Pressure Charm

On the afternoon before Halloween, Tver hummed a tune as he walked toward the classroom.

The night before, he had successfully defeated Percy at Wizard Chess—and not just once, but repeatedly throughout the entire evening.

In return, the training dummies had been extended for another month so they could continue practicing.

As usual, he handed out a test paper to every student.

The first-years had already learned quite a bit and were beginning to settle into the same pace as the second- and third-years, reinforcing their knowledge before class.

Half an hour later, Tver collected the test papers.

"I heard something while I was in the Great Hall at noon. You started practicing the Levitation Charm in Charms this morning, didn't you?"

The students immediately answered with excitement.

This could be considered the second proper spell they had learned. Before this, the only one they had learned was the Lumos Charm.

With a wave of Tver's wand, forty strips of parchment became crumpled, then flew in front of every student.

"Very well. First, I need to confirm how proficient you are with this spell. Do you see the slips of paper in front of you?"

"If you can levitate a feather, then you can levitate a slip of paper as well. Don't be discouraged; this is a necessary condition for the next step."

"I assume you still remember that duel from over a month ago?"

"Once all of you have fully mastered the Levitation Charm, I'll teach you an advanced application of this spell—one that will turn something ordinary into something incredible!"

Rather than feeling discouraged, the students grew even more excited.

They clearly remembered every detail of that duel. Well, not quite that clearly.

The exchanges had been so fast that anyone who could make out the general movements was already considered impressive...

But some of the most spectacular moments had been brought up again and again, leaving an exceptionally deep impression on them.

The unexpected Transfiguration, the bird-shaped Disarming Charm, the golden Shield Charm, and so on.

Most importantly, these spells were not especially profound magic. As long as they learned the advanced applications Professor Tver spoke of, they could cast them too!

Their faces were filled with longing. They wished they could learn that magic right away.

However, a minute later, the students encountered their first major setback.

Other than a handful of students, no one had managed to levitate their strip of parchment.

"This won't do," Tver said, shaking his head in feigned disappointment. "This isn't Charms. We don't have time for you to practice the Levitation Charm here."

"If not everyone has mastered it within ten minutes, I'll find another opportunity to teach this lesson later."

The young wizards instantly became anxious. The few students who had already learned it hurriedly began guiding their classmates. Cries of "Wingardium Leviosa" rose and fell throughout the room, and they waved their wands with much greater force.

A flash of red light streaked past. Tver swiftly cast a Shield Charm, enclosing the red light completely within it.

Bang.

After a muffled impact, the Shield Charm gradually dissolved into white light.

"Mr. Finnigan, the effect would be better if you relaxed a little more."

Tver could not help marveling at this explosive prodigy's talent. Even a wrongly cast spell could produce such considerable force. If he specifically practiced powerful magic, would he not become a human cannon turret?

Ron, on the other hand, was not nearly so fortunate.

He was already using an unsuitable wand, and he had spent the morning's class arguing with Hermione. Ron could not even make his slip of paper twitch.

"I told you, it's Wingardium Leviosa, not 'oh-sa.' How can you still not get it?" Hermione said, her little cheeks puffed out in anger.

Ron curled his lips disdainfully. "I thought you weren't talking to me anymore?"

"You think I want to talk to you?" Hermione glanced toward the professor. "If it weren't for the professor's lesson, I wouldn't waste my time helping you at all!"

"Well, thanks a lot."

Ron replied perfunctorily, but he also realized that if he were the only one in the class holding everyone back and causing them to miss out on advanced magic, he would be drowned in resentful stares!

Besides, he wanted to learn that spell too. So no matter how displeased he was with Hermione's attitude, he had to obediently follow her instructions.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Ron's slip of parchment slowly floated into the air, and he was so delighted he nearly lost his bearings.

"Excellent. The final student in the class has successfully mastered the Levitation Charm. Now then, it's time for the main event of this lesson."

The students held their breath, staring at him without blinking.

Tver pointed his wand at Ron's levitating parchment. "Wingardium Leviosa—" The parchment seemed to be struck by an invisible hand. It dropped rapidly, pressed tightly against the desk, and was instantly smoothed flat.

The formerly crumpled parchment looked like a shirt ironed by one's mother, without the slightest crease.

"Do you see?" Tver levitated the sheet above everyone's heads. "As long as you apply the opposite controlling force, you can turn the Levitation Charm into the Pressure Charm."

At that sight, they immediately recalled a rumor—Professor Tver had used a spell on all the third-years, one that could press people to the ground and leave them unable to move.

So this was the spell they were going to learn?!

The young wizards' faces were filled with yearning as they stared fixedly at the parchment, now flatter than flat. Their burning gazes seemed almost capable of setting it alight.

"Everyone, pay attention. The two spells are identical in essence. That is to say, the incantation is the same, the wand movement is the same, and even the magical output is exactly the same. The sole difference is that you apply the opposite controlling force."

"So, you need to carefully feel what the force was like when you cast the Levitation Charm just now, then release it in reverse."

The incantation for the Levitation Charm echoed through the classroom once more, but this time, success did not come nearly as quickly.

"Don't rush. If you don't know how to reverse the force, imagine yourself upside down—"

"Hey, hey, Mr. Longbottom, imagine it, don't actually turn yourself upside down!"

Tver watched the young witches and wizards with amusement as they tried all sorts of bizarre methods to make their magic flow in the opposite direction.

Ron "cleverly" switched hands, only to find that he could not channel any magic at all;

Having learned his lesson, Harry changed his wand movement to a downward swing and successfully struck his own left hand, leaving a bloody welt;

Padma Patil of Ravenclaw came up with a very clever adjustment—she flipped her wrist over, and somehow managed to succeed by pure accident.

"Congratulations to Miss Patil for becoming the first student to succeed. But I wouldn't recommend that everyone do it this way. I don't want you spraining your arms and getting me scolded by Madam Pomfrey."

The students laughed, but their hands secretly began twisting their wrists.

Simply learning this aspect of it, the Pressure Charm was still relatively easy. Unlike other advanced applications, it did not alter the incantation and turn into an entirely different spell.

But easy was relative. For first-year students, this spell could be considered the most difficult one they would encounter all year.

Hermione looked irritably at Ron as he twisted his arm. "Professor said flipping your wrist over is useless."

"But that Patil did exactly that. Since you're so amazing, why don't you show us the right version?"

Ron felt as though he had said something like that that morning. A second later, he confirmed that he really had said those exact words.

Because Hermione slapped him in the face with the result once again. The note was pressed flat against the desk, unmoved even by the wind, though it had not been smoothed out like Tver's.

"You... if you've got the nerve, press this note completely flat!" Ron turned his head away and stubbornly retorted.

Hermione's eyes immediately reddened with frustration. "How could I possibly reach that level right away?!"

"So you still can't do it..." Ron muttered under his breath.

As soon as class ended, Hermione hugged her books and jogged out of the classroom, not even hearing Tver's final words—

"If I get the chance, I'll find you an opponent so you can experience what fighting feels like."