The wheels of the Hogwarts Express clattered rhythmically against the iron tracks , a steady, timeless beat, monotonous yet strangely hypnotic. Outside the window, the rolling greens of the Scottish Highlands gradually gave way to the softer scenery of the English plains.
Light and shadow flickered in the compartment, shifting and flowing as the train sped on.
This particular compartment, reserved for Alan and his friends, was unusually quiet. The lingering laziness of post-holiday fatigue left the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan rather sluggish. Fred and George were in the middle of a contest to see who could flick a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean more accurately into the other's open mouth, while Lee Jordan had his face pressed against the cool glass of the window, boredly breathing on it and drawing shapeless ghosts in the fog.
Alan, however, wasn't part of their games.
His gaze was fixed beyond the window, but his mind was far from the swiftly passing landscape. He was still lost in thought , back in that vast, rune-filled library deep within the Black Forest of Germany, where ancient symbols met the cold logic of magical structure. His preliminary analysis of the "Ravenclaw Logic Core" had opened a door , a door to the underlying rules that governed the magical world itself.
But at this moment, he wasn't thinking about those profound, cryptic theories.
Instead, his mind replayed a far simpler memory , the scene of him crafting a small "magic-programmed" robot for his little sister, Lilia, during the holidays. The pure delight in her eyes when the tiny figure lit up with a Lumos Charm had touched something deep inside him.
A new idea , bright as a spark in the dark , had ignited in his Mind Palace, spreading rapidly into a full blaze of inspiration.
He withdrew his gaze from the window, a curious gleam flickering in his deep blue eyes. Clearing his throat, he broke the stillness of the compartment.
"Fred, George, Lee , stop fooling around for a bit. I've got something to show you."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a quiet authority that instantly commanded attention. The three of them turned toward him at once.
Under their curious stares, Alan leaned down and reached into his ordinary-looking backpack , which, of course, had been enchanted with an Extension Charm , and carefully pulled out a few small objects.
They weren't books, nor potion ingredients.
They were a few thumb-sized cubes.
He placed them neatly on the small table in the center of the compartment. Their material resembled crystal, though not completely transparent , a milky mist seemed to swirl within, and their edges refracted faint rainbow glimmers in the sunlight streaming through the window.
"What are those?" Fred leaned forward, curiosity piqued, reaching out to pick one up.
"Don't touch."
Alan's tone was calm but carried such quiet precision that Fred's hand froze midair.
Alan himself picked up one of the cubes, resting it steadily in his left palm. Drawing his wand, he tapped the top of the cube with surgical precision.
Hummm,
A faint resonance filled the air.
The mist inside the cube cleared instantly, and a soft, steady white glow bloomed from its core. It wasn't harsh , instead, it bathed their faces in a warm, almost sacred radiance.
"Wow…" Lee Jordan couldn't help but exhale in admiration.
"A portable Lumos Charm? Cool, but Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes sells stuff like that too," George remarked, his innate entrepreneurial instincts kicking in as he examined it skeptically.
Alan smiled faintly. It wasn't smug , just the calm certainty of someone in full control.
"No, that's just the base layer."
He lifted the glowing cube slightly.
"I call this piece a Module. Inside it, I've embedded a first-year level spell using Runic Fixation , in this case, Lumos. By itself, it's nothing special."
Before they could respond, Alan picked up a few more items.
They were small, stiff cards of the same size , made from magically reinforced parchment, coated with a faintly shimmering layer of energy. On each card, intricate silver runes glowed faintly, flowing with visible threads of magic.
"But the key lies here."
Alan held up one of the cards and slowly brought it close to the glowing cube.
The rune on this card represented frequency and interval.
When the card came within an inch of the cube , something wondrous happened.
The steady light flickered , once , then began to pulse rhythmically.
Bright.
Dim.
Bright.
Dim.
It breathed with life, its glow rising and falling in a smooth, almost living rhythm , as if the cube itself had a heartbeat.
Fred and George's eyes widened visibly, the lazy amusement completely gone from their faces.
Alan wasn't done yet.
