Chapter 71: Mental Will and Magic

Just as Wizard Sean watched the candy that had suddenly appeared in his bag, while Jia Jia Siting despaired,

the owl suddenly spoke in an irritable tone:

"Little wizard, hmph! Lucky little wizard! Hurry inside! Do not let Lady Luo Yina discover you!"

With a flap of its wings, a crack split open in the wall, revealing a sky-blue door,

and Hermione's eyes instantly widened.

"Thank you."

Jia Jia Siting instantly wiped the dejected look from his face and offered sincere thanks.

Meanwhile, Wizard Sean picked up the quill-shaped lollipop, lost in thought.

Inside the hidden room,

a trace of confusion still lingered on Hermione's focused face

when Wizard Sean took out his notebook and heard Jia Jia Siting say softly:

"Actually, portraits get lonely too, right? Mr. Owl has always been hidden inside the wall; I guess he cannot visit others freely like other portraits,

otherwise his glasses wouldn't keep falling off."

"Mm."

Wizard Sean replied.

"Oh, Wizard Sean, if there were no one to talk to for a long time, I think I would go mad."

Something seemed to occur to Jia Jia Siting, making his light gray eyes appear even deeper.

"What do you plan to do?"

Wizard Sean seemed to have expected the question.

"How about we move him?"

Jia Jia Siting said quietly.

"We can try."

Wizard Sean nodded, though he did not actually believe it would succeed;

one of the most fascinating things about Hogwarts Castle lay in the many secrets it hid.

Even Headmaster Dumbledore dared not claim to know all of Hogwarts' secrets.

And the owl portrait was part of those secrets.

Wizard Sean had reason to suspect

that, much like the Fat Lady in Gryffindor who wore a floor-length gown,

he bore a heavy responsibility similar to guarding the entrance to the Gryffindor common room,

and such a duty clearly could not be casually erased.

Otherwise, the professors would not have left this classroom unattended.

But...

he still held onto a sliver of hope.

As he had said,

trying would do no harm.

[The Boil-Curing Potion is one of the simplest potions, also frequently used by wizards in Beimeizhou;

I have altered its ritual, greatly increasing the success rate while significantly improving the potion's quality;

before using it, ensure you have fully mastered the improved ritual and possess the mental fortitude to stay awake for three days.]

Greatly increased success rate?

Improved quality?

Wizard Sean felt his breathing quicken.

[I can understand the excitement every potion researcher feels upon reaching this point,

but I must remind you once again:

while brewing, ensure you make no mistake in the ritual, or you can only pray to Merlin

that you do not open your eyes to see me.]

A typical wizard's dry humor...

Wizard Sean thought silently.

Immediately afterward,

he began to learn and master the improved ritual.

Beside him, Jia Jia Siting and Hermione resumed practicing the Levitation Charm.

Outside the window, owls flew out of Hogwarts Castle carrying letter after letter;

every weekend was the busiest time for the owls,

as they carried words away, delivering messages of longing,

and returned bearing even heavier longing.

Thus, Hogwarts Castle gradually became shrouded in twilight.

The magical lanterns slowly lit up,

revealing Jia Jia Siting's anxious face:

"Oh, Professor Flitwick said the feather must spin a full circle; only then does it count as a wizard having mastered the Levitation Charm,"

he said, weariness hanging on his face, while that feather refused to spin even once—

even though he had followed Wizard Sean's instructions perfectly.

Even Hermione looked troubled; although as newly enrolled little wizards they were already quite outstanding,

both still felt immense pressure from that little wizard who used the Lumos Charm as if it were a Conjunctivitis Curse.

On the other side of the classroom, Wizard Sean finished familiarizing himself with the ritual and turned to the last page of his notebook:

[When a wizard feels strong emotions toward the potion being brewed—whether joy, worry, or sorrow—it greatly affects the potion;

this is why potioners require focus and calmness,

yet magic always has two sides: appropriate emotions can also generate unimaginable power.

This is what the improved ritual aims to achieve.]

Libatius Borage, this master of potions, left behind more than just improvements; perhaps, just as he claimed,

this was a great pioneering work.

Wizard Sean thought

that during the ritual, he would become more focused

and would infuse it with a strong emotion, similar yet different from the emotions used in Transfiguration and the Lumos Charm.

"Then what emotion does the Levitation Charm require?"

Wizard Sean murmured to himself, naturally recalling the unanswered question from the previous Charms lesson.

He looked at that feather

and suddenly wondered: why must the practice object always be a feather?

Was it simply because it was very light?

"It is because the feather itself symbolizes breaking free—breaking free from gravity, breaking free from constraints—

Win—gar—dium—Le—viosa!"

[You practiced the Levitation Charm to an expert standard; Proficiency +50]

A flash of light vanished from the tip of Wizard Sean's wand; the feather wobbled upward, spun several times in midair,

and then, like a bird beating its wings,

danced rhythmically in the air.

Jia Jia Siting beside him stared in dumbfounded amazement.

"He just muttered a few sentences, saying things I couldn't make out at all, and he could reach this level?"

Jia Jia Siting said in a daze,

"Sometimes I feel Wizard Sean is exactly the wizard I imagined: he mutters a few casual words and overturns my still-unstable understanding of magic."

Hermione stared unblinkingly at the dancing feather, then frowned and glanced at her own wand,

before letting out a helpless sigh.

Looking at Wizard Sean's focused profile, her small face gradually steeled with determination.

The feather slowly descended;

Wizard Sean waved his wand again.

"Win—gar—dium—Le—viosa!"

[You practiced the Levitation Charm to an expert standard; Proficiency +50]

The moment the system prompt sounded, Wizard Sean felt a wave of exhaustion; he let the feather drift slowly into his palm

and then saw Jia Jia Siting's excited face and Hermione's blush of slight embarrassment.

"Just as Professor Flitwick explained when teaching the Lumos Charm, spells infused with a wizard's emotions become more powerful,