Leave It to Fate

The door to the Room of Requirement closed behind Gavin, shutting out the last sliver of candlelight from the corridor.

He stood in the room and rolled his neck.

Lately, he had returned to the routine he kept when he first started studying spells—four hours in this room every night, sometimes longer.

He needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible. At the very least, he needed to hold his own against an adult Dark Wizard until the professors found them.

Ernie and Justin had stopped asking where he went. They assumed he was working on another new dish.

They had overheard Cordelia ask Gavin when she could have the dry-aged steak.

Ernie had even asked Justin in earnest whether dry-aging meant turning the meat over every night at midnight.

Gavin stood in the center of the room and drew his wand.

"Protego."

A translucent silver barrier spread out before him. It was no longer the standard round shield, but a diamond-shaped mirror with sharp edges.

He studied it for two seconds, then gave his wand a slight twist. The mirror broke into a dozen or so hexagonal pieces and reassembled like a honeycomb.

Again.

He shaped the shield into a sphere, a cylinder, then a cone. Next, he flattened the sphere until it lay beneath his feet like a pancake.

He stepped onto it to test its strength. It was surprisingly sturdy.

Watching it, Gavin had a sudden thought. If I could make this Shield Charm move, could I fly?

He thought it over but got nowhere. He had no idea how to set the shield in motion.

"I'll ask Professor Flitwick when I get the chance."

Changing its shape was still relatively simple.

In the end, it was a matter of controlling the precision of his magical output.