This is What Ravenclaw Looks Like

In an age when communication tools weren't all that advanced, hiring someone for a paid job was still a hassle. It wasn't like the future, where you could just pop into a university temp group, ping someone in DMs, and settle most assignments easily.

Andrew had to make a notice, post it on the common room bulletin boards, and hope someone who saw it would contact him using the method he'd outlined. Only after discussion would they finalize the deal.

Fortunately, this task wasn't hard. He could post the notice in the Ravenclaw common room himself, and for the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor common rooms, he just asked a few classmates to help—and with just three Sickles, it counted as a favor more than a job.

"Forget Slytherin," he thought, "Even if some Slytherins wanted to come, their housemates would probably mock them until they gave up."

After confirming the notices were up, Andrew muttered internally while heading to the library. Although it had been a spur-of-the-moment idea to mimic the Bubble-Head Charm using Transfiguration, it was theoretically viable. To increase the success rate, he needed to prepare more on the theoretical details.

"Still not quite there…"

By Saturday morning, two days later, Andrew arrived early at the vacant classroom on the second floor to practice Transfiguration while waiting for the older students who agreed to collaborate.

Lately, he'd been trying to transfigure rose flowers out of different materials. But due to his limited magical power, the flowers lacked realism. Some materials couldn't even hold the basic shape due to their nature.

Knock knock knock.

The sudden knock caught Andrew by surprise. "Who knocks these days?" he thought. He quickly ran over to open the door. After all, this wasn't a job fair or club recruitment—good communication and cooperation were key to success.

"Ah, sorry. I was thinking and forgot to open the door."

He glanced at the visitor, unsure of their year, but could tell the person was a Hufflepuff student. "Come in, sit over here. Let's talk a bit before the others arrive."

The older student was clearly surprised that a younger student like Andrew was leading the session but didn't say anything, likely out of respect for the Sickles he was earning—three per hour was quite a decent rate among students. (Knuts were the lowest tier of wizarding currency.)

While chatting and going over this sixth-year Hufflepuff's class schedule, the other five senior students arrived. Most were sixth-years, with one fourth-year from Ravenclaw joining as well.

Andrew had each of them demonstrate their Bubble-Head Charm and cross-checked everyone's schedules. Unfortunately, he quickly realized there was little overlap. Only that first Hufflepuff student had a schedule that aligned with his; the rest could only collaborate with him on weekends, and even then, their shared free time was less than a day per week.

Moreover, this sixth-year had a clear and logical mind and communicated well—Andrew couldn't find a reason to reject him.

"Sorry. I should've included rest times in my notice. That was my mistake—you all came for nothing."

Apologizing, Andrew handed each upperclassman three gleaming Sickles. It was a steep price for a student, but it showed sincerity.

Everyone left with a smile, even telling him they'd be happy to help again in the future if needed.

"Mistake, my foot. This was all to curry favor with Dumbledore. Now I know a bunch of helpful and available upper-year students—totally worth it."

Once the others had gone, Andrew, who had booked a spot on the Astronomy Tower's outer wall, sat back down. "So, if there's nothing else, shall we begin our experiment… Nelly-senpai?"

"No need to be so formal. I think we should just use names—it sounds like we'll be talking a lot more than I expected. Actually, let's just skip names altogether. Easier that way."

"Alright then, could you use the Bubble-Head Charm again?"

"Of course."

"Don't stop—can you still cast spells while in this state?"

...

"Perfect. Do you feel any limitations when casting spells—like reduced power or increased chance of failure?""No? Wow, excellent."

"Hold on, I'll go fetch some water."

"Oh, you can use Aguamenti? Great. Please wait—I'm going to try to use Transfiguration to turn it into a water orb and cover the Bubble-Head Charm with it. If you feel any discomfort, tell me or just dispel it."

...

"It can push air out… but you don't feel like you're inhaling anything… Definitely not a purification spell…"

"This is an amazing spell. How does it feel under water? Any drain?"

"None at all? Identical to before?"

...

"Does running put pressure on the Bubble-Head Charm? Does it seem to wear off faster?"

"Can you do a handstand?"

The morning flew by, and Nelly—known for his good temper—was close to wanting to strangle the Ravenclaw first-year before him.

He had been utterly tormented. This lower-year was a textbook Ravenclaw—endlessly curious and full of absurd questions.

Earlier that day, Nelly had been glad to have landed such a well-paid gig. But now, he was deeply envious of those who had taken their payment and left.

"Merlin's beard… It's just a Bubble-Head Charm! This kid named Andrew basically dissected me!"

"I can't keep doing this. If I keep working, I'll die under his insane ideas!"

"He even tried to corrode the Bubble-Head Charm using different liquids. How did he even think of that!?"

While Nelly was resting and recovering from the spell, Andrew was furiously jotting down notes on the last experiment's results. Magic was amazing—and without the help of upper-year students, he could never have performed such in-depth analysis on most spells.

"As expected of a sixth-year—he really pulled it off!"

Many of the experiments had been on-the-fly additions as Andrew explored possibilities, but the older student still managed to keep up, even adapting appropriate magic on the spot.

"This morning's experiment was truly perfect," Andrew praised, closing his notebook (which in Nelly's mind would get a big fat 'F' from any normal teacher).

"Thank you so much for your help, Nelly-senpai."

Andrew handed him a whole Galleon. "This is the payment for the morning. Could we continue experimenting this afternoon?"

"We only started four hours ago!"

"Ah… of course. I don't have anything else going on."

"Fantastic! Then let's meet back here at 1:30."

Andrew smiled brightly—this morning had been incredibly productive.

T/N: For twenty chapters ahead on all my fics become a P@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle