Chapter 135
Halfway through his flight, Albert was suddenly caught in a violent snowstorm from his right side. The storm was so strong that he was forced to revert from his owl form back to his human self.
He spun and tumbled unpredictably in the air, buffeted by the storm.
Albert exclaimed, "Ugh, damn it! Why now, of all times?!"
He reached for his wand in his pocket but discovered it had fallen to the ground below due to the powerful wind.
Without much thought, Albert let himself be carried by the storm until he was nearly ten meters above the ground.
At that point, he silently used magic with his hand, causing his feet to hover as if walking on solid ground in mid-air.
Step by step, Albert "walked" through the air until he finally reached the ground safely.
He looked up in awe at how high he had been tossed by the storm.
Albert said, "Oh my god! If I hadn't learned this spell, I wouldn't be alive right now!"
He calculated the storm's height and realized he had been over 80 meters in the air.
Albert then retrieved his wand, buried a couple of meters in the snow, and placed it safely in his pocket.
"I never imagined Slytherin's spell would help me now!" he said.
The spell Albert had mastered was called the Flying Charm, divided into two levels.
The first level was basic, allowing a person to take only ten steps in the air. Albert, however, enhanced each step turning a half-meter step into a full meter to survive the storm's strong winds.
The second, much harder level, allowed the caster to remain suspended in the air indefinitely, moving, running, and even casting other spells while airborne.
Historically, only one person had ever mastered this spell before Albert: Salazar Slytherin himself.
The charm's secrecy was deliberate; Salazar considered it a personal treasure, hiding the book containing it behind the Black Door for his descendants. For over 600 years, no one had mastered it.
Seeing Albert's calmness, wisdom, and talent, Salazar guided him to the book.
Thus, Albert now possessed a spell unknown even to Dumbledore, the famed "King of Wizards." Had Dumbledore known about it, he would surely have been delighted to learn it!
Once the snowstorm subsided, Albert transformed back into an owl to continue his flight toward Hogsmeade.
Minutes later, the Hogwarts students finally arrived in Hogsmeade.
Professor McGonagall instructed the students to line up quietly for an orderly entry through the village gate.
After the students entered, McGonagall closed the gate.
However, moments later, the door unexpectedly opened by itself. McGonagall didn't notice immediately, but five minutes later she turned to see the gate unlocked.
Her friend, who worked in a local café, teased her, "Minerva! Are you starting to forget things? Didn't you say you had closed the door?!"
McGonagall was astonished, certain she had locked it.
She said, "Fine, I'll lock it again and make sure it's secure!"
A few seconds later, Harry hurried away, having opened the gate himself after McGonagall had locked it.
He ran a short distance to see his friends enjoying sweets inside a candy shop.
Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Neville were happily sucking on lollipops.
Harry approached carefully, wanting to give subtle hints to Hermione and Ron that he had arrived.
Suddenly, he heard a bird chirp loudly behind him.
Turning around, he saw a snow-white owl perched atop the shop behind him!