A little time has passed since the beginning of this school year. The new students this year are slowly integrating into the entire campus and gradually adapting to the new life of absorbing magic knowledge.
As they got used to the pace of learning day by day, many potential young wizards gradually began to stand out, showing some remarkable characteristics and abilities.
Just like Alexander Wolfe of Gryffindor House, his progress is obvious to all. In several classes, he not only showed several proficient applications of first-year spells, but today he even used the Forgetting Curse, which is only added to the curriculum in the second grade, and solved the mystery of the Boggart's identity on the spot. .
And for example, Hufflepuff College's Ens Taron, his first outstanding performance was actually earlier than Alexander. After he used the Levitation Charm in a Charms class and even Professor Flitwick praised him repeatedly, his name was remembered by many students.
Of course, recently, for some unknown reason, many little badgers have discovered that Enns always likes to run to the library these days, looking at the ancient rune dictionary that only students in third grade or above would look up.
As for the progress in magic, everyone felt that it was not very obvious - they couldn't tell for sure, maybe it was because he didn't take the initiative to show it
However, in addition to these two young wizards who showed their talents in practical applications, there is another student who cannot be ignored.
That is the little witch from Ravenclaw Academy who looks fresh and cute, but behaves like a lady. Her name is Sarah Hohenheim.
Before the first classroom test, the only reason why students remembered her was her appearance and personality; but after that test, her excellence immediately shocked many students who regarded her as a vase.
Yes, although she did not reveal her talents and talents in a hands-on way like Enns and Alexander. But the test scores she obtained were even slightly inferior to those of Hermione Granger, who was dubbed "Miss Know-It-All" by Snape.
If we had to compare, I am afraid that only Professor McGonagall, who was still a student back then, could hold her head high with the advantage of "the highest score in the entire subject".
However, Maka called her to come to the office for a talk at noon today, not because of her excellent grades. The first-year curriculum is very simple, and the specific development will depend on the future... Even for truly outstanding wizards, the school's teaching content can only be regarded as a starting point, and graduation will be the beginning of their lives.
"Miss Hohenheim," Maka smiled as she looked at Sarah who appeared outside the door and stretched out her hand to signal, "Please! I think you also know why I asked you to come over... Anyway, come in and have a seat first. !”
This is not the first time he has called Sarah over since the beginning of school. Because of this, he simply omitted the polite words.
"OK."
Seeing Maka casually inviting her, Sarah nodded gently.
Since she entered Hogwarts, her personality has been quite different from before. Of course, Maka has noticed this a long time ago.
In fact, compared to the rejection attitude Sarah showed towards him before, this girl is obviously much easier to communicate with now. But if Maka had to choose, he would actually prefer to face the original Sarah Hohenheim.
This is naturally not because Maka is a masochist and likes to be ravaged by little girls with disgusted eyes... Well, it shouldn't be right? This is just because Sarah has obviously kept that sense of distance in her heart and no longer shows it on the surface.
"Sit down!" Maka said casually after she sat down, "Would you like something to drink?"
"Thank you, but no need..."
Sarah immediately shook her head, with a smile on her face, but in the eyes of Maka, who was experienced in acting, this smile was somewhat fake.
"Professor Maclean, I can understand what you are saying. After all, I am now a member of Hogwarts. It's just... I don't want to participate in that game. I just want to learn magic knowledge well in school."
"But alchemy can actually be considered a part of magic..." Maka shrugged and persuaded, "Your alchemy is so outstanding. If you can go to this world-class competition to meet other outstanding alchemists, I will I think it will definitely be a big gain for you!"
That's right! To put it bluntly, Maka wanted to persuade Sarah to participate in the upcoming international alchemy competition. After all, she had personally experienced how her spirit could be transformed into Maka.
If he could get a good ranking in the competition, he didn't even need Sarah to win the championship - as long as it could bring an honor to Hogwarts, it would lay a more solid foundation for the school's future development.
And by the way, he can also learn more about this talented girl who always seems to be hiding something alone through the competition process.
