Alex realized it was simir to the one used in the "amulet" she had given him.

  paring it to the rune formu for the Shield Charm, Alex saw that Lily had likely adapted the basic structure of the spell to make it more personal and effective. The only thing missing was the intation.

  'Maybe it was never meant to have one,' Alex thought. 'Perhaps she desig specifically for ented objects.'

  There were even refereo a runes, which Alex didn’t fully ua. It seemed clear that mastering a runes would be essential for developing new spells.

  'A Runes is aive for third-years. I’ll o find a way to learn it ahead of time,' Alex thought, making a mental o start studying it on his own.

  The Magic Club meeting soon began, and Alex turned his attention back to the discussion.

  Professor Flitwick, who was the club’s instructor, answered questions but didn’t push for any major breakthroughs. The senior students were w hard on their individual projects, with one in particur—Senior Quirrell—making impressive progress on his researto sonic spells. He demonstrated his test development: a hearing spell so powerful it allowed everyone in the room to hear versations from the oil paintings outside the . Though the spell still needed fiuning, the improvement in souration was remarkable.

  Alex remained mostly quiet during the meeting, and taking in as muformation as he could. The older students didn’t expect much from him—they assumed Professor Flitwick was just being kind by allowing the first-year to join the club. However, Alex was quietly abs every piece of knowledge he could, eager to apply it in his studies.

  Senior Quirrell’s work on amplifying spells opened up new ideas for Alex. He began to uand the plexity of developing new magic. It wasn’t just about casting spells—it was about carefully strug ruructures, much like preparing a vas before painting. To create a new spell, you first needed a stable base of low-level ruhen, by yering applied runes on top and ensuring their patibility, you could craft the desired magical effect.

  However, bining runes required caution. Some, like "water" and "fire," naturally repelled each other. If these unstable binations were used in a spell, the result could be disastrous.

  By the end of the meeting, Alex had a notebook full of new ideas and a deeper uanding of how spells worked. He k would take a lot of time and effort to create his own magic, but the path forward was starting to bee clearer.

  With a sense of excitement, Alex left the meeting, already pnning his steps. There was still much to learn, but with Lily’s notes in hand and his growing knowledge of magic, he felt more prepared than ever.

  Over the few days, Alex settled into a quiet routine. Aside from attending csses and meals, he spent all his time studying and practig magic. He was rarely seen outside of the Slytherin on room, pletely focused on his studies.

  Meanwhile, the flict between Gryffindor and Slytheried further. The rivalry spread to older students, with more and more pranks turning into serious fights. Professors Magall and Slughorn were stantly putting out fires, trying to keep peace betweewo houses. Fortunately, the youudents like Alex were mostly ued by the chaos, allowing him to focus on what mattered.

  'These skirmishes are nothing more than child’s py. The real danger is out there—Death Eaters, dark wizards, and the battles happening outside Hogwarts. To stand my ground in that world, I o bee strong.'

  That weekend, Alex visited Hagrid again. This time, he decided to make barbecue, bringing along his pot of green onions to pnt in Hagrid’s vegetable garden. They spent a pleasant afternoon together, with Alex cooking roasted potatoes and pork chops. He ehe cool breeze as they sat o Hagrid’s hut, chatting aing.

  Hagrid, always full of news, showed off his test addition: a little swallowtail dog he’d named Rhein. Hagrid expihat he hoped the puppy would grow up as mighty as a lion, but Alex wasn’t vihe tiny pup looked more like a bird than a fierimal. Alex had even heard that in the Muggle world, if someone wao keep a swallowtail dog, they’d be required tically remove its extra tail. Hagrid was horrified by the thought and promised o cut Rhein’s tail.

  As they ate, Hagrid handed Alex the price list for herbs and potions that he’d collected during his trip to Hogsmeade. With the list in hand, Alex finally had the information he o start his potion-making pn.

  The most expeion on the list was Felix Felicis, but Alex knew better than to try making money off something so plicated. Felix Felicis required rare ingredients and took an incredibly long time to brew.

  Other potions were more suitable for business—wound-healing potions, antidotes, blood-replenishing potions. But Alex realized that these potions were already widely avaible at St. Mungo’s Hospital, meaning the market was already flooded with them.

  For now, Alex decided to focus on potions that could be students and people with ho iions. Alex also decided to remove the Baruffio's Brain Elixir or Veritaserum. The Baruffio's Brain Elixir had strict requirements fh-quality ingredients, and if even one was subpar, it could cause serious brain damage. As for Veritaserum, he couldn’t imagine any normal wizard needing something like that regurly. It seemed more suited for darker uses, and Alex had no i iing involved with questionable buyers.

  He didn’t want to iently sell potions to the wrong crowd—dark wizards or Death Eaters. It was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.

  That left him with two options: the Euphoria Potion and the Eternal Potion. The Eternal Potioe its name, wasn't truly "eternal." It worked more like an additive in Alex’s eyes. When poured into most potions, it would replenish the potion, almost like magic refilling the bottle as long as a quarter of the inal potion remained.

  This applied to potions like Veritaserum, but not to rarer ones like Felix Felicis. The catch was that some ingredients for the Eternal Potion were expensive and hard to find, making the cost of produ high.

  The Euphoria Potion, oher hand, had a high demand. It brought feelings of happiness aion to the drinker, a popur choice for wizards dealing with stress, especially during wartime. However, the main ingredient, the manda fruit, was also expensive.

  'Wait a sed,' Alex thought, suddenly remembering something. He turo Hagrid.

  "Hagrid, didn't you mention seeing manda fruits in the Forbidden Forest the st time we spoke? Are they about to ripen?"