Chapter 48: The Word "Magic" Has No Meaning

The wooden podium, along with several pots of fresh flowers and even the carpet, began to float.

A wave of astonishment rippled through the crowd, with some even breaking into applause.

"Darn, they really think this is some kind of magic trick, huh."

"Can anyone tell how I did this?" Murphy asked.

"Wirework," a slightly overweight man in the audience shouted.

"Rollins Bog. Come on up," Murphy recognized him and invited him to the stage. "Great hypothesis, now how would you test it?"

"Give me a stick. I'll sweep around these floating objects," Rollins replied.

"Smart," Murphy said, pointing his wand at a flowerpot, "Viravito."

The flowerpot turned into a long wooden stick.

Another gasp swept the crowd. Rollins, stunned, only proceeded to pick up the stick and feel around the floating objects after Murphy's nod. He swung it a few times and tapped it lightly on the ground, confirming it was indeed a stick.

"How did you do this?" Rollins asked.

"That's the second question. Let's focus on the first one for now," Murphy said.

Rollins used the stick to probe around the floating objects but found no wires or supports.

"What's your conclusion?" Murphy asked.

Rollins shook his head. "Doesn't seem like anything is holding them up."

"Any other ideas?"

Rollins shook his head again.

"Does anyone else have a theory?" Murphy asked the crowd.

"Anti-gravity field!" someone shouted.

"Bold guess, William Boyle?" Murphy smiled. "Come up here. How would you test your theory?"

William approached the podium and thought for a moment. "Give me something light."

Murphy pointed his wand at the stick, "Quickly shrink."

The stick rapidly shrank to the size of a pencil. Murphy handed it to William. "You can start now."

William, shocked by the weight of the stick matching its appearance, exclaimed, "This is unscientific, impossible! Where did its mass go?"

Murphy smiled. "I don't know. That's the third question. Do you still want to test your theory?"

"Okay." Hesitantly, William threw the stick towards the area Murphy had pointed his wand at.

However, the stick didn't float as he had hoped.

"This..."

"Any other explanations?"

"Maybe the anti-gravity field isn't area-based but acts on each object individually," William suggested.

"You can try to verify your idea."

William jumped up and pulled a floating flowerpot down, moving it to the edge of the podium. When he let go, the pot floated up again.

"You've somewhat proven your hypothesis. Can you delve deeper? Where does their anti-gravity effect come from?"

William looked at his hands, where dirt from the pot was now floating away.

"I... don't know," he said, mesmerized. "They still have mass, inertia when moved horizontally, and a higher density than air, so it's not buoyancy."

"Magnets? Are there magnets in these objects?" William pondered and then shook his head. "But this dirt, so small and hard to balance in motion... unless, magnetic monopoles?"

"No, that's too far-fetched. Maybe just iron powder in these objects, with magnets on the ceiling."

"Is that your conclusion?" Murphy asked.

"No, of course not," he took out a steel keychain from his pocket. "It's not attracted, so there's no strong magnetic field here..."

"I need experiments, lots of them. This is astounding; I've never seen anything like it. There must be something here that I didn't know before."

Murphy smiled. "Congratulations, you've found an interesting problem."

"Now, does anyone want to try answering the second or third question?" He picked up the small wooden stick and transformed it into a bird.

"Illusion!" someone said. "Holographic image!"

"Oh, is that so?" Murphy pointed his wand at him. "Feathergadium Leviosa!"

The man floated up, shouting as Murphy controlled him to fly around the room. "Do you still think it's a holographic image, Stefan Welch?"

Stefan Welch, pale yet excited, said, "Incredible, magic! This is magic!"

"Congratulations, you're right!" Murphy waved his wand, and a black aura enveloped him. He rose slowly and then swiftly moved above the crowd, reappearing behind them. When they looked for him, he flew back to the podium.

"Magic," Murphy used a silencing charm to quell the crowd's gasps, letting his voice echo in everyone's ears, "This indeed is magic."

He conjured a fountain on the podium. "This is magic."

Then he summoned many birds. "This is also magic."

He made grass and flowers grow on the carpet, turning it into a lawn in moments. "This is still magic."

"However, the word 'magic' is meaningless," Murphy continued, waving his wand to erase everything.

"Just as we label all phenomena as natural, miraculous, or scientific, it's meaningless. It's just a convenient term for the unknown."

"Magic can't just be magic. If we don't understand the details of science, we don't understand science. If we can't explain the phenomena in magic, we're no more advanced than our ancestors who saw thunder as divine wrath."

"Yes, I am a wizard. I can use magic."

"This makes me different. But believe me, I don't know much more about magic than you do."

"I'm like a primitive man. I can use fire for warmth, to fend off wild beasts, to cook food, but I know nothing of its nature."

"Where does my magic come from? How does it work? Why does one spell produce fire and another levitates people? I'm curious but don't have the energy to research them all. That's why I need you."

"Now I can answer the first question. What is your research about?"

"The answer is magic. You are invited here to explore the unknown."

"Your job is to harvest results from this uncharted territory of magic."