Charms Class

Charms Class

At around eight thirty, Albert's three roommates finally shuffled into the Great Hall, bleary-eyed.

"Morning!" Lee Jordan sat beside Albert, stuffing a huge mouthful of sausage into his mouth as he mumbled, "I feel like my legs are about to break."

"It's not that bad." Albert closed the Nineteenth Century Spell Selection in his hands and put it back in his bag, then lightly patted Lee's shoulder. "You just overexerted yourself. How about I take you to the School Hospital and have them give you some medicine?"

"Forget it!" The moment he heard "School Hospital," Lee Jordan immediately wilted, afraid Albert might actually drag him there.

The Twins sitting beside Lee Jordan could not help laughing. Fred, who was eating a golden fried egg, suggested, "I'm telling you... give your legs a few hard slaps. It'll greatly ease the soreness."

George added, "I can help you. For free."

"Are you two even human?" Lee Jordan glared at the Twins irritably and lowered his head to focus on breakfast.

"Stop messing around and eat quickly. The first class is about to begin, and I don't want to be late on my first day of school," Albert reminded them.

While they were eating, a sturdy red-haired boy approached. He sat down beside the Twins and asked with a smile, "Getting used to life at school?"

"Charlie, the Quidditch team starts training this early in the morning?" George stared at his outfit in disbelief.

"It's just a simple warm-up. After all, nobody's touched a ball all Summer vacation." Charlie spoke as though it were only natural. "This year, we have to win the Quidditch Cup."

Albert, sitting nearby, could not help shaking his head. "Kid, you really are too young. Don't you know raising death flags gets you killed faster?"

"By the way, Charlie, does the team still need people? Can we join the Quidditch team? George and I can be Beaters—you know what we're capable of."

"Don't even think about it. You've only just started school. You can't join Quidditch until your second year." Charlie said sternly, "If you pass the assessment Next Semester, I'll let you join the team. But not this term."

"There are always exceptions, aren't there?" The Twins winked at their second eldest brother and continued, "First-years can join too, as long as they perform well enough in Quidditch."

"Who said that?" Charlie Weasley snapped back irritably. Even as Quidditch captain, he could not act too recklessly.

After all, the Quidditch captain was responsible for all the Gryffindor students. Losing a match was one thing, but if they lost too badly because of personal favoritism, he would never be able to hold his head up in the house again.

The Twins suddenly turned to look at Albert in unison.

"Why are you looking at me?" Albert asked in confusion.

Charlie followed the Twins' gaze toward Albert, only to become even more baffled. He had no idea what those two mischievous troublemakers were up to.

"Player selection ended yesterday. You can try joining the team next year. All right, you can be reserve Beaters this year, but don't expect to get into any matches." Charlie Weasley cleared his throat, making it clear that he would not favor his own brothers in this matter.

In fact, the team's Beaters would graduate next year, so training replacements early was not a bad idea. Charlie also knew George and Fred's abilities well; at the very least, they had a better foundation than the others.

"Then we can take part in training too?" The Twins' eyes were filled with barely concealed excitement.

"You should be free this afternoon, right?" Charlie thought for a moment. "This afternoon... let me see. Come to the Quidditch Pitch at four thirty. I'll get a sense of your abilities first. And no causing trouble."

"We know," the Twins said together, nodding.

Before the bell for class rang, they hurried out of the Great Hall and headed for the Charms Classroom on the fourth floor. Since they had come here in advance the day before yesterday, the four of them found the Charms Classroom easily this time.

Gryffindor's Charms Class was held together with Hufflepuff students. By the time they entered the classroom, quite a few students had already arrived.

Shanna had arrived early with Angelina and the others, and they were sitting at a front table chatting with someone.

All the good seats at the front had been taken, so the four could only pick seats casually at the back. Albert did not particularly mind. He sat with Lee Jordan, while the Weasley Twins sat beside them.

Professor Flitwick entered the classroom when the second bell rang. The Charms professor was indeed astonishingly small, and he probably did have some goblin blood, just as the rumors claimed.

Because he was too short, Flitwick had to stand on a stack of books during class just to reach the lectern. But no one cared, nor did anyone mock his small stature.

Of course, everyone was at least a little curious about the professor's height.

Before class began, Professor Flitwick took out a register and began calling roll, giving Albert an immediate sense of being back in university.

During their first Charms Class, the small Charms professor showed everyone the wonders of magic. He made several books on the desk happily leap into a tap dance. Then they danced higher and higher, forming a line before the students and breaking into a lively dance to some unseen rhythm. All that was missing was a beautiful piece of music.

When everyone's attention had been drawn to the dancing books in midair, the books returned to normal and landed neatly back on the desk before Professor Flitwick.

Enthusiastic applause immediately broke out. Every student was captivated by the magical sight and could hardly wait to begin learning spells.

"To achieve that level, you still have a great deal to learn," Professor Flitwick said after the applause died down. "Now, open your textbooks to page three. You must first master some Charm Theory, which will help you better grasp and use spells in the future."

For most of the remaining time, Professor Flitwick explained Charm Theory. After making the students copy down a great many complicated and profound notes, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of wand movements and correct incantation pronunciation.

While Albert was concentrating on taking notes, he felt Lee Jordan nudge him several times with his elbow.

"What is it?" Albert turned his head helplessly and asked in a low voice.

Lee Jordan pointed at the Twins at the next table. They were pointing at Albert's Quill.

There was no need to say more. Albert already knew what they meant.

Those two had actually come to class without Quills. He really did not know what to say to them.

Albert placed his Quill on the desk and softly began reciting the Duplication Charm.

"Make one for me too, while you're at it." Lee Jordan scratched the back of his head.

"You didn't bring one either? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Lee Jordan chuckled. "I was afraid of interrupting your note-taking. Once you're done, you can just lend me your notes to copy."

Not only did Albert's mouth twitch, but Angelina and Aylia, seated in front of them, also looked back at them strangely.

Naturally, Professor Flitwick at the lectern noticed as well. However, he did not say anything. He continued explaining some Charm Theory that was not in the textbook.