Andrew suddenly felt much more at ease when he realized that he had not bored his two new friends as much as he had feared. On the contrary, the boy had actually shown some interest in his book. He smiled at his question and nodded.
"Yes, actually, I've tried it several times with mixed results." He answered, opening the book again to show Louis the rune he was currently working on. On the page opposite the one depicting the rune, he had begun copying it on a blank piece of parchment. "It's important to be precise with these." He explained. "As a single mistake can spell disaster!". His gleeful expression advertised his relief to have found someone with whom he shared an interest.

The text on the open page described the many uses of spell-runes such as the one illustrated on the page, and briefly touched on the effectiveness of different vellums. "You can inscribe a rune on any surface - which is called a vellum once you've inscribed a rune on it - but the most effective surface to use is a calfskin scroll." Andrew explained enthusiastically, flipping through the pages of the old tome. At the mention of a snowball fight, it dawned on Andrew that he could perform a demonstration. "Snow!" He called out. "You can draw runes in snow too!" He seemed eager to show the two. "Here, hold this." He said to Louis, shoving the open book into his hands.

Using his wand, Andrew drew a simple rune in the snow by their feet. A circle containing a squiggly line and a straight one. "The simplest rune there is!" He grinned confidently up at the two. "Ignis Notatem!" he recited the incantation. Taking a step back and crouching down, he formed a snowball in his hands and chucked it at the rune, disturbing the outer circle. The outlines shimmered faintly, and a soft, glowing ball of light appeared in the air above the rune. "This is the first rune the book talks about. It's a Lumos spell represented visually! Isn't that amazing?!" He smiled. "I activated this one by disturbing the form, like how a muggle would use it, but repeating the incantation can also activate runes!" He explained gleefully.