Charles watched as Alex carefully ed up the remnants of his test experiment, his expression a mix of curiosity and thoughtfulness. After a moment, Charles headed back to the house, filled a rge gss with water, and dow in one go. Setting the gss down, he called out, “So, how’s the experiment going? Last time you mentioned something about sonic magic.”

  Alex let out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair. “There’s been some progress, but I’ve hit a new roadblock. I o figure out how to isote sound waves without pletely blog them. It’s... plicated.”

  “Isote sound? Why not just use earplugs or a Quietus spell?” Charles suggested, leaning casually against the ter.

  Alex shook his head, clearly frustrated. “It’s not that simple. Earplugs block the sound you hear, but they don’t actually stop the movement of the sound waves. And those waves are what I’m trying to trol.”

  Charles frowrying to his head around the expnation. “Okay, so sound waves and sound arely the same thing? That does sound tricky. You know, this kind of reminds me of calming water. Like, wouldn’t it be great if you could calm sound the same way we calm waves? You ever heard of the Wave Repelling Charm?”

  Alex’s head snapped up, his eyes lighting up with i. “Wait, Charles, what did you just say?”

  “I said... water waves?” Charles replied, fused.

  “No, after that! You mentioned a charm?”

  “Oh! The Wave Repelling Charm. Yeah, I heard about it from Granda Chitoc ba school. She told this story about a time she was on the Aegean Sea and things gh. Apparently, some wizard used a charm to calm the waves, and Granda lear from him.”

  Alex leaned forward, his excitement building. “So, there really is a charm for that?”

  “Yeah, supposedly,” Charles said with a shrug. “Granda’s a seventh-year now. She’s doing an internship and wants to get into wizard radio broadcasting, so I doubt she’s hanging around the school.”

  Alex’s excitement faltered. “So, she’s not ing baytime soon?”

  “Probably not,” Charles admitted, then brightened. “But I’ll ask around the Poker Club. Someohere might know her better. I think one of the seniors still keeps in touch.”

  “The... Poker Club?” Alex asked, raising an eyebrow. “When did Het a Poker Club?”

  Charles grinned, looking far too pleased with himself. “You wouldn’t know, obviously. You’re always holed up in your b. Vivian and I started it ourselves. It’s small, but it’s catg on. We’ve already got over a dozen members.”

  “So… you just py poker?” Alex still looked skeptical.

  “Pretty much,” Charles said with a shrug. “Actually, you borrowed a deck from us around Christmas, remember? Then you gave us a fanew one as a rept. We used to py in the on rooms, but it got so popur we tur into a proper club. Hogwarts already has clubs for wizard chess, Gobstones, and Thunderbolt cards—so why not poker?”

  Alex let out a chuckle, shaking his head. “I guess I’ve been too ed up in experiments to notice. I don’t evehe bulletin board.”

  “Exactly,” Charles said with a ugh. “Anyway, leave it to me. I’ll dig around and see what I find out about Granda.”

  Two days ter, Charles burst into the b, looking energized. Alex gnced up from his notes. “Did you find out anything? Is she ing back?”

  Charles nodded, grinning. “Yep! Her internship went great—they even said she might go full-time on wizard radio. But she’s ing baext week for some kind of graduation ceremony.”

  Alex looked genuinely relieved. His experiments had hit a frustrating dead end, and he hadn’t dared to attempt the infrasonic spell again. Instead, he’d been fiuning his rune disks, hoping to stabilize the spell structure. If the Wave Repelling Charm worked on water waves, it might just give him the insight he needed for sound waves.

  “Thanks, Charles. This could be a game-ger,” Alex said sincerely.

  “No problem,” Charles replied, giving him a thumbs-up. “I’ll track her down as soon as she’s back.”

  “By the way,” Alex added with a smirk, “I’ve noticed you’ve been improving a lot in training. I think it’s time we step things up.”

  Charles blinked in surprise. “Wait, you’re telling me all that wasn’t real training?”

  “Not even close,” Alex said with a chuckle. “That was basiditioning—like a warm-up before a workout. If we’d started with the advauff, you might’ve colpsed halfway through.”

  Charles groaned. “A warm-up? I felt like I was dying! Between all those running drills and spell practice, I thought you were trying to kill me.”

  Alex ughed, his tone growing serious. “Progress doesn’t e easy. But if you’re ready, we’ll move to the level. Don’t worry; I’ll guide you so it won’t mess with your studies.”

  Charles squared his shoulders. “Let’s do it.”

  “Good,” Alex said, stepping back. “We’ll start with staraining. Watch closely.”

  He shifted into a solid horse stance—feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent, a evenly distributed. “This is the horse sta’s the foundation of stability and strength.”

  Charles raised an eyebrow. “So… you just stand there like that?”

  “Exactly. It strengthens your lower body and builds willpower. And trust me, willpower pys a huge role in magic. The stronger your will, the stronger your spells.”

  “If you say so,” Charles muttered, awkwardly copying the stance.

  Alex walked over to adjust his form. “Straighten your back. Keep your arms out like this. Now tighten your core and bance your weight—don’t strain your knees.”

  Charles winced as Alex tapped his legs with a stick to correct his posture. After a few minutes, his legs were burning. “So, what now?” he asked, his voice strained.

  “Now? Just hold it. Let’s aim for five minutes,” Alex replied calmly.

  “Five minutes?! This is torture!” Charles pined, sweat already f on his brow.

  “Of course it’s hard—that’s the point. But you’ll thaer,” Alex said with a grin.