The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

The next day, news of Professor Flitwick's punishment of Jacob Kent and Lisa Dupin spread throughout Ravenclaw.

After the morning classes ended, Eddie shared the news with Scott at the dinner table.

Unlike Jacob, who received two months of service, Dupin not only received a full year of service as punishment, but her parents also had to pay a large sum of Galleons to the Ministry of Magic's Department of Law Enforcement as ransom.

“I heard that Mr. and Mrs. Dupin came to Hogwarts last night,” Eddie whispered. “They not only gave Lisa Dupin a good scolding, but also begged Professor Flitwick and Headmaster Dumbledore to let her off the hook because she is still young.”

“Oh? They want to hide this from the Department of Law Enforcement?” Scott asked, amused.

Eddie nodded. "That's right, that's what they think."

Scott shook his head. "Don't they know? The whole of Ravenclaw knows what their daughter has done."

“That’s right, Professor Flitwick said the same thing. So in the end, the Dupins still had to come up with a large sum of money to help their daughter escape from Azkaban’s imprisonment.”

Eddie said with great enthusiasm.

"Finally, Professor Flitwick also demanded that they compensate Roger for his flying broomstick!"

After lunch, Scott went alone to the Black Lake Pier, located on the cliff next to the auditorium.

"Jacob".

He looked directly at a huge rock by the water.

“You’ve arrived, Scott.”

Jacob emerged from behind the boulder.

He pulled a silver spoon from his pocket, shook it, and said to Scott, "I was just wondering if this was a prank."

“I’m not into pranks, Jacob.” Scott reached out and took the silver spoon.

This is a common piece of tableware found on the long table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, but what makes it unique is that it has a few small, barely noticeable words on its handle.

[1:00pm Black Lake Pier S.T.]

Time, place, and initials of name.

This is an invitation with a unique design.

“I never imagined your Transfiguration could go this far, Scott!” Jacob exclaimed excitedly. “You made the spoon in my hand change silently across the entire long table!”

Scott smiled. "It's nothing. At least I secretly used the wand."

“No, that’s already quite remarkable,” Jacob said in an admiring tone.

“You’re remarkable, Jacob,” Scott said with amusement. “I didn’t expect you to be able to do this.”

He stepped forward, patted Jacob on the shoulder, and said to him, “But you should know that it’s ridiculous to put on airs in front of me.”

"Like Jasmine Travers?"

Jacob immediately became expressionless.

"You must find her pretense ridiculous, right?"

“Let’s not talk about that now.” Scott walked to the dock. “We have some time to exchange ideas before class this afternoon.”

He raised his hand and threw the spoon in front of him, then took out his wand.

"Disappeared without a trace."

A burst of magic shot out from the wand and collided with the falling spoon, which instantly vanished.

Then, he took out a piece of ebony wood from the deformed lizard skin pouch at his waist and casually tossed it forward.

He chanted the incantation again, and another burst of magic flew out, causing the ebony wood to rapidly deform.

In the blink of an eye, a small boat landed on the water.

Scott stepped onto the boat and sat down, beckoning to Jacob, "Come on, let's enjoy the boating together."

"Ok."

Jacob climbed onto the boat and sat opposite him.

He looked at Scott with curiosity. "You really know how to use a vanishing charm to make the spoon disappear and set the conversation on a vast lake. You're very careful."

Scott then pulled out new materials to make oars and began rowing the small boat.

“This is necessary, Jacob,” he said. “I’m forcing myself to develop this good habit for the sake of the future.”

Jacob nodded seriously upon hearing this.

“That makes sense, I will learn from you,” he said.

Chapter 044 Boating and Communication on the Lake

Scott rowed the boat a short distance from the dock and then stopped, letting it drift with the current.

He said to Jacob, “It’s only been a month since school started, but you’ve changed a lot. You’re a completely different person compared to when we first met.”

Jacob chuckled softly. "What would have happened if I had remained as naive as I was when I first entered the magical world?"

Scott smiled slightly, one hand resting on the gunwale, his fingers tapping lightly and unconsciously.

“I’m not criticizing you, Jacob,” he said softly. “On the contrary, I admire what you’ve done.”

Jacob showed no surprise; he calmly looked at Scott and said, "I know."

He said, "You originally intended to expose me completely, but then you changed your mind, didn't you?"

Scott readily agreed with his assessment, saying, "You're right."

Then he suddenly looked up and waved back to the Weasley twins who were waving to him from the distant lakeshore.

