Chapter 498 Frobisher

Chapter 498 Frobisher
Xie Lin came alone to the hidden classroom leading to the Spell Club. At the end of the corridor, an ancient witch statue stood quietly, as if silently watching everything. The stone eyes flashed with a faint magical light, waiting for the right spell to wake it up.

A girl stood in front of the statue, pacing nervously. She was wearing Gryffindor robes, with a red and gold scarf hanging loosely around her neck, and looked a little at a loss.

Her chestnut curly hair was slightly messy, and she had obviously just been through a lot. She held the wand tightly in her hand and muttered something in a low voice, trying to undo the spell on the statue. However, the statue did not respond. She bit her lip, obviously a little flustered.

Xie Ling approached steadily. The girl noticed his approach and immediately turned back, her face full of anxiety. When she saw who was coming, her expression became more complicated.

"You are--" She hesitated, then reacted and opened her eyes wide, "Malfoy?"

Shaylin smiled slightly, his tone gentle and polite: "To be precise, it's Shaylin Malfoy." He stopped in front of the statue and nodded slightly, "Is this... your first time in the Charms Club?"

The girl seemed a little reserved. She nodded and said unnaturally, "Yes, I'm Vicky Frobisher, fourth year...er, Gryffindor." She hesitated and added, "I just received an invitation from Professor Flitwick yesterday."

Her tone was filled with excitement and anticipation, but also a hint of nervousness. "I was very happy, but..." She looked at the witch statue and frowned slightly. "This door won't let me in. I tried several spells but it didn't work."

Sherin raised an eyebrow and looked at the statue. "Professor Flitwick gave you the spell to pass, right?"

"Hmm..." Vicky pursed her lips, a trace of annoyance flashed in her eyes, "I remember the spell, but I may...pronounce the last sound wrong."

Xie Ling smiled thoughtfully: "Let me guess, you pronounced the last sound of 'Aperio Veritatem' as 'temm'?"

Vicky looked up suddenly and looked at him in shock: "How did you know?"

"Because this is the most common mistake most people make when they cast this spell for the first time." Xie Lin chuckled, his voice gentle but firm, "The ending tone of 'Veritatem' should be slightly raised to emphasize the vibration of the 'm', otherwise the statue will assume that the spell is incomplete."

Vicky blinked, then revealed a look of annoyance: "No wonder... I just tried several times, thinking that my magic power was not enough."

"This door doesn't care whether you have enough magic power or not." Xie Ling smiled slightly, raised his wand, pointed it at the forehead of the statue, and said in a steady and confident tone: "Aperio Veritatem."

The stone eyes of the statue suddenly lit up, and a soft silver light flowed from its outline. Then, the statue slowly split to the sides, revealing a deep entrance leading to the Spells Club, and the sound of wizards talking could be heard faintly from inside.

Vicky looked at this scene, with a flash of surprise and admiration in her eyes. She couldn't help but let out a breath, and a somewhat relieved smile appeared on her face, "So that's how it is... Thank you."

"Nothing." Xie Lin smiled and made a "please" gesture, "Let's go in together."

Vicky hesitated for a moment, but followed. She thought that Shaylin Malfoy would be like other Slytherins, with some kind of stereotyped hostility towards Gryffindor students, or at least show arrogance.

But unexpectedly, he was not only gentle and polite, but also took the initiative to extend a friendly hand to her.

She unconsciously relaxed a lot, and a kind of inexplicable good feeling quietly grew in her heart.

……

After entering the classroom, Shaylin noticed that there were already quite a few students in the room. Professor Flitwick was standing in the middle, waiting for everyone to arrive. He saw Shaylin and Vicky come in, smiled and nodded, then cleared his throat, signaling everyone to be quiet.

"First of all, welcome to the new member." Professor Flitwick's eyes fell on Vicky and he said kindly, "This is Vicky Frobisher, a fourth-year Gryffindor. Let's welcome her."

There was a polite applause in the classroom, and Vicky nodded awkwardly.

The number of members in the Charms Club seemed to be decreasing. Including Shailene and Vicky, there were only eight students. Shailene was the only student from Slytherin. He nodded to Ellucy Montgomery and Cedric Diggory, with whom he had talked on the train, and sat next to Zhang Qiu.

Vicky sat on the Gryffindor side.

