"Wingardium Vadiossa."
Inside the Room of Requirement, Rock flicked his wand and cast the spell. The feather shot violently into the air, fluttering wildly like a startled butterfly before drifting down and landing softly on the floor.
[Acceleration intent must be delayed until buoyancy stabilizes.]
Rock rubbed his chin, studying the system prompt for a moment before raising his wand again and reciting the incantation.
The feather rose on cue, floating steadily at chest height. With a slight shift of intent—
Pfft.
It shot forward in a perfectly straight line and slammed into the center of the circular target.
"Nice!"
Theo and Adam both jumped in excitement. It worked.
Rock, however, wasn't satisfied. While lift and propulsion had successfully linked together, the transition felt far too stiff.
He glanced again at the note on the panel:
[Buoyancy field not fully converted into a kinetic channel. Magical energy loss detected.]
Rock turned and dropped into a cushioned chair, replaying the process in his mind.
"What's wrong?" Theo asked, walking over. "That looked like a success to me."
"Yeah," Adam agreed from the side. "It's slower than Wadiwasi, sure—but honestly, not by much."
"This is still a half-finished product," Rock said, rubbing his wrist. He'd already practiced dozens of times, and the result still didn't meet his standards.
"The transition's too abrupt. That's where the magic is leaking."
After thinking it over, he stood and looked at them. "For now, this is the best it gets. I'll need a lot more practice."
"Alright—now I'll teach you the Disillusionment Charm. You've got the theory down, yeah?"
Theo grinned, slinging an arm over Rock's shoulders. "Relax. I've basically got it already. I just don't like studying. If I actually try, you won't stand a chance."
"Really?" Adam said dryly, smacking Theo's hand away. "Then go on—try weaving a spell."
"…Okay, that I can't do," Theo admitted with a slow shake of his head. "Up until today I was confident. Today? I surrender."
He sighed dramatically at Rock, like he was mourning his sudden defeat.
Rock and Adam rolled their eyes in perfect sync.
"Drama queen."
"Shameless."
Rock shook his head and motioned for them to follow. Theo and Adam immediately grabbed their wands and hurried after him.
"Disillusionment."
Rock looked at the two of them and began explaining the spell's mechanics.
"This is the incantation—but first, understand this: the Disillusionment Charm doesn't make you truly invisible. It works more like a chameleon, causing your skin and clothing to adapt and blend almost perfectly with your surroundings, creating high-level camouflage."
Adam immediately raised his hand.
Rock nodded. "Just say it. I'm not a professor—you don't need permission."
"Heh. This matches what the book you gave us said, right?" Adam said. "It's active adaptation, not passive disappearance."
Rock nodded slowly but firmly. "Exactly."
"Also—and this is critical—the success of the Disillusionment Charm relies heavily on the caster's concentration and awareness of their surroundings. Or, more accurately… inner calm."
Rock turned to Adam as he went on. "Any emotional fluctuation can disrupt the spell. Best case, the camouflage flickers. Worst case, the spell drops entirely."
"Fear. Pride. Excitement—all of it counts."
Adam grimaced. That was a real problem. His fear of ghosts wasn't something he could just fix overnight.
Theo tapped Adam on the forehead. "Hey, you can cast Wadiwasi already. Other than Peeves, what ghost at Hogwarts is dumb enough to mess with you?"
"…Oh!"
Adam's eyes lit up. "You're right! And if it's Peeves, I'll just blast him away."
"I'm just pointing out the risks," Rock said.
He gestured for them to come closer, then lightly tapped his left hand with his wand. Right before their eyes, his arm vanished.
"Whoa!"
"Perfect!"
Theo and Adam exclaimed at the same time.
"You don't need big movements," Rock said calmly. "Imagine splashing a layer of cool, flowing liquid over yourself—then just give a light tap."
With that, he stepped aside and let them begin practicing.
"Oh, one more tip," he added quietly as they rushed off. "Start somewhere with a simpler background. Your success rate will be higher."
The two immediately split up, each choosing a wall they thought looked easy enough.
"Adam—first one to pull it off wins," Theo called out.
Adam grimaced. Great. Pressure already.
As they practiced, Rock noticed his own experience points and mental capacity steadily rising.
With his mental stat now at Level 4, he no longer slipped into exhaustion nearly as easily as before.
Which meant—
Back to spell development.
He flicked his wand again. The feather at his feet lifted once more as he followed the sensation he'd just refined.
Guide. Adjust. Cast.
Over and over.
Time quietly passed, until—
Rock spoke the incantation cleanly, his movements smooth and decisive, his mind holding only one thought:
Lift… and go.
The tip of his wand burst with a silver-blue glow.
The feather hummed as it rose—not in a straight launch, but carried upward by a stable field, as if entering an invisible channel—
Whoosh.
It blurred into a streak and struck the center of the ring target with pinpoint accuracy.
Thud.
The target gave a crisp sound. Rock walked over and saw the feather's quill sunk deep into the bullseye.
"It worked."
A rush of indescribable joy surged through him.
[Imprint: Composite Success]
[Initiating base magical phoneme resonance analysis…]
[Custom Spell Detected: Wingardium Vadiossa]
[Analysis Result: Excessive syllable length. Resonance efficiency 72%. Recombination recommended.]
Rock froze.
When he'd improvised before, the system never offered analysis. Now it could?
Still, reading the breakdown, he had to admit the truth—it really was just a patchwork creation, not a properly unified spell.
"Ium clashes with the vowels in vadi, and ossa drags the ending too long… delaying magical focus."
"Then…"
"Volaris."