw firsties entered the great hall and were greeted by the same pumpkin.
Some collapsed on the ground in fright and some stumbled, trying to dodge the pumpkin head.
After collecting themselves, they sat at their everyday table making Flitwick get up from his seat and walk towards his seat.
As the Ravenclaws compared their normal table to Hufflepuff's, which was buried under vines, a conspiracy of ravens magically shot up from their table, eliciting more than one scream of surprise.
Professor Flitwick greeted them with his mischievous smile.
The professor left them after making sure they were okay, leaving a conspiracy circling above their heads.
.......
A/N: I am thinking of releasing three chapters back to back over the weekend instead of day by day.
Last chap for the week. And I don't know if we can reach the goal, but I am keeping it out there. If the fic crosses a hundred power stones I will release a chap on Saturday.
Just like in every Harry Potter fic, the fun always starts on Halloween! Look forward to those chapters, I tried something new.