Chapter 14
Hermione stormed back into the Gryffindor common room, cheeks flushed with anger. Harry and Ron were already waiting there.
"So? When's Gray going to tell Professor Dumbledore?" Ron asked eagerly.
Hermione dropped heavily into the seat across from them and slapped her parchment down on the table.
"He doesn't believe me," she said furiously. "He thinks Snape is a Hogwarts professor—he wouldn't hurt Harry."
"What?" Ron's voice rose. "We all saw it! Snape was muttering something at Harry's broom—Harry nearly fell off! Only after you set his robes on fire did the broom stop bucking. Harry still caught the Snitch, but—"
"I told him exactly that," Hermione snapped, eyes flashing. "He still doesn't believe it. He even used our History of Magic essay as an example—said what we see with our own eyes isn't always the truth."
"Did you at least ask him about Nicolas Flamel?" Harry cut in.
Snape trying to kill him was bad enough, but right now Harry wanted to know what Dumbledore was hiding on the fourth floor. That would tell them exactly what Snape was after.
And from what Hagrid had let slip, the thing was connected to someone named Nicolas Flamel.
"I didn't ask!" Hermione huffed, her amber eyes burning with determination and frustration. "We don't need him. We'll find out who this Nicolas Flamel is ourselves. And we'll stop Snape's plan. Let Gray see who was right all along."
Harry and Ron exchanged a worried glance. They could both feel it—Hermione in this mood usually meant trouble was coming.
Meanwhile, Gabin hadn't given much thought to Hermione running off. In his eyes, it was just a twelve-year-old throwing a tantrum.
Eventually she would realize that the grim, frightening Snape had actually been protecting Harry all along—and that the seemingly harmless Quirrell was the real threat hiding in the castle.
When that happened, she would probably understand the lesson he'd been trying to teach her.
For now, he made his way back to the seventh-floor corridor and slipped into the Room of Requirement.
There was still some time left today—might as well get in more spell practice.
The first-year Charms textbook, *The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)*, covered the six core spells they were expected to master:
Lumos (Illumination Charm), Wingardium Leviosa (Levitation Charm), Alohomora (Unlocking Charm), Colloportus (Locking Charm), Molliare (Softening Charm), and Incendio (Fire-Making Charm).
He could already cast both Lumos and Wingardium Leviosa non-verbally. He'd even modified Lumos into a practical communication tool.
The current lessons focused on Alohomora and Colloportus—taught together because they targeted the same object: a lock or door.
One opened it; the other sealed it shut.
In most cases, Alohomora could undo Colloportus. It was essentially the counter-charm.
But what if the Locking Charm had been cast by Dumbledore?
Then no ordinary wizard—not even with Alohomora—could open it.
Gabin had suspected as much. After seeing the magical circuits of both spells, he was even more certain.
The circuit for Alohomora was almost identical to Colloportus. Placed side by side, they formed something like a double helix—exactly like DNA strands.
Both circuits could extend indefinitely, just like Lumos.
To unlock a Colloportus-sealed door, Alohomora started at the end point of the Locking Charm's spiral and traced an identical path—but in reverse—along the same spiral.
When the two circuits met head-to-tail, they canceled each other out, and the magic dissipated harmlessly into the air.
So if the Colloportus spiral was made excessively long, an ordinary Alohomora simply couldn't complete the loop. The lock stayed shut.
For most wizards, whether they could break a Colloportus depended entirely on whether they had enough raw magic to match the length of the original spiral.
For Gabin, it depended only on how far he could precisely control and extend his own magic.
And now that he understood the principle, he could cast a Colloportus with a spiral several—or even dozens—of times longer than anyone else's. No ordinary wizard would ever open it.
Gabin pulled a small notebook from inside his robes and flicked his wand. A spiral circuit appeared and neatly unlocked the tiny padlock on its cover.
He didn't trust the professors not to peek, but no student—not even the older ones—would ever get into this notebook and see what he'd written.
Not that he was recording anything illegal.
He dipped his quill and began noting today's practice results, along with his analysis of the circuits.
He wasn't foolish enough to keep a diary or jot down Harry Potter plot points in Chinese. This was purely a record of magical circuits and spell practice insights—nothing more.
He put a neat tick next to Alohomora and Colloportus, then sketched two interlocking, extending spirals beneath them and added a few brief observations.
He also jotted down a couple of ideas: using Colloportus on an envelope so only the intended recipient could open it, for example.
Those could wait for later experiments.
His gaze moved to the last two unmarked spells—the final two first-years were required to learn.
Molliare (Softening Charm) and Incendio (Fire-Making Charm).
Incendio was an offensive spell. Mastering it gave a wizard at least some combat ability.
Only a little, admittedly.
But enough to set someone's robes on fire—or, at the very least, start a campfire in winter.
Still, Gabin decided to set Incendio aside for now and focus on Molliare first.
He had watched other students cast Molliare several times and memorized its circuit well enough to practice on his own.
Incendio… he had also seen it cast multiple times. Hermione had demonstrated it right in front of him.
But unfortunately, he hadn't been able to memorize a consistent circuit for it.
Or rather—he wasn't sure whether he had.
Every time he observed it, the magical circuit looked different.
The Incendio Hermione cast last time was not the same as the one before that.
The one before *that* differed from the one Professor Flitwick had used beside her.
And all four versions were distinct from each other.
Gabin had recorded each one carefully in his notebook.
But when he tried them one by one, none worked.
So—Incendio would have to wait.
Softening Charm first.