"Hey, George, Fred, what are you up to?"
Harley clapped both of them on the shoulders, pushing them back into their seats just as they were about to slip away.
George chuckled nervously. "Ahahaha~ It's Harley! And Ronniekins, hello~"
Fred added quickly, "Lovely weather today, don't you think? Ahahaha~"
As they tried to act casual, both of them shifted to block whatever was on the table, hoping to hide it before Harley could see.
But Harley wasn't having any of it. She leaned in, holding them down. "What are you two hiding? Let me see!"
It was a book—an old, handwritten notebook.
"'The Secret Duel Book'? Where did this come from?" Harley picked it up and flipped through it.
George sighed. "Knew we wouldn't be able to hide it."
Fred shrugged. "Worth a shot."
Harley skimmed through the aged pages, her eyes lighting up as she realized what was inside—spells.
A whole collection of dueling magic!
The wizarding world never had a strict classification of spells.
White magic, dark magic, household charms, battle spells, ancient incantations… everything was mixed.
Dueling magic was just a loose category—essentially spells used in magical combat.
Some well-known ones were the Disarming Charm, the Stunning Spell, and the Shield Charm.
Harley had grown up hearing Sirius's stories about legendary wizard duels.
She had always dreamed of learning advanced dueling magic.
And now, here it was, right in her hands!
"Where did you get this?" Hermione asked, curiosity piqued.
"We found it in a hidden passage inside the castle," George said enthusiastically. "It belonged to a student who graduated over a hundred years ago!"
Fred nodded. "Yep! Apparently, back then, a transfer student arrived, and things at Hogwarts turned chaotic. Students started learning dueling spells to protect themselves. If it weren't for Ted, we wouldn't have gotten past the protective spells guarding it!"
"Ted?" Hermione immediately latched onto the name. "He was involved?"
Fred realized too late that he had let it slip. "Oh—uh, what Ted? Who said anything about Ted?"
Hermione wasn't buying it. "Ted knew about this? He helped?!"
Ron crossed his arms, frowning. "You guys are closer to Ted than I am, but he never tells us anything. Shouldn't he have told us about this book?"
George patted his younger brother's shoulder. "Ronniekins, don't take it personally. He just thought you guys might not be ready for something this powerful yet."
Ron swatted his brother's hand away and snapped, "I told you, stop calling me that! My name is Ron!" With that, he stormed off.
Everyone sat in awkward silence.
"What's up with him?" Harley asked.
Fred sighed. "Guess he's at that age where baby nicknames aren't cute anymore."
George shook his head. "Not good, not good."
Hermione, however, brought the conversation back. "You still haven't explained what Ted's involvement was."
With no other choice, the twins finally spilled everything.
They had stumbled upon the secret passage but couldn't break through the magical barrier on their own.
So, they turned to Ted for help.
Ted had used a combination of magic suppression and ritual magic to weaken and extract the locked magical energy, successfully breaking through the protective spell.
Only then did they obtain the dueling book.
After reading through the spells, Ted realized that while they were useful, he had already mastered most of the valuable ones himself.
What remained—spells like "Incendio Tempest" and "Tempest Jinx"—weren't as impressive.
Still, he knew that giving young, reckless students access to dangerous magic could lead to trouble.
So, he had told the twins not to share the book with their friends just yet.
But, well… they got caught.
The group didn't blame Ted; they understood his reasoning.
Giving powerful spells to inexperienced students was like handing them a loaded gun—or in their case, the Elder Wand—to a child.
But then Hermione frowned. "Wait—where's Ted now? Isn't he with you?"
Ted had mentioned just two days ago that he was working on magic experiments with the twins.
If he wasn't with them now, then where was he?
The twins hesitated, exchanging glances before sighing.
"Alright, alright, you got us," George admitted. "Ted's been sneaking into the Forbidden Forest at night. We caught him doing it."
Fred sighed. "And, well, he made us promise to cover for him."
Everyone tensed at the mention of the Forbidden Forest.
