A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 126 The Demonic Rune Carving Knife (Seeking first subscription!)

In the afternoon, Harry went with the team to the Quidditch pitch for training.

During the short Christmas break, Wood devised three targeted tactics to counter the new characteristics and tactics that other colleges had shown this year.

The others returned to the castle to do their homework.

It was nearing evening in the Ancient Magic Script Office.

Felix is ​​checking on Hermione's progress—she's been working on improving and upgrading her beaded pouch lately.

"You have learned all the runes needed to upgrade your beaded pouch. The next step is very important: learning how to construct rune circuits."

"Professor, what's the difference?" Hermione asked.

"The inscription of a single rune is relatively simple, but if you want to connect them into a circuit, you need to consider the stability and balance between the runes as a whole - this is a great test of your ability to control magic."

Felix's fingers moved continuously, drawing a string of letters out of the air. These letters were arranged in three rows, each with subtle differences in brightness and size.

"If these are runes you completed at different times, the brightness represents how much magic you infused into them."

Hermione examined the letters, and then, under Professor Hyp's manipulation, they were rearranged into a line.

The rearranged letters appeared chaotic, with bright and dark, large and small letters mixed together, looking both disordered and awkward.

She suddenly understood what Professor Hyp meant by "stability and balance"—the magic used in each rune in the circuit should be kept as consistent as possible.

"Even the slightest difference in magical power can render a circuit useless," Felix said.

"Professor, what should I do?"

"There are two methods. The first is to complete the writing of the magic rune in one go, so that your magic will be more consistent. Of course, you still need a lot of practice."

"But using this method, you need to actively adjust the structure of the runes and make some slight deformations... This is not something you can do right now."

"But won't doing this invalidate the runes themselves?" Hermione asked in surprise. All the information she had received suggested writing runes strictly according to the rules, without allowing any changes.

"That's what makes it so fascinating," Felix explained. "The process is somewhat like learning words from letters. When we learn letters, we strive for standardization and regularity, but when we need to combine letters into words, we make subtle adjustments to make them more fluent and aesthetically pleasing."

"This method tests your understanding of runes," Felix said tactfully.

To put it bluntly, if your understanding of the runes isn't deep enough, you shouldn't try any fancy tricks.

Hermione nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"There are also some techniques involved here, which we will discuss later. The second method is to complete a single magic rune, then draw out magic lines from it, connect them one by one, and form a closed and stable loop."

Hermione had seen this method a few times before, so it wasn't unfamiliar to her.

"Let's give it a try—"

Felix and Hermione went to the workbench and took out several pieces of chestnut wood.

He opened an exquisite toolbox, inside which were arranged seven carving knives of different sizes and materials—metal, wood, and some whose materials were indistinguishable.

"Is this a professional spell tool? Where can I buy it?" the little witch couldn't help but ask.

In her mind, these carving knives were synonymous with magic wands, becoming essential tools for her to learn ancient magical runes.

Professor Hyp replied with an amused expression, "I made these myself, um... except for the metal one."

He wasn't in a hurry to continue the previous topic; instead, he placed the carving knives in front of her one by one.

"First, I must remind you that there are no specific tool requirements for inscribing runes. A carving knife, a wand, or even your fingers will do. What's important is your magic power and your understanding of runes. But—"

"If there are more convenient tools, why refuse them?"

Hermione nodded, indicating she understood. Like some wizards skilled in wandless spellcasting, they never refused to use a wand. Tools allow them to perform more precise maneuvers.

There were seven carving knives in front of her.

The first one is a metal carving knife. The silver-white blade is streamlined and has a distinct curve at the handle. The tip of the knife seems to be made of another metal.

Felix said, "This one I bought from a micro-carving merchant. It's the metal material that I compared repeatedly and found to be the least averse to magic."

Hermione took the carving knife; it looked somewhat heavy, but was surprisingly light.

"As I told you, there is no single way to inscribe runes. You can either write them on the surface of an object or carve them to leave marks on the material."

He picked up a piece of chestnut wood and infused it with magic into a metal carving knife. The tip of the knife emitted a small but scorching red light, leaving a magical rune on the chestnut wood piece.

"You see, its surface isn't flat."

Hermione touched the surface of the runes with her fingertips and could clearly feel the chestnut wood dented downwards—the marks left by the metal carving knife.

"This method is especially suitable for inert magical materials, such as Muggle items, ordinary stones, or the scales of some magical creatures, etc."

Hermione understood somewhat: magic is not easy to maintain for inert magical materials, so markings can be used to strengthen the form of the runes.

"Actually—" Felix added, "the process is separate—sculpting and infusing magic. I'm just very familiar with the process, so I combined the two steps. When you practice, you should still do them separately."

One of his backup plans, "Felix's Wisdom Tooth," was accomplished in this way.

Hermione nodded.

Felix then produced five more wooden carving knives, which looked somewhat like unusual wands. Hermione had seen the twins' fake wands earlier that day and remembered them vividly.

"These carving knives are made from the same materials as the wands, and their properties are similar to those of the wands they were made from," Felix pointed out, one by one.

"The gooseberry wood carving knife is difficult for beginners to master; it is exceptionally sensitive to magic, in fact, too sensitive. But once you have the skill, it quickly adapts to its owner's magic, becoming extremely personalized, and no one else can use it at all."

"Ebony carving knives excel at carving aggressive magical runes. Of course, mastering them is not easy; they work in perfect harmony with owners who have the courage to be themselves and don't follow the crowd."

"I personally believe that the red oak carving knife possesses a certain degree of memory; once you become proficient, it will actively guide you in completing the runes."

"Chestnut wood carving knives are a favorite among beginners; there's no particular preference, but of course, they offer no advantages whatsoever."

"A laurel wood carving knife, uh, I don't really like this kind of carving knife. You have to use it often, otherwise, when you remember it after a long time, it might unleash a lightning attack on you when you infuse it with magic..."

After Felix finished explaining, Hermione curiously picked up the carving knives and examined them repeatedly, growing more and more fond of them with each look. She exclaimed happily, "Professor, when can I own a carving knife like this? I mean… I'm willing to pay for it…"

"You don't need to worry about that for now. That chestnut wood carving knife is for you to practice with," Felix said. "You can start thinking about getting your own carving knife in a few years."

"By the way, what's your wand made of?" Felix asked.

“It’s grapevine wood,” Hermione said. “The core of the cane is dragon heartstring, twelve and four-fifths inches.”

(End of this chapter)