"I haven't seen that spell in any of the first-year textbooks." Hermione frowned, rapidly searching her memory.
"Of course not. My aunt taught it to me," Richie explained. "It's supposed to be upper-year material."
"This spell demands an incredibly high level of focus and emotional control, but relatively little actual magical power."
"It's a great exercise for training your mind and emotions. If you can master this one, learning other spells becomes a whole lot easier."
"Unfortunately, I've only managed to pull it off twice so far."
During the two months before school started, Richie hadn't just been studying in a vacuum. He wasn't about to let an adult witch like his Aunt Annabelle just sit around like a piece of furniture. If he wanted to research magic, the best approach was to experience it firsthand. True knowledge comes from practice. Through constant questions and conversations, his aunt had given him plenty of solid advice on spellwork.
"Focus and emotional control?"
Hearing such advanced concepts made Hermione stumble for a second. Out of pure habit, she instinctively tried to recite any related knowledge she'd memorized from her books.
"Stop, stop, stop..." Richie cut her off just in time. "Hermione, you don't need to recite anything else. I fully believe you've memorized the entire library."
Hermione forced herself to swallow the incoming lecture. "Being able to cast upper-year magic is already incredibly impressive."
Richie's mouth twitched into a small smirk.
Impressive was an understatement. When he had successfully cast the Summoning Charm in front of his aunt, her eyes had nearly popped out of her skull. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Hermione that. No need to rub it in.
Soon enough, Neville returned—though completely empty-handed.
"Sorry," he panted. "Some guy in the front compartment bought the entire trolley's worth of snacks."
"The trolley witch went to restock, so we have to wait a bit."
Hermione and Richie nodded, unfazed.
"No worries at all."
Seeing Neville awkwardly hovering in the doorway, Richie quickly caught on. "Neville, why don't you just sit with us? It's just Hermione and me anyway."
"Hermione?"
Richie's stellar performance moments ago had violently triggered Hermione's competitive streak. Subconsciously, she had already marked him as a rival to beat. Mentally, she was already restructuring her study schedule for the semester, determined to stay one step ahead of him. So, lost in thought with her book in hand, she just gave an absentminded nod.
"Oh, you guys are the best."
Neville happily took a seat next to Richie. Mindful not to interrupt their reading, he quietly amused himself with some Chocolate Frog cards.
The Hogwarts Express hurtled down the tracks, carrying a trainload of hopes and dreams.
Time slipped away. By five-thirty that evening, the train finally pulled into the station.
Toot-toot! The train whistle blew.
Having taken turns changing into their school robes, Richie, Hermione, and Neville stepped out of their compartment and followed the crowd of young wizards off the train.
The sky had already darkened. The platform was incredibly dim, prompting several students to raise their wands and cast the Wand-Lighting Charm.
"Lumos!"
Lights flared to life across the platform one by one, drawing gasps of awe from the surrounding first-years. Richie and Hermione cast their own Lumos charms in unison.
As the very first spell in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, it was easily the simplest magic in the wizarding world. Both of them, having studied ahead, already had it down.
Hermione glanced at Richie's bright, perfectly stable light, then down at her own, which kept flickering erratically. A flush of embarrassment crept onto her cheeks.
Watching the "firefly" struggling on the end of Hermione's wand, Richie kindly offered a tip. "When you cast this, just give your wrist a gentle flick."
"Just like..."
"...flicking away a piece of dust, nice and relaxed."
The two of them said the exact phrase at the same time.
Hermione turned her head slightly, pouting a bit stubbornly. "I know. It says so in the book."
Richie just shrugged.
This spell was like learning to ride a bike: once you got it, you rarely forgot it. But mastering it to the point of doing tricks? That was much harder. Besides, the Wand-Lighting Charm was far more complex than the basic version they were showing off now. It had several variations, or rather, advanced forms...
Just then, a booming voice cut through the noise.
"Firs'-years!"
A massive giant of a man holding a lantern towered over the crowd at the front of the platform.
"Firs'-years over here! Follow me!"
"Oh my god, is that a giant?"
"Merlin, he's huge!"
"Let's go!"
The first-years quickly surged toward him.
"Hey, are you guys first-years too?"
As Richie and Hermione started making their way toward the giant, a curious voice chimed in next to them. They turned to see two boys sliding up beside them.
"Ron, isn't it a bit rude to just ambush people like that..." Harry tugged awkwardly at Ron's sleeve, trying to rein in his brand-new friend's reckless energy.
"Of course we're first-years," Hermione said, lifting her chin. As she spoke, she noticed something off about Harry's face. "Are your glasses cracked?"
She frowned, extinguished her Lumos, and raised her wand, pointing it right at Harry's face. Before he even had a chance to react, she cast her spell with total confidence.
"Reparo!"
Under the soft glow of the magic, the faint crack running across Harry's lenses instantly vanished.
Harry pulled his glasses off in pleasant surprise, examining the perfectly smooth glass. "Thank you!"
Hermione shot Richie a subtly smug look.
Richie played along, nodding in approval. "Very impressive!"
Deep down, though, Richie felt like something was slightly off, even if he couldn't exactly put his finger on it.
Just then—
"Hey, I'm Ron. Ron Weasley. And this is Harry Potter. You know... the famous Harry Potter!" Ron grinned, introducing him with a dramatic whisper.
"Harry... Potter?"
Richie brushed aside his lingering doubts and stared at the boy. So this was the main character of those books. Harry Potter?
"I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger. And this is Richie. Richie Harland."
"Harry Potter..." Hermione tucked her wand away, looking Harry up and down with intense curiosity. "Are you the one who defeated the Dark Lord?"
Harry's face turned red. He waved his hands frantically. "No, no, not really."
"Are you guys... from the Muggle world too?"
Richie and Hermione both nodded.
Ron stared at the Lumos light on Richie's wand—which was burning brighter than anything his twin brothers usually produced—and remembered Hermione's flawless Reparo. His eyes went wide.
"Merlin, I honestly thought you two were from wizarding families..."
"Harry, hurry up! We're headin' out!" the giant yelled from a short distance away.
"Okay, Hagrid! We're coming!" Harry waved his hand, then quickly turned back to the group. "Come on, Hagrid's waiting."
Caught up in their conversation, they had definitely fallen behind the rest of the crowd. Richie glanced ahead, spotted Neville waiting for them, and quickened his pace to catch up.
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