It was only a few days before exam week at Hogwarts.
On a rare, sun-drenched afternoon, Neville found Lynn.
"What's up, Neville?"
Having granted himself a rare day off, Lynn had temporarily set aside his research into cards and wands. Striking a balance between work and rest was essential; although he was energetic, he wasn't made of iron. Rest was necessary when due.
"Gran wrote me a letter."
Neville smiled, looking a bit shy. "To be honest, I really appreciate you. If it weren't for your help, I'd probably still be the person who always forgets things and messes everything up."
"Gran knows about my situation; I told her during Christmas. So..."
"Could you come to my house during the holidays? Gran wants to meet you and express her gratitude."
"I should have waited until after the exams to ask, but I saw how busy you've been—always the last one back to the dormitory and the first one out. I was afraid that if I waited too long, you might already have plans for the break, so I came to ask in advance."
"I'm honored, Neville. There is no greater joy than helping a gem covered in dust shine again. We are friends, and friends should help each other. Besides, you've worked very hard yourself."
"Just like that graduation certificate... if you didn't have the perseverance to stick with it, you likely would have ended up like Ron."
"Ron, he..." Neville sighed slightly. "I guess he was putting effort in the wrong direction before. For example—he wasn't just trying to be a praiseworthy student; he was also putting effort into slacking off... I only found out recently that he was borrowing homework to copy from students outside our dorm... He was just afraid we'd catch him before. Once the potion's effects wore off, he just gave up entirely."
"Final exams will make him understand that studying hard is a necessity."
Lynn shrugged, indicating he didn't care much. Without Hermione urging Ron to cram at the last minute, without anyone making study plans for him, and without anyone forcing him to read, Ron was on his own. Hogwarts did contain elements of "happy education"—first and second years were manageable, but by third year, once elective courses began, the school would start "streaming" students. (Note: This is an alternate universe setting).
Don't let the school's population of eight or nine hundred fool you; there couldn't be just one teacher per subject, especially after the third year. If that were the case, the schedule wouldn't even fit, unless the professors each had a Time-Turner to work like super-beasts of burden. Otherwise, Hogwarts' teaching system couldn't be sustained. Assistant professors were a must, sharing parts of the curriculum with the tenured professors.
"Maybe in two years, Ron won't even be in the same classroom as us. Anyway, his dad works at the Ministry of Magic; he won't starve after graduation."
"Let's not talk about him. By the way, Neville, how is your recent training going?"
"Professor Flitwick said I could join his Charms Club later. He wants to wait a few years before letting me participate in dueling competitions. The combination of a wizarding sword and a wand is allowed in duels—it's a European wizarding tradition from a thousand years ago. It hasn't been abolished, it's just that hardly anyone uses wizarding swords anymore."
Neville spoke cheerfully. "The Youth Wizard Dueling Competition is held every three years, and students from various magic schools participate. There's a competition next year. Professor Flitwick said if I perform well, he'll take me to watch it so I can get familiar with wizard duels ahead of time."
"Want to try it out now?"
"Sure!"
Neville nodded, drawing his wand and the Denkou-maru. Although Neville knew Lynn had some troubles with Charms, he didn't underestimate him. From what was seen in class, even if Lynn's talent for Charms was relatively poor, his grades were still among the top in the class—especially in theoretical knowledge, where Professor Flitwick had even exempted him from homework.
The two assumed their stances, separated by a distance of fourteen paces. This was the traditional spacing for ring duels, though as dueling competitions evolved, the traditional model of standing on a rectangular ring was no longer the mainstream.
In the past, wizards would wear wizarding swords. Once the two sides closed the distance, spells and sword-light would collide, emphasizing tension and excitement. But as spellcasting systems became more perfect, that mode no longer suited the rhythm of modern wizarding competitions.
Unless you could use the wizarding sword to split spells or use it as a shield—saving the casting time required for defensive magic—to put greater pressure on the opponent.
"I'll only use first-year magic. Ready, Neville?"
"Ready!"
The moment the match began, Lynn flicked his wand, shooting out a jet of red light. For this simple probe, Neville merely moved his left hand slightly, and the Denkou-maru directly slashed the incoming magic apart. This prop, made of future-tech materials, was somewhat unscientific; originally, aside from being intercepted or blocked by counter-spells, only specially made alchemical items could achieve such an effect—like the wizarding swords of old.
After blocking Lynn's spell, Neville burst into a sprint, chanting under his breath. While firing magic to distract Lynn, he accelerated to close the gap. This was the dueling tactic Professor Flitwick had taught him; with his current limited mastery of magic, his greatest advantage lay here.
If it were anyone else watching Neville charge with a blade in hand, they might have panicked a little.
But Lynn wasn't nervous. Even though the Denkou-maru's special training was better than the world's best teacher—since it allowed your body to react actively, like being possessed by a sword master—if one studied seriously, they really could master practical combat skills.
A wall of earth suddenly rose; the grass, manipulated by Transfiguration, now became an obstacle to Neville's advance. Transfiguration falls under the branch of Charms and is a permitted technique in duels. Even Animagi can use their abilities; a superior Animagus transformer is a formidable opponent in a duel.
