"Are we being too loud?" Hector asked, looking at his two friends in confusion.
"How could we be? We barely said anything, did we?" Anthony said, turning first to head back toward the castle.
Inside the greenhouse, Professor Sprout closed the door and instinctively wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead. She let out a long sigh of relief and muttered, "True Ravenclaws, through and through."
They had way too many questions.
After resting in the common room for a while, the three boys grabbed their textbooks and headed back out to the greenhouse.
For the first half of the lesson, Professor Sprout didn't actually discuss magical plants. Instead, she spent the first ten minutes drilling the greenhouse safety rules into the first-years' heads.
Rules like: no swinging trowels around as weapons, no throwing dragon dung compost at people's faces, and absolutely no picking leaves or fruits without permission. Most importantly, no eating them. Do not put random things in your mouth.
"And that includes the compost," Professor Sprout emphasized.
Who would want to taste the compost...?
Honestly, to Charlie, this was painfully basic common sense. But when he remembered that behind every safety regulation was usually a horrific accident, Professor Sprout's warnings suddenly felt entirely justified.
After all, the wizarding world was never short of absolute lunatics. Plus, these kids came from wildly different backgrounds. The ones raised in Muggle families were usually fine, but the ones from wizarding families...
Based on what Charlie had observed over the past two days in the common room and classes, the general common sense of wizard-raised children was significantly worse than that of normal kids.
It seemed the vast majority of wizarding families completely refused to send their children to formal educational institutions. Even the parents living in Muggle towns wouldn't send their kids to nursery or primary school. They just let them grow up wild.
Once the safety briefing was out of the way, Professor Sprout moved on to basic gardening techniques: turning the soil, applying fertilizer, and fundamental planting methods.
Starting from the absolute basics ate up a lot of time, but it ensured every child would actually be able to absorb the material in their future, more advanced lessons.
It wasn't until the second half of the lesson that actual Herbology began.
The professor handed each student a small, dismembered chunk of a Leaping Toadstool and instructed them to bury it exactly two centimeters deep in the soil.
"I can't believe a human brain actually came up with that description," Anthony said, looking over at Charlie.
"Huh?" Charlie glanced back. "What's wrong?"
"I mean 'dismembered corpse chunks'. How on earth did you look at a diced Leaping Toadstool and think of that?"
"No need to flatter me," Charlie said with a steady smile, casually continuing to turn the soil with his trowel.
After they finished, they watered the pots. Every first-year then took a small tag, wrote their name on it, and stuck it into the dirt.
Finally, they lined their pots up neatly on the raised shelves along the greenhouse wall, bringing the lesson to a close.
"Brilliant, easy class." Anthony stretched lazily. "I feel like heading back and taking a nap."
"I'm a bit tired too. But we shouldn't sleep now, otherwise we'll be up all night. How about a game of chess?" Hector suggested. "I've never played Wizard's Chess before."
"Sure, I'll teach you," Anthony nodded. "But I won't go easy on you. I'm a Wizard's Chess master."
"Oh. Well, I'm fairly good at regular chess. I competed in the EPSCA."
"What the bloody hell is that?"
"It's the English Primary Schools' Chess Association. They hold annual tournaments with under-9 and under-11 divisions," Charlie explained.
"You know about it, Charlie?" Hector looked at him in surprise.
"Saw it in the paper. I used to pick up discarded newspapers to read. You've got to find entertainment somehow," Charlie shrugged.
Newspapers were his most accessible reading material; they were everywhere, and he certainly hadn't had the time to go out of his way to visit public libraries.
"No way. You actually played in tournaments?" Anthony stared at Hector in shock.
"Yeah. I was actually supposed to compete in the under-11s during the summer holidays. But then my Hogwarts letter arrived, so I dropped it. Magic is far more interesting than chess."
"Well, let's go then! Magic plus chess equals double the fun. You're going to love it. But seriously, go easy on me."
The two of them turned to Charlie. "What about you, Charlie? Are you heading back?"
"Charlie!" A voice rang out from behind them.
Charlie turned to see Hermione jogging up from outside the greenhouse.
"What's up?" Charlie asked.
"Oh, I was just wondering what you and Professor McGonagall were discussing during Transfiguration. I was dying to know, but I had to focus on turning my match into a needle first.
"Also, you're incredibly brilliant to have managed it over the holidays. I tried so many times, but I could never quite get it. It wasn't until her lesson today that I finally made a tiny bit of progress."
