Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

The two continued spinning, and Lily gradually found her rhythm.

She no longer simply followed Regulus; she began to use a series of spells to disrupt his movement.

The first shot hits his right side, the second blocks his space to the left, and the third is sent the moment he changes direction.

Regulus took two steps back, caught the three, and this time it took him a few more steps to find his place again.

He stopped again, looked at Lily, and specifically said these few points: "If the strategy is right, use spells to pressure the opponent's route, and when he has no choice but to go in one direction, then attack in that direction."

This is an important aspect of a duel; it's not just about two people shooting at each other, but about controlling the situation.

Your three consecutive steps were a good idea, but if you had been any faster and connected them more tightly, I really wouldn't have been able to escape.

Lily listened attentively, nodding occasionally.

Regulus continued, "Also, pay attention to the direction your opponent's wand is pointing. Before he casts a spell, his wand will point at the target in advance. The lead time is very short, but enough for you to anticipate it."

"By observing the direction of their gaze, one can basically guess where the next target will be..."

Halfway through her sentence, Lily winked slyly, then suddenly swung her wand, casting a disarming spell straight at his chest, cleanly striking him while he was speaking.

Regulus raised an eyebrow slightly, flicked his wand to the side, deflected the red light, and struck the wall.

His movement was a little too forceful, and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he glanced at her.

Lily was breathing a little fast, a few strands of her hair were messy, she stood there with bright eyes, waiting for him to give her an explanation.

She knew she had hit him well, almost actually succeeding. Although she knew Regulus wasn't serious, she was still happy and excited.

Regulus's tone remained gentle, his gaze somewhat like that of someone watching a mischievous child: "To strike while someone is talking is not exactly honorable."

Seeing his expression, Lily said confidently, "You said it yourself, there's no such thing as fair play in a duel."

Regulus thought about it carefully. He didn't think he had said that, but after glancing at Lily, he decided to admit that there was actually nothing wrong with what he said.

He nodded: "Yes, I did say that."

Lily snorted, a mix of smugness and restraint, though she couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth.

The two fought for a while longer, then Regulus let her continue to attack while he retreated to receive the blows.

Occasionally retaliate to put pressure on her, but not so much that she can't handle it.

Lily got into the rhythm more and more smoothly, and eventually she was able to take into account movement, casting angle, and rhythm control at the same time.

Although it's still a long way from a real duel, this progress is acceptable for a third-year wizard.

It was almost 9:30 when Regulus put away his wand. Lily also stopped, leaned against the windowsill, took a sip of water, and was still breathing a little rapidly.

Regulus stood in the middle of the classroom, waiting for her to catch her breath.

It was completely dark outside the window, the moon hung high in the sky, and a thin layer of mist had formed on the glass.

After Lily finished drinking her water, she put the bottle away, turned her head to look at him, and remembered the question that had been weighing on her mind.

"That thing on your body," she pointed to her chest, making a gesture to cover it, "what is that?"

"Ironclad Charm," Regulus said, "keep it active all the time, without having to cast it manually each time."

Lily paused for a moment, then frowned, her voice filled with surprise: "It's been hanging there the whole time?"

"With sufficient magic power and enough familiarity with the spell, it can remain permanently," Regulus said.

"But the root of the problem lies in the manipulation of magic, in making magic do things directly without using spells or wands."

That's what they say, but that's not entirely true.

This Constant Armor Spell he possessed was no longer the same one he had found in the forbidden book section.

After the constellation Orion is lit at 5:00 AM, the image of protection merges into it, and it transforms from a defensive spell into something else.

Passive, constant, instinctive.

It grew out after long-term magical shaping and the internalization of the will to protect; it's not profound, but it's high-end.

There's no need to tell Lily these things.

Even without Rigel or any protective imagery, the Constant Iron Armor Spell is sufficient on its own.

It's just difficult, extremely difficult.

