Wes Elwin immediately reached out, eager to snatch the Book of the Dead from Dumbledore's hands. Just as his fingers were about to touch the book, Dumbledore's wrist twisted swiftly, pulling it back.
The speed of that movement didn't resemble that of a man over a hundred years old.
Wes awkwardly withdrew his hand, blinking at Dumbledore in confusion.
But Dumbledore ignored his expression. Instead, he turned to the bookshelf, pulled down a few volumes, and placed them on the table. The titles were:
A History of Egyptian Magic
Introduction to Ancient Egyptian
Egyptian Mythology
Egyptian ###
"Headmaster, what do you mean by this?" Wes asked, glancing at the stack of books, none of which were the Book of the Dead. He couldn't help but wonder if Dumbledore was going back on his word.
"Do you know Ancient Egyptian, Wes?" Dumbledore asked with a kind smile.
Wes shook his head. He had never studied anything about ancient Egypt, and the language was a complete mystery to him.
"Do you understand Egyptian mythology?" Dumbledore pressed.
Faced with these two simple questions, Wes suddenly understood.
Dumbledore noticed the change in Wes's expression and knew he had grasped the point. "If you want to read the Book of the Dead, you must first understand Ancient Egyptian and the mythology behind it."
Wes nodded in agreement and quickly gathered the books from the table. He felt an urgency inside him, a desire to devour all the information in a single sitting and master the language as soon as possible.
But the reality was far more difficult than he imagined. Ancient Egyptian was obscure and incredibly difficult. After several days, he hadn't even scratched the surface.
As for Voldemort's diary, Wes had completely set it aside.
In his mind, since the diary was the Dark Lord's first Horcrux, created while he was still a student, it probably didn't contain too many advanced spells.
Its main value lay in the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk—but even that paled in comparison to the Book of the Dead.
Wes remained immersed in his studies until the first Friday of the new term—his very first class.
When he arrived at the classroom door and placed his hand on the doorknob, he was still thinking about Egyptian grammar.
But the moment he opened the door, he froze at the sight inside.
"Whoa—did I walk into the wrong classroom?"
The number of students in the classroom was almost double compared to last year. The room felt especially lively—bordering on crowded.
Wes spotted Harry, Ron, Malfoy, the Weasley twins, and several unfamiliar faces.
Each student had their own reasons for choosing this course. With different hopes and goals in mind, they had all gathered in this room.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione—who had taken the class since first year—were now a complete trio again.
Harry's reason for enrolling was simple. Last year, deep in the Forbidden Forest, he had witnessed Wes battling a mysterious figure. The overwhelming power Wes displayed had left Harry stunned and deeply curious.
He hoped to learn powerful magic from this class.
As for Ron, he enrolled simply because both of his close friends had chosen the course. Not picking it would have felt like being left behind, and he didn't want to be apart from his friends.
Malfoy, like Harry, was intrigued by Wes. On top of that, his father had given him a mission: to observe Wes and report anything unusual happening around him.
The Weasley twins were genuinely interested in alchemy. They had enrolled in the class on Professor McGonagall's recommendation.
Most of the other students had signed up because the class gave credits—and they'd heard the homework load was light.
"May as well herd a whole flock if you're already herding one sheep."
Wes didn't mind either way.
After the first class ended, Wes didn't assign any homework. He simply asked the students who were new to the subject to borrow notes from those who had taken it before.
The students were thrilled. A class with no homework? Brilliant.
Only Hermione looked dissatisfied. She firmly believed Wes was assigning far too little homework.
As Wes was about to leave the classroom, the Weasley twins approached him.
"Professor Elwin~," said Fred, his face lit up with a beaming smile.
"Professor McGonagall said you're really good at alchemy," George cut in.
"We've got loads of questions," Fred added eagerly.
"We were wondering if we could ask you about them," George finished, his expression sincere.
The twins spoke so seamlessly, it felt like one person talking with two mouths.
"The Weasley brothers?" Wes eyed them curiously, struggling to tell them apart.
They looked far too alike to distinguish easily.
"I'm Fred," said the one on the left, a mischievous grin creeping across his face.
"And I'm George," said the one on the right.
"All right then," Wes said, finally managing to tell them apart. "May I take a look at your academic records?"
"Here you go." they replied.
Seeing the two grade reports handed to him, Wes knew these twins had come prepared.
He took the transcripts and glanced over them. Their grades showed an extreme imbalance—divination, history of magic, and several theory-heavy subjects were marked with P (Poor), while practical courses like Transfiguration and Charms were graded O (Outstanding).
It was clear from the records: Fred and George had real talent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have received multiple Os.
"You two are seriously lopsided in your studies."
Wes frowned slightly, a hint of concern showing at their highly unbalanced performance.
"We're not bookworms."
"Nor do we want to be prefects."
"We just want to focus on the subjects we actually care about."
The twins spoke in perfect sync again.
Wes felt a headache coming on. Students like them were the hardest to handle.
They had their own ideas, were highly self-motivated, and could easily stir up trouble at any moment—likely when you least expected it.
But… they came on Professor McGonagall's recommendation. Back when Wes was a student, she had looked out for him more than once.
He didn't want to disappoint the Deputy Headmistress who had always cared deeply for her students.
"All right," Wes said. "I can spare time on Wednesday evenings. If you've got questions, come to my office then."
The twins high-fived each other in delight.
"Brilliant!"
"Thank you, Professor!"
They dashed out of the classroom, visibly thrilled. From then on, every Wednesday evening, the Weasley twins would come to Wes with questions about alchemy.
And to his surprise, Wes discovered that the twins had remarkable talent for the subject. Their wild ideas often gave him inspiration of his own.
He began teaching them with real dedication—well beyond what was expected of an ordinary professor.
Soon, students around Hogwarts started noticing the infamous prankster twins were becoming unusually studious. They could often be found in the library, buried in obscure alchemy books.
Ask them what they were up to, and they'd just smile and say, "It'll be something that shocks everyone."
Percy Weasley, their older brother, was genuinely pleased with the change. He believed they were finally following his outstanding example.
Ron, however, scoffed. He was certain the twins were plotting something huge.
But as Halloween came and went, the twins hadn't stirred up a single bit of chaos.