Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

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On the first Thursday of November, the cold Scottish wind blew in through the cracks in the castle, and a thin layer of frost formed on the corridor windows.

The young wizards changed into thick robes, their collars pulled tight, and walked towards the classroom with their necks hunched.

The Spells class was on the seventh floor, with windows facing east. When the morning light slanted in, you could see dust particles floating in the air.

Regulus walked to a seat by the window and sat down, untying his scarf and draping it over the back of the chair. Hermes sat next to him, while Avery and Alex sat in the row behind.

Professor Flitwick stood on a pile of books, smiling as he watched the students take their seats. He clapped his hands, and the buzzing voices in the classroom quieted down.

"Today we'll learn two new spells: a sound spell and a spell to listen to while plugging your ears."

He tapped his wand against his throat: "Sonorus."

Professor Flitwick usually spoke in a high-pitched, soft voice, but at this moment every word was as loud as a bell, making the windowpane vibrate and causing a book that wasn't properly packed on the top shelf to fall down with a thud.

The students in the last row instinctively covered their ears, then put them down again, looking around curiously.

The professor tapped his throat again: "Quietus."

The sound vanished instantly. Several students strained to listen, but there was nothing. They could only stare at each other in disbelief.

Regulus noticed that the professor's Adam's apple was still trembling slightly, and the sound was still being produced, but it wasn't being transmitted.

He knew both spells; they were the most basic of the basics, yet they had a wide range of applications.

Dumbledore used the Sound Spell to give his opening address in the Great Hall every year, which is simple and easy to learn.

All it takes is waving the wand and reciting the spell; no emotions, no thoughts, nothing superfluous are required.

The wand was pressed against the throat, and the words were uttered, making the sound louder. To stop it, the wand was uttered again, and it stopped.

There's not much to say about that.

Then an idea popped into my head.

Sound is a wave, and isn't light also a wave?

Sound waves are mechanical waves and require a medium, while light is an electromagnetic wave and can propagate in a vacuum.

They differ in nature and propagate in different ways, but they all follow some common laws of waves.

Things that I used to be able to understand just by flipping through a book, so simple that I didn't need to think about them much, are different now.

Regulus stared at his wand, his thoughts about light magic swirling with the demonstration before him.

Sound can be amplified, its direction narrowed, and it can be blocked. What about light?

Can light also be controlled in this way? Can the principles of sound spells be applied to light magic?

The other young wizards in the classroom were already getting excited. The spell that allowed their voices to be heard throughout the room was so interesting. Several Ravenclaw students whispered among themselves, their eyes shining.

"If I use earplugs to listen to the incantation during the exam," a bespectacled boy whispered, "would that prevent the professor from hearing me and the person next to me asking for answers?"

The girl next to her rolled her eyes: "Then even the professor couldn't see your mouth moving?"

"I can hide under the table."

"Then you should shrink yourself first."

The two burst into laughter.

The girl in front of them turned around and looked at them expressionlessly: "Have you ever thought that the professor also uses Quietus? He can make the sounds of your answers disappear."

"When bargaining in Diagon Alley, cast a voice spell on yourself, making your voice loud and your presence imposing."

"It's better to mute your opponent so they can't hear your offer."

The young wizards chuckled, finding the idea of ​​its ingenious use increasingly appealing.

Professor Flitwick wrote down the key points with his wand; the words glowed and floated in mid-air.

Sonorus, amplify the sound, fill the classroom, wand pressed against the throat.

Quietus: To block out sound in a specified area, reducing or eliminating the sound.

The difficulty lies in controlling the direction of sound propagation, adjusting the volume when closing one's ears, and even cutting off the sound at a certain point.

"Let's begin practicing."

The classroom immediately became lively, with various volumes and tones of "Sonorus" rising and falling.

Some voices were as loud as thunder, some were so soft they couldn't be heard, and some trembled with nervousness.

The effect of listening to a spell with your ears plugged is even more comical. Someone cast a spell on their deskmate, and ended up having their own voice halved first.

Someone waved their wand so hard that they almost hit the student in front of them on the back of the head.

Professor Flitwick patrolled among the desks, his short body moving nimbly, occasionally stopping to correct pronunciation or adjust gestures.

Regulus raised his wand and pressed it to his throat: "Sonorus."

The sound came out of his mouth and traveled steadily to the window at the opposite corner of the classroom, causing the glass to vibrate slightly.

It's that simple. Just have a thought: if you want to go somewhere, you'll go.

