[Remus rolls his eyes.] Only because the majority of apprentices don't have the will or attention span to actually study.

[He holds out his hand, palm-up, and focuses again; after another moment, a soft, glowing pink light appears, cupped in his hand.]

Apparently you can use a wand to focus your magic, but Mistress doesn't "believe" in that. She's made me learn without one. It's not all that different from our wandless magic, but it's still a lot of work just to learn basic spells. Like swimming through treacle.