The first Charms class of the new school year was with the Hufflepuffs.
For Victor, this first-year curriculum was a bit of a mixed bag; it was both uninteresting and yet unmissable.
It was uninteresting because the Charms class was currently teaching first-year, entry-level knowledge, mostly theory, which was a waste of time for Victor, who had already taught himself all of this.
But it was unmissable because Professor Flitwick would share his understanding and casting techniques for the spells during his lectures.
For Victor, this was invaluable, as even the smallest detail could help him accelerate his own magical development and research.
For example, when Professor Flitwick was teaching the Wingardium Leviosa spell, he instructed the students to pay close attention to the wand movement. The standard wand gesture for this spell was a swish and flick. But as Professor Flitwick asked the students to practice, Victor raised his hand and asked, "Professor, is this motion fixed, or can we do anything we want?"
Professor Flitwick was momentarily stunned by the question. He didn't know why a first-year student would ask such a thing, but he gave a detailed answer.
"No! No! Of course not!" Professor Flitwick shook his head and said, "However, Mr. Dreyar, you have asked a question that no student has ever asked, at least not during my time as a professor at Hogwarts!"
With a gentle flick of his wand, a book beside him flew into the air.
"The answer to that question is a bit long, but I'll tell you about it... In reality, the wand gestures for spells are not fixed. I once spoke with Miranda Goshawk's daughter. Her mother, when she started writing The Standard Book of Spells, observed many young wizards, just like all of you here. She discovered that when these young wizards started learning the Wingardium Leviosa spell, they would, without any guidance, habitually use the swish and flick motion.
"Of course, some people were different, but that was the general trend. Later, after much research, Miss Goshawk found that each spell has a corresponding wand gesture that makes it easier for beginner wizards to learn and master. Based on this, Miss Goshawk compiled the wand movements for many common spells and eventually wrote the Standard Book of Spells series of books in 1921…"
"So, Professor, if the wand gestures are just an aid to learning magic, what is the key to mastering a spell?" Victor pressed on.
"It is the heart, Mr. Dreyar. The heart!" Professor Flitwick made a gesture over his chest with his wand, his eyes filled with a glimmer of nostalgia. "You will find that magic is a reflection of a wizard's heart in reality. If a person has a good heart, they will find it easier to learn healing magic, but if their heart is wicked, they will often learn spells that harm people."
"Honestly, Mr. Dreyar, you truly astound me. No other student has ever thought about these things. Ten points to Ravenclaw!"
And so, Victor not only earned ten points for his house but also further validated his own theories about the magic of the Harry Potter world.
In the blink of an eye, it was lunchtime.
After class, Victor returned to the Ravenclaw common room and made a copy of the class schedule on the wall using the Geminio spell before heading to the Great Hall to eat. His cheeks were puffed out with food, and he was holding the schedule in one hand and chopsticks he had made himself in the other, completely unaware of the many strange looks he was getting from the people around him.
"Look, that's him! That's the guy who flew from the first floor to the fourth floor this morning and stunned everyone!"
"He's that powerful? Which house is he in?"
"You don't know? He's the one who cleaned the Sorting Hat during the ceremony yesterday!"
"Oh, so it was him! Victor Dreyar. I remember he was sorted into Ravenclaw."
"Why do you think Dreyar can fly? Is he an Animagus?"
"No way! There's no way he's that young to be an Animagus. Maybe it's some sort of magical item?"
"You don't know that some Animagi are born that way? I suspect…"
Gradually, the rumors about Victor grew more and more outrageous. Some people were even starting to think he was a rare type of magical creature. Victor didn't hear any of this. He was currently in his head, complaining about the class schedule at Hogwarts.
At Hogwarts, first-year students had to study seven subjects: Astronomy, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration.
Based on the schedule in front of him, first-year students had a maximum of three classes a day and a minimum of one. From Monday to Friday, except for Potions, which was a double period, each class was only thirty minutes long. That worked out to an average of 1.2 class periods a day.
The Hogwarts school year had two terms. From the beginning of September to the third week of June, excluding weekends and holidays, there were about 170 school days. That was ten months, for a total of 204 class periods, or an average of 20.4 per month.