He cast it several times in a row, and then noticed a phenomenon.

As sound travels, it undergoes extremely slight distortion if it passes through the area where other young wizards practice. His sound waves collide with other sound waves, producing subtle distortions.

Regulus stopped and stared at the tip of his wand.

Sound originates from the throat and spreads in waves in all directions; this is natural propagation.

The effect of a sound spell is to use magic to guide these sound waves, causing them to concentrate in a specific direction.

However, concentration does not mean non-dispersion. Sound waves will still spread, but the spread is compressed and the energy is more concentrated, so it can travel farther and sound louder.

Physically, this is the directional propagation of waves; magic acts as a kind of acoustic lens, altering the propagation path of the sound waves.

What if we could prevent it from disintegrating completely?

He cast another sound spell, this time concentrating his mind, not only controlling the direction but also trying his best to narrow the sound wave beam as much as possible, almost to the point of being a line.

The sound traveled straight toward the target with almost no spread along the way, but this was based on the function of the spell itself; he could do it if he wanted to.

What he wants to understand now is the underlying principle.

How does magic work on sound waves? Can it also work on light waves?

The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

After class in the afternoon, the corridor was bustling with people. Regulus pushed through the crowd and opened the heavy oak door of the library, the hinges making a low creaking sound.

Mrs. Pince peeked out from behind the bookshelf, glanced at him, and then withdrew.

He walked inside, to the window, to the corner, the spot with the best light.

Lily sat there, a book open in front of her, flipping through it.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up, saw him, and gave him a smile, but her tone trailed off: "Long time no see."

Regulus sensed something was off about Lily's tone.

He thought about it carefully and filled his days with classes, magic practice, and experiments in the Forbidden Forest.

Then he realized that nothing was wrong.

He placed the book on the table, pulled out the chair opposite him, and sat down: "Long time no see."

Lily glared at him, said nothing more, and lowered her head to continue flipping through the book.

Regulus was holding a book about the basic principles of spells. The cover was covered in dust, the leather was stiff, and the corners were curled up.

Not many young wizards would bother to read this kind of book.

For a young wizard, there's really no need to understand the principles behind magic that can be cast simply by waving the right wand and reciting the right spell.

He opened the book, found the chapter on sound spells, and began to read.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, slowly moving from the corner of the table to the center, and then from the center to the other side.

The shadows on the bookshelf grew longer and longer, moving from one side to the other.

Until the sun sets, the light turns orange.

Lily closed her book, looked over with her green eyes, and casually asked, "You haven't been here for over a week, what have you been up to?"

Regulus closed the book: "Practice magic."

"What kind of magic do you practice?"

"It's something new, still being tested."

Lily nodded and didn't press him further. If he didn't bring it up, she wouldn't ask any more questions.

She changed the subject, with a hint of curiosity: "I've heard about your Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Regulus looked up.

"Professor Vance asked you to come up on stage and fight you, and you defeated him."

Regulus smirked: "It's just an exhibition match."

Sure enough, the news spread quickly; among young wizards, such things travel faster than anything else.

But it's not necessarily a bad thing; that's how influence is built.

Lily didn't respond.

When she first heard about it, she was a little excited and a little happy.

It wasn't just because Regulus beat the professor; it was more because he was someone she knew, her friend.

It's hard to describe the feeling of being told someone is amazing, but it makes me even happier if they say someone is more amazing than me.

She wanted to ask him, to hear it from him in person, but Regulus hadn't been to the library for over a week, so she couldn't get his information.

Later, I heard from an upperclassman that the professor wouldn't use his full power on the young wizards; he was just demonstrating it to others in class.

She understood, of course, but she was still happy.

Now, more than a week has passed, the excitement has subsided, but the curiosity remains.

There are many versions circulating, some exaggerated, some detailed, and each version describes different details.

But one thing is the same: Regulus used all the spells he had learned in the second year.

The disarming spell, the obstacle spell, the stun spell, and the transfiguration spell were all within the textbook, but the way they were used was completely out of the ordinary for a second-grader.

She thought back to the last time with the Ironclad Curse, when Regulus made her experience what the complete Ironclad Curse felt like.

She practiced on her own for a long time afterward, and now she can release it, although it's not stable enough, but she can definitely release it.

After that incident, she knew that the same spell was completely different in his hands and in someone else's hands, but she never figured out exactly what the difference was.

"That's what I wanted to ask." She looked at Regulus, her tone becoming serious.

