"How about using that fellow's method?" Albert suggested, nodding subtly toward the corner of the Great Hall where the unfortunate student named William was still surrounded by a mix of admiring and pitying classmates.
"What kind of proposal is that, Albert?" Fred muttered, annoyed. He had hoped for a clever, intricate plan from their resident genius, not a suicide mission.
"If you throw a Dungbomb in the corridor, Filch will have to be drawn to the smell immediately," Albert said, glancing pointedly at Fred. He trailed off, letting the idea hang in the air.
"You mean... the drawer..." George's eyes suddenly widened as he realized the implication. He remembered Filch's almost insane possessiveness over the highly dangerous drawer of confiscated magical supplies in his office. "Who's going to distract him, though?"
"Drawer, drawer, confiscated supplies, highly dangerous," Fred repeated, finally catching up. His face instantly lit up. "That's brilliant! A public, smelly distraction, and while he's busy cleaning up the corridor, we get into his office!"
"You'll need to learn the Unlocking Charm first," Albert reminded them. The door to Filch's office was always locked and likely enchanted to resist simple picking.
The twins looked at Albert. "How about you go, and we'll help you attract Filch's attention?" they suggested eagerly.
Albert fixed them with a deadpan stare. "Do you still want to learn the Unlocking Charm?"
They exchanged a look. "When does the study start?"
"We'll go back to the dorms right now," Albert said. "There are drawers there for you to practice on."
Not long after, Lee Jordan returned from the corner of the Hall, slightly pale but bursting with news.
William, the boy who had attempted the suicidal prank, had indeed been caught and punished. The content of his solitary confinement was confirmed: cleaning out every chamber pot in the hospital wing.
"Well, it seems you were right," Albert shrugged, picking up his backpack. "It pays to avoid the chamber pots." He led the way back to the Gryffindor dormitory.
As soon as they entered the room, the Weasley twins immediately pulled out their wands and began flipping through their Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1. Lee Jordan, watching this sudden, unprecedented academic fervor, was utterly confused. Were these truly the same twins he knew?
"The incantation is Alohomora," George said, taking a deep breath. He pointed his wand at a small, locked bedside drawer he had secured with a simple padlock, and yelled, "Alohomora!" Nothing happened.
"Focus, and pay close attention to the wand movement," Albert instructed from his chair, where he had settled to watch the show. He turned to the bewildered Lee Jordan.
"What's gotten into them?" Lee Jordan asked in a low voice.
"They need to use this spell for their grand scheme, so they've started practicing," Albert explained vaguely. "We have to learn Charms eventually anyway, and mastering Alohomora is essential. Why not challenge them? Let's compete to see who can master the Unlocking Charm the fastest."
Lee Jordan's competitive spirit instantly flared up. "You're on!" He drew his own wand and began flipping through the book, preparing to join the intense, if slightly reckless, competition.
Albert gave them all a few pointers, recalling the struggles he experienced when he first tried the spell—the importance of the precise twisting motion, the firm mental command, and avoiding hesitation. He knew, however, that with the current magical capability of all three boys, successfully casting Alohomora on a proper lock was a massive uphill battle.
While the others struggled, Albert picked up Dark Powers: A Guide to Self-Defense and continued his reading.
After thirty minutes, George threw his wand onto his bed in frustration. "I give up for now! This is never going to work!"
"It's impossible!" Lee Jordan agreed, utterly defeated. His arm was tired, and the lock hadn't even so much as rattled. "After practicing for half an hour, the lock hasn't budged. This is truly infuriating."
"It took me a much longer time to practice successfully," Albert reminded them calmly. "Every spell requires magical power as a foundation—that's the raw energy and focus. You, who barely know any spells yet, aren't as strong as me in that area, so... it will naturally be more difficult to learn."
He continued, his tone matter-of-fact. "I faced a similar barrier when I first came into contact with magic. But as I mastered more basic magic, the easier it became to learn the next spell. It's like building muscle memory."
The three boys looked at each other, their minds reeling. Albert's explanation sounded logically flawless, yet they still suspected he was subtly mocking their inherent lack of magical genius.
"Perhaps the Unlocking Charm is still too difficult for you," Albert muttered unintentionally, picking up his book. "After all, you haven't even fully mastered the Lumos Charm yet."
The three boys winced, the comment hitting them right where it hurt.
"Oh, I didn't realize magic was this difficult to learn," George sighed softly, collapsing onto his bed, his ambition temporarily exhausted.
"Don't you think about it?" Albert said, closing his book. "The Standard Book of Spells: Elementary only records a few dozen spells. It's intended to be studied for the entire first year. That should tell you how much effort is required just to master a single, simple spell."
"From what you've said," Fred spoke up, a realization dawning on him, "you've probably learned all the spells in the elementary book already, haven't you?" He finally grasped the scale of the gap between them.
"That's about right," Albert confirmed, after a moment's thought. "However, what we've learned is only the most basic application of magic."
"What is the most basic use of magic?" they asked in confused unison.
"It's about using the spell in new, unconventional ways," Albert explained. He lit his wand with a perfect, steady Lumos Charm and waved it in front of them. "This is the most common way we use the Glowing Charm: a simple light at the tip of the wand."
He paused, letting the light bathe their faces. "But have you ever thought about making the light of the Glowing Charm even brighter, like a miniature sun? Or letting it escape from the wand and float in the air, drifting off into the distance like a magical lamp?"
"Is that really possible?" Lee Jordan gasped, staring at the steady light.
"I think Professor Flitwick can definitely do it without a thought," Albert conceded. He extinguished the light on his wand. "If I wanted to create a consistently floating magical lamp—not just a momentary glow—I would need to at least upgrade the Lumos Charm to Level 3 or 4 first."
He rubbed his temples, thinking of the sheer experience cost. "It takes ten thousand experience points to upgrade a Level 2 skill to Level 3, and the experience required to upgrade to Level 4 is about five times that of Level 3. The pitiful experience in my current pool wouldn't be enough to upgrade even one skill to Level 4, even if I wanted to."
The sheer numbers were a stark reminder of the depth of magical mastery, instantly putting their current goal—throwing a smelly bomb at Filch's door—into humbling perspective. Their immediate focus, however, was still the Unlocking Charm.