Chapter 26: This Is How You Use the Doubling Charm**

Compared to weekdays, weekends at Hogwarts felt a bit lazier. Students didn't have to wake up early, so they could sleep in, wait for the sun to peek over the mountains, grab some food in the Great Hall, and then do whatever they fancied. But this weekend was different, especially for the Slytherins. Bright and early, Prefect Gemma Farley led seven or eight Slytherins, rushing through breakfast in the Great Hall before hurrying off to the library. Everyone in the hall couldn't help but stare. The name Slytherin was tied to cunning, ambition, and cleverness—but diligence? Not so much, especially compared to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Seeing them head to the library so early, and as a group, was rarer than a fire crab walking sideways. Still, it wasn't entirely surprising. After all, Slytherin had produced someone unmatched—a freakishly diligent oddball who outworked everyone in the castle. Inside the library, it was dead quiet. Books floated through the air, drifting back to their shelves. At a long table sat just two students: a boy and a girl. "If you're really that sleepy, you could go back and rest. You don't have to stick around," Edward said, glancing at Daphne beside him. "Don't get it twisted. I wouldn't be up this early if I wasn't curious about how you're going to handle the book shortage problem." Daphne yawned, despite knowing it wasn't exactly polite, and lazily pushed a strand of hair out of her face. Her blonde hair was a bit messy, clearly a sign she wasn't fully awake. Edward, as usual, was full of energy, diligently flipping through *Powerful Potions*. He'd already borrowed it from Madam Pince, the Hogwarts librarian. Soon, Gemma and a few other older Slytherins hurried into the library. "Bedivere, seriously, next time you plan something like this, can it be a bit later?" Gemma yawned, plopping onto a stool. "Not everyone's got your Saturday six a.m. wake-up habit." "Alright, everyone, listen up," Edward began. "I totally get how eager you all are to read this book. I'm happy to study and improve together." "But there's only one copy. If one person's reading it, no one else can." "So here's my idea—" Edward pulled out his wand, opened *Powerful Potions* to the table of contents, and tapped it lightly. "*Geminio.*" With a flash of white light, a new copy of the table of contents appeared in his hand. The students around him looked puzzled. The Doubling Charm was a clever idea, but why only copy the table of contents? "I recall the Doubling Charm creates an exact replica, but the copy's worthless and fades over time or when the caster wills it," Daphne recited flawlessly. She decided she'd try the charm herself later. "I've caught a few kids trying to copy someone else's homework with it. Too bad their skills were so lousy, they just got blank pages," Gemma said with a dismissive shake of her head. Edward worked quickly, duplicating several copies of the table of contents and passing them out. "You're right. Books are different from other objects. To duplicate a book, you need to understand its contents," Edward explained to the group. Some of the Slytherins, quicker on the uptake, started to catch on. "So, you're saying we pick the pages we want from the table of contents, and you'll duplicate those for us?" "Smart. That way, with just one book, everyone here gets the content they need," Daphne said thoughtfully, nodding. "And we won't get in trouble with Madam Pince," Gemma added, approvingly. But some students had more questions. "You said duplicating requires understanding the content. How can you know everything in a book *that* thick?" Edward seemed ready for this. "No worries. I read pretty carefully, so... I'm pretty fast." Fast? How fast could he be? Everyone shared the same question. But the Slytherins soon learned what Edward meant by "fast." It was literal. As people picked their desired pages from the table of contents and handed them to Edward, he scanned the pages at a jaw-dropping speed—ten lines at a glance, taking in potion recipes, precautions, moving illustrations, and tables. Then, with the Doubling Charm, he replicated the pages perfectly, down to every word, wrinkle, and yellowed edge, and handed them out. "*Geminio!* Damn it, another blankទ System: blank page!" one older student cursed after failing to replicate a page. "Edward, how the heck do you do it?" another asked, stunned. Every attempt by the others failed—either producing gibberish or missing content. No one could match Edward's precision, not even the book's creases and faded edges. "Seriously, Edward, this is a goldmine," Gemma said, flipping through a duplicated page, her mind racing. "Think about it. A book like *Hogwarts: A History* has a weeks-long waitlist. If you could duplicate it and sell it to students..." Her eyes gleamed with visions of Galleons. "Who'd say no to that kind of money?" The Slytherins, from pureblood or mixed-blood families, weren't short on cash, but who doesn't love more? "Gemma, I'm just trying to help out, not make money or anything," Edward said earnestly, shaking his head. Gemma gave him a skeptical look. Someone this selfless? Just helping classmates for nothing? Not in Slytherin. In her five years at Hogwarts, she'd never met anyone like that in any house. But thinking back on Edward's actions over the past week, she realized if anyone fit that description, it was him. Gemma knew she'd never be that kind of person. But that didn't mean she couldn't respect it—especially when it earned Slytherin points. Strength, no matter the character, always commanded respect in Slytherin. The sunlight streaming through the windows crept across the table like a golden cat sneaking from one end to the other. The sound of quills scratching on parchment gradually replaced the soft murmurs around the table. More students trickled into the library. Hermione, expecting to be the first there on a weekend morning, was shocked to see a group of Slytherins already at the long table. She immediately spotted Edward, spine straight and buried in his book, with Daphne's blonde hair spilling messily beside him. Comparing them to her own housemates—Harry, Ron, Neville—she felt a sudden surge of frustration. *Look at the people Gryffindor gets, and then look at them! More talent *and* more effort.* The House Cup was a lost cause this year. Pouting, she stomped to her usual spot. Edward noticed her annoyed glance but was too focused on *Powerful Potions* to care. He'd zeroed in on a potion that could boost physical strength. Its name was simple: Troll Strength Potion. read more inpatreon ilham20