Chapter 405: Contracting a Day's Worth of Happiness
Chapter 405: Contracting a Day's Worth of Happiness
"How many times has it been now?" Albert asked his friends as they made their way to Charms class, encountering Flint and his companions being carried horizontally into the boys' bathroom, having been knocked out.
"The fourth time," George replied with a thumb up, a mischievous smile on his face as he addressed the Hufflepuff students who were carrying Flint under the instruction of a sixth-year student. "Ever since the last time Flint and his gang were intercepted, they haven't dared to carry a single coin in their pockets."
"To be honest, they're just stubborn and refuse to pay back the money," Fred added with a disdainful snort. "Last time, that jerk even had the nerve to go to Snape, causing Truman to get a scolding, a deduction of twenty points, and a detention."
"I reckon Flint doesn't have much money left," Albert deduced without much thought. Even if they split the two hundred Galleons, most of them would likely not have enough allowance to cover it, and not asking their families for money meant they probably couldn't pay it back.
Initially, Kenneth Towle had to ask his family for money to barely fill the hole left by the Befuddlement Draught.
"Of course, we know Flint doesn't have the money, but we gave them a week to come up with it, and we didn't even ask for the Galleons right away. But those guys are just shameless and rude about it," George said, feeling no sympathy for Flint, especially since Gryffindor students generally didn't get along with Slytherins.
"They want to welch on the debt," Jordan Lee said angrily. "How could something like this be allowed?"
It was understandable that a group of people who thought they had made a small fortune would be furious to find that both their deposit and their winnings were gone.
"And then what happened?" Albert asked. "I don't think Truman would just let it go."
"Later, Truman and some others knocked Flint out, stripped him of his pants, and got a Galleon from Kenneth Towle in exchange," Fred explained.
Recalling the incident, the three of them struggled to keep from laughing out loud.
"Truman really stripped Flint's pants off?" Albert felt that he might have had a bad influence on Truman.
"Yes, and you didn't know about it? It happened the day after he was given a detention and had points deducted by Snape," Fred said, not mentioning that it was their suggestion to Truman, and that they had even provided the location of Flint's ambush through the Marauder's Map as a friendly gesture, intending to teach the arrogant Slytherin team a lesson.
"You didn't see Flint in his underwear then. It's a shame we didn't get a picture; that would have been a year's worth of laughs at Hogwarts," George said, his face filled with regret. "If it weren't for a Slytherin student bringing him a pair of pants from the dormitory, that guy would have been the laughing stock of the school for the entire year."
"Actually, quite a few people wanted to strip their underwear, but Kenneth Towle refused to take it. You know, since they stopped carrying money on them, we basically have no chance of getting the money back," Fred chimed in.
As the three of them chatted, Albert got a clear picture of the current situation.
Cornering Flint and his gang was mainly to pressure them into paying back the money. After all, if they really wanted to welch on the debt, there wasn't much they could do. It was better to take a more aggressive approach, and even if they didn't get the money in the end, they could at least vent their anger and make sure the debtors didn't get off scot-free.
If you owe money, you're the boss?
As long as your fist is harder than theirs, that situation doesn't exist.
In his previous life, Albert hadn't encountered such a situation, but he was well aware of this fact. That was why he had asked Fred, George, and Jordan to join forces with others to cause trouble for Flint's group.
"When do you think they'll give in and pay up?"
The trio hoped that Albert could provide some good news. While it was fun to mess with Flint, they much preferred getting back the Galleons they had won at risk.
"I don't know," Albert replied.
"Aren't you also owed a large sum of Galleons?" Jordan asked. "As far as I know, you're their biggest creditor."
"I've recorded that debt in my notebook. They'll have to pay it back sooner or later," Albert said calmly, confident that Flint wouldn't be able to withstand two years of harassment without paying up.
If necessary, he could always wait until they had money in their pockets and take it back then.
"When dealing with people of ill nature, just be more ill-natured than them," Albert shrugged, knowing he couldn't always be on his guard.
"I like that saying," the others chimed in, chuckling.
"Why are you guys laughing over there? It's creepy!"
"Nothing!"
As Albert entered the Charms classroom, he found that everyone was discussing the incident of Flint being stripped of his pants to repay his debt, and even the girls seemed interested, showing no signs of embarrassment and purely enjoying the humor of the situation.
"Has the news spread far?" Albert asked as he looked for an empty seat.
"A lot of people already know, and I estimate that even the professors may have an idea of what happened," Jordan said, sizing Albert up. "What have you been up to lately that you didn't know about this?"
"I've been busy with a lot of things and don't have time to pay attention to these matters," Albert replied casually. He had indeed been very busy lately, with a lot of research to do, dates with Isabelle, participation in several club activities, occasional letter-writing to old friends, and, of course, the twelve homework assignments he had to complete each day. When he was busy, he had no extra time or energy to spare for other matters.
The entrance of Professor Flitwick brought an end to the discussion about Flint's debt repayment in his underwear.
Hmm, rumors always deviated from the truth.
Today's Charms class continued with the happiness charm from the previous lesson. At the start of the class, Professor Flitwick cast the happiness charm on each student individually, believing that letting them experience the effect of the charm would help them master it more quickly.
As Professor Flitwick cast the happiness charm on Albert, he felt a sense of great satisfaction fill his body, and his whole person felt pleasant, a smile gradually forming on his face.
"This is the effect of the happiness charm. When casting the spell, you need to think of something happy to eliminate the inner tension and anxiety of the person being charmed," Professor Flitwick explained.
"Is it similar to the Patronus Charm?" Albert asked.
"The principles are similar, but the Patronus Charm is more demanding. The happiness charm, on the other hand, requires control to eliminate inner tension and anxiety. If you overdo it, the charmed person will fall into hysterical laughter," Professor Flitwick elaborated.
Instead of letting the students practice the charm right away, Professor Flitwick began explaining the knowledge and principles behind the happiness charm, hinting that the lesson was important and that it might be included in their end-of-term exams and O.W.Ls for fifth-years, so everyone took diligent notes.
The effect of the happiness charm lasted until the end of the class, and everyone enjoyed a pleasant Charms lesson.
"The happiness charm is quite effective in dispelling sad emotions," Albert remarked, considering the possibility of using the happiness charm to create magical artifacts or sweets that could keep people in a cheerful mood.
"Hysterical Honeydukes?" Fred and George blurted out, thinking that maintaining a pleasant mood might be tricky to control, but if they went overboard, there would be no need to worry about control—a candy that caused people to eat and laugh hysterically would be fantastic.
(End of Chapter)
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