Charlie suddenly thought of the fantasy novels he used to read in his previous life. Whenever a protagonist leveled up, they always had some highly advanced, rune-covered testing chamber perfectly equipped to measure their exact power output.
"Bloody hell, how does a magical castle like Hogwarts not have a room for that?" he muttered.
He could feel the undeniable changes in his body, but he had absolutely no way to quantify them. With no other options, he had to settle for a makeshift physical exam right there in his cramped dormitory.
Speed. That was the most obvious change. He was definitely faster.
It was not just his running speed; every single bodily movement had become remarkably swift. The enhancement was so precise that it extended down to the micro-movements of his fingers. Charlie raised his right hand and imagined doing intricate coin tricks. He mimed rolling a Galleon elegantly across his knuckles, his fingers dancing in the air so fast they left faint blurs.
Then, he hopped a few times. His vertical jump had not improved in the slightest.
To put it in gaming terms, the Solar-Spark Chocolate buffed his agility, not his strength. Jumping relied on explosive leg muscle power, and that specific stat had remained entirely unchanged.
The effect lasted about twenty minutes, right on par with the Lunar-Lightning variant. Once the time was up, a profound wave of exhaustion crashed over him. His muscles ached as if he had just finished a grueling day of manual labor.
He popped a piece of Sunlight Chocolate into his mouth. The restorative magic quickly replenished his drained stamina. Feeling human again, he meticulously logged the new data into his candy notebook.
A moment later, Anthony and Hector pushed the dormitory door open.
"Hey, Charlie. What are you up to?"
"Making new chocolate?" Anthony asked, eyeing the desk.
"Yep. Perfect timing, actually. Try these," Charlie said, nodding.
He handed them each a low-dose piece of his experimental sweets. Hector received the Lunar-Lightning, while Anthony got the Solar-Spark.
Hector popped his into his mouth first, and his expression immediately twisted into something bizarre.
"Is this not a bit too intense? I can feel literal lightning crackling on my tongue. It feels like a dozen tiny needles."
"Yeah, the electricity is a bit unruly," Charlie admitted. "Do you feel any other changes?"
On the other side of the room, Anthony had just swallowed his Solar-Spark piece. His entire body immediately began to vibrate violently.
"B-b-bloody hell, w-w-what did y-y-you f-f-feed m-m-me?"
It took him a solid thirty seconds to stop shuddering. "Merlin's sagging pants, I felt like I was being electrocuted from the inside out!"
"How do you feel now?" Charlie asked.
"Nothing special," both boys replied in unison, shaking their heads.
Charlie nodded thoughtfully. Then, without any warning, he snatched an empty glass vial from his desk and hurled it at them.
The little bottle traced a neat parabola through the air and bounced harmlessly off Anthony's chest.
"What was that for?" Anthony asked, staring at Charlie in utter confusion.
"Hector, did you even react to that?" Charlie asked, turning to his other friend.
"Barely," Hector admitted. "I had a feeling you were going to throw something right when you raised your arm, but I could not move fast enough."
"Alright, consider this experiment a failure," Charlie sighed, shaking his head.
It was exactly as he had feared. Lowering the dose of the Lightning Extract did reduce the agonizing side effects, but it also watered down the "overload" buff to near uselessness.
If the chocolate had worked properly, things would have gone differently. The brain overload from the Lunar-Lightning would have allowed Hector to perceive the bottle in slow motion and catch it easily. Alternatively, the physical overload from the Solar-Spark would have allowed Anthony's body to reflexively dodge or catch the projectile the second it entered his peripheral vision, even if his brain had not fully registered the threat.
Neither of them had managed to do either.
"What failed?" they asked, still entirely lost.
Charlie gave them a quick rundown of the intended effects of the lightning infusions, followed by a blunt description of the highly dangerous side effects of a full dose.
"Yeah, that does not sound brilliant," Anthony concluded.
"I do not know about that," Hector chuckled. "If it was for one of Snape's Potions exams, I might actually risk my head exploding just to get the Lunar-Lightning brain boost."
