Chapter 117: Forgotten talent
Monday, January 1, 1973.
The students had only one day to rest before classes began. James, when he arrived yesterday at Hogwarts already found Sirius, who looked like he had been at the castle for many days.
This was normal since he was coming back as soon as possible, but this time it was worse. From what Lupin and Toby, who had stayed at the castle told him, Sirius arrived on Christmas Day running away from home.
It seems there was a big argument with his family. The rest is guesswork as he doesn't want to talk much about it.
'Is it because he won the quidditch match with Gryffindor...?' thought James, remembering the comment he made to Sirius before leaving for the match. Maybe Sirius threw it in his mother's face or something.
Another different thing James noticed this year was Sirius' younger brother. Regulus Black who entered Hogwarts this year and ended up in Slytherin. According to sarcastic comments from Sirius, his brother was the perfect heir, and his parents regretted that he was the younger brother.
'Being next to Alphard does make a big difference...' thought James with a strange expression. The environment where a child is raised is very important.
The child would adopt the culture of his parents, his parents' friends, relatives, and the children he hung out with. In Sirius's case, being brought up with his uncle Alphard, a lover of Muggle objects who did not care about the purity of blood, made Sirius have a different outlook compared to his parents.
As far as he knew, Regulus never went to Alphard's house regularly like Sirius. James would occasionally see Regulus in the corridors or the great hall of Hogwarts he noticed that he lived up to the stereotype of a boy raised in an elitist pureblood family.
Arrogant look, haughty, cold personality, and few words. He would most likely view half-bloods, Muggle-born or Muggle-born with contempt or think himself superior to them.
'If it had been me, I would send Regulus to Alphard to maybe manage to get his inheritance, and Sirius, I would have left with me since he is the main heir,' James thought.
James shook his head, putting those thoughts aside. This was no time to be thinking about his friend's family problems.
It was currently evening, and he was in the room of requirement. Even though it was the first day of school after vacation, he didn't falter with his routine. Lupin was not with him as usual.
His werewolf friend was very tired and weak since he had to go through the full moon two days ago. He had to rest. If it wasn't for James stopping him when he saw his pale expression, Lupin would have come.
James was practicing spells. He was in the dueling area a few feet away from five practice dummies.
On the ground near his feet were five small-sized stones. He waved his wand pointed at the stones, and exclaimed, "Sideruglo!"
The spell transfigured the stones into common metal marbles. Quickly James waved his wand again, pointing at the metal marbles, and exclaimed, "Waddiwasi!"
As the spell hit its target, the five marbles shot out with the force of a bullet at the dummies.
Each marble hit a dummy with great force making a thud as they hit their target. Then they fell to the ground, as the dummy's magical defense was very strong. If it had been a normal human it would have wounded him depending on the place of impact.
"Ugh... it takes me too long to cast all the spells," James said, sighing and shaking his head.
He used an intermediate transfiguration spell and a Jinx to propel small objects at high speed, but it was useless in a fight against dark wizards.
The time to cast both spells was too much, as he had to say them out loud. Plus, he had to have five stones nearby, so he would have to carry them in a pocket or something.
The speed of the marbles was fast, but with how long it took to cast such an attack, the enemy could defend or even attack him before he did.
'It would only be useful in a duel against weak students like Rabastan,' James thought, clicking his tongue.
He sat on the ground and thought. The only way to improve this and make it an effective method in a life-and-death battle was to conjure the stones out of thin air. Then, cast the charm 'Waddiwasi' nonverbally to make it much faster.
The incantation should also be non-verbal, to increase the speed of the attack and make it difficult to predict.
Then he could replace the marbles, with sharp daggers, arrows, swords, or any sharp and deadly object. However, there was a long way to go to achieve this.
First, he had to learn intermediate Transfiguration, then advanced Transfiguration, and finally conjuration. The disadvantage of Transfiguration, if you can call it that, is that you can't go straight to conjuration. You need theoretical and practical knowledge of beginning, intermediate, and advanced Transfiguration.
Very different from Defense Against the Dark Arts, in which you can learn Expecto Patronus (a very advanced charm) without needing to have learned other defensive charms or have specific theoretical knowledge. This was the case with Lupin.
'For heavier objects, I will have to use Wingardium Leviosa...' thought James.
Wingardium Leviosa in addition to levitating objects of all possible weights (depending on the mage's skill), allows objects to be magically moved and thrown at high speeds toward a location.
The Waddiwasi charm can only be used to propel small objects. It will not work for swords or even daggers.
James already had this in mind. His Wingardium Leviosa charm could lift heavy objects. He could already levitate several swords at once. What he needed was to cast it nonverbally. A subject to learn in the sixth year.
