Katherine Greenwood: The Hidden World #21

Instructions

Katherine's POV: I woke up the next morning to sunlight coming through the blue curtains around my bed. For a moment, I forgot where I was. Then I remembered the castle, the Sorting Ceremony, the Ravenclaw common room, and everything that had happened the day before. I sat up and looked around the dormitory. Nina was already awake, sitting on the edge of her bed and fixing her hair, while Ella was still wrapped in her blankets. “Morning,” Nina said when she noticed me. “Morning,” I replied. Ella slowly sat up and looked around sleepily. “What time is it?” she asked. Nina glanced outside. “Early enough that we should probably get dressed.” We changed into our Hogwarts uniforms, packed our bags, and headed downstairs into the common room. The castle looked completely different in the morning. Sunlight filled the tall windows, and students were beginning to make their way through the corridors. We followed the other Ravenclaw students toward the Great Hall for breakfast. I wasn't very hungry because I was nervous about my first day of classes, but I managed to eat some toast and fruit. “Our first class is Charms,” Nina said. “Professor Flitwick is supposed to be really good.” “What do we actually do in Charms?” I asked. “Learn spells that change or enchant things,” Ella explained. I nodded, trying to remember everything Hagrid had told me about magic. I had practiced a few simple movements with my wand at home, but I had never actually performed a spell before. When breakfast was over, the three of us made our way to the Charms classroom. We found seats near the middle of the room and placed our books and wands on our desks. I looked around at the other students, wondering what the lesson would be like. A moment later, the classroom door opened and a small professor walked in. He had gray hair, a mustache, and bright, friendly eyes. “Good morning, everyone,” he said. “I am Professor Flitwick, and I will be teaching you Charms.” I recognized his name from Professor McGonagall's announcements the night before. Professor Flitwick explained that we would begin with a simple charm and showed us the proper wand movement. I copied it carefully, watching every part of the demonstration. “Now, your turn,” he said. “Point your wands at the feather in front of you and perform the movement I showed you. The incantation is ‘Wingardium Leviosa.’” I looked down at the feather on my desk. I had never done magic before, but somehow the spell didn't feel as frightening as I expected. I held my wand the way Professor Flitwick had shown us, took a breath, and said, “Wingardium Leviosa.” I moved my wand exactly as he had demonstrated. The feather immediately lifted off the desk and floated several inches into the air. I stared at it in surprise. “I did it,” I whispered. Nina looked over at me, her eyes wide. “You did!” Ella's feather had only moved slightly, and Nina's had rolled across her desk. I carefully lowered my wand, and the feather floated back down. Professor Flitwick had noticed. He walked over to my desk and looked at the feather. “Very good, Miss Greenwood.” I looked up at him. “Thank you, Professor.” He smiled. “Have you ever performed a charm before?” I shook my head. “No, sir. I've never done magic before I came here.” Professor Flitwick looked genuinely surprised. “Remarkable. Your wand movement was precise, your pronunciation was clear, and you understood the spell almost immediately.” I wasn't sure what to say, so I just smiled a little. “You remind me of Hermione Granger when she was a student here,” he continued. “She was exceptionally good at her studies, especially when it came to learning new magic.” I looked down at my wand. “Really?” “Indeed,” Professor Flitwick said. “She was always eager to learn and very determined to get things right.” I felt my face grow warm. I hadn't expected anyone to compare me to someone who had been such a good student. “I'll try my best,” I said quietly. “I'm sure you will.” Professor Flitwick moved on to help the other students, and I looked at Nina and Ella. “I can't believe that worked,” I whispered. “Neither can I,” Nina said with a smile. We continued practicing the charm. It wasn't perfect every time, but I found that I could get the feather to rise more easily each time I tried. For someone who had only discovered magic a few weeks ago, I seemed to understand it surprisingly quickly. By the end of the lesson, my feather was floating steadily above my desk. I lowered my wand and watched it drift back down. I couldn't help smiling. I still had so much to learn about magic and Hogwarts, but for the first time, I was beginning to wonder just how good I could become.