Chapter 363: Defense Against the Dark Arts Worth Anticipating
Trying to alter the trajectory of the Summoning Charm turned out to be much harder than Kyle had anticipated. By the end of Charms class, he had only managed to make the quill stop about half a meter in front of him instead of coming directly to his hand. Determined to master it, he decided to keep practicing in the next class.
During the second session of History of Magic, Kyle continued his efforts.
Professor Binns, the ghostly instructor, had hundreds of years of teaching experience under his belt—and the dubious distinction of being Hogwarts' most "popular" professor for inducing sleep. He rarely intervened in whatever students did in his class unless their snoring became too loud, disturbing him while he droned on.
"In 1612, the goblins used a tavern in Hogsmeade as their headquarters and launched a rebellion against both male and female wizards..." he read in his usual monotonous voice, reciting directly from the book about the Goblin Rebellions.
Seated in the back row, Kyle seized the opportunity provided by the gentle snores around him, discreetly practicing the Summoning Charm under his desk.
Kanna, who had initially been trying to follow along with Professor Binns, soon found her attention drifting to the quill that kept bobbing and floating sporadically in front of Kyle. She recognized what he was working on from Charms class and couldn't resist watching for a while, trying to imitate his hand movements under her own desk. Her progress was slower than Kyle's, but at least it was more interesting than falling asleep.
Feeling both curious and bored, Kanna decided not to give up just yet. Determined to find something to do to stay awake, she pulled out her wand and quill again, quietly joining Kyle in his practice.
...
As History of Magic ended, students who had been dozing off stirred awake almost in unison, rubbing their eyes and gathering up their books with loud yawns, ready to head to the Great Hall for lunch. But just as Kyle reached the entrance, he was stopped—not by Hermione this time, but by Daphne Greengrass, a Slytherin girl known for getting straight to business.