Three days later, George successfully obtained a copy of The Guide to Wandless Spellcasting from the clerk at Flourish and Blotts.
Ten days after that, George stood in the courtyard, waving his wand at a locked chest and incanting:
"Alohomora!"
A beam of blue magic shot from the tip of his wand, striking the chest with precision.
Most spells produced beams of varying colors upon casting, especially offensive and targeted magic—such as the Unlocking Charm, Disarming Charm, and even the Killing Curse.
However, some spells worked silently, with no obvious visual cues—like the Summoning Charm, Mending Charm, and Levitation Charm.
Click.
A crisp sound came from the lock as the latch sprang open on its own.
"Finally, success."
A satisfied smile spread across George's face.
After ten days of relentless study—with occasional advice from Tonks, who often dropped by for meals—he had finally managed to cast the Unlocking Charm successfully.
Through his studies these past days, he had also come to realize that he wasn't some kind of so-called magical prodigy.
A real prodigy was someone like Hermione—completely new to magic, with no guidance, spending most of her time absorbing magical history and general knowledge while casually picking up spells on the side, yet effortlessly mastering several before even starting school.
An even greater prodigy was someone like Snape, who could invent powerful spells during his school years.
As for Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Voldemort—they were beyond the realm of mere "genius."
But that was fine. He had his own methods.
Though he had only been studying for ten days here, in reality, it was closer to twenty.
Whenever this body grew too exhausted to continue, his true self in the Marvel world would take over.
The most important factors in learning magic were talent and diligence. If he lacked talent, he would make up for it with effort.
Back at the lab, his true self had little to do besides training, leaving plenty of free time. He could easily grab a stick similar to a wand and practice the motions.
Through constant repetition and reflection, he accelerated his mastery of spells.
He just had to be careful to avoid—or at least turn his back to—the surveillance cameras. Even if he was caught, it didn't matter. No one in this world would understand what he was doing anyway.
Once his true self gained freedom, his magical learning would progress even faster—because he effectively had double the time to study and research.
Honestly, if this wasn't considered cheating, mastering a spell in just ten days would already qualify him as a genius among wizards.
After all, most young witches and wizards barely learned a handful of spells in a year—some even struggled to grasp just a few.
"Next step: keep practicing wandless casting until I can do it successfully. Then, I'll move on to the next spell."
After testing it several times to confirm he had fully mastered the Unlocking Charm, George immediately set aside his wand and began practicing wandless casting as instructed in The Guide to Wandless Spellcasting.
Eight days later, thanks to uninterrupted practice between his true self and his duplicate, he could finally cast the Unlocking Charm without a wand.
However, while the wand allowed him to cast the spell in one or two seconds, wandless casting took nearly seven or eight—even with practice, it would likely only shorten to five or six.
In a duel between wizards, five or six seconds would be enough time for the opponent to fire off three or four offensive spells.
No wonder this casting method had fallen out of favor.
"August 21st—today's the day Gilderoy Lockhart is signing books at Flourish and Blotts."
Over breakfast, George glanced at the magical calendar and mulled over the date.
He had no interest in Lockhart, the fraud. But if he remembered correctly, today was also the day Harry Potter would come to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys to buy school supplies.
After completing his first year at Hogwarts, Harry had returned to the Dursleys—who despised him—for the summer. Thanks to the house-elf Dobby, he had been locked up by his uncle and forbidden from returning to Hogwarts.
It was his friend Ron and the Weasley twins who had secretly rescued him in their father's enchanted car, bringing him back to the Burrow.
"Then I'll make contact."
In the end, he decided it was worth reaching out.
Compared to Voldemort, who wouldn't return for years, he stood to gain far more by associating with Harry and his friends now.
There were many places and things in Hogwarts he wouldn't normally have access to—but with Harry, those barriers disappeared.
For example, the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. Sneaking in to read those books would be nearly impossible on his own.
But with Harry around, Dumbledore would turn a blind eye. The same went for the Room of Requirement.
So after breakfast, instead of his usual spell research, George stood by the apothecary's front window, observing the street outside.
About an hour later, he spotted a pair of blond-haired father and son walking gracefully into Borgin and Burkes across the way.
"That must be the Malfoys."
Which means Harry Potter is already inside.
Only someone like Lucius Malfoy would dare bring his child into Knockturn Alley at this time. Their expensive robes and aristocratic demeanor made them easy to identify.
Sure enough, about ten minutes after the Malfoys left Borgin and Burkes, a bespectacled, dust-covered boy came stumbling out in a panic.
"Where is this?"
Harry stood in the narrow, shadowy alley, unnerved by the surrounding shops, all of which seemed to deal in Dark magic.
The neighboring store's window displayed a sinister collection of shrunken heads. A few shops down, a massive cage teemed with enormous black spiders.
Glancing to the right, he saw two ragged wizards whispering about him from a dark doorway.
"I need to get out of here—hopefully I can find my way back."
Today was his first time using Floo powder, and something had gone wrong. Instead of arriving in Diagon Alley, he'd ended up in this strange, terrifying shop—where he'd accidentally witnessed the Malfoys making some shady deal.
"Are you lost?"
Just as he nervously tried to skirt around the shadowy doorway, a calm yet youthful voice spoke up behind him.
Turning, he saw a boy about his size—thin but with a determined expression—holding a magic book.
"This is Knockturn Alley. It's full of Dark wizards—not a safe place to wander alone."
"Hi, I'm Harry. I was trying to get to Diagon Alley, but the Floo powder brought me here by mistake."
Perhaps sensing the boy's goodwill, Harry quickly explained.
George smiled.
"Hello, Harry. I'm George. You must've mispronounced 'Diagon Alley' as 'Knockturn Alley.' But don't worry—they're connected. I'll take you out."