"Just lucky, really," Charlie waved it off. "We were just discussing some different theories on casting methods. If you're interested, I can walk you through it."
"Really? That would be fantastic! I've been thinking about it all afternoon." Hermione's joy was obvious.
"No problem. Let's head to the Great Hall," Charlie nodded, figuring the open lawns weren't exactly the best place for an in-depth lecture.
He had to admit, Hermione's thirst for knowledge easily rivaled any Ravenclaw's.
By the time Charlie finished summarizing his conversation with Professor McGonagall and sharing his own insights, dinner was already being served.
The young witch quickly inhaled a few bites of food before practically vibrating with the need to leave. She was desperate to rush up to the library on the fifth floor to hunt down issue 108 of Transfiguration Today and read the full paper for herself.
Watching her hurry off, Charlie turned his attention back to his food.
Just as he spooned a mound of mashed potatoes into his bowl, smoothed down the top, and prepared to dig in, Anthony and Hector finally arrived at the Great Hall.
Anthony practically sprinted over, his face bursting with the need to gossip. "It's completely unbelievable!"
Charlie looked up at them.
"He is freakishly good," Anthony said, pointing an accusing finger at Hector.
"I played him three times, and he utterly destroyed me in minutes. Then Roger came over, and he annihilated Roger just as fast. Right before we came down to eat, Roger said he's going to track down the absolute best chess player in Ravenclaw so they can have a showdown tonight."
"I just got lucky," Hector muttered, clearly uncomfortable with the glowing praise.
"Stop being so modest, mate. At least in our dorm, you're a god." Anthony patted Hector on the shoulder before they both sat down.
Throughout the meal, Anthony couldn't stop talking about how excited he was for the upcoming match. Charlie glanced over at Hector, noting the clear anticipation shining in his roommate's eyes as well.
The three of them finished dinner quickly, rested for a moment, and then began the trek back to the Ravenclaw common room.
Yes, they had to rest for a moment. Ravenclaw Tower was simply too high up; even treating it as a post-dinner stroll required psyching oneself up first.
"Why couldn't we have swapped common rooms with Hufflepuff?" Anthony complained on the way up.
The three of them were panting heavily. The floors here weren't like those in standard Muggle flats; the ceilings on every level were ridiculously high.
"If it were possible, someone really ought to install a bloody lift in this place," Charlie grumbled in agreement.
He wasn't actually that tired. He had spent his whole life running around the streets, developing a body that, while scrawny, was remarkably resilient. This level of physical exertion was nothing to him.
But all his past exercise had been born out of sheer survival. If given the choice, who wouldn't prefer to just lie down?
Once back in their dorm room, Charlie immediately opened his small leather suitcase.
He had plenty of free time tonight, so it was time to get back to his primary trade.
"What is all this?" Anthony and Hector crowded around, peering curiously into the case.
Inside, they saw a bizarre assortment of cups, jars, and metal pressing molds.
How should I explain this? Charlie thought for a second. "These are my tools of the trade. It's how I make a living."
He pulled out two pieces of sunlight chocolate and handed them over.
The chocolate melted almost instantly on their tongues. The sun-dew center slipped down their throats, sending a wave of warmth rushing through their limbs.
In a heartbeat, the exhaustion from climbing the tower was wiped away, replaced by a surge of vibrant energy.
"Charlie, what did you put in this? Why do I feel so hot?"
??? Why does it sound like I just fed them Amortentia? "It feels like basking in the sun. It's brilliant. Actually, no, I've genuinely never tasted anything better. So, Charlie, you usually make a living selling these? How much do they cost?"
"Depends on the customer. If it's just a broke kid, I might just give them one for free. But if I'm selling it normally, it's definitely going to cost more than your average sweet."
"It's so good," Anthony nodded in absolute satisfaction. "Do you have any other flavors?"
"Of course. What kind of master confectioner only has one product? What you just had was sunlight chocolate. Over here is moonlight chocolate.
"Sunlight chocolate restores physical stamina and fills you with energy. Moonlight chocolate, on the other hand, is perfect for when you're mentally exhausted; it sharpens the mind and boosts your spirit."
"Stamina... does that mean moonlight chocolate restores magical energy?" Hector asked, looking sharply at Charlie.
"Exactly. Based on Professor Flitwick's explanation of magical stamina, moonlight chocolate should indeed help restore magic."
"No wonder you were asking him all those specific questions about magic capacity in class," Anthony nodded in sudden realization. "Can I try a piece?"
