Chapter 68: 5th September 1991, Thursday: Part 2

George blew out the green flame whilst waiting for Flitwick to respond. The half-goblin appeared to be stunned by the refined explanation and accompanying demonstration. Hermione would have just recited the textbook definition of charms in his place, this would have been boring in George's eyes. He felt like a bit of showmanship would make him sound less like a nerd and show off his passion for the subject better. After a brief moment of shock and awe, Flitwick spontaneously sprang into life and skipped around from on top of the large book he was currently standing on.

He spoke with great enthusiasm to George and the rest of the class, "that was a perfect answer Mr Linwood, ten points to Slytherin. Now would you please take a seat before you replace me."

George bowed In Flitwick's direction once again before making his way over to the remaining seat on the Slytherin side of the table. Ironically, he ended up sitting next to Theodore which seemed to unsettle the boy greatly. For the sake of not upsetting Theodore any more than necessary, George sat as far away as possible.

Flitwick then began to continue his lesson, "Charms are the epitome of what makes the world magical. There is hardly a single aspect of a witch's or wizard's activities that isn't affected by the use of Charms.

Whether it be to fly a broom, as Mr Linwood so kindly pointed out, or something so trivial as cleaning the dishes, Charms are present in every aspect of life. If any of you can become a master of Charms then you are destined to accomplish great things in the future.

Your potential could only be limited by your imagination, there is simply nothing that can't be achieved."

In his excitement, Flitwick began to walk forward even though there was nothing ahead of him. The little man was only standing on a precariously balanced book. Every member of the class seemed to have imagined what was about to happen to him and panicked simultaneously. To everyone's surprise, Flitwick did not fall to the ground but instead continued to walk forward as if he was taking a stroll down the park. Every time he took one step forward, a book would float from the pile beside his desk and appear underneath his foot.

The entire class looked in rapture as they witnessed Flitwick walk through the air. It was quite incredible to see several books flying around the room to form a bridge ahead of the professor. Flitwick looked down at all of the students who were looking at him in awe, a gentle smile formed on his face. This might seem like showing off at a glance but George felt there was more to this showmanship. He imagined that Flitwick had an obsession with learning magic and found it pleasant to see others share his curiosity; he probably enjoyed teaching first-years more than any other professor in Hogwarts.

Flitwick crossed his arms, whilst still holding his glowing wand, and hovered in the centre of the room on top of a book which suddenly changed from paper to stone. The stone book then deformed into a pillar that grew towards the ground, intricate patterns began to form along the pillar as it lengthened. Now Flitwick stood atop a short and stumpy pillar that looked identical to any one of the pillars that could be found around Hogwarts. George couldn't help but appreciate the attention to detail even if he thought that magic was more like Transfiguration than Charms.

Flitwick chose that moment of the student's reverie to continue his speech, "now that I've got all of your attention, I shall now summarise the curriculum for the rest of this year. To start…"

The explanation continued for another two hours as Flitwick went over everything that he planned on teaching for the first year. This gave George ample time to think about the daunting task of brewing an advanced potion. He felt his persona was at risk of breaking as he ran through every step in making the Calming Draught in his head whilst integrating the knowledge from several different books. His face would occasionally flinch like someone had stood on his toe whenever his brewing simulations failed. He was always quick to hide these ticks if Flitwick looked in his direction.

Having spent the entire time scheming, the lesson quickly came to an end as two-and-a-half hours flew by. George made sure to linger in the corner of the class until he was the only remaining student. Unsurprisingly, Theodore had bolted passed him without sparing him a second glance. Flitwick was currently returning all of the books he had used during his demonstration to their original locations; it took him a full minute before he realised that George had stayed behind.

He turned around and asked, "Mr Linwood, I didn't see you there. Do you have a question about the lesson you wish to ask?"

George acted bashfully as he replied, "I'm afraid you have seen right through me Professor, I do indeed have a question to ask. Although, it isn't related to today's lesson. I don't mean to bother you since I am not a member of your house and this is after the lesson..."

Flitwick walked up to George while shaking his head, "nonsense my boy, nonsense. It does not matter whose house you belong to, I welcome a question from any student who shows a curiosity towards Charms. What is it you wish to know?"

After a bit of reluctance, George proceeded to pull out the book of invisibility he had purchased at Flourish and Blotts bookstore and held it towards Flitwick. The book appeared to be invisible until George focused some of his magic inside which turned it opaque. He'd managed, through vigorous trial and error, to make the book visible last night during a break from the hours of Calming Draught research. Since he'd be stealing ingredients later today, he felt some minor research on turning invisible would be extremely useful. The only problem was, he had absolutely no idea what any of this book's content meant.

It was on a whole other level of nonsense compared to the potion books. It wasn't like the logic didn't make sense, there was simply no logic in the first place. It is like the book of invisibility was written and intended to be read by insane people. George couldn't imagine decoding the book's content within anything short of half-a-dozen months. Although it was a shot in the dark, his only remaining option was to ask one of only two professors in Hogwarts who could perform such advanced magic. Speaking of which, Flitwick appeared surprised at the book's sudden appearance.

George looked mildly infuriated as he somewhat explained his problem, "although invisibility magic is rather advanced for first years such as myself, I've had a strong infatuation with understanding its function. My interest was further amplified after witnessing Professor McGonagall turning an object from opaque to transparent via Transfiguration.

This book is the only reference I currently have and I'm struggling to comprehend it. I was wondering if you could offer me any advice?"

Whether it be stealing ingredients or completing the mission in a few months, George knew that learning an invisibility spell was one of the most important pieces of magic he had to learn whilst at Hogwarts. Keeping his activities as hidden as possible was essential to the success of his plans, the sooner he gained mastery over invisibility the better. Flitwick would provide him with the best possible method of learning this magic in the shortest possible time, hence why George needed a good rapport with the professor. The only alternative was to scour the Library for more information and prey he found some other book that would speed up his comprehension. But after the hunt for the Calming Draught info, George really didn't want to do that.

