Chapter 46: The Armor Charm
Chapter 46: The Armor Charm
A river cuts through a rock not because of its power, but its persistence.
The bad blood between the Weasley twins and Filch certainly had its reasons.
The previous night, George and Fred huddled together, discussing how to get back at Filch and make the old coot squirm. Even Lee Jordan joined in on the fun.
But, as a result...
The trio stayed up all night, and come morning, they couldn't get out of bed.
In the end, it was Albert who had to return to the dormitory after breakfast and wake them up one by one to ensure they didn't miss their Herbology class.
"So tired," George yawned, covering his mouth with a slice of bread in his hand as he walked and ate.
"I shouldn't have wasted my time discussing that nonsense with you," Lee Jordan grumbled, finishing off his own slice of bread and eyeing Fred's untouched piece. "Give it to me if you're not eating it. I'm still hungry."
"Who said I'm not eating it?" Fred quickly stuffed the bread into his mouth and took a bite, asking in return, "You want some?"
Lee Jordan gave Fred a disdainful look and turned his head away, no longer paying him any attention.
"So, what did you guys come up with after chatting for so long last night?" Albert asked casually.
"We plan to bombard Filch's office door with stink pellets," Fred replied, his voice tinged with excitement as he spoke of his revenge plan.
"That's it?" Albert couldn't help but feel underwhelmed.
That's all you came up with after discussing all night?
As they made their way to Greenhouse One, they suddenly heard screams coming from the corridor ahead. They exchanged glances, and when they walked over, they found Peeves floating in the air, holding an ink bottle and blowing ink at passing students.
Someone, clearly frustrated, crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at Peeves in an attempt to shoo him away.
Peeves easily dodged the paper ball and cackled in amusement. In retaliation, he spat a mouthful of ink onto the student's face, covering it in a mess of black.
The student's face twisted in anger, but there was little they could do about Peeves. In the end, everyone had to rush down the corridor with their books covering their heads.
"Peeves, are you a ghost?" Albert asked, sizing up the mischievous man floating before them. This was his first encounter with Peeves, who had a pair of sinister black eyes, a large mouth, a small stature, and a bell-adorned hat on his head.
They locked eyes, and Albert knew this was one mischievous fellow.
"What do you think?" Peeves fixed his gaze on the four of them, a malicious smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, sending shivers down their spines.
"Obviously not, ghosts can't hold ink bottles!" Albert drew his wand and waved it forward, shouting, "Armor Charm!"
The Armor Charm deflected the ink that was about to splash onto the four of them.
Even Peeves was stunned, never expecting to miss his target.
"Annoying brat." After his ink bottle was deflected by the Armor Charm, Peeves made a rude gesture at Albert and flew away.
"No wonder everyone hates Peeves," Lee Jordan muttered, looking at the ink splatters on his body, feeling infuriated.
"Scourgify!" Albert pointed his wand at the ink on the ground, and the cleaning spell made most of it disappear.
"Actually, there's no need to clean it up. Maybe we should leave some footprints in the corridor," the twins suggested, glancing at each other with mischievous grins. After all, it would be Filch who had to clean up the corridor, and Peeves was the real culprit. They had nothing to do with it.
"Forget it, let's go! Be careful not to be late," Albert shook his head and urged them on.
"How did you do that just now?" George asked curiously as they reached the entrance of Greenhouse One.
"You mean the Armor Charm?" Albert replied, looking around at the students crowded at the entrance of Greenhouse One, most of whom had fallen victim to Peeves' pranks, as evidenced by the ink stains on their clothes.
"Armor Charm?" Fred murmured, a thoughtful look on his face. "I feel like I've heard of it somewhere before."
"The Armor Charm is a pretty useful defensive spell that can block most physical and magical attacks," Albert explained casually. He had already spotted Professor Pomona Sprout approaching. Everyone automatically made way for the Head of Hufflepuff, who was coming to open the door to Greenhouse One.
"Where did you learn that?" Lee Jordan asked, his curiosity piqued. "You know a lot of spells."
"I found it in an extra book I bought. It seemed practical, so I learned it, and it took quite some time," Albert replied, opting to tell a little white lie. In truth, he had directly acquired the Armor Charm by spending experience points.
After all, there was no harm in knowing a spell that could protect oneself.
"It must be really difficult for us. But the fact that you've learned it is so cool. Once we master it, we won't have to worry about anyone casting nasty spells on us," George said admiringly as he entered the greenhouse.
Albert rolled his eyes. At the level of Hogwarts students, they were all just novice spellcasters taking their first steps.
"What happened to you guys?" Cedric Diggory, standing across from Albert, looked at his classmates in bewilderment, their clothes splattered with ink.
"It was Peeves. He was spraying ink in the corridor, but you're lucky he just left," Fred replied irritably, his pants also stained with ink.
"Open your 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' books. Today's lesson will give you a general idea of what Herbology class entails and what you should learn from it," Professor Pomona Sprout, a short and plump witch with a perpetual kind smile on her face, began the first Herbology class by introducing them to some of the plants in the book and their uses.
Albert felt that Herbology was similar to botany in the Muggle world. Students needed to learn how to care for and utilize plants, as well as understand their magical properties and applications.
Many plants could be used as ingredients in potions and medicines, while others had unique magical effects.
One of the most representative examples was the dittany plant.
Dittany was a magically imbued plant used in potion-making and possessed strong healing properties.
Professor Sprout explained that not all wounds could be healed with magic, and dittany played a significant role in wound treatment.
In the olden days, witches and wizards would crush dittany and apply it directly to their injuries.
Nowadays, witches and wizards used dittany essence, which was highly effective in treating wounds, and those treated with dittany did not scar.
The only regret was that the number of wild dittany plants had decreased significantly, and most of the dittany used today was cultivated artificially. Learning how to care for dittany plants was one of the main courses this semester and would be part of their exams.
(End of Chapter)
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