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    Chapter 22: Pandora’s First Spell Box

    Although the visit was temporarily postponed, Andy still kept it in mind. This book shows that Pandora Lovegood was a spell master, possessing in-depth knowledge of magic spells. Her ideas, while seemingly whimsical compared to others, perfectly aligned with Andy’s understanding of magic. Gaining access to her research materials would be incredibly helpful to Andy.

    After (sleeping through) a Charms class, Ravenclaw’s classes ended for the day. From now until 8 PM lights-out, all time was free.

    “Andy, are you going to the library?” Hermione suggested, packing up her notes. The library held so many books waiting to be “visited,” that not going would be a disservice.

    “Let’s go later!”

    “I need to write home and then find an empty classroom to practice spells.” Andy organized his textbooks, shrunk them with a shrinking charm, and put them in his robe pocket.

    Hermione was silent for a moment. She originally planned to go straight to the library, but seeing Andy’s skillful spellcasting, she realized practicing magic was equally necessary. However, the young witch was a little shy and didn’t feel comfortable suggesting it.

    “Want to practice together?” Andy invited.

    “Okay!” Hermione, with a slightly reluctant expression, nodded after a moment of hesitation.

    After writing to her family, Andy took Hermione to an abandoned classroom on the sixth floor of the castle.

    “How should we practice?” Hermione looked around, drawing her wand, unsure of what to do next. She had used magic at home, but it was mostly superficial, without in-depth study or deliberate practice.

    “Practicing magic isn’t just about mindlessly waving your wand.” Andy, experienced in this area, explained, “First, you need to master basic spellcasting, then practice on stationary targets, then moving targets, and finally, improve spell proficiency.”

    “Proficiency?” The first few training steps were understandable, but improving spell proficiency… Hermione didn’t quite grasp it.

    “Well… how do I explain this?” Andy pondered for a moment, waving his wand and softly chanting, “Incendio!” A burst of fire shot from the wand tip, forming a fireball that circled the classroom under Andy’s control before fading as the magic dissipated.

    “Is that what you mean by proficiency?” Hermione could also cast this spell, but hers only produced a small flame that quickly extinguished without an object to attach to.

    “Yes!” Andy explained, “Not just the Incendio charm, other spells can be controlled according to our will.” “When I was little, my parents took me to a wizard duel. Powerful wizards often use combination spells—like using a transfiguration spell to change the shape of a flame.”

    Hermione became interested, “So, what should I do now?”

    “Start with the simplest Lumos spell. Try to throw the light from the tip of your wand,” Andy said. “If you can do that, the rest will be much easier.”

    “I understand.” Hermione nodded and asked, “What are you going to practice?”

    “I want to try infusing my emotions into the magic, like this…” Andy said, waving his wand.

    “Petrificus Totalus!”

    “That’s a basic Petrificus Totalus spell,” Andy explained. After calming himself, Andy imagined a very annoying person in front of him.

    “Petrificus Totalus!” Andy cast the spell again.

    Hermione said expressionlessly, “It seems no different.”

    “Of course, it’s difficult, or maybe I’m not using the right emotion.” Andy fell into thought.

    Seeing this, Hermione didn’t disturb Andy and went to a corner of the classroom to practice throwing the Lumos spell.

    The Petrificus Totalus charm is the simplest offensive spell, even first-year witches—or, well, first-year witches like Hermione—can master it. Petrificus Totalus is a white magic spell. Besides the incantation and hand movements, using it requires a desire to attack.

    “Are my emotions not strong enough?”

    “But emotions are so hard to control. Fake emotions will always be fake, they can never become real.” Andy recalled the contents of a book.

    *Modern Magic Theory* mentioned that wizards could enhance the power of spells under extreme emotions. So… is it extreme emotion that’s important, or the unstable magic caused by extreme emotion? It’s similar to how young witches, during a surge of magic, can achieve what they wish for. Maybe both are equally crucial!

    Andy tried to interpret magic from a worldly perspective. Undeniably, *Harry Potter* is a children’s book, a story about love and friendship. The reason Harry survived Voldemort’s Killing Curse was his mother’s love for him. Love itself is an emotion, a power of the heart.

    Setting aside the fairy-tale aspect of the story, let’s return to reality. Harry’s mother was undoubtedly a great mother. Facing the overwhelmingly powerful Voldemort, in her despair, she transformed her love for her son into a powerful protective magic, successfully deflecting Voldemort’s Killing Curse.

    But casting magic always requires magic. Not only that, in that situation, Harry’s mother obviously couldn’t have been holding a wand and casting a protective charm on Harry. She used wandless magic!

    “Perhaps the despairing love caused an unknown change in her magic,” Andy mused. Like the Obscurus created by young witches under extreme negative emotions.

    Of course, this is very difficult to achieve! No one can create such extreme emotions without going through the experiences that cause them.

    But Andy was an exception. Because Andy had truly died once. He had not only died once, but also experienced the feeling of losing the world, losing loved ones, losing friends. Andy recalled those memories he had forcibly suppressed.

    “Petrificus Totalus!”

    *Whoosh!*

    Andy’s magic, which had been calming down, began to boil as if sensing his emotions. A magical beam shot out from his wand tip, striking a table in the abandoned classroom at incredible speed. The table visibly petrified under Andy’s spell.

    “You did it?” Hermione looked astonished, as if she had discovered a new continent, staring at Andy in wonder. She originally didn’t believe Andy’s claims—that you could infuse emotions into magic—the books didn’t mention that at all. But the Petrificus Totalus spell Andy just used was clearly much more powerful than before.

    (End of Chapter)

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