Unlocking Charm

"Why not use his method?" Albert nodded toward the crowd over there.

"What kind of method is that?" Fred muttered. He had been hoping Albert could 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 confiscated goods drawer he had seen the last time Filch took him to his office. He murmured, "But who's going to draw the fire?"

"What are you talking about?" Fred was a little confused. He still had not quite understood what the two of them meant.

"The drawer, the drawer! Confiscated goods, 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 Weasley Twins suggested in unison, both looking at Albert.

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

"Yes. When do we start?"

"Back in 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 been spectacularly good at courting disaster—had indeed failed to escape detention. His punishment was... scrubbing chamber pots.

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

Watching the Weasley Twins flip through a spellbook the moment 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. Pay attention to the 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 this spell, so they started practicing." Albert was vague. "You'll have to learn it in Charms Class eventually anyway, and you'll need practice sooner or later. Why not compete with them and see who masters the Unlocking Charm first?"

"You're ruthless." Lee Jordan drew his own wand and joined in practicing the Unlocking Charm, intending to see who among the three could master it first.

Albert told them about the problems he had encountered while practicing the Unlocking Charm, along with several 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 Self-Defense Guide and continued reading the parts he had not yet finished.

"Giving up?" Albert asked without looking up.

"Giving up for now. It's just impossible." Lee Jordan was somewhat discouraged. This can't possibly work, can it? They had practiced for half an hour, yet the lock had not budged. It was truly frustrating.

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

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

"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 flipping through the book. "For a Muggle newcomer like me, it's really just a way to learn how many dangerous creatures there are in the magical world, how to stay alert around them, and how to protect myself.

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

"So, what this book teaches is fairly basic, but I have to admit it's useful. That's why Albert called it an introductory book.

"If they spend the entire term studying this stuff, it's no wonder the Twins' protective items sell 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 the term 'Shield Charm' mentioned anywhere so far.

After practicing all 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 master this spell?" Fred looked rather discouraged.

"Practice for a day or two," Albert said without hesitation. "Every spell needs Magical Power as its foundation, and since you barely know any spells, you're not as strong as I am in that regard. So... it'll be a little difficult for you to learn. I ran into similar problems when I first came into contact with magic. Later, after I mastered more magic, I started learning spells faster."

The three looked at one another, not knowing what to say for a moment. What Albert said seemed to make sense, but for some reason, they still felt like 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 the Lumos Charm yet."

Albert muttered, casually driving a knife into all three of their hearts.

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

"Just think about it. The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 only records a few spells, and we're expected to study that book for an entire year. That tells you how hard it is to learn even one spell." Albert could not help curling his lip. In truth, that was exactly how it was.

"By your logic, you've probably already learned every spell in the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, haven't you?" Fred suddenly asked, 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 of them were confused.

"It means finding more ways to use a spell." 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 the Lumos Charm. But have you ever thought about making its light brighter? Or making it leave your wand and float in midair as you wish, or drift into the distance?"

"Can something like that really be done?"

"I think Professor Flitwick can definitely do it." Albert extinguished the light on his wand and sighed softly. If he wanted to create a Magic Lamp, he would at least need to raise the Lumos Charm 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 the experience needed for Level 3. Albert did not even want to think about it. The pitiful amount of experience in his pool was not enough to raise a single skill to Level 4.