Lily then gave a short, good-natured shrug. "It seems the safe house is now reserved for battles, not books. We'll have to utilize the Potter Family Study instead. It's much cozier, and the Runes Workbench is already set up there."
The two wizards hurried up the winding staircase and into a room that was the polar opposite of the clean, spartan practice chamber below. The Study was warm and dimly lit, lined floor-to-ceiling with towering shelves crammed with old, leather-bound tomes. The air smelled deliciously of dust, parchment, and aged ink. In the center of the room sat a heavy, intricately carved wooden desk.
"Right, let's start with a baseline," Lily said, pulling up two comfortable chairs. Unsure of how far Anduin's self-study had taken him, she began with the fundamentals. "The entire practice of Runology begins with the Ancient Runes. Most complex spellbooks and every magical construct are encoded using them. How much do you know about the script itself?"
Anduin had spent hours pouring over his few borrowed texts during his free periods at Hogwarts, seeking to understand the root of all modern spell-craft.
"I've read through 'An Easy Introduction to Ancient Runes,' and I regularly consult a Rune Dictionary and a 'Magic Phonetic Table'," he answered honestly.
"I can visually recognize virtually all the characters. If I use the dictionary, I can manage simple translations. However, I still have a fundamental gap: I don't truly understand the process of converting the individual Ancient Runes into a functional Rune Symbol or Runic Array."
Lily stared at him, unable to completely conceal her astonishment. "Anduin, your diligence is truly remarkable. You have essentially mastered an elective subject taught in the third year—and you've done it in less than a term. That level of self-discipline is rarely seen."
She focused on his stated confusion. "Your current mastery of the alphabet is impressive, but you need the conceptual framework. Tell me, how do you understand the difference between the Ancient Runes and the powerful, single Rune Symbols we see in magical diagrams?"
Anduin recalled the theories he had synthesized from his readings, adding his own analytical layer.
"From what I have learned, the Ancient Runes are the magical script—the letters, if you will, or the individual words," Anduin explained. "They are the linguistic foundation that allows a wizard to record and conceptualize magical concepts. Their power is subtle and primarily semantic."
He shifted in his seat, leaning forward. "Runes, or Rune Symbols, on the other hand, are the magical algorithms. They are said to have been discovered in the remnants of magical creatures or even, some arcane scholars suggest, created by divine forces. My understanding is that a Rune Symbol is created through a very specific, deliberate combination of two or more Ancient Runes. If the Ancient Runes are like single words, then the Rune Symbols are complex phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs that possess a far more concrete and powerful magical function."
Lily's eyes lit up. This was precisely the conceptual leap needed for advanced Runology. She nodded vigorously.
"That's an excellent analogy, Anduin. You've hit the nail on the head. The vast majority of complex magical effects—from the simplest Charms to the most intricate Wards—are, in essence, magical spells created by the verbal translation of a single Rune Symbol or the combination of several symbols into a chanted incantation."
Anduin nodded, recalling the attempts by an older Ravenclaw, Quirrell, in Flitwick's club to translate a combination of runes into a spell called the "Hearing Charm."
"Exactly," Lily continued. "To become a Runologist, you must first master the ancient alphabet. Secondly, you must understand that the field is constantly evolving. Times change, and though many writings have been lost, new Ancient Runes are occasionally discovered by archaeologists. More often, previously lost Rune Symbols are reconstructed by linguistic experts and magical engineers."
"You mentioned Mr. Edgar Burns?" Anduin asked, intrigued. He hadn't expected the gruff, bearded man to possess such academic depth.
Lily's eyes sparkled with pride. "Indeed. Edgar is brilliant in this field. He isn't known for flash, but for meticulous research. For instance, he recently managed to reconstruct a new, powerful character meaning 'Obliteration' by studying the faint residual magical signature left by the Glacius Charm, or 'Ice-Making Spell.' He then used that reconstructed character to develop several completely new rune combinations for silencing and dispelling charms."
She reached for a thick piece of parchment and a charcoal stick, drawing a precise, circular symbol.
"The study deepens when you realize that many characters, especially the most powerful, contain multiple, context-dependent meanings," Lily explained, pointing to the drawing. "Take this common Rune Symbol, which scholars call the Aether-Path. In its purest form, it translates as 'to ascend' or 'to fly,' which is why it is the core component of the Levitation Charm."
