The wisdom came from Rowena Ravenclaw, taught directly to Helena.
Rey couldn't fathom why a woman as brilliant as Rowena would teach such harsh, realistic lessons to her daughter.
It wasn't that the lessons were wrong, but that Helena was only five at the time.
Five years old seemed a bit too early for such heavy truths.
In modern times, a five-year-old is still wiping snot on their sleeves. Rey couldn't imagine what kind of parenting philosophy Rowena Ravenclaw subscribed to.
Not only did Rowena tell Helena the story, but she also required Helena to pass it on to her own children one day. Passed down from generation to generation, like a family tradition.
Weird. A bit of a strange tradition.
But the wizarding world was full of strange traditions. After thinking about it for a moment, Rey decided it wasn't all that surprising.
"Time for class. This one is very important. I came specifically to remind you not to skip it."
Helena reminded him, then grabbed Rey's hand and pulled him toward what would become the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom in the future.
Rey subtly pulled his hand away. Although he was physically young and he and Helena looked like siblings—and hand-holding siblings weren't uncommon in the newly established Hogwarts—Rey, with his adult soul, wasn't used to it.
"Let's go, let's go." Rey laughed dryly and walked ahead quickly.
Behind him, Helena glared daggers at Rey's back, stomped her foot, and then followed.
The important class Helena mentioned was led by Rowena Ravenclaw.
Class hadn't officially started yet, but the classroom was already packed with young wizards.
Seeing Rey and Helena enter, Rowena nodded, checked the time, and then silenced the noisy room.
"Everyone, please quiet down. Today, we are going to learn about the stages a wizard must reach regarding their personal power."
Rowena's voice was melodious, carrying a certain magical quality. She was approachable and kind, so the young wizards were naturally very obedient.
She didn't open a textbook. Instead, holding her wand, she walked casually around the classroom.
Hearing the topic of today's lecture, Rey immediately felt intrigued. In the Hogwarts of the future, he had never heard any professor explain the classification of a wizard's power levels.
---
According to Rowena Ravenclaw's explanation:
Wizards do not have levels in the RPG sense; there is only the distinction between adult and underage.
The total magic power of an underage wizard is unstable because their body is still growing and developing, and their magic fluctuates accordingly.
Magic requires practice and application for the body to adapt to it. Otherwise, a magical outburst is almost equivalent to death.
Incantations are used for practicing magic. Powerful wizards rarely rely on spoken spells. For example, in Deathly Hallows, during the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort (Tom Riddle), both displayed astounding offensive and defensive magic without uttering a single incantation.
A wand is an item that amplifies magical power. Magic doesn't strictly require a wand to be cast. In the Quidditch match in Prisoner of Azkaban, when Harry fell from the sky, Dumbledore saved him simply by pointing his finger and casting a spell.
However, for a wizard, a wand is an indispensable partner.
In a battle between wizards, regardless of how powerful one's magic is, sometimes a single potent spell can be fatal.
For example, the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. This curse is like a gun in the hands of an ordinary person—it suddenly gives them the ability to kill anyone. Therefore, there are no strict levels between wizards. If there are, they are merely classifications of personal proficiency.
A wizard's personal strength can be roughly divided into five stages:
Stage 1: Novice Wizard. A wizard who can use their internal magic to cast various spells. These wizards have only recently come into contact with magic and are essentially magical trainees.
Stage 2: Intermediate Wizard. The goal of an Intermediate Wizard is to control their magic.
"Control" here doesn't just mean changing the form of magic, but also controlling the magical output—using the minimum amount of magic to achieve the maximum effect.
Stage 3: Advanced Wizard. Wizards at this level have achieved a relatively high proficiency with magic. They can use magic for rapid transitions between offense and defense. Battles between wizards at this stage are like two people with machine guns strafing each other in an open field. A moment of carelessness means death.
Harry Potter in Deathly Hallows should have reached this level. Of course, Sirius Black, Snape, Lupin, the Weasleys, and others also fit here.
Stage 4: Grand Magus. At this stage, a wizard's magic acts like their thoughts. With a mere thought and a flick of the wand, magic flows naturally. Incantations become mere amplifiers for magical power. Furthermore, wizards of this caliber can use forbidden magic capable of mass destruction.
The Four Founders of Hogwarts, as well as Dumbledore and Voldemort of the future, belong to this level.
Stage 5: Divine Wizard.
Regarding this stage, Rowena Ravenclaw only said simply: "If everyone works hard enough, we wizards might become as powerful as the gods in the legends. After all, the abilities of those legendary gods aren't inexplicable by magic. If you think about it carefully, their magic was simply more powerful."
This explanation was meant to motivate the young wizards to practice magic, lacking any concrete definition.
However, even with just this simple mention, Rey felt Rowena wasn't wrong. The wizards he saw in the Gobi Desert war definitely possessed power no less than the legendary gods.
If a Divine Wizard is a White Wizard who has obtained the Light power of Heaven, then a Dark Wizard is their counterpart. And a Natural Wizard stands above both, transcending gods and demons.
This class was indeed important; it wasn't a waste of time. It gave Rey a clearer picture of the ultimate goal for a wizard.
---
After Rowena finished speaking, it was Godric Gryffindor's turn to teach dueling experience.
Two professors teaching back-to-back was unusual; it felt like extra classes were being crammed in. This wasn't the norm. Rey looked at Helena beside him, hoping to get some inside information.
Sure enough, Helena leaned over and whispered in Rey's ear, "Recently, many children with magical abilities have mysteriously disappeared outside. There are no signs of arrests in the major cities, so the school decided to teach some combat skills to improve everyone's ability to protect themselves."
"Really?" Rey asked, surprised he knew nothing about this.
Helena rolled her eyes complainingly. "You've been buried in the library when you're not in class recently. It would be weird if you did know." Rey had turned down Helena's invitations to practice magic many times; it would be strange if she didn't complain.
Laughing awkwardly, Rey realized he had indeed become a bit obsessed, taking too many things for granted.
Thinking about the power of Light, he felt he absolutely had to find a clue, which was stubborn behavior. If not for Helena's reminder, he wouldn't have noticed his tunnel vision.
Improving his actual strength was his top priority. According to Rowena's lecture today, he hadn't even reached the second stage, Intermediate Wizard.
When using magic, he could release power but couldn't control it. How much magic he used depended entirely on the spell itself. He was like Naruto Uzumaki at the Ninja Academy—having enough chakra for seven clones but wasting tons of energy to produce only three.
If his total magic reserves weren't massive—like Naruto's chakra—he wouldn't be able to sustain his reckless usage.
"Hey, Helena. If you have time, could you teach me Apparition?"
After a brief hesitation, Rey decided on the spell he wanted to learn most.
This spell was the ultimate life-saving technique. If he could learn it ahead of schedule, that would be fantastic.
"Of course, no problem. Leave it to your Senior Sister."
Hearing Rey wanted to learn magic from her, Helena puffed out her small chest. She patted Rey's shoulder reassuringly, her face exploding with the happiness of being a mentor.
---