Few people give up easily, especially when they've set their minds on an exciting new magical goal. Albert's roommates were certainly no exception. After spending time poring over Practical Defensive Magic and Its Countermeasures Against Dark Magic, the lure of the Shield Charm proved too great to resist, pushing the Unlocking Charm temporarily to the back burner.
"Protego!" Fred announced, slashing his wand downward and reciting the incantation directly from the book. Absolutely nothing happened.
"The book clearly says the Shield Charm shouldn't glow!" George reminded him, comparing Fred's pathetic wand motion to the detailed illustration on the page.
"Come on, try again!" Lee Jordan, growing impatient with the failure, picked up his copy of Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Defense and mock-threw it at Fred.
"Are you trying to kill me?" Fred shrieked, jumping backward and glaring at Lee.
"A book certainly won't kill you," Lee argued immediately. "But encountering sudden danger is supposed to stimulate your potential!"
"Use this instead!" Albert interjected, annoyed. He knew that Fred, with his current raw magical focus, was nowhere near mastering the spell. Throwing a book at him was just asking for a fight, not a magical breakthrough. Albert tossed Fred's soft pillow at Lee Jordan.
Lee immediately started batting Fred with the pillow while George quickly joined in. Predictably, after being hit by the pillow numerous times in an attempt to "stimulate potential," Fred temporarily gave up the Shield Charm. George and Lee Jordan quickly followed suit, neither having managed to conjure even a flicker of a magical barrier.
"Alright, you guys really need to stick to the simpler spells for now," Albert said, rolling his eyes. What was this phase called? Overestimating one's own magical capacity? Being greedy for advanced spells? He supposed Professor McGonagall had looked at him the same way when he first started.
The critical difference, however, was his Panel and Experience Pool. As long as Albert acquired the theoretical skill, he could instantly consume experience points to master it, skipping the tedious trial-and-error phase that the others were currently suffering through.
"Is there any trick to quickly learn the Shield Charm?" Fred couldn't help but ask, wiping his brow.
"The trick?" Albert pondered for a moment, keeping his voice sincere. "Practice more—that's truly the fastest trick! Consistent practice is the only way to build magical control."
"But how did you master these spells so quickly?" George burst out, genuinely frustrated. "It's only been the summer holiday! You know so much more magic than us, it makes me wonder who was actually born into a wizarding family."
"I think I can probably guess the reason," Albert said, after giving it careful thought.
"What is it?" Fred pressed, leaning forward.
"Have you ever played a game where you can level up?" Albert glanced at their blank expressions. "No? Okay, let me put it this way: Does playing chess require practice to get better?"
"What does playing chess have to do with magic?" the twins complained simultaneously.
"Chess requires practice to improve your skill. The higher your skill, the stronger you become," Albert explained, giving a simple analogy. "Magic is similar. Casting spells requires a certain amount of innate talent..."
"Are you saying your talent is better than ours?" Lee Jordan interrupted, a hint of genuine jealousy in his tone.
"No, that's not what I mean," Albert corrected, shaking his head. "What I mean is that you need to improve your magical power and your ability to control magic through consistent practice."
"You mean your magical power is stronger than ours, and your control over magic is better?" the twins asked, sounding suspicious yet intrigued.
"Yes, at least that's my current theory," Albert nodded. "As I mastered more and more spells, I found that learning new ones became easier and faster. I still remember what Professor McGonagall said: Hogwarts is designed to teach underage wizards how to control and use the magic they already possess."
"Why do I still feel like you're fooling us?" Fred raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not, I promise. And I also said, this is just my guess based on observation," Albert insisted, though he knew his explanation conveniently omitted the existence of the Panel. He truly believed that the amount of magic a person successfully casts dictates how quickly they learn the next spell.
After their repeated failures with the Shield Charm, the Weasley twins wisely abandoned it and refocused their energy on the Unlocking Charm.
After an entire afternoon of focused, frantic practice, Fred was the first to achieve success. He delivered a perfectly executed, smooth wand movement and a firm Alohomora! The drawer lock clicked open with a satisfying, metallic thunk.
"Yes!" Fred cried, leaping off his bed in triumph.
"Brilliant! How did you do that?" George looked at his brother with a mixture of pride and envy. His own drawer lock remained stubbornly still.
"Look, Fred won the bet, so I lose." Albert, who had been reading nearby, winked at Lee Jordan and, with an innocent look, handed him a small paper bag of Pepper Imps. "Go on, pay up. I admit defeat."
"Betting on what?" Fred asked, puzzled.
"We bet on who could master the Unlocking Charm first," Albert explained with a smile. "If you lost, you had to eat this..."
Albert gestured dramatically at the tiny, red candies. The Pepper Imps were notorious for causing the eater to literally breathe fire out of their nose and mouth.
"Albert is right. A bet's a bet. I accept the loss," Lee Jordan sighed dramatically.
George immediately leaned in, his eyes wide with wicked anticipation. He was absolutely looking forward to his friend's suffering.
Lee Jordan peeled the wrapper off the Imp and bravely—or foolishly—stuffed the candy into his mouth. His cheeks instantly flushed bright red, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
The next moment, Lee Jordan doubled over. "So spicy!" he gasped, opening his mouth. A gout of pure, spicy flame shot out of his nostrils, instantly enveloping George's face in a stinging, peppery blast.
"You bloody idiot, you did that on purpose!" George yelled, his face stinging, smelling strongly of pepper, and dark with fury.
"Cough! Cough!" Lee Jordan couldn't stop, spurting out another couple of fiery breaths.
Having witnessed the fiery retribution on George, Albert and Fred immediately scrambled away, hiding behind their beds to avoid the collateral damage.
A few minutes later, Lee, who had just spent several minutes rinsing his mouth in the bathroom, emerged with teary, red eyes and nostrils that still looked scorched.
"Next time, I am absolutely not betting with you on anything," Lee Jordan said, glaring resentfully at Albert.
"Okay, next time we'll try Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans," Albert offered cheerfully. He closed his eyes and randomly picked three beans. "That's always a good idea."
"Now, don't you guys want to keep practicing?" Albert asked, tossing a chocolate bean into his mouth and opening Selected Nineteenth Century Spells. "Even if you succeeded once, Fred, it doesn't mean you can succeed every time. Consistency is key."
"How's your Disillusionment Charm coming along?" Fred asked, deflecting the practice suggestion.
"I haven't fully mastered it yet. That spell is significantly harder than the Unlocking Charm," Albert admitted honestly. He still had a way to go to hit Level 1 mastery on the Panel.
"Is it really that difficult?" George asked doubtfully.
"Of course, it's difficult," Albert said, rolling his eyes. "I hear it's one of the compulsory spells for Aurors. Do you know what an Auror's job is?"
"They're the elite, dark wizard catchers for the Ministry of Magic," George replied instantly, momentarily forgetting the spice still clinging to his face.
"Exactly. It's a professional-level skill. You're trying to make your entire body blend into its surroundings, like a chameleon," Albert explained. "If a professional needs to master it, it's not a beginner's spell."
"That's it then!" the twins wailed in unison. "We definitely won't be able to learn the Disillusionment Charm this year!" They had been planning to use it for their nighttime excursions.
"Maybe not this year, but keep practicing the basics," Albert suggested. "If you can master Red Sparks and the Unlocking Charm, that's already a good start for your planned mischief, wouldn't you say?"