Chapter 28
For the fourth-year students, this October was destined to be different.
Lucian's innovative teaching methods brought them an intense sense of novelty. They had hardly ever looked forward to classes this much.
Moreover, because their performance would influence the direction of the script—although the play technically had only one protagonist—every supporting role could still have their own spotlight, as long as they performed outstandingly.
Not to mention, the reward next month was five drops of Felix Felicis. That was enough for a full dose. When it came to this matter, the fourth-years kept remarkably tight-lipped.
While "top students" from other years boasted about the alchemical weapons they had just received, the fourth-years silently studied like mad.
This wasn't entirely because of the Felix Felicis. The bigger reason was that the battles in their performances were completely real.
Although the professor would heal them afterward, the curses that hit them didn't vanish. The pain was real, the nausea was real, and the humiliating spectacle of laughing maniacally and dancing uncontrollably after being cursed was all too real.
As a result, the fourth-years—who should have been the most relaxed year—began pushing themselves to extreme lengths.
The Ravenclaws took the lead, obtaining from older students the exam papers and assignments Lucian had given to the fifth-years, and frantically working through problems whenever they had free time.
When students from the other three houses noticed this behavior, even the usually peaceful Hufflepuffs joined the intense competition without hesitation.
There was no helping it—the play was fake, but getting hit was real and as the rehearsals continued, they became increasingly immersed in the script and found genuine enjoyment in it.
Cedric, as the protagonist, felt this most acutely, at the beginning, playing a Squib, he could only take hits passively.
But after cleaning the library and accidentally obtaining a wand, he could finally cast spells and fight back—hanging Ryan up in the exact same way!
That feeling, he had to admit, was incredibly satisfying.
On a Sunday afternoon at the end of October, Lucian's study group gathered once again.
"Hello, Jeffery. Thank you for sharing that blind-spot observation technique with me last time. I relied on it completely to turn the tide and win the Quidditch match." Cedric always arrived ten minutes early at the office, using the time before the group meeting started to greet Lucian or one of his two assistants.
Without others noticing, Jeffery had gradually become someone Cedric could consider a friend he could talk to.
"Quidditch, huh—is it really that much fun? It just looks like riding brooms and throwing balls around."
"No one in this world dislikes Quidditch. Would you like to try it next time? Watching from afar and actually playing are completely different experiences."
"Quidditch..."
Jeffery instinctively glanced toward Camille. Even though Cedric had already gotten to know them, she still showed no interest in conversation and was currently frowning at a spell-book, deep in thought.
"No, I'll pass. Thanks for the invitation."
Cedric followed his gaze and looked thoughtful; he could tell that Camille was actually interested, but was suppressing the idea out of some kind of reservation.
As for how to resolve it... Cedric guessed the answer probably lay with the professor.
"Everyone's here. Let's start the meeting."
"Professor," Ginny Weasley, the first-year study prefect, spoke up first. "After mastering the correct casting motions and pronunciation, the third controllable factor is willpower, right? But willpower is such an intangible thing—how am I supposed to improve it?"
"I think you need to practice more," Hermione answered quickly. "That's what the professor told me. If you keep practicing until you're truly satisfied with the result, your spells will definitely improve dramatically."
"Not bad, but will monotonous practice really produce good results? And Ginny, the spells you're learning right now are only basic ones. Once you've mastered the correct casting technique, obsessing over proficiency is overkill."
Sixth-year Percy Weasley shook his head and continued, "Instead of spending time on these basic spells, you should broaden your knowledge and master more spells to make yourself more capable overall. Willpower should come from other pursuits. As long as you keep ranking at the top of your year, the power of all your spells will naturally increase."
"What's the point of effort without direction? Thinking needs a goal, or you're just wasting time. A ship that never stops sailing but only circles in place—will that increase its power?" Seventh-year Percival shook his head.
He believed the most important thing was purpose: vividly imagining in your mind the effect you want to achieve and constantly working toward it.
Cedric listened to the discussion, combining it with his experiences over the past month, frowning slightly as he fell into thought—his own view differed from everyone else's.
He believed emotion was the force that dominated everything. Over the past month of performances, every student's practical combat ability had improved significantly, and as for increasing spell power? It seemed to have happened naturally without anyone noticing.
Action was even faster than thought, and what drove it all was abundant emotion.
Ginny's question was remarkably insightful—even Jeffery and Camille, standing off to the side, showed interest, though they didn't join the discussion.
Five minutes passed, and with everyone holding firm to their opinions and unable to persuade one another, they finally turned their gazes toward Lucian, who had remained silent.
It seemed only the professor could settle this.
"You're all actually right." Lucian began with what sounded like a diplomatic statement.
But the students didn't rush to react—they knew Lucian wasn't the type to brush things off carelessly.
"Ginny's question is very interesting and more complex than you might think," Lucian said thoughtfully, choosing his words carefully. "If we're talking purely about increasing spell power, every method you've suggested can achieve that goal."
"Of course—" Lucian glanced at the unconvinced older students and added calmly, "the final effects produced by different methods will definitely vary. In your eyes, this might seem like a question of which method is superior. But to me, these methods simply belong to different stages."
"What exactly improves our willpower? Is it strengthening the body, solidifying theory, diligent practice, the power of emotion, or unified purpose?" Lucian suddenly recalled how, as a student himself, he had spent thirty minutes every day exercising just to explore the connection between the physical body and magic—all in pursuit of greater spell power.
Looking back now, it filled him with mixed feelings. He drew his wand and casually transfigured a training dummy, then demonstrated for the group of students walking the same magical path.
"This is the Lumos you can all achieve." A soft, steady orb of light appeared at the tip of his wand, like a large light bulb emitting bright illumination.
"This is also the effect you can produce after mastering the correct casting motion and pronunciation," Lucian said evenly. Then, without even moving his wrist, his expression simply grew a touch more serious.."
It was the exact same spell. But this time, the result was worlds apart, as just in a moment no student could have anticipated, a fierce, violent, almost solid beam of pure white light erupted from the tip of Lucian's wand!
A bolt of white lightning struck the training dummy, not only illuminating it completely but instantly turning its surface red-hot, as if it had been scorched by a laser.
The entire classroom was bathed in the sudden blinding light, falling into stunned silence.
Note : Drop Powerstones.
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