You need to press a spell into a thin film, weave it with magic, stick it to your body, and continuously supply it with magic so that it can maintain itself.

This training method requires an extremely high level of control over magic, so high that most adult wizards cannot achieve it.

But difficulty is not a reason not to practice. Even if you can't master it, the process of practicing itself is meaningful.

Those perceptions, manipulations, distributions, and continuous outputs of magic are the foundation for advancing further.

Lily's brows were still furrowed.

She remembered clearly the scene last weekend when Regulus grabbed the spell she had cast with his bare hand and crushed it.

He said at the time that it was magical manipulation, and that it was the foundation.

She took a deep breath, looked up at him earnestly, and asked, "Then how do we practice?"

"Take your time," Regulus said softly. "This is what I'm going to teach you next."

Lily nodded, blinked, and asked, "What about the sparring? Will it continue?"

"For sparring practice, find someone to practice with, like classmates or friends. Use the spells you've learned more often and practice them more. You'll naturally get faster as you become more familiar with them. Of course, you can also come to me."

He continued, "But I plan to have you practice something else next."

Lily raised an eyebrow: "What?"

"Guardian Angel Spell"

Lily blinked, a hint of uncertainty in her voice: "A guardian spirit? The kind that even adult wizards have a hard time summoning?"

Regulus nodded: "Yes."

She looked at him, thought for a moment, and asked directly, "Why are you practicing this now?"

"The Guardian is the one who transforms emotions into magical power," Regulus said calmly. "Practicing this is actually practicing something else entirely."

He paused for a moment, then added, "You'll need it later."

After hearing this, Lily pondered the sentence in her mind: "Training the Guardian Spirit, is it really not training the Guardian Spirit?"

She didn't understand, but she didn't ask any further questions; she just nodded.

She didn't doubt Regulus's words. Everything he had said over the past year had its reasons, and even if she didn't fully understand them at the time, she had figured them out later.

Regulus's expression turned serious: "There's something I need to clarify."

Lily looked up.

"You can practice the Guardian Spirit exercises on your own, and it's okay if your friends know, but you can't say that you learned them from me."

Lily paused for a moment, her green eyes lingering on his face for a while, but she didn't ask why; she just stared at him.

She didn't know why, but she could tell that Regulus was serious.

"Okay," Lily nodded vigorously, "I've got it."

After a moment of silence, she rolled her eyes and turned her head to the side: "Can I ask Professor McGonagall? I can just say I want to learn and ask her for some direction, so I'll have someone to guide me."

Regulus glanced at her, his eyes full of approval, and nodded.

Lily raised her chin, her lips pursed in uncontrollable smugness, her pride practically radiating from her face.

Regulus smiled and praised, "Clever."

Then he walked to the corner of the classroom, lightly tapped a piece of wood on the ground with his finger, and the wood piece turned into a long, thin feather that floated up.

He placed the feather in his palm and handed it to Lily: "Here you go."

Lily took it, looked at it, and then looked at him.

"Hold the wand, but don't chant any spells or wave it," he said. "Feel the magic within you, let it flow to your fingertips, gather there, and then let it flow out from your fingertips and touch the feather."

Lily lowered her head, staring at the feathers, her brows furrowed, thinking hard, but she couldn't figure out where to start.

After a while, she looked up, somewhat frustrated: "I can't sense where the magic is."

Regulus patiently asked, "Where does the magic come from when you cast a spell?"

Lily thought for a moment: "From...the body?"

"Yes," Regulus nodded. "Close your eyes and mentally run through the spell you know best, without saying it aloud."

Feel where the magic begins to move, where it goes, and what it feels like inside your body before it gathers at the tip of the staff.

Lily closed her eyes, gripped her wand, her brows furrowed slightly, and her lips moved slightly as if she were silently reciting something, then stopped.

About half a minute later, she opened her eyes.

"I can feel it, starting from here—" she pointed to the left side of her chest, "going down to my arm, and then to the tip of the cane."

