[Note: Read up to Chapter - 119 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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"Miss Granger, I believe we need to have a word."
Professor McGonagall approached Hermione and Cho, cutting straight to the point.
Professor Flitwick chimed in almost immediately, "Ms. Chang, you too. Come along."
The two professors didn't wait for a reply and simply turned on their heels, heading straight for the staff offices—clearly expecting the girls to follow.
Hermione and Cho exchanged a nervous glance, both sensing that wriggling out of this one wouldn't be easy.
Just as they braced themselves to trail after the professors, a familiar voice chimed in ahead of them.
"Evening, Professors Flitwick, Professor McGonagall."
Aris appeared, sounding casual—though the faint weariness on his face betrayed how knackered he actually was. He looked like someone who'd been buried in work all day without so much as a tea break.
The moment the girls spotted him, a glimmer of hope flashed in their eyes. Their gaze begged for help, and Aris caught on immediately with just a glance.
Turning to face the professors, he flashed a polite, slightly cheeky smile. "Something wrong, Professors? You're looking rather grim."
Both professors had already been planning to confront Aris about his recent behaviour—and now, he'd conveniently walked right into the line of fire.
Without missing a beat, Flitwick replied, "You might as well join us too, Mr. Shafiq."
The two professors shared a knowing look, then continued toward the office.
Around them, several students turned their heads, whispering behind cupped hands.
Three students being pulled aside by two professors at once? That wasn't just a quiet word—that was bound to be something big.
Especially with Aris involved.
He was already a bit of a celebrity at Hogwarts, and now the rumour mill had fresh meat. Whispers rippled across the Great Hall like wildfire. Everyone could feel it—something juicy was about to come to light.
"Oi, look—it's Shafiq again. Anyone know why the two professors pulled them aside?"
"I overheard someone say Chang and Granger have been getting quite cosy with Shafiq lately. I reckon they've done something that caught the professors' attention. Definitely not as simple as it looks."
"You think they broke some serious school rule?"
"Professor Flitwick's usually dead lenient with us Ravenclaws. If he's involved, they must've done something properly out of line!"
"But if it were just a broken rule, wouldn't they have just lost House points or something?"
As Aris and the others exited the Great Hall, the buzz of gossip didn't die down—in fact, it only grew louder.
Over at the Gryffindor table, the Weasley twins exchanged a knowing look, both clearly hatching the same idea.
"We've just finished that new eavesdropping contraption, remember? The Extendable Ear…"
"Yeah, reckon it's time for a proper field test."
Without another word, they slipped away from the table and darted out of the hall, as quietly as they could. Their destination? The very same direction Aris and the professors had taken.
Meanwhile, in the Transfiguration Office, the atmosphere was rather more tense.
"You two—talk," Professor McGonagall said curtly, her gaze fixed squarely on Hermione and Cho.
She pointedly ignored Aris, who had followed them in, and Professor Flitwick took a step back, clearly content to let McGonagall take the lead.
"Professor… I don't really understand," Hermione said quietly. "What exactly do you want us to say?"
"I'm not too sure either," added Cho, frowning in confusion.
A heavy silence settled over the room, the air thick with unspoken tension.
Professor McGonagall's stern face only darkened, her lips thinning into a line. She looked just about ready to let loose.
But Aris, who stood quietly to the side, saw right through it.
He could tell—she was putting on a show.
After all, Hermione and Cho hadn't actually done anything wrong.
Sure enough, after a long pause, Professor McGonagall let out a sigh, and her expression softened noticeably.
"According to Professor Flitwick and my own observations, you two have been acting rather oddly of late," she said, her tone serious but no longer accusatory. "You're often distracted in lessons, off in your own worlds. After class, you vanish without a word and keep yourselves separate from the rest of your peers. I just want to understand what's going on."
At that, Hermione and Cho exchanged a look.
They'd been wondering the same thing themselves.
