That afternoon, upon returning to the dormitory, Charlie saw two quills hovering over both Anthony's and Hector's desks.
The quills were automatically sketching and coloring completely on their own.
"What's all this?"
Charlie was slightly bewildered. He stepped closer and realized the quill on Anthony's desk was independently sketching "The Chocolate Factory · Sunshine" packaging design they had finalized the night before.
"I went and borrowed a few Copying Quills from some of the upperclassmen."
"You're an absolute genius!" Charlie said, staring at Anthony's desk in pleasant surprise.
"I was trying to figure out if we needed to carve transfer plates or rubber stamps... I didn't even consider a solution like this..."
"Obviously," Anthony grinned, flashing a bright, confident smile. "You two probably didn't even know Copying Quills existed, did you? Otherwise, you would've thought of this instantly."
Hector shook his head.
Charlie shook his head as well. "We really wouldn't have. Since we didn't grow up in the magical world, magical tools aren't our first instinct when problem-solving."
"Regardless, thank god we have you."
"Don't mention it," Anthony nodded. "Though, Charlie, could I ask you for two pieces of chocolate for Halloween?"
"Of course."
"Right. I want to give them to the second-year girl who lent me the quills. Oh, mate, she's gorgeous."
"Who is it?" Hector asked, leaning in curiously.
"You definitely know her. Cho Chang."
Hector thought for a moment before slowly nodding.
It was impossible not to know her. Cho Chang's looks were exceptionally striking, and in this British boarding school, she stood out as the only student of Asian descent.
"Oh, right. Her."
Charlie nodded. Of course he knew who she was!
However, unlike the wistful, infatuated looks currently gleaming in Anthony's and Hector's eyes—a completely natural yearning for a pretty girl—Charlie felt absolutely nothing of the sort.
Not for Cho Chang, not for Hermione, and not for the strikingly pretty Patil sisters.
After all... he simply couldn't bring himself to mentally roleplay as an eleven-year-old boy and harbor genuine crushes on actual children.
"Do you not think she's pretty?" Anthony asked, giving Charlie a weird look. His reaction was entirely too calm.
"I prefer older women," Charlie sighed helplessly.
"Right. Anyway, are you giving the chocolate to her on Halloween? There's a tradition of handing out sweets then."
Anthony's eyes lit up. "In the Muggle world? The wizarding world doesn't really have that tradition, but that's a brilliant suggestion."
Over the next two days, the Copying Quills worked tirelessly. They drew a massive stack of wrappers, far more than what was needed to fulfill Harry's order.
The surplus wrappers were all stashed in Charlie's drawer. Given his current production rate, he had enough packaging to last the entire term.
And it wasn't just for the Sunshine and Moonlight batches. They had also designed and printed a massive pile of new wrappers for the Dream Chocolate.
There were at least a hundred copies. The design drew heavy inspiration from Van Gogh's The Starry Night, though it naturally maintained their established artistic style.
Early on the morning of Halloween, Charlie headed downstairs carrying several bags packed with chocolate.
Before the three of them even stepped into the Great Hall, they were hit by the rich, mouth-watering scent of baking pumpkin.
"Looks like we're having pumpkin porridge for breakfast," Anthony noted.
During breakfast, Harry ran over. He couldn't contain his excitement and shouted, "Charlie, my—"
"Hey!" Charlie instantly cut him off. He waited until Harry was right next to him before whispering aggressively, "Keep it quiet! No shouting!"
"Oh, right," Harry muttered, finally remembering their agreement. A second later, Charlie shoved the wrapped parcel into his hands.
"The ones with the stars on them are the Dream Chocolates. Fair warning: do not eat them during class. If you pass out and lose House points, that's entirely on you."
"Dream? What kind of magic does it have?" Harry asked curiously.
"You'll find out when you go to sleep. Like I said, it's a surprise."
"Fair enough." Harry shoved a small coin pouch into Charlie's hand. Charlie gave it a gentle shake, smiling at the heavy, melodic clinking of Galleons.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Charlie nodded with a smile.
As breakfast officially began, Harry, Ron, and the others simply squeezed in at the Ravenclaw table, eating and chatting with Charlie's group.
"This is brilliant. Mum and Dad said there's always a massive feast for Halloween," Ron mumbled through a mouthful of pumpkin pasty.
"I heard Dumbledore even booked a troupe of ghosts to put on a show once, though I haven't heard any rumors about it this year," Anthony added.
Ron nodded in agreement before pivoting the conversation to talk to Hector about the upcoming OLM tournament.
