Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Lily stood in the middle of the classroom, asking expectantly, "What are we practicing?"

Regulus didn't rush to answer. He glanced at her first, trying to sense her magical fluctuations for the first time.

But to say I'm being serious is just to take a look. Before, I was looking at the appearance; this time, I'm looking at the magic. I understand everything in just one glance.

Well, I'd say he's a regular junior wizard.

Regulus knew, of course, that the strength of magic power could not fully indicate the strength of magical ability. Two people with similar magic power could cast the same spell with vastly different power.

Some people are good at it, some are not; some like it, some don't; some practice every day, some forget it as soon as they finish practicing.

Some people cast spells with their minds blank, while others have a deep understanding of the spell in their minds; naturally, the power is different.

But in his eyes, these differences were not very meaningful.

Once you reach a certain level, magic power is simply strong; there's no such thing as a wizard with powerful magic power who is also weak.

He may not be good at fighting, and he may not like fighting and killing, but he will not be weak.

The immense magical power is itself a form of power; it cannot be weakened even if one wants to.

Lily is clearly not at that level; she's far from it.

In fact, only a few wizards can reach this level; they are those who are truly on the path of magic, not just those who can cast spells.

Regulus looked at Lily's expectant eyes, wiped the smile from his lips, and his expression became serious: "Don't practice yet, test first."

Lily paused for a moment, then noticed his expression change and knew this was no time for jokes.

She and Regulus were good friends, but now he was the one teaching her. If the teacher was serious, the student should also have the right attitude.

She also became serious: "Okay."

Regulus nodded in satisfaction. It was good that he got into the zone so quickly.

Lily lowered her head, rolled her eyes very lightly, so quickly it was like blinking, and tried to turn her lips up slightly, but suppressed it.

But she looked up, her tone serious: "How?"

Regulus took a few steps back, creating some distance, and assumed a fighting stance, but his posture was relaxed.

A little wizard, huh.

"Say all the spells you know, one by one, towards me."

Lily was stunned.

He had nothing in his hands, didn't take out his wand, and just stood there casually, showing no sign of defending himself.

She opened her mouth but didn't say anything, though she was a little resentful.

Lily's mind raced. He didn't have a wand, so using a disarming charm wouldn't be appropriate, and there was nothing to disarm anyway. Therefore—

She raised her wand: "Petrify them all!"

A gray light shot out from the tip of the staff. The speed was decent, and the distance was close enough that the spell reached Regulus in the blink of an eye.

As Lily watched the spell being cast, wondering if he would dodge, she saw him extend his hand, fingers spread, palm facing forward, and then close his hand the instant the spell touched him.

The gray light was still flickering when he held it in his hand, with a few wisps leaking out between his fingers like fireflies that had been caught, struggling to escape but unable to get away.

Lily opened her eyes wide.

Regulus looked down at his hand; the ball of gray light twisted in his palm, shrinking into a small ball, then expanding, then shrinking back.

He pinched his thumb against his forefinger, and the incantation shattered, turning into tiny specks of light that drifted in the air.

He sensed the spell; the magic was stable, the structure was clear, and he released it without hesitation.

It's commendable, quite good, and it's clear that the person has practiced.

But this is only the level of an excellent junior wizard. No matter how excellent a junior wizard is, he is still just a junior wizard.

He glanced at Lily.

She stood opposite me, her mouth slightly open, her eyes a whole size larger than usual, as if she had seen something she shouldn't have seen.

"Continue," Regulus said. "Play all the spells once."

Lily took a deep breath, her chest heaving, her shoulders slumping as she suppressed the breath she had just taken.

Once she had taken her last breath, she put extra effort into each of her subsequent incantations.

"Flames are raging!"

Orange-red flames shot out from the tip of the staff, curling into a line before dissipating into a patch in front of Regulus.

Regulus raised his hand, his five fingers closing together, and the flames, as if drawn by something, broke off from the tip of Lily's staff and gathered in his palm.

The flame flickered twice between my fingers, grew smaller and smaller, and finally shrank to the size of a fingernail before going out.

There wasn't a single mark left on my palm.

"Explosion Curse!"

The sound of the white light exploding was very loud, echoing twice in the empty classroom.

Regulus cupped the exploding magic in his palm like a handful of water; it bounced a few times in his hand and then disappeared.

Lily continued: "Flocks of birds!"

A flock of silver birds emerged from the tip of the staff, fluttering and crashing against him.

He reached out and grabbed the one in front, while the others froze in mid-air, as if they had been fixed there by something.

He tightened his grip, and the bird shattered into specks of light, followed by the rest.

Everything turned to stone, collapsing unconscious. Aside from your weapons, your legs stiffened and you died, surrounded by obstacles...

He caught each spell as it came, squeezed it, twisted it, and then extinguished it.

More than a dozen in a row.

Lily stood opposite, wand raised, her breathing becoming rapid.

Regulus withdrew his hand, letting it hang at his side: "Take a break."

Lily breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked at Regulus, whose face softened again, completely different from how he had reached out to receive the spell just moments before.

