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The next day, the ingredients came from the Weasleys. Yes, I ordered them, like last year, through the twins. Why not? Mediation costs a pittance, or rather a couple of sikels. On the same day, we brewed a complex of potions to restore the musculoskeletal system. We applied them according to the worked out scheme – with the help of Confundus. Another portion of strong pain, a nasty taste in the mouth from the potions, and we can again train as much as we wish. But only in the morning.

Hermione and I forced our prefect, Percy Weasley, to accompany us to our classroom for self-study. The argument was simple – we are the best students of the House and the year, we bring many points. It will be bad if we are bewitched, and the school cup will not be seen. Percy was inspired, and now with his classmate escorts us to our “secret” room and then takes us back. It’s not far to walk here, but you don’t want to risk it. I don’t think the guys will be able to help us in any way in the event of a basilisk attack, no. I just hope that the basilisk won’t attack such a company, no matter whether it is controlled by the Seventh Weasley or Riddle. But such an attack will destroy the legend – the Weasley is pure-blood, like his comrade, whose name I don’t know.

We had to slightly adjust the schedule. Now, immediately after the end of the last lesson, Hermione and I sat in our office without leaving and practicing spells, doing homework, and so on. Physical preparation took place early in the morning. Percy helped to sort out the food – he introduced me to Timmy, the house-elf, who happily brought us all sorts of goodies into the office. Also, this little house-elf shared gossip while amusing herself with her manner of constructing phrases, talking about herself in the third person, and in the most amusing manner portraying the characters from these rumors.

With the help of the house-elf, it was found that all house-elves, without exception, are aware that the “Terrible Horror” is periodically moving around the castle – that’s what they call it. She also said that with the appearance of the “Terrible Horror,” spiders began to run away from the castle. This was very good news for the house-elf, but the joy was overshadowed by the reason for this migration.

“It all fits!” Hermione nodded.

Timmy brought us dinner, told the spiders’ story, and hurried off to do other important things, disappearing with a pop.

“What exactly?”

We sat at the same desk and looked with a certain doubt at a huge amount of different foods. Like last year, potions have increased our appetite, and the little house-elves were happy to feed us. It seems to me that these little creatures cherish hope. The hope that we will burst from overeating, and they will snatch their piece of “strong young wizards.”

“What do you think?”

“I’m just interested in your conclusions,” I smiled at the girl. “But I can share mine. In the wizarding world, it so happened that spiders are afraid of snakes. They are either trying to kill them, or they are running. In our case, the latter. They run because they sense a very strong snake. Now there is no longer any doubt that this is a basilisk.”

“Exactly. And petrification instead of death, I suppose, is due to indirect gaze. Colin was petrified, holding the camera in his hands. According to Harry, he was looking through the viewfinder. But, this is strange …”

Hermione poked thoughtfully with a fork at the pieces of potatoes, indifferently bringing them to her mouth, chewing quickly.

“What exactly.”

“Moaning Myrtle.”

“Oh, you mean the ghost of that girl?”

“Yes. It was she who died fifty years ago. In the toilet. Did you notice that she wears glasses?”

“I haven’t even seen her.”

“Hmm. It doesn’t matter, she wears glasses. And she died. We will need to ask her.”

“Let’s not today?”

“Of course! It’s too late.”

“And about the camera … You know, Colin has a camera with a mirror viewfinder, not a telescopic one. Here, too, the theory is quite pertinent.”

After this conversation, we just had dinner. After finishing her meal, Hermione called Timmy and asked her to clear the dishes. The house-elf snapped her fingers and disappeared along with the dishes.

“I just thought… Most of the relatively harmless offensive spells and curses begin with a downward movement of the wand. I also noticed that sorcerers don’t really react to the wand unless it’s pointed at them.”

“Let us suppose.”

“What is the easiest way for you to conjure? Where to keep the wand?”

“Ideally – I need to see the direction of the wand and the target on the same line.”

Hermione took out her wand and held out her hand, pointing at the wall.

“And if closer to the face?”

