Harry, at this moment, was already fantasizing about the scene after he learned powerful magic.
When Dudley provoked him, he would show a faint, unperturbed smile, just like Uncle Howl.
Dudley would surely want to get physical. According to Dudley's habit, he would first grab his clothes, wanting to throw him out.
Then I would calmly raise my hand, my fingers flickering slightly, and with a flick of magic, send Dudley flying into a flower bed in front of the entire school.
Then I'd pat my clothes and say, 'Don't dirty my...' 'What are you thinking about?' Howl's voice snapped Harry back.
Harry's body jolted, his face flushed, and he coughed twice: 'N-nothing.'
Howl could barely suppress a smile. He had a vague idea of what Harry was thinking. Actually, he could understand; he himself used to have such wild thoughts when he was little.
'Don't get too excited,' Howl said with a smile.
Hearing this, Howl's 'you'll get your just desserts' smile reappeared in Harry's mind.
'First, we need to understand what magic power is. Oh, do you need a notebook?'
'Yes!' Harry said instinctively, not even having sat down yet.
Howl got up and walked towards the basement. In a moment, he came out with a stack of yellow parchment, a quill, and several items Harry didn't understand, including a small wand.
It was exactly like the wands he had seen in the hands of Wizards in Diagon Alley.
Howl placed the stack of parchment in front of Harry and handed him the quill.
'Am I supposed to take notes with this?' Harry asked, surprised.
Howl gave a mysterious smile: 'Using this gives it style, making it look like an ancient master's work.'
Harry nodded with a hint of understanding. So that's how it was.
'Back to the main topic. Don't write as I speak! After I finish speaking, you review my words and then take notes in your own words, understood?'
Harry nodded repeatedly, his heart full of anticipation for magic: 'I understand.'
'To get started with magic, one point that cannot be avoided is magic power.' Howl spoke slowly, leaning back on the sofa like an old man telling a story.
'magic power is an abstract concept, not a truly existing energy. You can understand it as the stamina we need when casting spells.
Stamina is consumed, restored, and increased. magic power is the same.
If the world's laws are like strings of a zither, then spells are the musical score, and magic power is the pick that plucks the strings. Without magic power, you cannot connect with the world's laws, and thus cannot cast spells, understood?'
'Understood.' Harry nodded. This wasn't difficult to comprehend.
Howl nodded, giving Harry time to take notes, then straightened up: 'Now that we know about magic power, let's talk about how to use it.'
'A wand?' Harry asked.
'Bingo!' Howl praised slightly: 'But that expression isn't entirely accurate. It's just that the mainstream method for Wizards to cast spells now is indeed wands.'
Saying this, Howl laid out all the items he had just brought up in front of Harry.
There were dried, shriveled black lizards, a plump-looking pufferfish, rings, and a wand.
He even saw Uncle Howl take off the pile of rings he was wearing and then pull out the previously seen wand, taller than himself, from his sleeve.
'These are all items that drive magic power. We can collectively call them—casting tools.'
With that, Howl divided all the items into two piles, left and right.
'You have magic power within you, we can confirm that, right?'
'Yes.' Harry nodded: 'But I... I can't feel them, and I can't command them.'
'That's normal. Most people can't command magic power. In ancient times, casters even regarded magic as a miracle and defined themselves as people who communicated with deities,' Howl said.
'So there really are deities in this world?'
'I don't know about this world. But I've encountered them before. I wanted to kill them, but I couldn't beat them... No, don't interrupt me!!' Howl suddenly reacted.
'Sorry.' Harry quickly lowered his head, grinning sheepishly and not daring to look at Howl.
'The magic power within most people is chaotic. So, throughout the long History of Magic, casting tools have also been divided into two types.'
Saying this, Howl pointed to the pile of items on his left: two rings, a small wand Harry had seen before, and some bracelets, eyeball pendants, and so on.
'These are conduits. They are responsible for channeling magic power, allowing the caster to complete spells normally.'
Then he pointed to the other side, which included the rings Howl had been wearing, bracelets, and that huge wand.
'These are amplifiers. They can enhance the effectiveness of a caster's spells, achieving twice the result with half the effort.'
Howl noticed Harry's eager gaze fixed on the conduits. At the same time, Harry also asked with some anticipation:'So, Uncle Howl, with just a conduit, even I can successfully use magic?'
Howl nodded: 'That's right, conduits can help casters correctly channel magic power and complete spells.'
After saying that, he changed the subject and asked: 'Have you noticed the difference between these conduits and amplifiers on the table?'
Harry looked carefully but couldn't see any difference between the two. They both came in various forms: wands, rings, bracelets, and even some animal products that looked a bit gruesome.
Similarly, they all had different artificial traces; there were no natural items... Harry looked again and again, racking his brain for a long time before coming up with a somewhat strange answer.
Then he replied, somewhat unsure: 'These amplifiers are all yours, Uncle Howl. And these conduits were just brought up from the basement.'
'Exactly!!' Howl nodded, confirming Harry's answer. Then he said seriously:
'Harry, I must tell you first that what I say is not absolutely correct; there's no single best approach. On the path of magic, everyone has their own insights.
So, even my words and the knowledge in books, you must remember to view them with a critical eye.'
'I understand.' Harry nodded.
Seeing Harry nod, Howl pushed all the conduits aside:'So what I want to say is, all Wizards who use conduits are trash!!'
'Huh?' Harry gasped instantly.
Howl continued: 'Don't even think about those conduits. If you can't control magic power on your own, there's no way I'll let you touch a casting tool.'
!!
Howl's words instantly shattered Harry's earlier little thoughts. He looked bitter, but after a moment, he nodded firmly again.
'I understand, I'll work hard!'
Saying this, he wrote in his notebook: 'Wizards who cannot cast spells independently are trash!!'
Harry had clearly taken Howl's words to heart, replacing 'using conduits' with 'cannot cast spells independently.'
Howl looked at Harry's writing, a relieved expression on his face.
This child is truly clever.
Actually, in his previous world, there was a detailed process for how Wizard apprentices learned to control magic power. But this world seemed to have chosen another path.
A path reliant on conduits.
He had previously confiscated and researched several wands from the Ministry of Magic. How to put it... these wands offered very low amplification to casters. The core and rune sections were designed purely for guiding and stabilizing the magic power within the Wizard. As for amplification, it relied entirely on the wood of the wand's shaft.
For example, the warlike nature of aspen wood provides a slight amplification for certain offensive spells.
Or the resilience of cedar wood, which, in the hands of someone with strong willpower, would slightly amplify their spellcasting effectiveness.
But the amplification effects were generally quite ordinary.
Of course, Howl was not looking down on it. The formation of a world's magic system must trace back to its historical reasons and be viewed holistically.
If this world's wands tended to be standardized conduits, then their Wizard population must be much larger, and there would naturally be more skilled mid-tier practitioners. After all, everyone could cast spells and participate in magic research.
This point had been confirmed by 'The Complete Household Spellbook' and by a minor minion using an instant-death spell that touched the source against him.
If Howl's previous world was pyramid-shaped, then this world tended towards an olive shape.
With everyone having such easy-to-use conduits, there wouldn't be too many bottom-tier novices.
His previous remarks... were just to motivate Harry.
After all, he didn't want the person he trained to be merely in the middle of the olive.
As for what Harry wrote in his notebook... Howl stood up and patted Harry's shoulder: 'If you get beaten up at school later, remember not to mention my name.'