Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 99, Section 98: Guiding Method
October brought not only cold weather, but also a week-long storm of strong winds and heavy rain...

It was Sunday, and the weather was as bad as ever. Cold raindrops kept pounding against the windows, and a strong wind howled around the castle.

Sheen saw a huge figure in the corridor window, wrapped in a long mole fur coat and wearing rabbit fur gloves, defrosting flying brooms in the broom shed of the Quidditch stadium.

The harsh weather in October always made the young wizards happy to stay a little longer in the Great Hall. For several days in a row, you could see the young wizards chatting around the fireplace in twos and threes.

However, it is not very common for four young wizards like Sheen and his group, who are composed of three houses. Sheen held a cup of hot cocoa, which Justin had put a lot of sugar cubes in, making it almost too sweet to swallow.

At his feet lay many books, some about transfiguration, some about ancient runes, all laid out on a thin plush blanket.

Since being introduced to advanced Transfiguration, Sheen has rarely practiced waving his wand.

Professor McGonagall bombarded him with a multitude of obscure and difficult books, some of which could not be found in libraries and were part of the professor's private collection.

Transfiguration—whether it's transforming a wizard's body or turning an object into magic—is extremely difficult and dangerous. Professor McGonagall meticulously instructed him to thoroughly understand these advanced transfiguration theories, rather than practicing recklessly—a point Professor McGonagall emphasized many times.

For several days in a row, Sheen was looking through these Transfiguration books, as well as the pronunciation and characters of ancient runes.

He spent significantly more time in the auditorium, and one of the little badgers even made several more kinds of desserts.

Compared to the slow but necessary progress in Transfiguration, the progress in Spells was much faster. It didn't take Shin for long to master Spell Stop to the beginner level, and he was only halfway to becoming a pro.

It's worth mentioning that Justin seems to have a high talent for this spell, and his progress is even similar to Sheen's.

The most direct manifestation of this is that Neville dared to practice the Levitation Charm using a small wooden board.

Sheehan speculated that it wasn't just the branches of magic that differed; different wizards seemed to have different talents in different spells—for example, Harry's Levitation Charm and Exorcism.

The former was far inferior to Hermione, while the latter could even hold her own against Voldemort.

Speaking of Harry, perhaps because Sheen spent so much time reading in the Great Hall, most of the time Sheen would see Harry pecking at Malfoy, the weakling.

Their verbal sparring included, but was not limited to: "You'll get punished, Potter. First-year students aren't allowed to play with flying brooms. I'm going to tell the professor!" and "Ha—I owe the broom to Mr. Malfoy, actually."

The hot cocoa was so sweet that Sheen squinted his eyes. He shook his head, ignoring the frequent conflicts that occurred in the auditorium.

After mastering the basics of the Spell of Immediate Stop, he planned to go to the faculty lounge the next day to learn the Illusion Spell from Professor Flitwick.

But unexpectedly, Hermione suddenly rushed forward:
"So you see this as a reward for breaking school rules?"

Hermione strode over, looking at the broom in Harry's hand with displeasure.

Justin quickly followed, and just as Hermione was getting angry, he suddenly blurted out:

"Hermione, Sheehan seems to have one too..."

Hermione froze, then glared at Justin and said:
“This is different…Sheen is ten times better than Harry…”

Harry and Malfoy's attention then turned to Hermione, and to Sheehan, who glanced at them from behind.

Harry inexplicably recalled Wood's mission, while Malfoy thought of "Sheen? Aha! He can take on trolls one-on-one and defeat werewolves with his bare hands..."

So the two of them fell silent.

The atmosphere became strange until Professor Flitwick walked over:

“I hope they’re not arguing, kids?” he asked in a shrill voice.

"Someone broke school rules and brought in a flying broom, Professor."

Malfoy hurriedly replied, "Oh?"

Professor Flitwick's eyes suddenly showed a lot of relief.
"You also know that Mr. Green passed the flight test?"

Why is this bringing up Green again...?

Malfoy's lips twitched.

The conflict appears to have been resolved by Professor Flitwick, but it also seems that it wasn't.

Harry himself could hardly believe that Malfoy had slunk away without a word.

Sheen was unaware that he had ended a conflict. After reviewing the twenty-four runes he had memorized, he took out the "Advanced Potions Guide" and the corresponding notebook from his bag.

Master Libashe Polach has been quite talkative lately; he'll appear in the Advanced Potions Guide in a moment:
My efforts have given the past a future.

A moment later it transformed into "[The infinite distance, the endless truth... You should know that they are being born in your hands]".

It looks like they're encouraging Sheen.

Then Sheen's quill rustled as he wrote down the methods for guiding the fusion of magical potions using different subtle wills.

From the moment the crucible was lit until the potion boiled, Sheen recorded every change in the action and analyzed the reasons behind it.

Just like what the master Libáshó Pollacchi did, he left behind a precise method that could be replicated.

Sheen named it the Guided Method.

By refining rituals to strengthen the wizard's beliefs, and then using those strong beliefs in specific settings, the wizard's emotions can be guided to align with the needs of the potion.

Sheen always lost track of time when he started writing, so much so that he stayed in the auditorium for a long time.

Until the sky gradually darkened.

The fireplace flames were still burning brightly. After a long period of reflection and deliberation, Sheen slightly raised his stiff head.

Whew—he managed to roughly record the guiding method before heading to the cellar that night.

His emerald eyes held a deep joy as he casually glanced around the hall. Justin was encouraging Neville to float the wizard chess pieces on the table, while Hermione pretended not to care but couldn't help but keep peeking.

At that moment, at the entrance of the auditorium, Sheen saw a little wizard who was soaked to the bone.

It was another stormy evening when Harry returned from training, soaked to the bone and his shoes covered in mud.

The Gryffindor common room is too far away; climbing up would probably make you catch a cold. Therefore, Quidditch players are used to warming themselves by the fire in the Great Hall, or at least drying their clothes by the fireplace in the corner.

The sky outside was dark, and it was pouring rain.

Harry was surprised to learn that what the Weasley brothers said was true; the Quidditch team's training never stopped, regardless of the weather.

Recalling Wood's words, Harry was momentarily unsure whether to feel joy or distress:
"Our names will be engraved on this year's Quidditch Cup!"

As they walked wearily back to the castle, Wood said cheerfully,

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you outperformed Charlie Weasley. He would definitely be representing Great Britain if he hadn’t studied dragons…”

But Harry, do you know anything about... Grimm?

(End of this chapter)