Chapter 48: Chapter 48
"How about I propose something else?" Albert said as he looked at the three people with expectation.
"What does this proposal entail?" Fred said. He wanted Albert to help them complete their plan, but they were fine with him adding to their plan.
"If one one you distract him long enough, the other could get THAT," Albert said as he glanced at the twins' confused expression.
"You don't mean that, do you?" George said as he could remember something from his way out from Finch's office last time. "But that requires someone to distract him long enough for the other to take it."
"What are you talking about?" Fred said as he looked dazed. He had no cue about what the two of them were talking about.
"The cabinet with all the Confiscated items that Finch took over the years," George said.
"That's not a bad idea. Let's do it," Fred said as his eyes lit up.
"But for that, you need to know the Unlocking Charm," Albert reminded.
"Why don't you get the stuff while we distract Finch for long enough?" George said as he stared at Albert with confusion.
Albert glanced at the two of them and said, "If Professor McGonagall ever finds out, I'll be kicked out of the Transfiguration Club."
"Fair enough," the twins said in unison. "But can you help us learn the Unlocking Charm, please?"
"Okay," Albert said.
"So, when do we start?" Fred said.
"As soon as we get back to our room," Albert said as he waved to Lee Jorden, who was running towards them. "I have a few locks I could put on our draws so you can practise."
Lee Jorden soon joined up with the trio. After finishing eating in the Great Hall, Lee let early to go to the toilet and to find out what happened to the boy who threw Dung Bombs at Finch.
"The boy that threw the dung bomb was called William Evangelia. He was caught and Finch had decided he was going to be punished by cleaning all the chamber pots in the castle and polishing the trophy room," Lee said.
"If you get caught, Finch will probably punish you to clean all the toilets in the castle," Albert said as he chuckled and lead the way to the Gryffindor Common Room.
===
Lee Jorden was stunned at the scene in front of him. The twins, by their own initiative, get out a book and read. He was unsure what happened in the ten-minute window he left to go to the toilet.
"Found it, Fred, its on page thirty-two," George said.
Fred frantically turned the page until he found it he skimmed to page and read, "There are many ways to pass through locked doors in the magical world (see the Fire-Making Spell, Gouging Spell, and the Reductor Curse) where you wish to enter or depart discreetly, however, the Unlocking Charm is your best friend."
George continued, "The Unlocking Charm, | Alohomora |, also known as the Unlocking Charm or the Thief's Friend, is a charm that unlocks objects such as doors or windows. It can also open doors locked by the Locking Spell, | Colloportus |, and acted as its counter-charm. The Anti-Alohomora Charm could prevent this charm from working on a locked target."
Fred and George sprang up from their seats and practiced it on the locks Albert had placed in front of them.
"Concentrate, pay attention to you wrist motion. It should be a smooth 'S' shaped curve," Albert said as he sat on his bed and analysed the twin's wand motion.
"What ein Merlin's name has possessed theses two? They never get a book out and practice without you forcing them." Lee Jorden said quietly.
"They want to break into Finch's office and take the stuff from the Confiscated Cabinet. For that, they would need that spell," Albert said as he gave Leee a lock from his bedside draw. "Anyway, they'll earn it eventually in Charms with Professor Flitwick, and there's nothing wrong with getting ahead of the class. You should also practice. I'll help if you get stuck."
"Thanks." Lee said as he drew his wand and practised.
After they failed several times, Albert told them what they were doing wrong and tried to correct them to the best of his abilities. They again tried, and to his surprise, Lee had opened his lock. However, the lock split into two. Albert then picked up "The Dark Forces: a Guide to Self-Protection" and flicked the book to his bookmark. After fifth-teen minutes of reading, he put down the book and shifted his attention to the trio, who appeared to give up.
"Have you guys admitted defeat?" Albert said.
"Temporarily, I still haven't replicated what I did before," Lee said as he look quite flustered. He had practiced for almost twenty minutes and there were no visible improvements.
"Don't stress about it too much," Albert said. "Just try to stay calm and let it be natural as possible. Don't bend magic to your will without having an obvious intention of what you want magic to do, as that could have disastrous consequences. Remember when Professor Flitwick gave the example of Wizard Baruffio?"
"Yeah, horrible what happened to him," Lee said. "I'm tired, so I guess I try again later. Have you finished reading that?"
"Not yet. I'm halfway through," Albert said. "I'm in the chapter that introduces magical creatures and what to do if I encounter them, but they aren't too detailed. They basically same the same thing repeatedly, but change to words to fit the context."
"Yeah, you're better off reader 'Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them' or another book that is based on protection against Magical animals," Lee said.
After practicing for another fifth-teen minutes, the twins gave up and collapsed on their bed.
"When will we be able to learn this spell properly?" George asked.
"We can open it, but it becomes damaged when we do," Fred said.
"You need to practise consistently to get the basics for them spell nailed down. Once you do, you'll find it easier to do each time you use it," Albert said. "And I don't know why you're so hung up on that when you can't do Lumos properly. Remember Lumos is easier."
"Touche"
"No need to hurt our feelings"
"It's just that I didn't expect it to be that hard to learn," George said.
"It's one of the harder ones there, so I don't blame you," Albert said.
"Didn't you say you learnt all the spells in the textbook? Did you learn all thirty?" Fred asked.
"Basically yes. I learnt all of them, but I need time to focus before I do some of them, like the time when we opened Professor McGonagall's storeroom door," Albert said. "I can do most of them to the most basics of masteries."
"Basics? You could probably do it better than most of the first and second years," Lee said.
"Yeah, most of the first and second years. If you compared me to the third years and above, I'm terrible plus we're only learning the basics of the spell," Albert said.
"How are we learning the basics? I'm pretty sure the fifth years cast Lumos in the same way as us," Fred said.
Albert got his wand out and cast, | Lumos |. He then willed it to leave the tip of the wand and float for a few seconds before it collapsed. "Basic. We're learning how to cast it but not to use it. We just say Lumos and wait for a light to appear but haven't you wondered what else you could do? Could you change the brightness, or the colour? Could you make it flow around you and change its shape? There are an infinite number of possibilities of what we could do with this, yet we only learnt to turn it off and on."
"Do you think anyone has done what you said?" George asked.
"Yes, plenty. I'm sure people like Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick have tried in their younger years."
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