But after listening to Maka's persuasion, Sarah still stubbornly shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Professor MacLean," she said, "I still don't want to participate in the competition... I'm sorry."
I originally hoped that she would change mentally after a period of time! But since she firmly rejected her proposal this time, Maka had no choice but to accept it.
"Okay!" Macaro nodded helplessly, "I understand. If you don't want to anyway, I won't force you... Oh, by the way! Your previous class test scores were very good, and other professors treat you well. The evaluations are very high! Since you don’t want to participate in the Alchemy Competition, then continue to work hard in school!"
Speaking of this, he changed his tone again and reminded:
"However, sometimes you should also pay attention to relax appropriately when you should relax... I heard that you have a little rest time!"
"I'll keep an eye on it," Sarah replied quickly, "So... Professor MacLean, can I go back to the common room?"
"Oh, of course..." Maka said, and was about to stand up to see her off, but then she thought about it, but paused and said, "Ah, Miss Hohenheim -"
Sarah, who had already stood up to leave, stopped slightly after hearing this.
"Anything else?"
"That's it..." Maka waved her hand, "It's not a big deal, I just have a little question... I wonder if you can tell me why you don't want to participate in the competition?"
Regarding Maka's "little problem", Sarah's face, which always had a peaceful smile, finally showed some hesitation.
Although she quickly put away her hesitation, Maka still caught it keenly.
"Well, if you don't want to answer, that's okay-" "Actually-"
Maka was about to take a step back to make herself appear less pressing, but Sarah unexpectedly answered this time.
"Actually," she said with an inexplicable meaning, "if I were to participate in that competition, it would be unfair to the other contestants, and... it wouldn't make any sense."
"It doesn't make sense?" Maka immediately repeated it to question.
"Yes," she said, "...that doesn't mean anything to myself, to others, and to the entire competition."
Sarah's explanation was not so much an explanation as a re-emphasis of the previous answer. This would inevitably make Maka confused, but Sarah seemed not to want to continue discussing this topic.
"Professor McLean, I'm going back first."
After leaving these words, she did not forget to salute politely, then walked around to the door, opened it and left slowly.
"... Do geniuses like to say half of what they say and let others guess the rest?"
Maka had mentioned before that neither he nor Hermione could be called "geniuses". But this young lady from the Hohenheim family is indeed worthy of the word "genius".
Of course, talent often does not mean everything, hard work and luck are also extremely important factors. If a genius does not know how to work hard, he may be surpassed by those with mediocre qualifications who climb on the shoulders of giants.
So Maka doesn't envy Sarah's talent. What he wants to know is actually the process by which Sarah obtained this talent. If she agreed to participate in the alchemy competition, maybe Maka would be able to see something from her performance.
"Mysterious little girl..."
Maka thought for a while, and finally chuckled and shook her head.
Everyone has a little secret, no matter what Sarah is hiding, at least he didn't detect any malice from the other person. If that's the case, then just wait until she wants to say something before he touches her and understands her!
After thinking about it like this, Maka stood up from the stool, stretched, and then wandered towards her desk.
Since he has been very busy during this period, he has to squeeze in time to do research on magic. No, now that he has talked with Sarah, he should seize the time to mess with his own affairs.
However, exactly the opposite of Macana's dedication to working hard for Hogwarts, there is a student who is also rushing day and night, but he is doing it entirely for himself.
It is still the lunch break, and everyone is chatting or taking a nap in the common room. But Master Malfoy, who had also just had lunch, was sitting alone in an empty dormitory, reading silently and expressionlessly into a notebook.
He was the one who was tricked by Enns in the corridor at night. But to say whether he should be called out by Professor McGonagall in front of the whole school, it can only be said that it is a matter of course.
Although Filch used him as the target to vent his anger because of his anger, Professor McGonagall also punished him well. But in fact, the severe punishment imposed on him was not excessive.
Because, that night, he secretly ran to the restricted area of the library.