The target was instantly coated in a thin sheet of frost as ice spread across its entire surface, and Julian gave a satisfied nod at the result. "Congratulations, it didn't explode." Luna said with a smile. Julian chuckled and patted the top of her head. "That's because I haven't used my own method to enchant it yet. Speaking of which, all of you need to wait outside while I finish that part." he said, gesturing toward the door and earning a chorus of complaints from everyone. Luna tried to get around that by giving him pleading puppy eyes in hopes he would let her remain inside, but it did not work.-
Julian simply lifted her up, carried her outside, and set her down with the rest of his friends before shutting the door and locking it. As an added precaution, he transfigured a huge stone on his side of the doorway and weighed it down into an immovable state so that even if they somehow managed to open the lock, they still would not get in. He was not willing to take chances where Hermione and her absurdly sharp memory were concerned. A true photographic memory might not exist without legilimency, but Hermione's recall came far too close for Julian's comfort. After seeing his key, he doubted it would be especially hard for her to transfigure a convincing copy.-
Once he was satisfied that none of them would be able to spy on him, he removed the ice ring from his finger and set it on the anvil. Then he picked up his hammer, the same one he had caught Luna staring at more than once, and got to work. Outside the door, the whole group had their ears pressed against it, hoping to catch something useful. This was mostly because, exactly as Julian had expected, Hermione had already opened the lock with a fake key. She might act prim and proper most of the time, but when knowledge was involved, she could be startlingly shameless.-
When it became obvious that Julian had anticipated their nonsense, they had fallen back on this new method of spying instead. Flitwick stepped out of his office and paused when he saw the fairly large group all pressing themselves against the door. It did not take him long to understand what was going on, and he let out an amused chuckle, which made the group scramble back in alarm. "As much as I admire curiosity in my students, perhaps it is better that you do not learn more about his enchanting method." he said teasingly.-
"But we're just really curious! Can't you tell us anything, since you've seen it?" Tracy asked pitifully. Flitwick shook his head. "I'm afraid not, because I would rather not die just to satisfy your curiosity." he said seriously. "I doubt he would kill you over something like that." Harry said reassuringly. Flitwick gave a small chuckle. "Perhaps not, but that would not be necessary. I signed a magical contract never to reveal what I saw in that room, and the penalty for breaking it is death." he explained in a serious tone. "That's so unfair though!" Hermione said, clearly upset upon hearing that.-
Flitwick smiled. "I appreciate the sympathy, but you need to understand that I signed that contract fully aware of what would happen if I broke it, and I do not regret that decision in the slightest." he said honestly. "But enough of that. What exactly is he doing that he refused to wait until he was alone to test?" Flitwick asked with eager curiosity. Luna explained what Julian had said he was attempting, and Flitwick immediately looked delighted. "Oh my! If he succeeds, I shall most certainly be placing an order myself!" the charms professor said while staring hopefully at the door.-
Inside the workshop, Julian was slowly feeding his enchantment into the ring as carefully as he could, hoping he might manage to make it work. The enchantment itself was extremely simple, so it did not take long to infuse, but halfway through he had to stop with a sigh when a large crack appeared in the silver band. He set aside his hammer and inspected the ring closely in an attempt to figure out where things had gone wrong, quickly realizing that the issue came from the runes conflicting with the later enchantment. The clashing energies had destabilized the material and caused it to crack. After removing the transfigured stone from the door, he opened it wearing a disappointed expression.-
He tossed the ring to Flitwick, who caught it neatly and inspected it before finding the problem without difficulty. "There is not much help I can offer here, Julian. Enchanting something through two entirely different systems at the same time has never been researched before, since until now only the standard method was known." he said honestly, and Julian pulled a notebook from Greed and wrote it down as a project to revisit later. Julian was simply too occupied to pursue that line of research right now. Between experimenting with organic smithing, improving his spell control, attending classes, practicing ordinary smithing, spending time with his friends, and waiting for Lockhart to inevitably make a catastrophic mistake that would get him fired, his hands were already full and he had no room for another research project.-