HP: Those Years Sleeping with the Half-Blood Prince

He waved his wand, and the chalk on the blackboard automatically wrote today's topic: the levitation spell—Wingardium Leviosa.

"The Levitation Charm is the first practical spell you will learn at Hogwarts, and it forms the basis of many advanced spells."

Professor Flitwick tapped his wand lightly, and a feather on the podium floated up and down gracefully in the air.

"The key to this spell lies in the wrist movement—a flick and a shake—and the clear pronunciation. Come on, repeat after me: Yugadimureviosa!"

The whole class repeated it in unison, but the pronunciations varied greatly.

"It's Levio-Sa!" Professor Flitwick emphasized. "Come on, try again!"

After several practice sessions, he had the students pair up and try to make the feathers on the table float using their magic wands.

Ian and Severus naturally became a pair.

Kevin looked around and saw that Aris was already engrossed in studying his notes, so he turned to talk to a round-faced Hufflepuff boy sitting next to him.

"Shall we try it first?" Ian picked up a feather from the table and placed it between the two of them.

Severus nodded and drew his wand.

"Yugadimurleviosa," he recited clearly and steadily, his wrist flicking slightly.

The feather trembled slightly, its edges curling up a little, but it didn't leave the table.

"The pronunciation is very accurate," Ian said, "but the gestures are a little lacking."

Severus didn't speak, but adjusted his movements as he waved his wand again.

The feather floated up gently, about three inches above the table, hovered for a few seconds, and then gently fell back down.

"It's done," Severus said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

"Beautiful!" Ian exclaimed, then drew his own wand. "It's my turn to try."

He stared at the white feather, flicked his wrist, and without even consciously thinking about the pronunciation of the spell: "Yugadimureviosa".

The feather "whooshed" into the air, twirled lightly in the air, and then hovered steadily at eyebrow level, motionless.

"Oh! That's wonderful!" Professor Flitwick appeared at their table at some point, clapping his hands. "A perfect first attempt! Slytherin, five points! Look closely, students, Mr. Burke's wand movements are perfect, and his concentration is excellent!"

A low murmur arose from the surroundings; some were envious, while others were unconvinced.

"Just lucky," a Slytherin boy in the front row muttered, but Ian paid no attention.

"It's my turn!" Kevin was eager to try from the other side of the aisle, and the Hufflepuff boy opposite him nodded nervously.

Kevin took a deep breath and waved his wand: "Yugadilem Leviosa!"

The feather shot up with a "whoosh," incredibly fast, and crashed straight into the ceiling, where it stuck.

"Oh!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed. "Power control, Mr. Walker, the key is control! The idea is good, but too forceful. Try to be gentler, imagine you are holding a snowflake."

Kevin scratched his head and chuckled.

The Hufflepuff boy laughed too, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

On the other side, Aris frowned, waving his wand again and again, repeating the key points of the spell, but the feather just stubbornly spun around on the table, refusing to leave the ground completely.

Finally, the feather trembled and floated up to two inches above the table, but Aris's hand trembled and it fell back down.

"You're so close," the Hufflepuff girl across from him whispered encouragingly, "your wrists are too stiff."

Aris nodded without speaking, staring at his hands as if analyzing where things had gone wrong.

Ian glanced at him, then suddenly whispered to Severus, "His movements aren't perfectly synchronized with the spell."

Severus glanced at Aris following Ian's gaze, and after a short while, he hummed in agreement, offering no further comment.

Ian didn't mind and went back to practicing.

With Professor Flitwick's patient individual guidance and Aris's almost stubborn repeated adjustments, Aris's feather finally floated up and hovered for three seconds as class was about to end.

The Hufflepuff girl sitting opposite him let out a small "Yay!" and clapped her hands.

Aris's tense shoulders relaxed for a moment, then quickly tightened again. He simply nodded slightly, took out his notebook, and began to write something down.

Professor Flitwick praised his persistence and gave Hufflepuff three points.

After class, Aris packed his things as quickly as ever. By the time Ian and Severus walked out of the classroom, he was already carrying that thick old book and had disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

"He's really good at keeping quiet." Kevin leaned closer and clicked his tongue. "If it were me, I would definitely jump for joy if I succeeded."

“Everyone does it differently,” Ian said, glancing at the silent Severus beside him.

Severus seemed to still be recalling the details of the class, his eyes somewhat vacant.

The four of them followed the flow of people out of the classroom.

"What's the next class?" Kevin asked.

"The history of magic," Ian replied.

"I hope I can stay awake in Professor Binns' class."

The history of magic classroom was on the second floor of the castle, where Professor Binns, the ghost, began to recount the specific year and terms of the goblin rebellion in his monotonous, unchanging voice.

Within ten minutes, Kevin's head began to nod, and eventually he collapsed onto the open History of Magic textbook, emitting soft snores.

Ian nudged him a few times with his elbow but got no response, so he gave up.

He himself was getting sleepy, propping his chin up with his hand, his gaze wandering over the patterns on the classroom ceiling, wondering what lunch would be like and what the afternoon herbal medicine class would be like.

Severus, sitting upright beside him, moved his quill quickly across the parchment, leaving behind neat, fine handwriting, recording every name and date Professor Binns mentioned, pausing occasionally as if pondering some connection.

On the other side, Aris was equally focused, but he spent most of his time looking at the worn-out book he had brought with him, occasionally glancing up to check what Professor Binns had said, and then writing notes in the margins of the book at an astonishing speed.

Finally, get out of class ended, and Professor Binns disappeared straight through the blackboard. Kevin was startled awake by the bell and groggily wiped the drool from his mouth.

Ian let out a long sigh of relief; the torment was finally over.

The atmosphere became more relaxed during lunch.

"Severus! Ian!"

A crisp sound rang out, and Lily strode over. Her long red hair bounced over her shoulders, and her emerald green eyes shone with a bright smile. She was carrying several books in her arms, clearly having come straight over after class.

Several nearby Slytherin students cast curious or slightly scrutinizing glances at Lily, but she seemed oblivious, or rather, indifferent.

She sat down naturally in the empty seat diagonally in front of Severus across the long table, placing her book aside.