Hogwarts Mystery: Kenneth Russell & The Mysterious Room

Chapter 8: Merula Snyde

Kenneth awoke to the smack of a soft pillow on his face. The term had just begun. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Kenneth looked at the source of who hit him. Rowan was holding a pillow and bouncing on his feet with excitement that they were about to start class that morning. Not making a fuss for fear of receiving another pillow smack, Kenneth got out of bed and dressed into some robes. Having taken a long tour of the castle, both of them remembered where to go without getting lost.

Finishing a good breakfast, they went to Charms Class. Professor Flitwick was a tiny little wizard with a small white beard. He was so small he had to stand over a pile of books to see over his desk.

Taking a seat beside Rowan on the right side of the classroom, Kenneth patiently waited as Flitwick begins a roll call. He nods to Kenneth when he reached his name. He then finishes and begins the lesson.

"Welcome to your very first Charms Class at Hogwarts," he squeaks. "I will be your instructor, Professor Flitwick. Please pay close attention to the instructions and take great care practicing the spells you learn."

Kenneth instantly felt comfortable around this professor. He looked over at Rowan and gave a look of agreement.

"Today," Flitwick continued, "we will be learning a very important spell known as the Wand-Lighting Charm. This charm is useful in dark places when you are searching a shadowy room for hidden dangers. Or trying to find a scroll that fell under the sofa. I hope you this lesson will lighten up your day" he added with a wink.

The class laughed at the pun. Any tension for their first class was erased after the pun had been said.

"Now" Flitwick said pulling out his wand, "I will demonstrate. The movement is very simple. Just a flick of the wrist, like so..." He flicked his wand hand. "and the incantation is Lumos."

Flicking his wand, Flitwick squeaks, "Lumos!" The moment he said 'lumos', the tip of his wand immediately produced a large ball of light. "And that's how you do it." he said towards the class that were all gazing at the display with awe.

"Remember the incantation. 'Looomos'" he emphasized. "Now it's your turn to give it a try. You're probably wondering how. I'll explain it to you.Listen closely."

Flitwick began to continue explaining how to conjure and how to pronounce the incantation. During the lesson, Flitwick would ask the students questions to see if they had paid attention. All his questions were answered by Kenneth and he beamed at him. Kenneth then realized it would be best to let someone answer for a change.

Flitwick then had the students try to cast the charm. With that, the entire class tried to conjure the spell and tried to get their wand to produce the same amount of light as Flitwick had demonstrated.Kenneth looked around to see how everyone was doing. Most of them had succeeded in producing a dim light, others couldn't do it at all. One student beside Kenneth was flicking her wand so hard that he was afraid that she was going to plunge her wand into his eye. He had to put an arm up to protect his face.

Ben had immediately produced the brightest light on the first try, despite his look of terror on his face. Kenneth was beaming at him for succeeding on his first try. He had managed to produce a ball of light as bright as Professor Flitwick's. Unfortunately, Professor Flitwick hadn't noticed because he was watching everyone else's attempts at conjuring their charm. Rowan was reading his book with sheer concentration that Kenneth had never seen before and flicking his wand while reading.

After about an hour had passed, Professor Flitwick approached each student one by one to see how they progressed. He placed a lot of emphasis on technique but kind in his approach, he counselled each student how to improve. When it was Rowan's turn, he managed to produce the same amount of light that Flitwick produced, with which Flitwick approved of.