Charles tried to maintain his stander Alex's sharp gaze. Within just two minutes, his arms began to ache and shake, making it almost impossible to stay steady. Frustrated, he grumbled under his breath, but his pints died in his throat wheiced Alex holding the same position effortlessly, not even breaking a sweat. Left with no excuse, Charles ched his teeth and pushed through.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, Alex allowed him to stand up. Charles’s legs and arms were stiff and trembling as he staggered toward the hut. “Do you do this kind of thing often? Are you even human?” he muttered, still panting.

  Alex smirked. “It’s tough at first, but if you stick with it, you’ll see the results. This is just the warm-up. Starting tomorrow, we’ll add a minute each day until you hold it for ten miraight. After that, we’ll work in magic training, followed by stepping drills, and then bat exercises.”

  Charles groaned, his mind spinning at the thought of the esg difficulty. Meanwhile, Alex recalled the words of his old instructor: “The fi steel is fed itest fire.” It rinciple he now inteo apply to Charles’s training.

  By the time they finished for the day, Charles ractically dragging his feet back to Gryffindor Tower, where he colpsed onto his bed without even b to ge out of his clothes.

  The day, Alex carefully monitored Charles’s progress. Despite his initial struggles, Charles was starting to show improvement. His endurance was better, and his growiivity to magic allowed him to cast spells with more precision and power. Even the more challenging spells were being easier for him to handle.

  At the same time, Alex was diving deeper into his research with Professor Bohe professor had him w on a thesis about the Echo Spell and introduced him to practical alchemy. These alchemical spells were subtle, requiring no verbal intations and being used primarily on ented objects. The applicatied from speed and strength enhas to sileng effects and pressure resistance. Alex felt his progress was steady and satisfying.

  About a week ter, Charles brought some news. “Hey, there’s a senior named Granda Chitoc who just got back to Hogwarts. I vinced him to teach us the Waves Repelling Charm—though I had to promise you’d give him a poker set as thanks.”

  Alex chuckled. His casual pames had apparently earned him a reputation across the different houses. “Well, if it gets us the charm, I guess it’s worth it.”

  Excited to test the spell, Alex set up a rge basin and filled it with water using the Clear Spring Charm. He tossed a stoo the basin, creating ripples, and then cast the Waves Repelling Charm. The intation was long, suggesting the spell was still a work in progress, but it worked. The waves immediately settled, leaving the water still.

  Enced, Alex tried it on sound waves . He used an Echo Spell aed the charm while wearing his mohe results were det; the charm softened sound waves, but not as much as he’d hoped.

  “Hm, just as I thought. It works, but it’s not strong enough,” he muttered. “I’ll o tweak the ruo make it more effective.”

  Deciphering a spell’s runes was no small task, especially when it involved reverse-engineering the eructure. Luckily, this particur spell was still unrefined, making the process a bit more manageable. With two intense days of work alongside Professor Bones, Alex finally cracked the spell’s rune figuration.

  “So, it bihe ‘repel’ ruh ‘eliminate’ and ‘stabilize.’ That expins why it calms waves. If I add a ruo detect sound waves specifically, it could blooise more effectively,” Alex mused as he sketched out his ideas. Energized by the potential, he began designing improvements.

  Over the several days, Alex poured himself into refining the spell. Drawing on his experience from creating two other spells, he entered fewer obstacles and quickly developed four new rune binations based on the inal setup. By the end of October, the spell was ready for testing.

  Alex divided his testing into two phases. First, he checked to ehe spell wouldn’t harm living creatures. He cast it repeatedly on a b rat, watg closely for any signs of distress. Once he firmed it was safe, he moved on to phase two: testing the spell in real-world sarios. He called his creation the “Sonic Repelling Spell.”

  To test its sound-dampening properties, Alex cast it on himself. As he amplified the spell’s power, he gradually tuned out the surrounding il even Hagrid’s distant shout became silent. Satisfied with its success, Alex tested additional applications, including an Echo Spell and even an Infrasonic Spell.

  Of the four ruups he’d devised, Alex cluded that the third was the most effective, particurly for blog ultrasonic waves. “This will be the foundation for further upgrades,” he decided. Though tempted to test the infrasonic version on himself, he held off, wary of potential side effects.

  Finally, on Halloween night, Alex was ready for the ultimate test. Preparing thhly, he brought healing potions and asked Hagrid to keep an eye on him from a safe dista exactly 7:19 p.m., he recorded in his journal: “Sed test of the infrasonic spell.”

  With the Sonic Repelling Spell active to shield his ears, Alex cast the infrasonic spell. At first, he felt nothing—no sound, no vibrations—until he g the b rat and froze. The creature y motionless, blood trig from its ears and nose.

  “It worked,” Alex murmured, both awed and disturbed by the spell’s lethal power.

  As he prepared to test its range, Hagrid suddenly came running toward him, waving urgently. Realiziill had the Sonic Repelling Spell active, Alex quickly dispelled it.

  “What’s going on, Hagrid? I couldn’t hear you,” Alex asked.

  Hagrid looked flustered. “Dumbledore needs me. Just wao check you were alright before I left.”

  With that, Hagrid hurried off toward the castle, leaving Alex aloo refle the power—and responsibility—of his new creation.