"Okay, today's topic is the Tracking Spell." Professor Flitwick waved his wand, and several scribbled magic symbols immediately appeared on the blackboard. "The function of the Tracking Spell is to trace back what happened not long ago and restore the truth. This is a practical magic that is suitable for investigation, finding lost items, and even helping to solve mysteries to a certain extent."

He waved his wand lightly, and a silver quill appeared on the table in the middle of the classroom.

"For example, this pen was picked up half an hour ago. We can use a tracking spell to see who touched it."

He raised his wand and said, "Revelation!"

In an instant, a faint silver light emerged from the feather pen, slowly extending into the air, outlining a vague image - it was the hand of a fifth-grade student, who was holding a feather pen and writing something on parchment.

"This is the basic application of the Tracking Charm," Professor Flitwick explained. "Next, you can work in pairs and try to track the objects that your partner has just touched."

The students all took action, but Sherin just smiled, picked up a piece of parchment, closed his eyes, and shook his wand slightly: "Apparition!"

A silver light flashed, and a faint trace of light appeared on the parchment, which soon outlined the outline of a palm. Sherin immediately recognized that it was the hand of a Ravenclaw student, and it seemed that he had touched the parchment not long ago.

Professor Flitwick noticed Shalling's ease and could not help but smile and nod, "Excellent, Shalling."

However, Schelling fell into deep thought.

He suddenly raised his head and asked, "Professor, can the tracking spell be enhanced through some medium, such as another person's skin, hair, or nails?"

Flitwick was slightly startled, then his expression became more serious: "That is beyond the scope of normal tracking spells and involves the field of dark magic."

The classroom suddenly became quieter, and many students pricked up their ears quietly, seeming to be very interested in the topic of black magic.

Flitwick continued, "In Southeast Asian countries, this kind of black magic does exist. They can use hair, blood, and even nail fragments to track the target's location. In some extreme cases, they can even use these media to cast curses."

Xie Lin nodded slightly, but did not continue to investigate. Instead, he changed the topic: "So, is there a safer alternative method, such as tracking by name?"

Professor Flitwick's eyes flashed with appreciation. "A very good question. In fact, there is a kind of magic inspired by the owl's name perception ability."

He waved his wand across the blackboard and wrote down several new magical symbols.

"Owls can accurately find their targets by name, and this kind of magic is developed based on this characteristic. We call it name tracking magic."

Schelling nodded thoughtfully. Name tracking magic was closely related to the "Little Man Curse" he was studying. If he could learn more about name tracking magic from Professor Flitwick, then the creation of the Marauder's Map would be just around the corner.

……

It was already evening when we left the Magic Club.

When Sherin walked out of the Charms Club classroom, the corridor was left with only silence and flickering candlelight. He did not leave with the others, but was delayed because he asked Professor Flitwick some questions about name tracking magic. By the time he packed up his things and prepared to leave, all the club members had already left.

He looked at his watch, the hands pointed to dinner time, and another set of small hands showed that Daphne and the others were still writing furiously in the Slytherin common room, rushing to finish the pile of homework. He sighed softly, knowing that he could only go to the hall to eat alone tonight.

However, the moment he stepped out of the classroom door, his steps paused slightly.

Zhang Qiu stood there.

She leaned against the wall not far away, with her arms folded, as if she had been waiting for a while. When she saw Xie Ling coming out, she moved slightly, as if she hesitated whether to take the initiative to speak.

The corridor was quiet, with only the two of them.

The two hadn't spoken a word to each other since that day when they kissed, and it was a bit awkward at the moment.

Xie Lin tried to break the silence. He curled the corners of his lips and spoke in a casual tone, "It's so late. Haven't you eaten yet? Let's go to the auditorium together?"

Zhang Qiu did not answer immediately. She looked at Xie Lin with complicated eyes and curled her fingers slightly, as if she was making up her mind. Finally, she took a deep breath, raised her head, and looked directly into Xie Lin's eyes: "Xie Lin... How do you feel about me?"

Xie Ling's smile froze slightly.

He was silent for a moment, then sighed, his tone calm and gentle: "Zhang Qiu, you are a very good girl, really. I like you too." He paused, his eyes deep, and his voice lowered, "But the problem is, you know, I already have too many girlfriends."

