Even though it was Christmas break… Hogwarts still handed out homework.
Alexander stared at the parchment spread across his desk, his quill tapping lightly against the wood. Outside his dorm window, snow blanketed the castle grounds in soft, silent white.
He exhaled.
"Well… nothing to do but finish it."
Being a star student, he completed every assignment within a couple of days. Every essay is polished to near perfection. Every rune diagram is drawn with precise symmetry. Every potion formula is cross-checked twice for errors.
By the time the castle clock chimed midnight, his academic responsibilities for the entire break were done.
Alexander leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms overhead.
"Now… for the fun part."
From his trunk, he pulled out several advanced introductory texts he had received from his parents for an early Christmas gift.
Protego
Stupefy Duo
Petrificus Totalus
Disillusionment Charm
He opened the first book.
Protego — The Shield Charm
"Basic," Alexander muttered… then shook his head. "Basic doesn't mean useless."
He read carefully.
Protego created an invisible magical barrier capable of deflecting jinxes, minor curses, and even some physical projectiles. It was one of the most widely used defensive spells among witches and wizards.
Reliable. Fast. Efficient.
Alexander raised his wand.
"Protego."
A faint shimmer formed in front of him, like heat distortion in the air.
He tossed a rolled-up sock at it.
Thunk.
The sock bounced off and landed on his bed.
He smirked.
"Yeah… definitely useful."
He practiced for an hour — casting silently, quickly, from different angles, even while moving.
Defense first.
Satisfied with his progress, Alexander finally went to sleep.
The next morning, after breakfast, he needed a proper place to practice offensive spells.
So he made his way to the seventh floor, stopping opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, attempting to train trolls in ballet.
He walked past the blank wall three times, focusing his intent.
"I need a room to practice spells."
On the third pass, a door materialized.
The Room of Requirement.
Alexander turned the knob and stepped inside.
It had everything he needed — reinforced training dummies, moving targets, and enchanted mechanisms that launched flying objects to simulate attacks for defensive practice.
He had never truly needed to use this room before.
But for advanced spellwork…
It was perfect.
Stupefy Duo — Advanced Stunning Spell
Stupefy Duo was an enhanced variant of the standard Stunning Spell Stupefy.
Stronger impact. Wider knockback. More magical force behind the blast.
But also harder to control.
Alexander stood at range, wand raised toward a reinforced dummy.
"Stupefy Duo."
A thick red blast erupted from his wand — denser than a normal stun bolt — slamming into the dummy and launching it backward into the wall.
He blinked.
"…Okay. That's stronger than expected."
He practiced reducing output, focusing on precision rather than power.
Power meant nothing if you couldn't regulate it.
Back in his dorm later that evening, he studied the next incantation.
Petrificus Totalus.
Also known as the Full Body-Bind Curse.
It locked a person's limbs together, completely immobilizing them. Victims fell stiff as a board while remaining conscious.
Alexander smiled slightly.
"Only dangerous if abused."
He aimed at a pillow on his bed.
"Petrificus Totalus."
The pillow snapped rigid mid-air and fell sideways like a wooden plank.
He dispelled it immediately.
This spell required precision. Too much force — or poor timing — could cause injury if used carelessly.
He practiced casting and releasing it smoothly, ensuring he could undo it just as quickly as he applied it.
The final spell intrigued him the most.
Not true invisibility — not like an Invisibility Cloak — but close enough to fool the eye by blending the caster into their surroundings.
Advanced concealment magic.
He stood before his mirror.
"Disillusionment Charm."
He tapped his head with his wand.
His reflection shimmered…
Then blurred.
His body took on faint coloration from the dorm behind him — not invisible, but distorted, like looking through warped glass.
He moved.
The effect followed, bending light around him.
Alexander grinned.
"Oh… this is going to be fun."
Perfect for stealth.
Perfect for scouting.
Perfect for pranks — though he told himself that was only a secondary benefit.
Later that night, he reviewed letters from home — specifically from his parents regarding spell studies.
Their stance was clear:
Protego — Approved
Disillusionment Charm — Approved (with supervision)
Petrificus Totalus — Caution advised
Stupefy Duo — Caution advised
They had written:
"The latter spells carry combat risk. We will discuss proper usage and advanced combat ethics over summer break."
Alexander sighed, folding the letter.
"Figures…"
Still, he understood.
They weren't saying no.
Just… not yet.
He gazed out the window again at the snow-covered grounds.
Empty corridors.
Silent towers.
A castle half-asleep.
Most students saw Christmas break as a rest.
Alexander saw it as an opportunity.
Time to study.
Time to train.
Because somewhere beneath the festive quiet of Hogwarts…
That cold, ancient, magic he had sensed before Halloween…
Had never fully disappeared.
And Alexander intended to be ready when it surfaced again.
He extinguished his candle with a flick of his wand.
Darkness settled over the dorm.
But his mind remained awake…
Planning the next spell, he would master.