Chapter 27: Taking the Fall
Chapter 27: Taking the Fall
"Colloportus."
Albert stared at the wooden door, which had almost been reduced to splinters, his eyes twitching involuntarily.
"Merlin's beard, what do we do now?"
The Weasley trio gazed at the damaged door, their mouths collectively drying as they took an involuntary step back, not yet processing what had just transpired.
Fred raised his hand to make a hasty escape gesture, worried about the consequences if they were caught.
"Don't be foolish," Albert said, placing a hand on Fred's shoulder to deter him from running off. "Powerful wizards often use tracking spells to reveal who has been in the area recently."
"What should we do then?" George anxiously eyed Albert.
"I should be able to fix it," Albert said, quickly regaining his composure. He raised his wand, aimed it at the ruined door, and concentrated on casting the repair spell. "Reparo."
The planks that had been torn from the hinges flew back into place, and the cracks slowly sealed, soon to be as good as new.
However, before the door could fully restore itself, it suddenly opened from the inside.
The four of them froze as Professor McGonagall emerged, her eyes flicking between the slowly repairing door and the group standing before her, the atmosphere turning awkward.
"What are you lot up to?" Professor McGonagall's face twitched as she glared at them sternly. She had been drawn by the noise from the hidden door in her office, only to discover that her office door had been dismantled. This sight left her stunned.
"Sorry, Professor," Albert immediately apologized, straightening his posture. "We didn't know 'Open Sesame' was a spell. I think this was just... an accident."
"That's enough, Mr. Anderson," Professor McGonagall said flatly, gesturing for the four of them to enter her office. "Come in."
"It was just an accident, Professor," Albert repeated quietly. Behind him, the twins and Lee Jordan held their breath, too tense to utter a word.
"That's a nice repair spell you've got there. However, Mr. Anderson, I must remind you that 'Open Sesame' is a centuries-old unlocking spell that modern wizards no longer use," Professor McGonagall said, eyeing Albert. "If you'd read 'Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1,' you'd know that these days, we favor the more delicate Alohomora."
"I know. But Alohomora didn't work on this door," Albert said.
"Because the door has been warded against Alohomora," Professor McGonagall explained. "Hence, your spell didn't take effect. This is knowledge of Dark Magic, and I think Professor Flitwick would be delighted if you consulted him on these matters."
"I will," Albert said.
"Don't let me catch you misbehaving again, or it's detention," Professor McGonagall said, turning away and retrieving a piece of parchment from her desk. She handed it to Albert. "Here's the first-year class schedule. Put it up on the Gryffindor notice board, please."
"There won't be a next time, I promise," Albert said, clearing his throat. He took the class schedule for first-years from Professor McGonagall, gave the twins and Lee a nudge, and quickly exited the office.
"That was terrifying," one of them whispered as they moved away from Professor McGonagall's office.
"We almost got caught tampering with Professor McGonagall's office door," Lee Jordan said, still looking stunned.
"We're lucky we didn't get any points deducted or get detention," Albert said, glancing at the class schedule. The first lesson on Monday was Charms.
"Awesome, Albert! Your unlocking spell actually destroyed the door!" Fred exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"It was an accident. I didn't know it was a spell," Albert said, tapping the parchment with his wand. The class schedule split into two, then into four pieces.
He distributed the pieces to the other three.
"Why isn't there an Aerial class?" George asked, a little disappointed after scanning the schedule. He had been looking forward to riding a broomstick and flying in the sky.
"Don't you think the number of classes is a bit small?" Albert frowned after reviewing the schedule for the week. Hogwarts seemed to operate on a self-study model.
"Are you crazy? There are too few classes?" Lee stared at Albert in disbelief, as if he had been struck by a strange spell.
"In Muggle schools, there would be at least twice as many classes," Albert mused, guessing the reason.
There were only a handful of professors, and if there were two classes per week for each year, each professor would need to teach 24 classes (with Years 6 and 7 from all four houses combined).
With Saturdays and Sundays off, that meant their entire week would be packed with classes.
Now that he thought about it, it wasn't that incomprehensible.
"What are you thinking about?" George asked.
"Nothing, let's go. We'll keep looking for classrooms," Albert said, tucking the class schedule into his pocket and leading the way toward the marble staircase.
So far, they had located the Transfiguration classroom and the History of Magic classroom on the second floor, as well as the abandoned bathroom that he remembered was the entrance to the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets, housing a dangerous basilisk.
Since it was the girls' bathroom, the four of them only passed by without going in to avoid any misunderstandings.
Their exploration of the castle had been fruitful so far. Near the corridor of the fourth-floor classroom for Charms, they discovered another secret passage hidden behind a tapestry, which led to the vicinity of the corridor of armor and the Trophy Room.
"I think all the tapestries in Hogwarts hide secret passages," Lee Jordan joked as he emerged from the secret passage.
It was understandable that they would have this misconception, as all the secret passages they had discovered today were hidden behind tapestries.
"I dare say most people could find these secret passages," George said, a little disappointed. He had hoped to find more hidden and obscure passages that others didn't know about.
"We will find them. Let's go take a look at the Trophy Room," Albert suggested, curious as to whether the medals and trophies were made of gold and silver.
"George, Fred," Lee Jordan said, pointing to a cabinet. "Look, I remember Charlie is your brother, right? He won the Quidditch Cup for the house, didn't he?"
"That was when Charlie had just joined the team. He always hoped to win the Quidditch Cup again before graduating," George said, feeling a bit glum as he looked at the trophies, all won by Slytherin. Gryffindor and Slytherin were always rivals.
"Those Slytherins will stop at nothing to get what they want," Fred muttered. "That's what Percy told me."
"Yeah, those Slytherins are the worst," Fred agreed. "According to Percy, once Slytherin falls behind in points, they'll target the leading house by any means necessary. Snape always favors his students and never deducts points from them. A lot of students at school don't like him and call him 'Old Bat.' "
Upon hearing the twins' words, Albert's expression twitched.
Although they were joking, they shouldn't blame everything on Percy, who was still their brother, after all! (End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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