The truth was, most of their free time had been spent in the Room of Requirement, poring over magical theory and conducting experiments. During class, they sometimes drifted off—not out of boredom, but because their minds were whirring with ideas about elemental magic.
It all felt perfectly normal to them. But apparently, from the outside, it looked a bit off.
"Professor, honestly, we're fine! I think you might be overthinking it a little..." Hermione said gently, gathering her courage.
"Yeah, if anything, we feel better than ever," Cho added with a small smile.
They genuinely couldn't see anything wrong with how they'd been acting.
In fact, ever since they started learning about elemental magic with Aris, everything had begun to click into place. They found themselves having flashes of inspiration in class—little insights that helped them understand spells more deeply, even Transfiguration.
For instance, the exercise of turning a matchstick into a needle involved transforming wood into metal. Once you grasped how elemental energies flowed between those two states, Transfiguration made far more sense.
They were making connections, unlocking concepts—and all of it was thanks to what they'd learned about the elements.
This was precisely why the two young witches often seemed to be daydreaming in class.
"Mr Shafiq, what about you?"
Professor McGonagall suddenly turned her gaze towards Aris.
The way she addressed him—using his surname—made it clear she wasn't in the best of moods. Aris let out a quiet sigh. He'd guessed as much.
"I've heard Miss Granger and Miss Chang have been spending quite a bit of time with you recently," McGonagall continued, her tone clipped. "I assume you've noticed the changes in their behaviour as well?"
At that, Professor Flitwick chimed in. "Or perhaps," he said mildly, "the reason for those changes… is you?"
Faced with two sets of sharp, probing eyes, Aris offered them a calm, faint smile.
"Professors, with all due respect… I believe you've got the wrong end of the stick."
"Oh?" Professor McGonagall arched a brow, her expression tightening once again.
"Please don't take offence," Aris added quickly, hands raised slightly in peace. "Just hear me out. And if you still think I've overstepped, you're more than welcome to punish me however you see fit."
He stood, turned to Professor Flitwick, and asked politely, "Professor, surely you're more familiar with Cho's academic progress than I am?"
"Certainly," Flitwick replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "She's improved by leaps and bounds—her grasp of magical theory and her casting precision have both come a long way."
Aris nodded, then looked to Professor McGonagall. "And what about Miss Granger? How's she been doing lately?"
McGonagall hesitated briefly, then gave a reluctant nod. "Exceptionally well," she admitted.
"In fact, aside from you, she's arguably the top of her year. Her theoretical understanding across subjects has deepened significantly, and she's progressing faster than most."
"I reckon that's all down to the careful guidance of you two professors!" Aris added with a hint of flattery, before smoothly steering the conversation elsewhere.
"In that case, I honestly don't see the problem."
He smiled and gave Cho and Hermione a look full of quiet approval.
"Their academic performance hasn't dipped—in fact, it's improved noticeably."
Turning back to McGonagall with a puzzled expression, he asked, "So why are you both so concerned?"
He tilted his head slightly. "Is it because they sometimes seem distracted during class?"
"Couldn't it be they're just thinking deeply?"
"Or is it because they're not especially sociable, and don't spend much time mingling with other students?"
Before McGonagall had the chance to respond, Aris continued, answering his own questions.
"But if someone wants to truly master something, they've got to put in more time than most, right? Proper learning needs proper focus. And it helps to spend time with others who challenge and inspire you."
"The level they're working at now is already well beyond most of their classmates. So, why insist they waste time with idle chit-chat just to appear normal?"
When Aris finished, the office fell into a heavy silence.
Professor Flitwick looked genuinely stunned, staring at Aris as if momentarily lost for words.
McGonagall rubbed her hands together beneath the table, trying to maintain a composed expression, but internally, she was reeling.
Was this truly an eleven-year-old speaking?
Such clarity of thought, such insight—it was unsettling in the best of ways.