Flitwick looked at the book before returning his gaze to George with a troubled expression, "although I love to see your passion to learn more advanced magic, I have to say that you may have bitten off more than you can chew.

Building a strong foundation in Charms is essential when it comes to mastering more advanced pieces of magic. Attempting more powerful magic without full understanding and comprehension could result in dangerous consequences.

Your demonstration in the Great Hall showed me that you already have a natural gift for Transfiguration. I think it would be in your best interest to talk to Professor McGonagall and dedicate your spare time to advancing your talent for fire magic."

George had expected this sort of response, the professor's main concern was always going to be the welfare of the students. The more advanced and powerful a spell was, the more dangerous it was to cast it. Many wizards and witches have been known to die from a spell backfiring, Hogwarts would never encourage students to take needless risks when practising magic to avoid this consequence. It was ironic considering how dangerous Hogwarts already was, the lines drawn to 'ensure the student's safety' appeared to have been given no real consideration.

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George acted disheartened after hearing Flitwick's retort, "of course professor, sorry for wasting your time."

Taking a similar approach to operation Guard Dog, George's head fell limply as he looked towards the floor and hugged the invisibility book. Then he turned his back to Flitwick and began dragging his feet towards the exit. George was banking on the fact that Flitwick wouldn't be able to crush a student's curiosity, it was too contradictory to his philosophy. And as he'd expected, Flitwick looked like he had eaten something rotten after seeing George's depressed visage exiting his classroom. The professor gritted his teeth and appeared to be thinking frantically of methods to remedy this situation.

It seemed that an idea popped into Flitwick's head as he turned around and pointed his wand towards the pile of books at the back of the classroom. One of the older-looking books towards the bottom of the pile shot out and flew towards him. It flew at such speed that it appeared as if it was going to impact the man and send him flying, but, it stopped inches away from his outstretched hand. Flitwick then picked up the book from the air and began to flick through it until he found a page that caused his eyes to open wide. A smile formed on his face as he looked back towards George.

Flitwick called out, "Mr Linwood, I believe I have come up with a suitable compromise. I am still adamant that invisibility magic is too advanced for a first-year student, but, Disillusionment should not be impossible to learn for someone as talented as yourself."

George stopped walking out of the classroom as a creepy smile formed on his face. Then he turned around quickly, but with a look of shock, after hearing what Flitwick had said.

George exclaimed in a mixture of surprise and confusion, "Disillusionment?"

Flitwick handed an open book to George and pointed towards a paragraph with his wand, "yes, you heard correctly. Disillusionment is one of the lesser-known charms under the invisible magic spectrum. It's the act of changing someone or something to appear as the environment around it, not unlike a chameleon.

Many magicians neglect this area of magic as they consider it an inferior form of the invisibility spell, but I beg to differ. It's generally easier magic to perform and therefore can be mastered to a finer degree. Theoretically, you could become more camouflaged than a Demiguise. What do you think?"

George allowed a little of his real emotions to trickle out onto his face, he was genuinely curious about this type of magic. He genuinely was unaware this type of magic even existed before today. George had assumed he would have to dedicate hundreds of hours to learning invisibility within the next few months but now this amazing option had become available. He knew that employing the Hermione tactic of scouring the Library was far inferior to just using the professors, George had barely put any effort into manipulating Flitwick and yet it had already paid off massively.

He greedily accepted the book whilst frantically nodding at Flitwick, "this is brilliant Professor, absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much.

Can I borrow this book, I'll take really good care of it and return it whenever…"

Flitwick waved his hand nonchalantly, "keep it. That book had been sitting at the bottom of my collection for the past three decades. I've always prided myself on believing books are meant to be read and not squandered, it seems only right that I allow you to be its inheritor.

Now leave before I change my mind. I'm looking forward to seeing, or rather not seeing, the progress you make."

Flitwick made a fake attempt at rushing George out of the room, he walked forward cornering him near the exit. This was obviously a method to give George no time to refuse the book, it wasn't like he had any plan of giving it back anyway. George stopped walking just as he was about to pass the threshold of the door, he turned back towards Flitwick like an old detective with a glass eye.

George said ominously, "Sir, just one more thing."

He pulled Remus's alarm clock out of his pocket and held it towards Flitwick, the professor looked up at it with curiosity. George felt that he might be pushing his luck, but the issue of not waking up independently needed to be solved. The way Theodore acted the past two days was just another reminder of that fact.

George asked Flitwick, "this alarm clock is bewitched to shock me in the morning to wake me up, I happen to be a heavy sleeper and I need the extra incentive. Unfortunately, the shock has failed to rouse me the past two days.

I was wondering if you could amplify the shocking power for me."

Flitwick thought about the new problem before saying, "go to row F in the Charms section in the Library. There should be plenty of books on bewitchment."

George needed a little more clarity, "Sir, I don't understand."

Flitwick merely looked up at him and smiled mysteriously, "it's an important life skill for any great wizard to be able to find their own solutions to their problems. I want to see how well you can get on without me. Treat this problem like some early homework set by myself.

If you're still struggling by next week then I will help you, but I personally don't think that will be necessary."

George couldn't stop smiling as he was shoved through the classroom's door. He may have felt mentally exhausted but it was all worthwhile. The invisibility book was placed back inside his leather sack, probably never to be read again. George also put the alarm clock back into his pocket and started to read his new Dissilusionment book. He would not have much time to read it today, but George couldn't help getting a taste of how much potential this new magic had to offer.

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