She felt a sense of relief, but then her heart tightened again. She had never seen or even heard of those methods before, let alone witnessed them.

Simply grab the incantation in your hand, like catching a flying insect, and then crush it.

What is this?

Lily didn't know, but she did know one thing: the distance between her and Regulus was much greater than she thought.

She took a few steps forward, standing in front of him, her voice slightly unsteady, as if she hadn't yet recovered from what had just happened: "How did you do that?"

Regulus smiled slightly: "The basics."

Lily snapped out of her daze and glared at him with her green eyes.

She recalled what he had said last time: the basics, the most basic of the basics.

She still remembered those words, but if this is only the basics, then what is she practicing?

It's not even the most basic level?

Lily asked with a troubled tone, "You mentioned the basics last time, is this part of it too?"

Regulus smiled but didn't say anything; that was the basics.

Whether it's with him or not, the fact is, that's the foundation.

It's just magical manipulation, a mere trick, not even particularly sophisticated.

He looked at Lily's expression and found it amusing; her face seemed to say, "Are you kidding me?"

Then he said in a gentle tone, "It is indeed the foundation."

Lily stared at him for two seconds, as if to confirm whether he was joking.

Then it was confirmed that he really wasn't joking.

All the basic knowledge she had in her mind shattered at that moment.

She thought the foundation was the ability to cast spells accurately, quickly, and steadily, just as Regulus had said.

But now it seems that it wasn't, or rather, not entirely.

Lily fell silent for a long while before asking, "So what exactly is this 'foundation' you're talking about?"

Regulus said, "Magic manipulation."

He continued, "Beyond spells, wizards can do many things directly with magic, without spells or wands, it's magic itself."

Your magic is within you, around you, in places you can see or not; you can make it do whatever you want it to do.

It's not about casting a spell, but about making magic have that effect.

Lily frowned: "Isn't that a silent, wandless spell?"

"They start learning silent spells in third grade and staffless spells in fifth grade," Regulus asked with a smile. "You knew that? Did you read it beforehand?"

Lily nodded.

A hint of satisfaction flashed in Regulus's eyes.

Lily saw it and slapped him: "Don't change the subject, I'm asking you, isn't that a silent, staffless spell?"

"Silent and wandless spellcasting uses willpower instead of incantations and wands, but this is the result, not the process."

Lily listened attentively without responding, waiting for him to continue.

"When you first start practicing, you have to think about it in your mind, really think about what the spell should look like and what effect you want to achieve."

Once you can truly unleash it, you don't need to think about it anymore; the moment a thought arises, the incantation is released.

His gaze softened, and his tone slowed: "But that just means your magic has become familiar with the path of that spell. You give it a direction, and it goes there on its own."

Magic manipulation isn't like that; silence and the absence of a wand are the result, not the process.

Lily listened attentively, her mind racing with thought.

Regulus’s claims are not found in any book, but upon closer examination, they do seem to be true.

Regulus didn't continue; these topics were already quite advanced, and the basics were more important for now.

Regulus glanced at Lily, who was still deep in thought, and added in his mind, "No, it's the most basic of basics."

Regulus said softly, "Let's not talk about that now, let's talk about the test results."

Lily snapped out of her reverie; she did indeed want to know more about that, but as for manipulating magic, she would ask about it later.

She asked curiously, "What were you trying to test by having me recite so many spells just now?"

Regulus looked at her, his expression a mixture of seriousness and amusement: "You're a fine little witch."

Lily glared at him but didn't say anything.

He continued, "But..."

Lily remained silent and continued to glare at him.

Regulus's lips curled into a slight smile: "There's still a lot of room for improvement."

Lily snorted.

Regulus asked, "Have you rested enough?"

Lily nodded vigorously, her voice clear and crisp: "All done."

Regulus took two steps back: "Again, this time I won't catch it. Watch how I release it, and then do as I say."

In the time that followed, Lily gained a new understanding of the word "teach".

Regulus could see the trajectory of magic flowing within her body and its state during operation; he could tell at a glance what the problem was with a spell.

Whether the magic output is strong enough, whether the structure of the spell is stable, and whether the rhythm from condensation to release is correct are all in his eyes.

This method of guidance is efficient and accurate.

The professor only taught how to do it in class, how to pronounce the spell, and how to make the gestures, and then let the young wizards practice more after class.

Practice makes perfect, and perfection makes speed faster, but that's a process of self-exploration.

Regulus skipped that process and directly told her what was wrong and to fix it.

Lily practiced very diligently, correcting whatever Regulus pointed out, and then feeling the difference herself after making the corrections.

Then she discovered that the difference was significant.

It's almost 10 o'clock.

Regulus glanced out the window: "That's enough for today."

Lily stopped, let out a long breath, her face showing fatigue, but her eyes were bright.

Regulus smiled at her: "You look good today."

Lily smiled, walked up from the window, tilted her head, and asked, "Is Professor Regulus teaching again tomorrow?"

Regulus's lips curled into a slight smile: "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Lily rolled her eyes again, this time more openly, not afraid he would see.

The next chapter is even more exciting: Chapter 246 Lily, a basic review, looking forward to your visit.