Chapter 97: Dumbledore and I Talk About Science?

“The term ‘Ultimate Spellcaster’ sounds like it implies great power?” Allen continued.

Dumbledore shook his head and said, “‘Ultimate Spellcaster’ is merely an honorary title, unrelated to how strong one’s power is.”

Allen promptly displayed intense interest.

Dumbledore glanced at Allen and continued, “The spells we use today have been refined over generations, yet they still hold immense potential. The title ‘Ultimate Spellcaster’ is granted to those who have pushed a spell to its absolute limit.”

Allen pondered and asked, “Then are you an Ultimate Spellcaster?”

Professor Dumbledore winked at Allen and said, “No, becoming an Ultimate Spellcaster requires not only relentless dedication but also some luck! My luck has always been poor.”

Allen suddenly thought of something and quickly said, “But how do we verify that someone has truly pushed a spell to its limit? After all, I could just claim I’ve perfected the Lumos spell myself!”

Dumbledore did not answer directly. Instead, he gently picked up a piece of parchment from the table—the parchment bearing Allen’s paper on his improved Lumos spell.

He carefully read the text, murmuring in admiration, “Truly a creative approach—I could never have conceived of such an idea. How did you come up with it?”

Allen’s breath caught at Dumbledore’s question, but he quickly recovered.

“I’ve always had good luck!” Allen replied cheerfully.

Dumbledore chuckled, folding his long fingers together. “Then, when you cast your improved Lumos spell, did anything unusual happen?”

Allen looked into Professor Dumbledore’s wise eyes and knew the man never asked pointless questions. He furrowed his brow, straining to recall every detail of that day...

“I remember, for an instant, I felt as if my soul had left my body and soared into the sky—and above, there was a vast will!” Allen said uncertainly.

Professor Dumbledore smiled even more warmly. “Then congratulations—you’ve become an Ultimate Spellcaster.”

“Ah!?” Allen’s mouth gaped open in shock...

“Many Ultimate Spellcasters have had similar experiences, but the Ministry would never grant this title so lightly. You must still prove yourself to earn it.”

“The simplest way is to cast the spell. When you push a spell to its limit, the magical source of this world grants you a boon—in short, your cast version will be twice as powerful, and that cannot be faked.” Dumbledore finished, then raised his hand slightly in a polite gesture toward Allen.

“Is it really that simple and blunt?” Allen understood Dumbledore’s meaning, drawing his wand as he asked.

Dumbledore winked at Allen again.

Since mastering Lumos, Allen had always imagined the light orb as a fixed size—but this time, he imagined it three times larger than usual...

And he summoned a light orb exactly twice the size of his normal one.

“Clap. Clap. Clap.” Dumbledore slowly clapped. “It seems I’ve witnessed the birth of an Ultimate Spellcaster!” His blue eyes shimmered with quiet pride.

Inside, Allen was flooded with elation—he had just discovered another path to strengthen himself.

Looking into Professor Dumbledore’s wise eyes, he decided to seize this rare opportunity and ask questions that had long troubled him.

“Professor, I don’t understand why so many spells still have room for improvement,” Allen asked after sipping his tea.

“That’s an excellent question,” Professor Dumbledore adjusted his posture,

settling more comfortably, then posed a question that took Allen by surprise:

“Do you understand the science that lifted ordinary humans to prominence?”

Allen was stunned. Dumbledore was talking to him about science? This tone felt bizarre.

Yet he sharply noticed the phrase “ordinary humans”—this was the first time he’d heard a wizard refer to Muggles that way.

“You know I’m from a... uh... ordinary human background, but weren’t we discussing magical power? Why are we talking about science? Still, I do understand the power of science...” Allen replied, flustered—he’d forgotten “Muggle” was a derogatory term.

Professor Dumbledore fell into memory. “I once traveled through the world of ordinary humans and studied their science deeply. I believe science and magic share common ground...”

Allen was utterly stunned by Dumbledore’s perspective.

“But I believe science is never a power—it’s a way of thinking.”

“The core of science is simply one thing: identifying patterns.”

“Practicing science requires only five steps: observe phenomena, formulate hypotheses, repeatedly test them, summarize patterns, then apply them. As long as you use this process—even partially—you’re practicing science.”

Dumbledore spoke his view softly.

Allen was completely awed. He began to admire Professor Dumbledore. He never imagined he’d be taught what science was by a native wizard from this isolated magical world—and Dumbledore explained it so clearly, so convincingly, clearly the result of long, deep thought.

Allen suddenly understood why Dumbledore was called the greatest wizard of the twentieth century. Though he had once mocked Dumbledore’s research before Voldemort, today Dumbledore’s vision and intellectual depth proved him worthy of the title.

“I believe the invention of spells also follows scientific thinking. Ancient wizards observed magical phenomena, experimented repeatedly, summarized patterns, and then applied them.”

“Take the inventor of Lumos—he saw only a white orb, so Lumos originally summoned only a white orb. Others who observed colored orbs then improved Lumos to summon other colors.”

“Precisely because of this method of spell invention, every spell inherently holds vast potential for improvement,” Professor Dumbledore concluded.

Allen fell into deep thought. He recalled the ancient magical runes and their key-value pairs he had observed—and suddenly, his understanding of magic in this world deepened another layer.