Two days later. In the small greenhouse. Ciel quietly looked at a leaf in front of him. His right hand slightly moved. Magic flowed out accordingly. The leaf immediately floated up under the magic's influence.
But after a moment, the leaf showed an unstable trend. Then it swayed and fell to the ground.
He frowned. His gaze fell on the system panel. The text for the Levitation Charm and Levicorpus had become quite blurred. And they had merged together. It seemed only a hair's breadth away from the new spell he wanted to create.
Compared to Levicorpus using three magical node resonances, over these two days, he had relied on the Levitation Charm deduction enhancement ability. He had added two nodes, forming a five-node resonance combination.
But no matter how he tried, adjusted, or changed magical nodes, he still couldn't maintain Levicorpus's wandless and incantationless casting characteristics under these conditions.
"This is already the seventy-seventh magical node combination I've tried over these two days. Still can't reach expectations..."
He slightly shook his head. He didn't continue. Having tried so many times without achieving the desired result, there was no need to keep banging his head against this wall. Thinking and solving problems himself wasn't wrong. But seeking help from professors and elders was absolutely not shameful.
He looked at the class schedule. Today happened to have Charms class. Professor Flitwick's mastery in runes was beyond question. Last time he had told him the true secrets of runes and ancient magic. This time's new spell creation could also be consulted with Professor Flitwick.
Then he got up and walked toward the Charms classroom.
At the same time, in the Great Hall, the Golden Trio sat silently in a corner of the long table. Except for Neville still sitting with them, the other Gryffindors seemed to deliberately maintain distance from them. A natural chasm had formed from their position.
The reason for this situation was exactly because two days ago, the Golden Trio had been deducted a full one hundred fifty points by the angry Professor McGonagall. As a result, originally Gryffindor House could still step on Slytherin's head. But now they had fallen to last place.
Instead, the little snakes of Slytherin were elated. After learning it was Harry and company's "good deed", the little snakes looked at the Golden Trio almost beaming with joy, practically inviting them to eat at the Slytherin table.
Such a huge contrast – how could the little lions of Gryffindor give the Golden Trio good faces? After all, in the original story, even when Harry led the Gryffindor Quidditch team to win two matches, the "hero's" aura couldn't offset the resentment from point deductions. Much less this time. Due to his existence, Harry's achievements were far from as dazzling as in the original. The resentment he suffered was naturally more intense.
And when the reason for their point deduction, reporting Ciel for planting Dark Arts crops, spread, the little badgers of Hufflepuff, who had originally sympathised with the trio, also completely distanced themselves. Reporting classmates behind their backs – this was exactly what Hufflepuff most despised.
Moreover, the trio had reported Ciel, who had an outstanding reputation in Hufflepuff. Even the most good-natured little badger couldn't stand such behaviour.
Because of this, the trio felt even stronger coldness than in the original story. Basically wherever they went, no one was willing to talk to them. The three also had different expressions, eating breakfast absent-mindedly in silence.
However, unlike Harry and Hermione's performance, Ron seemed to be thinking about other things. Occasionally, a smile would even curve at the corner of his mouth. It seemed he was thinking of some quite wonderful things.
Perhaps because the atmosphere was too awkward, Harry took the initiative to break the silence. He asked Ron. "Ron? Did you have that strange dream today?"
Hearing this, Hermione also picked up Harry's words, casting curious eyes toward Ron. "Strange dream? What's going on?"
Ron, who was absent-mindedly drinking oatmeal porridge, reacted much more dramatically than the two expected. When he heard the words "strange dream", he almost choked on a mouthful of oatmeal, his face also flushing red.
At this time, Harry explained to Hermione and Neville. "Two days ago, when we went to the small greenhouse. Ron went back to sleep, and when he woke up, he told me he had a very realistic strange dream. What was in the dream... Church? Oh right, I remember now, Ron said it was a strange temple. There was even a voice calling him to go inside."
