Chapter 7

The first year of the new students at Hogwarts had begun, and Harry and Allen had become the most noticed first-years.

Harry was famous because of his scar, but Allen was even more conspicuous—he had randomly grown a pair of moose antlers on the third day after arriving at Hogwarts, making it impossible to hide them no matter what he did.

Allen had no choice but to grit his teeth and go to the Great Hall for meals, and he instantly became the center of attention; the entire school now knew about Allen.

“Over there, look.”

“Where?”

“Next to the tall red-haired boy.”

“The one with glasses?”

“Did you see his face?”

“Did you see his scar?”

Harry arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast, and the whispers followed him everywhere; students stretched their necks to catch a glimpse of him, and also pointed at Allen, who sat across from him.

But Allen ate his breakfast calmly, completely unfazed.

Harry couldn’t bear the stares and asked Allen, “How do you stay so calm? Don’t you care at all about the attention you’re getting?”

“I worked for four months at the Leaky Cauldron, and many people were curious about me too—I’m used to this,” Allen said calmly as he put a sausage into his mouth.

Harry thought for a moment and said, “I went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid before, and I passed the Leaky Cauldron—why didn’t I see you?”

“I spent several days at St. Mungo’s for a follow-up check. When I came back, everyone was talking about how Harry Potter had just arrived. I was really disappointed I didn’t get to meet our Savior. I actually understand them,” Allen said, shrugging.

“But people’s enthusiasm comes fast and fades fast. After a few days, once they get used to your presence, they won’t pay you much attention anymore. That’s my experience!” Allen raised an eyebrow, his gaze landing on Harry’s plate.

“I hope so,” Harry muttered.

“Harry, can I trade you a pumpkin pasty for your sausage?” Allen hesitated before asking.

“Huh? Sure! But why?” Harry was baffled by the request.

“Today I randomly got a tongue—it looks like it’s from some carnivorous animal. From my experience, I can’t eat pumpkin pasties under these conditions.”

As he spoke, Allen opened his mouth and extended a long, barbed tongue. The murmurs around them vanished instantly, then erupted louder than before...

After breakfast, Harry and his group headed to Charms class. Their professor was a strangely tiny wizard named Professor Flitwick, who had to stand on a stack of books just to reach the desk. He pulled out the class roster and called names; when he reached Harry’s name, he let out a squeal of excitement and collapsed out of sight.

The first Charms class began amid this chaos.

Professor Flitwick calmed himself, wiped his eyes with a handkerchief, and began the lesson.

“First, we must understand what a charm is. A charm is a controlled application of magic, typically used by wizards or witches, though sometimes by other magical creatures. Charms are triggered by incantations and are often accompanied by magical beams; because these beams exist, many charms can be dodged or deflected by obstacles or other charms. The act of casting a charm is usually called ‘casting.’”

“Does anyone know the four essential elements of casting?” Professor Flitwick looked at the students with eager anticipation.

Allen had just understood the question when he saw Hermione, sitting in the front row, raise her hand high into the air.

“Miss Granger, please answer.” Professor Flitwick said happily.

“The four essential elements for successful casting are: specific wand movements, correct incantation, the caster’s subjective awareness of the charm’s effect, and the caster’s level of concentration.”

Hermione stood up and answered crisply.

“Wow~ Absolutely correct! Gryffindor gets five points!” Professor Flitwick was even more delighted; Allen was half-afraid he might faint from joy.

“As Miss Granger said, to successfully cast a charm, if even one of these four conditions is lacking—such as incorrect wand movement, mispronounced incantation, lack of focus, or no clear mental image of the charm’s effect—the charm will fail...” Professor Flitwick was about to continue when Hermione, sitting in the front row, raised her hand again, urgently.

“Miss Granger, do you have another question?” Professor Flitwick showed no irritation at being interrupted.

“I read in a book that powerful wizards can perform silent casting and wandless casting. If they lack the specific wand movements and correct incantation, how can they still cast successfully?” Hermione stood up again.

“I’m delighted that one of my students has asked such a constructive question. Though this is slightly beyond the curriculum, I’ll give a brief explanation. To cast a charm correctly, all four conditions are essential! Silent casting and wandless casting merely transform one of these conditions into another form—they are vastly harder and far more prone to failure than normal casting, so only powerful wizards can master them, and even then, these techniques are rarely used. Therefore, Hogwarts does not teach silent casting before sixth year, nor does it encourage students to practice them.” Professor Flitwick answered patiently.

Allen quickly wrote down Professor Flitwick’s explanation in his notebook.

“So, everyone should still master the normal way of casting. The normal method is the simplest, fastest, safest, and most reliable technique developed over thousands of years. The failure rate of the other two methods is much higher, and failed charms can produce all sorts of unexpected consequences.” As he said this, Professor Flitwick glanced quickly at Allen.

“Now I’ll explain the basic characteristics of charms. Take notes.”

“When casting a charm, it often manifests as a beam or energy ray emitted from the wand’s tip. These beams and rays come in many colors, varying in thickness, speed, duration, and outward energy radiation. Some charms have clear identifying features, such as producing smoke of a certain color. Yet some charms produce effects invisible to the naked eye, even imperceptible to the body. Additionally, some charms emit sound when cast, and a few produce loud noises.”

“Theoretically, magic itself has a limited duration, so as a form of magical application, charms also have a limited effect time—meaning their effects are not permanent. Some charms, like Disarming Charm, have effects that occur only instantly after casting; others, like the Stunning Spell, last a long time and fade gradually. A counter-spell can immediately end a charm’s effect, and the caster’s death also terminates it. But as far as we know, powerful Memory Charms can completely erase a target’s memory, making recovery impossible, and even permanently damage the target’s brain.”

“Finally, classification of charms. Based on magical principles and effects, we generally divide known charms into seven categories: Transfiguration, Charm, Jinx, Hex, Curse, Counter-spell, Healing spell.” Professor Flitwick rattled off the list in one breath.

This time, Hermione did not interrupt; she was diligently taking notes.

But Allen wasn’t taking notes—he was distracted by a question that had long troubled him:

Why is there no concept of “magic power” in this world?

Where is the magic power that appears in so many fantasy novels?

Why is “magic power” not one of the four elements?