Three days later, George successfully acquired a copy of A Guide to Gesture-Casting from the Flourish and Blotts shop assistant.
Ten days later, George stood in the courtyard, pointing his wand at a locked box and incanting:
"Alohomora!"
A blue magical beam shot from the tip of his wand, accurately striking the box.
Most spells, when cast, are accompanied by beams of various colors, especially offensive and targeted spells like the Unlocking Charm, the Disarming Charm, and the Killing Curse.
However, some spells are cast silently, without any obvious signs, such as the Summoning Charm, the Repairing Charm, and the Levitation Charm.
Click.
A crisp sound came from the lock, and the latch sprang open automatically.
"Finally, success."
Seeing this, George's face broke into a satisfied smile.
After ten days of tireless research, and occasionally asking Tonks, who came over for meals, for guidance, he could finally successfully cast the Unlocking Charm.
Through these days of study, he also realized that he was not what one would call a "magic prodigy."
True prodigies were like Hermione, who had no prior exposure, no guidance, and while spending most of her time learning about wizarding history and common knowledge, still managed to easily master several spells before school started.
Even greater prodigies were like Snape, who could invent powerful spells while still at school.
As for Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Voldemort, "prodigy" was no longer a sufficient word to describe them.
But thankfully, he had his own methods.
Though he said he had studied for ten days, in reality, he could be said to have studied for twenty.
Because when his body here needed rest, his main body in the Marvel world would take over.
The most important thing in learning magic was talent, followed by diligence. If his talent wasn't enough, then diligence would make up for it.
His main body in the experimental base had nothing else to do besides training, so he had plenty of free time. He could find a stick similar to a wand and practice the feel of it.
Through continuous practice and insight, he could accelerate his learning of spells.
He just needed to be careful to avoid or turn his back to the surveillance cameras so as not to be discovered. Even if he was discovered, it wouldn't matter; after all, no one in that world knew what he was doing.
Once his main body was free, his magic learning speed would be even faster, as he would effectively have double the time of others to study and research magic.
In reality, if it wasn't cheating, learning one spell in ten days was already considered prodigy-level among wizards.
It was worth noting that most young wizards didn't master many spells in a year, and some even only mastered a few.
"Next is continuous practice of gesture-casting until it's successful, then I can consider the next spell."
After several experiments, confirming he had completely mastered the Unlocking Charm, George immediately put down his wand and began practicing the Unlocking Charm according to the instructions in A Guide to Gesture-Casting.
Eight days later, through uninterrupted practice by both his main body and his clone, he could finally cast the Unlocking Charm successfully without a wand.
However, compared to the one or two seconds it took with a wand, casting the spell with gestures instead of a wand took roughly seven or eight seconds. Even with practice, it would probably still take five or six seconds.
If two wizards were dueling, five or six seconds would be enough time for the other wizard to cast three or four offensive spells with a wand.
No wonder this method of spellcasting was phased out.
"August twenty-first. Today is Lockhart's book signing at Flourish and Blotts."
In the morning, George ate breakfast while looking at the date on the magical calendar, slowly making his calculations.
He naturally had no interest in that big fraud Lockhart. However, if he remembered correctly, today was also the day Harry Potter, accompanied by the Weasley family, came to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies.
After completing his first year, Harry returned to his detested aunt and uncle's house for the summer holiday. Because of the house-elf Dobby, his uncle had locked him up, forbidding him from returning to Hogwarts.
It was his good friend Ron and the Weasley twins who secretly drove their father's magical car to pick him up and bring him back to the Burrow.
"Then I'll try to make contact."
Ultimately, he decided it would be good to proactively approach them.
Compared to Voldemort, who wouldn't revive for several years, he felt that being with Harry and his friends now would yield greater benefits.
Many places and things at Hogwarts would be basically inaccessible to him if he tried to access them alone, but with Harry and his friends, it would be no problem.
For example, the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library; it would be almost impossible for him to secretly browse the magic books there.
But if he was with Harry, Dumbledore would turn a blind eye. The same went for the Room of Requirement.
So, after breakfast, George didn't continue studying spells as usual today. Instead, he stood by the window of the potion shop's main hall, observing the outside.
About an hour later, he saw a father and son, both with golden hair, walking with elegant strides into Borgin and Burkes across the street.
"That must be the Malfoys, father and son.
It seems Harry Potter is already in the shop."
Daring to bring a child into Knockturn Alley, at this exact time, coupled with their expensive wizarding robes and an air of superiority, it was easy to identify their status.
Sure enough, about ten minutes later, shortly after the father and son left Borgin and Burkes, a thin boy with glasses, covered in dust, rushed out of the shop.
"Where is this?"
Harry stood in the narrow, gloomy alley, feeling a chill run down his spine as he looked at the surrounding shops that seemed to deal exclusively in dark magic.
In the shop window next door, shrunken human heads were eerily displayed. Two doors down, a large cage was crawling with huge, black spiders.
He turned his head to look into a dark doorway on his right, where two shabbily dressed wizards were watching him, whispering.
"I need to get out of here quickly. I hope I can find my way out."
Today was his first time using Floo powder, but something went wrong. Instead of arriving in Diagon Alley, he found himself in a strange, terrifying shop, and accidentally witnessed the Malfoys' illegal dealings.
"Are you lost?"
Just as he was nervously preparing to avoid the dark doorway and grope his way in another direction, a steady but slightly childish voice suddenly spoke behind him.
He turned to see a boy, as thin as himself, but with a remarkably resolute expression, standing behind him, holding a magic book.
"This is Knockturn Alley, a place where dark wizards gather. It's not safe for you to be here alone."
"Hello, my name is Harry. I accidentally ended up here because of Floo powder. I wanted to go to Diagon Alley."
Perhaps sensing the boy's goodwill, Harry quickly explained.
George's face also broke into a smile:
"Hello, Harry. My name is George. You must have pronounced Diagon Alley as Knockturn Alley.
But it's alright, they're connected. I'll take you out."