Even she and Flitwick hadn't considered it from that angle. Their only concern had been whether the girls were isolating themselves to the point of emotional harm—whether mentally or physically.
And yet, here this boy was, cutting straight through their worries with logic and purpose far beyond his years.
At that moment, the two young witches could feel the tension in the office thickening.
Neither of them dared say a word—they simply kept their heads down, not wanting the brewing debate between Aris and the professors to land them in trouble.
That said, despite the heavy atmosphere, both Cho and Hermione quietly agreed with everything Aris had just said.
To them, it was exactly like him to say something like that.
After all, he'd gone so far as to pour a small fortune into setting up a fully kitted-out laboratory in the Room of Requirement—all just to study in peace.
He'd practically given up on socialising altogether, spending almost every waking hour buried in his research. Even they hardly saw him outside the lab.
So, coming from someone like him, such words weren't the least bit surprising.
"You do make a fair point," Professor McGonagall finally said after a long pause, her voice steady.
"But, Mr. Shafiq, your perspective... it's a little dangerous."
She gave him a long, measured look, then turned her eyes to Cho and Hermione.
"There's no doubt your academics have improved significantly, but I need you to understand something important."
She let out a soft sigh, her voice calm but insistent.
"For young witches and wizards studying at Hogwarts, yes—grades matter. But there's something that matters even more..."
"The power of magic is vast, mysterious, and often dangerous. And no matter how clever you lot may be, you're still children. There's a kind of emotional maturity that can't be taught in books."
"That's why it's just as important for you to experience the things children should experience—including friendship and connection."
"Only through that can you keep your sense of purpose on this journey with magic—and not lose yourself along the way."
She paused, her expression softer now.
"Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
After Professor McGonagall finished speaking, her eyes didn't immediately settle on Cho or Hermione—but rather on Aris.
Truth be told, everything she'd just said was aimed squarely at him.
She had a growing sense that Aris might be drifting into something dangerous. She'd seen this sort of thing before in other particularly gifted young wizards—like a kind of mental trap, a demonic barrier, as some called it.
It was the look of someone who, once enchanted by the pursuit of higher magical knowledge, had begun to see everything else as utterly irrelevant. Friends, emotions, the world around them—none of it seemed to register anymore.
And that, to her, was deeply troubling.
In comparison, Cho and Hermione weren't the real problem.
Hermione seemed genuinely moved by McGonagall's words. She lowered her head, quietly reflecting.
Cho looked equally thoughtful, suddenly realising she hadn't even had a proper chat with her best mate Marietta in days.
As for Aris—his expression was... complicated.
He furrowed his brow slightly, lips moving just a bit, as if muttering under his breath.
Had anyone been close enough, they might've caught his quiet grumbling:
"A bunch of little sprogs running about, and I'm meant to make mates with them? Bit much, that..."
"I mean, I don't mind chatting with the professors—but Merlin help me if I ever bring up elemental theory again. They'll start fussing like first-years with broken wands."
"What exactly do you expect me to do now? I'm doing my best here, y'know..."
But of course, Aris wasn't daft. He'd never say any of that aloud in front of McGonagall and Flitwick.
He simply kept those thoughts to himself—for now.
He cleared his throat softly, put on a thoughtful look, and said,
"Professor McGonagall's absolutely right. I've been far too narrow-minded about it all."
Then he turned to Cho and Hermione.
"Since the professor's made her point, you two ought to socialise a bit more. Don't bury your heads in books all day—keep that up and you'll end up thick as a troll."
As he finished, Aris gave the two girls a cheeky wink.
The two little witches immediately caught on and nodded obediently.
"Yes, Professor, we understand!" they chimed together.
Seeing this, Flitwick and McGonagall exchanged a glance—both clearly exasperated but amused all the same.
But then, almost in perfect sync, they turned their gaze back to Aris.
"Right then," McGonagall said, folding her arms,
"Shall we move on to your situation now?"
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Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Note: Read up to Chapter - 119 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]