Daily News: The Prophet of Hogwarts

Chapter 26 Nothing Happens Tonight

"We've reached the vicinity of the unicorn colony." Hagrid stood on a small hill, pointing to the winding forest stream in the distance, where many beautiful creatures lived and played.

Dumbledore tapped the space in front of him with his wand, and the space where the four of them stood changed like a kaleidoscope, with colors constantly blending, until the four of them could no longer be seen from the outside.

"This is... a Disillusionment Charm?" This was the first time Ryan had ever seen a Disillusionment Charm that could conceal an entire space, and he was somewhat hesitant to recognize it.

"Once your understanding of magic reaches a certain level, you can discard the physical form of a spell and use it at will," Professor Flitwick explained.

Dumbledore also said, "Just like multicasting, when one becomes exceptionally skilled in the use of spells, one can cast multiple spells at once. This act is essentially the same as changing the form of the spell. It changes from being able to cast only one spell to casting multiple spells at once."

"This is a change to the spell, or you could say it's the essence of casting a spell."

He turned his head and asked, "Ryan, what is magic?"

What is magic?

Ryan had thought about this question many times, and recorded many different ideas in his notebook, "Ryan's Questions".

Like the question "What is magic?", this question was considered by Ryan to represent the essence of wizardry.

At this point, Dumbledore wasn't going to ask Ryan to answer the question; he was simply asking Ryan what he thought magic was.

Ryan spoke slowly, taking his time: "Headmaster, I think magic is using magical power to fulfill wishes."

"Excellent answer. I'd give Ravenclaw a ten out of ten." Dumbledore was pleased. "Since magic uses magical power to achieve wishes, does the form of the spell itself still matter?"

Ryan suddenly understood the meaning of the spell.

Just as ordinary people create mathematics and use it as a tool to measure the world, thereby understanding and utilizing it.

Spells are tools created by wizards to achieve their goals, channel magic, and transform the world.

Mathematics is very important; there can be no mistakes. Even the slightest deviation can lead to absolute failure.

However, this is relative. For example, a renowned mathematician can use two completely different counting systems and operational logics to obtain two solutions that refer to the same objective.

The same applies to spells; even the slightest mistake can send a wizard to St. Mungo's or the graveyard. However, a wizard with a fundamental understanding of spells can achieve the spell's effect using many different casting methods.

“Lane, let me share my own insights,” Flitwick said, a look of reminiscence on his face. “When I first learned my first spell, the Levitation Charm, I thought I had to follow the spellcasting method meticulously.”

"When I learned ten spells, I found that some pronunciation errors did not seem to affect the casting."

Hearing this, Ryan smiled helplessly. For most wizards, learning ten spells is only at the level of a first-year student, because their learning is not the same as Professor Flitwick's learning.

He strongly suspected that, for Professor Flitwick, learning meant that the spell could be cast multiple times.

Flitwick continued, "When I had learned a hundred spells, I felt that improving and creating spells was not difficult."

Ah yes, yes, you're a professor, you're right... Ryan was speechless. Is this the world of true academic geniuses?

He, a pay-to-win player, is definitely not worthy of standing with true geniuses.

"By the end, I can't remember which day it was, maybe on some day I learned a thousand spells... or maybe more," Professor Flitwick said. "I realized that it was as if I had never had any spells at all."

What a fine analogy! He could forget the sword once he had it, and that any falling flower or leaf could be a sword, that he had a sword in his hand but no sword in his heart... Ryan could only manage an awkward smile. What Professor Flitwick said was completely irrelevant to him.

This is the stream-of-consciousness learning method of top students, which can be summarized as "you can learn it naturally as you learn."

He tried his best to understand what Professor Flitwick was trying to say: "Professor, did you find a common thread among the different spells, namely, the use of magic to achieve wishes?"

"To extract the core from countless spells, thus enabling the casting of spells without the aid of incantations?"

"Absolutely right!" Professor Flitwick said. "I'd give Ravenclaw a ten. But he misspoke in his last sentence. It's not that I don't use spells, but rather that every spell I cast that isn't in the Encyclopedia of Charms is a completely new spell."

"Felius is right. Creating and improving spells is actually a very simple thing. I remember that the first spell I improved was in my third year." Dumbledore also began to "reminisce about the past".

As he spoke, he waved his wand, and a ring of fire appeared around the four of them.

"Is this a raging fire?" Hagrid finally found a chance to speak.

"Yes, Hagrid, it's good to see that you haven't forgotten what you learned in class," said Dumbledore.

Watching the raging flames transform the Fire Resistance Ring, Ryan, who hadn't innovated in spells since starting school, felt like he'd been dealt a critical blow.

He turned his head and saw Hagrid's bewildered face, and suddenly felt a little comforted: it turns out I'm not the only bad student.

As they were talking, a loud noise came from the forbidden forest and was gradually approaching.

The noise grew closer, and they could already see dust rising in their sight.

Hagrid's blank expression vanished instantly; he raised his crossbow and began to aim.

Ryan also gripped his wand, preparing to stack armor on his teammates.

But after a long time, no one appeared, and the sounds grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared completely.

"Headmaster, this is... he went back again?" Faced with this scene, Ryan felt that it was too anticlimactic and confusing. Did Voldemort have a change of heart and give up on letting Quirrell drink unicorn blood?

Hagrid was at a loss, unsure whether to pick up the giant crossbow or put it down. He asked, "Dumbledore, should we... give chase?"

Dumbledore and Flitwick exchanged a glance, both their eyes conveying a question.

They didn't know what had happened either.

"Hagrid, can you communicate with a herd of unicorns? I'd like to know if there are any lone unicorns tonight?" Ryan asked, suggesting a possibility.

"I can try, but it's difficult." Hagrid shook his head: "Unicorns are very proud and pure creatures. It's hard to get information from them unless you have their approval. Only the purest souls can gain their approval."

Upon hearing Hagrid's words, Ryan, a Sorting Hat certified outstanding student in both Azkaban and Nurmengard's combined bachelor's and master's programs, abandoned his initial shudder and the idea of ​​the unicorn bowing down in worship.

Hagrid then went to the unicorn herd, and Professor Flitwick followed, as he was also very curious about this magical creature.

Only Ryan and Dumbledore remained, staring at each other with smiles on their lips, their emotions difficult to describe.

A moment later, Hagrid and Flitwick returned, and fortunately, they brought back a message: "The unicorn leader claims that no playful little unicorns have sneaked out to play today."

"Only two adult unicorns are still outside; they haven't returned yet."

"Where exactly is it?" Ryan asked.

"Follow me." Hagrid strode ahead, clearing the way.

The group quickly approached the location of the two adult unicorns, fearing that upon arrival they would only find silvery-white blood and the unicorn corpses.

"It's just ahead." Hagrid snapped the tangled branches off with his arm and ripped open an entrance with brute force.

The group quickly entered.

The two unicorns, which were stacked together, suddenly sprang up, looking at the group with surprise and doubt, their pure eyes filled with embarrassment and anger.

"Excuse me, farewell. I'm sorry, please forgive me." Ryan delivered a series of swift and decisive blows, grabbing Dumbledore and Flitwick and running away from the entrance.

Hagrid became confused again and was kicked out by the unicorn.

Finally, in an atmosphere so incredibly awkward, Dumbledore broke the silence: "Hagrid, thank you for coming with us."

Fortunately, nothing happened tonight.