Chapter 32: The Wisest Decision
Chapter 32: The Wisest Decision
Upon returning to his dormitory, Ved found an unexpected visitor—a house-elf wearing a tea towel stood in the middle of the room, her large, greenish eyes fixed on him, unblinking, causing him a momentary fright.
Ved almost cast a spell, but relaxed when he recognized the visitor. "Zoe? What are you doing here?"
House-elves usually took pride in not appearing before their masters, so apart from the kitchen, Ved had never seen the school's house-elves.
Zoe, twisting her slender fingers, seemed equally awkward. In her soft voice, she said, "Ved Gray didn't eat dinner, and Zoe was a bit worried. Zoe knows she shouldn't be here, but she came anyway. Zoe wants to know if Ved Gray is feeling unwell."
"I'm fine," Ved said, half-crouching. "It's just that the troll stinks too much, and I've lost my appetite."
Zoe said seriously, "But not eating is not good for your health. Ved Gray gave Zoe a gift, and she likes it very much. She cares about Ved Gray's health and doesn't want him to go hungry."
House-elves had an interesting way of speaking, referring to themselves and others in the third person, even when speaking face-to-face.
Ved looked at Zoe, who still had a tiny pumpkin carriage hanging at her waist, its lantern glowing softly.
"Alright," he sighed. "Could you please get me some fruit? No jams or puddings, just fresh fruit. I'll have some after my bath before going to sleep."
"Yes, sir!" Zoe nodded happily and disappeared with a "pop."
When Ved emerged from the bathroom, steam still rising from his body, he saw a basket of fruit on the table—apples, pears, bananas, a few strawberries, and a bunch of green grapes, all washed clean and glistening with droplets.
Ved took an apple, bit into it, and savored the juicy fruit, feeling quite touched.
In his previous life, his mother had been adamant about health and believed that one should eat twelve different types of food every day to provide adequate nutrition. Fruits and vegetables were of utmost importance, and sometimes she would ensure they had a different variety every day for a month.
After his rebirth, the food at Hogwarts was much more abundant than at home, but it mostly consisted of roasted meat and sweets. There were very few types of vegetables, and they were prepared monotonously. Fresh fruit had never appeared on the long tables.
At that moment, Ved made a firm decision. After graduation, he wanted to visit the East—while magic was a wondrous force, the future lay in the East.
Moreover, in this world, there were also mysterious powers unique to that region, and who knew what other marvelous sights awaited him there.
...
Padma's induction into the SSC went smoothly, with not a single person objecting. After all, this young lady was not only smart and generous but also extremely beautiful. Her deep, expressive eyes made Theo and the others blush involuntarily.
Hermione, on the other hand, was spending more and more time studying because Ved was putting a lot of pressure on her. In their most recent Transfiguration class, Ved had successfully transformed a mouse into a beautiful little teapot. The lines were so delicate that it looked like a brand-new piece of craftsmanship. Professor McGonagall praised Ved's transfiguration skills and said that he was already at a level that could earn him an 'O' on his end-of-term exam.
Additionally, Hermione knew that Ved's owl had brought him the complete set of "Standard Book of Spells" and "Intermediate Transfiguration" from Diagon Alley. Therefore, even though Hermione was already one of the best first-year students in Gryffindor, she still felt that she was falling behind. She studied so hard that she became irritable, and she snapped at Ron several times—ever since she knocked out the troll, Ron had never complained or whispered behind her back again.
Ron now looked to Hermione for guidance, having realized that she was right about everything. But Hermione had finally curbed her know-it-all tendencies and tried to turn a blind eye to the various rule-breaking activities of her Gryffindor housemates, which slightly improved her popularity within the house. Harry, in particular, had become almost a friend.
Ved could almost hear Hermione's complaints daily: "With a whole weekend to do homework, he only wrote the title! And then when it's time to hand it in, he knows he's in a hurry—Hermione, please let me copy your homework!"
"Did you let him copy it?" Ved asked as he wrote.
"Of course not!" Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What's the point of copying homework? But I did promise to help him check it over when he's done!"
"But Hermione—" Padma asked in confusion. "Won't that make more work for you?"
Hermione looked at her incredulously. "That's the only way he'll learn!"
The two girls stared at each other, and after a moment, they tacitly skipped over this topic.
When Padma finished her homework, only Neville was still hard at work, biting the end of his quill. She stuffed the parchment into her bag and lightly stepped around the partition wall—to avoid disturbing those practicing spells, Ved had recently added a sky-blue partition wall to the umbrella room, dividing the space into two sections, one-third and two-thirds, with a Silencing Charm in between.
Turning to the other side, there were two rows of targets, most of them old and beyond repair, even by the Fixing Charm. But that didn't stop them from being used. The entire end wall was mirrored, which Ved said was to help them correct their movements at any time.
Michael repeatedly cast Incendio to set the targets ablaze, then doused them with Aguamenti. Theo was taking turns torturing his target with Bombarda and Reparo. Hermione was casting the Dancing Spell on a spider, its long legs flailing wildly in the air.
Ryan faced a curious gray rat and chanted, "Petrificus Totalus!"
The rat's body suddenly went rigid, except for its twitching tail. A moment later, it darted forward and, with a "bang," turned into a small twig in midair.
"The Petrification Curse," Ved explained. "When casting this spell, use your wrist as the center when drawing the circle, and be quick and sharp with your turns."
Ved waved his wand, and the twig floated in the air. With a tap of his wand, he turned it back into a rat.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Ved demonstrated, and suddenly, the rat's claws and tail were pressed tightly against its body, hard as a board, its beady eyes reflecting sheer terror.
It fell to the ground with a "thud," completely frozen.
Ved lifted the curse and let Ryan continue practicing, then walked over to Padma and asked, "Do you want to start with Lubricanto or practice other spells first?"
"Um—" Padma stuck out her tongue, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Actually, I'm still not very good at the Repairing Charm—"
She waited for Ved to make a face that said, "This is a big problem," but he merely tapped the wooden target beside him with his wand, and it immediately split in half.
"Then let's start with the Repairing Charm," Ved suggested. "Let me see your level first."
Padma's arms trembled as she raised her wand.
—She suddenly realized that she might have made one of the wisest decisions since starting school.
She would definitely learn a lot here!
"Reparo!"
(End of Chapter)
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