Hogwarts: This Wizard is Unscientific 21
by adminChapter 21: Pandora’s Magic Theory
“Modern Magic Theory?”
Andy had a copy of *Basic Magic Theory* at home, but the authors of the two books weren’t the same. He glanced at the author’s name.
Pandora Lovgood!
Unexpectedly, she was also Andy’s neighbor. When Andy was eight, Pandora Lovgood died accidentally in a spell experiment, and Andy had attended her funeral with his parents.
Andy flipped through the book casually. “Then I’ll read this one first. What about you? Have you chosen a book?”
Hermione took a hefty tome from the shelf. “History of Magic is this afternoon. I want to learn about famous wizards in history first.”
Andy glanced at it. It was a book introducing all the famous wizards throughout the millennia—definitely not the kind of book Andy would ever touch.
“Let’s go!” Hermione tilted her head.
Perhaps because it was the beginning of the term, the library was practically empty. The two found a quiet spot and settled down to read.
After flipping through a few pages, Andy realized that the Hogwarts library was truly a treasure trove. Many books on magic theory were available on the market, and different authors naturally had different perspectives on magic, with different focuses in their explanations.
*Modern Magic Theory* could be considered a general outline of modern magic. It didn’t specifically explain any particular spell, but instead explained the principles involved in casting spells.
The book began by discussing the influence of emotions on the power of spells. Using magic required not only incantations and specific hand gestures but also the cooperation of the caster’s emotions. In many cases, extreme emotions could even dramatically enhance the power of a spell.
Andy’s previously read book, *A Study of the Development of Ancient Witchcraft*, mentioned Obscurus (默默然), a byproduct of a young wizard’s negative emotions merging with their magic.
“Looks like I need to improve my [Mind] attribute,” Andy thought to himself.
Many people say that Lord Voldemort is the most powerful Dark Wizard in a century, and some even claim him to be the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time. Of course, the “all time” part is somewhat of an exaggeration, but Voldemort’s power is undeniable.
“Could his incredibly powerful Dark Magic be because his heart is completely evil?” Andy speculated, “Perhaps a wicked heart combined with Dark Magic amplifies its power.”
It’s probably more complicated than that.
So far, Andy only knew that Dumbledore and Voldemort were the top tiers of the magical world, but he had no clue about the secrets behind their power.
But one thing was certain: the secrets to their power must be found in the Restricted Section. Perhaps those secrets were hidden in some corner of a book.
Andy calmed down and continued reading. An hour and a half passed in the blink of an eye.
“Andy, we have fifteen minutes until class!” Hermione reminded him.
“Got it,” Andy closed the book.
If possible, Andy would have skipped History of Magic. Unfortunately, it was a required class, and skipping class on the first day would leave a bad impression on the professors.
After completing the borrowing procedure with Madam Pince, the librarian, Andy and Hermione left the library.
…
The History of Magic classroom was also on the second floor, so they didn’t have to deal with the unruly staircases.
Ravenclaw’s History of Magic class was combined with Slytherin’s. Slytherin House had a rather bad reputation, and it all had to do with Gryffindor.
Not only the Voldemort incident, but in many major events in the history of the wizarding world, Slytherin played the role of the villain, while Gryffindor was the representative of justice. This led to frequent clashes between the students of the two Houses.
“Bashing Slytherin” was a daily routine for Gryffindors. In Gryffindor’s value system, if you lost points for fighting with Slytherin students, you were a hero of the entire House—provided you won.
The result of this conflict was that Slytherin generally avoided offending Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students. Being targeted by one House was bad enough; they didn’t want to be targeted by two.
At two o’clock in the afternoon, a pearly white, translucent ghost floated out from the wall. Professor Binns was a ghost, and he looked very old. According to the official explanation: when Professor Binns was still alive, he went to class one day and accidentally left his body in the staff room.
Andy was extremely disappointed with the class. Many ghosts in the castle were quite interesting, but Professor Binns was clearly not one of them. His voice was dry and monotonous, droning the contents of the textbook. Everyone in the class was drowsy, occasionally snapping back to consciousness to copy down a date or name before falling back into a semi-sleep state.
Even Hermione, who usually loved to study, could only force herself to stay awake in Professor Binns’ class—Andy had already seen her pinching her thigh. She truly possessed the spirit of “hanging by a beam, piercing the thigh with an awl.”
Andy decided to give up on this class. History of Magic! Give me a pen, and I can create history. This class had no impact on his magic; he would just read the textbook before the exam and get a passing grade.
Andy took out the *Modern Magic Theory* he had borrowed from the library and started reading.
In addition to mentioning the influence of emotions on the spell power, the book also presented a refreshing viewpoint. Modern magic is based on magic invented from modern languages. But what about ancient magic? Not only that, but each country has its own different language, yet different languages can use the same spell.
Does this mean that language and gestures aren’t necessary factors for casting spells? Young wizards’ magic is unstable, but they can achieve their desires during a magical outburst—they don’t even need a wand. Many powerful wizards can perform wandless magic, or even use simple magic without a wand.
Does this mean that learning magic, or even mastering magic, is simply a matter of regaining our innate ability to cast spells?
Of course, the book only mentioned this theory; even the author of the book couldn’t perform wandless magic.
Andy unexpectedly found that the author shared many similar ideas with him, but unfortunately, the author was already dead.
Pandora…
Andy had heard the story of Pandora’s Box.
“Is this a warning not to easily attempt dangerous things?”
There were many predetermined things in the magical world, and many prophecies were surprisingly accurate. Andy decided to trust the guidance of fate and would not attempt dangerous magical experiments until his magical skills reached a certain level.
“But I could visit the Lovgood house during Christmas!” Andy thought.
“Uh… maybe not!”
After all, it would be somewhat impolite to casually mention someone’s deceased wife/mother.
(End of Chapter)
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