'That way the attack would be fast and unpredictable... but isn't there a faster way?' thought James, trying to find a more effective way. Since he still needed two flicks with his wand.
The seconds and minutes passed. James kept sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and eyes closed, thinking.
"Wandless magic," he muttered, opening his eyes.
As the name implies this magic does not require the use of a wand. From what he understands it is difficult to perform, more so than non-verbal magic, and could have unexpected or volatile results if not done correctly. This type of magic is not taught at Hogwarts.
However, James, who was thinking and analyzing different ways to be more effective in battle, remembered when he was a child and did not yet have a wand.
At a young age, he could make his toys that weighed a few grams fly at him. Then a little older, he could make the books he read in the library at home fly neatly onto the shelves. He even remembered when he saved Gwen.
A large stone crushed the leg of his future friend. James with all his mental strength managed to float the stone away from Gwen, as he didn't have enough physical strength to move it.
With these memories in mind, he got up from his place and walked towards the mannequins. On the floor near them were the metal marbles.
James stared at them with one goal in his mind: to get them off the cold ground.
'I must remember the feeling...' thought James, trying to remember when he used this kind of magic in his childhood.
Ten seconds passed, and the atmosphere was silent. James stared at the marbles that began to shake slightly and float higher and higher.
James' gaze kept going up, following the marbles that stopped at the height of his head. He walked backward, making the five marbles follow him.
When he was the same distance from the dummies as before, he stopped. Suddenly, the marbles sped toward the dummies again. They hit them causing a thud and falling back to the ground.
James' eyes showed an excited gleam, but he was frowning slightly.
'I'm an idiot!' he thought, holding a hand to his forehead.
Having such an ability in his arsenal since he was a child he forgot it and used Wingardium Leviosa. He could move objects without a wand and non-verbally as effectively as possible.
Since he grew up in a community where everyone used a wand, his parents, family, friends, and school. He never really thought about it. In addition, he read books that said it was normal for children before they got their wands to be able to use magic and control it to a certain extent. But when they turned eleven they bought their wands, and that was the end of the problem. Why would it have been any different for him?
All the books he read at the time said that magic in minors was unstable and would improve with a wand. His parents, family members, etc. They also said the same thing, as it was the same in their childhoods. He was influenced and like everyone else thought his magic would improve as soon as he got a wand.
Human beings want to fit in with the group they belong to. One does not choose one's first habits and behaviors. An individual imitates what he sees around him. There are invisible social norms that guide our behavior.
This does not mean something bad. Following the rules of the group does not feel like a burden to the person. Everyone wants to belong.
'Better late than never,' thought James. There was no use regretting it. Now, he had to test this ability as much as possible. How much weight he could float, how many objects, etc. He was to compare it with the Wingardium Leviosa and see which was the best.
Over the next few days, James practiced as much as possible with this ability that he had left in the shadows with a lot of dust. He also read books that talked about magic without a wand.
The results were excellent. His wandless magic ability, which would be like Wingardium Leviosa, allowed him to move objects with his mind.
He thought the weights he could move would be inferior to Wingardium Leviosa, but that was not the case. With practice for days, he could now float five metal swords each weighing 4kg. A total of 20kg. He could also throw the swords at high speed towards the dummies.
Another great advantage was that in addition to throwing the swords with his mind, he could use his wand at the same time, either to attack or defend.
At this James was confused. He read books on wandless magic in the Restricted Section, and they said it was very difficult. Even what he managed to do, float numerous objects without saying a word, was more difficult. Since he was performing wandless magic non-verbally.
One could say that since it was the most basic magic (levitating charm), he could perform magic without a wand nonverbally.
To experiment, he told the marauders to try floating stones without a wand and nonverbally. None of them could move even one stone. James tried to show them the feeling he felt when he floated the objects but to no avail.
Another thing James noticed was that he doesn't think of Wingardium Leviosa when he levitates objects with his mind. Neither when he was a child, nor now that he knew the theory of levitating charm to perfection.
Why did he have such an ability, perhaps because he is a reborn person, and his soul is more powerful? He is not so sure about the latter.
All he knows is that his wandless and non-verbal ability is only good for making objects move with his mind, nothing more. He tried other charms such as Expelliarmus, Alohomora, Protego, and others and to no avail.
When he tried to use Flipendo (a charm he has mastered) in a non-verbal way and without a wand, it went wrong, and the charm hit him, and he flew backward.
On the other hand, he knows it's not a gift unique to him. He read a lot of books that talked about very rare cases of babies or very young children moving objects with their minds toward them. Just like him, but it was a very strange occurrence.
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