The New Light Orb Game

"The Holiday came to an end, and the excitement from the break still lingered on the students' faces, along with anticipation for the new classes.

Professor Fawley had mentioned that this semester would feature something different!

However, after experiencing the new class, their smiles disappeared.

"What were we even expecting?!" George, with a hot water bottle on his foot, showcasing the noticeable swelling, and angrily stuffing chocolate into his mouth.

Upon hearing this, the other third-year students in the common room, who were also doing similar actions, all wore bitter expressions simultaneously.

They had thought there would be a new and exciting game.

After all, they had grown tired of the Light Orb game, where the scores fluctuated within a point or two, without the initial joy of improvement.

But the game was indeed new, just torturous!

"What did you guys do to make such a mess in the classroom, in such a small space?" Ron asked, gloating.

George didn't even have the mood to retort; he chuckled helplessly, "It's still the Light Orb game, but with added movement."

Fred felt much better after finishing his chocolate, and so he explained to the still puzzled trio,

"We have to stand in the center of a grid, and every two seconds, we have to move to the correct square around us."

"Then, in the next two seconds, return to the center, and repeat this cycle. But at the same time, our hand movements can't stop; we have to keep playing the Light Orb game."

"Just that stepping on the correct square doesn't earn points, but stepping on the wrong square deducts points."

Hermione, puzzled, said, "Isn't that good? It can improve our agility."

George sneered.

"It's indeed good. It'd be even better if there weren't sudden clamps appearing when you make a mistake."

"Especially with eight squares, and only two are correct each time. If they happen to both appear behind you, your ankles will be clamped shut!"

"The difficulty level increased, and on top of that, everyone had to endure painful clamps. The more points were deducted, the more clamps appeared. Two minutes later, everyone's scores were less than half of what they used to be!"

After speaking, George showed them the red swelling and the jagged marks on his ankles. However, with the chocolate's effect kicking in, the swelling and marks were visibly receding.

Ron pushed away his smelly foot disdainfully, but he also realized the severity of the problem.

"We can't grow eyes on our backs!"

George and Fred seemed to recall the pain in the classroom, simultaneously sniffing and saying, "The professor said, the enemy's magic doesn't grow eyes. Only by learning movement in all directions can we better evade magic and survive in battle."

"How do we evade magic coming from behind?" Harry asked hurriedly.

At this moment, Percy came over with two bottles of potion, answering their doubts.

"Sensory potion!"

"Every magic has a magical fluctuation. By enhancing our sensory abilities, not only can we recognize magic from different directions, but we can also understand the power and characteristics of this magic based on feedback."

"At the same time, when we are facing an environment full of magic, we can judge which magic is harmful to us."

"Here, this is the potion I got from Madame Pomfrey. You two, drink it quickly!" He forcefully handed the potion to the twins.

George and Fred grimaced; the taste of the potion was unbearable just by smelling it.

"We worked hard to make Christmas badges for the professor, and this is how he treats us!"

"Decision made, remove Professor Fawley from our idol list for a month!"

They exchanged a glance, "Well, maybe just for a week."

After their decision, they pinched their noses and gulped down the potion.

Percy nodded satisfactorily.

"Since that's the case, then let's have the professor for ourselves! Let Professor Quirrell teach you little rascals!"

"Dream on!"

"Just because you received Christmas presents, you dared to spy on our professor!"

"You didn't even get the chance to sing Christmas carols to the professor!"

"Go keep company with your Garlic Professor!"

George and Fred tossed their empty cups, and the three of them started wrestling in the common room, rendering Hermione unable to ask her questions.

"First tell me, what was the professor's Christmas present?" She pouted discontentedly.

She had also given the professor a book, but it was clear that she hadn't received a gift from the professor.

Harry laughed as he watched them play, but he didn't forget to explain to Hermione.

"It's chocolate in the shape of little rascals, just like them, and supposedly there's a delightful potion inside, but Percy refused to eat it, and we don't know if it's true."

"I say, just getting the professor's chocolate is enough to make one happy. Unlike us, who only have Chocolate Frogs."

Ron raised a Chocolate Frog box enviously, an extra gift given to George and Fred as a Christmas present.

Just as he was halfway through opening it, Hermione snatched it away.

"Do you want some—"

He didn't finish his sentence before Hermione's actions stopped him.

"I found Nicolas Flamel here!"

Harry turned around and, with his sharp eyes, immediately saw the words.

"—Is particularly skilled in alchemy with partner Nicolas Flamel."

"Exactly!" He looked excitedly at Hermione. "If it's someone close to Dumbledore, then it must be this Nicolas Flamel!"

Ron pushed Harry's head away irritably; he didn't see anything. "What are you guys talking about?"

But Hermione hurried back to the dorm to find a book. Only when Harry gave him a glance at the wizard picture belonging to Dumbledore did he realize that the name they had been searching for was right under their noses.

"I have ten thousand pictures of Dumbledore!" Ron lamented, hitting his head. "But I didn't notice Nicolas Flamel's name was right here!"

At this moment, Hermione rushed back again, but this time, she held a thick book in her hands, the kind that could kill Harry and Ron if dropped.

With a "thud," she slammed the book onto the table.

"I should have thought of this earlier. Someone as famous as him couldn't possibly not be in books," Hermione muttered excitedly, flipping through the pages. "Look here!"

She suppressed her excitement and read softly, "Nicolas Flamel is known as the sole creator of the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Sorry, but you have to consider our situation, so what exactly is the Philosopher's Stone?" Ron scratched his head awkwardly.

Hermione glared at him indignantly. "The Philosopher's Stone can turn any metal into pure gold and can produce the Elixir of Life, which makes the drinker immortal!"

"Pure gold!" Ron's eyes widened.

"Immortal!" Harry exclaimed in astonishment.

She cautiously glanced around; fortunately, Harry and Ron were isolated from the rest of the school, and nobody wanted to come near them.

However, she failed to notice a faint glow from the badge Harry had placed on the table.

"That means Nicolas Flamel entrusted Dumbledore to protect the Philosopher's Stone, while Snape forced Professor Fawley to steal the stone!"