Filled with pride, Alex nodded, “Thank you for everything, Professor Bones. I couldn’t have e this far without yuidance.”

  “Ha! Don’t be modest,” the professor chuckled. “Without your brilliant idea, we’d have never uncovered such a unique rune.”

  Alex took a thoughtful pause before proposing, “My vision is to create a pair of gsses using polished crystal lenses with Ur Bronze as the frames. What do you think?”

  “Excellent choice,” Professor Bones agreed. “Circur lenses would allow the ruo form a ring around the frame, emphasizing the crystalline effect.”

  “Let’s make a mohen,” Alex suggested, “with one lens for eaging and the other for normal sight.”

  “Clever idea,” the professor said with a smile. “The materials aren’t difficult to find. I’ll gather them, and you practigraving the runes in the meantime. I’ll call for you whehing is ready.”

  Touched by the professor’s support, Alex expressed his gratitude. “Thank you so much, Professor. I ’t begin to expin how much your help means to me.”

  The professor waved it off with a smile. “o thank me. We aplished this together, and I value that immensely. I’ll prepare two sets of materials so you make one for me, as well.”

  In the following days, Alex spent every free moment practig rune work. The echolocation charm was fairly simple, using two sets of runes, but bining them correctly took a lot of focus. At first, he found it difficult, but with steady practice, he started to get the hang of it. His hands grew more skilled at engraving, and as his muscles remembered the movements, he could guide the magic more accurately. This helped him make faster progress, and his success rate kept improving.

  At Defense Against the Dark Arts css, Professor Bones approached Alex after css, saying, “The materials are ready. We start tonight.”

  Holding back his excitement, Alex went straight to his hut to practie st time, determio be as ready as possible. Even Charles, who had e to train with him, was kindly asked to leave so Alex could focus fully. That evening, Alex arrived at Professor Bones' office. “Let’s get started,” he said with a fident smile.

  The professor revealed the prepared materials: two elegant monocle frames made of dark copper, each holding a polished, ft crystal lens. Thin copper s were attached to the frames, giving them a simple but elegant look. “Retly, I’ve been practig drawing a very small ruo prepare for this. I hope it goes well,” Alex said with a grin.

  Professor Bones chuckled, “Don’t overthink it. Remember, we’re wizards! The materials adapt to us, not the other way around.”

  With a flick of his wand, Professor Bones cast a magnification spell on one of the lenses, expanding it to the size of a small disk. Alex, having overlooked this option, ughed, realizing his mistake.

  “This spell will st over half an hour,” Professor Bones instructed. “You’ll practi a wooden disk of the same size first, then we’ll magnify the lens again for your final inscription.”

  Following the professor’s advice, Alex began practig on a wooden piece, though his first attempt failed due to the difficulty of maintaining spag on the curved surface. But on his sed try, he succeeded within half an hour, his fingers remembering the rutern from tless repetitions.

  "Very good, the's officially begin," Professor Bones said with a pleased smile.

  Alex nodded, adjusting his grip on the dark-handled engraving knife as Professor Bones cast a magnifying charm on his mohe spectacle frame Alex was w on expanded in size before his eyes, revealing every tiail. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind and sharpening his focus, keeping his hand steady as he started carving. Professor Boood nearby, quietly watg.

  For Alex, the half-hour of careful engraving was both exhausting and exhirating. Tons of practid steadying his emotio he rarely felt rattled, but uhe time pressure, the question, ‘Will there be enough time?’ flickered through his thoughts now and then. Even with these lingering s, he kept his hands steady, not allowing his focus to falter.

  Finally, with a sigh of relief, Alex set down the spectacle frame and the knife, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead. “Phew, it’s done!” he said, feeling a rush of satisfa. Though it was his first time w on a real alchemical item, he hadn’t made a single mistake.

  “Well done! Go on, try it out yourself!” Professor Bones enced, visibly pleased.

  Alex nodded and carefully pced the monocle over his right eye, adjusting it until it fit fortably. Then, lifting his wand, he whispered the Echo Charm. Instantly, a faint ripple spread from his eye, outlining every obje the room with soft, glowing edges.

  He closed his left eye, and the view at the monocle became even sharper. His vision shifted into a world of dark blue and gray, where everything was made up of gentle lines and shifting waves. "How is it?" Professor Bones asked.

  “It’s incredible,” Alex replied, smiling as he removed the monocle and ha over to Professor Bones. “You’ve got to try it yourself.”

  Professor Bones eagerly tried it on, his expression ged to one of awe as he experiehe unique perspective for himself. "It’s fasating,” he murmured. “These ripples flowing along the walls and objects—are these the sound waves you mentioned?"

  Alex nodded, suppressing a grin. “Yes, even I didn’t expect it to work this well!”

  Professor Bones chuckled. “Well done, Alex! But we still have one more to engrave. Take a break, have some water, a’s tinue.”

  Alex aking a few moments tain his energy before starting on the seohe engravi smoother this time, with his earlier success easing any worries he’d had. Soon, he fihe sed piece without a hitch.

  With both monocles now plete, Alex and Professor Bones couldn’t resist testing them together. Like two kids with a oy, they excitedly dashed out of the office to try the ented gsses in different areas of Hogwarts.

  As Alex cast the Echo Charm repeatedly, the two explored every nook and y within their monocles’ reach. They marveled at the details that unfolded: from the crevices in the corridor stoo the distant flicker of a hidden owl in the rafters. They even spotted a couple secretly cuddling in a quiet er and glimpsed Filch patrolling two floors away, entirely unaware of their observation.

  The Echo Charm’s range was vast, allowing them to see through sound waves up to 100 meters arofessor Bones ughed, clearly ented by the experiehe more I see, the more amazing this bees. Alex, thank you for this—this is such a delightful surprise at my age.”

  Alex grinned. “Thank you, Professor. Without yuidance, I’d never succeed.”