Chapter 108: You Dare Steal From Me Again

Soon, the two of them returned to the entrance of the Shrieking Shack.

"Who's there?!" 

Just as Irina was about to enter the Shrieking Shack, she sensed movement behind her. Still on high alert after the recent battle, she instinctively drew her wand and pointed it behind her.

However, it wasn't a wizard who appeared behind her, but rather the little thieving Niffler from before.

"Squeek!"

The Niffler looked pitifully at Irina, extending its small paw to point at itself, then at her.

Clearly, the Niffler was trying to indicate that it wanted to go with Irina.

After its previous owner was killed, the Niffler had lost its source of food. As a pet Niffler, without a food source, its only fate would be to starve to death.

Therefore, sensing the faint aura that drew it to want to be close to Irina, the Niffler wasted no time in deciding to latch onto her, even though the wizard with her had just killed its former master.

"Well, it seems this Niffler has taken a liking to you," said Lynn, turning around with an amused look at Irina and the Niffler giving her a pitiful expression.

Irina glanced at the Niffler feigning innocence and couldn't help but laugh. "You just stole my moneybag, and now you want to join me?"

The Niffler seemed to understand Irina's words and brought its two small paws together in a pleading gesture.

Seeing the Niffler had made up its mind, Irina sighed, "Oh, alright. What can I do when I'm so beautiful and kind-hearted? Besides, you were just being used as a tool by those dark wizards when you stole from me. Come here, little one!"

Having a fondness for cute magical creatures, Irina eventually chose to forgive the Niffler, even though it had caused her lots of trouble earlier. It had simply been exploited by the dark wizards as a tool.

Plus, after taking a closer look, Irina realized this Niffler seemed quite adorable!

So Irina extended her hand towards the Niffler. The Niffler's eyes lit up and it immediately hopped into her hand.

"Hmm, what should I name you...I know, since you were used as a thieving Niffler by those dark wizards before, I'll call you Cooper!"

After a moment's thought, Irina gave the Niffler a name. Cooper seemed very satisfied with its new name. After greeting the Bowtruckle named Qinwee on Irina's shoulder, it scampered over to perch on her other shoulder.

"Put Qinwee and Cooper down, I'll teach you the Shield Charm," said Lynn, closing the door to the Shrieking Shack and dimming the room.

Irina nodded, setting Qinwee and Cooper down next to her backpack before drawing her wand and standing ready before Lynn. 

Lynn likewise drew his wand and calmly said, "You've read the books, so you know the incantation for the Shield Charm is 'Protego'. Its effect is to deflect, repel or disintegrate spells and objects coming towards you. As for the technique..."

Lynn proceeded to explain the wand movement and visualization needed to properly cast the Shield Charm.

Unlike the Disillusionment Charm, Irina was already very familiar with the Protego incantation itself. Her problem had been not knowing the specific technique required. Simply saying the words was not enough to cast the spell.

However, after understanding the technique, Irina succeeded in casting a proper Shield Charm on her first try, deflecting a Disarming Charm that Lynn sent her way.

"Depending on how much magical power you put into the Shield Charm, and the angle you cast it from, your shield can deflect spells at lower levels, rebound them at a higher level, or even completely disintegrate an opponent's spells at the highest level! Go ahead, fire at me!"

Lynn raised his own wand in preparation. Irina wasted no time, sending a non-verbal Disarming Charm straight at him.

"Protego!"

Lynn incanted, and an invisible shield materialized in front of him. Irina's red bolt of light struck the shield but was simply deflected off to the side, nearly hitting Cooper beside her backpack.

"Again!" said Lynn.

Irina fired another Disarming Charm. Once more Lynn cast the Shield Charm, but this time when Irina's spell hit the invisible barrier, it rebounded directly back the way it came, forcing her to quickly sidestep her own deflected attack.

"By adjusting the angle you cast the shield from, aiming the center directly at an incoming spell, you can rebound it back along its original trajectory," Lynn explained. "Similarly, by angling the shield a precise way when you cast it, with enough practice you could even deflect an opponent's spells in any direction you choose - using their own attacks against them!"

"Protego!"

This time when Lynn cast the Shield Charm, he channeled a massive surge of magic from the Philosopher's Stone contained in his Divine Authority. An immensely powerful shimmering shield burst forth, so dense with magical energy that it caused a visible distortion in the air around it.

At Lynn's nod, Irina cast another Disarming Charm. But upon striking Lynn's shield, her spell seemed to simply dissipate, leaving not a trace behind.

Lynn dropped the shield with a small smile. "By pouring enough raw magic into it, a Shield Charm can overpower and completely disintegrate an opponent's spellcasting. Of course, neither of us currently has the magical reserves for that - I was just cheating a bit there."

Seeing Lynn casually nullify her spell with brute force left Irina in awe and more than a little envious.

"When will I be able to do something like that?" she asked.

Lynn pondered for a moment. "Fourth year, probably. Your core should be powerful enough by then."

The amount of magic Lynn had tapped from the Philosopher's Stone to fuel that overpowered Protego was comparable to what he expended creating an alchemical formation by using his wand in place of an engraving knife. Recalling Grindelwald's estimate that he would need to reach fourth-year level before attempting that feat wandlessly, Lynn could extrapolate that the immense magical power required likely matched the average fourth-year's reserves.

Irina nodded, inwardly resolving that even if she couldn't completely nullify spells like Lynn just yet, being able to reliably deflect and rebound attacks would suffice for now through diligent practice.

"Squeek! Squawk!"

The pair turned at the sudden commotion to see Qinwee and Cooper scuffling nearby.

Irina quickly moved to separate them. But as she caught sight of what Cooper was holding, her expression turned stern.

"Cooper, you dare steal from me again?!"

The struggle between the two magical creatures had revealed Cooper the Niffler clutching some small shiny object it had pilfered from Irina's belongings once more.

(end of chapter)