Chapter 294: A Slip of the Tongue
Chapter 294: A Slip of the Tongue
Within the walls of the eighth-floor corridor of the castle, faint moans of pain could be heard from behind the tapestry depicting the troll that had attacked Barnabas the Barmy. Soon, a door materialized on the wall, and Albert emerged with his roommates.
"Next time, if you want to beat up Albert, don't call me into it," Fred grumbled in the corridor, rubbing his wrists as he complained to his companions. They had been easily overpowered by Albert.
"I told you, I've had training. Even adults might not be able to beat me in a fistfight," Albert said, patting Fred's shoulder reassuringly.
He thought to himself that his skills were no joke. He could now easily take down one or two adults.
"Why did you learn how to fight?"
"To protect myself, of course," Albert replied nonchalantly. "You need to have a strong fist so people won't bully you."
The trio suddenly felt that Albert's words made a lot of sense.
Indeed, not many people dared to cause trouble for Albert at Hogwarts. Just look at what happened to those unlucky Slytherins last year—quite a few of them ended up with their heads in the toilet.
"Is the Muggle world very dangerous?"
"It's safer than the wizarding world, but there are always some troublemakers, like the guy who just now wanted to pick a fight with me," Albert said, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
"Who was it?" Lee Jordan asked.
"You, you idiot!" Fred and George exclaimed in unison.
"Was it? I don't remember!" Lee Jordan quickly feigned ignorance.
"Do you need us to help you remember?" Fred and George moved threateningly towards Lee Jordan.
"No, I remember now," Lee Jordan mumbled, eliciting smug laughter from the twins.
"Why use fists to solve problems? Wizards shouldn't resort to violence!"
"If you don't have your wand, what's the difference between you and a Muggle!" Albert scoffed. "You can't guarantee that your wand will always be in your hand, can you?"
"What about wandless magic?" Lee Jordan argued.
"Can you use it?" Albert countered.
"No, can you?"
"Wandless magic is difficult. I'll only start practicing it after my magical power has completely stabilized," Albert said. He hadn't thought about mastering wandless magic yet.
While wandless magic allowed one to cast spells without a wand, it also came with a host of issues.
Without the enhancement of a wand, it was challenging to precisely control the magic, often requiring a significant amount of practice. Moreover, the spells produced tended to be weaker, typically limited to low-difficulty magic like Lumos...
"Even without a wand, wizards would instinctively use magic to protect themselves when in danger, like when they're falling from a great height..." Lee Jordan continued to argue.
"Don't be silly. I can guarantee that if you fell from the top of this castle right now, even with a wand in your hand, you'd still end up as a pile of mush," Albert rolled his eyes at Lee Jordan.
The magic in this world seemed a bit peculiar.
Most witches and wizards relied solely on their wands in combat, and magical artifacts were rarely seen or used. In battles, simple spells could be countered by chanting counter-curses, breaking the opponent's concentration, or deflecting the spell. Dangerous curses, on the other hand, could only be dodged by quick reflexes.
To be honest, Albert had always found Felix Felicis quite reliable. At the very least, it made it less likely for an enemy's curse to hit him, thus protecting his safety in combat.
Of course, it probably wouldn't be very effective against powerful wizards.
As for Lee Jordan's claim about instinctively using magic for self-preservation, that was even more unreliable. It was essentially a wizard's desperate attempt to use magic in an emergency, akin to a cornered animal lashing out. In such a state, the magic was uncontrolled, similar to wandless magic. However, in terms of both power and effect, it fell far short of spellcasting with a wand.
If this method were truly effective, why would wizards even need wands?
"What if you fell from the castle?" Fred countered.
"I wouldn't be foolish enough to jump off. Of course, if I were to fall from a great height, I'd just need to cast a cushioning charm on myself. I remember Charlie mentioning something about that," Albert continued.
"Really?"
"The first time we went to the Quidditch pitch, Charlie kept a close eye on us because he was worried we'd fall off our brooms," Albert explained.
"Fine, your memory is better than ours," Fred conceded, rolling his eyes. Of course, they remembered that incident, but it was only after Albert's reminder that they recalled it.
"By the way, there's something I wanted to mention," Lee Jordan changed the subject. "It seems that Professor Snape knows about you sneaking into the Forbidden Forest to rescue Fred and George last year. I think it has something to do with the Acromantula."
"Oh?" Albert's eyebrows rose slightly at this news. "What did he say?"
"He asked Fred and George if they had encountered the Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest, and I told him I didn't know. Later... Professor Snape remarked that even you have moments of recklessness," Lee Jordan shook his head.
"Recklessness?" Albert's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but correct him. "I prefer to call it courage."
"I think courage is a more fitting description," George agreed.
"Is Professor Snape planning something with those Acromantula?" Fred interjected. "After all, their eggs and venom are quite valuable."
"Maybe he's planning to take revenge on those giant spiders," George speculated. "Don't forget, he was attacked by them before."
"Don't be ridiculous. You believe that nonsense? We were with them the whole time, and we were never ambushed by Acromantula," Albert scoffed. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake.
"You lied to us again!" Fred also realized the truth, glaring at Albert angrily. They had actually believed his story the last time.
"Cough, I promised Dumbledore and Hagrid that I'd keep it a secret," Albert hadn't expected to let it slip like that. After making sure no one was around, he whispered an explanation.
But why would Professor Snape ask Lee Jordan about this?
Could it be that he was interested in Gryffindor's treasure?
"What kind of monster was it?"
"Hagrid's pet. Remember that dangerous magical creature he had last time, the one he kept in the Forbidden Forest? Its name was Fluffy. Hagrid is keeping it in the Forbidden Forest. Later... I can't say any more, I promised," Albert noticed their untrusting gazes and spread his hands helplessly. "I really did promise, and it's useless for you to know anyway. Dumbledore probably sent it back to Greece already."
Of course, Albert knew that Fluffy was still hidden somewhere in the Forbidden Forest.
After all, it would be used as the guardian of the Philosopher's Stone during the next semester.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan realized they wouldn't get anything more out of Albert, so they stopped pressing him. Even if they did, Albert would probably just feed them more half-truths and vague answers.
(End of Chapter)
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