New Spells
From now on, for every 100 powerstones, I will be posting a bonus chapter. This lasts until the end of next week.
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Potion's class is usually held for two consecutive periods, making it one of the longest classes of the day. This is due to the intricate nature of potion-making, and many potions require hours of simmering. Even two back-to-back classes can feel short when dealing with potions that demand extended brewing times. For young wizards, there's hardly any room for trial and error because making one mistake with a potion means there won't be time to brew another one before class ends.
Apart from Potion's class, there is another bothersome class scheduled for the day—Astronomy. To ensure clear observations of the stars, astronomy classes start quite late, greatly affecting Kevin's sleep. The class is held in the Astronomy Tower, the highest point in the castle. The astronomy professor is Professor Aurora Sinistra, a black witch who looks to be in her thirties. Much like her class, Professor Sinistra doesn't have much presence in the original series.
At first glance, it might seem that astronomy isn't crucial for wizards. However, after taking the class, Kevin understands that celestial bodies are repositories of great magical power. Every celestial body observable to the naked eye on Earth is a shining star from light-years away. Their power, combined with starlight, spans light-years to reach Earth, becoming a resource for wizards. Although this magic transferred with starlight is incredibly weak, to the extent of merely lighting a candle, it serves a critical purpose—connecting stars and wizards.
Once this connection is established, a suitable ritual allows the tapping of the immense magical power belonging to the stars. Naturally, these ritual magics are both powerful and ancient, and they are not taught in Hogwarts classrooms. Through ritual magic, wizards can accomplish many "miracles" with a relatively small amount of magic. Many ritual spells require conditions like "solar eclipse," "full moon," "coming of a comet," "meteor shower," or "correct planetary alignment."
The most typical of these is astrology. Therefore, for Kevin, who aspires to be a powerful wizard and magical researcher, mastering astronomy is a necessity. During the stargazing process, Kevin also gains some insights.
[You've attended an introductory course on stargazing, gaining profound insights into the stars and destiny. Your Divination expertise has improved.]
[You've gleaned into the power of the stars and destiny from the night sky. You have learned the spells [Identification] and [Micro Meteor]].
[Identification: Discerns all magical attributes of an item, including how to activate its function (if required) and the remaining magical energy (if applicable).]
For wizards running pawnshops and second-hand stores, this ability is practical. After all, wizards craft all sorts of magical items, and who knows what hidden energy or terrible curses may lie within them? Even Dumbledore was caught off guard by a cursed opal necklace. With this skill, Kevin could easily open a stall in Diagon Alley and make a fortune.
[Micro Meteor: The caster conjures a small fireball in their hand, which serves as an extraordinary weapon capable of ignoring conventional defences.]
In other dimensions, [Micro Meteor], also known as [Meteor of the Beloved Spouse], is a renowned low-level god-slaying spell. However, in the Harry Potter world, the concept of a beloved spouse doesn't exist. Nevertheless, even without the "beloved spouse" aspect, [Micro Meteor] could still function, albeit at a significantly reduced power level.
This appears to be an inconspicuous third-level spell. In terms of damage dealt, this spell is neither comparable to the arcane magic [Fireball] nor to the Dark magic [Expulso]. Nevertheless, [Micro Meteor] has a unique quality: it belongs to the category of magic creations, being considered an extraordinary defense-ignoring weapon. This means that even if a deity were to appear, they wouldn't be entirely immune to the damage it inflicts.
In high-level battles, the most crucial factor isn't the amount of damage inflicted but rather how it's done. Considering spells like magic immunity, elemental immunity, and alignment immunity, both sides need to engage in strategic and tactical thinking on the rules. Here, the advantage of [Micro Meteor] lies in its ability to force damage in a particular manner, which proves beneficial. And, as long as it can cause damage, even if it's just one point of damage, it can accumulate and achieve God-slaying results.
Overall, Kevin had a pretty productive night, and his irritation from staying up late gradually dissipated. On the other hand, he also realised that it was perfectly fine to sleep in and skip the day.
Because on the morning of the second day is the Dark Arts Defence class, just hearing this name will ignite the imaginations of young wizards. Looking back at the main subjects covered in the first day, Transfiguration was too cryptic and difficult, causing headaches for young wizards. The Charms class only taught a simple lighting charm, lacking much excitement. Herbology was somewhat interesting but too tiring, leaving students dirty and dishevelled. History of Magic was merely a class to catch up on sleep. Apart from Slytherin, no one enjoyed Potions class.
At this point, only the Defence Against the Dark Arts and Flying class remained to be anticipated. The flying class was equivalent to a Muggle physical education class and was understandably popular. However, the popularity of the Dark Arts Defence class was due to it being split into two parts, Dark Arts and Defence.
Dark arts, though terrifying, also represented immense power. Defence implies opposition. Children yearned for power and the desire to defeat others in battle. This was a normal sentiment. But Kevin was well aware that this semester's Dark Arts Defence class was bound to disappoint.
"Let's not get our hopes up," Stephen whispered on their way to class. "I heard from Hufflepuff that this Professor Quirrell's teaching abilities are only slightly better than Professor Binns."
Typically, the proud Ravenclaws rarely made friends with young wizards from other houses. The only exception was Hufflepuff. The relationship between the two houses was surprisingly good. Having a few young Gryffindors as friends, like Kevin, was an exception, and those around him couldn't help but gasp at Stephen's words.
If an ordinary "person" were to teach 'History of Magic', the results would still be better than Professor Binns. For Professor Quirrell to be evaluated by the 'least picky' Hufflepuff as only slightly better than the Sleep-inducing Master Professor Binns, it begs the question: how lacking must Professor Quirrell's skills be?