Currently, Madam Pince remained blissfully unaware that a handful of the most potent and protected volumes in the entire school—specifically, three heavily chained tomes from the Restricted Section—had been secretly liberated from their shelves.
Albert was naturally the most cautious of the group. Every time he made his way to the library to complete his routine homework, he paid special attention to the notice board and Madam Pince's demeanor, bracing himself for the inevitable report of the theft. He meticulously scanned for any new wards or protective measures around the Restricted Section entrance, but everything appeared exactly as it always did: secured by the simple, symbolic velvet rope.
In reality, Albert was perhaps overestimating the vigilance of the caretakers. The Restricted Section books were traditionally secured by protective magic, designed to withstand standard unlocking spells (Alohomora) and brute force, with the expectation that only powerful, Dark wizards or authorized professors (using the proper key) could access them.
The idea that a first-year would use an utterly non-magical, Muggle lock-picking trick to physically bypass the enchantment was simply beyond the scope of Hogwarts' security logic. Students might sneak in at night to read a book, but secretly stealing them was exponentially more difficult. The chains were meant to be the ultimate deterrent; as long as the chains were attached to the shelves, the librarians assumed the books were safe.
Compared to Albert's silent anxiety over the library heist, the more immediate and entertaining narrative spreading like wildfire throughout the school was the repeated humiliation of Argus Filch.
The caretaker had been in an uncharacteristically foul mood these past few days—well, more foul than usual. The rumors started when students passing the staff room overheard his ferocious muttering. They heard him hissing threats like, "I'll definitely catch you, you revolting little scum," and "I'll hang you up by your ears and whip you until you bleed!"
Drawing conclusions from previous events, the entire student body immediately knew that Filch had once again been outsmarted by students during their clandestine night wanderings. For Hogwarts students, perpetually starved for entertainment, this was a delicious new story.
The fabricated accounts were impressively accurate, detailing an invisible student leaving a trail of sounds and dung bombs before vanishing under the professor's nose. In response to the circulating narrative, the furious caretaker would stand guard in the main corridors, his face a menacing storm, glaring at every student who passed in hopes of identifying the triumphant night-wanderer.
Filch's menacing glares failed to identify the culprits, but they succeeded wildly in terrifying the younger, more impressionable students, giving rise to new legends of the shadowy midnight phantom. The caretaker, however, remained completely unaware that the source of his misery and the subject of the newest school legend were currently engaging in a spirited and highly unfair snowball fight on the sprawling lawns outside the castle, using their illicit magical knowledge to glorious effect.
"Blimey, you actually did it!" George exclaimed, staring intently at a dense, perfectly rounded snowball that was suspended motionless in mid-air barely a foot from Albert's outstretched wand. A faint, almost imperceptible blue-green spark held it captive against the laws of physics. "You've successfully mastered the Obstacle Charm?"
"It was bound to happen eventually," Albert replied casually, adjusting his grip on the wand. "It's not actually that complex a bit of magic, just requires focus and a good deal of concentration to hold the effect."
Fred scoffed loudly, hurling a retaliatory snowball that instantly vaporized into fine powder mid-trajectory due to a completely miscast spell. One of Albert's most irritating habits, Fred knew, was claiming that magic that took months of grueling practice for others was "not actually that complex."
"It's one thing to stop a stationary object," Lee Jordan pointed out, reaching out a hesitant finger to poke the suspended snowball. He turned to Albert, his curiosity outweighing his caution. "But to accurately hit a moving object—especially a fast, unpredictable one like a thrown snowball—with an invisible, precision spell? How on earth did you develop that sort of accuracy?"
"Be very careful what you do next, Lee," Albert warned, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Careful of—?"
Before Lee Jordan could complete his question, Albert gave a sudden, sharp flick of his wand. The frozen snowball, still held by the spell, was violently repelled toward its original thrower, hitting Lee Jordan squarely in the mouth and covering his face in a puff of cold, wet snow.
"I warned you," Albert said, spreading his hands in a gesture of innocence as Lee sputtered, shaking the snow from his hair. "The Barrier Charm (Impedimenta), while capable of pausing a moving target, is fundamentally a repelling or slowing force. The stasis effect doesn't last long, and the release of the built-up kinetic energy can be... abrupt."
