Though he was a future troublemaker, Wayne still had his principles. After all, he was the one at fault here.
Before the girl could speak, he raised his finger and murmured, "Episkey!"
A warm sensation spread across her forehead, and she instantly realised the pain was gone. Glancing at the nearby mirror, she saw the swelling had vanished, too.
"A Healing Charm—and wandless magic at that! You're amazing!" she exclaimed, looking at Wayne with excitement. "I'm Cho Chang. And you?"
"Wayne. Wayne Lawrence."
'So this is Cho Chang...'
Wayne studied the girl. She looked nothing like her film counterpart—she was undoubtedly a classic East Asian beauty.
"Oh, I remember now! You're the Hatstall from yesterday!" Cho suddenly realised.
Wayne grinned and nodded. "That's me. Had I known Ravenclaw had so many beauties, I might've chosen it instead."
A little flattery never hurt. Sure enough, Cho blushed slightly but couldn't hide her delight.
The distance between them shrank instantly, and they chatted amiably as they walked towards the Great Hall.
"Hmph!"
Only after they had left did a quiet scoff come from the other side of the doorway. Hermione, who had just finished Herbology class, had witnessed the entire exchange.
Remembering how Wayne had treated her during their first meeting, the young witch felt inexplicably irritated.
"Quidditch tryouts start next week. I wonder if I'll make the team..."
Wayne and Cho got along well, though their only disagreement was that Cho insisted someone as clever as him should've been in Ravenclaw, not Hufflepuff.
Wayne, however, believed intelligence wasn't exclusive to Ravenclaw—after all, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore had come from other houses.
Of course, there was one assessment he kept to himself.
In his opinion, Ravenclaw's so-called "cleverness" was often just self-satisfied cunning or shrewd scheming.
Just look at the kind of people Ravenclaw produced.
This year's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirrell, had been manipulated into becoming a living vessel by Voldemort's barely-there soul in just a few conversations.
Next term's professor, Lockhart, was a complete fraud.
Barty Crouch Sr.? True, he was an elite wizard—one of the Ministry's most capable officials—but he'd still been foolish enough to secretly smuggle his son out of Azkaban, triggering a chain of disasters.
When you thought about it, most Ravenclaws were just clever in trivial ways, missing the bigger picture entirely.
But these thoughts were not something Wayne could share with Cho. Otherwise, the sweetly smiling girl before him would turn hostile in an instant.
Hearing her worries about Quidditch tryouts, Wayne reassured her:
"Don't worry. Cedric said Ravenclaw's team is lucky to scrape together seven players. If you sign up, you're guaranteed a spot."
Ravenclaw had more girls than boys, and many of them were eccentric loners with little enthusiasm for team sports. Cedric's assessment wasn't wrong—it was brutally honest.
Cho's expression darkened. "Cedric? That third-year top student? Hufflepuff's Seeker?"
"Thanks for the encouragement," she said stiffly. "I'm off to practise. When we face Hufflepuff next, I will be on the pitch!"
Wayne's remark had ignited her competitive spirit completely. She had originally wanted to compete for the position of Seeker and had secretly practised at home all summer.
If she could make the team, she would definitely catch the Golden Snitch during the match against Hufflepuff and show that Cedric what happens when you underestimate Ravenclaw.
Wayne smiled as he watched the girl leave.
[Host sows discord, damaging relations between the two houses. Reward: +50 points.]
'Tch. Good thing this system has such an easygoing master like me—otherwise, it would've been uninstalled long ago.'
'What did it mean by "sowing discord"? I'd merely repeated Cedric's exact words without embellishing a single detail.'
'Besides, wasn't trash-talking before a match standard practice? I hadn't even said the worst of it.'
For example, Fred had shared a secret on the train yesterday.
Every Quidditch match against Ravenclaw dragged on for ages, and the reason?
Seven players, five of them girls, including both Beaters.
Where else would you get so many girls to play with you, let alone chase you around?
At that point, not just the twins, but even Cedric had flashed lecherous grins, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The afternoon featured a double Charms lesson. Professor Flitwick, standing atop a tall stack of books, called out names. When he reached "Harry Potter," he shrieked in excitement and toppled off the pile.
It took him a while to recover before he began the first Charms lesson.
Charms were the foundation of everything. Learning them wasn't just about mastering spells but also improving efficiency in studying other magic, helping young witches and wizards develop their understanding of the craft.
That was why Harry could pick up spells like the Disarming Charm and Shield Charm so quickly—once the basics were solid, learning other spells became much faster.
"Today, we'll learn the most basic spell—the Wand-Lighting Charm. It's very simple. The incantation is Lumos."
"What's wrong? Who upset you?"
Wayne was sitting with Hermione again, but the young witch wasn't giving him the time of day.
As soon as he took his seat, she turned her pale face away without a word, practically screaming, "I'm upset—come and cheer me up."
Wayne thought it over. It couldn't be about the History of Magic class—Hermione wasn't that petty.
'So what had happened?'
"Don't talk to me during class, Mr. Lawrence!"
There it was—"Mr. Lawrence." The culprit had been identified.
Wayne couldn't guess what had set the young witch off, but he had no experience in cheering girls up, so he opted for the cold shoulder.
As Professor Flitwick instructed everyone to practise freely, the classroom grew noisy. Chants of spells rose and fell.
Wayne raised his wand and murmured, "Lumos!"