Chapter 22: Helping Out Friends, and The End Of The First Year (2/2)
”All the prof-?! I mean, aww, you talk about me?” Quinn was shocked to hear that all the teachers knew he did homework in class. But then he finished with a joke and instantly regretted it. 'Why did I do that?!' Quinn berated himself.
Flitwick laughed and revealed, ”Of course, we noticed. You don't take more than a single attempt on any spell that is taught in the class. In potions, you know exactly when to pay attention while brewing.” Flitwick paused before continuing, ”Ah, my mistake. I don't think professor Binn knows that you do your homework in the class. He usually sleeps in our faculty meetings.”
Quinn sighed and asked, ”If that is true, I am truly curious why Professor Snape never said something about it.” Given Snape's reputation, Quinn was sure that he would've had at least gotten a month's worth of detentions.
”Contrary to popular belief, Professor Snape doesn't enjoy tormenting his students. He simply doesn't want any mishaps happening while brewing. It irritates him when students can't follow simple instructions, so Professor Snape is extra tough in his class. Other than that, he couldn't care less what students do in his class. And you don't cause him trouble, so he doesn't say anything. But, do understand that he would punish you the second you make a mistake, and because of your skill, he pays special attention to you,” explained Flitwick as they reached the fifth floor that housed both the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room and the Head of Ravenclaw's office.
After parting their ways, Quinn walked while feeling embarrassed about getting found out. Quinn truly felt flustered when Flitwick told him the truth.
When Quinn reached the seventh floor, he spoke to himself, ”Teachers really do see everything.” Though he wasn't going to stop, as long as it saved time, he was okay with some attention from the professors. ”I am sure they would get used to it and, with time, ignore me.”
- (Scene Break) -
One day, Quinn was approached by some of the first-year Ravenclaws. With Eddie in the lead, he asked, ”Hey, Quinn, you are a pureblood, right?”
Quinn quirked his brows and thought why they were asking, so instead of doing the obvious and asking why he used Legilimency on every single one of them and read their surface thoughts. 'Ah, so they are wondering why I use paper and pen, huh.'
Quinn closed his book and decided to entertain them, ”Yes, I come from a pureblood family. Why do you ask?”
Eddie looked at the group of first years before speaking, ”Umm... we were wondering why do you always use muggle quill and parchment.”
Quinn chuckled and pointed at the pen and paper in front of him, ”The muggle quill is called a pen, and the muggle parchment is called a paper. The reason why I use these is that they are more convenient than quill and parchment. I don't have to dip my quill into ink repeatedly, and the parchments are tough to write on.”
In response to that, one from the group asked, ”What about self-inking quills and treated parchments. They cover the problems of the standard quills and parchments.”
Quinn nodded before asking, ”True, but do you know the downside of using charmed quills and parchments.”
A different first-year raised his hand like he was in a class that amused Quinn, so Quinn pointed at him to speak. ”Charmed quills and parchments breakdown with time. Feathers of a bird needed to be thoroughly treated to make them last longer, but the cost of producing them is much too high, and the same thing applies to parchments.”
Quinn clapped for the guy and said, ”See, you guys already knew the answer. You just needed to put your minds together. For the fantastic job you guys did, go treat yourselves with candy. You deserve it,” he then gestured to them to go away, ”Now, scamper off.” While saying that, he casted a mild Confundus charm on the group to make them much more susceptible to his words.
He smiled when Quinn saw the group walk away like a group of gazelles. He was about to return to compiling notes on undead creatures like Vampires, Banshees, Vampires, and Dullahans when he heard a giggle.
When Quinn turned back, he saw Penelope Clearwater standing there with a hand on her mouth. Quinn tilted his head and asked, ”What is it?”
She shook her head and laughed, ”The way you talked to them was funny. You coaxed the answer out of them and then sent them away.” She also narrowed her eyes and asked, ”Their behavior was also unnatural. Did you cast a Confundus charm on them?”
Quinn's fake wand was in his room above in the dorm, so he grinned at her, and with a twitch of his finger, conjured a wand replica in his right hand, which was not visible to her.
”Yeah,” saying that Quinn raised his right hand to show Penelope Clearwater the conjured replica.
”Confudus Charm is an advanced skill, Quinn. It is in the fifth-year charms curriculum, and you are in the first year,” Penelope stared at Quinn, curiosity apparent in her eyes.
Quinn stared back at her and considered using legilimency to scan her thoughts but decided there was no need and spoke shyly, ”I learned it from the fifth-year book I took from our library. I was curious and tried casting it, and it worked. Though I wasn't able to make any other spells work, hehehe.”
Penelope stayed silent before smiling, ”Is that right. Sometimes a wizard or witch can use a spell beyond their capabilities.”
Quinn smiled but didn't say anything as he didn't want to continue the conversation with her, but just to be sure, he changed the subject, ”So, how are your O.W.L. preparations going?”
Penelope was currently in her fourth year, so next year was her O.W.L year.
”Oh, it is going well. I am thoroughly following Professor Flitwick's schedule, so I pretty much all covered. What about you? Are you ready for the end-of-year examinations?”
Quinn showed an 'OK' hand gesture and replied, ”I am all set for the exams. It will be a breeze~.”
Quinn sighed when Penelope went away. He was glad that the conversation didn't cause him problems as he still wasn't able to use the Memory Charm.
'I need to be more careful when using magic in public. It would be a pain in the butt if people know I can cast spell way above my grade,' Quinn breathed a sigh of relief.
- (Scene Break) -
At the end of the year, exams came, and Quinn aced the tests without breaking a sweat. Quinn completed the theory part with ease but only mentioned the parts he learned from the Hogwarts course books and library. Quinn didn't want to answer where he learned all the extra information. But, Quinn was sure that he would still get all Os in the exams.
During the practicals, Quinn had to resist rolling his eyes when he mimicked wand movements and chant incantations. When the results came, Quinn was pleased to see that he had all Os and Flitwick personally congratulated him for being at the top of his year.
And, the first year ended without any incidents and accidents.
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Quinn West - MC - Number One, Numero Uno, Top Dog, Victor, Student Of The Year.
Filius Flitwick - Charms Teacher - Waddles like a Penguin.
Katie Bell - Gryffindor - Shadowing the Gryffindor Quidditch Team
Marcus Belby - Ravenclaw - Ravenclaws' Ron
-*-*-*-*-*-
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