The twins, witnessing Lee's snow-covered distress, burst into hysterical laughter.
The next second, George, mid-gasping laugh, was smacked hard on the back of his head by a retaliatory snowball launched by a furious Lee Jordan.
Wiping snow and cocoa-flavored saliva from his face, George immediately retaliated by throwing a snowball directly at Lee.
"I bet not a single other first-year knows a single word of the Obstacle Charm!" Fred boasted, trying to distract Albert as he launched a quick, sneaky snowball attack aimed straight at Albert's head.
Fred's sneak attack failed spectacularly. The snowball froze in mid-flight with a soft, bright blue-green flash—caught, once again, in Albert's instantly cast spell.
"The effect is truly satisfactory," Albert mused, reaching out and calmly nudging the frozen sphere to the side. The next second, the snowball continued its original trajectory, missing Albert and harmlessly hitting the side of a nearby bush.
"You absolute, cheating menace!" Fred roared, stamping his foot in frustration. "You cannot use advanced defensive charms in a friendly snowball fight! Where's the fun in that?"
Fred was genuinely envious. They were all studying the Impedimenta spell from Albert's illegally acquired notes, but only Albert had achieved mastery. Mastery required dedication, practice, and a natural affinity—all of which Albert seemed to possess in frustrating abundance. For the twins and Lee, who were already trying to juggle several difficult Charms alongside their academic workload, Albert's effortless success felt like a form of deliberate, magical deception.
"Fine, fine, I'll pocket the wand," Albert conceded, slipping his wand into his inner robe pocket. He bent down and scooped up a handful of thick snow, forming it into a perfect, dense ball. Just as Fred was about to start a protest, Albert smeared the icy ball directly into Fred's cheek.
"Let me finish my protest, you…!" Fred sputtered, immediately being hit by another snowball thrown with enthusiasm by Lee Jordan.
"Actually, I think we found a much better use for this," Albert interrupted, ignoring Fred's protests entirely. "We can use snowballs to practice the Obstacle Charm in a dynamic, fun environment. It's perfect moving target practice."
"I… no, I'm not—!" This time, Fred was interrupted by George, who landed a stinging snowball right on his nose.
"You three despicable rats!" Fred yelled, thoroughly enraged and covered in snow.
"Who wants to go first?" Albert asked, stepping back and making two more snowballs.
"Him," George and Lee Jordan immediately declared, pointing at Fred with malicious glee.
"Fred, prepare yourself," Albert called out cheerfully, winding up his throw. "I'm initiating the practice sequence."
"What preparation? I don't even have my—!" Fred was cut off by another snowball hitting him square in the eye.
"The preparation is, of course, practicing your Obstacle Charm!" Albert winked, throwing a second snowball as the first one slid off Fred's face. "This is a rare, high-pressure opportunity."
"He's right," Lee Jordan chimed in, grinning. "We're giving you the ultimate training scenario."
"Blast this opportunity! I hate you all! Which of you is going to stand there and get pummelled first?" Fred demanded, wiping his face clean.
"Him," the two immediately pointed at Albert again.
"No, it's you, George," Fred insisted, furious at his own brother for throwing him under the snowball-laden bus.
"Alright, I'll accept the honor," George said, readily stepping forward. "But let's establish the ground rules: everyone takes ten direct throws, and absolutely no dodging is allowed. The only defense permitted is a successful, full-force Obstacle Charm to halt the projectile."
"I have absolutely no objection to those terms," Albert agreed with unsettling eagerness.
"Of course, you don't, you fiend…" George muttered under his breath, knowing Albert was the only one who could actually uphold the defensive part of the agreement.
As expected, the subsequent turns were a complete disaster for the three friends. George, Fred, and Lee were relentlessly pummelled by Albert, and in their own attempts to practice, they simply managed to hit each other. The Obstacle Charms they managed to cast were wildly inaccurate, causing the snowballs to veer off course and strike an unintended victim—usually another one of them—rather than stopping the incoming projectiles.
Lee Jordan, removing a large clump of snow from his ear, threw his hands up in defeat. "That's it! We need to pool our efforts! The three of us have to throw at Albert all at once!"