Hearing this, Hermione became even more curious. The scholar's nature showed. "Dreaming of a temple? This is quite an unusual dream. There have been several similar records in magical history; some wizards also claimed they dreamed of temples, churches and such. Many of those people later became remarkable masters."
Hermione said half jokingly. "No wonder, Ron; you seem to have become enlightened these past two days. Your magic has advanced by leaps and bounds. Did you enter the temple and get guidance from Merlin?"
Hearing Hermione's words, Ron's eyes flickered. He squeezed out a smile and mumbled past it. But his thoughts returned to that dream he had after the greenhouse trip that day.
It was a very strange dream. He stood at the edge of a strange island. In the distant centre of the island, a peculiar temple could be vaguely seen. Everything seemed real. Ron could even hear faint, alluring calls coming from the temple. Telling him to come closer, closer still. Everything he wanted could be realised.
At that time, Ron felt fear. This dream was just too realistic. He had also heard some magical world legends from his parents. If you had overly realistic dreams, that wasn't a good thing.
That time, Ron didn't follow the temple's call to walk forward. But after waking from the dream, as the point deduction incident occurred, Ron felt like he was a rat crossing the street. Unwelcome wherever he went. Even his own brothers looked at him without good expressions.
And all of this, in Ron's view, was because Ciel had played tricks. For a whole day, Ron's heart was filled with resentment and anger. And that night, he dreamed of the temple again.
The voice in the temple seemed to know what Ron was thinking. It made alluring sounds again. "Come, Ron Weasley. Those who look at you coldly will look up to you. Those who played tricks to harm you will be exposed. You will become the centre of attention..."
This time, Ron struggled for a long time. But still walked forward several steps. And after waking from the dream, he immediately felt that he seemed to have become somewhat different. His magical mastery seemed to have improved considerably.
In that day's Transfiguration class, originally stern Professor McGonagall, after seeing Ron's transfiguration, had her expression soften somewhat. She even gave Ron five points to encourage him.
And this made Ron taste the sweetness immediately. Last night, he dreamed of the temple again. This time, Ron walked dozens of steps in the dream. After waking from the dream, his magical mastery had improved by a large margin again.
This made Ron completely stop worrying about the point deduction. His heart was now full of confidence. He couldn't wait to show himself off. Especially Hermione's inadvertent mention that those wizards in magical history who dreamed of temples often had very amazing achievements made Ron even more confident.
That's right. He was just like those wizards who left their names in history. He was a favoured person. What was Ciel? Sooner or later he would be trampled underfoot!
As soon as breakfast ended, Ron couldn't wait to walk ahead, heading toward the Charms classroom. And when he entered the classroom and found Ciel already sitting in his seat, Ron's mouth curved into a confident smile. He cast a challenging look at Ciel.
At this moment, Ciel naturally sensed Ron's challenging gaze but paid it no mind. While the trio's attempt to report his cultivation of variant bioluminescent mushrooms had annoyed him, he had to admit their concerns weren't entirely unfounded.
The danger of variant humanoid bioluminescent mushrooms was indeed unsuitable for cultivation at Hogwarts. He was too lazy to argue with eleven-year-old children.
But in Ron's view, this was obviously being ignored by himself. And what he had hated most but couldn't escape since childhood was being ignored. In front of his several brothers, he was dim and lightless. His younger sister Ginny was a girl and naturally received more care.
Even though the Weasley couple tried their best to treat everyone equally, it inevitably made Ron feel the contrast difference. As for coming to Hogwarts, in front of Harry's saviour aura and Hermione's academic genius aura, he indeed had nothing attractive.
"But that was the old me. The current me is favoured." Ron took a deep breath, clenched his fists. He made up his mind. The upcoming Charms class would be when he suppressed Ciel and became famous in one stroke.
Moments later, the class bell rang. Professor Flitwick's short figure appeared punctually on the podium. And he immediately spotted Ciel in the classroom. His face couldn't help showing some teasing smile.
"Aha. What a rare guest today."
Hearing this, he showed some bitter smile. Previously he had indeed skipped classes quite a bit. Although Aunt had helped him ask for leave, the professors should all know what was going on. Fortunately, none of them held it against him. Professor Flitwick was now just making a small joke.
