章 6: The Creation of Magic

The first spell recorded in the textbook "Standard Spells: Beginner's Guide" is the Wand Illumination Charm! As the simplest form of a light-generating spell, the Wand Illumination Charm allows the wand's tip to emit a bright light, enabling one to see things in the dark. When using this spell, one needs to concentrate, or they might accidentally ignite the wand, causing irreversible damage.

[You have learned the Wand Illumination Charm, have a deep understanding of arcane magic, and have made an upgrade.]

[Your Wand Illumination Charm has been upgraded to the Dance of Light]

[Dance of Light]: You can ignite a point of light at the tip of your wand, illuminating up to a 30-meter radius. You can control this point of light to fly within a certain range.

Kevin took out his wand, turned off the light, and began casting the spell as he had comprehended.

"Lumos!" In an instant, the tip of his wand emitted a pure white light that flickered intermittently.

"Not bad; the casting difficulty and consumption are almost the same as the original version, and the upgrade hasn't affected the spell's level," Kevin took out a notebook and began jotting down notes.

"It looks much brighter than in the movies; it can easily replace an incandescent light," he commented. With a thought, he slightly adjusted the magical power output, and the radiance instantly dimmed, transforming from an incandescent bulb into a flashlight, and then into a firefly. It had the same ambiance as in the movies.

But it was not enough. "Now, let's test the new ability." With his change of intention, the ball of light unexpectedly left his wand, orbiting Kevin as if it were a dancing firefly. Under Kevin's control, the firefly's flight path became increasingly intricate, first a simple loop, then a figure-eight, and ultimately, it even spelled out Kevin's signature.

"It's quite easy to control, and I can even set it to autonomously orbit," he noted.

After some thought, he slightly dimmed the brightness of the little light ball and opened the window, guiding the light ball to fly outside. The orphanage was located in a remote area, with no one around. No one noticed anything unusual on the second floor of the orphanage. Even if someone happened to spot it, due to the special dimness Kevin set, they would most likely mistake it for a firefly.

"Now, fly, let me see how far you can go." Kevin stood at the window and watched as the light ball continued to move farther away.

5 meters,

10 meters,

15 meters,

Finally, after traveling approximately 20 meters, the light ball extinguished due to insufficient energy.

"Hmm, when used for the first time, it can fly up to 20 meters away from the wand. But with more practice, it might go even farther."

"In any case, this [Dance of Light], without increasing the casting difficulty, surpasses the original Illumination Charm in both functionality and controllability."

"Success on the first attempt at casting a spell. I must truly be a genius!"

Next, Kevin continued to practice and test the [Dance of Light]. After dozens of tries, Kevin had become completely proficient in the [Dance of Light], and he could even make it fly as far as 30 meters. However, he also felt that his magical energy had depleted significantly.

So, for today, he decided to stop here. Inventing the [Dance of Light] on the very first day was already a significant achievement. With high expectations for magic, Kevin went to sleep, feeling exhausted.

The next morning, Kevin bid farewell to the reluctant orphanage caretaker and boarded a bus to London. Surrey County, being adjacent to London, was not too far from the city. Just after an hour of travel, Kevin arrived at the entrance of the Broken Cauldron Pub. Even though it was early in the morning, the pub was still dimly lit. This made Kevin, who had just learned the [Dance of Light], wish he could maintain several [Dance of Light]'s permanently.

In addition to the inconsistency of magic itself, fields such as alchemy and magical item creation in the Harry Potter world were similarly chaotic. Creating magical items essentially involved affixing magic gemstones and inscribing runes on an item to make magic permanent. In the Harry Potter world, this knowledge was quite scattered, not all spells could be made permanent, and the methods and costs of making spells permanent varied widely, making the learning process quite troublesome.

But in the system of arcane magic, almost any magic was capable of being made permanent, and the cost of making magic permanent was primarily associated with the spell's complexity. The cost of making high-level spells permanent was enormous, but making a simple 0-level spell permanent, like the [Dance of Light], was something any mage with related training could do. In the Harry Potter world, however, only "Ever-Burning Lights" was an item related to the Wand Illumination Charm. It was a flame that could burn forever due to the high casting difficulty, and very few wizards could create it. But in terms of lighting, the [Dance of Light] was a cold light source, while Ever-Burning Lights was, after all, fire. Who could bear the smoky fire, especially indoors? If Kevin learned how to make magical items and created magical lamps with the permanent [Dance of Light], he could certainly make a lot of money.

But as a new student, it was too early to think about making money this way. Arriving at the counter, the pub owner immediately recognized him.

"Oh, your yesterday's new student, what was your name again? Kevin... Green, right?" Tom, the pub owner, had a strong impression of this handsome young man with Asian features.

"Yes, Mr. Tom, you can call me Kevin." Kevin nodded politely. "Mr. Tom, I need to stay here until school starts, but my financial situation is not very comfortable. Could you please tell me how much the cheapest room here is?"

"By the way, if it's convenient... Do you need a part-time waiter?" Tom initially hesitated, but then quickly found a way to remedy his initial refusal when he saw Kevin's old clothes and pitiful expression.

"Uh, I haven't really considered the issue of waiters... but no, well... if..." As he looked at the boy's old clothes and the slightly pitiful expression, Tom suddenly felt he had committed a heinous crime by refusing the boy earlier. He tried to make amends.

"Oh, I've got it! In my small tavern, there's a somewhat empty storage room. You can stay there for…no, you don't have to pay for it. You only need to clean the place thoroughly every day before or after work. In the morning, I can provide you with a large bacon sandwich for breakfast. How does that sound?"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Tom. You truly are a gentleman." Kevin immediately praised Tom, who was willing to offer such a deal. After all, for wizards, cleaning was extremely easy, merely a wave of a wand. This kind of work was not considered labour, but rather, Tom was helping Kevin.

The Charm of Persuasion was indeed useful. Coupled with his naturally high charisma, a general first-time meeting would result in a favourable initial impression. With some sweet words to follow, he could make almost anything happen.

The storage room was not large; after placing a mattress and a table inside, there was almost no space left. However, Kevin couldn't expect more at the moment.

After quickly unpacking his luggage, Kevin changed into his second-hand wizarding robes and, holding his wand, walked to the backyard. Emulating Professor McGonagall, Kevin lightly tapped the brick and stepped through the arch into Diagon Alley. With his accommodation settled, it was time to consider finding a job.