"Remember that feeling. Now, without casting a spell, guide the magic to your fingertips, hold it there, and then let it go out and touch the feather."

Lily took a deep breath and looked down at the feathers again.

The feather didn't move. I tried again, but it still didn't move.

She pursed her lips, her brows furrowing deeper, her expression serious with a hint of defiance.

The third time, the feather's edge twitched slightly, as if brushed by a gentle breeze, and then remained still.

Lily's eyes widened suddenly. She looked up at Regulus, her eyes shining.

Regulus said softly, "It's moving, but not stable enough. Continue, let it float completely."

Lily lowered her head and continued.

This time it was a little faster; the feather left my palm, floated in the air, trembling, and veered to the left.

She quickly adjusted herself, the feather swayed in the air several times, and then fell down.

She picked up the feather, placed it back in her palm, and tried again.

The fifth time, the feather floated steadily in the air, about an inch from the palm of the hand, without moving an inch.

Lily stared at the feather, holding her breath, afraid that any movement would shake it off.

But Regulus wasn't afraid: "Now let it draw a circle."

Lily looked up at him, her lips twitching slightly, as if asking, "Are you serious?"

Regulus was certainly serious.

She lowered her head, stared at the feather again, and tried to make it move.

The feather tilted to the right, then lurched to the left, tracing a crooked arc in the air before falling back down.

Regulus stood beside him, his tone still calm: "Again."

Lily picked up the feather, took a deep breath, and tried again.

After several rounds of practice, we're still figuring out how to draw a circle with a feather.

Regulus pointed his finger at a broken brick in the corner of the classroom, and the brick turned into a cup.

He placed the cup on the windowsill, then touched the rim of the cup with his finger, and the water flowed like a spring.

Water gushed from my fingertips and poured into the cup, filling it to eight-tenths full.

"Put the feathers aside for now, and look at this."

He said, "We create ripples on the water's surface and control the shape of those ripples."

Lily walked over, glanced at the water in the glass, then looked at Regulus, her tone tinged with a hint of感慨 (gan3kai3, a complex emotion encompassing regret, regret, and a sense of awe), "Is your training method designed to make everyone aware of just how bad you are?"

Regulus smiled. "Pretty much."

Lily laughed out loud, then lowered her head, stared at the water's surface, and began to try.

The water surface didn't move the first time, but the second time it rippled a little and then dispersed.

The third ripple was a little more stable, but its shape was completely out of control, spreading in all directions.

Lily frowned and tried to fold it into a square, but the water surface became a mess.

She looked at Regulus with a pained expression.

"The magic is too scattered," Regulus said. "You need to concentrate the magic you send out, starting from a single point, and then you decide where it spreads."

Lily thought for a moment, nodded, and tried again.

This time, a thin ripple appeared on the water's surface, just a shallow line, but it was clearly controlled.

She stared at the ripple, and the corners of her mouth slowly curved into a smile.

Regulus didn't say anything, just waited for her to feel it for herself.

The wind outside the window slapped against the glass, the water rippled, and the ripple dispersed.

Lily raised her head and gently exhaled.

"It's almost ten o'clock," Regulus said gently. "That's all for today."

Lily responded, pushed the cup aside, and clapped her hands: "Magic control, go back and practice on your own?"

Regulus nodded: "Yes, feathers and water are both fine, take your time."

Lily nodded, then her expression changed, and her eyes drifted towards Regulus's face with a hint of caution, as if she was considering whether to speak.

Finally, she spoke, her tone somewhat troubled: "You tell me... why do some people just love to bully others?"

After she finished speaking, the sadness that had been suppressed since she entered the room that evening resurfaced in her eyes.

Regulus raised an eyebrow.

The look on Snape's face when he approached him a few days ago, combined with Lily's cautious expression just now—

No need to think, it's Sirius.

Since Sirius Black is involved, James Potter is indispensable.