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Three days later, George successfully received a copy of Guide to Gesture-Based Magic from the shop assistant at Leighton Bookstore.
Ten days after that, George stood in the yard, aiming his wand at a locked box, and recited the incantation:
"Alohomora!"
A blue magical beam shot from the tip of his wand, striking the box with precision.
Most spells produce beams of different colors when cast, especially offensive and targeted spells like the unlocking charm, disarming charm, and killing curse.
However, some spells are silent and lack obvious signs when cast, such as the levitation charm, repair charm, and summoning charm.
"Click."
A crisp sound came from the lock as it sprung open automatically.
"Finally succeeded."
Seeing this, George's face broke into a satisfied smile.
After ten days of tireless study, along with occasional advice from Tonks, who had been dropping by for meals, he had finally mastered the unlocking charm.
From his studies over the past few days, he realized he wasn't the so-called magical prodigy. True prodigies, like Hermione, can effortlessly master several spells before school even starts, despite having no prior exposure or guidance, while also studying magical history and general knowledge.
Even more extraordinary are wizards like Snape, who could create powerful spells while still in school.
As for Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Voldemort, their abilities transcend the notion of mere talent.
But he had his own methods.
Although he said he spent ten days learning, it was actually more like twenty. Whenever his body needed rest, his Marvel counterpart would take over.
The most important aspects of learning magic are talent and diligence. His talent might not be extraordinary, but he made up for it with hard work.
While his counterpart was at the research base, with nothing much to do besides training, he had ample spare time to practice with a stick resembling a wand, honing his technique and accelerating his spell-learning process.
As long as he was careful to avoid or stay out of view of surveillance, it didn't matter if he was discovered, since no one in that world knew what he was up to.
Once his counterpart was free, his speed in learning magic would increase even more, as he effectively had double the time for studying and researching.
In fact, if not considered cheating, mastering a spell in ten days is quite impressive among wizards. Most young wizards, over the course of a year, only learn a few spells, with the less adept managing only a handful.
"Next, it's time to practice gesture-based magic continuously. Once I can successfully cast spells with gestures, I can start learning the next spell."
After several successful attempts and confirming he had fully mastered the unlocking charm, George immediately set aside his wand and began practicing the unlocking charm according to the Guide to Gesture-Based Magic.
Eight days later, after relentless practice by both his main self and his doppelganger, George finally mastered casting the unlocking charm without a wand.
However, compared to using a wand, which allows the charm to be cast in one or two seconds, using gestures to cast the charm took about seven to eight seconds, even with practice. Mastery might reduce this time to five or six seconds.
In a duel between two wizards, a delay of five to six seconds would give the opponent enough time to cast three or four offensive spells.
No wonder this method of spellcasting has fallen out of favor.
"August 21st, the day Gilderoy Lockhart is signing books at Leighton Bookstore."
In the morning, as George ate breakfast and glanced at the date on his magical calendar, he contemplated his plans.
He had little interest in the so-called "great" Gilderoy Lockhart, but if he remembered correctly, today was also the day Harry Potter, accompanied by the Weasley family, would be shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley.
After completing his first year at Hogwarts, Harry had returned to his detestable aunt and uncle's house for the summer. Due to the house-elf Dobby's interference, his uncle had locked him up and forbidden him from returning to Hogwarts.
Harry's best friends, Ron and the Weasley twins, had secretly used their father's enchanted car to rescue him from his unpleasant home.
"Let's make contact then."
In the end, George decided it would be beneficial to make an effort to meet them.
Compared to the eventual resurrection of Voldemort, George felt that spending time with Harry and his friends now would be more rewarding.
Many things and places at Hogwarts would be inaccessible to him, but if he were with Harry, there would be no problem.
For example, the restricted sections of the Hogwarts library, where he'd never be able to sneak a look at the magical texts on his own. But if he were with Harry, Dumbledore would likely turn a blind eye. The Room of Requirement would be similarly accessible.
So, after breakfast, instead of continuing his spell research as usual, George stood at the window in the apothecary's lobby, watching outside.
About an hour later, he saw a pair of golden-haired father and son walk gracefully into the adjacent Borgin and Burkes shop.
"That must be the Malfoys. It seems Harry Potter is already inside the store."
The decision to bring a child into Knockturn Alley, especially at this time, along with the expensive robes and their air of superiority, made their identities quite apparent.
Indeed, about ten minutes later, just after the father and son left Borgin and Burkes, a skinny boy with glasses, covered in grime, hurriedly ran out of the shop.
"Where am I?"
Harry stood in the narrow, dimly lit alley, surrounded by shops that seemed to specialize in dark magic, and felt a shiver run down his spine.
The shop windows next to him displayed withered human heads, and a few doors down, a large cage was filled with huge, menacing black spiders.
Turning to a dark doorway on his right, he saw two ragged wizards whispering and eyeing him curiously.
"I need to get out of here quickly, hopefully without being noticed."
Today was Harry's first time using Floo powder, but something had gone wrong. Instead of arriving in Diagon Alley, he had ended up in this frightening and strange place and had inadvertently witnessed a shady transaction involving the Malfoy family.
"Are you lost?"
As he nervously prepared to avoid the dark doorway and make his way in another direction, a calm but slightly youthful voice suddenly spoke from behind him.
Turning around, Harry saw a boy, just as thin as he was but with a very determined expression, standing behind him holding a spellbook.
"This is Knockturn Alley, a place full of dark wizards. It's not safe to be here alone."
"Hello, I'm Harry. I ended up here by mistake because of the Floo powder. I was trying to get to Diagon Alley."
Sensing the boy's genuine concern, Harry quickly explained.
George, upon hearing this, smiled:
"Hi, Harry. I'm George. It seems you mixed up Diagon Alley with Knockturn Alley.
But don't worry, they are connected. I'll help you get out of here."
(End of Chapter)