Julian struck gold faster than he expected. Just two doors down from the Charms classroom, he found a medium sized room packed with unused desks, dust collecting in the corners. It looked forgotten, which made it perfect in his eyes.
He stepped inside and methodically checked every inch of the classroom, running his gaze along the walls, ceiling, and floor, tapping a few suspicious stones with his wand just in case. When he was satisfied that there were no lurking curses or nasty surprises, he nodded in approval.
Time to clear some space.
He pointed his wand at the closest desk. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The desk rose smoothly into the air. Keeping that one aloft, he shifted his aim to the next desk, then the next, his control spreading as more and more wood and iron lifted off the floor together. Soon, the entire room's worth of desks floated in front of him like a lopsided school of fish.
Julian could feel his magic reserves draining quickly from maintaining so many levitation charms at once. Before he risked dropping anything, he flicked his wand in a broad, sweeping motion, guiding the collection of desks neatly to the far wall. They settled into a tidy stack, legs aligned, leaving a wide open space in the middle of the room.
"A splendid use of the Levitation Charm," a high pitched, pleased voice said from behind him.
Julian flinched and spun around. Standing in the doorway, barely two feet tall, was the very professor he had picked this room for in the first place.
"It is very rare to see a first year performing multiple simultaneous levitations," Professor Flitwick said with a bright smile. "Even more so when I have not yet taught the charm in class."
"I actually learned all the spells in the first year book over the summer," Julian admitted, a bit awkward.
"Not to worry, my boy. I did much the same at your age," Flitwick replied honestly, clearly amused rather than annoyed.
He stepped fully into the room, eyes twinkling as he took in the rearranged space. "I hope you will not mind my asking, but why were you reorganizing this classroom to begin with?" he asked curiously.
"I was planning to request this room to set up a workshop next week, once I had a better feel for my class workload," Julian answered, keeping his tone polite and straightforward.
"Oh? A workshop?" Flitwick repeated, his interest sharpening. "What sort of workshop did you have in mind?"
Julian slid Greed from his finger and placed the ring in the professor's waiting hand. "I am a ring smith," he said with a small grin. "I wanted to build a workshop here at Hogwarts to work during my free time and maybe earn a bit of coin on the side."
Flitwick rolled the ring across his palm, watching closely as Greed shifted shape constantly and unpredictably, cycling through forms in a way that would have looked unsettling to anyone less used to magic.
"What a fascinating piece of enchantment," the tiny professor said at last. "Yours, I take it, from the way you speak?"
Julian took the ring back and nodded. "I took inspiration from Boggarts when I crafted it," he explained.
Flitwick nodded thoughtfully. "A very effective way to discourage thieves, if perhaps a touch cruel," he said, his tone turning momentarily stern.
Julian lifted his hands in mock surrender. "Purely defensive on this piece, I promise," he said honestly.
"Very well," Flitwick conceded. "Tell me, though, how did you learn to enchant items in the first place? I do not recognize the method used in this ring."
Julian rubbed the back of his neck. "It is my own personal method," he admitted. "One of the reasons the forging work is still a bit rough around the edges."
That caught Flitwick off guard. He peered up at Julian intently, searching his face for any trace of a lie, but found nothing to latch onto. Eventually he sighed, clearly accepting that the boy was telling the truth.
"If it is not an imposition, I would very much like to sit in on one of your crafting sessions," Flitwick said seriously. "I am curious to see what sets your method apart from the techniques I know."
"You would need to swear an oath or sign a contract not to share what you see," Julian replied after a moment of thought. "Beyond that, I do not mind."
Flitwick's eyebrows rose, but he nodded quickly. That kind of condition was common enough. Most enchanters took similar precautions with their apprentices, binding them so that their knowledge could only be passed to future apprentices instead of spilling into public circulation.
It was how crafts survived without becoming dangerously widespread.
Julian absolutely did not want his "Celebrimbor style" of enchanting getting out. In the wrong hands, especially someone like Voldemort, it could be used to create truly horrific things.
To Julian's growing delight, Flitwick turned out to be surprisingly knowledgeable about metalwork as well as charms. The tiny professor started casually suggesting combinations of alloys suitable for various types of magic.
"Goblin silver mixed with orichalcum, for instance," Flitwick said, gesturing with his hands as if weighing the metals. "The resulting alloy can carry extremely corrosive spells or channel power so intense that it would tear ordinary metals apart."
Julian soaked up every word, asking pointed questions about durability, spell saturation, and resonance.
He also asked if Flitwick would be willing to help keep the workshop's noise from spreading by enchanting the door. The last thing he needed was for hammering, grinding, and spellwork to echo down the corridor and attract too much attention. Flitwick agreed without hesitation, already pondering sound dampening charms that would not interfere with delicate enchantments.
By the time dinner rolled around, Julian was walking into the Great Hall side by side with Professor Flitwick, the two of them deep in conversation about the best way to layer metals for specific kinds of magic.
They drew more than a few stares. Students from all houses watched them pass, some with curiosity, others with confusion, as the small professor and the tall first year discussed alloy ratios and enchantment channels as if it were the most natural topic in the world.
For anyone not deeply dedicated to a craft, their passion would have been hard to understand. But most of the other professors, with the exception of Quirelmort, recognized that look easily. It was the quiet intensity of people who loved their work.
Dumbledore caught snatches of their conversation and could only offer a wry little smile. He knew more than the others about why that discussion was happening at all. He had personally confirmed that Julian knew what he was doing, and now Flitwick had clearly engaged with the boy on the same level.
All in all, Julian had managed to make a very strong impression on his first official day of classes.