In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 16: The forbidden doors

Jon didn't care about the rudeness of the boy who is obviously also one of Ron's brothers, he was still thinking in his head about some of the wand gestures that Professor Flitwick had just taught in the charms class.

Magic in this world is undoubtedly a power largely centred around the mind, and the key to spellcasting is the wielder himself, and things like incantations, wands and wand-wielding gestures would all be considered aids.

The absence of these things would not mean that a wizard would lose the ability to use magic, but it would certainly increase the difficulty of learning and mastering a particular spell by making it more chaotic.

The reason why incantations, wands and wand-wielding gestures were created was to enable wizards to master specific spells in a more precise and orderly manner.

Instead of lighting a fire, we should think of using Lumos to illuminate our surroundings to use it.

These are all crucial elements that serve as the foundation. So naturally, Jon understands that mastering them all will only ensure that the wizard can cast the spell properly.

There are differences between strength and weakness, regardless of what kind of magic it is, what distinguishes the power of magic is undoubtedly the most fundamental elements that wizards required to cast a spell - belief (intent) and magic power.

While the basics can be mastered with practice and skill, belief and magic power cannot be strengthened just by diligence.

This is where a wizard's talent for magic comes into play, and it is something that is so elusive that even the Professor who teaches magic has no way of explaining it in words.

"Percy is really the worst, did you guys see that look on his face, 'I hope you won't mess up even this little thing', what does he take us for? Some troll that only knows how to eat and sleep, and spends the rest of the time goofing off, barking and swinging a wooden club?"

Ron complained almost all the way to the door.

The red-haired boy just now was his third brother, Percy Weasley, who didn't look much like any of the other Weasley children and clearly lacked a sense of humour in comparison.

"This is the storage room?"

Justin pushed open the door of the room with the label, and the interior of the room looked similar to the greenhouse in Herbology class, a room designed to serve as an entrance room.

Instead of wooden shelves, there were several wooden barrels tossed in one corner, and on the opposite wall from the entrance door, there are seven doors marked "Meat", "Vegetables", "Liquor", etc. With these clear signs, the five of them could easily finish their work.

The job was indeed simple and the five of them easily found potatoes and onions in the storage room marked "vegetables", but as they were about to carry them to the kitchen, Lavender's attention was suddenly drawn to a room with an unmarked door.

"What's this room for?"

The rest of the group looked over towards where she was pointing; the door didn't look any different from the rest of the room, except for the fact that it wasn't specifically marked.

"It's probably a pile of other miscellaneous supplies that aren't being used, let's just take these food ingredients to the kitchen first."

Neville was clearly able to restrain his curiosity as he and Jon exchanged a glance, and together the two lifted the heaviest box of onions.

"It's best not to delay dinner."

Jon agreed, he felt it would be best not to be too curious in a magic school like this, or who knew what kind of accidents might happen.

But both Ron and Lavender were already hooked, and as Jon and Neville spoke they both already walked together to the door.

"Just a quick look won't waste much time. Don't worry, if there is a problem behind this door, George and Fred would have scared me with it a long time ago when they were home."

As Ron spoke, he placed his hand on the door, and then with a gentle push, opened the door to the room without difficulty.

Behind the door was quite empty, just a few wooden boxes simply stacked up, looking like an ordinary unused store room.

"I thought there would be some kind of fun hidden magic item or something like that in there." Ron looked disappointed.

And the very next second after his words sounded, a gloomy and hoarse voice suddenly boomed from outside the storage room door.

"Who told you to casually open that door!"

Everyone except Jon, who had noticed the person coming through the door from the very start, was taken aback by the sudden voice.

The owner of the voice was Filch, the wagon caretaker, who is responsible for maintaining and cleaning the facilities on the wagon, as well as assisting Professor McGonagall in monitoring student discipline.

With eyes that looked like dead fish, he strode into the storage room, his gaze menacingly focused on Ron.

"Professor McGonagall should have probably stressed to you freshmen that in the wagon, you are only allowed to open the doors of the rooms that are marked with door signs, don't you remember that!"

Ron argued as he hurriedly slammed the door back shut.

"But it's just an empty room."

"Spare me the useless explanations, you will be cleaning the boys' toilets for the next week, this will teach you a lesson!"

After giving Ron his punishment, Filch didn't give him a chance to say anything else, muttering something like "I would have deducted 20 points from your House seven years ago" as he turned and left the storage room.

Ron's face grimaced and Justin looked on with sympathy as he picked up a bag of potatoes from the floor and walked out of the store room with Jon and the others with the ingredients.

"George and the others were right, this old man is a pain in the arse, even more than Percy, there's obviously nothing in that room!"

Neville spoke up to comfort Ron a few times, while Jon listened without making a comment.

Filch might be unlikeable, but he was just following the rules; Ron shouldn't have pushed that door open from the very start when they persuaded him to, so he deserved to be caught and punished later.

Of course, he wouldn't say these things, there are only five of them in their class, and it's better to get along with each other as much as possible.

Once the ingredients had been delivered to the kitchen, the fourth years didn't ask them to help anymore, but Jon and the group didn't leave straight away and watched them prepare dinner.

Once they advanced to the third year, they would also need to officially enter the kitchen to prepare a school meal, and the two years before that would be a time for them to learn.

Life at this Hogwarts was not as full of urgency and depression as Jon had first guessed, and life on the wagon was generally fairly easy.

The first week of school went by quietly, and of course, there would be weekends even on the wagon, it was just that the wagon would not stop, the students were not allowed to step out of the wagon, and they would have no choice but to stay on the wagon for both days of the weekend.

Just when Jon thought that this calm would continue for at least a little while longer, a small accident happened to him on the Wednesday of the second week of school.

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