HP: Hogwart's Model Wizard

Ryan was doing better; he had switched from the faulty connection to the flash mode, and the frequency was slowly stabilizing. It seemed he was getting close to success.

But Michael was another story. The light from his wand was incredibly unstable. At its brightest, it was blinding like a searchlight, and at its weakest, it barely glowed brighter than a firefly, flickering as though it might extinguish at any moment. The more it faltered, the more anxious he became, and the more anxious he got, the less control he had—creating a vicious cycle.

"Hey, you…" Kyle started to offer help, but as soon as he spoke, he saw Michael suddenly take a deep breath and jerk his wand upward.

For some reason, Kyle felt an ominous premonition rise within him, a sense that something terrible was about to happen. It came on so suddenly that he had no time to think. Without thinking, he instinctively turned away, ducked his head, and closed his eyes.

Almost simultaneously, a blinding burst of light, like an exploding flashbang, engulfed the entire Charms classroom. 

Though the intense light vanished after a second, the effects were catastrophic. Many of the young witches and wizards, completely unprepared, were hit squarely in the face with the flash. The next moment, agonized screams filled the room as students clutched their eyes, screaming and shoving each other, trying to escape the chaos. The classroom descended into complete turmoil.

Even Professor Flitwick got caught up in it, but being an experienced professor, he wasn't as panicked as the students. Struggling to endure the discomfort, he tried to comfort everyone with a high-pitched voice.

"It's okay, everyone, calm down! You'll be able to see again soon!" 

Despite his best efforts, the classroom remained in chaos. If someone didn't know better, they might think that Voldemort himself had attacked Hogwarts.

In addition, Flitwick's directions were completely wrong. He had been facing the wrong way the entire time, shouting at the wall behind him. The portraits in the hallway weren't impressed. Although they had been startled by the flash, they weren't as affected since the paintings weren't living beings. To them, Flitwick's frantic behavior seemed as foolish as a wounded Blast-Ended Skrewt stumbling around.

…

In the midst of all the pandemonium, only a few students, including Kyle, had managed to avoid the worst of it by instinctively preparing ahead. They tried to comfort their fellow students and help the ones who had fallen, attempting to prevent a stampede.

Only after a few minutes did the lingering effects of the blinding light begin to wear off, and the students started to regain their sight.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, this was a disaster!" Flitwick muttered, rubbing his eyes as he shakily descended from the podium. He had tried to step down earlier to comfort the students, but in his disorientation, he had missed a step and tumbled to the ground.

Flitwick was furious. After decades of teaching, he had seen all sorts of unexpected magical accidents: spells that backfired, levitation charms that summoned cows, or lock-opening charms that exploded locks. These things were all predictable—new students weren't always great at controlling magic, so mishaps were bound to happen.

But never, in all his years, had he ever expected a simple charm like Lumos to result in an incident like this.

With a mixture of frustration and disbelief, Flitwick led the way to the culprit. Michael was still lying motionless on his desk. Flitwick called his name several times, but Michael didn't respond. He remained perfectly still, like he was peacefully napping.

Flitwick sensed something was wrong and quickly went over to check. After a brief inspection, he concluded, "He's alive... looks like he fainted from magical exhaustion."

Upon hearing this, Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. Magical exhaustion here didn't mean he was out of mana like in a video game. It was more akin to a normal person who hadn't slept for two days and was now completely drained.

…

Flitwick stood there, dazed. Magical exhaustion? From a Lumos charm?

For the second time in just a few minutes, Flitwick questioned his life choices. Could it be that he had spent too many years at Hogwarts and was starting to miss the big picture? In all of magical history, he had never heard of anyone fainting from casting a simple charm like Lumos.

"Professor, should I take him to Madam Pomfrey?" Kyle suggested tentatively, noticing Flitwick still frozen in place. "He can't stay like this; it's better to get him checked out."

"Right... yes, take him to be checked out," Flitwick said absentmindedly. "Hurry up."

…

Once he received permission from Flitwick, Kyle quickly cast a Levitation Charm on Michael and began floating him out of the classroom.

Normally, Flitwick would have awarded points for something like this, but after everything that had happened… it was a blessing he didn't deduct any points. Anything more would've been asking for too much.

…

As Kyle stepped out of the classroom, he spotted a cat sitting at the corner of the hallway. Not a cat-woman, but a real cat, with amber eyes that blinked slowly, staring at him intently.

"Mrs. Norris? Oh, perfect," Kyle exclaimed. "One of the students is injured, and I need to get him to Madam Pomfrey. Could you help me find the way? I'm not sure how to get there."

Although the map Cedric had given him marked the hospital wing's location, he had never been there before and wasn't familiar with the exact route. But Mrs. Norris, being with Filch all the time, surely knew the way. If she could help, that would be perfect.

Mrs. Norris tilted her head, eyeing Kyle and the floating Michael for a moment. Without saying a word, she stood up and trotted off toward the stairs.

Did that mean yes? Kyle quickly followed her.

The trio—one human, one cat—navigated through the halls, taking a shortcut through a secret passage hidden behind a statue, and within minutes, they arrived at a courtyard outside the Great Hall. 

The area was known as the Pendulum Courtyard, named after the large grandfather clock standing in the middle. When Kyle arrived, Mrs. Norris was already sitting by the clock, her tail pointed to the stairs behind her, signaling him to go up.

"Thanks! I'll bring you some cat treats later," Kyle said, reaching out to pet Mrs. Norris. But she nimbly dodged his hand.

With a warning look in her amber eyes, she folded her ears back and turned to leave, disappearing into the shadows.

"Hmph, so proud," Kyle muttered to himself, withdrawing his hand in resignation. He then took Mikkel up the stairs. 

As long as they kept climbing, they would reach the hospital wing. The staircase was fixed, so there was no danger of it changing direction halfway up.

…

(End of Chapter)