Shield Charm

Shield Charm

Rome wasn't built in a day.

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

The previous night, George and Fred had spent the whole evening huddled together discussing how to get back at Filch and make the old man suffer. In the end, even Lee Jordan had joined them.

And the result?

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

In the end, Albert returned to the dormitory after breakfast and woke them one by one, preventing them from being late for Herbology class.

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

"I should've known better than to discuss that nonsense 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 it, give it to me. I'm not full."

"Who said I wasn't eating it?" Fred swiftly stuffed the bread into his mouth and took a bite. "Want some?"

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

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

"We're planning to throw a few Dungbombs at the door of Filch's office." Fred became a little excited as soon as he mentioned it.

"That's it?" Albert was speechless.

You spent an entire night discussing that, and this was the result? As they made their way to Greenhouse One, they suddenly heard a burst of screams from the corridor ahead. They exchanged glances, and when they approached, they found Peeves floating in the air with an ink bottle in his hand, blowing ink pellets at passing students.

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

Peeves easily dodged it and cackled mockingly. To retaliate against someone throwing things at him, he actually sprayed ink from his mouth, splattering the other student's face.

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

"Peeves, are you a ghost?" Albert sized up the mischievous figure ahead. It was his first time seeing Peeves. The fellow had a pair of wicked black eyes and a huge mouth, but he was rather small, with a hat covered in bells perched on his head.

One look was enough to tell—he was the sort of fellow with a nasty sense of humor.

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

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

The mass of ink being splashed at the four of them was blocked by Albert's Shield Charm.

Even Peeves froze, having never expected to miss.

"Annoying little brat." After the ink bottle 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 splatters on his clothes, nearly driven 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 disappear.

"Actually, there's no need to clean it up. Maybe we should leave a few more footprints in the corridor." The Twins exchanged looks 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 at the entrance to Greenhouse One. Most of them had fallen victim to Peeves, with ink stains all over their clothes.

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

"The Shield Charm is a fairly practical Defensive Spell. It can block most physical attacks and magic." Albert explained casually. He had already spotted Professor Pomona Sprout approaching. 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 useful, so I learned it. It took quite a lot of time." Albert told a small lie. He had directly mastered the Shield Charm by spending experience.

After all, there was nothing wrong with mastering a spell that could protect him.

"It must be hard for us. Still, the fact that you learned it is really cool." George entered the greenhouse with an admiring expression. "As long as we learn it, we won't have to worry about anyone casting Dark Curses on us."

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

"What happened to you all?" Cedric Diggory, who stood opposite Albert, looked in astonishment at the students covered in ink.

"It was Peeves. He was splashing ink in the corridor just now. You're lucky, he only just left." Fred replied irritably. His trousers had been splattered with ink as well.

"Open One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Today's lesson is meant to give you a general understanding of what Herbology class teaches and what you should learn from it." Pomona Sprout was a short, plump Witch with a kindly smile always on her face. In their first Herbology class, she taught them to recognize some of the herbs in the book and explained their uses.

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

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

Dittany was one of the most representative examples.

Dittany was a plant with magical properties. It could be used to make potions and also had powerful healing effects.

Pomona explained that because not all wounds could be healed through magic, Dittany made a great contribution to healing.

Wizards long ago had already known how to use Dittany to treat themselves. They would chop it 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 courses this term. It was also something they would be tested on.