Shield Charm

Rome wasn't built in a day.

The terrible relationship between the Weasley twins and Filch clearly had its reasons.

Last night, George and Fred had spent the entire evening huddled together discussing how to take revenge on Filch and make the old man suffer. In the end, Lee Jordan had joined them to discuss it too.

And the result?

The three of them had stayed up all night and couldn't get up in the morning.

In the end, Albert had returned to the dormitory after breakfast and woken them one by one, saving them from being late to their morning Herbology class.

"So sleepy." George stifled a yawn, holding a slice of bread as he ate while walking.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have discussed that rubbish with you two." Lee Jordan finished the slice of bread in his hand and stared at the untouched slice in Fred's. "If you're not eating that, give it to me. I'm not full yet."

"Who said I wasn't eating it?" Fred quickly stuffed the bread into his mouth and took a bite, then asked, "Want some?"

Lee Jordan looked at Fred in disgust, then turned away and refused to look at him again.

"By the way, after talking for so long last night, what sort of plan did you come up with?" Albert asked casually.

"We're planning to throw a few U-No-Poos at the door of Filch's office." Fred grew a little excited at the mention of it.

"That's it?" Albert was speechless.

They had discussed it all night just to come up with that?

As they headed toward Greenhouse One, they suddenly heard a scream from the corridor ahead. The group exchanged looks. When they approached, they found Peeves floating in the air, holding an inkwell and blowing ink bubbles at passing students.

Someone, furious at this, threw a crumpled paper ball at Peeves, trying to drive him away.

Peeves easily dodged the paper ball and cackled at him. To retaliate against someone for throwing something at him, he actually sprayed ink from his mouth, splattering the other person's face.

The student's face twisted with rage, but there was nothing he could do about Peeves. In the end, everyone could only shield their heads with books and dash through the corridor.

"Peeves, are you a ghost?" Albert studied the mischievous man ahead. This was his first time seeing Peeves. He had a pair of wicked black eyes and a huge mouth, but he was very small, and wore a hat covered in bells.

One look was enough to tell: he was someone with a truly nasty sense of humor.

"What do you think?" Peeves stared at Albert and the other three, a wicked smile tugging at his lips and making their scalps tingle.

"Obviously not. Ghosts can't pick up inkwells!" Albert drew his wand, swept it forward, and shouted, "Armor Charm!"

The torrent of ink splashed toward the four of them was blocked by Albert's Shield Charm.

Even Peeves froze, never expecting to miss.

"You nasty little brat!" After the inkwell was knocked away by the Shield Charm, Peeves made a rude gesture at Albert and flew off.

"No wonder everyone hates Peeves." Lee Jordan looked at the ink stains splashed across his clothes, nearly mad with anger.

"Scourgify!" Albert raised his wand and pointed it at the ink on the floor. The Scouring Charm made most of the ink vanish.

"Actually, there's no need to clean it up. Maybe we should leave a few more footprints in the corridor." The twins exchanged glances and happily stopped Albert. After all, Filch would be the one cleaning the corridor, and Peeves was the culprit behind all this. It had nothing to do with them.

"Forget it, let's go." Albert shook his head. "Be careful not to be late."

"How did you do that just now?" When they reached the entrance to Greenhouse One, George curiously asked about the spell.

"You mean the Shield Charm?" Albert looked around at the students crowded outside Greenhouse One. Most of them had fallen victim to Peeves, with ink stains on their clothes.

"Shield Charm?" Fred muttered thoughtfully. "I feel like I've heard of it somewhere."

"The Shield Charm is a fairly useful defensive spell. It can block most physical and magical attacks," Albert explained casually. He had already spotted Professor Pomona Sprout coming over. Everyone automatically made way for the Head of Hufflepuff to open the door to Greenhouse One.

"Where did you learn it?" Lee Jordan asked curiously. "You really know a lot of spells."

"I found it in an extra book I bought. It seemed very useful, so I learned it. It took quite a bit of time." Albert told a small lie. He had directly mastered the Shield Charm by spending experience.

After all, there was no harm in mastering a spell that could protect him.

"It must be difficult for us. Still, the fact that you learned it is so cool." George entered the greenhouse with an admiring look on his face. "As long as we learn it, we won't have to worry about someone hexing us."

Albert couldn't help rolling his eyes. At the level of Hogwarts students, it was just rookies squabbling with each other.

"What happened to you?" Cedric Diggory, standing across from Albert, looked in astonishment at the classmates covered in ink.

"It was Peeves. He was throwing ink around in the corridor just now. You're lucky; he just left." Fred answered irritably. His trousers had been splashed with ink too.

"Open One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Today's lesson will give you a general idea of what Herbology teaches and what you should learn from this class." Pomona Sprout was a short, plump witch with a kind smile always on her face. In their first Herbology class, she taught them to identify some of the herbs in the book and understand their uses.

Albert felt that Herbology was similar to Muggle botany. Students needed to learn how to care for and use plants, while understanding their magical properties and applications.

Many plants could be used as ingredients in potions and medicines, while others possessed unique magical effects.

Dittany was a representative example.

Dittany was a plant with magical properties. It could be used to make potions and was also highly effective at healing wounds.

Pomona explained that, because not all wounds could be healed through magic, Dittany had made enormous contributions to healing.

Wizards had understood how to use Dittany to treat themselves long ago. They would chop the plant up and apply it directly to wounds.

Modern wizards, meanwhile, extracted Dittany essence. Just a tiny amount could heal wounds very effectively, and wounds treated with Dittany would not leave scars.

The only regret was that there was not much wild Dittany left. Most of it now had to be cultivated artificially, and learning how to care for Dittany was one of their main subjects this term. It would also be on their exams.