Ever since giving up on being stuck between the two and getting upset, Harry felt his days were getting happier day by day.
Sometimes, he would be by Ron's side, listening to him vent about Hermione.
More often, he would be by Hermione's side, listening to her scold Ron.
But Harry felt that these two really just needed a step to step down on.
Whoever could give in first, there wouldn't be any problem between them.
The issue was that others couldn't point it out, otherwise it would be easy to become the common enemy between them.
Recently, Ron had been delving into a couple of small spells invented by the Half-Blood Prince, even sharing them with Harry.
There was an evil curse that caused someone's toes to grow crazily—Ron tried it on Fitch in the hallway, and the effect was extremely amusing; there was also a spell that glued a person's tongue to their roof of the mouth, and Ron desperately wanted to try it on Professor Snape. If Harry hadn't stopped him at all costs, Ron might have already done it.
Of course, anyone who knows would understand that if Ron really did it, Snape would probably finely slice him into julienne strips.
Of course, Ron's favorite among them was the Ears-Sealing Spell.
This spell could fill everyone around with an indistinguishable buzzing in their ears, allowing for free conversation in class without fear of being overheard.
Hermione was the only one who found these spells unfunny because Ron used her as the test subject the first time he used the Ears-Sealing Spell.
When Hermione found out Ron had cast a spell on her, she angrily punched Ron several times and, with red eyes, ran back to her dorm.
"Women, huh?" Ron said to Harry.
"Women." Harry shrugged.
"Check this out." Ron picked up the "Advanced Potion Making" book again, pointing out a spell to Harry: "This spell looks interesting—hanging someone upside down?"
What the heck?
Harry's heart skipped a beat.
This spell was all too familiar to him.
Wasn't this the spell his dad used on Professor Snape by the Black Lake?
Could it be... the Half-Blood Prince was a good friend of his dad?
Firstly, he ruled out James.
The reason being that he knew his dad wasn't the type for potion making.
Moreover, his father James was a pure-blood wizard; he wouldn't take a mixed-blood nickname.
Then, who could it be? Professor Lupin? Or Little Sirius?
But it didn't make sense; these two were Moon Face and Bigfoot, and neither was the Half-Blood Prince.
Harry decided he must find a chance to ask these two who the Half-Blood Prince was.
He thought, these two must know.
"Let's try this spell tomorrow, Harry." Ron said while biting a Licorice Wand, "In the morning, we'll be heading to Hogwarts. Perhaps on the way, we could use this spell on Malfoy? I think it's a great idea."
"Before that, shouldn't you practice the spell?" Harry turned and said, "Why don't you practice it with Neville or Seamus right now, using Inverted Golden Bell on each other... Hold on, let me check the decurse."
He took over "Advanced Potion Making" and searched carefully for a moment: "—Oh, here it is, Golden Bell Landing, that's the decurse."
"I don't want to practice with Seamus," Ron said quickly, "I don't want my legs blown off—"
"Hey!" Seamus said indignantly.
Ron giggled.
"Well then, let's try it now? Neville?" he asked.
"Bring it on." Neville pulled out his magic wand, "I'm ready, Ron—let's see if you can break through my defenses."
However, Ron just picked up his magic wand, pointed it at Neville, and gave a little shake.
"Aaaaahhhhh!"
A flash of strong light, and the room was in chaos.
Neville let out a scream of agony as he was suspended upside down in mid-air, as if an invisible hook had caught his ankle, hanging him by it.
"Silent Spell?!" Neville exclaimed in terror, "Good heavens, Ron, you actually used a silent spell on me! You're so unscrupulous!"
"Haha." Ron giggled, winking at Harry, and whispered, "A small tip from the Prince in the book, Silent Spell—hey hey!"
Having said this, his magic wand pointed at Ron.
Another flash went off and Neville landed on the bed, sprawling into a chubby mess.
"Let's all give it a shot together." Neville didn't feel any pain, nor was he angry; instead, he was eager to try.
This spell was just too interesting and too much fun!
They put on their clothes, layered with a few of Mrs. Weasley's knitted sweaters, put on their cloaks, scarves, and gloves, fully geared up.
And Ron went further, putting on the full set of Quidditch goalkeeper gear.
"You're cheating!" Neville pointed at Ron, complaining.
"I'm a Quidditch goalkeeper, having my own gear makes sense, right?" Ron said, laughing.
They fooled around with this spell in the dormitory until late at night before reluctantly going to sleep.
"Hey, Harry." Just before sleeping, Ron suddenly asked Harry, "What do you think would happen if I suddenly used this spell on Hermione?"
"Nothing good." Harry quickly replied to his question, "I think Hermione would be really angry, and never speak another word to you ever again."
Ron shivered.
"Then I won't do it." He said.
In the morning, when they woke up, Harry received a message.