Unlocking Charm

"What about using that guy's method?" Albert nodded toward the crowd over there.

"What kind of method is that?" Fred muttered. He had been hoping Albert would offer a reliable suggestion.

"If you do that, Filch will take you to his office..." Albert glanced at Fred and left the rest unsaid.

"You mean the drawer..." George remembered the highly dangerous drawer of confiscated items he had seen the last time Filch had taken him to his office. He murmured, "But who'll draw the fire?"

"What are you talking about?" Fred was a little confused. He still did not quite understand what these two were talking about.

"The drawer, the drawer! Confiscated items, highly dangerous," George reminded him.

"That's not a bad idea." Fred's eyes lit up. He had been curious about what was in there last time.

"You need to learn the Unlocking Charm first," Albert reminded them.

"How about you go, and we help distract Filch?" The twins looked at Albert and proposed in unison.

Albert glanced at the two of them and asked, "Do you still need to learn the Unlocking Charm?"

"Yes. When do we start?"

"Back at the dormitory. There are drawers there for you to practice on."

Not long afterward, Lee Jordan returned, bringing back some news as well.

William—the boy who had brought disaster upon himself—had indeed failed to escape detention. His punishment was... scrubbing chamber pots.

"Well, looks like you won't even get to scrub chamber pots." Albert shrugged, picked up his bag, and headed back to the Gryffindor dormitory.

Watching the Weasley twins flip through their spellbook as soon as they entered the dormitory, Lee Jordan felt rather baffled. Were these really the twin brothers he knew?

"Alohomora." George was the first to take out his wand and try it on his locked drawer, but it did not work.

"Focus. Watch your wand movement." Albert sat in a chair, watching the two practice their spells, before shifting his gaze to Lee Jordan beside him.

"What got into those two?" Lee Jordan asked quietly.

"They need to use this spell, so they started practicing it." Albert was vague. "Besides, we'll have to learn it in Charms class eventually. Sooner or later, we'll need to practice it. Why not compete with them to see who masters the Unlocking Charm first?"

"You're something else." Lee Jordan drew his own wand and joined in practicing the Unlocking Charm, ready to compete with the two over who could master it first.

Albert told them about the problems he had encountered while practicing the Unlocking Charm, as well as a few things they needed to watch out for.

Still, at their current level, it was probably impossible for the three of them to unlock anything for the time being.

Albert picked up Dark Forces: A Defensive Guide and continued reading the parts he had not yet finished.

"Giving up?" Albert asked without looking up.

"For now. There's no way this can work." Lee Jordan was a little discouraged. There was simply no way it could work, all right?

They had practiced for half an hour, yet the lock still showed no response. It was truly frustrating.

"It took me a long time to succeed back then," Albert reminded them. "The incantation, the wand movement, and concentration. Don't hesitate when casting the spell."

"Forget it. I'd better preview this afternoon's lessons instead." Lee Jordan was mentally exhausted. The twins also wanted to give up a little, but when they thought of their plan, they endured and continued practicing with their heads down. Albert was right—since they would have to learn it sooner or later, practicing now only meant less practice later.

"Have you finished that book?"

"Not yet. I've read some of it. It's all about Dark Creatures and how to defend against them." Albert continued turning the pages. "In fact, for a Muggle newcomer like me, it's mainly for learning just how many dangerous creatures there are in the wizarding world, how to stay alert around them, and how to protect myself.

"In plain terms, it tells you how to run away, take precautions, or call for help when you encounter a robber, rather than teaching you how to take the robber down.

"So what this book teaches is actually rather basic, but it is undeniably practical. That's why Albert said it was an introductory book.

"If we spent the entire term learning this stuff, it would be no wonder the Weasley twins' defensive items sold so well. After finishing this book, they probably would not even be able to use a Shield Charm properly. At least, Albert had not seen any mention of the term Shield Charm so far.

After practicing for an entire afternoon, the twins still had not managed to learn the Unlocking Charm.

That was perfectly normal.

Albert was not surprised.

"When do you think we'll be able to master this spell?" Fred looked a little discouraged.

"Practice for a day or two," Albert said without hesitation. "Every spell requires magical power as a foundation, and since you barely know any spells, you're not as strong as I am in that regard. So... learning it will be a little difficult. When I first came into contact with magic, I ran into similar problems. Later, once I had mastered more magic, I learned spells faster."

The three of them looked at one another, unsure what to say for a moment. Albert's words sounded reasonable, yet for some reason, they felt as though he was fooling them again.

"Maybe the Unlocking Charm is still a little too difficult for you. After all, you haven't even fully mastered Lumos yet," Albert muttered, casually stabbing all three of them in the heart.

"Ah, I never thought magic would be so hard to learn." George sighed softly and leaned back onto the soft bed.

"Think about it. Standard Spells, Elementary only records a handful of spells, yet we need an entire year to study this book. That tells you how difficult it is to learn even one spell." Albert could not help curling his lip. In truth, that was indeed the case.

"By that logic, you've probably already learned every spell in Standard Spells, Elementary, haven't you?" Fred suddenly opened his mouth, realizing the gap between them.

"More or less." Albert thought for a moment before saying, "But what we've learned is only the most basic application of magic."

"What do you mean, the most basic application of magic?" All three were rather confused.

"It means finding creative ways to use spells." Albert thought for a moment, lit his wand, and waved it in front of them as he explained, "This is the most ordinary use of Lumos. But have you ever considered making its light brighter, or making it leave the wand and float in midair as you wished, or drift into the distance?"

"Can that really be done?"

"I think Professor Flitwick could definitely do it." Albert extinguished the light on his wand and sighed softly. If he wanted to make magical lamps, he would at least need to raise Lumos to level 3 or 4.

Raising a level 2 skill to level 3 required 10,000 experience points, while raising it to level 4 required five times as much as level 3. Albert did not even want to think about it. The pitiful amount of experience in his Experience Pool was not enough to raise a skill to level 4.