The class flew by in a blur. As the students flooded out of the room, one figure pushed against the current, heading straight for Charlie.
It was Rex.
He looked noticeably awkward, pressing his lips together tightly before speaking. "Sorry about that. I was completely out of line during class."
"Don't worry about it," Charlie said, casually packing his bag. "Like Professor Chambers said, questioning things is always a good habit."
"No, no. Questioning things is fine, but publicly trying to humiliate you was not."
Charlie looked up in genuine surprise, his eyes dropping to the boy's robes.
The edges were trimmed in deep green embroidery, and a silver snake crest sat proudly on his left breast.
"Hey, what's with that look? Are you really that shocked a Slytherin is actually apologizing?"
"A bit, yeah," Charlie nodded honestly.
"Right. You're a piece of work, you know that? Clearly, you don't think much of Slytherins."
"Based on the available evidence, no. Present company excluded, of course," Charlie replied smoothly.
Hearing Charlie's blunt, unapologetic answer, Rex barked a laugh. "You really hold a grudge, don't you? Saying something that harsh right to my face."
Finally, he clapped Charlie on the shoulder. "Right, let's leave it at that. I'm off. If you ever need anything, come find me."
With that, he quickly turned on his heel and gave a small wave. "See you around."
"See you."
Watching Rex walk away, Charlie couldn't help but reflect on his time at Hogwarts so far. He had been here for two full months, and this was literally the very first time he had brushed up against the classic 'schoolyard rivalry' trope.
It was remarkably late in the narrative.
But late or not, during the class debate, he had actually been slightly looking forward to it.
Is the conflict arc finally kicking off? he had wondered. Bring on the enemies. Bring on the magical duels. Bring on the inter-house faction wars.
Bring on the first-year violently overthrowing the arrogant sixth-year.
Having spent years literally fighting for scraps on the streets, Charlie had a deep, inherent appreciation for a good underdog takedown.
He just genuinely hadn't expected Rex to immediately walk over and proactively apologize the second class ended.
Looks like I'm destined to have a perfectly peaceful, utterly mundane Hogwarts experience after all.
At present, he still hadn't formed a genuine rivalry with a single person in the castle. Shaking his head with an amused smile, he grabbed his new crystal ball and walked out of the classroom.
Back in the Ravenclaw common room, Charlie immediately started examining the crystal ball.
Is this just a Remembrall, like the one Neville got?
A Remembrall was technically an advanced alchemical artifact. If Professor Chambers had given it out as a prize, it would make sense. But honestly, Charlie had absolutely no use for one.
With that thought, he picked the crystal ball up and gave it a gentle shake.
Professor Chambers didn't actually explain what this does. Am I supposed to figure it out myself? Or should I stop overthinking it and just go ask him?
As he stood there shaking the glass, a thick layer of dense white fog suddenly materialized inside the sphere.
The fog began to violently churn, swirling like storm clouds, before slowly dissipating.
A vibrant patch of emerald green was the first thing to bleed through the mist.
"Is that..."
Charlie froze completely. The scene unfolding inside the glass was the Hogwarts grounds. And right in the center, the castle itself began to materialize.
A moment later, a perfect, miniature replica of Hogwarts was suspended inside the crystal ball. Even the neighboring Black Lake was rendered in flawless, 1:1 miniature detail.
Charlie's eyes went wide. He leaned in closer. He could even see Hagrid's tiny hut resting on the edge of the forest.
He walked over to the nearest window and looked down at the actual grounds. There were students walking across the grass right now. From the height of Ravenclaw Tower, they looked exactly like tiny sesame seeds.
He looked back down at the crystal ball. The miniature grounds were completely empty; not a single person was rendered.
Alright, so it isn't an omniscient surveillance map. Still, it's incredibly impressive work. But what exactly is the point of it?
Just as he thought that, the sky inside the crystal ball abruptly darkened.