"However," she continued, tracing the smaller curves within the circle, "it also inherently contains the meaning 'to leave a fixed point' and conversely, 'to come to a point.' By combining the Aether-Path with a rune of Attraction, you create the Summoning Charm. Combine it with a rune of Repulsion, and you create the Banishing Charm."
Anduin quickly committed the symbol and its conceptual versatility to memory.
"The true complexity, and the heart of Alchemy, comes when you combine these symbols into a functional array," Lily stated.
"In the Runes that compose powerful spells or, more importantly, permanent alchemical tools like the amulet I gave you, we always start by determining a Base Script—the core function, like the Aether-Path for movement—and then we layer, connect, or intertwine other runes around it."
She gestured around the study. "Unlike simple written text that runs left-to-right, the composition of a runic array is incredibly diverse. Some runes must be circular to allow continuous energy flow. Some are rectangular for structural stability. Many must overlap or be layered in specific ways to create a compound effect. And most challenging of all: a fully functional magical array, like a complex ward, is often three-dimensional in its composition, requiring careful alignment on multiple planes."
"This is where specialized equipment comes in," Lily announced, her voice filled with a teacher's enthusiasm. "Trying to draw a three-dimensional magical algorithm on a flat piece of parchment, or worse, trying to etch it onto an artifact without precision, is a recipe for magical feedback and disaster. You need a Rune Workbench."
With a flick of her wand, Lily sent a non-verbal command. A large, beautiful cabinet built into the wall of the study swung open, revealing the object inside. It was not a simple desk.
The Rune Workbench was a marvel of magical engineering. It resembled a beautifully carved, ornate art desk crafted from dark, magically-conductive cedarwood, but its surface was certainly not flat.
The working area was subtly concave, almost like a shallow basin, with numerous intricate, silver-inlaid grooves and openwork patterns crisscrossing the wood. Through these finely-cut areas, Anduin could see the faint, rhythmic glow of an internal magical matrix—the source of its power and precision.
Lily seated Anduin at the desk. Upon closer inspection, Anduin realized the surface was designed to be manipulated. Tiny, almost invisible indentations allowed for the precise placement of tools, and the faint, low-level magical field emanating from the wood made his arm hairs prickle.
The complexity of the knowledge required to create this tool alone was staggering, instantly broadening Anduin's perception of "Runology" from a classroom subject to a high-level magical science.
"This is a fully functional, high-precision workbench," Lily explained proudly. "It has four primary functions that are crucial for Runology and Alchemy: Recording, Manifestation, Combination, and Testing."
She pointed to a small, crystalline node embedded in the corner. "Recording allows us to store complex, multi-layered rune symbols. We don't have to draw them from scratch every time. And Manifestation can retrieve the recorded characters into the air above the surface, like this."
Lily tapped the crystal with her wand and whispered a low, resonant word. With a soft chime, a three-foot-tall, shimmering, silvery projection materialized about two inches above the workbench surface. It was the Aether-Path symbol she had just drawn, spinning slowly in the air.
"This manifestation is magically active," Lily murmured, pointing out the slight hum. "The bench feeds it just enough energy to exist in three dimensions. Now, let's look at Combination."
She spoke two more quiet, precise words, and a second symbol appeared next to the Aether-Path: a jagged, horizontal line that Anduin recognized as the Rune Symbol for Resistance or Holding.
"This array, composed entirely of two-dimensional elements, is the foundational combination for the Sticking Charm," Lily explained, expertly using her wand tip to gently slide the two projected symbols toward each other. When the Aether-Path (Ascend/Leave) overlapped the Resistance Rune, the combined structure locked into place, merging their silvery light.
As the combination was completed, the faint hum of the workbench intensified, and the air around the merged runes grew noticeably thicker, taking on a subtle, molasses-like consistency. It was an immediate, localized magical effect—the first, embryonic Test of the array's function.
"Notice how the ambient magic is immediately drawn to it and resists motion," Lily instructed, her voice low. "That's the workbench testing the array's integrity. We can now measure its output, its stability, and its potential for failure before we even attempt to translate it into a spell or etch it onto a piece of gold."
She smiled at Anduin, who was staring intently at the shimmering runes. "Simple combinations like this are entirely 2D. But when we get into complex Wards or Alchemical devices, the patterns become multi-layered, demanding the three-dimensional precision this bench provides. Now, let's try a simple, two-symbol array of your choice..."