Chambers let out a long breath.
That had been one hell of a deep dive.
He turned and saw Charlie still hunched over the scroll, fingers tracing the runes back and forth like he was running calculations in his head.
The professor clapped him on the shoulder, making him jump. "Easy. Understanding takes time. You don't have to get it all at once."
He drew his wand and swept it across the parchment. Every note and auxiliary line he'd added vanished, leaving only the clean, original design.
"You can take this with you," Chambers said. "Study it at your own pace."
Charlie stared at the scroll like it was buried treasure.
"I can keep it, Professor?"
"Of course. It's not worth anything. If these old notes were actually valuable, my bookshelves would've made me richer than the Malfoys by now.
Besides, if I were really that stingy with knowledge, why would I bother teaching? For the salary?"
Chambers said it like a joke, but there was truth underneath. Alchemy and Potions were two of the highest-paying careers in the wizarding world. Both were brutally difficult to master and incredibly useful once you did.
Charlie rolled up the scroll. A question suddenly surfaced in his mind.
If money wasn't the main draw, then what actually kept someone teaching at Hogwarts?
Voldemort had been obsessed with getting the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. Why?
"So why did you decide to teach, Professor?" Charlie asked.
He wanted to believe some people did it out of pure love for the job. He just didn't think that was true for everyone.
"First, the knowledge. Second, the stability.
Hogwarts is a safe harbor. Not just for students—for the professors too. Stay inside these walls and most people won't come looking to cause you trouble. Of course, as a teacher you're also expected not to go looking for trouble yourself.
As for the knowledge… Hogwarts has a thousand years of history. Its library is almost unmatched anywhere. The good, the bad, the newest theories, the oldest secrets—if you actually want to learn, this castle can give you almost anything.
The bad stuff too, obviously."
"Yeah," Charlie said quietly.
A place where students could theoretically get their hands on instructions for making Horcruxes probably didn't exist anywhere else.
He pictured the library in his head and did some rough math. If he pulled out every book he was actually interested in, the collection would shrink by half. Then if he removed the useless, vague, or redundant ones and kept only the truly worthwhile material, he'd be down to about a quarter of the original shelves.
Even then it was still an enormous amount of reading.
Could he finish even ten percent of what he wanted in seven years?
"What are you thinking about?" Chambers asked, watching him.
"I was thinking I need to study hard so I can come back here and teach one day. There's no way I'll finish all the books I want to read in seven years."
Chambers looked genuinely pleased. "I'm glad to hear that. Though I suspect you'll be even more interested in keeping your chocolate business going."
"Maybe I can do both," Charlie said with a small smile.
"All right. If there's nothing else, take the design notes and go. You're welcome to come back whenever you have more questions."
Charlie tucked the scroll under his arm. "Thanks, Professor. I'll head out then."
"Goodbye."
Outside the office, Charlie checked the corridor windows. The heavy gray clouds had thinned out quite a bit. Sunlight was finally breaking through.
He pulled out his pocket watch. It was already noon.
He hadn't realized the lesson had gone that long.
Thinking back on how cheerful Chambers had been the whole time, Charlie smiled to himself. Whatever had put the professor in such a good mood, it had worked out in his favor.
He glanced toward the stairs. Down to the Great Hall for lunch, or up to the eighth floor?
The answer came immediately.
He couldn't waste time. Chambers had dumped an enormous amount of information on him and he hadn't taken any notes. Going to lunch right now would be stupid.
He needed to get to the Moonlight Club, write everything down while it was still fresh, and start digesting it.
That meant he wouldn't be making it to Flitwick's office this afternoon either. Spell practice could wait.
Charlie headed straight for the eighth floor.
Once inside the club, he spread the scroll across the desk and immediately started reviewing everything Chambers had explained that morning.
Time disappeared.
The Room of Requirement had no windows. No daylight, no breeze, no birds or insects. Nothing to remind him the outside world existed. Charlie slipped into that familiar state where he could focus completely on whatever was in front of him and lose all track of time.
When he finally looked up, it was already evening.
"Shit," he muttered, forcing his eyes wider. They felt dry and bloodshot. Every joint in his fingers ached from gripping the quill for hours.
But the work had paid off. He finally had a solid grasp on what Chambers had taught him. If he could clear up a few small remaining questions, he could start designing his own alchemy arrays.
Not today, though.
His stomach was in open revolt. The second he pulled his attention away from the scroll, it started cramping and growling angrily.
He capped the ink bottle, rolled the parchment back up, and left the club.
Heading downstairs toward the Great Hall, he hadn't even found Anthony and Hector yet when Harry caught him.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were moving quickly through the corridor outside the Great Hall. Harry looked tense. The other two seemed unsure what was going on.
The moment Harry spotted Charlie, relief flashed across his face. He hurried over and grabbed Charlie's shoulder.
"Charlie, come with us. Something important just happened. We need a private room."
Without waiting for an answer, Harry turned and led them around the side of the Great Hall.
Once they were inside an empty classroom, Harry immediately started checking the corners and behind the desks.
"What are you doing?" Charlie asked, scratching his head.
Ron looked just as confused and shrugged. "No idea. Oh—Charlie, you missed the match today. Big mistake. Dumbledore showed up!
And Harry won it faster than anyone's ever done it. We spent the last hour celebrating.
Snape's plan completely fell apart. He was trying to hand Hufflepuff extra points, but he didn't get the chance."
"Never mind that for now," Harry said, turning back to the group. "We can talk about the match later."
Hermione frowned. "What were you looking for just now?"
"Checking if Peeves was around," Harry answered. Then he started describing what he'd seen earlier.