Richie's learning ability far exceeded anything Annabelle or Dawson had anticipated. In just half a day, Richie had completely learned—and basically mastered—the Disarming Charm.
His casting speed was visibly improving by the minute, and his accuracy was entirely flawless. Annabelle genuinely started to wonder if Richie was actually an adult wizard secretly disguised with Polyjuice Potion.
Of course, that was impossible.
After a quick lunch break to recharge, the three of them headed back into the warehouse. Over the course of the afternoon, Annabelle successfully taught Richie both the Shield Charm and the Fire-Making Spell.
Since they had plenty of time left, Dawson also taught Richie a few highly entertaining minor spells—like how to magically braid a witch's hair or conjure birthday balloons packed with confetti.
Richie even asked Annabelle if she could teach him Apparition, but she instantly shot him down. She gave him a strict lecture on the extreme difficulty of the spell and the Ministry's strict regulations surrounding it.
Hearing that, Richie had no choice but to drop the idea.
In the blink of an eye, night fell.
According to Annabelle's schedule, this was Richie's final day at Godwin Farm. Tomorrow, he was heading back to England, back to the Harland household.
Naturally, Annabelle had to head back to England as well. Her vacation time was almost up, and she needed to return to work.
Hearing they were leaving, Dawson was clearly reluctant to see them go, and he immediately ordered Geeth to prepare a massive farewell feast for them.
The night passed quietly. The next morning, Richie packed his bags and headed to the French Ministry of Magic with Annabelle.
They were scheduled to take a single-use Portkey directly to the British Ministry, and from there, they would Apparate home.
Just like when they arrived, Dawson drove them both to the French Ministry on his flying motorcycle.
They kept their goodbyes brief, skipping any overly emotional or dramatic speeches.
The entrance to the French Ministry of Magic was located at a massive central fountain in a public square.
Annabelle expertly drew her wand and quickly plugged several specific holes in the stone basin. A moment later, the reflection of a human face rippled across the surface of the water.
"(French) State your business, Madam."
"(French) I have an appointment with the Magical Transportation Department, Portkey Office."
"(French) One moment, please... Confirmed. Annabelle Godwin and Richie Harland are scheduled to take a Portkey to the British Ministry of Magic at 10:10 AM."
"(French) The elevator will take you directly to the Magical Transportation Department. Have a pleasant journey."
"(French) Thank you."
The second Annabelle finished speaking, massive tree roots erupted from the ground on either side of the fountain, rapidly weaving together over their heads to form a giant birdcage.
The root-cage elevator immediately began a slow, steady descent.
Thirty seconds later, the elevator stopped, and Richie and Annabelle stepped out into the Magical Transportation Department of the French Ministry.
The procedure was identical to the British Ministry. Since they had booked in advance, they simply checked in at the desk and were escorted directly into the departure room.
This time, the single-use Portkey was a filthy, torn rag. The second Richie and Annabelle touched it, they were violently yanked away.
London, England
Richie collapsed against the wall, intensely dizzy and nauseous. Annabelle quickly stepped over and dabbed a single drop of Soothing Perfume under his nose.
Once he finally caught his breath and stopped spinning, Annabelle grabbed his arm and immediately Apparated them the rest of the way home.
9 Silver Maple Road, Fenghua District, Pulo County
CRACK!
"Oh, good heavens!"
Sprawled on the living room couch, Mrs. Harland—currently covered in a DIY face mask made of cucumber slices and raw egg—violently jolted upright, completely startled by their sudden appearance.
"Haha! Realizing you're getting old and desperately trying to maintain your skin, huh?" Annabelle mocked, immediately kicking her shoes off and collapsing onto the couch. "Just beg me, and I'll send you the absolute best magical beauty products on the market!"
"Mom, I'm home," Richie called out.
Noticing the raw egg dripping down his mother's collar and pants from her startled jump, Richie immediately gauged the situation and strategically backed away.
"I'm just going to take my bags upstairs."
With that, he sprinted up the stairs.
Sure enough, he barely made it a few steps before his mother's furious roar echoed through the house.