Charlie laughed. It seemed his exploration into the lightning attribute had hit a dead end for now.
"So, what kind of chocolate are you going to invent next?" Hector asked.
"I have no idea," Charlie admitted, beginning to tidy up his workspace.
"Do not sweat it, mate. Failure is just part of the process. If every crazy idea you had worked perfectly, you would be Minister for Magic by now," Anthony said, clapping Charlie on the shoulder. "Just remember, next time you need guinea pigs for your new products, we are always available. Just, you know, try not to blow us up."
"Oh, absolutely," Charlie grinned. "I will not hold back, and I am definitely not paying your St. Mungo's bills."
"You know, since this stuff is way too dangerous to actually eat, maybe you could weaponize it," Anthony suggested out of the blue.
Charlie's eyes lit up. He had to admit, that was a remarkably brilliant idea.
But after a brief moment of consideration, he shook his head and shelved the concept. The reason was simple: he just did not have the time. His plate was already overflowing. Instead of tinkering with explosive confectionery weapons, he needed to dedicate his limited hours to expanding his actual magical knowledge.
After a bit more joking around, the boys finally got ready for bed. Charlie scooped up Alice, gave her fur a thorough brushing, and topped up her bowl with rabbit pellets. He then headed to the washroom to clean up before collapsing onto his incredibly comfortable bed.
His first full week at Hogwarts had officially come to an end.
Squeak, squeak.
Having finished her midnight snack, Alice hopped up onto the mattress. She burrowed under the duvet and wriggled her way up until she was nestled snugly right next to Charlie's pillow.
"Go to sleep, you little menace," Charlie murmured, not bothering to push her off.
He had tried tossing her back to her own bed a few times before, but she always managed to sneak right back to his head by morning anyway.
***
A new week began. Perhaps it was because he had gone to bed so early the night before, but when Charlie finally opened his eyes, the window was still pitch black.
He threw on his robes and wandered out into the common room. To his surprise, it was brightly lit. He glanced up at the clock.
5:40 AM.
Why on earth is everyone awake?
Snippets of hushed conversation drifted toward him.
"I still cannot get a grip on partial Transfiguration. If I turn my head into a lion's head, why does it completely destabilize the spell when I try to turn my left arm into a snake?"
"Because it is incredibly difficult. You are altering different body parts, but both spells are anchored to the exact same biological host. They naturally interfere with one another."
"When do we actually start Apparition lessons? I am dying to learn."
"Oh, bloody hell. Getting an 'Outstanding' on these N.E.W.T.s is going to literally kill me."
"Have you got any job offers lined up yet?"
"I have no idea. I really do not want to rot in a cubicle at the Ministry. Honestly, I would rather go back to the Muggle world, but I do not have any proper Muggle qualifications."
"I hear you, mate. The two worlds are way too disconnected. And let us be honest, apart from the magic itself, the wizarding world is absolutely archaic compared to Muggle society."
Charlie took a good look around. The sprawling Ravenclaw common room was dotted with students from various years. Only a small handful were actually chatting. The vast majority were either buried in massive tomes, frantically scratching away on parchment with their quills, or carefully practicing wand movements in the corners.
"Hey, firstie. Up a bit early, are you not?"
Charlie turned to see an older student looking at him. It was the same bloke who had just been complaining about his N.E.W.T.s.
"Yeah, I went to sleep pretty early last night," Charlie replied. "What about you lot? Did you not sleep at all?"
"Naturally. If you are a proper Ravenclaw, you will be doing exactly this in a few years," the older boy said with a tired smirk.
"No one escapes the curse of the common room all-nighters," the girl sitting across from him added solemnly.
"Are you not all exhausted?" Charlie asked, genuinely bewildered.
"Of course we are tired," the older boy shrugged. "But it all comes down to choices. If your first class tomorrow is History of Magic, and you absolutely could not care less about it, you would happily choose to stay up all night doing the research you actually want to do."