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Chapter 50: Fire-Breathing
Chapter 50: Fire-Breathing
Most people won't give up easily until they've been thoroughly defeated.
Albert's roommates were no exception. After poring over the first volume of Practical Defensive Magic and Its Counteraction to Dark Arts for a long time, they finally couldn't resist giving it a try.
"Armor spell!" Fred waved his wand downward and chanted the incantation from the book, but nothing happened.
"The book says the Iron Skin spell doesn't glow!" George reminded him, comparing his own wand movements.
"Here, try again," Lee Jordan said, tossing Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection to Fred.
"Do you want to knock me out?" Fred jumped back, glaring at Lee Jordan.
"Danger can bring out your potential, and a book definitely won't kill you," Lee Jordan retorted.
"Use this!" Albert impatiently threw Fred's pillow at Lee Jordan. He figured Fred probably wouldn't succeed, and throwing a book was just asking for trouble.
Indeed, Albert was right. After being hit by his pillow several times, Fred temporarily gave up.
Of course, neither George nor Lee Jordan succeeded either.
"Alright, you two should just stick to practicing simpler spells," Albert said, rolling his eyes at them.
What would you call this?
Presumptuous? Greedy?
Yep, that's probably how Professor McGonagall saw me back then.
However, Albert was different from the trio! He had his system panel and experience pool. As long as he acquired a skill, he could cheat anytime by consuming experience points.
"Is there any shortcut to learning the Iron Skin spell quickly?" Fred asked eagerly.
"Shortcut?" Albert thought for a moment. "Practice, practice, and more practice—that's probably the fastest way."
"But how did you pick up these spells so quickly? It's only been a few weeks since summer break!" George said glumly. He had noticed that Albert had a knack for quite a few spells! This made him wonder who the real wizarding family was.
"I think I might have an idea why," Albert said thoughtfully.
"What idea?" Fred asked eagerly.
"Have you ever played a game where you can level up?" Albert scanned their faces. "Well, I guess you haven't. Let's put it this way: don't you need to practice to get better at chess?"
"What does this have to do with chess?" the twins blurted out.
"Chess requires not only talent but also practice to improve your skills. The better your chess game, the stronger you become," Albert said, giving a slightly inaccurate example. "Magic is pretty similar. Casting spells requires talent..."
"Are you saying your talent is better than ours?" Lee Jordan interrupted with a scoff.
"No, I'm saying that you need to practice to enhance your magical power and control over magic," Albert explained, a bit exasperated.
"Are you saying your magical power is stronger and your control over magic is better than ours?" the twins asked doubtfully.
"Yes, that's what I believe for now," Albert nodded. "As I learn more spells, I find it easier to pick up new ones. I remember Professor McGonagall saying that Hogwarts teaches underage wizards how to control and use magic."
"I feel like you're pulling our leg," Fred said, raising an eyebrow.
"I wouldn't do that, and I did say it was just a guess," Albert shook his head. He hadn't deceived them. As he self-studied more magic, he accumulated more failures in his attempts, which was the extra experience lacking when he directly upgraded skills using the experience pool.
After numerous failures, the Weasley twins temporarily gave up on trying to master the Iron Skin spell and focused their attention on the unlocking spell instead.
After an afternoon of practice, Fred succeeded first. He managed to unlock the drawer with the unlocking spell.
"Brilliant! How did you do it?" George asked, a bit envious as he looked at Fred. His drawer remained locked.
"Look, Fred learned the unlocking spell first, so I won," Albert said to Lee Jordan, winking and offering an innocent-looking Pepper Imps candy. "Eat up, a bet's a bet."
"What are you two betting on?" Fred asked, puzzled.
"We bet on who would learn the unlocking spell first," Albert said with a smile. "Loser has to eat this..."
He pointed to the Pepper Imps candy he had bought from Honeydukes.
"Albert's right, a bet's a bet,"
George patted his friend's shoulder, eagerly awaiting the outcome. Yes, he was looking forward to Lee Jordan eating the candy and then breathing fire from his nose.
"It's all your fault," Lee Jordan said resentfully. He unwrapped the candy and popped it into his mouth, his cheeks turning crimson and a bead of cold sweat forming on his temple.
The next moment— "This is spicy..." As Lee Jordan opened his mouth, fiery flames with a spicy kick shot out of his nostrils, instantly singeing George's face.
"You jerk, you did that on purpose!" George's face was blackened and filled with the pungent taste of pepper.
"Cough, cough," Lee Jordan coughed, spewing a few more sparks.
However, after witnessing George's plight, Albert and Fred quickly scurried away, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.
That guy definitely did it on purpose. Yes, he must have.
A few minutes later, Lee Jordan returned from the bathroom, his face still bearing the remnants of the peppery taste, and his nostrils red from breathing fire. He glared at Albert.
"Next time, I'm not betting on this," Lee Jordan said angrily.
"How about we switch to Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans next time?" Albert suggested, closing his eyes and randomly picking three beans.
"That's not a bad idea."
"Aren't you going to keep practicing? Just because you succeeded once doesn't mean you'll always succeed," Albert said, popping a chocolate bean into his mouth and continuing to flip through Charms of the Twentieth Century, two-thirds of which he had already read.
"How's your progress with the Disguise spell?" Fred asked, changing the subject.
"I haven't fully mastered it yet. That spell is much harder than the unlocking spell," Albert said, glancing at the panel information. He had only 35 experience points in the Disguise spell, far from the 100 points required for the first level.
"Is that spell really that difficult?" George asked skeptically.
"Of course, it is," Albert rolled his eyes. "I heard it's one of the spells Aurors must learn. By the way, what exactly is an Auror?"
Albert, of course, knew what an Auror was, but coming from a Muggle background, he shouldn't have too much knowledge about the wizarding world.
"We're doomed!"
"What do you mean?" Albert asked, puzzled.
"We definitely won't be able to learn the Disguise spell this year," the twins wailed. It was a spell crucial for their nighttime adventures.
(End of Chapter)
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