Last year, during detention, they had all been forced to venture into its depths.
It had left a lasting impression on them—especially Neville and the others, who had come face-to-face with Quirrell while he was possessed by Voldemort. E
ven now, the memory sent chills down their spines.
Hermione hadn't been there that time, but she was clearly worried now. "What's he doing in the Forbidden Forest?"
Fred shrugged. "He said he's testing new magic."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "And he couldn't do that inside the castle?"
"We don't know," George admitted. "Ted does his own thing. We don't question it."
Hermione crossed her arms. "That's not a good enough answer."
During dinner, Ted held up his fork and looked at his friends suspiciously.
"Why are you all staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" He reached up to check but found nothing.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "What have you been up to lately? You've been avoiding us."
Ted was about to respond when he noticed Neville subtly shaking his head, warning him.
Catching on, Ted cleared his throat and said, "Oh, that. I've been working on a new spell—kind of dangerous—so I've been practicing in the Forbidden Forest. Didn't want to risk anyone getting caught up in it, and, well, Hagrid would definitely notice if I did it near the castle."
Hermione rolled her eyes. She knew Ted was being evasive, but since he admitted part of the truth, she let it slide—for now.
Ted, meanwhile, was internally relieved. Close call.
But, of course, expecting his friends not to follow him was wishful thinking.
—
That night, they all snuck out together. Ted's invisibility charm covered a few of them, while Harley's Invisibility Cloak handled the rest.
Slipping out of the castle from a first-floor window, they made their way toward the Forbidden Forest.
As they neared Hagrid's hut, Jerry's large, round ears twitched.
"Hold on—do you hear that? Something's growling."
Neville stiffened. "Wait, you hear it too? I thought I was imagining things!"
Ted chuckled, patting Neville on the shoulder. "Relax, that's just Hagrid snoring."
Jerry's eyes widened. "Snoring? That sounds like a troll!"
The rumbling grew louder as they moved closer.
Even from several meters away, it was deafening.
As expected of Hogwarts' gamekeeper, Hagrid's mere presence was enough to keep most of the Forbidden Forest's creatures at bay.
After all, what kind of magical beast wouldn't be terrified of what sounded like a dragon stuck in a meat grinder?
—
"This here is a Mud Mephit," Ted explained, pointing at the grotesque, mud-like creature in front of them. "Not dangerous, just nasty. It likes to ambush prey and spit rancid sludge that won't come off for days."
Without missing a beat, Ted flicked his wand, launching a Frostbolt that froze the creature solid.
A quick Severing Charm shattered it into pieces.
+35 experience points.
Though it looked like Ted had been casually wandering the Forbidden Forest the past few nights, in truth, he'd been systematically hunting its creatures.
Last year, he had avoided stirring up trouble—partly because of Voldemort lurking around hunting unicorns.
But this year?
Different story. Now that he had mastered a few advanced combat spells, it was time to put them to the test.
Regular practice dummies were boring, after all.
The Forbidden Forest provided much better live targets.
Of course, it was also a good opportunity to educate his friends.
"Magical creatures come in many forms," Ted lectured as they continued walking. "Not all of them are classified as magical animals. Take Dementors or Boggarts, for example. They're magical beings, but not animals."
Hermione nodded, fascinated. "Right, some creatures are anomalies—manifestations of magic rather than living things."
"Exactly. After the Conjunction, some Magizoologists attempted to create a taxonomy that would include the being from another universe.
And some type of magical creature, Magizoologists call them 'aberrations' because they don't fit into any normal classification. And speaking of aberrations…"
Ted gestured toward the remnants of the Sedge Mud Monster. "That thing belonged to the greater family of Mud Beasts. Just another piece of magical taxonomy still being unraveled."
System Rating: Level 1~
_______________________________
Word count: 1413
Comment below on what you think so far.
Also, if you're interested in reading some advanced chapters, you can support me on my patreon.
patreon.com/Rai_jin
Thanks for reading guys.