After receiving the key, Rohit looked at the library. It was a two-story building.
As he stepped inside, he saw that the ground floor had six tables near the entrance and five large wooden shelves arranged parallel to each other.
"Big..." Rohit muttered.
The libraries near his area back home were just personal cubicle spaces for NEET and JEE aspirants to study—there were no books like in a normal library.
Rohit walked to the staff counter and noticed some papers. Some were records of books borrowed for home reading, while others tracked returned books and overdue ones.
Among the paperwork, he found an application for Justin's leave of three days.
Justin? hmmmm, oh he's a colleague of mine...which means this library is in my hands for this night.
He thought, considering his next move.
After walking around the library and checking the sections, an idea struck him—what if he looked for a book that taught the basics of magic and practiced it with a replaceable object?
"Right."
He went to the {Magic} section, which was located at the far left side of the shelves.
Scanning the books, he eventually found one titled {Magic: Offenses and Defenses}.
"This will work..."
He glanced around to ensure no one else was in the library. Then—
CLICK.
He locked the door and picked up the book.
It had a thick black cover, and upon opening it, he found yellowed pages filled with beautiful handwriting.
Flipping through, he skipped the first chapter—it covered stances, and he already knew the basics.
{"Left hand raised near the head, right hand gripping the wand, pointing at the target."}
After turning a few more pages, he found the second chapter.
{"Protecto: Your Basic Defense."}
The chapter began with a historical account of the spell's creation, but Rohit skimmed through that. He found an illustration beside a paragraph.
{"Take any stance and clench your wand tightly. Rotate your wand counterclockwise once and imagine a large, see-through sphere. Now, you have your Protecto."}
This is Simple...
He read the instructions carefully, pulled out his wand from the hidden pocket of his jacket, and began practicing the spell.
...
After 20–30 failed attempts, he read the text even more carefully, analyzing where he had gone wrong.
He scratched his head in frustation even considering giving up but he decided to give himself a one last chance.
This time, he raised his wand into the air, clenched it tightly, rotated it counterclockwise, and quickly said:
"Protecto!"
At first, nothing happened. But then, a complex magic circle began forming at the tip of his wand, expanding outward like a transparent hemisphere around him.
"Wow..."
He marveled at the intricate patterns forming the shield's surface.
After observing it for some time, he tried moving his wand around, but the shield remained in place.
He realized that to remove the shield, he had to stop focusing on it—or maybe that was just his assumption.
As soon as he stopped thinking about the shield, it disappeared.
But Rohit didn't realize that during his entire practice session, night had turned to dawn.
The dark sky was now painted in hues of orange as the first light of the sun began to brighten the horizon.
I should relax now...
He concealed his wand back into his hidden pocket, picked up a newspaper titled {Times of Cosford}, and sat near the entrance.
...
Hours later, the sun had fully risen.
A woman knocked on the door.
"Mister Robert, please open the door!"
Her voice was melodic and noble—it was Mrs. Sidney Cecil, the same woman who had handed him the keys last night.
Rohit stood up, unlocked the door, and greeted her, "Good morning, ma'am."
Sidney smiled and responded, "Good morning, mister."
Rohit nodded and asked, "Ma'am, I read some books during the night shift. Is that fine?"
Sidney nodded in return.
"Staff members are allowed to read books as long as they don't damage them or ruin the experience for the readers. Since you were on the night shift, you neither disturbed anyone nor damaged any books, correct?"
Rohit confirmed, "Yes, I haven't damaged anything."
Sidney walked to the staff counter and began arranging the paperwork.
"You're free to go now, Rohit. Come at 11:30 again."
Rohit replied, "Yes, Ma'am," and then left the library.
The crowd was smaller than it had been at night, and the shadows of the buildings stretched across the stone-paved roads, blocking the sunlight in certain areas.
As Rohit walked through the streets, he wondered.
"Maybe I should buy some food."