HP: The Boy who saw Magic

When Kevin pushed open the door of the dormitory in Ravenclaw Tower, three pairs of eyes immediately turned toward him. He blinked his gray-blue eyes and instinctively touched the alchemy box hidden in the inner pocket of his robe.

"You finally decided to come back?" Ernesto leaned against the four-poster bed, dissatisfaction flickering in his gray eyes. "You've been like a ghost these past two days. You disappear as soon as class is over, and you can't be found in the library."

Wesley's reddish-brown hair shone like a flame in the candlelight. He sat cross-legged on the bed. "We thought you were locked up in a broom closet by Peeves!"

Fabian pushed his glasses up on his nose and added gently, "Seriously, Kevin, where have you been? I couldn't even see you at dinner."

Kevin closed the door gently. He had expected such questions and raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "Professor Victor has been looking for me. He wants to teach me alchemy."

The dormitory suddenly became quiet. Confused expressions appeared on three faces at the same time, as if they had just heard Professor McGonagall announce the cancellation of the final exams.

"Wait," Ernesto straightened up and asked first, "that weird one-eyed professor? Why is he suddenly teaching you alchemy? Isn't he the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

Kevin shrugged and took out the ebony box from his inner pocket: "Maybe it's because I'm particularly talented?" He said in a deliberately relaxed tone, while opening the box to show the alchemical tools inside.

Wesley jumped out of bed. "Merlin's beard! These are real!" He touched a silver stirring stick carefully. "Much better than the rusty ones we found in the Chamber of Secrets."

Fabian leaned in to observe, the metallic luster of the equipment reflected on his glasses: "No wonder Professor Victor paid special attention to you in class. It turns out that he wants to accept you as a student."

Kevin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had succeeded in changing the subject. He closed the box and said, "I want to use these to renovate the alchemy area of Eagle's Nest. The previous equipment is too old and many of them can't be used."

"My family sent me some things," Ernesto said suddenly, with a hint of reluctant pride in his voice, "I wrote to them before and asked for some things that will fit in the Eagle's Nest. I can take them to the Eagle's Nest tomorrow."

Kevin was a little surprised, then nodded: "Then let's go directly after class tomorrow?"

"Of course!" Wesley said excitedly.

Fabian smiled and shook his head: "No matter what happens tomorrow, we have to rest now, everyone!"

The lights in the dormitory were soon turned off and everyone went to rest.

The next afternoon, as soon as the last History of Magic class ended, the four of them hurried through the corridor, avoiding the crowd and heading for the fifth floor. Professor Binns' monotonous voice was still echoing in their ears, recounting the boring History of Magic.

"This way," Kevin led them around a hidden corner, "I found a shortcut yesterday."

His "Eye of Truth" could see faint traces of magic on the wall, marking the secret passages that Hogwarts students had explored over the centuries. After turning several seemingly dead ends, they stopped at the entrance of the Eagle's Nest.

"Eagle's Nest, we're back!" Wesley pushed open the door impatiently.

The sun shone in from the high colored windows, illuminating the classroom that they had simply renovated before. The room was much larger than an ordinary classroom, and the four corners were transformed into different functional areas: the left side at the front was a study area filled with books and parchments; the right side was Fabian's herb planting area; the middle was their alchemy laboratory table; and the back was the entertainment corner that Wesley had insisted on setting up, as well as the space previously intended for spell practice.

Of course, among these functional areas, only the learning area was actually usable—the others were mostly for show. The herb area only had Devil's Snare and Dictamni.

"Okay, let's get to work." Kevin rolled up his sleeves and walked towards the alchemy area. The equipment there did look shabby, with a few rusty crucibles, a set of broken glassware, and an old stone slab with vague runes engraved on it.

Ernesto took out a velvet bag embroidered with the family crest from his arms: "Take a look at these first." He poured out a few glittering utensils: two small metal plates, an exquisite metal box, and a palm-sized oak box.

"This is…" Kevin picked up a metal disc, and the "Eye of Truth" immediately captured the fine magical patterns on it.