"Sure thing." Charlie handed them two pieces of moonlight chocolate.
After eating them, the looks of profound satisfaction on their faces grew even deeper.
More importantly, this time, both Hector and Anthony contributed a significant amount of Wish Dust to Charlie.
The first time had just been a quick taste, but their careful, deliberate savoring of the second piece allowed them to experience a purer, more genuine sense of joy from the sweets.
Hector hesitated, his eyes lingering on the assorted jars and bottles in Charlie's case. After a moment, he finally asked, "Charlie... how exactly do you make these?"
"It's my innate trick," Charlie explained simply.
"Trick?" Hector repeated, unfamiliar with the usage of the term in this context.
"Really?" Anthony gasped in shock.
"Yep," Charlie nodded.
"What's a trick?" Hector asked, looking blankly between the two of them.
"It's a form of magic a wizard is naturally born with that doesn't require a wand. Hector, you know about accidental magic, right? You've had accidental magic before."
"Of course. Actually, it happened when I was playing chess. I accidentally shattered the entire board," Hector nodded.
"Right. That's standard accidental magic. Nobody can ever predict what's going to happen when it triggers; it's completely random and chaotic. But I've heard that there's a very small percentage of people who never experience explosive accidental magic."
"Never experience it?"
"Exactly. They just naturally have a very calm, intuitive control over their magical abilities.
"For instance, I had a distant uncle who could intentionally make himself float around when he was little. And I've heard of another wizard who could naturally speak to animals.
"These kinds of innate, easily controlled magical talents are called 'tricks'. They aren't formal spells; they're just unique, highly specialized forms of magic that only a select few possess."
Hector looked at Charlie in amazement. "I thought everyone went through the chaotic accidental magic phase."
"For the vast majority of people, they do," Anthony nodded.
Charlie shrugged, offering a simple explanation. "My trick is making sweets. I can infuse very strange, abstract things directly into chocolate."
It was an incredibly vague answer. But naturally, Hector and Anthony chose to accept it without pressing for further details.
"So what's inside these jars?" They peered curiously into his case again. "This golden one is sunlight, the silver one is moonlight... what about this dark blue one?"
Hector pointed to a small vial that was such a deep blue it was almost purple.
"Oh, that one? That's what I'm planning to experiment with today. That right there is raw lightning!"
"Lightning? That sounds incredibly sharp. I mean the mouthfeel, obviously. Have you ever tried it, Charlie?"
"Just once," Charlie shook his head.
"Ate it back home. It ended up electrocuting every single hair on my head into tight curls. After that, I didn't dare mess around with it anymore.
"But after being at Hogwarts and practicing with my wand for a couple of days, I feel a bit more confident. I want to give it another go."
"That sounds dangerously stupid," Anthony muttered, wincing slightly.
"If I can pull it off, I want to refine it so it just feels like extremely intense popping candy."
"Well, that's definitely something to look forward to. And lightning should have its own unique magical properties, just like the sun and the moon, right?"
Charlie shook his head, unable to give a concrete answer.
When he had tested it back home, the painful side effects had heavily outweighed any potential benefits, so he hadn't exactly been in the right state of mind to carefully document its effects on his body.
"Alright, we'll leave you to your work then. Hector and I are going to go find Roger for that chess match. Come watch if you want," Anthony said, turning to head out with Hector.
"Sure, I'll head over in a bit," Charlie nodded. "Oh, and keep this quiet, alright? If every 'good mate' and 'friendly classmate' starts hounding me for free samples, I'll go bankrupt."
Both boys nodded in agreement.
Once they were gone, Alice hopped up onto the desk.
She sniffed around curiously, eventually sticking her nose right up against the lightning vial.
A split second later, a tiny arc of electricity snapped out and zapped her right on the nose.
Squeak! Alice leaped backward so violently she nearly fell off the edge of the desk. She glared at the vial, looking equally terrified and furious.
Charlie laughed and shook his head.
The little rascal never learned. She had been zapped multiple times already, yet she still insisted on going back for another sniff every single time.
"Alright, go play by yourself. I need to get to work." Charlie picked Alice up and set her down on the floor.
Alice was clearly displeased. She jumped straight onto Charlie's knee, scrambled all the way up his body, perched herself on top of his head, and smoothly transformed into a fedora.
"Alright, mate, alright," he sighed helplessly. "You just want me to wear you, don't you?"
He adjusted the brim of the hat, then reached out and picked up the vial of raw lightning.