After the joke, his gaze swept over the young wizards in the classroom, and he coughed lightly. "Final exams are getting closer and closer. Your Transfiguration has already started preparing for exams several weeks early. Starting from this class, Charms will be the same. Come on, I think everyone has already mastered the Lumos charm, so we won't test that anymore. In the final exam, the Levitation Charm accounts for a large portion of points. Let me see if you've all mastered it well."
Then Professor Flitwick waved his wand. A simple and elegant Levitation Charm steadily floated the podium in front of him in the air. From beginning to end, the podium didn't tilt even a tiny bit. Even the scattered chalk on it didn't roll at all.
Seeing this scene, his gaze was full of admiration. This control over spells was absolutely at the pinnacle of perfection. He definitely couldn't do this now. Just this Levitation Charm mastery alone, in the system evaluation, would probably be at least the Epic level. The foundation of a Charms master was evident.
At this time, Professor Flitwick said again. "Now like me, float the desks in front of you. Simply floating them isn't difficult, but note, the final exam requirement is that nothing can fall from the desk. To achieve this isn't so simple."
The professor spoke about precautions. But Ron was absent-minded. His gaze occasionally swept over Ciel, secretly determined. He must suppress Ciel. Starting from this class, he would become the most attention-grabbing existence.
As for the Levitation Charm, his mouth curved into a confident smile. Having gained the temple's "favour", Ron didn't take such low-level spells seriously at all.
Moments later, Professor Flitwick gave the order. "Everyone. Cast!"
Then everyone waved their wands. "Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!"
The first year was almost over. Even if clumsy, perhaps controlling stability was quite difficult, but simply casting the Levitation Charm was no problem. Desks flew into midair one by one. Hermione's desk flew particularly high and stable. But the desk in front of Ron even flew higher and more stably than Hermione's.
After seeing this scene, Hermione couldn't help but widen her eyes. When had Ron's Levitation Charm reached this level?
Then she couldn't help but look toward Ciel, trying to see his performance. But what Hermione never expected, he maintained the posture of extending his right hand. But the desk in front of him was swaying unsteadily, as if suffering turbulence. In a moment's time, it crashed down. Falling back to the ground.
This scene made everyone in the classroom show surprised expressions. His Levitation Charm had failed? But how was this possible?! When Professor Flitwick first taught the Levitation Charm, his Levitation Charm had already surpassed everyone's. And that was a long time ago. How could he possibly fail?
"Should be a mistake from not attending class for a long time. Such a simple spell as the Levitation Charm – there's no reason for Ciel to fail. Just try again to find his rhythm."
Not to mention the little badgers who had full confidence in him; even the little lions of Gryffindor thought so.
But immediately after, under Professor Flitwick's gaze, and in front of everyone, he raised his right hand again. The desk swayed and floated up again. Then bumped down to the ground again.
This second failure made the classroom burst into small commotion. In Ron's eyes, smugness and satisfaction flashed. He suddenly felt Ciel didn't seem so remarkable after all.
Ron puffed out his chest. His Levitation Charm was the best and most perfect in the entire classroom. Professor Flitwick should have seen it, right?
At this time, Professor Flitwick had a serious expression. He directly walked down from the podium. Ron's heartbeat accelerated rapidly, and his mouth also showed a smile. But the next second, Professor Flitwick walked straight past him. And walked toward Ciel.
Ron's smile froze. But he comforted himself. "Professor Flitwick must be going to severely criticise Ciel. After he finishes scolding Ciel, he'll definitely notice how perfect my Levitation Charm is."
However, what Ron and everyone couldn't expect happened again. Professor Flitwick carefully watched him cast the "Levitation Charm". Then signalled him to cast again. He closed his eyes at the same time, as if sensing something.
After Professor Flitwick opened his eyes, his eyes lit up as if glowing. Looking at him with unstoppable admiration and appreciation. "Wonderful! Marvellous! When you came to my office to ask about runic knowledge, I knew your runic mastery was very high. I didn't expect you'd so quickly reach the level of creating new spells with runes."
