Time flew by, and soon it was the eve of Halloween.
As Chen Yu stepped out of the common room that day, he caught a whiff of roasted pumpkin.
Ron, trailing behind, stretched and, smelling the pumpkin scent in the air, remarked with emotion, "It smells so good! Tomorrow is Halloween. It looks like the House-elves have already started preparing for tomorrow. I'm so looking forward to it!"
Halloween is one of the important traditional festivals in the UK.
It is said that a long, long time ago, the Celts living in the British Isles would hold celebrations for the god of the disabled and darkness every October 31st.
On this night, they prepared many delicious dishes for benevolent ghosts to eat, lit bonfires on the hills in the wilderness to illuminate the surroundings, attracting good spirits and warding off evil demons.
The Celts also believed that on this night, ghosts and witches would fly on broomsticks, and witches would turn their cats into beasts to join the revelry.
Although Hogwarts is a wizarding school, it also celebrates Halloween. On Halloween, not only does the school have a holiday, but the Great Hall is also decorated with a Halloween theme for everyone to feast.
"How's business lately?"
"It's alright. Although there aren't as many people buying as before, a portion of our old customers still love our skewers. Fred and George even sent some of the money they earned to Mum. Mum, for once, praised the three of us in her letter for being sensible. That's truly rare."
Chen Yu's idea to sell skewers at school was a sudden whim, hoping to save up money to buy a Nimbus 2000 for himself.
He hadn't expected that running a small stall would require so much energy and time, and after a while, he gradually wanted to close it down.
Ron must have sensed Chen Yu's thoughts and introduced his two twin brothers, who had always wanted to open a joke shop in Diagon Alley after graduation, to him.
Ron was eager to make money, Chen Yu wanted to buy a Nimbus 2000 with money, and the two brothers wanted to accumulate initial capital to open their joke shop.
The four immediately hit it off.
Chen Yu was responsible for the technical know-how and sourcing channels.
The two twins were responsible for sales.
Ron was responsible for helping.
The profit distribution ratio was four, two, two, two.
Chen Yu took 40%, and the remaining three each took 20%.
Now, they distribute profits once a month, and he only needs to provide the seasoning recipe for the skewers and the sourcing channels for the kitchen.
The Weasley Brothers, with nothing else to do, would push their small cart around Hogwarts Castle, and also sell their prank and truancy inventions.
As for whether they would encounter Filch in the school corridors, the Weasley Brothers were not worried.
After all, in this school, no one knew better how to deal with Filch than the Weasley family's twin brothers.
As soon as they arrived in the Great Hall, some Little Wizards greeted Chen Yu and Ron.
After some time together, many Gryffindor Little Wizards had come to know this young man, who was said to have Eastern wizarding blood.
Especially the foodies, they were even more impressed with Chen Yu.
After finishing breakfast in the Great Hall, the rich, sweet pumpkin soup made Chen Yu miss soy milk and fried dough sticks.
It wasn't that the sweet pumpkin soup wasn't delicious, but Chen Yu preferred soy milk with fried dough sticks for breakfast, rather than pumpkin porridge with pumpkin cakes.
Chen Yu looked down at today's schedule.
There were two classes today: Herbology and Charms Class.
There wasn't much to say about Herbology; Professor Sprout continued to teach the Little Wizards how to cultivate these strange plants and fungi.
In Charms Class, Hermione and Ron seemed less happy.
Because today Professor Flitwick divided the whole class into pairs for team training.
Ron and Hermione were paired together, which annoyed both of them.
Since coming out of the room with Fluffy, the three's relationship had gradually become strained.
In Hermione's opinion, it was Harry and Ron's unauthorized violation of school rules that day that almost led them into danger.
And they hadn't apologized to her for their actions of breaking school rules.
Furthermore, in Potion Class, Snape always targeted Harry, and Harry and Ron kept losing House points.
Hermione felt that all the House points she had worked so hard to earn were going to be squandered by the two of them.
And Ron and Harry's continued self-willed behavior made Hermione furious.
Ron didn't care about the House Cup; after all, Slytherin had already won the House Cup for seven consecutive years, so one more or one less year didn't matter.
But Ron couldn't stand Hermione's often arrogant and bossy demeanor, as if everyone should listen to her commands.
"Very good, I've heard from other professors that some Little Wizards have already mastered the Levitation Charm and are using it very well in practice," Professor Flitwick said, looking at Chen Yu with approval. "But I also believe that other children are still very interested in the Levitation Charm."
Professor Flitwick then put on a serious expression: "The pronunciation of the Levitation Charm and the wand movement are key to learning the Levitation Charm. Remember that the pronunciation must be accurate. If you don't want to end up like the wizard Baruffio, who is written about in textbooks, with a cow standing on your chest, it's best not to say 'f' as 's'. Also, pay attention to the wand gesture. Watch my wand: swish and flick, then say the spell. Remember, it's swish and flick."
Professor Flitwick distributed the prepared feathers to each Little Wizards for practicing the Levitation Charm.
Professor Flitwick made the Levitation Charm sound very simple, but the Little Wizards still made many mistakes.
Seamus successfully set his feather on fire, and Neville's feather didn't move at all.
Ron tried to replicate Chen Yu's casting motion from the first Transfiguration Class, his wand quickly pointing at the feather repeatedly, muttering continuously: "Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!…"
Ron's waving motion was very fast, like he was desperately fanning the feather.
"It moved! It moved! It moved!"
Seeing the feather move slightly, Ron was very excited, thinking he had successfully cast the spell.
Hermione poured cold water on Ron from the side: "It didn't work at all; the feather was blown by the wind you fanned. Your spell was too fast. The professor said that accurate pronunciation of the spell is very important. You can't cast the Levitation Charm correctly like that."
"Chen Yu succeeded doing it that way!" Ron retorted, "I saw him practicing spells like that in class!"
"Chen Yu is an exception!" Hermione continued, "He's a genius at spells, which is why he's different from ordinary people in spell-casting. Look, besides him, who else can succeed practicing spells like that!"
"Then what about you?" Ron roared, "Since you know so much about the Levitation Charm, you try it!"
Hermione rolled up her sleeve, held her wand, and mimicking Professor Flitwick's movements, she swished and flicked her wand, pointing it at the feather on the table and saying, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather on Hermione's table slowly rose from the table with the wand's movement, suspended in the air of the classroom.
Chen Yu hadn't noticed Hermione and Ron's situation. After successfully casting the Levitation Charm, he asked Professor Flitwick how to improve the spell's accuracy.
The professor told Chen Yu that there was no shortcut to improving a spell's accuracy; it could only be achieved through extensive spell practice, leading to mastery through practice.
Professor Flitwick was answering Chen Yu's question when he saw the feather suspended in the classroom and immediately praised Hermione: "Look, Miss Granger also successfully cast the Levitation Charm!"
After seeing Hermione succeed, Seamus also tried to cast the spell to make the feather float, but his spell ignited the instructional feather, scaring Neville, who was in his group, so much that his face turned white, and his body trembled, fearing being affected by the explosion.
Ron became indignant when he saw Hermione successfully cast the Levitation Charm on her first try.
He suspected Hermione had been secretly practicing, otherwise, she couldn't have succeeded on the first attempt.
"If it weren't for my uncomfortable wand, I would have succeeded just like you!"
Ron continued to be defiant.
And he considered going to Diagon Alley to exchange his old wand for a new one after this semester ended.
"Then you also need to say the spell correctly."
Hermione scoffed at Ron's explanation.