Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 102 Excuses

Hermione has a trait that can be described as a strong thirst for knowledge, or as being "stubborn".

She would do everything in her power to find the answers to anything she wanted to know. As far as Ike knew, she had already used methods such as sneaking into the restricted library, chasing after professors to ask questions, consulting with senior students, and writing letters to authoritative experts.

Compared to that, holding onto Ike is nothing.

"Okay, I admit it. I used a stunning spell on you that night, but I probably didn't control the force well enough, and your head hit the ground hard when you fell..."

"A Stunning Charm!" Hermione's eyes widened. "Did you just aim it at my head?! Damn it!"

"Don't you know that striking someone directly in the head with a Stunning Charm can have very serious consequences? A concussion is the least of your worries; there could be permanent damage!"

Ike nodded subconsciously; he was aware of this situation. For a while, Ike liked to cast a stun spell on himself before bed to help him fall asleep, but after using it too often, he found that his mind would sometimes suddenly go blank, and his memory had also noticeably declined.

At first, I didn't know it was the effect of the Stunning Curse. Later, I found a record of it in a book called "Special Effects of Common Spells", which gave me a real fright.

I almost, I really almost went crazy.

The book was in the library, and Ike knew very well that Hermione must have read it, given her extensive reading habits. Using the Stunning Curse as an excuse would definitely make her furious.

But there was no other way; this was the best excuse Ike could think of. Saying it this way would make her believe her recent delusions were a side effect of the Stupefying Curse, which was better than telling her the truth.

"We took down one of Voldemort's Horcruxes together!"

He had no intention of explaining the troublesome issues that would follow Hermione's way of dealing with.

Of course, Ike knew that Hermione would find out the truth sooner or later. He didn't know why, but the effect of the Oblivion Curse was clearly weakening. Perhaps after a while, she would remember what happened that night.

"Let's just wait and see..."

With a pained expression, Ike leaned against the wall and hopped on one foot.

Helpless, an angry Hermione stomped on him hard; it really hurt.

Limping back to the dorm, Stuart had barely sat down on his bed when he waved a class schedule at him and said, "Ike, did you get your class schedule wrong?"

"I checked, and you have eight or nine classes every day, some even simultaneously!"

"You should go ask Professor Flitwick. How can one person be in several classrooms at the same time?"

"I told you you shouldn't have chosen all those elective courses in the first place! See? Now look what's happened!"

Ike took the timetable, and the densely packed schedule reminded him of his school days, giving him a strange sense of familiarity.

"It's okay. There have been people who chose all the courses before. Thinking about those OWLs who have 12 certifications, I don't feel there's any difference between me and them..."

"Besides, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick have made arrangements for me, so there's no need to worry."

Upon hearing this, Terry suddenly remembered something and mysteriously raised an eyebrow at Ek.

"You mean, you got 'that'?"

Ike didn't answer, but gave him a meaningful look. Terry immediately understood and pulled Stewart back from pressing for more details.

"Alright, buddy, trust Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, Ike'll be fine..."

"All right……"

It wasn't surprising that Terry could guess Ike's identity. Although the Butt family wasn't one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Purebloods, they were still a renowned wizarding family, with a far greater reputation in North America than in England. It was quite normal for them to know about the Time-Turner.

The next morning, the young wizards, who had forced themselves to get up, arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast one by one, looking listless. Among the group of people yawning and shaking their heads, Ike, who was as excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood, stood out.

"Fantastic Beasts Protection class, then Charms class, and in the afternoon electives: Ancient Runes, Divination, Muggle Studies..."

"Tsk tsk tsk, triple the happiness!"

Starting from the third year, the academic pressure at Hogwarts increased significantly, and the course schedule became much more intensive. According to Roger and Penelope, the professors also became stricter, and the amount of homework increased dramatically, most notably the length of parchment. Some classes even required two to three times the amount of homework as before.

If you think Professor Snape's homework is three times more, you're wrong. In comparison, Potions class has the least amount of homework. The real homework hog is Charms class!

The foundation of wizardry is spells, and spells classes are the basis for almost all other courses. They are also the focus of OWLs exams, and are more difficult and comprehensive in both theory and practice.

Furthermore, due to the unique nature of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, Charms class also teaches some related knowledge. Considering this, Professor Flitwick's thinning hair might well be partly to blame.

Hagrid is teaching the Magical Creatures Protection class for the new school year. Having a class right at the start of the semester made Hagrid a little reserved, and he even stumbled over his words.

Fortunately, it was the badgers and eagles who came to class. If it had been Slytherins and Gryffindors, Malfoy would certainly have laughed at them, if not ridiculed.

In truth, Ike didn't have high expectations for Hagrid's Magical Creatures Protection class. Undeniably, Hagrid was an excellent magical creature keeper and loved these magical creatures very much, but unfortunately, his aesthetic sense went against the mainstream. No one would simply herd a level XXX hippogriff in front of a group of thirteen or fourteen-year-old wizards.

XXX level, a level that capable wizards can handle. Do third-year students at Hogwarts have this ability?

Only a very small number.

Fortunately, the little badgers and eagles were very obedient. Following Hagrid's instructions, they all rode on the eagles and flew around. This made Hagrid very happy and strengthened his resolve to take these "little cuties" out for a spin again when Harry and the others had class.

Looking at Hagrid's expression as he left class, Ike could almost hear Malfoy's screams.

At 11 a.m., Ike and the others arrived at the Charms classroom, together with the Hufflepuffs.

Once everyone was present, Professor Flitwick began his lecture. He first spent ten minutes checking everyone's understanding of the spells he had learned last year, and then began learning the new spells—the universal counter-spells.

After explaining it in detail, he went on to talk about its advanced uses—joint casting and sharing magic.

While everyone managed to keep up at the beginning, they all struggled in the latter half of the course, even Ike. After all, he had never seriously collaborated with other wizards before.

Not counting the time Ike chased the unicorn in the Forbidden Forest with Quirrell, he was just causing trouble back then.

At other times, he would just charge in and unleash a barrage of skills by himself.

Thanks to his "solid" spellcasting ability, Ekko can proudly say:

He has never lost a fight!

(End of this chapter)