Flitwick gave his wand a small wave as he reached Julian, and a soft shimmer settled around them. The rest of the room went muffled, the constant repetition of "Lumos" fading into a distant hum. It was not strictly necessary, but trying to hold a conversation while half the class chanted spells would have been distracting.
"Your choice of phrasing for the spell was rather on the nose, was it not?" Flitwick asked with a cheerful smile. "I am not complaining, the results spoke for themselves, but it does make me curious."
Julian grinned. "I have worked out that the intent behind a spell is just as important as the actual words," he said. "I wanted to recreate the stars, so I held that image in my mind and then chose words that best described what I wanted the spell to do."
"So, in plain English, the first variation was literally 'throw a thousand lights,'" he continued. "While the alteration to the counterspell, starting from 'Nox,' turned it into 'fading night,' which is what gave you that whole dying stars scene."
He chuckled quietly. "Now I am mostly curious to see which of my classmates tries to copy it later to impress someone they fancy."
Flitwick laughed too. "I am quite certain that will happen sooner or later," he said. "You are, however, correct about intent being important. What you are missing is how extraordinarily important it truly is."
Julian's eyes widened slightly at that, and he sank into thought. If a Charms master like Flitwick emphasized it, then it was something to engrave into memory.
"Now then," Flitwick said, tone lightening once more, "if it is not too much trouble, would you assist your classmates with the spell? An extra ten points, of course."
Julian shrugged easily. "Not a problem," he said. "Some of the Slytherins might feel a bit sour about being helped by a muggleborn, but it should not be too big an issue."
Flitwick sighed and shook his head, disappointment flickering across his face. "You are referring to that blood purity nonsense," he said, sounding irritated. "It has been disproven time and time again, and yet people still cling to it. Infuriating, really."
"That is the definition of insanity," Julian replied with a small shrug. "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
"Quite," Flitwick agreed. "Well, best get to it. Most of these students will not teach themselves, after all."
Just like that, he snapped back into his usual cheerful demeanor and flicked his wand again, silently lifting the silencing charm. The general classroom noise washed back in.
...
Julian did not rush off immediately. Instead, he paused in the center of the room and took a moment to look around, assessing.
Most of the class had managed to coax some light out of their wands. The problem was that the majority of those lights were either weak or flickering, unstable and dim. A few students, like Ron and Neville, were still struggling with the basic wand movement and got no consistent result at all.
Seamus Finnigan, however, was in a category all his own. Instead of a light, he had somehow set a piece of parchment smoldering.
Let us start with him, Julian decided.
He walked over to Seamus's desk and gave him a friendly smile. "Hey, mate, mind trying the spell one more time?" he asked. "I want to see if I can help a bit."
Seamus nodded and gave it another go. The result was almost identical to his first attempt, a tiny burst of flame instead of a steady glow.
"Your wand movement is off," Julian said. "Here, watch."
He demonstrated the correct motion slowly, wand tracing the simple curve and flick in a clean, controlled line. Seamus watched with intense focus. Julian repeated the movement two more times, deliberately exaggerated for clarity.
"All right, your turn," Julian said.
This time, when Seamus tried it, no fire appeared. A wan, flickering light shimmered at the tip of his wand instead, unstable but at least going in the right direction.
Julian cast the spell himself again. "Lumos."
A steady glow flared from his wand.
"Look at this carefully," Julian said. "Memorize how bright it is, how steady, the way it throws shadows around us. Once you have that image locked in your head, try again."
Seamus nodded and stared at the glowing tip, squinting as he tried to imprint every detail into his mind. A few other students nearby, who had been struggling, also watched closely, quietly copying the same approach.
Across the room, Flitwick was grinning so widely it looked like his face might split. Under Julian's guidance, many of the students who had been faltering were showing immediate improvement.
He even noticed that a few Slytherins were listening in, glancing over often enough that it was obvious they were paying attention to Julian's words and motions, even if they were too proud to ask directly.
Natural leader, Flitwick thought. Albus is right to be cautious with this one. If he chose to, he could become the next dark lord, easily, on charisma alone. On par with Grindelwald.
The thought sobered him for a moment.
He seems like a good lad, though, he added silently. I will trust that he does not walk that path.
Once Seamus's attempts had steadied into a reliable, if modest, light, Julian moved back toward the center of the classroom so he could scan everyone at once.
Neville was still struggling, even though he had clearly been watching and listening. His wand shook slightly as he tried to trace the motion, and the light at the end flickered halfheartedly before snuffing out completely.
Julian took a breath, ready to step in again.
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