"Wood? Do you need something from Lucien?"
The burly Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Wood, pushed through the crowd and came over to Harry, rubbing his hands together as he spoke.
"Well, from what you two are saying, Lucien used a magical device to disperse the wind and rain. Harry, could you ask Lucien for me? I'd like to borrow that item. If we didn't have weather interference during Quidditch practice, our training efficiency would improve tremendously. Of course, if renting it costs money, that's fine too. I can ask Professor McGonagall for funding."
Hearing this, Harry immediately fell silent. He already knew this Quidditch captain far too well.
In the past, neither wind nor rain had ever stopped Wood from dragging them out to practice Quidditch. If he really obtained a treasure capable of clearing away storms, then what would happen after that?!
Harry hesitated for a moment before finally forcing himself to answer.
"Wood, I'll try asking him for you."
"Excellent, Harry! As long as we train properly, we still have a great chance of winning this year's Quidditch Cup. I'm counting on you!"
Faced with Wood's overwhelming enthusiasm, Harry could only twitch the corner of his mouth helplessly.
Meanwhile, on the teachers' platform.
Many of the professors had naturally noticed Lucien's actions earlier, and for a moment, each of them reacted differently.
Professor McGonagall turned to Professor Flitwick and asked,
"Filius, when your House normally practices Quidditch, do you always have Lucien change the weather like this?"
As an avid Quidditch fan, McGonagall's first concern was still Quidditch itself.
Flitwick waved the small Ravenclaw flag in his hand while cheering for his House team.
"Haha, Minerva, if I told you this was also the first time I'd seen Lucien take out that item, would you believe me?"
McGonagall glanced toward the Ravenclaw stands before looking back at Flitwick beside her, her tone full of envy and admiration.
"I would. But Lucien first unveiled his self-designed flying broom, and now he's invented a magical device capable of changing the weather. Honestly, I don't even know which part I should be more shocked by…"
Flitwick could not help smiling, and the small flag in his hand waved even faster.
"Lucien really is an unusual child, always giving people 'little surprises,' isn't he?"
Hearing this, McGonagall gave a wry smile.
"Filius, those 'surprises' are practically becoming 'shocks' at this point. By the way, I received the latest issue of Transfiguration Today this morning. Would you like to take a look?"
As she spoke, McGonagall handed Flitwick an academic journal and pointed at the large headline on the cover.
Flitwick set down the small flag in his hand and looked where McGonagall was pointing. His eyes instantly widened.
"Lucien?"
"'The Most Innovative Transfiguration Achievement of the Century'?"
Seeing her colleague's stunned expression, McGonagall could not help smiling. Keeping this from Flitwick for so long had truly been worth it.
Lucien had shown her the first draft of the paper long ago, so McGonagall had already expected this outcome. She simply wanted to see Flitwick's reaction to being "shocked" by his own student.
And…
McGonagall glanced back at Dumbledore, who was quietly observing Flitwick's reaction behind her, and realized that the Headmaster had not told Flitwick either.
"So, is it a 'surprise' or a 'shock' now?"
Hearing McGonagall's teasing, Flitwick held his forehead while flipping through the contents of Transfiguration Today and replied helplessly,
"Minerva, this is a little too stimulating for my poor heart…"
McGonagall chuckled.
"Actually, Lucien's mastery of Transfiguration is already enough for him to directly become a professor in that field. Hmm, perhaps I should simply retire after he graduates. I've always wanted to travel the world!"
Flitwick replied immediately,
"Minerva, have you forgotten that you're also the Deputy Headmistress and the Head of Gryffindor?"
"Besides, I'd like to retire as well. Then Lucien could directly take over as both the Charms Professor and the Head of Ravenclaw. Wouldn't that be perfect?"
Before McGonagall could retort, Flitwick abruptly changed the subject.
"Minerva, with Lucien's achievements, winning the Transfiguration award, the 'Ring of All Forms,' shouldn't be a problem, right?"
McGonagall nodded.
"Of course. Magical Creature Transfiguration has undoubtedly pushed Transfiguration to entirely new heights. At this point, it's not that Lucien needs this award, but rather that the award needs to be given to Lucien in order to prove its own 'value.'"
"Actually, besides the 'Ring of All Forms,' I suspect there may also be another award involved, such as the Order of Merlin…"
As she spoke, McGonagall turned her gaze toward Dumbledore.
"But that would have to be decided by the 'Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot,' wouldn't it?"
At those words, not only McGonagall and Flitwick, but even the surrounding professors who had overheard the conversation, all looked toward Dumbledore with great interest.
After all, the Order of Merlin was approved and awarded by the Wizengamot, and those procedures naturally required the review of Dumbledore, the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
Dumbledore's long fingers lightly touched his half-moon spectacles. His bright blue eyes were not focused on the Quidditch pitch, but rather on the distant sky.
Noticing that all his colleagues were looking at him, he finally spoke.
"Hmm, I've been rather busy recently, and I can't quite remember."
"…"
The professors were already more or less accustomed to Dumbledore's clumsy excuses.
Although everyone held immense respect and admiration for the greatest wizard of the century, there were still certain unspoken understandings among them.
For example:
Dumbledore, the old man, was not particularly honest.
The pause, of course, should be in the middle of "old man, was not particularly honest"...
At this moment, Dumbledore's gaze had already shifted toward Lucien.
Naturally, he knew about the Order of Merlin.
In truth, based solely on Lucien's academic achievements in Transfiguration, obtaining a Second Class Order of Merlin would absolutely not be a problem.
The real issue was the First Class Order of Merlin.
As Lucien's Headmaster, and someone who understood the child's talent and character very well, Dumbledore was more than willing to strive for even greater honors on Lucien's behalf.
However, the First Class Order of Merlin carried an unspoken requirement:
Saving a large number of lives, or resolving a crisis within the magical world!
Aside from former Ministers for Magic awarding themselves a First Class Order of Merlin before leaving office, along with a certain peculiar ancestor of the House of Black who had practically "bought" himself a First Class Order using an enormous amount of Galleons,
everyone else who earned that honor while still alive had fulfilled that implicit requirement.
In truth, this also required a certain amount of "luck."
Some people never encountered such a major event in their entire lives.
As for Lucien stopping Voldemort, who had possessed Quirrell last year, from stealing the Philosopher's Stone, that certainly counted as resolving a crisis within the magical world.
However, based on Dumbledore's understanding of those in the upper ranks, they would most likely choose to "bury their heads in the sand" and refuse to believe that Voldemort had nearly returned.
Still, Dumbledore felt that Lucien was so young that he would have many more opportunities in the future. A Second Class Order of Merlin already surpassed what most people could ever hope to achieve.
"Strange…"
Dumbledore once again looked toward the distant horizon, a faint trace of confusion appearing in his heart.
Since when had Thunderbirds appeared here?
Newt hasn't visited recently, has he…
____
Oi! Listen up, my wonderful readers~
I just dropped a brand new Harry Potter fanfic, HP: A Ravenclaw with a Lion's Heart
MC starts Hogwarts in Harry's 3rd year. It's a feel-good story. Please march over, check out the story, and smash those Powerstones and add it to the library so Webnovel's algorithm notices us and pushes the fic to more readers.
Thanks a lot! Have a great day!♥