Hermione glanced at me inquiringly but just nodded and flexed her elbow, bringing the wrist closer to her face. At the same time, she made different movements for trial.

“Hmm. You know, the wrist moves even better. And the movements are somewhat more accurate. You can reduce their amplitude, speed up the casting of the spell.”

“Great. Now turn the other side to the intended goal. No … Right shoulder back, left shoulder forward. Yes, just like that.”

I nodded contentedly. It’s just that when I thought about how Hermione conjures, how she loves to dodge and merge everything into smooth bundles of movements, translating one into another. I remembered one of the most charismatic villains of cinema from my past world – Bellatrix Lestrange. Her manner to relaxed behave, holding her wand to her face and instantly launching an attack from this position. Plus, in this position, the arms are closer to the body, which allows you to move faster, dodge, and turn the body. And what I saw in others, arms outstretched to the side, tense postures, all this reduces mobility. And it can turn out to be silly, but a prank.

“Look. Try to move in a relaxed way, as you would on a walk, and hold the wand somehow.”

I got up and parodied Bella as I walked around the office. Hermione’s hysterical laughter made it clear that it was so-so. Or, on the contrary, it is too good.

“Ha-ha-ha! Okay, stop. Ha-ha!”

I also smiled and, as if embarrassed, scratched the back of my blonde head with my five fingers, looking at Hermione bursting into laughter. After a couple of minutes, she calmed down from what she saw and, wiping away a nonexistent tear, decided to try. For almost an hour, she moved around the cabinet, tapping her chin with her wand, then on her cheekbone. First, she portrayed thoughtfulness, then joy, then sadness. Sometimes, she suddenly broke into some ornate curtsy, very dangerously waving her wand, like a musketeer – a hat. During such tomfoolery, she did not forget to abruptly begin to conjure with a wand at the very face, instantly sending some kind of spell into the wall. It looked pretty effective.

“Wizards rarely expect an attack from a relaxed opponent. Well, except in cases when nothing but an attack can happen. And also, if the enemy expects an attack and prepares to defend himself, then such behavior will unnerve him and, possibly, provoke an attack. And here, the advantage may be on your side.”

“And what about your style?” asked Hermione, and literally a second later, she laughed again, probably remembering my walk.

“No, not as you thought. I’m more comfortable from the body.”

I got up, took my wand in my hand, and, like a strict teacher, began to tap it on the palm of my other hand, raising it to the level of my stomach.

“It’s easier for me to aim offhand. Even easier than keeping a wand in line of sight.”

I pointed my wand at Hermione with a whip and immediately began to move it downward, sending Stupefy at her. Hermione abruptly but smoothly stepped back, letting the blue blob past her head, and immediately answered in the same way, almost at her very face pointing her wand at me. In a couple of seconds, a short duel with the transfer of spells was organized.

“Well, what do you think?” I asked the thoughtful girl when we stopped throwing chaos around the classroom.

“Not quite what you need. You need to work it out, find something of your own. But what you suggested is already close.”

“Well. Look, I’ll show you one more trick.”

I conjured Protego Totalus. A transparent sphere appeared around me. For now, I need to concentrate quite hard on it while using a wand – I channel magic through her. The sudden movement will easily cancel concentration. I put my left hand’s fingers in the “pistol” and ran them over the wand. The power of the spell shifted from the wand to the fingers, but the shield floated and weakened a little.

“Wow!” admired Hermione when I freely moved the wand, twisted between my fingers, while the spell remained in place.

“Yeah,” I smiled back. “You just need to train a lot. The wand helps to channel magic, and without it, it hardly “stretches” out of the body. Yes, and it dissipates strongly. I clearly feel it.”

Immediately, I waved my wand and created a simple Lumos. The problem with Protego Totalus is that it creates a two-sided shield from under which you cannot attack.

“But this is nothing more than a trick – without training,” Hermione said and tried to repeat it. The shield disintegrated almost immediately. Preschool training and exercises with hemomancy clearly helped me.

“I agree. You can devote some time to this, but not much.”

“It’s already barely enough.”