"Who told you not to use the Barrier Charm?" Albert chided playfully, waving his wand. The three incoming snowballs—one each from the furious trio—froze mid-flight in a perfect triangle, and Albert casually moved them aside, sending them spinning into the ground nearby.
"What in the name of the Headmaster are you four doing?" a stern, female voice demanded.
Shanna (Alicia Spinnet), one of their classmates, had just rounded the corner of the castle, carrying a pair of polished, leather-strapped ice skates slung over her shoulder. She stopped dead, staring at the chaotic scene, only to be immediately hit by the three errant snowballs Albert had diverted.
"It's all Albert's fault! He dodged our practice targets with advanced magic!" Lee Jordan immediately complained, pointing dramatically at Albert and conveniently forgetting his own cheating.
"That's right! He used unauthorized defensive charms in a friendly context!" George and Fred chorused, quickly seizing the opportunity to gang up on Albert.
"I was simply giving them a dynamic training environment for the Impedimenta spell," Albert explained with a perfectly straight face. "And they responded by attempting to ambush me."
"Throw snowballs at them, Shanna, or I'll help them," Albert offered, pulling out a handful of snow.
"Ahem, Shanna, join us for a proper snowball battle, perhaps?" Fred quickly offered, trying to smear a final, cheeky handful of snow onto Albert's collar when he wasn't looking.
"Albert is simply too crafty. He used professional-grade counter-spells against us in a recreational setting," George insisted to Shanna, continuing the facade.
"What kind of magical nonsense is this?" Shanna asked, suppressing a smile as she brushed the snow from her face.
"The Barrier Charm," Albert stated. "It's very useful. We were attempting to master it by stopping these incoming missiles. These three, however, lack the necessary finesse."
"No, thanks. I'm heading to the lake for a proper winter sport," Shanna said, hoisting the skates higher. "I brought these from home over the Christmas holidays."
"Ice skating?" Albert asked, pausing his own snowball formation. "Are you going alone?"
"Angelina and the others don't know how to skate, and many wizards just aren't interested in Muggle sports beyond Quidditch," Shanna replied, sounding slightly disappointed. "Everyone just flies. Do you know how to ice skate, Albert?"
"I can manage a basic glide, but I'm nothing special," Albert admitted. "I always thought you preferred a good book to physical exertion, Shanna."
"That is remarkably rude," Shanna said, raising an eyebrow at his teasing. "I spent the entire Christmas break perfecting this. Do you and the hooligans want to come watch, or perhaps join?"
"Is it fun?" Fred asked, his competitive spirit piqued by the mention of a sport.
"It is immensely fun, and the Black Lake is beautifully frozen over; there are quite a few students already out there," Shanna confirmed, gesturing toward the enormous frozen expanse beyond the grounds.
"Let's check it out then," George suggested, intrigued.
"But you three don't own any skates. What exactly are you planning to do once you get there?" Albert asked, rolling his eyes at their perpetual lack of foresight.
Learning to skate on thick, natural ice without any prior instruction was notoriously difficult. Most beginners inevitably ended up falling and sustaining bruises. Moreover, ice skates are sharp and potentially dangerous, making them completely unforgiving for novices.
"Isn't that where you come in?" Lee Jordan declared, reaching out and grabbing Albert's sleeve, pulling him toward the gates. "When we get there, you can just use Transfiguration to conjure us up a few pairs of skates. I believe you can absolutely manage that, Albert."
"Conjuring specialized footwear with the precision of proper blades is extremely difficult via Transfiguration, Lee," George interjected, shaking his head at his friend's ambition. "That's too much effort, and the blades might not hold. A much more practical solution would be to borrow a pair from someone and use a Copy Charm to duplicate the skates for us. That way, we get perfect, professional blades instantly."
Albert simply stared at the twins and Lee Jordan. Amazing, he thought, every single one of them is a talented schemer, just waiting for the right magical application. They had completely internalized the principle of using magic for maximum efficiency and minimum effort, all centered around his own abilities.
The focus is now shifting to a new recreational challenge on the Black Lake. What magical preparation do they need to make for their ice skating adventure?