"ANNABELLE GODWIN!!!"
"LOOK WHAT YOU JUST DID!!!"
Once the storm had fully passed, Richie slowly crept back downstairs, peaking around the corner before entering the living room.
At the bottom of the stairs, he saw Annabelle—totally stripped of her magic—obediently mopping the floor the Muggle way.
Catching his eye, Annabelle started frantically winking at him, desperately signaling for a rescue.
Realizing he couldn't escape, Richie rubbed his face in defeat and walked the rest of the way down.
Mrs. Harland, having completely washed the egg off her face, immediately spotted him. Her face softened into pure sympathy.
"Oh, my poor little Richie! Look how tanned you've gotten!"
"Come here, let me get a good look at you."
Richie walked over to the couch, obediently offering his face to his mother as she mercilessly pinched and rubbed his cheeks.
Behind her, Annabelle shot him a deeply sympathetic look before stealthily dropping the mop and sneaking away.
Once Mrs. Harland finally satisfied her need to squish her son's face, she turned around to scold her sister—only to find Annabelle completely gone.
Muttering angrily under her breath, Mrs. Harland quickly turned her attention back to Richie, showering him with concern.
Did you eat well? Did you sleep okay? Did anything happen?
Left with no escape, Richie just let out a quiet sigh and soaked in the overwhelming motherly love.
Back in the safety of his own room, Richie popped open the trunk enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm. He carefully loaded the two massive books he'd brought back and all the random gifts he'd received from the "auction" inside.
After a bit of organizing, his makeshift trunk-library was actually starting to look like a real study.
The only issue was that his actual book collection was still incredibly pathetic, but Richie was confident he'd eventually fill the entire space.
He eagerly cracked open Simple Alchemy.
Finally, no one can interrupt my reading here...
Richie settled in, completely absorbed in the book.
Eventually, all thrilling vacations have to end and return to normal. Now that he was back home, Richie finally settled back into his stable, highly structured routine.
He drafted a strict holiday schedule, rigidly allocating exact blocks of time for studying and resting.
His study time wasn't exclusively dedicated to Simple Alchemy; he was also actively memorizing the Ancient Runes Dictionary.
As for why he was memorizing a dictionary? Richie believed that true research required broad knowledge. If he entirely tunnel-visioned on how "incantations," "wand motions," "emotions," and "intent" strictly affected spellcasting, he'd eventually hit a wall. Reading broadly and learning different disciplines was the only way to draw parallels and fully understand magic.
Then again, he knew it wasn't going to be easy. Nicolas Flamel had literally studied this stuff for over six hundred years, right?
Richie definitely didn't plan on living that long.
He'd just take it one step at a time.
Of course, Richie also made sure to carve out time to review his practical spellcasting.
During his breaks, he read the massive collection of wizarding fairy tales Professor Flitwick had given him for Christmas. Sure, they were a bit childish, but they were the perfect way to turn his brain off and relax.
At the same time, Richie started planning out his strategy for the second half of his first year.
Over the holidays, he had finally realized something crucial.
Technically, there was absolutely nothing stopping him from just studying ahead. He could finish the first-year material, immediately start the second-year curriculum, and push straight into the third-year syllabus.
He didn't have to speedrun it, but he needed to start dictating his own learning pace rather than blindly following the professors' syllabus.
His capacity to learn was genuinely insane. If he kept doing what he did last semester—finishing the required material and immediately diving into highly experimental, obscure research—the gap in his foundational knowledge was going to create a massive disconnect.
Simply put, he'd be building a castle in the sky.
The topics he actually wanted to research were incredibly complex and couldn't be solved just by reading a few extra books. They required years of deep, foundational accumulation.
Because of that, Richie decided to entirely shift his approach. He was going to aggressively master the standard Hogwarts curriculum first, building an unshakable foundation of magical knowledge and ability. Only then would he branch out and start his deep-dive explorations. That way, he wouldn't waste time going down dead ends.
The sun rose and set. The last ten days of the break vanished in a flash.
The Christmas holidays were officially over.