What were they supposed to do with all that extra time? Go surfing? This was making Victor, who had gone through the modern education system, furious. He remembered studying for his college entrance exam and putting in more hours than this in just two days!
Besides, the first year was when you were supposed to build a strong foundation. What could they possibly learn in so little time? No, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. His blood was starting to boil.
And just as Victor was venting his pent-up frustration, two red-haired figures quietly appeared beside him.
"Victor!" The Weasley twins suddenly popped up behind Victor.
"We heard all about you flying from the first floor to the fourth floor this morning!" said Fred.
"Can you tell us how you did it?" asked George.
"Hmm? Why do you want to know?" Victor had sensed their arrival a while ago, but their question still left him with a question mark over his head.
"We want to get revenge on Peeves!" Fred and George said in unison.
Peeves?
Victor finally remembered that such a character existed in the books, but he had forgotten about him because the movies didn't include him.
"Can you tell me more about it?"
Fred and George then began to tell him the story of their year-long struggle with Peeves.
It turned out that Peeves, the famous poltergeist of Hogwarts, had been around since the school's founding. No one at Hogwarts could control him except for the Bloody Baron and Albus Dumbledore.
Last year, on the way back to their dormitory after the Start-of-Term Feast, Peeves had thrown a trash can full of fruit and vegetable peels over the heads of the new Gryffindor students. Fred and George had been the main victims, and they had sworn to get their revenge on Peeves ever since.
"Peeves can fly and go through walls, so it's hard to catch him!" said Fred.
"He often flies through the corridors of Hogwarts, screaming and causing all sorts of mischief. He'll put a wastepaper basket on your head, pull the rug out from under your feet, throw chalk at you, or sneak up behind you and grab your nose when you're not looking!" George said bitterly.
"So, if you can teach us the flying spell, we can find a way to catch him!"
"I see…" Victor nodded, indicating that he understood. But then he asked, "Wait, haven't you ever tried to fly with the Levitation Charm before?"
Fred and George exchanged a glance and said in unison, "We have!"
"But even though we could fly, we weren't fast enough to catch Peeves!" said Fred.
"And we couldn't control our posture with the Levitation Charm, so we'd end up smashing our heads into the walls!" said George.
"The spell I used was the Levitation Charm. You can't do it because you haven't practiced enough, or maybe you could try casting it on each other," Victor explained. "Also, I have another question for you."
"Is Peeves short, with a broad face, a wide mouth, and bright, round eyes? Does he wear brightly colored clothes, a tie, and a hat, with his toes sticking out of his long-slit slippers?"
Fred and George didn't say anything; they just nodded in unison.
"He's right behind you!"
When they heard Victor, the twins immediately turned around and saw a small monster floating behind them that perfectly matched Victor's description.
Peeves reached out and grabbed the twins' noses, pulling them back with all his might and shouting, "Got your noses!" Then he immediately flew off, causing more mischief on his way, such as smashing a cream cake from a table into someone's face.
"Ouch!"
"Blast! Peeves!"
"You bloody bastard, get back here!"
Many of the students in the Great Hall who were eating lunch were victims of Peeves's pranks. Fred and George, clutching their noses, chased after him, once again vowing to get their revenge.
Victor looked at the messy Great Hall and the chaos and couldn't help but smile. But a moment later, he remembered something and his smile faded.
So, this is how you've been working so hard to maintain the cheer at Hogwarts, Victor thought to himself, looking in the direction where Peeves had disappeared.
After lunch, the only remaining class for the day was at 3:30 p.m. Before that, the time was his own. Victor had planned to go to the library to read, but as he was leaving the Great Hall, he ran into the Gryffindor Prefect, Percy Weasley, who told him that Professor McGonagall wanted to see him in her office.
Professor McGonagall's office was on the second floor of Hogwarts Castle, up the marble staircase in the entrance hall, and just off the corridor.
Since Victor really didn't want to take the randomly moving stairs, he decided to take a shortcut by flying over the lawn outside.