"Adjustable target," Ernesto explained, his tone barely concealing his pride, "An alchemical tool from the Griffith family. When injected with magic power, it can become a target of a certain size, and it can also record the strength of the spell to a certain extent."

Fabian was already fiddling with the oak box curiously: "What about this one? It looks like…"

"It's a material storage cabinet," Ernesto took over the conversation. "It has a preservation spell and a traceless extension spell cast on it. The space inside is ten times larger than it looks on the outside. My father said it's suitable for storing volatile magical materials."

Kevin carefully opened the box. There were dozens of small boxes neatly arranged inside, each emitting a faint magical fluctuation. He looked up at Ernesto: "These…are they very valuable?"

Ernesto's gray eyes flickered. "No one will use them at home anyway." He paused and lowered his voice. "Besides, we also need these for our eagle's nest."

Wesley grinned and patted Ernesto on the back: "See, our pure-blood young master can be cute sometimes!"

"Shut up, Cruz!" Ernesto's ears turned red and he felt a little embarrassed.

Kevin smiled as he took out the tools Professor Victor had given him, and arranged them according to the diagrams in some alchemy books he had read before. On the central laboratory table, he placed a silver crucible and a matching stirring tool; on the left were glassware of various sizes; on the right was the parchment with the hexagram alchemy array template that he was most interested in.

"What is this box?" Fabian asked, holding up the metal box.

"It's a small astronomical projection prop. It's not as impressive as the one we had in the astronomy class before, but it's okay," Ernesto replied.

"So where should we put it?" Fabian asked.

"Put it in the entertainment corner," Kevin pointed to the back, "There's nothing there right now, so you can watch this for entertainment."

The four of them got busy. Wesley was responsible for carrying the old equipment back to the secret room; Fabian sorted out the bookshelves and new equipment; Ernesto adjusted his target; and Kevin focused on setting up the alchemy array. The sun gradually set in the west, and the shadows in the room became longer and longer.

"Done!" Kevin adjusted the angle of the hexagram array and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The new alchemy area looked brand new: in the center were glittering silverware, on the left wall behind were the targets Ernesto brought, on the right was an astronomical projection observatory, and all the materials were neatly stored in the fresh-keeping cabinet.

Wesley couldn't wait to activate a target: "Watch me!" He waved his wand, "Wingardium Leviosa!" A football placed in the entertainment corner flew up and hit the enlarged metal plate, and the plate emitted green light.

"It's not bad that the target can react." Ernesto raised his eyebrows, "But watch me." His levitation spell made the target emit blue light.

"Why are the colors different?" Wesley asked, looking at the targets emitting different lights.

"Because these colors represent different intensities, green is the lowest, followed by blue, yellow, and red," Ernesto replied.

Then he added, "But you don't have to feel that you are incompetent. Being able to make the target show color means that you have mastered the spell to a certain extent."

Hearing their conversation, Fabian smiled and shook his head, taking out a few paper packages from his bag: "I brought some food from the kitchen, take a break."

The four of them sat on the carpet in the study area, sharing pumpkin pie and butter beer. Kevin's eyes swept over the newly renovated eagle's nest, and a warm feeling surged in his heart. Ten days ago, this was still a dusty abandoned classroom; and now, it has become their real base.

"Kevin," Fabian asked suddenly, the candlelight reflecting off his glasses, "Why did Professor Victor teach you alchemy alone?"

Kevin took a bite of the pie and chose his words carefully: "He said… I have talent. And my understanding of alchemy can help him in his research."

"That professor is really weird," Wesley mumbled with his mouth full.

Ernesto snorted. "My father said that people with one eye usually have a complicated past."

Kevin remembered the curse mark under Professor Victor's left eye and did not respond. He pointed to the observatory and said, "Ernesto, do you want to try your treasure? It's getting dark, perfect for stargazing."

All four of them walked towards the entertainment corner where the astronomical observatory was placed.

As Ernesto turned on the projection observatory, the Eagle's Nest suddenly became as bright as the starry sky, and the friendship between the four young people began to shine like the stars.

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