"Stop the spell."
Albert's voice cut through the chaos. The wooden door, now hanging off its frame and splintered in several places, looked as if a small explosion had gone off. His eye twitched uncontrollably.
"Merlin's beard… what do we do now?" George whispered.
The three Weasleys stared at the wrecked door, swallowed hard, and took an involuntary step back. None of them had any idea what had just happened.
"Should we—" Fred began, raising a hand to suggest a quick escape, but Albert pressed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't be stupid. Powerful wizards usually leave trace-revealing enchantments behind. If we bolt now, they'll know exactly who was here."
"Then what do we do?" George asked, looking anxious.
"I might be able to fix it." Albert took a steadying breath, drew his wand, and said carefully, "Reparo."
The scattered planks lifted off the ground, flying back into place. The cracks sealed up one by one, the hinges straightened—and just as the door was about to look good as new, it swung open from the inside.
The four froze on the spot.
Professor McGonagall stepped out, her sharp eyes flicking from the door to the four boys standing like guilty statues. The silence that followed was suffocating.
"What in the world are you doing?" she asked, her voice crisp with irritation. Just moments ago, she'd heard an alarming crash from her office's hidden entrance—only to find her door practically torn off its hinges.
Albert reacted instantly. "Sorry, Professor. We didn't know 'Open Sesame' was… an actual spell." His tone was earnest, even a little sheepish. "It was an accident."
Professor McGonagall's lips tightened. "Say no more, Mr. Anderson. All of you—inside."
The boys exchanged miserable glances and shuffled into the office.
"This was just an accident, Professor," Albert repeated in a low voice. The twins and Lee Jordan held their breath, too nervous to speak.
After a long moment, McGonagall said curtly, "That was a very fine Reparo, Mr. Anderson. However, you should know that 'Open Sesame' is an ancient variant of Alohomora—used centuries ago. Modern wizards don't employ such crude magic."
"I know," Albert said quickly. "But Alohomora didn't work on this door."
"That's because it's protected by an Anti-Alohomora Charm," she explained. "If you're curious, I suggest you ask Professor Flitwick about it. I'm sure he'd be delighted to explain the difference."
"I will, Professor."
"Good. But let me make myself clear—don't let this happen again, gentlemen, or it will be detention."
To Albert's relief, her tone softened slightly. She turned back to her desk, took a parchment from the top, and handed it to him. "This is the first-year timetable. Post it on the Gryffindor notice board for me."
"There won't be a next time, Professor. I promise." Albert took the parchment quickly, gave the twins and Lee a discreet nudge, and all but bolted from the office.
Only when they were several corridors away did they dare to breathe again.
"You scared me half to death," Fred muttered.
"We actually tore down Professor McGonagall's door?" Lee said in disbelief.
"Lucky she didn't deduct points—or give us detention," George sighed.
Albert unfolded the timetable and glanced at it. "Our first class on Monday is Charms."
Fred's eyes gleamed. "Still, that was brilliant. You practically blasted the door off its hinges!"
"It was an accident," Albert said dryly. He tapped the parchment with his wand. The timetable split neatly into two, then four identical copies. He handed one to each of them.
"Why isn't Flying Class listed?" George frowned.
"Yeah, that's disappointing," Fred added. "I was looking forward to flying."
Albert skimmed the schedule again and frowned. "Don't you think the number of classes is… a bit low?"
Lee Jordan gawked at him. "A bit low? Are you mad?"
"In Muggle schools, the weekly schedule's nearly double this," Albert replied thoughtfully. He considered the logistics—few professors, small class sizes, and Hogwarts' sprawling grounds. It made a certain amount of sense.
George waved a hand in front of his face. "You've gone completely mental, mate. Thinking about school schedules now?"
Albert smiled faintly. "Never mind. Come on—let's keep exploring."
They climbed the marble staircase, checking classrooms along the way. On the second floor, they found the Transfiguration classroom and the History of Magic classroom, as well as an abandoned girls' lavatory that Albert knew—though he didn't say it—was once the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
They kept walking. Near the fourth-floor Charms corridor, they discovered a narrow hidden passage behind a tapestry. It ended near the Armor Gallery and the Trophy Room.
"I think every tapestry in this castle hides a secret passage," Lee joked as they crawled out.
"Wouldn't surprise me," George said, dusting off his robes. "Though it'd be nice to find one nobody else knows about."
"We'll get there," Albert said. "Let's check out the Trophy Room first."
He was curious whether the trophies were actually made of gold or silver.
"Hey, look at this," Lee said suddenly, pointing at a glass cabinet. "Charlie's your brother, right? He even won the House Quidditch Cup!"
George smiled faintly. "Yeah. That was just after he joined the team. He always wanted to win it again before graduating."
Fred's expression darkened slightly as he stared at the rows of Slytherin trophies. "Slytherin again. Figures."
"They'll do anything to win," George muttered. "Percy told me that once."
"Yeah," Fred agreed. "He said when Slytherin starts slipping in points, they'll stoop to anything to pull ahead. And Snape—he never deducts points from his own House. Everyone calls him the Old Bat."
Albert's mouth twitched. You really had to drag Percy into this… poor bloke.
He said nothing, just sighed quietly and moved on to the next cabinet.