"Accio crystal ball" whispered Harry. He and Ron had snuck up to the North Tower right after Saturday breakfast. They had arrived to find Trelawney asleep on two of her own poufs.
"Think her Inner Eye saw this coming?" mocked Ron as the orb flew to Harry's fingers.
"Probably not." snickered Harry. "My guess is those fumes knocked her out. Even she can't stand it for too long."
They met Hermione on the seventh floor. She had already opened the Room of Requirements for them.
"Ok Hermione, what did you learn today?" asked Ron.
"It's rather easy, actually." answered Hermione. "Any one spell is the direct combination of smaller spell parts. There is an action and direction component to a spell.
"For example…" queried Harry.
"The Full Body Bind." Replied Hermione promptly. "Petrificus is the action. Totalus directs how much of the body is to be frozen.
"Oh, so all we need is the action for 'fill' and aguamenti for water?" tried Ron.
"Something like that." answered Hermione
A slow grin was developing on Harry's face. "This just might work."
"Let's try it!" Ron said excitedly "Inserti Augamenti!" With a wave of his wand, Ron turned the crystal ball into a puddle.
"I'd think," grinned a half-amused Hermione, "that our first ever Charms class would have taught you that the wand action must meet the desired effect."
Ron and Harry exchanged a brief guilty look between them. They had been rather prone to make fun of Hermione before their first Halloween together. Their first Charms lesson had been a memorable one. Ron had swished at a paperclip, turning it into a garden hose instead of a quill. Professor Flitwick had used Ron's mistake to show the class the difference between a flick and a swish.
"I think," continued Hermione, "that we're looking more for a jabbing motion."
"Oh," said Harry. "So it's more like Augamens Fillius." Harry jabbed his wand, and a shallow basin of water appeared in the table. However, since they'd only stolen one orb, he couldn't test his theory. They left the Room of Requirements excited.