Chapter 32: Transition
Chapter 32: Transition
Time gradually moved into October.
After a month of onboarding, Felix had adapted to the intense teaching schedule and was now handling it with ease.
For the third and fourth years, the focus was primarily on sparking interest. Felix organized several practical activities in his classes. He had to admit that the young wizards' creativity was impressive. They had only learned the first set of practical Runic Scripts, which allowed them to control a Magical Automaton to perform basic movements, but they managed to come up with some incredible applications.
The girls' "Dance Crew" and the boys' "Fighting Team" were particularly popular.
Felix also discovered a talent named Cedric, a fourth-year Hufflepuff who developed a unique application—passing notes in class.
During History of Magic class, which was notoriously boring, Cedric used his puppet to move around the classroom and pass messages to his friends. A few drowsy young wizards were shocked when they saw the Magical Automaton hop to the feet of a sleeping young wizard, who was drooling in his sleep.
Cedric gave a slight flick of his wand, and the Magical Automaton jumped up, striking the young wizard's knee with its small fist.
"Bang!"
The sleeping young wizard suddenly woke up and instinctively kicked out, sending the Magical Automaton flying through Professor Binns' body and crashing to the ground.
Professor Binns, the sole player in the world of Hogwarts Online, who had been immersed in his teaching for decades, rarely lost his temper. "Lumberton, disrupting the class, ten points from Ravenclaw!"
The honest Hufflepuff stood up to point out that his name wasn't Lumberton and that he wasn't in Ravenclaw. As a result, he was given detention.
This little piece of gossip quickly spread throughout the school. By the next day, some students were already eager to replicate the feat, only to be swiftly suppressed by the school's "mafia", led by Professors Mcgonagall, Snape, and Flitwick.
The twin brothers had a particularly bad day when they used their Magical Automaton to fight a lizard during Transfiguration class. Professor Mcgonagall deducted fifty points and assigned them three weeks of detention.
At the dinner table, Professor Mcgonagall gently reminded Felix not to indulge his students, which forced him to reiterate in class that they should not practice with Magical Automatons in other classes, or he would take away the teaching aids.
The sixth-year young wizards were still struggling with their "disabled" Magical Automatons. Their teaching aids were not as complete as those for the third and fourth years. They had to draw thirty percent of the Runic Scripts themselves.
This made the sixth-year classes particularly bizarre. You often saw Magical Automatons with disabled legs, crawling around using their hands. Many young witches had to sign unfair treaties with younger students to borrow their beloved puppets, such as agreeing to do their homework.
As for the fifth and seventh-year students, their Magical Automatons had the most comprehensive functions, but they were "trial versions" whose usage time was determined by their theoretical performance. Not everyone could get their hands on one.
However, when they operated their puppets, they were the coolest. On weekends, the top students would meet in various places around the school, exchange knowing glances, and engage in a battle with their Magical Automatons.
With glacial elegance, flame frenzy, thunderous surge, and stealthy slicing, their techniques were highly polished, indicating private, rigorous training.
Whenever this happened, a crowd of young wizards would quickly gather to watch, pointing and commenting.
Some first and second-year young wizards, though they didn't have Magical Automatons, were extremely enthusiastic. A few young wizards from Muggle families were analyzing the strengths and weaknesses, trying to predict the outcome of the battles.
"The strongest one is definitely Fire Man. Once he transforms into a Phoenix and uses his Special Move, who can stand against him!?"
"Ice Woman's Ice Binding Moment is also very powerful. She can freeze the opponent into an ice statue!"
"Everyone, I must remind you that lightning is the strongest in its natural state."
"Hia, Hia, Hia……"
"But I think, cutting-type Magical Automatons are really devious", said a second-year boy, his words drawing unanimous agreement.
In early October, the temperature began to fluctuate dramatically, with cold and heat alternating. A sudden flu outbreak swept through Hogwarts.
Young wizards queued up at the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey was swamped. The pick-me-up potion she made was in high demand—despite the fact that it made people's ears smoke, which looked rather silly.
As Halloween approached, the professors' lesson content naturally followed the trend.
Professor Flitwick added a "Halloween special" class, teaching the young wizards a spell to drive away ghosts.
Professor Mcgonagall's transfiguration subject was a vampire mask, and students were seen walking around with it that day.
Professor Snape's class content remained the same: a standard antidote. However, he hinted during one lesson that he would "accidentally" drip some expired poison into a student's Pumpkin Juice at the Halloween feast.
Harry and Ron shuddered.
Professor Hup, currently the most popular among students, also followed the trend. In class, he showcased a new creation: a ghost doll-shaped Magical Automaton. It had a large head, a small body, and a pale face with heavy black circles under the eyes and jagged teeth.
It looked both ugly and cute.
With a wave of Felix's wand, the ghost doll opened its mouth and spewed a cloud of black smoke, blackening the faces of the front-row young wizards.
"I told you at the beginning of the term that there would be an exam before Halloween. The top student from each year will receive a mysterious prize. Now I can reveal it—select a Magical Automaton from my private collection."
"Limited edition, exclusive, and enhanced power, so... what are you waiting for?"
"You have half a month. Work hard!"
A group of young wizards eagerly started reviewing Ancient Runes.
When Hermione heard the news, she felt a bit disappointed. She was only in her second year and couldn't participate in the exam.
However, she had watched Professor Hup create the ghost doll with her own eyes. It was her first time seeing an alchemical product go from raw materials to a finished product. To earn the right to observe, she had to bring her Assistant work back to the common room.
Seeing Hermione grading a thick stack of papers, the young wizards marveled. Several Gryffindor Ancient Runes strugglers (led by Wood) cautiously asked Hermione to go easy on them.
She sternly refused, her face set.
In just over a month, this young witch had gained a certain amount of "respect" across the school, especially among the older students who had chosen Ancient Runes. Her neat handwriting often appeared on their graded papers.
In contrast, Professor Hup's handwriting was less frequent.
Harry and Ron looked at the papers on her desk, feeling a bit relieved. Although most of the questions were multiple-choice and short translations, grading them was no easy task.
But Hermione found joy in it. "I can learn a lot", she told them. With her memory, after grading the same paper dozens of times, it was almost imprinted in her mind.
Is this what it's like to be a top student? The Gryffindor young wizards exchanged glances.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
