T/N: Hello! I am back, will be updating other fics soon.
"They're definitely going to fight again. None of them are willing to back down."
In the common room, Andrew was packing his bag while discussing the scene they had witnessed that morning with his dormmates.
"They all went to fix the lawn, and they still might end up fighting?"
"Let's just hope they don't start on the lawn. Either they'll all land in the hospital wing, or something dramatic will happen, or they'll all be thrown in detention…" Andrew zipped up his bag. "Just wait, it's only a matter of time. I'm heading to the library, anyone coming with me?"
"Today's the first weekend of the school year… oh come on, Andrew. Even in Ravenclaw, you're way too diligent…"
"That's because you're all too smart," Andrew shouldered his bag and passed the blame, "which puts a lot of pressure on me…"
He had already spent the morning watching Quidditch with his roommates—now he needed to catch up on his assignments. Professor McGonagall had warned him before term even started that some first-years arrive more knowledgeable than students about to graduate. He couldn't tolerate falling behind that badly.
"Wait up, I'm coming too!"
"Alright, count me in…"
…
In the end, the rest of the dorm reluctantly followed him to the library.
——
"Look at this spell!"
Har lowered his voice and pulled Andrew back from the world of Transfiguration. The five of them were occupying most of a long table, and Har had walked all the way around just to show him something.
"…Here, I have to introduce a minor mischief spell that was all the rage during our school years.It's not an officially documented incantation, and students never settled on a fixed name for it. But that never stopped it from being wildly useful.We fondly called it the 'shoelace spell,' because the unknown inventor made it so it targets shoelaces, tying them together tightly and creating an effect similar to the Leg-Locker Curse—but that's not even its best use.You've probably guessed already—it's a classroom prank spell. Even if you mutter it under your breath, it can tie an annoying classmate's shoelaces to their chair…"
"What do you think, Andrew?"
Har grinned mischievously.
"That's pretty cool," Andrew nodded. Usually, spell strength is tied to the volume and confidence of the caster—according to Professor Flitwick, the louder and more confident you are, the stronger the spell. So it was no surprise that quiet mischief spells like this one were popular among students.
"I'll copy it down. We can try it out when we get back… This book has a few more spells like this."
Har looked very pleased—he'd flipped through several books before finding this gem.
"Copy a bunch—we might finally get enough Chocolate Frog cards this term."
"Of course. Knowledge is valuable treasure."
Despite occasional distractions, Andrew managed to finish Professor McGonagall's essay before dinner. Meanwhile, his roommates were also getting restless in the library.
Between them, they had found five prank spells they thought might be manageable for first-years, and they were all itching to test them out.
Even though dinner was still a while off, they returned to the dorm early—just in case Madam Pince decided to kick everyone out.
"Time to test new spells! Quick, everyone try one. Share any breakthroughs!"
"Perfect—one per person…"
Andrew gave Har a skeptical look. "You sure you didn't slip in a spell or two we can't possibly manage, just because the numbers worked out nicely?"
"They're all minor mischief spells—and they don't target people directly. Worst-case scenario, someone summons a bull, and honestly, I think Professor Flitwick made that story up."
Of course it was made up—it simply left out the context. A warning meant to scare first-years into caution by citing a rare adult wizard's blunder.
If a first-year could really summon a bull with a single spell, Hogwarts would've been flattened by stampedes ages ago. It was just a deterrent.
In reality, most first-year spell failures resulted in nothing at all—not even a feather twitching. Unless their wand movements were so wildly off that they stirred up wind…
Andrew got the shoelace spell—the only one that seemed even remotely plausible. He removed the laces from an old pair of shoes and began practicing.
The others followed his lead, setting up their own spell targets a safe distance apart (as Andrew had insisted).
…
"I don't know about this one… is it really supposed to make rain fall on someone's forehead until a whole cup of water is gone?"
"This feather feels sticky, but I think that's just because my hands are sweaty…"
"Count your blessings. This book occasionally nips at my fingers when I open it… Har, are you sure you copied that spell right?"
"Same here, no response… I think the book tricked me."
Har looked a little disheartened. He'd tried hard to pick spells that looked first-year appropriate—targeting objects, not people. The stronger ones were simply out of their league.
"My spell actually did something—the laces moved. But getting them to tie up will take more practice," Andrew sighed. "And casting it quietly? Not happening for at least two or three months."
"Ugh… looks like we're way off. Andrew's the only one who got even a partial result. I might as well go back to studying more traditional defensive spells…"
Har looked defeated. "So much for the Chocolate Frog cards. Let's just go eat."
But when they reached the Great Hall, disaster struck again—according to some well-informed Hufflepuffs, dinner would be delayed by at least half an hour.
Though they didn't say much more, the truth quickly got out.
To prevent another first-year war, Filch had decided to monitor things personally (though Andrew suspected he just wanted to catch more troublemakers). That left the notorious prankster ghost Peeves largely unmonitored.
And just recently, Peeves had wreaked havoc in the kitchens, stolen a bunch of bread, and was now bombarding exhausted Gryffindors and Slytherins at the front gates—using their own dinner rolls as ammunition.
The fight was still going on, and since it was a Saturday—upper years had gone to Hogsmeade, and the professors were off too—there was no end in sight…
T/N: For twenty chapters ahead on all my fics become a P@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle