Disillusionment Charm

The Gryffindor Common Room was packed with students that afternoon, everyone sitting on the sofas and chatting.

There were only so many seats in the Common Room, and with so many people crammed in, it was noisy and crowded. Albert had no intention of lingering there. He pinned the first-years' timetable onto the noticeboard, returned his camera and photos to the dormitory, then headed straight for the library on the fifth floor of the castle.

There were no other students in the library. Then again, even among Ravenclaw students, few would step into the library before term officially began.

The only person in the library was the librarian, Madam Ilma Pins, who sat quietly behind the counter reading alone.

Madam Pince only looked up as Albert approached the counter, seemingly a little surprised that someone had come to the library at this hour.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm looking for some books on Charms. Do you know which shelf they're on?" Albert asked softly.

Albert could have looked for them himself, but the library held no small number of books. It would take time and effort, and asking the librarian directly was the fastest option.

Madam Pince glanced at Albert and pointed toward a row of wooden bookshelves. "Section C, the fifth shelf."

Albert followed the direction of her finger. After thanking her, he walked toward the shelves in Section C. His gaze paused briefly on the rope leading to the Restricted Section before he continued deeper inside. The fifth shelf contained quite a few books on Charms.

As Albert ran his hand over the book spines, his fingers suddenly stopped. His panel had actually presented him with two quests.

Reading Maniac.

As someone who loved reading, how could he miss the largest magical library in all of England?

Read a total of 100 books at least one inch thick.

Reward: Randomly master 3 types of magic and raise them to Level 3.

Current: 0/100

Forbidden Magic Zone.

The Restricted Section of Hogwarts hid many secrets. As someone who loved magic, how could he possibly miss it? If he could borrow a few books from there for careful study, it would help improve his magical ability.

Successfully persuade five professors to allow him to borrow five books from the Restricted Section.

Reward: Skill level +1.

Current: 0/5

Both quests were absolute traps!

Reading one hundred books was no easy feat, and they all had to be an inch thick. Was he supposed to finish one hundred brick-sized books?

They could crush someone to death if they fell on them.

There was no way he could complete that quest anytime soon. If he managed to finish it within three years, he would have Merlin's blessing to thank.

The second quest was even worse. Getting professors to write permission slips for borrowing books from the Restricted Section was no easy matter.

And he had to get slips signed by five different professors. That made it even harder.

In Albert's impression, the easiest one might be Gilderoy Lockhart.

Still, the higher the difficulty, the better the rewards. A skill level increase was far more powerful than a skill point.

Now was not the time to think about those quests. Albert cleared his mind and casually pulled out a spellbook titled Eighteenth Century Charms Selection.

He opened the table of contents and counted. It recorded thirty-three Charms, each one detailing its inventor, how to cast it properly, and the significance of its invention...

After reading the contents, Albert lost interest in the book. He had not found the Disillusionment Charm in the table of contents.

The other spells were not bad, but they were of no use to Albert for the time being. Learning them would require a great deal of time and energy, or he would have to use the experience stored in his Experience Pool.

There was still plenty of experience in the Experience Pool, but Albert did not want to use it.

He shoved Eighteenth Century Charms Selection back onto the shelf and pulled out another book, Charms Achievements. It was a book introducing Charms, and Albert found the Disillusionment Charm in it.

Unfortunately, the book did not explain how to cast the Disillusionment Charm. It only mentioned some attempts involving the spell.

However, based on the information it provided, Albert found records related to the Disillusionment Charm in Nineteenth Century Charms Selection.

That was undoubtedly good news.

Holding Nineteenth Century Charms Selection, Albert sat at a library table, opened the book, and read it carefully.

The Disillusionment Charm had been inspired by chameleons. It allowed a person to blend into their surroundings, creating the effect of invisibility.

A skilled wizard using the Disillusionment Charm would not be easily noticed, but a clumsy one would have a hard time fooling others. If their body failed to blend into the surroundings, it would give people an inexplicable sense of incongruity.

As Albert focused on reading about the Disillusionment Charm, someone pulled out the chair across from him. He looked up and found that it was the Ravenclaw girl he had met in the Great Hall that morning.

Apparently sensing Albert's gaze, she looked up as well, gave him a slight nod, and returned her attention to her book.

"Just what you'd expect from a Ravenclaw," Albert muttered quietly, then continued reading the precautions for the Disillusionment Charm, preparing to find somewhere to practice.

Next, he needed to find the counter-spell for the Disillusionment Charm.

The charm's duration was not particularly long, but if he did not know how to dispel it, he might have to wait for its effects to fade before becoming visible again. That was hardly a good idea.

There was no relevant record at the end of the entry, but Albert found the Revealing Charm in Charms Achievements.

Albert took Nineteenth Century Charms Selection to Madam Pince to check it out. He then picked up a stone outside the castle to use as a practice target. Naturally, he was not stupid enough to cast an unmastered spell on himself.

Just as Albert was considering where to practice the Charm, the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan appeared in the entrance hall, panting heavily.

"Where did you go at noon?" Albert asked, looking at the three of them.

"Fifth floor... mirror." George was so out of breath that he could barely speak clearly.

"Where does that passage lead?" Albert asked.

"Outside the castle. We went to Hogsmeade Village." Fred's face was lit up with excitement. On their first day at Hogwarts, they had actually discovered a Secret Passage leading out of the school.

Albert raised an eyebrow. "So... you spent a few hours playing in Hogsmeade before coming back?"

"No, that Secret Passage was really long. We walked for nearly an hour."

"You guys... are amazing!" Albert forced out the words. Walking for an hour was torture to him.

After all, as a couch potato, if he could sit on a sofa and read, why would he go crawling through a Secret Passage? It took two hours there and back.

What was the point?

"This is what I found." Albert raised the book in his hand. "I borrowed it from the library."

"You found that spell." Fred immediately understood what Albert meant.

"Uh, I found it." Albert was a little impressed by Fred's quick wits. "But mastering it will be somewhat difficult. If you want to learn it, you'd better be mentally prepared."