17 Chapter 16 - A certain magical cube

The trio made their way to charms class together and were greeted at the door by Professor Flitwick excitedly watching his students come to class.

Professor Flitwick- "Ahh perfect Ms Greengrass, Ms Rosier and Ms Granger great to see you both though I am a bit sour young Ms Greengrass is not one of my Ravens I look forward to our time together. Come grab your seats and class will get started shortly."

Daphne - "Hello Professor, I regret not being a part of your house but someone needed to sort the Gryffindors out, I have heard all about "reckless and idiotic Gryffindors" from my parents and was surprised myself to be placed there" responded with a smirk looking directly at Harry as she mentioned what their house was well known for.

Harry snorted and put his hand up saying "I am guilty of such accusations I hope you can straighten me out Daph"

The class burst into laughter at the duos interactions. Professor Flitwick giddily walked to the front of the class and climbed his pile of books before greeting everyone

Professor Flitwick - " Ahh to have three of the highly touted witches and wizards along with Mr Potter in my class at once is a treat indeed. Alright class take out your books and open to page 46 the levitation spell Wingardium Leviosa shall be the first charm we will touch on. For this spell your wand movements and enunciation are very important. It is a straightforward swish and flick, Ms Rosier care to demonstrate to the class the right way to use the spell."

Arya responded "of course Professor" before taking her wand from her wand holster on her left hand in one deft movement. Professor Flitwicks eyes glowed appreciatively at the smooth fluid movement of his young Raven 'I should have expected nothing less of her after I watched her duel. I shall teach you everything I know Ms Rosier and between Mr Malfoy and yourself I have no doubts you will take the wizarding world to unprecedented heights in the future'. Arya cleared her throat before pointing her wand at the feather that was in front of her and said "Wingardium Leviosa" in tandem with the correct wand movement floating the feather up into the air in front of her. The class was taken aback by the ease she executed the spell while both Daphne and Hermione merely grinned knowingly at her.

Professor Flitwick - "Excellent wand work Ms Rosier, 5 points to Ravenclaw. Alright class you saw how it is done remember the wand movement must be exact and you must believe you are capable of the spell and it will work. The will and intent of the caster are extremely important especially for beginners in the use of magic."

The class continued on with other students attempting the spell, the majority struggled on their early attempts aside from Daphne, Theo, Hermione, Harry and Chad who all got it on their first attempt. After most of the class had successfully executed the spell Professor Flitwick cleared his throat and waved his wand. The feathers disappeared from the desks and were replaced with a strange black cube.

Professor Flitwick - "Alright class, we are going to make this a bit more interesting. We are going to have a competition on the use of the levitation spell. In front of you all is a enchanted cube, its weight can be consistently changed from the weight of a feather all the way up to a 5 tonne block. Now of course I do not expect any of you to reach such a weight but as a class we will test your magical strength and control and keep increasing the weight. Your task is to use the levitation spell on the cube and perform a figure eight with it in the air. The top three students will be awarded points to their house accordingly and will be allowed to keep the cube as it is an excellent way to train your control and magic core as consistent use will deplete your core allowing it to continuously strengthen as you improve. Unfortunately these are expensive and I am only allowed to award three cubes to each class in first year."

Arya and the others were taken aback, this would be an amazing way to improve their magical prowess. Glints of determination could be seen in their eyes as they had never heard of such a way to strengthen their magical core even from their families. The students all took out their wands and prepared themselves. The starting weight for all the cubes was a single feather. Every student in the class were able to do it, surprising some as they had not perfected the charm yet but the potential prize motivated them enough to get it done. Professor Flitwick smiled to himself seeing his students excel in front of him. As the weight was raised some students failed to perform the task and could only frown to themselves but were motivated to improve so that they don't miss out on an opportunity such as this ever again. By the time the cubes weighed 60 kilograms there was only Arya, Harry, Hermione, Daphne, Theo and surprisingly Chad left in the competition. At this point all their breathes were staggered and sweat could be seen glistening on their foreheads. Arya and Theo seemed to be affected the least, Arya because of her second magical maturity already taken place and Theo for his excellence in charms and magical control. When the weights hit 65 kilograms Hermione lost control of the cube before she could complete the figure eight. She pouted as she was now out of the competition but was quickly reassured by Professor Flitwick.

Professor Flitwick - "Do not despair Ms Granger honestly you were the most impressive in this class in my opinion, you have to realize as a muggle born you are at an initial disadvantage. Yet you successfully lasted this long beating out numerous Pure Bloods and Half Bloods. Your remaining competitors are all heirs to a most ancient and noble house and have higher expectations layered on them from the moment they are born. Your determination and magical aptitude are fantastic, 10 points to Ravenclaw for tremendous determination and will."

Hermione smiled at the Professor before giving her thanks as she turned to watch how the rest of the competition would play out muttering to herself "Arya was completely right I must take advantage of what Hogwarts has to offer me and focus on the practical side of magic." The weight was increased to 70 kilograms and a noticeable strain could be seen on all the remaining students. Unfortunately this weight proved too much for Daphne who failed to complete her figure eight with the cube in the air. She could only snort in displeasure before looking at the remaining students realizing she was too far behind her friends and needed to work harder. Until she noticed Chad was still in the competition and started gaping like a fish and collapsing into her seat "wait I lost to Chad, you got to be kidding me" she said in disbelief and utter despair as a gray cloud appeared over her head.