A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 196 The Problem of the Scaling Spell

Felix had a very busy first weekend of the new school year.

With the first dueling class approaching, he needed to finalize the selection of the third resident professor as soon as possible. Privately, he inquired about the thoughts of Professors Flitwick and McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall politely declined his offer, explaining that she also held the position of vice-principal and had many trivial matters to attend to at the school.

"I'd be happy to attend once or twice, if it's just once in a while," she told Felix.

On the other hand, things went very smoothly. Almost as soon as he opened his mouth, Flitwick readily accepted the invitation, as if he had been waiting for this day.

From a neutral perspective, Felix also agrees that Flitwick is the most suitable professor candidate.

As the head of the Duel class, he had to take into account the difficulty and learnability of the spells he taught, since he was dealing with students from all seven grades in the school.

As an experienced Charms professor, Flitwick undoubtedly possessed a great deal of skill in simplifying the learning of spells.

In comparison, Polymorph has a much higher barrier to entry—it is not easy to use Polymorph effectively in duels; it requires a wizard's ability to cast spells silently and quickly, as well as their imagination in duels.

Even for upperclassmen at Hogwarts, it is difficult to silently unleash a mature biomorphic transformation, let alone in combat.

"Transfiguration is the domain of genius, representing the boundless imagination of magic." This is a quote written in a magic journal by a dueling master skilled in Transfiguration, and Felix partially agrees with his view.

The office of the Ravenclaw Dean.

After resolving the invitation issue, Felix and Flitwick spent almost a day discussing improvements to the Scaling Spell.

"The scaling spell doesn't perform well on magical creatures. Of course, it could also be because the only experimental creature we've tested is the Flobber Caterpillar, which isn't representative." Felix took a stack of test data from his ring and handed it to Flitwick.

The florper caterpillar is a ten-inch-long worm, typically brownish in color, that prefers damp environments and can be found in the shady areas of the Forbidden Forest.

Although the Floppar caterpillars' slime can concentrate magical potions, they are largely ignored because they are so common, comparable to clown caterpillars. They are one of the food sources for other magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest, placing them at the bottom of the food chain.

So Felix used the Flobber caterpillar for testing without any psychological burden or concern for legal issues. But the results were often less than pleasant. The already ugly caterpillar developed pustules, making it look frightening.

And crucially, he could never pinpoint the problem.

Flitwick sat in a chair with blue cushions, his feet dangling in the air, flipping through the data and pondering, "Could it be related to the imbalance of magic?"

"Unbalanced?" Felix asked.

"That's right, I recently reviewed this spell again. The Scaling Spell was completed by me based on modern magic theory; you could say it's a composite spell. Therefore, there might be inconsistencies in magical power at the joints."

Felix thought for a moment and said, "I've also considered this question, but during the casting process, I didn't feel anything unusual or any sluggishness."

"We can give it a try!" Flitwick jumped off the chair. "We'll each take charge of a part of the work. You'll cast the spells, and I'll sense the situation."

Felix understood what he meant: "You want to use other magic to amplify your senses and feel the formation and flow of spells? It's definitely worth a try. I don't have the means to do that on my own."

Flitwick laughed. "Isn't that the point of cooperation?"

He pointed his wand at himself and whispered, "Superhuman senses... keen hearing and sight... magical manifestation... voice of Adimor..." Streams of magical light flashed across Flitwick's body.

Felix watched this scene with admiration. Few people could do this; just solving the problem of multiple spells influencing each other would stump 99% of wizards.

Soon, Professor Flitwick finished his work. He looked very strange; his ears turned into long, bronze trumpets, his eyes were hazy, and his face, which resembled a fairy, shimmered with different colored lights, making him look like a multicolored light bulb.

Flitwick's expression was strange as he struggled to maintain the spell's effect. He forced out a few words through gritted teeth: "Hurry...it won't last much longer..."

Felix's expression was solemn. He deliberately mobilized his magic, making it more active. The light blue light gathered continuously and then burst out in a dazzling beam.

His spell struck a quill pen, which crackled and popped as it rapidly expanded, growing from the size of a dagger to a slightly curved spear in the blink of an eye, and continued to change.

When the quill pen had extended to cover almost half the office, it finally succumbed to Felix's magic and exploded with a bang, sending out a huge shockwave.

The entire office was left in a mess, as if a whirlwind had swept through.

Felix, under the Ironclad Charm, took two steps back. Flitwick, who had to maintain the spell, was thrown into the air, his small figure tumbling through the air. He quickly pointed at himself with his wand and then slowly floated down.

Flitwick, suspended in mid-air, stared at the blue powder falling like a dazzling blue galaxy, and exclaimed excitedly, "Felix, your magic is incredible! It has completely changed the structure of the quill pen!"

Once he calmed down, he warned, "Never use this magic on people before it is fully perfected."

Felix nodded. "That's what I thought too. Felix, did you discover anything just now?"

"Wow, that's amazing... I have indeed discovered something interesting." Flitwick waved his wand, restoring the room to its original state, and then flicked his wand to release a cloud of bronze smoke.

The smoke kept changing shape, conjuring up the phantom of a wizard casting a spell. Felix recognized that this was the scene where he was casting his spell.

"Here, here, and here, there is an extremely subtle imbalance in these three locations," Flitwick explained, using the silhouette formed by the smoke.

Felix stared at the screen and said softly, "I didn't even notice before."

Flitwick laughed heartily, "It is indeed difficult to make such a discovery by studying it alone, but in any case, we have a new approach."

After leaving his office, Felix went to the Potions professor's office to discuss the curriculum for the new school year with Snape and told him about inviting Flitwick.

Snape looked at him suspiciously: "I thought you were going to invite Lupin."

Felix stared at him without saying a word. Don't you know why?

Perhaps his gaze was too direct, which made Snape somewhat embarrassed and angry. "I have other things to do, Felix, if you don't mind..."

……

In the evening, Felix was organizing information about the Rune Club in his office when Hermione knocked on the door to receive Rune training, and he realized he had missed dinner.

(End of this chapter)