Chapter 27. Ian Campbell's
first-year astronomy class was held every Wednesday at midnight at the top of the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower.
The Slytherin and Ravenclaw wizards yawned as they climbed the tower. Professor Aurora Sinesta was already there, waiting for them.
"Ian Campbell!"
Professor Sinesta frowned, calling out the name of a new Ravenclaw, but no one responded.
The professor was in a bad mood; a young wizard skipping the first class had upset her.
"Ravenclaw, 10 points deducted. We'll begin the lesson, and I'll inform Professor Flitwick of this tomorrow."
"It's a full moon today; be careful not to let the moonlight affect your judgment..."
Lynn was setting up his telescope as instructed by Professor Sinesta. He vaguely remembered the Ravenclaw named Ian—the arrogant, white-haired boy with the umbrella on a sunny day.
He seemed to have some secret, but Lynn wasn't interested.
Just then, Lynn's three roommates, Hubert, Michel, and Mark, suddenly appeared before him.
For the past two days, Lynn had either been reading or sleeping whenever he returned to the dorm, without exchanging a single word with them. Their appearance at this moment clearly indicated some ulterior motive.
"What's up?" Lynn shifted his attention from his binoculars to them.
Hubert seemed somewhat hesitant, but his two friends beside him kept encouraging him.
Lynn squinted, silently watching their performance.
Finally, as if summoning a great deal of courage, Hubert bowed deeply to Lynn.
"I was wrong, Bellok. I shouldn't have mocked you like that. Please forgive me."
Lynn stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled and helped him up, as if he had completely forgotten the unpleasantness that had occurred earlier.
"Didn't I tell you? I've already forgotten that little misunderstanding. From now on, let's straighten out our capsized friendship and stay together forever."
Hubert didn't understand Lynn's ramblings, but he could tell that Lynn seemed to have genuinely forgiven him.
He immediately became happy.
"That's great! To celebrate our reconciliation, I specially ordered a batch of desserts from Honeydukes Candy Shop with my allowance. Would you do us the honor of joining us for some tomorrow afternoon?"
Lynn's smile widened, as if he was delighted by the sincerity of Hubert's apology.
"Of course I would, my friend!"
After receiving Lynn's affirmative answer, Hubert and the others didn't leave but instead joined him in observing the planetary orbits through a telescope.
The four of them chatted and laughed until the end of astronomy class, and Lynn's dormitory relationship suddenly became so harmonious.
"Lynn has really made Slytherin proud these past few days. Even those stupid Gryffindor lions have lost some of their confidence when they talk to us..."
Even before going to sleep, Hubert was still chattering on about Lynn's glorious achievements, acting as if he and Lynn were the closest of friends.
A friendly night passed.
At four in the morning, his biological clock forced Lynn, who hadn't slept for even four hours, to wake up.
He washed up, changed his robes, and left his dormitory as usual.
He hadn't given up his morning run habit; Cedric usually arrived at the Black Lake at five in the morning, and Lynn had been jogging around the lake for less than an hour before that.
At five in the morning, Cedric arrived on time. He circled Lynn, who was resting on the lawn, looking quite surprised.
As they spent more time together, Lynn lost his initial politeness.
"Never seen a handsome guy before? What are you looking at?"
Cedric scratched his forehead, uncertainly asking,
"I remember first-year astronomy class was on Wednesdays at midnight, right? Why are you up so early today?"
Lynn also seemed a little listless.
"I'm used to getting up at this time every day. Anyway, I don't have class in the morning, so I can just go back and catch up on some sleep later."
At this point, Lynn seemed to suddenly remember something and perked up.
"Do you know any curses?"
Cedric asked, puzzled by Lynn's sudden question. He drew his wand.
"Many young wizards at Hogwarts know a few curses. After all, in certain situations, these spells can be quite useful. Locomotor Wibbly (Locomotor Wibbly)."
He then demonstrated by casting a curse on a frog by the lake.
The poor frog, after being cursed, immediately slumped to the ground, croaking weakly.
Lynn recognized the curse as the "Leg-Lowering Curse," a curse also recorded in the Book of Wicked Words that Professor Fawkes had given him yesterday. The Tongue-Sealing Choke he used on Hubert on the first night of school also fell under the category of curses and was recorded there.
"Then let's practice that today," Lynn said, pulling out his wand and confirming his target.
"Why do you suddenly want to learn curses?" Cedric asked, as if he'd figured it out himself. "Well, you're a Slytherin, and basically, Slytherins and Gryffindors are both fond of these curses."
"Why is that?" Lynn raised an eyebrow.
Cedric explained, "Because your two houses often get into brawls, and curses can make the other side suffer a little without causing too much damage."
Lynn was speechless. So, in the eyes of the other young wizards, Slytherins and Gryffindors were just two gangs of thugs.
This morning, Lynn truly witnessed his talent for dark magic. Dark spells, by their very nature, are related to dark magic. Cedric only needed to demonstrate the evil spells he knew once, and Lynn was able to cast them flawlessly on his first try.
Cedric only knew three evil spells, all of which Lynn learned in a single morning and could use proficiently. This gave Lynn a long-lost sense of frustration.
"Okay, I admit it, you're the fastest little wizard I've ever seen learn spells."
Lynn didn't take Cedric's words as a compliment at all. "How many little wizards have you seen? If Professor Dumbledore had said that, I might have been excited for a while."
Just as Lynn and Cedric were chatting idly by the lake, a boy swayed along the shore not far away.
They both saw the boy clearly: striking silver hair, frighteningly pale skin, and tattered robes that made him look quite disheveled.
Lynn recognized the boy; he had skipped Professor Sinestadt's astronomy class the night before. He was a Ravenclaw freshman named Ian Campbell.
Ian staggered past them, seemingly oblivious to their presence.
Cedric frowned, wanting to approach, but Lynn grabbed his arm.
"He looks like he needs help," Cedric said, looking at Lynn.
Lynn shook his head. "His current state might be a matter of privacy, and it seems he doesn't want our help."
Hearing Lynn's words, Cedric hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't insist.
Ian eventually limped into the castle and disappeared from their sight.
"Alright, that's enough for today. It's time for breakfast now."
Lynn and Cedric put away their wands, and just as they entered the castle,a sharp, piercing scream suddenly rang out in Hogwarts.
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(End of Chapter)