He shook his head. "Professor. I'm just doing some improvement work based on predecessors' achievements. At most it's modifying spells; it can't be called creating spells."
But Professor Flitwick still said. "But you've already changed this spell's runic node combination. In Charms, this is a new spell. Enough to publish a paper."
Then Professor Flitwick eloquently commented on the five magical nodes he had chosen. Although in his view as a Charms master, five magical nodes weren't much. After all, seven magical nodes were considered the basic configuration for combining into one rune. But being able to do this, among first-year young wizards, was already a rare existence.
Moreover, the five magical nodes he chose were a combination that could produce special resonance. This was even more precious, proving he had more acute talent in this area than ordinary people.
After praising him extensively, Professor Flitwick said with lingering interest. "Ciel. You understand the subtleties of runes better than many senior students who've taken Ancient Runes courses. Although points seem useless at this time, Hufflepuff still gets thirty points for your outstanding performance in runes!"
At this moment, the little badgers' anxious hearts finally relaxed. They had been worried whether he had some problem. Now it seemed, what problem could he have? He was already an existence on another level! Any action of a study god, even seemingly wrong actions, had their reasons; how could mortals question it?!
But Ron froze there. From beginning to end, the Levitation Charm that made him so confident didn't get Professor Flitwick to look even once. Didn't even get attention from others. This made his previous confidence seem like a clown.
In the unnoticed corner, Ron's face had already flushed red. Again like this? Again like this? He took a deep breath. Now, he was even more eager to see the temple in his dreams. If he got closer to the temple or even entered the temple, what would happen? By then, he could definitely trample everyone underfoot. Including Ciel!
At this time, facing Professor Flitwick's praise, he took this opportunity to ask. "But Professor. No matter how I try, I can't seem to achieve the effect I want under a five-node combination. Is there any way?"
Professor Flitwick wasn't surprised by this. He showed a comforting smile and said to him. "Ciel. We all want to create perfect spells. But no one can truly master the infinite mysteries of runes; no one can construct infinite nodes of a rune. There's nothing wrong with pursuing perfection, but we can only pursue relative perfection within limited node combinations as much as possible. Sometimes, in the process of creating spells, giving up some characteristics is actually a wiser choice."
He heard Professor Flitwick's words. In his mind, it was like a flash of lightning. Relative perfection within limited combinations... Giving up some characteristics...
That's it! The key that had stuck him these past days was being reluctant to give up Levicorpus's wandless and incantationless casting characteristics. Wanting both to achieve his envisioned effects and retain this unique characteristic. But how was this possible?
Just like when Snape created Levicorpus, wouldn't he have wanted to increase Levicorpus's power while retaining wandless and incantationless casting? Snape must have had such thoughts. But he still chose to give up. So why should he insist so strongly?
"Trade-offs. Right. Trade-offs..."
He almost instantly entered a flow state.
"What I pursue is casting as quickly as possible. And merging the characteristics of the Levitation Charm and Levicorpus to make control effects more powerful. Combined with Liberacorpus characteristics, it can also cause some damage. And my current magical perception only supports five magical node combinations. Under such conditions, wandless and incantationless casting can't both be retained; at most, only one."
After brief contemplation, he made his decision.
"Incantationless is necessary. But wandless, only when disarmed can it become a wizard's comeback trump card. However, even without a wand, I still have extremely terrifying combat power, so this characteristic isn't that important to me. It can be completely abandoned. Once the wandless characteristic is abandoned..."
His eyes immediately sparkled with brilliance. His thinking suddenly became clear! The countless node combinations tried over these two days clearly surfaced in his mind.
The next moment, on the system panel, the Levitation Charm and Levicorpus that were just a hair away from complete fusion finally, at this moment, burst out dazzling platinum light. Then they merged into one!
[Gravitas (Platinum)]
A brand new spell, emanating platinum light, slowly appeared on his system panel.