He withdrew the first card, returning the light to its steady glow, then picked up another. This one bore runes representing color and transmutation.
As the new card neared the cube, the pure white glow darkened , as though a drop of blood had fallen into it. Within seconds, the cube flared into a vivid crimson, its light reflecting off their faces in waves of fiery scarlet.
"I call these cards Command Runes," Alan said, his tone smooth yet oddly magnetic.
He carefully packed everything back into his enchanted bag, then looked straight at his three stunned companions , their bodies unconsciously leaning forward, drawn in by the idea.
"My vision," he said slowly, "is to create a complete system , a toy made up of countless Modules, each embedded with a basic spell, and an equal number of Command Runes, each capable of triggering different effects."
He paused, letting the idea sink in.
And in that silence, he could see it , a spark lighting in the identical eyes of the Weasley twins.
Alan's tone deepened, taking on the cadence of an epic storyteller as he unfurled a grand vision before their eyes:
"Imagine it, Fred, George , this isn't just Lumos anymore. We could create a 'Floating Sphere' module embedded with Wingardium Leviosa, a 'Force Field Cube' module embedded with Impedimenta, or a 'Resonating Horn' module embedded with Sonorus!
"Think about it , young witches and wizards who haven't even entered Hogwarts yet, or those who've just started school and still struggle to control their magic, could buy these basic 'modules.' Then, just like the Muggle world's Lego bricks, they could build anything they imagine , combining them freely with the endless variety of 'Command Runes' we'll provide!"
"They wouldn't just be casting spells anymore," Alan said, his voice rising, his eyes blazing with fervor. "They'd be creating! Creating endlessly diverse, complex, one-of-a-kind magical effects!"
His excitement was contagious now, his words pulsing with raw inspiration.
"They could build a miniature castle that sounds an alarm whenever someone approaches! They could design a light-and-shadow puppet that dances and glows in rhythm with music! They could even construct a Quidditch battle simulator for tactical practice!
"This wouldn't just be a simple, one-off toy , it would be a magical learning platform, a way for young witches and wizards to explore magical programming through play!"
"Magical programming."
That phrase struck like a spark dropped into boiling oil. In an instant, the atmosphere in the compartment exploded.
Alan's revolutionary, wildly creative idea , to toyify and popularize the crown jewel of Ravenclaw's logic, turning "magical programming" into something accessible to everyone , hit them like a supernova.
The impact was overwhelming. It shattered the mental defenses of the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan, igniting deep within their souls that primal fire , the one that burned for mischief, for invention, for the creation of something brilliantly new.
Silence fell.
Absolute silence.
Fred's mouth hung open, but no words came out. Instinctively, he grabbed George's arm, his fingers trembling.
George's breathing grew heavy. His eyes weren't even looking at Alan anymore , they were fixed on some invisible point in the air, filled not just with excitement, but with a kind of hungry awe, as though he were staring straight into an endless vault of treasure. His lips moved soundlessly, calculating… something.
Lee Jordan suddenly shot to his feet , so fast that he smacked his head against the luggage rack with a dull thud , but he didn't even notice.
"By Merlin's beard…" he gasped.
Fred finally found his voice , hoarse, trembling, full of disbelief.
"Alan…"
Then George spoke, his voice low but burning with conviction. He turned sharply to Alan, staring straight at him.
"You're a real, an absolute genius!"
In his eyes, there were no longer just the glittering reflections of Galleons , there were mountains of them, rising endlessly into the sky.
"We have to build this!" Lee Jordan cried, clenching his fists and shaking them in exhilaration. "We should start a company , right now!"
"No," Alan said calmly, shaking his head. His excitement had already settled, replaced once again by that composed, strategic clarity.
"Before it can make a profit , before it shakes the entire wizarding world , we should first create something that sounds cooler than a company."
He looked at his three best friends , all wild-eyed, electrified by his vision , and smiled. Then, with the solemnity of someone announcing the dawn of a new era, he said, one word at a time:
"We'll call it…
'The Hogwarts Magical Makers Workshop.'"
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