They quickly served up heaping bowls of the hearty stew.

  The first bite was incredible. The magical meat was tender, and the rich sauce g to each rib, pag it with fvor.

  Hagrid devoured the meal, singing Alex’s praises between bites.

  "Ah, this is the best meal I’ve had in ages!" Hagrid said, rubbing his full belly. "You’ve got some real talent, Alex."

  Alex smiled, satisfied with the pliment. Seeing someone appreciate his cooking made the effort worthwhile.

  "Gd you liked it, Hagrid. I’ve got a few more recipes up my sleeve for ime."

  Ohey’d finished eating, Alex borrowed some part and a quill from Hagrid and begag something. After Hagrid finished his soup, the two sat down to chat, letting the evening wind down.

  When it started getting dark, Alex realized it was nearing curfew.

  "I should probably head back to the castle," he said, standing up to leave.

  Before leaving, Alex asked Hagrid for a favor.

  "Are you pnning on going to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley soon?"

  Hagrid nodded. "Aye, I’ll be heading to Hogsmeade in a few days. o pick up some supplies. What do you need?"

  Alex handed Hagrid a piece of part.

  "Could you check the prices for potions and herbs while you’re there? And, if possible, could you get a bcksmith to make me one of these?"

  Hagrid looked down at the paper, which had a drawing of a rge iron pot and a spatu, with measurements and specifications.

  "A cooking pot?" Hagrid asked, chug.

  Alex nodded. "Yeah, something sturdy. With it, I’ll be able to cook up even more delieals ime."

  Hagrid agreed to help, promising to gather all the information Alex hough Hagrid wasirely sure what Alex nning, he was happy to lend a hand. After making pns with Hagrid to visit agaihe weekend, Alex left Hagrid's hut and made his way back to Hogwarts Castle.

  As he crossed Clock Square, he heard a loud crag noise ing from the dire of the Astronomy Tower.

  'Looks like those two groups have finally cshed.'

  He figured Charles was involved in the chaos, but he had no iion of running over there to get caught up in the mess. There was a good ce he’d be seen as an enemy by both sides if he interfered.

  Shaking his head with a small, sarcastic smile, Alex ighe otion and headed straight back to the Slytherin on room.

  Once he returned, Alex noticed something iing—he felt unusually strong. It seemed the magical meat of the Teb had a strengthening effe his body. Pleased with this newfound boost, Alex sat down to tinue his study pns.

  He opened his Potiobook first, thinking it might be a good idea to learn more about potion-making. His goal was to master a few practical potions and, if possible, make some extra money by selling them. But first, there was still plenty of spellwork to focus on.

  Meanwhile, at the Astronomy Tryffindor and Slytherin had indeed exged fire. The csh betweewo houses marked the beginning of a more intense rivalry at Hogwarts.

  The day, after his usual m run, Alex ehe Great Hall for breakfast. He immediately noticed something was off. The Gryffindor and Slytherin tables were signifitly emptier than usual. At this time of day, the Hall was typically packed, with most students gathered for breakfast. Today, however, the two tables had many missing faces, and those who were present were gring at each other across the room, ready to start anht at the slightest provocation.

  Alex’s eyes sed the Gryffindor table, spotting Charles, who seemed unharmed and in good spirits.

  Charles noticed Alex too and gave him a brief nod.

  Before Alex could sit down, Vivienne appeared o him, her eyes wide with excitement.

  "Alex! Did you hear what happened yesterday? It was a huge deal! I’ve got first-hand news—do you want to know?"

  Alex g her with his usual calm expression.

  "I don’t know, and I don’t o know. You don’t have to tell me either."

  Vivienne pouted, clearly disappointed by his ck of enthusiasm. "Ugh, Alex, you’re s! But I’m going to tell you anyway," she said, uo hold back her gossip. She told her story, barely taking a breath.

  "Last night, Gryffindor pnned a secret party at the Astronomy Tower, but the pure-bloods from our house got wind of it. They wao pull a prank on Gryffindor—nothing too serious, just some dungbombs and a few jihey even po block the tower entrao trap them. But guess what? Gryffindor caught them sneaking in, and it turned into a full-blown fight! There were injuries on both sides. When Professonagall and Filch showed up, everyone scattered, but most of them got caught.

  Now, they’re all fag detention for the month or two."

  Vivienne grinned, clearly enjoying the drama. "Both houses got 50 points deducted! Vanessa is furious, and it’s only been two months since school started. It’s going to be impossible for us to win the House Cup at this rate."

  Alex listened quietly, impressed by Vivienne’s knack fathering information so quickly. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a bit disdain. 'What a waste of time.' These wizards caused all that trouble just for a prank? They deserve to get caught.

  With that, Alex decided tet about the whole i and foore important things.

  Later, it was time for the Magic Club meeting. Alex arrived early, eager to follow up on something he had learned from Lily. She had mentioned some notes hidden in one of the books in the club's library, and Alex was curious to find them.

  Heading to the bottom shelf behind the podium, he found Magic Defeheory and pulled it out. Just as Lily had said, there were several pieces of part tucked inside.

  As Alex skimmed through the book, he noticed it tained notes written in Lily’s handwriting. The notes were detailed, mostly fog on defense spells and ter-curses, with some ses expining the development of new spells. She had even worked on ways to apply these spells to ented items, developing something called "emotional protective magic."

  Acc to Lily, the strength of protective spells could be greatly enhanced by infusing them with stroions—particurly positive ones like love aermination. The strohe emotion, the more effective the prote.

  One of the runes Lily had developed looked familiar.