Zhang Qiu's heart seemed to be tugged by something.

"I don't want to delay other girls." Xie Lin looked at her seriously, with a hint of complicated emotions in his eyes, "You deserve better, someone who truly loves you wholeheartedly, not someone like me, who lets you fall into it even though I know I can't make a promise."

"So," he said in a softer voice, with a hint of helplessness in his tone, "Don't waste your time on me, Zhang Qiu. You should go find your own happiness."

The air was silent for a moment.

Then, Zhang Qiu suddenly took a step forward.

There was a hint of stubbornness in her eyes, as well as deep emotions hidden within them. Before Xie Ling could react, a pair of soft lips had already covered his.

This time, her kiss was more eager and crazy than that day, as if she had the courage to risk everything. She tightly embraced Xie Ling's neck, pressed her whole body against him, desperately shortening the distance between them, not even giving him any chance to break free.

Xie Lin instinctively wanted to push her away, but her strength was more determined than he thought. Amazing power burst out from her petite and frail body. Xie Lin's back hit the wall directly, and he was forced to endure her surging passion.

When Xie Lin saw Zhang Qiu's closed eyes with crystal tears hanging in the corners of her eyes, his heart seemed to be stabbed by something. His fingers on Zhang Qiu's shoulders trembled slightly, but he couldn't bear to push her away.

He felt the surging magic power in his body rolling out, and an uncontrollable desire gradually overwhelmed his reason. His resistance gradually turned into compromise, and compromise finally turned into a response.

He slowly raised his hands, grasped Zhang Qiu's waist, and kissed her back.

Zhang Qiu was almost out of breath, but she stubbornly refused to let go of Xie Lin, as if she was afraid that once she let go, he would step back again and reject her.

However, she suddenly felt a response from Sherin.

He had been just passively accepting it, but finally he started to kiss her back.

His hand fell on her waist and tightened gently, with a subtle warmth on his fingertips. This subtle movement made her heart tremble, and she could hardly believe it - Xie Lin didn't push her away?
It was unknown how long it took, until both of them were slightly out of breath, Zhang Qiu finally let go of her hand, but she did not retreat, but kept a very close distance, gently resting her forehead on Xie Lin's shoulder, and asked in a hoarse voice: "Are you going to push me away again?"

Xie Lin did not answer immediately. He looked down at the girl in his arms. Zhang Qiu's eyes were slightly red, and his lips were particularly red because of the kiss. There was still some stubbornness and unwillingness in his eyes.

He sighed helplessly: "Zhang Qiu..."

"You obviously like me, right?" she asked stubbornly.

Xie Ling closed his eyes, as if trying to restrain something. After a moment, he finally said softly, "Yes."

Zhang Qiu held his breath.

Her heartbeat seemed to be about to burst through her chest, and a complex emotion surged in her eyes, like joy and disbelief.

"Then why did you..."

"Because I don't want to hurt you." Xie Lin whispered, with a hint of bitterness in his tone, "I already have too many girlfriends. I'm not a good man, Zhang Qiu, you don't know what it means to be with me."

"That's my problem, not yours." Zhang Qiu interrupted him firmly, "I know what I want."

Xie Lin was silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out and gently pinched the tip of her nose, his tone helpless and doting: "You..."

Zhang Qiu frowned in dissatisfaction and was about to retort, but Xie Lin had already leaned over and kissed her again.

This time, he was the one who took the initiative.

Zhang Qiu’s eyes widened, and the next second he was completely immersed in it.

His kiss was no longer passive and hesitant as it was at the beginning, but was full of undisguised tenderness and possession, as if he was declaring something, and as if he was accepting something. Zhang Qiu's heartbeat was completely disrupted, and she couldn't even think, and could only let herself be surrounded by his breath.

After a long time, their lips parted, Xie Lin pressed his hand against her forehead and whispered, "Okay...you wanted to jump in."

Zhang Qiu's mouth corners slightly raised, and his eyebrows showed undisguised joy: "I am not a casual person."

Xie Lin smiled: "Yeah, I know."

He bent down and kissed her forehead, his voice low and hoarse: "But I'm glad that you are an exception for me."

Zhang Qiu blushed and gently put her arms around his waist.

The candlelight in the corridor flickered gently. The night was quiet, with only the overlapping shadows of the two people.