Charlie reduced the power of each Spell but greatly increased their number.
This was very effective against the House-elves.
All the House-elves flying in the air were hit and fell to the ground one after another.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
A continuous sound of falling echoed, and more than twenty House-elves were completely wiped out.
The students, by hiding under their desks, escaped unharmed.
Only a few unlucky ones peeked out to watch the commotion and were hit by stray attacks, falling to the ground as well.
Lockhart, standing on the podium, became the most obvious target.
Dense Spells hit his face, and he rolled his eyes, falling straight down.
"Bang!"
The classroom instantly fell silent.
Charlie waved his wand, sending all the unconscious House-elves into cages.
Then he cast a counter-Spell on those who had been hit.
"Revive quickly!"
Several flashes of white light appeared, and the students and Lockhart who had fallen to the ground woke up.
Lockhart groggily sat up, saw that the classroom had returned to calm, and quickly tried to act composed.
"Ahem, excellent!" He tidied his messy hair.
"I was just about to make my move, you know, I'm very good at dealing with these dark creatures."
"But Charlie's Spell was used beautifully."
He forced a smile: "Twenty points to Hufflepuff!"
The Hufflepuff students erupted in enthusiastic cheers.
"Charlie's Spell is a bit different from mine."
"Merlin above, I'd call him the GOAT of our second year."
"Lockhart is too useless, he can't even deal with a bunch of House-elves."
Clearly, anyone with eyes wouldn't believe Lockhart's explanation.
The little badgers excitedly discussed the exciting scene they had just witnessed.
Charlie made them feel proud.
The farce ended, and it was time for class to be dismissed.
Charlie planned to return to his undetectable extension trunk to continue his farming venture.
Half of those Whomping Willow saplings still needed to be planted.
Lockhart, however, began preparing for the next class.
Although Hogwarts students have a light course load, the teachers are truly busy.
After all, one teacher has to teach seven grades, working from morning till night.
Lockhart looked at the unconscious House-elves in the cage, deep in thought.
Since students can handle House-elves, releasing them in class is perfectly fine.
And the next class was for the second-year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students.
Gryffindor had Harry, the savior.
If Charlie could handle it, then Harry should be able to as well, right?
Should he add more elves?
Charlie was unaware of these things; his mind was solely focused on planting.
Throughout the afternoon, Charlie was fully immersed in his planting endeavor.
Magic continuously flowed from his palm, nourishing each sapling.
Under his careful tending, the branches sprouted tender buds the size of rice grains.
Finally, he managed to plant all the branches before dinner.
Charlie looked at the ground covered in green sprouts and nodded with satisfaction.
Subsequently, he only needed to continuously infuse magic to obtain an entire forest of Whomping Willows.
Moreover, after Charlie's magic infusion, the magic within these Whomping Willows was of the same origin as Charlie's, ensuring they would never attack him.
Charlie exited the trunk and went to the Great Hall.
Having been busy all day without eating, Charlie was already starving.
He immediately switched to eating mode.
Roast beef, mashed potatoes, pumpkin juice, honey cake.
Charlie devoured the food in front of him like a whirlwind.
Just then, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking towards them.
"Good evening, Charlie."
Charlie looked up and was amused by their appearance.
"Were you guys licked by Fluffy or something?"
Ron and Harry looked utterly miserable.
Their school uniforms were tattered, their hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and it was stained with unknown substances.
Ron even had a bite mark on his nose.
Only Hermione looked relatively good; although her hair was a bit disheveled, at least her clothes were intact.
"Don't even ask," Ron said weakly.
"That idiot Lockhart released over forty House-elves."
"Over forty?" Charlie blinked.
"We only had twenty-something in our class."
"He said he wanted to give us a bigger challenge," Harry gritted his teeth.
"But then his own wand was snatched by a House-elf, and he was cowering under the podium, trembling."
Just then, Draco walked past from the Slytherin table.
Seeing Harry's miserable state, he immediately showed a gloating expression.
"Oh dear, no way, no way?" Draco exaggeratedly covered his mouth.
"Surely no one got pranked by a House-elf, did they?"
"Go away, Draco," Harry waved him off, annoyed.
Draco gave Harry a disdainful look, then sat down on Charlie's other side.
"I wasn't looking for you, Potter!"
Harry and his two friends looked at each other, surprised to see Draco sitting with Charlie.
Especially Harry, he blinked, wondering if he had seen wrong.
Merlin's ingrown toenail, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard to believe that the well-behaved Malfoy in front of him was the same person who had just mocked him.
This scene was too incongruous.
"Draco, is something wrong?" Charlie asked casually, stuffing roast beef into his mouth.
Draco seemed very unsure, his tone a bit cautious:
"Charlie, my father will be coming to school this weekend."
"He hopes to meet you."
Charlie looked up at Draco.
"What does your father want with me?"
"Well..." Draco scratched his head awkwardly.
"I'm not entirely sure what it's about."
"Father just asked me to convey his message, saying he has something important he wants to discuss with you."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances, a hint of worry flashing in their eyes.
Lucius Malfoy was no good; what good could come from that former Death Eater seeking Charlie?
Charlie nodded thoughtfully.
"Okay, no problem."
"I'll make time this weekend."
Draco's face immediately lit up with joy.
"That's great! I'll write to Father right away."
He stood up, and before leaving, he deliberately jutted out his chin at Harry, his smug look making Harry want to punch him.
After Draco walked away, Harry immediately leaned closer to Charlie and said in a low voice.
"Charlie, the House of Malfoy isn't good people."
"Don't you remember? His father used to be a Death Eater."
Ron also nodded.
"That's right, they must have some scheme."
"They might even be trying to harm you."
Charlie didn't care, continuing to bury his head in his food.
"I know what they want to do."
"The only thing I have that they'd be interested in now is the healing potion."
"Most likely they want to discuss business with me."
He swallowed the food in his mouth, picked up the pumpkin juice, and took a sip.
"Business is business, it doesn't matter who the other party is."
Actually, Charlie would rather cooperate with the Lupin Family than the House of Malfoy.
But the Lupin Family didn't seem very adept at business.
Harry opened his mouth, wanting to say something more.
It turned out Charlie already knew what the other party wanted, and his earlier warning was indeed a bit redundant.
He also knew that Charlie doing business with the House of Malfoy was reasonable; he had no right or reason to interfere.
But he couldn't help but feel a little sour inside.
He wasn't the only one feeling this way.
Harry and Ron ate their dinner without much enjoyment all evening.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 70 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"