Charlie turned to Harry. "So you lot have Charms first thing this morning, right?"
"Yeah. I think we're doing... the Levitation Charm. It feels like it's going to be incredibly difficult."
"Let's hope it doesn't end up ruining a perfectly good Halloween," Charlie said, his tone heavy with implication.
Harry nodded. Naturally, he assumed Charlie just meant he hoped the difficult coursework wouldn't kill their festive mood.
After polishing off breakfast, Harry and Ron bid Charlie and the others farewell and headed off toward the Charms classroom.
Professor Flitwick seemed to be in exceptionally high spirits today. His voice was pitched slightly higher than usual, radiating cheerful energy.
He was sweeping his wand through the air, causing Neville's toad, Trevor, to float gently around the room.
Poor Neville. He hadn't even realized Trevor had followed him into the classroom.
Hermione immediately shot her hand into the air.
Professor Flitwick nodded. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Professor, the textbook states that the Levitation Charm cannot be used on humans, but why does it work on Neville's toad? Also, I've seen photographs in the newspaper of people hovering in mid-air. What spell were they using?"
Professor Flitwick's eyes widened slightly in pleasant surprise. "You've asked the exact same question Mr. Wonka asked me yesterday."
"Oh, right," Hermione said, scratching her head slightly. "I actually heard the question from Patil."
"Ah, Miss Patil's twin sister is in Ravenclaw and attended my lesson yesterday, correct?"
"Yes, sir," Parvati nodded from her seat. "I was chatting with her last night while Hermione was nearby, and the topic came up."
Professor Flitwick smiled. It seemed Parvati and Padma hadn't discussed the actual theory in depth; only Hermione, who had overheard them, had truly taken the academic question to heart. He politely kept that observation to himself, of course.
"A fascinating question. Yes, the Levitation Charm can be cast upon biological creatures, with the strict exception of humans. This is an artificial limitation explicitly woven into the spell."
"An artificial limitation woven into the spell..." Hermione murmured, falling into deep thought.
"Exactly. The inventor of this charm did not want it weaponized against others—for instance, levitating an opponent high into the air and abruptly canceling the spell to let them crash to the ground. The creator intended for it to be a purely utilitarian charm, and thus engineered a minor restriction into its magical circuit.
"Of course, this borders on incredibly advanced magical theory. Even by your seventh year, unless you pursue specialized studies in Charms, you likely won't delve deeply into the mechanics of it. For now, a conceptual understanding is perfectly sufficient.
"As for making a person fly, we can achieve that indirectly. Namely, by casting the Levitation Charm upon the clothing they are wearing."
"But... if you use someone's clothes to hoist them into the air, wouldn't that be incredibly uncomfortable?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"Not at all," Professor Flitwick shook his head. He leveled his wand at a desk in the corner of the room. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The heavy desk floated gently into the air. Guided by the swish and flick of Flitwick's wand, it carved a smooth, undulating path through the room.
"You see, when we cast the Levitation Charm, the external, visual effect generally appears as though we are reducing the object's physical weight, allowing it to float like a balloon."
The desk slowly hovered over to Professor Flitwick—who was currently standing atop a large stack of books to see over his podium.
The next moment, under the wide-eyed stares of the young wizards, Professor Flitwick stepped forward and planted his feet directly onto the floating desk.
The wood dipped slightly under his weight before instantly righting itself. Standing atop the desk, Professor Flitwick glided smoothly across the classroom.
He stood with his hands resting behind his back, looking every bit the part of an omnipotent archmage.
"However, fundamentally, the Levitation Charm does not alter mass. Rather, it superimposes the conceptual state of [Hovering] onto the target."
The desk drifted slowly back to the front of the room. Professor Flitwick then tapped his wand directly against his own chest. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
His toes slowly lifted off the desk, and he casually leaned back, hovering horizontally in mid-air.
"The conceptual state of hovering has now been applied to my robes. I am currently resting upon my clothing, exactly as if I were lying on a fully wrapped flying carpet.
"I am not being painfully hoisted. The upward magical force applied to my robes and the downward pull of my own gravity do not violently conflict—though, naturally, if one were wearing too few layers, it might cause some mild discomfort."
Professor Flitwick canceled the spell and gently touched back down onto his stack of books. He offered the class a playful wink. "And that, my friends, is exactly why every wizard wears robes."
The young wizards burst into laughter. It was, quite obviously, a joke.
With Hermione's curiosity satisfied, the lesson transitioned back to its standard curriculum.
An hour later, it was finally time for the practical exercises.