In the following days, Albert had been secretly observing Professor Smith. The Baifay Awakening Potion that he had planned to try had been completely pushed to the back of his mind. The practice of making the Patronus speak hadn't stopped, but there hadn't been any substantial progress. Diverting attention to cast spells made the Patronus weak. If it weren't for the fact that the skill experience of the Patronus Charm was gradually increasing, Albert might have even suspected that Aberforth was playing a prank on him.
Perhaps, one day, he might be able to cast the Patronus without being distracted, and that might alleviate the risk of spell failure due to Dementor interference.
"What's up? By the way, you've been making rapid progress lately."
The meeting of the Spellcasting Club had just ended, and Katrina caught up with Albert. They walked side by side in the corridor. Albert noticed Katrina's silence and casually brought up a topic.
"I take some time each week to learn magic skills from Professor Smith."
"Professor Smith is indeed very talented in teaching, but unfortunately, he's resigning soon."
After exchanging greetings with passing acquaintances, Albert continued, "By the way, when did your relationship become so good?"
"Don't you often go have afternoon tea with Professor Smith?" Katrina seemed a bit annoyed by Albert's remark. It sounded as if only he could go, and she couldn't.
"Yeah, because we have common topics!"
It was true that when Albert went to have tea with the professor, they could discuss topics in depth. It was somewhat similar to an academic exchange.
Katrina grasped Albert's meaning and couldn't help rolling her eyes. Suddenly, she asked, "Have you been busy lately? I heard from Isabelle that you haven't attended the Ancient Magical Runes Enhancement class in a while."
"Yeah, some things have been taking up my time. After all, there's only one brain, and time is limited. I need enough time for rest."
These days, Albert had been practicing magic with his roommates in the Room of Requirement.
As for where he found the time, he just squeezed it out from other activities. Everything else had been put on hold.
"Spit it out, what's the matter?"
"Is your bottle of Baifay Awakening Potion effective?" Katrina hesitated for a moment before getting to the point, "I heard that the Baifay Awakening Potion can make the drinker become smarter."
"Are you interested in the Baifay Awakening Potion?" Albert stopped in his tracks, looked Katrina up and down, and then asked, "Did you sign up for the Wizarding Dueling Tournament?"
"I did. I just wanted to ask in advance. If the Baifay Awakening Potion doesn't work, then I..." Katrina was there for the prize, and she was considering spending money to buy a vial of the potion from Albert. However, she felt that Albert probably wouldn't sell it to her, and Katrina didn't have much spending money herself. She was nothing like Albert, who always seemed to have a handful of Galleons in his pocket.
"Yeah, it's effective. However, it requires a certain concentration of Baifay Awakening Potion. The one I have is diluted, so it doesn't have a permanent enhancement effect." Albert didn't intend to conceal the truth and also reminded her, "If you want to take an undiluted Baifay Awakening Potion, you need to be extremely cautious. If you're not careful, you could end up becoming a bit of a fool."
"You've taken it before?" Katrina raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah."
"Can you help me get an undiluted Baifay Awakening Potion?" Katrina's eyes lit up. If possible, she really wanted to become smarter. She had heard that Albert might know a skilled Potion Master.
"I can't. The Baifay Awakening Potion is a banned substance." Albert shook his head. "Besides, it's challenging to brew, and most of the ones on the black market are failures. That's why it needs to be diluted to reduce the harm."
"Wait a minute, you actually drank an undiluted Baifay Awakening Potion?" Katrina realized and suddenly felt quite uneasy.
Wasn't this ruining the fun for everyone else?
Now, she didn't feel like talking to Albert anymore.
"What's going on?"
Albert watched Katrina walk away, not understanding what she was thinking.
After parting with Katrina, Albert went straight to the Room of Requirement, where Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were already practicing spells.
In fact, Albert had known for a while that these three troublemakers had been secretly practicing the spells from the book "Practical Defensive Magic and Its Countermeasures Against the Dark Arts." But he didn't mind. There weren't any dangerous spells in the books that were allowed to be sold by the Ministry of Magic.
When Albert entered, the three of them were practicing the Jelly-Legs Jinx. He saw George being hit by the spell and his legs gave out.
"This spell is not as practical as the Full-Body-Bind Curse." Albert drew his wand and released George from the Jelly-Legs Jinx, giving a simple evaluation.
"I think it's pretty useful." George muttered.
"That's because you guys want to use it for pranks," Albert saw right through their intentions and smirked. "If you want to play tricks on someone, it's best to be able to cast spells silently and wandlessly. Then no one will know what magic you're using."
"Wow, no wonder you're Albert," all three of them exaggeratedly exclaimed, and then tried to cast the Jelly-Legs Jinx at Albert. However, their spells were immediately blocked by the Shield Charm.
"If you have time, learn the Disarming Charm. Now." Albert waved his wand, and a red light hit Lee Jordan, disarming him.
"Damn it." George muttered an incantation, and Albert quickly dodged, pulling his wand up. George ended up hanging upside down in mid-air.
"Alright, alright." Fred raised his wand, looking like he was conceding defeat.
"Today, we'll practice the Stunning Spell," Albert pointed to the training dummy. "And by the way, don't use it on me. I don't want to be carried to the infirmary by you guys."
"We already know the Stunning Spell," Fred and George protested, "We want to learn the Disarming Charm."
"Learn the Disarming Charm when you can cast spells silently and quickly," Albert said irritably. "Shouting spells out loud in front of others is just telling them what magic you're about to use. Isn't that stupid?"
"Will it work?"
"If you want to play pranks, at least make sure others don't know it's you," Albert retorted.
He raised his wand and flicked it. Fred was hit by the Impediment Jinx and was sent flying before crashing to the ground.
"Ouch!"
Fred rubbed his backside and couldn't help complaining.
"Well, if you don't want to practice the Stunning Spell, then continue with the previous exercise!" Albert said, "The three of you can work together, and increase the speed at which you cast the Shield Charm at me."
"What's the use of that?" George grumbled. He didn't understand why Albert wanted them to keep practicing the Shield Charm.
"You're dense, aren't you? Don't you feel that your attacks are becoming smoother?" Albert said irritably, "Cultivate the feeling of casting spells quickly. When you're facing someone else in a duel, you'll be able to launch attacks more rapidly without getting out of breath. It's an advanced magical skill. If you don't want to learn, forget it."
"Are you trying to fool us again?" All three of them looked at Albert with suspicious eyes, clearly not fully believing him.
Albert said irritably, "Whether it works or not, haven't you guys felt it yourselves?"
"Indeed, spellcasting has become smoother," Fred muttered.
In reality, Albert was indeed fooling them a bit.
However, the four of them were truly growing rapidly in magical dueling, surpassing most students.
If the four of them had been treating wands as mere tools before, at least now they looked a bit more like warriors holding weapons.
*Vote Stones Plz*
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(End of this chapter)