A complete mess

"They're definitely going to fight again. Not one of them is willing to back down."

In the Common Room, Andrew packed his bag while discussing what they had seen that morning with his roommates.

"They've all been sent to repair the lawn. Can they still get into a fight?"

"We'll be lucky if they don't start fighting right there on the lawn. Either they all end up in the hospital, something else happens, or everyone who can rally a crowd gets detention..." Andrew zipped up his bag. "Just wait and see. It's only a matter of time—I'm going to the Library. Anyone coming?"

"It's the first day off of the school year... good heavens... Andrew, even for a Ravenclaw, you're taking this diligence thing too far..."

"It's because you're all so clever," Andrew said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and shifting the blame onto them, "that I'm under so much pressure..."

He had already spent the morning watching Quidditch with his roommates; now he needed to catch up on his work. Professor McGonagall had told him before he enrolled that some people arrived at school knowing more than wizards who were about to graduate. The gap was far too obvious for him to leave it alone.

"Wait, I'm coming too!"

"All right, count me in..."

In the end, everyone else in the Dormitory got dragged into studying at the Library.

"Look at this spell!"

Hal lowered his voice, drawing Andrew out of the world of Transfiguration. The five of them occupied most of a long table, and Hal had even come around from the opposite side to show him.

[...

Here, I must introduce a little jinx that was very popular during our student days. It was quite the fashion when we were at school.

It is not a spell officially included in any textbook, and it does not even have a fixed name among students. None of that makes it any less useful.

We affectionately call it the "Shoelace Charm," because this spell, whose inventor is unknown, primarily targets shoelaces. Once cast, it tangles your opponent's shoelaces tightly together, producing an effect similar to the Leg-Locker Curse—but that is not its main purpose.

I am sure you have guessed by now that this is magic meant for use in class, because even when the incantation is whispered, it can still tie those annoying pests' shoelaces to their chairs...]

"What do you think, Andrew?"

Hal wore a mischievous grin.

"Pretty cool." Andrew nodded. As a rule, the strength of a wizard's spell had a great deal to do with the volume of the incantation. As Professor Flitwick put it, the louder the incantation, the firmer the confidence, and the stronger the spell.

It was hardly surprising that a spell which let you cause trouble in a whisper had become popular among students...

"I'll copy it down, and we can try it when we get back... There are several other interesting spells like this in the book..."

Hal looked thoroughly pleased with himself. He had searched through several promising-looking books before finding this entertaining one.

"Copy a few more. You might collect all your Chocolate Frog cards this term."

"Of course I will. Knowledge is a precious treasure."

Despite the occasional interruption, Andrew successfully finished the thesis Professor McGonagall had assigned before dinner. By then, his other roommates could no longer bear to stay in the Library.

Following Hal's discovery, they had found a total of five little jinxes that looked manageable for first years, and they were now itching to try them.

There was still a while until dinner, but considering that Madam Pince might throw him out along with the others when she came to eject them, Andrew returned to the Dormitory with his roommates.

"Time to test the new spells! Come on, everyone try one, and share any breakthroughs!"

"Just enough for one each..."

Andrew eyed Hal suspiciously. "Are you sure you didn't slip in any spells beyond our abilities just to make it one each?"

"They're all little jinxes—and we're not casting them on people. At worst, we'll summon a bull. Besides, I suspect Professor Flitwick made that story up to fool us."

Of course he had been fooling them—he had merely left out who had done it, using an adult wizard's mistake to warn the first years.

If every first year could produce a bull with a single spell, Hogwarts would probably have been trampled flat by herds of cattle long ago. It was simply a warning to make new students take care when casting spells.

In reality, when most new students failed to cast a spell, the result was that their feather did not even bother to move—unless their movements were wildly off and their wand stirred up too much of a breeze...

Andrew's assignment was suspiciously convenient: he had received the spell that made shoelaces move.

After some thought, he removed the laces from an old pair of shoes and began trying to cast it.

The others followed his example. Apart from spacing themselves out at Andrew's insistence, they simply began practicing their spells on the objects they had chosen.

"I suspect this charm is fake... Can it really make rain fall on someone's forehead until this whole big cup of water runs out?"

"This quill does feel a little sticky, but I suspect that's just because I've picked it up so many times my hands are sweating..."

"Count yourself lucky... Making a book occasionally bite your fingers when you open it... Hal, are you really sure you copied it correctly?"

"Same here. No reaction... I think that book tricked me."

Hal himself was growing a little discouraged. He had done his best to select spells that looked suitable for first years. All of them targeted objects; slightly harder spells that also worked on wizards were beyond novices like them.

"Mine's working fairly well. At least the shoelaces moved, but tying knots will take some more practice." Andrew shook his head in disappointment too. "As for making it work in a whisper, I don't think I'll manage that for at least two or three months."

"Well... looks like we've got a long way to go... Andrew's is the only one that seems possible to cast, but if I have that much time, I'd be better off looking for more conventional defensive spells..."

Hal looked disappointed. "No hope of Chocolate Frog cards, then. Let's head to the Dining Hall early. Food comes first."

However, when they reached the Dining Hall, another tragedy struck: according to the well-informed Hufflepuffs, dinner would probably be delayed by half an hour.

Although the Hufflepuffs refused to reveal any more information, the truth of the matter soon came out anyway.

To prevent another all-out battle among the first years, Filch had decided to supervise them personally—though Andrew thought he was planning to catch them again. As a result, Peeves, the notorious spirit who caused trouble even under close surveillance in the Castle, had been left largely unwatched.

And just a little while earlier, Peeves had wreaked havoc in the Kitchen and got hold of a pile of bread. He was now at the Castle's main entrance, using the dinners of the Gryffindors and Slytherins who had worked all day as ammunition to bombard them.

The battle was currently at a stalemate, but since it was Saturday, the upper years had gone to Hogsmeade and the professors were off enjoying their day off. The war would not be ending anytime soon...