Whether it's the strength of a bear, the agility of a leopard, or the vision of an eagle, all exceed human limits. Even Animagus transformations into ordinary creatures are not to be underestimated.
Neville, stumbling and losing his center of gravity, thought, This is bad. At that exact moment, a tricky spell hit his thigh. He was instantly launched into the air, his brain spinning in confusion as he rolled two and a half times mid-flight.
"Knockback Jinx, was it?"
After getting up from the ground, Neville scratched his head with a naive smile. "I really need to keep working hard."
"It's nothing—"
Lynn had only just started speaking when he suddenly squatted down with lightning speed. He shot his empty left hand upward, grabbing a hand that had appeared abruptly out of thin air.
"Harley..."
Lynn turned around, gripping the pale arm, and sneered at the empty air in front of him. "You actually dare to jump up and hit me?"
"I'm wearing an Invisibility Cloak! How did you find me, Lynn?"
As Harley's voice rang out, a ripple appeared in the air. Harley threw off the Invisibility Cloak, pressing her lips together in a huff.
"Cho, why are you playing such childish games with her? As the older sister, you should be more mature."
"Don't blame me." The corners of Cho's mouth tilted up, holding a trace of a smile. "Next time, I'll tell Harley to switch to a hammer and give you two good whacks."
"Switching to a hammer is going a bit too far!"
"But jumping up for a sneak attack doesn't end well either."
Lynn shoved his wand into his pocket, freed his right hand, and blew on his fingers.
"Take this!"
A crisp forehead flick instantly brought clarity to Harley's eyes. Her head snapped back, and with a howl of "Ow~", she squatted down clutching her head, wearing a mask of pain.
"Hahahaha!"
Lynn, the ruthless flower-destroyer, didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse; he even laughed out loud.
"Spit it out. Sneaking over to find me today—what bad deed are you trying to drag me into?"
"I didn't..."
Harley wiped away the tears that had been squeezed out by the pain just now.
"Cho and I just came back from Hagrid's. We discovered something terrible!"
"Oh?"
"Lynn, do you remember Nimue?"
"Yeah, that little golden unicorn. I remember."
"Nimue's mother was attacked. When we went to find Hagrid, he had just returned from the forest, covered in silver blood."
"And?"
Lynn looked at Harley, thinking to himself: This daring attitude... does she get it from her mom or her dad?
"Do you just want to leave it alone?"
Harley put her hands on her hips, looking angry. "There's a bad guy in the school hurting unicorns! Can't you guess who it is?"
"Quirrell?"
Neville leaned in from the side as well. "Quirrell has been acting sneaky lately, and I feel that the disgusting aura on him is getting more and more pungent."
"Making direct contact with a Dark Wizard isn't exactly a wise choice."
Lynn still had to give them a reality check. Although this was Hogwarts, it wasn't a place where they could just run wild without consequences.
"That's why I asked Professor Snape for this—"
Harley pulled a vial of potion from her robes. "Top-tier Draught of Living Death. Just a sniff will knock someone out, and a single drop can put a person into a state of suspended animation for a whole day."
"I also got the antidote. As long as we hold the antidote in our mouths beforehand, even if we smell it or drink it, we'll be fine."
"We can wear the Invisibility Cloak..." Harley hesitated. "Neville, do you want to go?"
"Can I?" Neville was slightly surprised, but his eyes held a trace of eagerness.
"Four people is a bit squeezed... Lynn, do you have any ideas?"
"Universal Tent, then. It has an invisibility function too. We can drape the Invisibility Cloak over the tent for double insurance."
"But how do we move if we're inside a tent? We can't just squat in one place; that's too stupid."
"It moves how I fly. If that doesn't work, I'll just stuff you all in my pocket. That's actually safer. I'll wear the Invisibility Cloak, and you three can poke your heads out to peek. If there's danger, I can just run."
"That doesn't sound too bad..."
"Then how about we test it out first? We'll head out tonight; there's still plenty of time."
Harley was obviously very interested in this kind of "Grand Adventure." Although she was a pretty girl, Harley's interests leaned a bit more towards the boyish side. For instance, you wouldn't find cute plush dolls on her bed, but under her pillow, she hid two volumes of adult manga confiscated from Lynn.
No sooner said than done. With teleportation abilities as a bottom-line survival method, Lynn was quite confident.
Although only a part of the Forbidden Forest was covered by Hogwarts' protective magic, unicorns didn't operate in the deep forest. The deep forest was home to powerful magical creatures that were massive in size and required vast territories. The Forbidden Forest had expanded several times over in the last hundred years; the further away from Hogwarts you went, the more formidable the magical creatures living there became.
This was partly to ensure the safety of the students, and partly to prevent poachers from entering.
These creatures were top-tier guardians. Without a dozen wizards working together, there was simply no way to take them down. Furthermore, it would cause a huge commotion—enough for Hagrid to whip out his massive, over-two-meter-tall bow and come sprinting all the way. He could shoot a poacher's body to pieces from hundreds of meters away. That thing used arrows made from magical creature materials, almost as thick as Harley's forearm. Neither giants nor dragons would dare claim they could tank a hit from a demon-breaking arrow tipped with a unicorn horn without dying.
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