Chapter 155: Chapter 155: The Magic Crash Course
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Among all spells, Disapparation is undoubtedly one of the most difficult and dangerous.
Firstly, as a student at Hogwarts, you must be at least seventeen years old and in your sixth year to be eligible to apply for this course.
Secondly, during both the learning and practice stages of this spell, a teacher must always accompany you. If performed incorrectly, it can lead to bodily disconnection, with missing limbs or even severed body parts being common occurrences.
In such cases, the teacher must quickly use healing magic to reconnect the dismembered parts.
Many young witches and wizards are psychologically scarred by these incidents and end up too fearful to ever attempt Disapparation again.
Finally, after completing the course, an exam is required. Only those who can perfectly execute Disapparation will be granted a Disapparation License, which is equivalent to a driver's license in the Muggle world.
Wizards without this license who attempt Disapparation face hefty fines if caught. If they aren't caught, they are still in violation of the law.
This system exists both to ensure the safety of young witches and wizards and to lessen the burden on the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Incidents and Accidents, whose team must handle cases of accidental magical mishaps.
Before fines were instituted, this department had to deal with dozens of incidents daily, where young witches and wizards disapparated without a license, leading to body parts being severed or Muggles witnessing magical occurrences.
Thus, under normal circumstances, it's not easy for a first-year like George to learn Disapparation.
Even though he had already found the spell and related learning materials in the Restricted Section of the library.
Unlike other magic, self-teaching poses no major safety risks for most spells. However, Disapparation, if done incorrectly, can be fatal.
Given his physical condition, if his head and body were to separate, survival would be impossible.
He couldn't seek Snape's guidance on this spell either, as Snape would never violate school rules to teach him early. This was different from teaching him a spell Snape himself had created.
As for the Tom Riddle in his diary, the one in the diary was still in his fifth year and hadn't started learning Disapparation yet. Even if he had known the spell, it wouldn't have helped George.
What he needed was someone to help him heal and reattach his body parts if he experienced disjunction during practice, something the diary couldn't provide.
He also considered whether he should kidnap a Dark wizard and use the Imperius Curse to force them to teach him, but he quickly dismissed the idea as too risky.
A person under the Imperius Curse is already unstable, and using them as a teacher was highly unreliable. If he were discovered, he could end up in Azkaban.
After thinking through the possibilities, he realized there was only one viable option that was safe and had no long-term consequences.
That was to pay to enroll in a Magic Crash Course.
A Magic Crash Course was essentially an after-school tutoring program in the Muggle world, organized by skilled wizards, and aimed at improving the magical abilities of underperforming students.
Its main purpose was to help young witches and wizards who struggled in school and also assist adult wizards who had graduated but couldn't land good jobs due to insufficient magical skill.
Of course, they also attracted witches and wizards from magical families who wanted to further their knowledge.
Argus Filch, the school caretaker, had long hoped to enroll in such a course to see if there was a chance he could learn magic.
He believed that if he spent enough money, the course instructors wouldn't mind bending the rules to teach him Disapparation early.
After all, it wasn't a major issue. Even if they were caught, the worst-case scenario would be paying a larger fine, which wasn't anywhere near as serious as committing one of the Unforgivable Curses.
Moreover, the Ministry of Magic wasn't particularly strict about these things, especially since the current Ministry was in chaos, leaving less oversight on these matters.
George thought that since money could solve the problem, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.
With that conclusion in mind, he returned to focusing on his magical studies. Recently, he had been studying the Disillusionment Charm, a high-level spell that made the caster invisible.
After seeing Aria successfully use invisibility to ambush Makarov, he thought the ability to become invisible would be incredibly useful in combat.
The next morning, George first visited Ollivanders, the wandmaker, with a gift in hand.
Ollivander, the old wizard, had extensive connections in the wizarding world. Even though he no longer needed to actively learn wand-making, it was still important for him to maintain these relationships. After all, should anything happen in the future, he could always rely on Ollivander for help.
Ollivander was pleased with George's visit, as it was rare to encounter such a talented apprentice. What made it even better was that George had brought rare materials that could be used in wand-making.
After leaving Ollivander's shop, George spotted a promotional flyer for a Magic Crash Course on a wall along the street. Following the address on the flyer, he found a small, faded shop with the words "Magic Crash Course" written on a sign.
The shop was extremely tiny, possibly the smallest one he had seen in Diagon Alley or Knockturn Alley. It was wedged between a second-hand cauldron shop and an ice cream parlor, with the sign clearly showing signs of wear.
When he pushed open the door and stepped inside, he found the space even smaller than he expected. It could barely fit a single desk and two chairs, leaving little room for anything else.
Inside, a witch with pale skin, short hair, and a slightly worn-out jacket, looking about thirty, was slumped over the desk, fast asleep. She didn't even notice George enter.
"I'm starting to doubt my decision," George muttered to himself with a wry smile. He approached and lightly tapped on the desk.
"Excuse me, is this the Magic Crash Course?" he asked.
The witch groggily opened her eyes, and upon seeing George, she immediately shot up from her seat.
"Of course it is! Are you here to sign up?" she said energetically. "Our Magic Crash Course is affordable, fast-acting, and will help you raise your grades rapidly once school starts, so you'll never be looked down on by your classmates!"
"Okay, stop!" George raised his hand to interrupt her. "Just one question—can you teach Disapparation?"
"Disapparation? Of course, no problem!" The witch replied quickly, then paused, looking George up and down. "But it seems like you're... not quite old enough?"
George calmly responded, "If I meet the age requirement, I'll just learn it at school. Why would I come here?"
"Ah, well…" She hesitated. "We only offer Disapparation training for adult witches and wizards who haven't yet mastered the spell, so they can retake their Disapparation License exam. We don't offer this service to witches or wizards under seventeen. You know, if the Ministry of Magic catches you, it could cost quite a bit of money!"
A look of uncertainty appeared on the witch's face.
"Perhaps you'd like to learn another spell? We offer magic instruction for all years, from first to seventh year. We can even help you with your school's holiday assignments."
(End of Chapter)