Chapter 29: The Charms Professor Who Questions Life
Ryan was making some progress. He had switched from the weak, intermittent flickers to a steady flashlight mode, and the frequency of fluctuations was steadily decreasing. It seemed like he was close to achieving success.
Mikel, however, was struggling. The light on his wand was wildly unstable. At its brightest, it was blinding like a searchlight, but at its weakest, it barely glowed like a firefly and looked as if it might go out at any second. The more erratic the light became, the more anxious Mikel grew. And the more anxious he became, the less control he had over the spell. It had turned into a vicious cycle.
"Hey, um..." Kyle tried to offer some help, but before he could say anything, he noticed Mikel suddenly take a deep breath and sharply raise his wand.
For reasons Kyle couldn't explain, a sense of foreboding rose in his chest, as if something terrible was about to unfold. The feeling hit him so suddenly that he didn't even have time to process it. Almost instinctively, he turned away, bowing his head and squeezing his eyes shut.
At that exact moment, a blinding flash of light filled the Charms Classroom, as if a flashbang had just gone off. The burst of light was intense but brief, disappearing after a second, though its effects were catastrophic.
The unexpected brilliance caught most of the young wizards off guard, blinding them. Cries of pain and panic quickly filled the room as students clutched at their eyes, stumbling, pushing, and trying to escape the classroom in disarray.
Even Professor Flitwick wasn't spared, though his years of experience kept him calmer than the frantic students. Fighting off the discomfort, he called out in his high-pitched voice, "It's okay, everyone, don't panic! Stay calm, you'll be able to see in a moment!" Despite his reassurances, his words did little to quell the pandemonium. The classroom remained in chaos, filled with the sounds of panicked students. If anyone had walked in just then, they might've thought Voldemort himself had stormed the school.
To make matters worse, Flitwick had been turned in the wrong direction the entire time, his back facing the students as he yelled his comforting words at the wall.
The four wizards in the painting behind him were thoroughly unimpressed. Although they had been startled by the sudden flash, as portraits, they weren't affected by the aftermath. To them, Flitwick's current behavior seemed as ridiculous as a Tebo warthog with a lump on its head.