Every student was at full attention, their eyes glued to Professor Chambers at the front of the room.
"I carved a tiny runic circuit into each of your creations," Professor Chambers began. "Every time your artifact triggered an emotional fluctuation in someone, the rune recorded it."
Charlie saw someone visibly exhale in relief. It was the bloke who had made the exploding pumpkin.
His creation wasn't exactly lovable, but it fit the Halloween aesthetic perfectly. If the metric was simply harvesting emotional spikes, he probably assumed he held a massive advantage.
"In third place: Miss Tiana Hope," Professor Chambers announced. "Your pumpkin carriage, flying endlessly high above the Great Hall, brought everyone right back to the fairy tale of Cinderella."
A smattering of applause broke out. The girl named Tiana stood up, a bright, irrepressible smile on her face, and offered a small bow to the room.
"Second place: Declan Knight. Your pumpkin castle was incredibly engaging—a remarkably unique, interactive toy that made absolutely everyone want to stop and look."
Charlie glanced over at Declan. He was the top student in the class, and his magical pumpkin castle was undeniably the most alchemically complex artifact in the room.
The tiny figures inside, animated via Transfiguration, moved as if they possessed genuine life. Declan didn't look particularly thrilled by the praise, however; he simply let out a resigned sigh.
"And in first place—" Professor Chambers swept his gaze across the room, flashing a deliberately mysterious smile. "Mr. Charlie Wonka."
The room didn't exactly erupt in shock. A fair number of students had already guessed the outcome.
What genuinely surprised Charlie, however, was—
"What?!"
The outburst was incredibly abrupt, echoing loudly out into the corridor.
Charlie looked over at the source. It was the exploding pumpkin bloke.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Rex?" Professor Chambers asked, looking at him with mild confusion.
"I... how is that fair?" he scowled, turning to point aggressively at Charlie in the back row. "He literally just stuffed a quill inside a hollow pumpkin! Besides, if the metric is harvesting emotions, who could possibly be more efficient than me? My pumpkin exploded—it triggered massive emotional reactions from dozens of people at once."
Professor Chambers didn't interrupt Rex's rant. Instead, he observed the rest of the class. It was glaringly obvious that several other students shared the exact same sentiment, though they were keeping far quieter about it.
"Certainly," Professor Chambers nodded slowly. "But Mr. Rex, your pumpkin was only capable of scaring people on the very first night. After that, the shock value completely vanished. Everyone knew to avoid the exploding pumpkin.
"Whether it's terror or delight, the element of 'surprise' only works once. Your emotional harvest placed fourth overall. Eighty percent of your recorded data was captured on Halloween night. Yes, it was highly effective then—a single explosion scared a massive group of students. But after that? No one fell for it again. They aren't fools."
Rex looked utterly unconvinced. He scowled and crossed his arms. "Fine. Even if my pumpkin wasn't a massive success... what about his? Professor, it's literally just a quill."
Professor Chambers let out an exasperated sigh. Before explaining, he shifted his gaze over to Charlie.
A sixth-year student throwing a public tantrum over losing to a first-year... it was a remarkably bad look. And it must have been incredibly awkward and humiliating for the first-year—right?
Professor Chambers paused. Under his gaze, Charlie was simply resting his head against his left hand, while his right hand casually sketched on a piece of parchment. He looked entirely oblivious to the fact that he was the dead center of the classroom's attention.
Chambers chuckled internally. He had no idea if the boy was faking his indifference or if he genuinely didn't care. Regardless, it was a brilliant mindset.
Clearing his throat to grab the class's attention, he continued, "Yes. It is merely a quill. So, where exactly is the alchemical value in that?"
Several students nodded quietly, harboring the exact same doubt.
"But before we dissect that, I want you to consider a broader question. How exactly does Alchemy help us? Or, since many of you are approaching graduation—how does Alchemy help you secure a career?"
"Of course it helps!" a Gryffindor student called out. "Loads of brilliant jobs require Alchemy. Corporations recruit alchemical talent every single year. You can't even get your foot in the door at Gringotts without it. Look at Bill Weasley—he landed his Curse-Breaker job at Gringotts entirely because of his stellar marks in Ancient Runes and Alchemy! I heard he travels the world for work now and makes an absolute fortune."
"Oh? You know Bill?"
The Gryffindor nodded. "He helped me out a lot. He was Head Boy back then."
"Precisely," Professor Chambers nodded. "That is one distinct career path Alchemy opens up. I call that path the 'Worker'. But there is another—"
Chambers met the eyes of his students and slowly articulated a single word:
"'The Creator.'
"To become a creator, you need more than just vast knowledge and exceptional skill. You need something far rarer: creativity! Oh, yes, it was merely a quill stuffed inside a pumpkin. But why did something so incredibly simple become so overwhelmingly popular? That is exactly what you should be analyzing."
With that, Professor Chambers looked over at Charlie. "Mr. Wonka, would you mind sharing your thought process behind the Oracle Pumpkin?"
Charlie paused, setting his quill down. He scratched his head and stood up.
"Of course. Honestly, it's just a simple psychological projection toy. 'What should I have for dinner?' 'Should I go on a diet?' 'Should I confess my feelings to them?' 'Should I apologize to my friend?'
"Whenever people face questions they struggle to answer, they inherently want to flip a coin. I just gave them a coin with more options. The 'heads or tails' doesn't matter, and the specific answer the pumpkin spits out doesn't matter either.
"What matters is that it bypasses the agonizing hesitation. It gives them a push. It makes the decision for them. Furthermore, I deliberately programmed the vast majority of the responses to be highly positive and encouraging. Absolutely everyone loves a positive affirmation; it gives them the confidence to make the leap. And based on the results, the concept worked brilliantly."
"It was massively successful!" a girl sitting in front of Charlie chimed in. "I went to it three separate times. It gave me a vague, fuzzy answer every single time. But reading it actually helped me realize what I wanted to do anyway."
"So, the answer is remarkably clear," Professor Chambers nodded. "Does anyone else have any objections?"
Rex stared at Charlie for a long moment before finally nodding and taking his seat. "My apologies, Professor."
"Questioning things is always a good habit," Professor Chambers replied, moving on so as not to waste any more class time. He pulled out a crystal ball and handed it to Charlie. "A small prize for the winner."