In the upper half of the sphere, violent, orange-and-black storm clouds manifested, aggressively pressing down over the miniature castle.
Rumble—
A jagged bolt of blue-purple lightning ripped through the miniature clouds.
Charlie, who had been staring intensely at the glass, jumped slightly.
What is this? A divination tool?
He looked out the window again. The real sky hadn't even started to get dark yet.
A theory began to form in his mind, but he needed to wait until evening to properly test it.
Setting the crystal ball carefully on his desk, he headed back out into the common room.
After hanging out with Anthony and Hector for a while, the three of them headed downstairs to the Great Hall for dinner.
...
"So, when exactly does the OLM tournament kick off?" Anthony asked, gnawing on a lamb rib.
"Not until the Easter holidays next year," Hector replied. "The preliminaries start then. They haven't officially announced the host location for this year yet."
He paused, thinking. "I reckon I should subscribe to the Daily Prophet. They usually print major announcements like that, and it'd be brilliant to actually stay caught up on what's happening in the broader magical world."
"Brilliant idea. Get a subscription," Anthony nodded. "Then we can all read it. I'll owl my parents this weekend. We've had a subscription running for years; I'll ask my dad exactly how to set it up and how much it costs. He might even know a way to get a student discount."
Hector nodded and reached for a slice of pumpkin pasty.
Anthony turned his attention to Charlie. "By the way, Char—"
Before he could finish the sentence, a deafening crack of thunder violently detonated high above them.
BOOM!
The noise was absolutely massive. Every single wizard in the Great Hall jumped out of their skin.
"Merlin's bloody pants," Anthony cursed, clutching his chest.
Charlie looked up at the enchanted ceiling. Dark, rolling thunderclouds had completely covered the sky, and a torrential downpour was currently violently hammering against the invisible barrier above them.
"What were you saying?" Charlie asked, looking back at Anthony.
"I was going to ask what your plans were for tonight."
"Heading up to the eighth floor," Charlie replied easily.
"To practice Charms, or something else?" Anthony pressed. "Because if you're practicing, we're coming with you."
"Practicing," Charlie nodded. "I only have the Fire-Making Spell left for the entire first-year curriculum. I'm genuinely desperate to just get it over with and clear the book."
"Bloody hell, you move fast," Hector stared at Charlie in sheer disbelief.
"Right, we definitely have to go. Otherwise, you're going to leave us completely in the dust," Anthony said, exchanging a look with Hector.
Charlie laughed. "I thought you two were too stressed to practice?"
"You absolute bastard. The stress is exactly why it isn't fun anymore," Anthony laughed, shoving him lightly. "You're taking a break tonight. Your only job is to properly tutor the two of us. Consider it compensation for making us look so bad."
Hector nodded emphatically in agreement.
Charlie smiled. "Absolutely. No problem."
It wasn't a massive sacrifice. With thunderclouds actively rolling in, he already knew he wouldn't be spending much time actually practicing magic tonight anyway.
The corridor windows on the eighth floor were absolutely perfect for harvesting lightning essence. Spending his downtime sharing his spellcasting theories with Hector and Anthony was a brilliant use of the evening.
It was a perfectly structured plan.
"I need to run back to the common room first, though. Got to grab something from the dorm."
"No worries, mate," Anthony and Hector nodded.
After finishing dinner, the three boys headed back to Ravenclaw Tower. Charlie grabbed a Material Vial—it currently held only a pitiful, scattered few drops of raw lightning essence. Tonight, he fully intended to top it up.
While he was at it, he also grabbed the spellcasting notes he had compiled over the last few days.
With everything packed, the trio set off toward the Room of Requirement.
"Honestly, it would be brilliant if the Room of Requirement could just open a direct tunnel straight into our dormitory," Anthony complained.
"Keep dreaming," Charlie laughed.
"I'm serious! Having to walk all the way down from the Tower just to walk all the way back up to the eighth floor of the main castle is a massive, unnecessary detour."