Two days had passed since the weekend, but Anthony and the others still seemed as though their minds were lingering in it.
After all, they had just discovered a secret hidden by the founders within the ancient castle. They had even learned about a mysterious magical room. And yet now, they had returned to their ordinary routine—sitting in classrooms and continuing to practice the most basic Lumos Charm.
The contrast was so great that it was difficult to adjust immediately.
Hogwarts' teaching pace had never been particularly rushed.
In Herbology, each lesson usually began with Professor Sprout explaining a portion of the textbook. Only after that would the class gradually transition into practical sessions, such as planting, fertilizing, and nurturing magical herbs. Over the course of the school year, each young wizard would cultivate their own plants and learn through slow, steady experience.
Charms class followed a similar pattern.
On average, the class learned only one new spell every half month.
Last week's lesson had introduced the Lumos Charm, and by the end of that class, every student had managed to successfully cast it at least once. This week's lesson was therefore focused on reinforcing what they had already learned.
But reinforcement did not mean simple repetition.
There were additional requirements now—control over the brightness of the light, the duration of the spell, and the stability of the illumination.
After Professor Flitwick once again explained the relevant precautions, he allowed the students to begin practicing.
Not long afterward, a familiar scene unfolded.
Several curious classmates gathered around Ryze.
After an entire week of practice—and even completing a theoretical assignment on the Lumos Charm—most of them had realized just how large the gap between themselves and Ryze truly was.
The light produced by most students resembled the glow of a candle.
And just like a candle, the light flickered whenever something disturbed their concentration.
Compared to Ryze's performance, the difference was obvious.
Earlier in the class, Professor Flitwick had asked Ryze to demonstrate the spell again as an example.
Ryze had simply extended his hand and flicked his wand.
He hadn't even spoken the incantation.
A moment later, the entire classroom was filled with a clear, steady glow from the tip of his wand.
Even more astonishing was what he did next.
Ryze placed his wand upright on the desk and released it.
The wand continued to shine steadily without any sign of dimming.
The young wizards watching were already stunned.
But Ryze wasn't finished.
Standing two meters away, he casually raised his hand—and the brightness of the wand's light changed in response to his will.
Gasps spread throughout the classroom.
Professor Flitwick was so delighted that he practically jumped into the air.
"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"
Without hesitation, he awarded Ryze another five points for his house.
The professor understood exactly what he had just witnessed.
The silent casting of Lumos, combined with remote control through magical connection, was part of the advanced theory discussed in the book he had given Ryze the previous week.
Flitwick had expected Ryze to read it.
He had even hoped the boy might begin to understand some of the theory.
But mastering it within a single week?
That was far beyond his expectations.
"Th-this is silent casting… and wandless spellcasting?!" one student whispered in disbelief.
During last week's Herbology class, many students had secretly felt relieved after seeing Ailey's performance. It had seemed that Ryze might not actually possess such overwhelming talent after all.
But now—only one week later—they had watched him casually demonstrate such an advanced technique.
Was the talent of this orphan from the House of Black truly so terrifying?
Even other pure-blood heirs did not display abilities like this.
However, Ryze calmly retrieved his wand and shook his head.
"Actually," he said, glancing at Professor Flitwick, "this is still only silent casting. It isn't true wandless spellcasting."
Professor Flitwick nodded approvingly and turned to explain.
"Yes, that's correct. Strictly speaking, this is not genuine wandless magic."
He gestured toward Ryze's wand.
"True wandless spellcasting does not involve making the wand glow. Instead, the light appears directly on your fingers. What Mr. Ryze demonstrated is a technique that connects your magic with your wand even from a short distance."
He paused, smiling kindly.
"This is a technique usually taught around the fourth year."
Although it wasn't true wandless magic, the fact remained that Ryze had mastered fourth-year theory—and he had already begun using silent casting.
What Professor Flitwick did not mention aloud was something several sharp students already knew.
Silent casting was normally introduced in the sixth year.
Hermione Granger, sitting several rows away, knew this perfectly well.
