Hogwarts: I Am Such a Model Wizard

Chapter 362: The Summoning and Banishing Charm

Half an hour before her first lesson, Hermione followed Kyle’s advice and went to see Professor McGonagall. Kyle didn’t know if she would choose to keep using the Time-Turner or take only the classes she could attend without it. But judging by the thoughtful, conflicted look on her face when she returned, he guessed it would be the former. Hermione looked as hesitant as she had when she’d left, which suggested she’d already made up her mind.

But even if she used the Time-Turner, Kyle wasn’t too worried. The conditions required to interfere with someone outside of their own time were highly complex—and, in any case, the special Time-Turners were exceedingly rare, with few wizards having both the knowledge and power of someone like Salazar Slytherin to manipulate them.

Pushing the thought aside, Kyle climbed the stairs, heading to his first Charms class of the year.

...

Professor Flitwick’s Charms class, however, was moving at a slower pace than Kyle would have liked. For their first lesson of the year, the topic was the Summoning Charm, “Accio”—a charm Kyle had mastered well before starting at Hogwarts. In fact, Oren had covered it briefly when discussing defenses against magical creatures at the end of first year, including the charm’s hand movements and incantation. Back then, few students had paid much attention.

“AccioQuill,” Kyle murmured, waving his wand lightly. A quill floated off the shelf and into his hand.

“Perfect demonstration! Five points to Hufflepuff!” Professor Flitwick beamed at him before turning to the class. “All right, everyone, give it a try. This charm is quite simple, but please remember—when reciting the incantation, you must focus intently on the item you wish to summon. Imagine it as clearly as possible… and keep your wand hand steady. Otherwise, it might land on your head!”

As he had when teaching them the Levitation Charm in their first year, Professor Flitwick passed around quills, though this time they had to not only levitate but fly directly into their owners’ hands.

He walked around the classroom, offering patient corrections wherever needed. When he reached Kyle’s desk, he found him coaching Ryan on the hand motion for the charm. Ryan’s attempts had repeatedly gone astray, either summoning the wrong quill from across the room or swiping the one belonging to Mikel. The quill in front of him, however, remained perfectly still.

“That can happen if there are several similar objects nearby,” Professor Flitwick explained, stepping up to help. “Try marking your quill with a bit of ink to make it easier to focus on.”

Ryan nodded, realizing his oversight, and quickly searched his bag for a bottle of ink.

After that, Professor Flitwick turned his attention back to Kyle.

“I had a feeling this charm wouldn’t be much of a challenge for you,” he whispered with a smile. “So I have an extra task for you in today’s lesson.”

“Of course, Professor,” Kyle replied, intrigued.

“Try altering the trajectory of the Summoning Charm so the quill appears somewhere other than directly in front of you.”

Professor Flitwick gave a light wave of his wand, and the quill on the table floated up. Instead of coming straight to him, it twirled a few times in the air before landing gracefully in Kyle’s hand.

Kyle looked at the quill now bouncing playfully on his palm. “This is still a Summoning Charm?”

“It’s a specialized application,” Professor Flitwick explained, “sometimes called the Summoning and Banishing Charm. Many think that once they know the Summoning Charm, they can rely on it exclusively or substitute it with the Levitation Charm. But I’ve always believed they have distinct uses.”

A nostalgic smile spread across Flitwick’s face. “The first time I won a dueling contest, I used a well-aimed rock to knock my opponent’s wand clean out of his hand.”

Kyle regarded the quill thoughtfully, understanding Flitwick’s point. The key difference was that the Levitation Charm couldn’t affect living things, but the Summoning Charm could. This made it far more versatile in certain scenarios.

“Professor, is the incantation the same?” Kyle asked eagerly.

This advanced version had a lot of potential uses beyond quills and stones. He could think of some lively magical plants—like Chomping Cabbage, Venomous Tentacula, or even a fresh Mandrake—that would make an impressive surprise if they could be summoned with a controlled trajectory.

Professor Flitwick chuckled at Kyle’s enthusiasm. “The incantation remains the same. The real trick lies in manipulating the ‘tracing magic’ as the summoned object moves, so you can guide it to a different spot.”

“Give it a try,” Flitwick encouraged with a twinkle in his eye. “Consider it a challenge. I think I had something about Tracing Magic in my notes from your third year.”

“Yes, it’s on the same page as the Summoning Charm,” Kyle confirmed, raising his wand.

“Accio Quill!” he incanted, concentrating on making the quill take a more creative route.

A quill floated off a nearby shelf, wobbling mid-air as it veered left, then turned in a shaky loop before bobbing backward slightly. It finally staggered over and plopped into Kyle’s hand.

Professor Flitwick, watching intently, gave an encouraging nod. “Not bad at all… Though this requires fine control, so it’s perfectly normal for the charm to misbehave on the first try.”

He cleared his throat, beaming. “But I’m confident you’ll have this perfected with a few more tries. Remember, the key lies in adjusting the Tracing Magic.”

With that, he walked off with a purposeful stride. “Mr. Todd, Mr. Weasley… we’re working only with quills right now, so put those Exploding Snap cards away…”

Before he could finish, several Exploding Snap cards collided mid-air with a deafening crack, sending small sparks and puffs of smoke through the room.

Fortunately, these were harmless, just meant for fun. But the noise had startled half the class, causing several students who were just about to cast the Summoning Charm to fumble, dropping their quills to the floor.

As for the students responsible, they each lost ten points and earned a double assignment for their troubles.