"The same spell, when others use it softly, it sounds weak when you use it—"

Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, everyone says it's fast, accurate, and powerful.

How did you do that? Was it because you practiced a lot, or is there some kind of secret?

Regulus thought for a moment, then said, "Both."

Before Lily could ask further, he countered, "How do you practice spells?"

Lily paused for a moment: "Just practice exactly as the professor teaches. Read from the book until you can release it."

Regulus continued, "And then what?"

Lily blinked, her tone a little uncertain: "Master it again... then move on to the next one."

After she finished speaking, she lowered her gaze.

Regulus did nothing; he remained the same, with a gentle expression and the same tone when asking questions.

But she just felt a little uncomfortable.

It's like something you always thought you were doing well was suddenly scrutinized by someone else.

After watching it, something seems off, or rather, nothing seems right.

Regulus noticed Lily's change but said nothing.

His expression remained gentle, and his tone was calm: "That's the training method used in schools."

He continued, "When I practice a spell, releasing it is just the beginning. After releasing it, I need to make it faster, more accurate, and more stable."

Lily looked up.

"Fast doesn't mean reciting quickly, but rather that the magic reaches the tip of the staff in a short time. Accurate doesn't mean aiming directly at the target, but rather knowing where the target is going to hide and striking in advance."

As for stability, it's not enough to just shoot it off course; the trajectory must remain straight, and the spell must remain intact until it hits the target.

Lily listened, her brows furrowing slightly.

Regulus chuckled. "You just mentioned proficiency, but that's just the basics. What I'm talking about is also basic, but yours is the very foundation. First, practice to this level of basics before moving on to the next level."

Lily glared at him, her eyebrows raised and her lips downturned, as if she wanted to be fierce, but she didn't.

She wanted to say, "What do you mean by that?" but she swallowed the words back.

She stared at Regulus closely and noticed that there was no mockery on his face, only the expression of someone stating something perfectly natural.

She sighed softly and lowered her eyes.

Regulus must be right. He's never been wrong, and besides, he's incredibly capable.

She remembered that last year, right at this same table, Regulus had told her several key points about dueling.

Understanding incantations, mastering incantations, physical movement, and mental anticipation.

"In many cases, a duel is a contest of consciousness that precedes a clash of spells."

She still remembers those words, and she thinks them over in her mind every time she practices the spell.

Do you understand this spell?

Where is the body when casting a spell?

Where will the opponent hide?

She thought that was all there was to it.

Now, listening to Regulus explain how to train, she realized that she still had a long way to go.

So, what she thought was the area where she had persevered for so long and worked harder than others was, for Regulus, just the most basic level?

They haven't even reached the basics?

What level of ascent does Regulus refer to?

The professor won't bring up these things on his own initiative, and they're not in the textbooks. These things might just be commonplace for a pure-blooded wizard, or someone in his family might say so.

But if no one tells her, then she really won't know. Time may have been spent, but she'll never think in that direction.

Lily sighed and said, "The professor never taught any of this."

There was no complaint in his words, just a hint of regret.

Regulus looked at her and said softly, "The professor teaches magic, not how to use it."

Lily looked at him; opposite her was a window, and light was streaming in from behind.

His expression remained the same: gentle, patient, and unhurried.

Every time she asked a question, he would listen to her, no matter how basic the question was or how embarrassed she was to ask. He would listen and then explain slowly, without laughing at her or finding it annoying.

She glanced out the window again; the condensation on the glass had dissipated, and she could see the tree branches swaying in the wind.

After a while, she said, "So, do you think I can do it?"

Regulus's lips curled into a smile, his eyes crinkling slightly. "You're smarter than me. If I can do it, why can't you?"

Lily laughed out loud, then glared at him, annoyed. "Are you praising me or yourself?"

Regulus smiled at her but didn't reply.

The light outside the window dimmed, the orange-red turned grayish-blue, and the shadows on the bookshelf disappeared.

Lily started packing up the books: "It's time to eat."

Regulus also put away his book, and the two of them stood up and walked outside.

As they reached the door, Lily asked, "Next time you practice magic, can you call me?"

Regulus turned his head to look at her.

Her eyes held a mixture of expectation and uncertainty: "Is it okay?"

Regulus smiled and agreed, "Okay, it's always good to want to improve yourself."

Lily's eyes crinkled slightly, and she let out a soft hum, it was impossible to tell whether she was resentful or pleased.

She turned around: "Let's go eat."

The two walked out of the library together, with Lily walking ahead, her steps light and her braids swinging back and forth.