Professor Flitwick was an experienced teacher and knew that most students had limited patience. After teaching the theory of spells for a while, he began to teach everyone how to use magic. The first spell the freshmen learned was the Light Charm.
The Light Charm is one of the greatest spells invented in the eighteenth century, and it is also one of the simplest and most practical of all spells.
"Come on, repeat after me, the fluorescent lights are flashing!" Professor Flitwick said, as if he were teaching a kindergarten child to read.
"Fluorescent flashing," everyone actually read aloud.
"Very good. Just raise your wand and tap it lightly, then say the spell 'Flash of Light.'" Professor Flitwick gave the class a demonstration, and then repeated, "It is important to remember how to wave the wand and pronounce the spell correctly."
"Alright, why don't we give it a try now?"
The classroom was immediately filled with the sound of chanting spells. Albert naturally pretended to practice the Light-Up Charm as well. Although he had already mastered the Light-Up Charm, he couldn't just stand by and watch while everyone else was practicing. That would be so antisocial!
"Look, everyone! Mr. Anderson has succeeded! He has mastered the spell!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed. "Excellent! Gryffindor gets 5 points!"
Everyone turned to look at him. Feeling uncomfortable under so many eyes, Albert turned his head and glared at Lee Jordan, who was patting his shoulder forcefully.
In fact, quite a few students immediately lit up their wands, but they couldn't keep it lit for long before the light on their wands went out.
The twins and Lee Jordan still hadn't fully mastered the spell before get out of class ended, and Diggory successfully lit the wand, but it went out shortly afterward.
Of course, a small accident did happen in the Charms classroom. A Hufflepuff student swung his wand so hard that flames shot out from the front of the wand and set the unfortunate student in front of him on fire.
The guy was punished by Professor Flitwick by having to copy the sentence: "I am a wizard, not a baboon waving a stick around."
Shanna, who had chatted with Albert that morning, was also not doing well. She tried several times without success, and her wand even emitted choking black smoke. Professor Flitwick had to use magic to blow the smoke out of the classroom.
"I just can't learn it." Shanna looked desperate.
"Don't worry, everyone still has time to master this magic," Professor Flitwick reassured the students who hadn't managed to light their wands, and continued, "You need to stay calm and focused."
Before get out of class ended, Professor Flitwick assigned homework to everyone.
"Your homework is to practice the Light-Up Spell. We will continue to learn this spell and its counterspell in the next class."
Of course, for Albert, his homework was already done.
After class, Albert deliberately stayed at the back of the line, intending to ask Professor Flitwick some questions.
Um, about the magic of using a wand to conjure an umbrella.
"Mr. Anderson, your copying spell is quite good." Professor Flitwick smiled as he looked at the student in front of him. "You have a great talent for spells."
"Thank you for your compliment, Professor Flitwick." Albert readily accepted the praise. "I would like to ask you about a kind of magic."
"What kind of magic?"
"How can I conjure an umbrella from my wand?" Albert asked, intending to take this opportunity to learn the magic.
"Conjure an umbrella?" Professor Flitwick asked, puzzled. "Why would you want to conjure an umbrella from your wand?"
"Ahem, well, it's been raining the past couple of days, and I was thinking that if I could conjure up an umbrella, I wouldn't have to worry about getting wet in the rain!" Albert said seriously.
Professor Flitwick couldn't help but laugh. Some people learn magic spells just to "take the easy way out," and Mr. Anderson in front of him was undoubtedly one of those people.
"Mr. Anderson, do you know what a spell is?" Professor Flitwick asked with a smile.
"A spell is a charm that adds a specific attribute to an object or creature." Albert recited the spell theory he had just learned in class. In other words, conjuring an umbrella from a wand does not belong to the study of spells.
"It seems you understand now." Professor Flitwick nodded and said, "What you described as conjuring an umbrella from a wand is actually a branch of transfiguration called summoning."
"Summoning spell?" Albert had only ever heard of the Summoning Spell.
Flitwick raised his wand and conjured a flower out of thin air.
"This is the summoning spell. This incantation doesn't conjure things out of thin air. No one can conjure things out of thin air." Flitwick handed the unknown flower to Albert and continued, "I simply summon the flower from somewhere."
"Hmm, I think I understand. It's like a cleansing spell; it just moves things away, not actually makes them disappear, but just makes them disappear from our sight."
"Yes, it seems you've studied the book well." Flitwick was pleased that Albert understood. He added, "Summoning is OWL knowledge, and its counterpart is the Vanishing Charm. The Vanishing Charm is simpler. If you want to learn more about this, I suggest you ask Professor McGonagall. She would be very happy if you asked her for advice."
"Of course, if you don't understand anything about spells, you can ask me." Flitwick pointed to the three people waiting at the door and said, "You guys have class later, don't be late."
"Professor, I have another question."
Professor Flitwick remained silent, waiting for Albert to continue.
"Could we store the light source of the Light-Up Charm? I mean, so we can use it when we're not in a magical situation?" Albert asked, suggesting it might be related to the principle behind Dumbledore's Deluminator.
"A very interesting idea. As far as I know, it should be achievable, but it would be quite difficult for you because it involves many things." Professor Flitwick was amazed that Albert would ask such a question. "I'm curious, why do you have this idea?"
"In the Muggle world, there is something called a flashlight. A flashlight is like a light-up charm, which can turn the light on or off as you wish."
Albert paused here, because he noticed that a new task had appeared on the panel.
Inventor of the magic lamp.
You, at such a young age, seem to have stumbled upon a certain field. Why not spread your ideas and make them known?
They researched and created a magic lamp.
Reward: 3000 experience points, Light-up Spell Level +1, Light-out Spell Level +1, Title: Inventor of the Magic Lamp.
After Albert left the classroom, George quickly went up to him and asked curiously, "What question were you asking Flitwick?"
"What question? Of course, it's about how to conjure an umbrella with a magic wand."
"And then what happened?"
"Professor Flitwick said that's knowledge from OWL Transfiguration." Albert was a little annoyed. He wondered if he should try to learn the Summoning spell.
"Looks like you won't be able to conjure an umbrella anytime soon," Fred couldn't help but laugh.
The four of them walked together toward the History of Magic classroom on the second floor.