Then he continued to Jacob, saying, “I did not choose to expose you later because it was a matter of position.”

"Pure-blood wizards and Muggle-born wizards?" Jacob asked knowingly.

Scott nodded. "I originally thought you had chosen to side with Jasmine Travers."

At this point, he laughed again, "I didn't expect that I would misjudge him this time."

Jacob scoffed several times at this. "I know very well how they view Muggle-born wizards. Besides, I didn't come here to learn how to be a house-elf."

Scott then brought up what had happened the day before, saying, "Thinking back now, you must have played a part in how easily Du Ping was exposed, right? The way she sneaked into our dorm room left such obvious clues."

He clapped his hands. "You should have been waiting for an opportunity like this, and the fact that Travers and the other two fell ill just happened to give you that chance."

Jacob didn't hide anything. "Yes, I kept urging Dupin, which aggravated her anxiety. So in her panic, she chose to use the Cutting Charm to open Davis's box."

“I thought Davis would notice something was wrong when he saw the box, but I didn’t expect him to actually ride that broom.” He shook his head.

“Regardless, it was your choice to let Dupin, as a professor, understand the whole situation. Well done, Jacob.” Scott clapped lightly.

“I originally thought that although you might have been forced at first, you later simply chose to become Travers’s follower. Since you had no desire to save yourself, I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to help you. That’s why I stopped paying attention to you afterward.”

He paused for a moment, then quickly pulled out his wand.

"Waddiwasi".

The launching spell accurately struck the pebble that the twins were using to skip across the water, sending it flying back in the opposite direction.

Scott held his wand and continued speaking to Jacob, "Now I understand. You refused my help and didn't ask the professor for help, choosing instead to continue associating with those pure-blood witches. You wanted something from Travers, didn't you?"

He tapped his palm with his wand. "For example, some dark magic."

Jacob nodded in agreement without hesitation.

"They're just some minor curses and a few poisonous spells; they don't really qualify as dark magic. But I think what's more important is some common knowledge that pure-blood wizards should have," he said.

"Perhaps in your eyes, this is a bad deal, Scott."

Jacob did not show much expression on his face.

“But I don’t have your magical talent. I think it’s worth it to gain knowledge that I can’t learn at Hogwarts.”

At that moment, his eyes shone exceptionally bright.

"Even though I've been verbally humiliated and physically attacked by curses every day during this period, I think it's all worth it!"

"That's so Ravenclaw."

Scott commented, then raised his hand and cast a launching spell at the incoming pebble.

“I won’t judge whether it’s worth it or not,” he said to Jacob. “That’s your own choice, and I won’t interfere.”

“That’s very Ravenclaw-like,” Jacob relayed Scott’s assessment.

“Thank you,” Scott said, then added, “However, you know, although Professor Flitwick said he would expel her, there’s a good chance Travers will still return to Hogwarts.”

Jacob wasn't surprised. "I know that Travers mostly just instigated; there's no concrete evidence that she hurt or intimidated me..."

He shook his head. "...You know, this doesn't constitute a crime. Avery's mistake in giving Dupin the dark magic item was far more obvious."

Scott gripped the oars again and began to slowly row the small boat toward the dock.

“Although the professors will keep a close eye on her after she returns to Hogwarts, you should still be wary of her secret revenge,” he warned Jacob.

Jacob smiled. "She might also be taking revenge on you, Scott. I know her fairly well; she holds grudges and never lets things go."

His tone was full of profound meaning.

“It seems you knew about Travers’s revenge plan against me,” Scott said, “but you chose to keep it from Professor Flitwick.”

Jacob's face revealed a cunning expression. "My intuition told me not to lie to Professor Flitwick, so I only concealed part of the truth and told the truth the rest of the time."

“Your intuition is very accurate,” Scott complimented.

Jacob said, "The wonder of magic lies in the fact that there are so many unknown methods, and we will suffer greatly if we only defend ourselves."

"So?" Scott raised an eyebrow slightly.

“So we should deprive that girl of the ability to retaliate against us,” Jacob said coldly.

He paused, his expression softening slightly, and then said, "This must be why you called me here alone, right?"

“No, you’re mistaken, Jacob.”

Scott's answer was not what he expected.

"Make Travers lose the ability to retaliate against us?" He shook his head. "I'm afraid we can't do that, and even if we could, there would be a huge risk. I don't do things that I'm not sure of."

Although Jacob's proposal sounded reasonable and appealing to Scott, but—