"Am I not allowed to be here?" asked Gwen in a hostile tone.
"No. I didn't mean that!" said Emily in a nervous tone, lowering her gaze. The atmosphere fell into an awkward silence. James couldn't process what happened.
'What's up with this atmosphere?' thought James, looking at Emily and then looking at Gwen, who again had a look at a few friends.
"Why did you invite her?" asked Gwen, looking at James, who was still silently shocked at the reaction of both sisters seeing each other.
"Can't I? I thought it would be nice to be together like old times," replied James, feeling like an old man saying 'old times'. He had only heard such a phrase said by his grandfather and his senior friends when they told anecdotes from years ago.
"Besides, why are you talking to Emily like that?" asked James, confused. He noticed Gwen's hostile tone towards Emily.
"It's none of your business," said Gwen in an angry tone as she walked to the door. She pushed Emily without even looking at her and left.
"What the...?" muttered James in confusion.
"Hey, Emily, what happened between you two?" asked James, approaching Emily, who was still looking at her shoes.
"It's none of your problem, James. Thanks for the gift..." said Emily in a low and depressed tone as she turned around and walked back the way she came.
James had a conflicted look on his face as he watched Emily leave. On one hand, he wanted to stop her and ask her if there was anything he could do to help, but he knew it was useless, this was the second time he had asked, and neither wanted to tell her anything.
He couldn't deny that it annoyed and hurt him that they didn't trust him to ask for help or minimally tell him the problem.
"Tsch, it's more fun to be with the marauders," James muttered in annoyance as he walked out of the room kicking invisible stones.
Over the next few days, James never tried to meet with Emily again, nor Gwen and he wouldn't accept a meeting with them either, as he ended up getting annoyed with how mysterious they both were. He wasn't a fortune teller, and if they didn't tell him it was obvious he would ask what happened when they were getting along relatively well before.
When the ban on entry to the library was lifted, James headed there resuming his routine, and continued practicing the charm Barriera Silence.
The librarian Irma, when she saw him enter looked at him with a frown, but said nothing, 'This time if the same thing happens, how many days will it be?' thought James with a slight smile.
Training for this charm was better in the library, as it gave a more serious atmosphere, and if he failed there were consequences, making him take it more seriously.
After about 30 minutes of practicing and increasing the barrier time a bit, he put this charm aside and moved on to the next one he found useful. He opened the page where it was explained to read it again.
This charm is named 'Aeromanteo' and is distinguished by its simplicity and efficiency in deflecting attacks, whether projectiles or spells. It can replace Protego as it is easier to learn and cast.
Aeromanteo generates a current of air around the user, deflecting projectiles and spells. However, not everything is so nice and rosy. Although in theory, it is easier to use it in combat, it is more difficult than Protego.
For one thing, unlike "Protego." which can be conjured proactively, "Aeromanteo" requires a quick reaction from the mage. It must be cast at the exact moment when a projectile or spell is about to hit the user. This makes the mage's anticipation and reflexes crucial to the spell's success.
In addition, to successfully deflect an attack, the mage must generate the airstream in the right direction. If the spell or projectile is coming from the right, the mage must direct the airstream in that specific direction. This adds an element of dexterity and fine control to the spell, which implies that the magician must be aware of the direction of the impending danger.
It also depends on the magical strength of the user, since, if the attacking mage is more powerful than the defending mage, the air current will prove insufficient to successfully deflect the spell, unless the attacker restrains himself. It is also incapable of deflecting unforgivable curses, no matter how much more powerful the defending wizard is than the attacking wizard, although the latter is the same for Protego.
"Casting is much easier than Protego and causes me less fatigue... but you need very good reflexes..." muttered James.
"Let's see... Barriera Silence," said James as he waved his wand, and a barrier went up around him, "Now I can shout what I want for fifteen minutes."
"Aeromanteo!" said James with intent and high pitch as he waved his wand. Instantly, he knew the spell was a success. He felt a draft to his right that lasted only a short time.
'That's easier than I expected,' thought James. Although this wasn't the hard part of the spell, the really difficult part was having enough speed and reflexes to cast it at the exact right moment.
During the 15 minutes that his barrier lasted he was casting the spell non-stop creating air currents to his right, left, above his head, etc. If anyone saw him screaming and waving his wand they would look at him strangely.
Fifteen minutes passed, and James stopped shouting and waving his wand as he noticed the barrier fading.
'I can cast many without getting tired unlike the Protego just by casting five I'm already exhausted,' James thought. All that was needed now was to put it into practice and get the necessary reflexes. The problem was how.
First, he needed someone to cast spells that he could try to deflect, and second a place to train without being bothered, or caught by Filch or some professor and punished for destroying the classroom.
When they trained Flipendo with the marauders, they were used as training dummies themselves, even so, when they were sent flying, they created a lot of noise in the classrooms and almost got caught by Filch and his cat.
Since Sirius, Lupin, Peter, and Toby were beginners their Flipendo's were not as painful as James', so they could practice without hurting themselves too much. Besides, it was fun to be sent flying and fall into the desks, they had a good laugh.
'I have to think of somewhere in the castle where Filch won't get to,' thought James as he left the library. However, he couldn't think of any place where Filch wouldn't arrive. He thought about using the Barriera Silence charm, but it was still too short-lived and couldn't hold an entire classroom.
The dormitories were too small, and the common room was too crowded, and if they did it at night they would create too much noise waking everyone up.
'The forbidden forest? No, too dangerous. The outskirts of Hogwarts...? Neither, we can be watched and I don't want them to see us practicing... Besides I don't think the professors would like to see me fly off a Flipendo,' James thought with a frown.
He got to the Gryffindor common room and couldn't think of anywhere, the marauders were waiting for him, so he left it for later.
"Finally, you're here," said Sirius, waving him over to an armchair where all the marauders were sitting.
"What happened?" asked James, sitting down between Lupin and Peter. He noticed the excitement in Sirius' voice, which meant that a prank on Slytherin was near.
"Today's the day," said Sirius, acting exaggeratedly, and everyone raised their eyebrows internally wondering the day of what.
"Of what?" asked Toby.
"It's good of you to ask, my friend. Today will be the day where we get 100 dungbombs," replied Sirius as a wicked grin formed on his face.