She stared at Ryze.
Her own performance in the lesson had actually been quite good.
The light from her wand had grown much brighter over the past week. It now resembled an electric lamp rather than a candle, and the glow was stable and steady.
Professor Flitwick had even awarded her two points for her progress.
Yet when compared with Ryze's effortless mastery…
Her achievement suddenly felt insignificant.
Hermione lowered her gaze to the stack of notes in front of her.
She had already borrowed the books that Professor Flitwick had recommended to Ryze.
She had read them thoroughly.
In fact, she had practically memorized every page.
But if she understood the theory so clearly…
Why was there still such a large difference in practice?
Of course, Hermione knew the answer in part.
Memorizing knowledge did not mean truly mastering it.
Yet she had not relaxed for even a moment during the past two days. While Ryze had been busy researching Rowena Ravenclaw's raven statue during the weekend, she had continued studying tirelessly.
So why had his progress advanced even further?
Hermione frowned deeply.
Her quill moved quickly as she flipped through her notes again and again, searching for something she might have missed.
She was determined to understand the problem.
Even from across the aisle, Ryze could sense the small witch's frustration and stubborn unwillingness to accept defeat.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
The truth was simple.
Because of his unique magical enhancement, Ryze possessed a natural advantage in light- and fire-related magic.
Spells of that category not only became more powerful in his hands—they were also easier for him to control.
Under normal circumstances, he would have needed a long period of practice to fully understand how to apply the complex magical control techniques described in the books.
But after gaining that enhancement, the process became far smoother.
And when combined with the twenty-five points of Ability Haste granted by Ravenclaw's blessing, the gap between theory and practice nearly vanished.
For Ryze, casting a basic Lumos Charm had become as natural as breathing.
Thinking about it, Ryze suddenly remembered something else.
According to the course schedule, the next spell they would learn after Lumos was the Fire-Making Charm.
That would be introduced in next week's class.
Which meant…
Hermione would probably remain restless for a while longer.
Still, things would change soon enough.
Next month's curriculum included Alohomora and the Levitation Charm.
Those spells did not fall within the categories where Ryze held a natural advantage.
When the time came, he would no longer stand out quite so overwhelmingly.
Instead, he would only be competing with the other talented students using his own attributes—his fifty-three points of Ability Haste and more than one hundred and eighty points of Spell Power.
At Professor Flitwick's signal, Ryze temporarily took on the role of assistant instructor for the class.
He began walking around the classroom, offering guidance to the other students.
Neville Longbottom was one of the first he checked on.
Compared to last week, Neville's performance had clearly improved.
Hard work had finally begun to show results.
Sometimes the mind might forget the details of a spell, but the physical habits formed through repeated practice rarely lied.
Although the light produced by Neville's Lumos Charm still flickered slightly, he could now cast the spell successfully every single time.
That alone represented significant progress.
Ryze offered him a few encouraging words and then suggested a rather unusual training method.
"Try practicing your wand movements while running in the morning," he said.
Neville blinked in surprise.
"Running?"
"Yes," Ryze replied calmly. "It helps train stability. If you can maintain the correct wand motion while moving, casting while standing still will become much easier."
The method was admittedly somewhat clumsy.
And it certainly wasn't suitable for everyone.
But for Neville, whose magical confidence was still fragile, physical training could help reinforce the connection between body movement and spellcasting.
In that sense, it was similar to the wand-motion exercises Ryze had recommended the previous week.
As the surrounding students listened to the explanation, several of them began thinking seriously about the suggestion.
Harry Potter, standing nearby, looked especially thoughtful.
Perhaps he—and a few others—might end up joining Neville for morning exercise sessions.
From Ryze's perspective, that wouldn't be a bad thing at all.
Harry would face many challenges in the years to come.
Building stronger physical endurance early might prove surprisingly useful.
And who knew?
Perhaps Neville's awkward morning runs would soon turn into a small group activity.
If nothing else, it might make the castle's mornings a little livelier.
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