Multifunctional shield Prodigal

Incantation: Protego, pro-TAY-goh
Wand movement: a vertical, upward slashing movement.

Finnegan sat in the courtyard, drumming his wand on his leg. He glanced at the clocktower. Apparently, chocolate frogs were not enough motivation for the two second-years he had lured into his scheme because they were late. Again. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. He should have asked one of his mates in Gryffindor to stop goofing off and help him with spells. Unfortunately, Protego was a fourth-year spell and if any Gryffindor heard about him practicing ahead of his year, he'd be forever branded as some kind of nerd. It was dumb. It wasn’t like he had a lot of other classes where he excelled.

At last, they showed up. Two wiry boys— Lucas Webb and Timmy Brooks—both bouncing with energy and talking over each other as they approached.

"Sorry, we were—"

"Got caught up at dinner—"

Finnegan cut them off, standing up. "Doesn't matter. You ready?"

The boys nodded eagerly, looking at the small pile of objects Finnegan had set aside—a mix of knick-knacks like a worn-out quaffle, and some marbles.

Finnegan retrieved a chocolate frog from his bag and tossed it to Lucas. "All right. Start with the quaffle."

Lucas picked it up and gave Timmy a grin. "Okay, Finnegan, ready?"

Finnegan stepped back and gripped his wand tightly. Lucas hurled the quaffle with surprising power and-

"Proteg-ooww!"

-it smacked Finnegan square in the chest, sending him stumbling backward.

"Ow—bloody hell," Finnegan groaned, brushing a bit of dirt off his chest. "Okay, again. I wasn't ready."

Timmy snorted, trying to hold back a laugh, but Lucas nodded and grabbed the quaffle again. Finnegan steadied himself. He wasn't going to let them have a laugh at him again. "Protego," he muttered, a little louder this time, swishing his wand up.

The quaffle sailed through the air—straight toward his face. The shield spell flickered, a faint shimmer, but it wasn’t strong enough. The quaffle broke through, and Finnegan barely had time to duck before it hit the stone wall behind him.

Timmy laughed, not even bothering to hide it this time. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Shut it," Finnegan grumbled, grabbing the quaffle and tossing it back. "I’m getting there. Just do it again."

This time, he gritted his teeth hard and forced himself to shut out any distracting noise or movement. He cleared his mind of everything—of the pile of homework waiting in his dorm, of any lingering thoughts about Evelyn's journal which kept nagging at him throughout each day. All that mattered was the spell and his mastery of it. Without it, he'd have no real ability to protect himself, and that would not stand. Not anymore.

Lucas threw the quaffle.

"Protego!"

This time, he had far more success. A faint, translucent barrier shimmered in front of him and the quaffle bounced off it harmlessly, rolling onto the ground at his feet.

"Yes!" He grinned, feeling the rush of success. "Did you see that?"

Lucas nodded, his eyes wide. "That was...actually pretty good."

Timmy, the cheeky bastard, picked up one of the large marbles and hurled it unannounced. But he was ready this time. “Protego!” he said, his voice clear and confident. The marble bounced off the barrier without a sound, dropping to the ground.

Timmy frowned, clearly not satisfied. "Let me try something else."

Finnegan raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Timmy looked around, making sure no one was nearby. "A spell," he grinned, pulling his own wand from his robes. "A real one. You said you wanted to try the shield against a spell, right?"

Finnegan hesitated for a moment. He’d only just gotten the hang of deflecting objects, and spells were a different thing entirely. But he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. Sighing, he braced himself. "All right. Hit me."

Timmy's grin spread across his face as he raised his wand. "All right, Finnegan. Don’t say I didn’t warn you." He pointed his wand at Finnegan, and in a quick, sharp motion, he shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

The spell came fast—a streak of red light—but Finnegan was faster. "Protego!" The shield sprang up in front of him, strong and solid. The red light hit the translucent barrier and bounced off, fizzling into nothing.

Timmy’s wand was still in his hand, though, and Finnegan could tell he’d held back on the power of the spell. But it didn’t matter. He’d done it.

Finnegan lowered his wand, grinning from ear to ear. "Told you I’d get it."

Lucas shrugged but Timmy actually looked impressed. "Yeah, yeah, you got it. But next time, no holding back."

"Deal," Finnegan said, pocketing his wand. He was exhausted, but the satisfaction of nailing the spell made it worth it. He fished out two more chocolate frogs from his bag and lobbed them at Lucas. Soon the boys were back on their way, munching on their sweet reward. Finnegan packed up, making a mental note to visit Hogsmeade soon for a resupply of his chocolate addiction. Parting with chocolate frogs he could have eaten himself was always a bit painful, but at least it had been for a good cause.