Ron and Seamus' words flicked a switch. The young wizards immediately launched into a heated discussion about the spell Ryan had just performed—how cool!
Levitating in mid-air, gracefully raising his wand to save his classmates... what young wizard could resist that?!
It was like catching the Golden Snitch in Quidditch—no, even cooler!
Ron, at least, was envious. Curious, he inquired about the spell. As the young wizards pricked up their ears in curiosity, Ryan quickly revealed the answer.
"Levitation Charm!?" Ron's exclamation echoed across the lawn. "How is that possible... I mean—the Levitation Charm doesn't look like that," Harry, who had been eavesdropping, couldn't help but exclaim.
They had learned the Levitation Charm—Professor Flitwick had taught them it during the second Charms class this week.
"That's the truth," Ryan shrugged, then suggested, "Using the Levitation Charm on yourself... It's a little difficult, but if you can do it, you can be like me just now." He saw many of the young wizards' eyes light up after he said this. There was no doubt that many things would be smashed in the four houses' dormitories tonight.
But in fact, Ryan hadn't lied. He had indeed used the Levitation Charm. More specifically... he had exploited its use of magical power. This was the biggest difference Ryan had discovered during his studies over the past few days between the wizarding world a thousand years ago and today.
Just as he had noted in his diary before school started—the wizarding world a thousand years ago used relatively few spells. The first step in training wizards with their teachers was to master and tame their magical power through meditation. Once mastered, casting spells naturally became effortless.
Therefore, in the magical world a thousand years ago, almost every wizard could master silent or even wandless spellcasting. Without this skill, it would have been difficult for them to survive in the brutally volatile world of that era.
This is the fundamental difference between the two eras—the understanding and application of the nature of 'magic'.
In today's magical world, wizards possess a vast array of spells that are not particularly powerful, but extremely convenient to use. These spells certainly make their lives easier, but they also seem to have distracted them from studying the true nature of magic.
Take the spell Ryan just used... in reality, it wasn't really a spell at all.
He simply mobilized magical energy, operating it in the manner of a levitation spell, to achieve flight. Of course, Ryan, lacking magical power today, could only achieve a brief moment of 'levitation'.
A thousand years ago, the 18-year-old Ryan could easily achieve flight with this technique, at speeds comparable to a magic broom—a feat many wizards of that era could achieve. But Ryan suspected that in today's magical world, most adult wizards couldn't achieve this, as their understanding of magic remained limited to the basics of 'raising the wand,' 'casting gesture,' 'incantation,' and 'precautions.' They might not even have truly tamed their own magical powers.
This was the most complex thing Ryan had discovered recently.
The simplification and convenience of magic were certainly a good thing, and he had recently become accustomed to using modern spells—no need to expend extensive effort to cultivate magic, the simple method of casting spells with a wand was indeed convenient.
But...
"The exploration of magic and the path of magic is the cornerstone of a wizard's existence—it's never the spell that's powerful, but the wizard himself. Just like a plant seed will sprout even under the pressure of stone, and a thousand-year-old tree will stubbornly grow; this is the instinct of wizards. Once wizards forget or give up exploring the path of magic, they will eventually become like a sick and withered tree—the roots may remain on the surface, but the inner decay is doomed."
Ryan remembered this sentence. Because this was one of the most pointed comments ever made by the usually gentle Helga Hufflepuff, he felt. There was no doubt that the wizarding world was slowly losing its passion for exploring the path of magic and its dedication to studying magic.
And based on what Ryan had recently extracted from Professor Binns, this change seemed to be gradual... Specifically, it began around 1300.
"Barberu Bragg founded the Wizards' Council, the forerunner of the Ministry of Magic— from that time on, spells began to be greatly simplified and made more accessible, and the powerful, difficult-to-master spells of antiquity gradually disappeared. He became a member of the Chocolate Frog Cards."
Barring some incomprehensible memories and ghostly mumblings, this was the general outline of Professor Binns's class.
However, Ryan's thoughts were soon interrupted by Ron's voice, saying to Harry, "Brother, we need to try the Levitation Charm tonight." Realizing his thoughts had wandered too far, he quickly gathered his thoughts and hurried over to Madam Hooch.
"Sorry, Madam Hooch—my broom..." He apologized sincerely, and Madam Hooch seemed to finally react.
"Broom?"
In truth, she had been stunned by Ryan's performance. She was particularly incredulous when he mentioned using a Levitation Charm—she had never seen such a levitation spell before. Hmm... Clearly, as a flying instructor and Quidditch referee, her magical proficiency wasn't exceptional. She fell into the category of 'adult wizards corrupted by the Convenient Charm, rendering them ineffective'.
"Oh, the broom... I actually forgot!" Only after hearing Ryan's words did Madam Hooch realize what he was talking about. That's right—Ryan had just saved Neville, but his own broom had flown away!
It was an old teaching aid Hogwarts had used for years!
"I have to go get it," Madam Hooch said immediately, then she mounted her broom. "Everyone, practice calling your brooms freely, but don't try to fly them again!"
With that, she soared into the sky, chasing after Ryan's broom!
...
Ryan watched the scene with a hint of envy in his eyes. Hmm... yes, although Ryan would eventually be able to fly with the help of magic once he grew up, as a broomstick enthusiast, Ryan had always firmly believed that a broom was one of the most perfect forms of flight for a wizard, second only to riding a dragon or a thunderbird.
"I'm done with brooms. Maybe I can find an opportunity to get a dragon or a thunderbird... oh, or both," Ryan thought seriously about something that clearly violated current Ministry of Magic laws.
If anyone could hear his thought, they would think he was either insane or stupid, since those two things were not just a common chocolate frog that could be brought at Hogsmeade. No, those two were among the rarest magical beasts in the world right now, and finding one was definitely almost impossible, let alone taming it for a pet. Still, Ryan was confident that he could do that in the future, so he saved this idea on the back of his head, ready to visit it again in the future once he was strong enough to do so.
However, his thought was interrupted suddenly when an unpleasant voice rang in his ears.
"Oh, that's wonderful—you looked like a princess when you were rescued just now, Longbottom!"
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Author's note
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